Front Porch Stories

of fall in the air.  This morning seemed a lot cooler than it has over the last few weeks.  Both my walks today were really nice.  I had picked up enough muscadines yesterday to make another batch of jelly today.  If it jells, I think I've got the muscadine thing down pat.  I am going to put the recipe for it and blueberry-peach jam on Farm House Recipes.  I hope you check it out and enjoy them.  Farm House Recipes is a blog that I started so that I could share some of mine and my mom's favorite recipes with another generation of cooks.  Thank you all for stopping by my blogs.

Oh my goodness!! The muscadine jelly turned out great!!  When you pick muscadines, most of the time you pick them up off the ground.  Wild muscadine vines grow up in the trees and most of the time you can't reach them from the ground, so you pick up the ones that have fallen.  You need a gallon of muscadines to make a batch of jelly so it takes a while to pick up that many.  The whole time I was picking them up I was thinking about mama and all the muscadines that we had pick up as I was growing up.  Back then if you had food to eat you grew it, traded for it or gathered it from the land. She canned and jellied all summer long.  As long as I can remember I was mama's helper.  Last summer was the first time I ever made jelly without my mama.  It didn't turn out to well but I think it was because I cried the whole time I was making it. I couldn't help myself, she wasn't just my mom, she was my best friend and I miss her.  The only thing that would make my this years j

on a feather mattress.  A real feather mattress that you, your Mom, and the rest of your family made.  You know we didn't know how to appreciate how good we really had it.  Have you ever slept on a cotton mattress that your Mom made.  I still have the mattress that my Mom and my aunts made back during the depression.  I still like to sleep on it.  It's those metal springs that drive me crazy, the squeak so bad.  No secrets when we were growing up.  I refuse to give it up!!!  The mattress that we have on our bed is shot so we went today and bought a new one.  I am sure it will sleep much better and we will stop rolling to the middle at the same time, but there is no connection to the finished product and those who use it.  Sometimes I sleep on that mattress just so I can feel close to Mama.  Thanks for stopping by my blog.

Have you ever had any? Do you know what muscadines are?  For those of you who don't know it's a kind of wild grape.  It has a strong sharp taste and makes the best jelly or wine you've ever had!  I haven't had any in years.  My Mom used to make it until she her knees wouldn't carry her through the woods looking for them.  They grow on a vine that climbs the trees.  You mostly pick them up off the ground.  Yesterday I was on my way back from one of our food plots and I saw them all over the place.  I gave it some thought and decided to pick up enough to make at least one batch of jelly.  I hope that it turns out good. 

everyday for living here in America!  When you are sitting on the front porch, in your living room, or kitchen listen to every noise.  Here the fridge running, the television playing, maybe birds singing, cars going by, children laughing.  Then imagine hearing the sounds of war.  Guns every few seconds, airplane strikes, helicopters overhead, people bashing in doors, dragging out your family what a way to have to live.  I know, it  sounds like Saturday night in Atlanta or any big city but it could be a lot worse than what it is.  All the IED's, all the suicide bombers, that's all coming to this country if we don't get our borders secured.  Several of my friends who have served in the military said they would rather fight them off their roof tops instead of ours.

brought back so many memories.  I was talking my morning walk when I was thinking about a story my used to tell about my brother.  They lived in a house that had the well on the front porch.  Right in front of the well they had built a watering trough for the horses and mules, that way they did not have to carry the water.  We had some family members who allowed their children to throw tantrums.  Well my brother was about 4 and he took a pencil out of my Mom's sewing machine drawer, he knew he wasn't suppose to do that and when Mama told him to put it back, he threw it across the room.  Not only did he throw the pencil across the room, he fell down in the floor and went to kicking and screaming.  My Mom's answer to that was, (oh did I mention that he was also holding his breath) to scoop him up and toss him in the watering trough!  Needless to say that was my brothers first and last tantrum.  

they got the well fixed!  Being without water bites!  The dishwasher was full, and gosh at the laundry!  I guess we know what I'll be doing later.  All this stuff with the well brought back a lot of memories of my Mom.  The women of her day were a strong and gone era.  I don't know that women of today could hold up to do the physical work they did.  I've watched my little 5'2'' mom throw a bag(sack) of fertilizer on her shoulder and walk across a fresh plowed field to where ever my dad was stopped then come back and repeat the process all day long.  They also cut pulp wood and she was his only help.  He almost cut her thumb off once!  She had on a pair of cotton gloves and her hand blended with the wood and daddy didn't see it til to late. She said the stitches hurt worse coming out than they did going in.  She was a hell of a lady and I miss her dreadfully.  I know the mental work most of us do know is tiring and draining but they were a bred unto themselve

it seems that more follow.  The thing that brought back my memories of drawing water is we are having problems with our well.  Craziest thing, when we would take a shower the cold water would be as hot as the hot water. No long showers!  Had to have the well guy come out, the pump is shot!  Great, that goes along with having to have our phone line rerun because of lighting.  It is an underground line that runs the length of the driveway which is 7/10 of a mile!  To top things off they found termites in the well house!  What's the old saying, when it rains, it pours!  Thank you for stopping by my blog.

Can you remember drawing water from a well?  I can!  Most of the wells we had were on the back porch.  There would be a shelf right next to it.  On that shelf would be a big bucket with a dipper for drinking water and there would be a wash pan and a bar of soap for cleaning up.  A towel would hang on a nail for drying your hands and face.  By the time I came along Mama had an electric washing machine that had wringers on the top for getting the water out of the clothes.  First you had to draw the water from the well and fill up the machine and the rinse tubs.  If you wanted to wash in hot water there would be a big wash pot with a fire under it to heat the water.  That was also how you got the water to water your animals unless you lived near a creek.  I remember every time I went to our neighbors house I would draw water for her and it was the best and the coldest water I had ever drank.  Can you imagine what kids would do now if they had to draw water and use an out house?  Can you i

In today's society we have no respect or discipline. I can remember when I was a kid we knew and understood what the word no meant.  If we went to the store we certainly did not have a fit and go crying and screaming through the store.  My dad only gave me one whipping that I can remember, but it made a sure fired impression on me!  But, my Dad had this look!  He had dark brown eyes and when he was upset with you he could wrinkle his eyebrows together and raise them just a little, and he would square up his jaw line and you knew he was on the verge of getting mad and you did not want to be on the receiving end of that look.  My dad was an honest hard working man, who provided for his family the best that he could. We didn't have much, but every corner of our home was filled with love, respect and discipline.  What parents today don't understand is that those three things go hand in hand.  Our young people do not respect themselves, their parents or others.  If they did our

Do you know your neighbor?  If you saw your neighbor broke down, would you stop?  Would they stop if you were the one broke down?  We have great neighbors!  Pop is going to have back surgery on September 8th, and today I saw one of our neighbors in the grocery store.  He told me if I needed him to help in any way just let him know.  He also told me that a couple of the ladies from church said if we needed them to do anything to just call.  It's good to know that help is so close by.  Another one of our neighbors is a farmer and he and his wife share things from their garden not only with us but several other folks in our area.  This year he gave me some of the best sweet corn that I have ever tasted!  We even ate some raw in a salad.  I talked to him a couple of days ago and he told me that they had lots of blueberries and if I wanted some to go and pick me some. Then he told me about his wife making blueberry and peach jam.  That sounded so good that I went and picked some berries

It won't be long until it's hunting season. Some people don't understand that hunting is more about being outdoors enjoying nature than killing something. I love to get in the woods before daylight and watch the woods come to life. Have you ever seen a deer with frost still on their backs, or on a chilly morning watched a majestic buck breath, with the steam from his nostrils rising into the morning air?  The more time you spend in the woods the more in tune with nature you become.  I have watched turkey chase deer from a food plot. I've watched a coyote track track a turkey.  I've been able to see some things that most folks never get to see just because I spend a lot of time in a deer stand. My deer stand is my place of solace.  I solve the problems of the world from the tranquility of my stand.  I hope that you all have a safe and successful hunting season.  Thank you for stopping by my blog.

In today's world everything is much more complex than it was when our parents were growing up.  When I was growing up we never heard my mom and dad argue.  Now some of the things I here young couples say to each other makes my head spin. When I was growing up things were much simpler.  Daddy went out and earned our living and Mama stayed home and took care of everything else as well as working in our field or a neighbor. Now it takes both the husband and wife working just to make ends meet.  My Dad said having a good marriage was like hooking two mules to a plow.  If they work together you can plow all day and get a lot done and your fields look great.  But if one is pulling in one way and the other one pulling in the other direction you can't get anything done. Same with relationships, it you don't share the same goals or the same plan for getting to that goal you will never get to that goal.  True love has these three qualities, faith, trust, and love.  Thank you for stop

Today was the first day of school for our oldest grandson.  He is now living with my oldest son and he has really been looking forward to today.  His Mom had been home schooling him and he was really worried about whether he had learned enough to be placed in the 9th grade.  The counselor being the great lady that she is told him she could put him in the 9th grade but he might have a lot of problems keeping up or she could put him in the 8th grade where she thought he would do well.  He told her 8th grade would be fine it would give him a chance to catch up with his class.  I talked to him for a while this evening and he said he really liked it and he had made several friends. His uncle ask him what was the best part of the day and he said school starting.  I am so glad that he is excited about school and learning.  The class sizes are small and with his willingness to learn he will do well. With his aunt and uncle as his guide he will go far!

and I hope you are ready.  I can remember sitting in the floor reading to my Mom.  I don't know how she did it.  She was up before daylight and had cow's milked, breakfast ready, and us ready for school all before 7 am. Breakfast wasn't a pop tart either!  When I was growing up it was eggs, gravy and biscuits every morning.  Then while we were at school, she worked in either our fields or in some neighbors field, then she came home cooked supper and feed the animals, milked the cows, all before dark.  Then she tried to help us with our homework. She said if she could teach us to read, and do our multiplication table that we could learn anything.  When she would sit down after supper  I would read to her.  Sometimes she would close her eyes, but she never missed a word.  I could skip a word or say it wrong and she would correct me then tell me to read it again.  Not just a memory, we need more mama's to sit and listen to their children read.  Thanks for stopping by my bl

You never know when you will come across family.  My son is a photographer and one of his friends came to visit him and was looking at some of this years seniors.  He says to my son are you related to this kid my son says I don't think so.  His friend says, well that's kinda the way I have you pictured at that age. My son says well kinda.  Then a few days later this young man and his family come in to order some pictures and sure enough they are cousins.  The boys granddad is my mom's brother.  What a small world!