One Year But Who Is Counting?

Just a personal note, Dear Readers,

I began writing Some Girl Over The Rainbow one year ago. It started out just for fun, but has become a part of my life. I try to put interesting stories, recipes and pictures in my blog for my family and friends. It is light and fluffy stuff, no politics (although, I sure would like to put in my two cents sometimes) no murder and mayhem (although, I am writing a mystery book and love Forensic Files) and, I hope, nothing too heavy and dark. It is hard to be happy all of the time in such a complicated world so maybe a little bit of fluff and silliness will help the difficult times to be a little easier to bear. You know what Mary Poppins said "Just a spoonful of sugar, helps the medicine go down."

Thank you to all the faithful readers who tune in often. This year, there have been over 1,200 hits to this blog from people all over the world. I don't know how folks from Singapore, France, India or Germany find me, but I am glad that you do.

Please tune in for another year of recipes, travel information and flights of fancy.

Lynn

Louie Armstrong Was Right

Today Andy and I drove to Roanoke. What a beautiful day, 80 degrees and sunny. The song "What a Wonderful World" by Louis Armstrong kept tumbling through my mind.

The white blossoms of Bradford Pear trees stood out against the sky of blue. We drove through farmland with green pastures behind white painted fences. Forsythia waved branches of flowing gold at us as we past by. Daffodils raised their little cups of bright yellow toward the heavens.


"And I said to myself, what a wonderful world........ Oh Yeah!"

Isn't That Just Peachy!

I shouldn't have done it, but I did it anyway.

Andy didn't feel well today, some kind of sinus situation, and I wanted to cheer him up. Part of me wanted to do something nice for him but part of me was calculating calories. So, I said "If I make this cobbler, we will just eat it until it is gone." To which Andy replied "Isn't that the point?" Makes sense unless you are on a diet as I am, or at least, as I "SAY" I am. So, to please him, mind you, I took a jar of last years fresh-from-our-own-tree-peaches out of the pantry.

This peach cobbler is so very easy and yummy too. It is almost the same recipe as the Easy Cherry Cobbler from 7/17/10.

Easy Peach Cobbler

1 Cup Self-rising flour

1 Cup sugar

1 Stick butter

3/4 Cup milk

1/4 Cup peach juice from drained peaches

1 # 2 Can peaches, drained, reserve juice **You can use fresh, canned or frozen fruit. **

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the stick of butter in a 8 by 8 glass pan and melt in the oven. Mix flour and sugar and add milk and peach juice gradually, stirring so it doesn't become lumpy. Mix in vanilla. Pour batter over butter. Add fruit over batter. Sprinkle with a little sugar. Bake until brown. I tested to see if the cobbler was done by inserting a knife in the center and when it comes out clean- it is done.

This cobbler is really good with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

** Note: Andy likes more fruit than cake. I like more cake than fruit. This recipe is more the way I like it. Today, I made it his way by adding twice the amount of peaches. I used a round 2 quart casserole dish. It took a little over an 1 hour to bake. About 45 minutes into the baking, I covered the cobbler with a piece of aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too brown on top.

The Challenge

My friend Margaret (post: "Meet Margaret Adkins," Jan. 30, 2011 ) ask a favor of me. I do love Margaret and her wish is my command! It was her turn to host the program for the senior group at her church. She wanted to read one of her stories but was afraid her voice couldn't be heard. So, she asked me to read a story she had written recalling an incident from her childhood. The story was called "Challenge for the Boys."

The challenge Margaret refers to concerned the rivalry between the girls and boys baseball teams when she was in school. Margaret and her sister Mildred were both on the girls team. They fought for time on the only ball field at the school with the boys team. Finally, the girls gave the boys a challenge: "play a game of baseball with us and who ever wins gets the practice field at recess."

The girls won. Margaret's sister hit the winning homer with the bases loaded. The boys grumbled but came away from their defeat with a new respect for the girls.

Margaret called me the morning of the meeting and said she timed the length of her story and it took only eight minutes to read. "The program should last fifteen minutes" She said. She asked if I would read a story or poem of mine and I told her I would find something. Before the program, I asked her if I could read a little story that had one possibly offensive word in it. Margaret's eyes twinkled as she said "That would be perfect!"

This was the story I read, and I remind you, Dear Readers, that my stories are creative non-fiction. That means: a seed of the truth, some dialog mixed in and a whole lot of "if it didn't happen that way, it sure should have!" (See Feb. 27 post called "Dead Skunks, Buzzards and Being Honest.")

Dolly and Me

It is bluegrass music night at the Spencer-Penn Centre. The lights dim and band after band play their set. Andy and I are listening as the band plays a Johnny Cash song. I start to drift off into a sleepy day dream state.

I have always wondered if I am "normal." People who know me might laugh and say "of course not!" Personality aside, I am talking about my flights of fancy. I take a ride every so often and really enjoy the trip.

Tonight as the band launches into "The Wreck of the Old 97," my eyes close and I drift away into a fantasy world.

I fantasize that a man walks through the door across the room. He walks up to Andy and me and whispers something to us, we rise and follow him out of the building and into the parking lot. We approach a big, fancy motor home and see a woman standing in the doorway. It is my best friend, Dolly Parton! We run to her, hug and jump up and down, so glad to see each other.

As we walk back into the auditorium with Dolly, the room explodes with applause. We are invited to the stage and Dolly agrees to sing with the band. I am her back up singer (Never mind that I have a terrible voice. This is MY fantasy, isn't it?) The audience screams and claps and we harmonize beautifully as we sing "Coat of Many Colors." Andy plays the guitar. The audience is on their feet. "Encore, Encore!" They cheer as we give them another song.

After the show we drive back to our house. Carl, Dolly's husband, is waiting for us. While Andy and Carl discuss cattle and the price of hay, Dolly and I reminisce about the past. We laugh about working together in the movie "9 to 5" (I played the Jane Fonda part.) I tease her about funny old Burt Reynolds flirting with her on the set of "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" (I played one of the Chicken Ranch girls.) Burt was always talking about Dolly's "obvious attributes!"

We try on old costumes and wigs, laugh and have a champagne toast to our friendship.

This is so cool! Dolly and I are best friends. Wow.

What? Hey, wait a minute. I feel a nudge. Huh?

I feel Andy touch my hand. He says something and I am jolted back to reality.

Dolly is gone! Carl, the fancy motor home, and my music career are just brief memories. Darn.

The band is picking an old Eagles song, "Peaceful Easy Feeling" while a few couples dance to the beat. After a Creedence Clearwater Revival tune done with a bluegrass twist, the band closes with a gospel song.

You never know what will happen at a bluegrass concert.

Little Kitty Named Tabby Grey

I have been thinking about my grandmother a lot recently. She was a important influence in my life. She is gone now and I miss her very much. This is a children's poem she recited to my brother, sister and me when we were children. I think it came from the 1920s, 30s or 40s.

I do not know the author and have tried to find the title and words on the Internet. I have Googled, Poem Finder and Poem Hunter, with no luck. If anyone has heard this poem before please let me know.


Little Kitty Named Tabby Grey

I am a little kitty, my name is Tabby Grey.
I live out in the country, some twenty miles away.
My eyes are black as hazel, my fur as soft as silk.
I banquet every morning on a saucer full of milk.
The milk comes sweet and foamy, from the good old cow,
After I have drank it, I frolic you know how.
Sometimes when I am naughty, I climb up on the stand,
And eat the cake or chicken or just anything I can.
Oh! Then they hide my saucer, no matter how I mew,
And that is the way I'm punished for the naughty things I do.

Remembering Melly

When I think of my friend Melly, I think of many things but two adjectives describe her best: brilliant and gracious. Melly passed away on March 1st, and she will be greatly missed.

Born Mary Newport Taylor, she was called Melly by her two adoring older sisters. They convinced her that "Melly" was the Chinese pronunciation for Mary. It stuck. She was Melly to her friends and sisters. To her many nephews and nieces, she was called Port.

Melly was a member of the same church all of her life. She was an accomplished singer, an alto, and sang in choir. Many songs were performed with her sister, Edith. Melly studied at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore and was a piano teacher who instructed many fine young pupils. She was a patron of the arts and loved music. Other joys in her life were animals, her community, family and friends.

I met Melly when I joined the Piedmont Writers Group in 2008. She was a gentle, soft spoken lady but when she read her poetry, we listened! Poetry came easily to this former music teacher. Her love for music was evident when she read her "songs." One was a waltz set in 3/4 time. It was about a girl who had a cold and it read something like this: "I would dance with you, but I have the flu," and it goes on to say "If I only had a tissue, ACHOO!" The poem flowed like a sweet, humorous song and we never tired of hearing it.

Melly wrote fantasy and science fiction, love poems and humor. I call her writings brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. I hope there is a way to compile her work so the world can enjoy her poems and stories. The way she turned a phrase or effortlessly constructed a sentence was pure art.

I would also describe Melly as gracious. If anyone did the slightest thing for Melly, she would thank them profusely. And she meant it. She was always grateful for any small favor: a ride, phone call or a plate of cookies. She loved cookies.

I think Melly was the epitome of a Southern lady. Proud of her family and its rich history, she lived in her family home from age five until her death at age seventy six. I wish I had known her as a young woman but I was privileged to know her these last few years.

At Melly's funeral, Margaret Adkins read a poem she had written for her dear friend. It was a lovely memorial to Melly called "Goodbye To A Friend." She read, in part, "She might sing but you won't hear her" And then spoke of "angels drawing near her."

I imagine she is also writing poetry. We will miss you, Miss Melly.

Treasures at The Cellar Chest

I took some items to the Cellar Chest today. They will be for sale and someone else can enjoy my treasures.

I sat down over a cup of coffee with the manager, Tania Riddle, and admired all the work she and her staff have done since I was there a week ago. Tania has a flair for decorating and has been working hard on the back room, expanding the available space and making room for more paintings and antiques. One corner is reserved for Christmas! I love Christmas all year and if you are looking for ornaments or decorations to add to your collection, The Cellar Chest is the place to go.

In the front room there are little cozy areas such as the love seat and trunk shown in front of the piano (see picture.) On another wall is a large china cabinet full of blue and white Blue Willow patterned china. There is beautiful glassware, jewelry, books, furniture and collectibles.

Go in and see Tania and tell her that Lynn sent you. You will really enjoy poking around in this interesting shop. You never know what treasure you will find!

The Cellar Chest: 6620 A.L. Philpott Hwy (58 E.) Martinsville, VA