A Walk in the Yard

When I come home from work everyday at 4 pm, I like to walk
around the yard a little and see what's blooming.  Would you
like to join me this afternoon?

Here is a nice bench to rest a spell and look over the buttercups.

Something pink is blooming.  I have forgotten the name but I love
the color pink!

Buttercups are everywhere!

Hello Elizabeth!  I see you hiding!

And, of course, it becomes a lovely
walk when I visit with my dear sweet
neighbor. Ruth is 90 years old and a
very wise lady!  She shows me her
beans popping up in her garden.

Thank you for joining me for a walk
in the yard.  It's time to go in now
and fix supper.  Tonight is a special
night as it is my son's 28th birthday!

And thankfully, spring is here!  Even the pansies are happy!

Have a great week!
Love,
Lottie

New Year's Day ! 2010

I think this was the happiest New Year's Day my DH and I have ever spent!  We were able to share a meal with our extended family, including some precious nieces and nephews!

But first, we took a week to work on the roof and paint the dining room.

We ran out of time and there was still trim to paint, but we had to stop to decorate and cook before family arrived.

.

The food will go on the table in the center hall.

It was time to prepare the black-eye-peas and the hoppin-john.
My DH is a true Renaissance man!  He can paint and cook and do EVERYTHING well! 

Then the family came and brought the most wonderful food!  Thank you to everyone!  Everything was so good!  Here is a picture of the table.

I wish I had a picture of the dessert table and punch bowl!  It was AWESOME!

I also wish I had a picture of everyone who was there.  Some pics were too dark to include.  The music and singing was wonderful in the afternoon.  We could still hear it after everyone had gone. It seemed our old 1907 homeplace came ALIVE with everyone there!

Thank you to everyone who came for New Year's Day and we miss and love the one's who couldn't make it. 

 Haste ye back, we loue you dearly,
Call again you're welcome here.
May your days be free from sorrow,
And your friends be ever near.
May the paths o'er which you wander,
Be to you a joy each day.
Haste ye back, we loue you dearly,
Haste ye back on friendship's way

Love,
Lottie

Homeplaces in the Heart

For the last 35 years, I have lived in South Carolina with my husband and sons.  All the rest of our family live in Alabama.  So for all those years, we traveled at least twice a year to visit family during different holidays.  Each time we enjoyed our families but felt like something was missing...our home.  So last spring, after all those years, my DH and I bought a "homeplace" in Alabama.  We found a house that we loved and wanted to work on and spend our holidays. A home for our family to love.

We do love it.  In fact, we dream about it!  We spent the summer working on it and my DH has been back several times this fall.  I haven't been "home" since July.

I call it our homeplace even though we have owned it only seven months and only lived in it about five weeks in the summer.  We are going to the "homeplace" during Christmas and I can't wait.

I started thinking about the word "homeplace" today.  I looked the word up in the dictionary and it means "a family home" or "birth place".  So I started thinking about my real "homeplace" which is in Grand Prairie, Texas.  I'm not really from Alabama at all, that is just where my dad, brothers, aunts, uncles and cousins live.

So here is picture of my first home which is my real "homeplace."

My first "homeplace" was a garage that my dad built himself.  We lived in the back of the garage.  It was pretty neat.  We didn't have a front door, only a door from the big bright kitchen to the back yard.  My room was a bed in a closet.  But what wonderful memories I have of that place!  I can't go there again in real life because the garage home was sold and torn down.  Two new homes are built there now. Every family member moved from Texas.  There is no reason to go back.

So I bought a new "homeplace" in Alabama to start new family traditions.  This new "homeplace" is 102 years old.  I love my blue cottage and love my job in SC, but I hear the whisper "time is short".  And I wake up every morning knowing that we all need to cherish the time we have with each other.  A "homeplace" can be anywhere, but the place it will always be is in your heart.


Lottie