Front Porch Stories

As the start of school fast approaches, I ask my grandson how it felt to be able to go to the same school again this year?  He said, "it feels great!"  He is really looking forward to seeing all his friends from last year.  He has worked really hard all summer and he made the Junior Varsity Football Team.  We are all so very proud of him!  We told him that he had worked so hard all summer that even if he didn't make it we were proud of him.  We all did a happy dance when he told us he made the team.  I remember what it was like to move every Christmas.  Most of my growing up years my folks were share croppers, and we moved every Christmas.  Then when my oldest son started to school, we went through a period where it seemed we moved every time the rent was due.  That was an awful way to live and I thank the Lord that I finally got up enough nerve to strike out on my own!  Thanks to my Mom after that we never moved again.  The kids and I would have never made it if my Mom h

The town in which I live was once known as the sock capital of the world.  That is until all the Free Trade Agreements sent our companies running overseas and to Central America where the labor and real estate are cheaper.  If there was another world war we no longer have the factories here to convert to defense building plants.  We no longer make things!  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that our economy is dieing because we no longer produce anything.  The fewer people in the work force paying taxes only creates a drain on our country.  We have got to find a way to bring jobs back to the states, that's the only way to bring our economy and standard of living back.  I can remember when there was 125 sock mills in this town.  If you lost you needed a job you had no problem finding one.  Now there are only 5 left and it has had a devastating effect on the town and it's dwindling population.  One by one more and more businesses are closing and work is getting harder

Every parent and grandparent carries around a small picture album in their purse, and I am no different.  I am very luck to have my Mom's that she carried around for years.  It has the first picture that she and Daddy ever had made together, and some of all the kids and grandkids. My album is outdated!  The kids are grown and the grandkids, well they aren't babies anymore.  I am looking forward to getting the grandkids to help me pick out their favorites.  I am in love with life!  God has always watched over me and he guides me to where I need to be.  I love being surrounded by family and can't wait to get my album together.

Wow!  I can't believe it's time for school to start back!  It cost a lot of money to buy everything they need to get going.  When we were growing up, we got a new pair of shoes, mama made us three new dresses, and we got three pair of underwear and socks.  We got notebook paper, one binder, and pencils.  The school supplied you with hard back books that were used every year.  We sometimes had to buy a spelling workbook, but most books were supplied by the school. When my kids were going to school, I bought them three pair of pants, three shirts, a new pack of socks and undies.  Most of the books were still issued and we only had a few workbooks.  Of course there were notebooks, paper and pencils to buy.  Now days I don't see how parents do it!  Clothes, workbooks, fees for almost every class, and if they participate in sports then there is all that gear to buy.  You almost have to take out a loan just to send your kids to public school!!  Good luck getting yours back i

Grandkids are special in so many ways.  I can remember how much my Mom and Dad loved all their grandchildren.  They tried not to show favorites with any of them, yet because I lived the closest my oldest son got to stay with them more, and do more things with them.  My parents weren't wealthy so little things like riding the lawn mower or tractor with my dad was special.  When he was small he had a dump truck that he pushed everywhere!  So when my folks planted the garden my dad would make the row, my mom would plant the seeds and they would let him mash the seeds in the ground with his dump truck, then daddy would cover them up.  I find it amazing that my son still remembers doing that after all these years.  My son and I were talking about my grandson the other day and I ask him what did he think his Granny would have done had it been him on the phone half the night, he laughed and said, she would have told me not to do it again and we just won't tell your mom.  Yep, I think

What happened to the simple things in life?  In today's fast paced world lots of us have forgotten the things that matter most.  Life isn't about owning the biggest house or the fanciest car, or all the biggest and best electronics.  It's about family!!  I believe in God, and I believe that he created us to love and take care of our family, one man and one woman taking care of and loving their family and teaching them to love and have faith in God.  We have allowed stuff and people who do not believe in God to destroy our homes, and take God out of our homes, our schools, and slowly removing him from our Country.  What happened to the family picnic? What happened to if Joe's barn burns, we all help him build a new one?  What happened to if Jack is sick we all go together and help take care of his family?  What happened to having at least one meal a day at the table with the whole family?  These are the things that made this country great and what made us the people an

When I was a kid Trade Day in Collinsville, Alabama was a big deal.  I can remember my dad taking me there to trade dogs.  You see, way back when, trade day was a place where you traded or bought and sold animals or veggies.  Today it has all kinds of vendors!  They still have dogs and such, but they also have old stuff, new stuff and all kind of stuff in between.  I now take my heat press and press heat transfers on tee shirts.  Today was a bit of a bust!  The weather was not to great and I am running low on transfers and tee shirts.  Thank goodness I have finally gone back to work so that I can restock and be better than before. Thanks for hanging out with me!

Why is it that when a man see's a woman with her car broke down he automatically thinks he knows everything!  My dad wouldn't even let me drive a car until I learned how to change the tire, and to check the oil and water.  One of my ex-husbands was a pretty good mechanic and I learned a lot from him.  I remember not long after he and I divorced, my car needed a water pump, I new what was wrong with it.  I couldn't afford a new one so I bought one out of a junk yard, I didn't have any tools so I had to pay a mechanic to put it on.  He says are you sure that's what's wrong with it.  Then he charges me more than what I paid for the pump just to put it on.  Same car about a year later had a voltage regulator problem.  I had men telling me all kind of stuff was wrong with the car.  When I got the money I bought what I needed and fixed it myself.  I don't know as much about fuel injected cars as I do the old school cars, but some things never change.  I don't

My grandson's car has been running great, so he and I decided to go to the mall today to look for some things.  No problems going, but coming home was a problem!!  When we came out of the mall, it started right up and then we stopped to get us a soda.  My grandson went inside and I sat in the car with it idling.  It sounded like it was running out of gas even though it had over a half a tank., then it died!!  The stubborn little thing wouldn't start back up for over an hour.  Then when we got back home my son had my grandson take the throttle body off so he could get to one of the sensors.  Even though my grandson kinda knew how to take it off he got himself all worked into a tizzy over how to get it done.  I came close to throwing a wrench at him and sending him in the house just like I used to do my son when he would start that junk when we were working on a car, but I didn't.  He had a bolt that wanted to be a pain and my son showed him an easier way to get it out.  My s

As we lined up to spar I was wondering why all the women kept shifting.  Then I realized what had happened!  There I stood all 5' 5'' of me next to an Amazon of a Black Lady!  I got lucky and didn't have to fight with her the first round, but when it came down to the top two spots, we were paired up.  All I could think about was keeping her off my head!!!  Needless to say she won!  It was close though, she only got me by one point.  She said I was like a little bulldog, the more she pushed me off the more I charged back.  Her name was Kate and we both gained a lot of respect for each other that day. However, the next day I was bruised from the end of my right pinky finger, to my elbow.  The guys at work teased me a lot, but I told them it was better for my arm to be bruised than my face.  I used to love competing in tournaments even though there were times when I was the only Black Belt Lady there.

Saturday we went to a local flea market to sell my tee shirts.  While we were there I got my grandson to walk around and look for us some flowers.  He found us a purple cone flower, some black eyed susans and a day lily.  We took our time deciding where to put them, so that they would have just the right amount of sunshine.  He also found a hibiscus.  The hibiscus is a tropical plant so we are going to put it in a big pot so that we can move it inside during the winter.  We also planted a Lady Banks Rose.  I love planting things around his studio.  He has so many great outdoor sets that it's fun to help him create more.  We have got to get us some better water hoses!!!  We have plants scattered around and we need a couple more and we need to invest in the good kind.  The cheap ones don't last and they are awful to work with. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by my blog.

Last night the kids went to a fireworks show and my grandson did a video of several to show me when they got home.  I can remember when the kids were small I would buy fireworks and we would set them off in the driveway.  It has been so dry here we couldn't do that.  I can remember when I was a kid the biggest fireworks show around was done at the drive-in movie theater.  It was great!! 

When I sat down yesterday to work on my blogs, I was so tired that my post about the nova just didn't make sense.  I don't know why I was so tired.  I slept late, and we didn't do anything that was work.  Anyway!  When I got divorced 30 years ago I had a 1972 Nova.  We made a lot of memories in that old car.  Once we were on our way home from town and the oldest was riding in the front seat.  He was probably around 14, and he liked to lean up against  the door.  I bet I'd told him a hundred times not to get against the door.  Like most teenagers he had to learn things the hard way.  We turned a corner and the door came open!!  Out of instincts I grabbed his shirt and snatched him back in the car.  He said his chest was sore for days where I had hit him in the chest to grab him.  We were very lucky that day!!!

Well, one project finished and another rolls in!!  My son's friend was looking at cars on the internet and found a '69 Nova.  They went and looked at it and got it at a great price so they brought it home.  It is tubed out and has a big block 454 in it.  They fired it up and she sounds great and doesn't smoke.  It made me think about the '72 Nova I had when my oldest was about 13.  It was a great car, it had a 350 with a 4 bolt main.  I had the car forever!!  James was playing soccer and I traded it for a station wagon while he was at school.  I got a friend to take him to the game and I was suppose to bring drinks for half time and when the kids came off the field they looked lost because they were looking for the Nova.