Tag Archives: Family

Settling in for Fall

8 Oct

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

I think we may be settled into the mountains for the duration of fall.  Of course, I may be wrong about that. We tend to have trouble settling in one place.  Last weekend we attended a family reunion in the Raleigh, NC area. When my mom’s family gets together, a lot of talking and laughing goes on and a lot of food gets eaten. As the food line was forming, my cousin, Nancy and I were eyeing the homemade mac and cheese and considering our chance of getting some before it was gone. I talked Nancy into sliding through the line and getting us a plate of the yellow yuminess to share while we assessed the various cakes and pies on display. As the line shortened, Nancy took up a place in line but I headed straight to the desserts and grabbed a piece of the chocolate cake that had been teasing my taste buds. Have you ever eaten a ding-dong cake? Oh my. For a while now, eat dessert first, has been my motto when the desserts look especially good.  It would have been a tragedy if I had choked on a fried corn bread stick and missed that cake!

On our drive back to the mountains, we noticed that more trees had begun to clothe themselves in their fall wardrobe. Next week the colored leaves are supposed to be at their peak and we are looking forward to having family come and stay for the week. Fall also ushers in craft shows, festivals and an abundance of apples. I have apples cooking in my crock pot as I type this. I went to the vegetable stand this morning and chose an assortment of local varieties to make applesauce and I added a touch of local honey to it. I know it will be delicious because I think I sampled every type of apple as I peeled them.

This morning a low fog hung over the mountains. The contrast of fog and fall color was beautiful and oddly soothing. Our flowers haven’t made up their mind about fall. The roses continue to bloom and the blue Hydrangea, which did not bloom all summer, are blooming now. I think we missed giving them a spring feeding and confused them with a late summer feed.

Got a little behind on weeding!

The cool weather here is a blessing after the heat of Florida. I plan to enjoy every moment of it. Wherever you are, I hope you enjoy your version of fall too.

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Showers of Love~Part 2

27 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

As I mentioned last time, God has blessed me richly with a wonderful husband who has been literally catering to my every whim and need since I’ve had total knee replacement surgery.

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But I am blest with others, as well. We’ve had wonderful friends who have brought meals to us, along with visits to encourage us both. We’ve had phone calls and cards wishing us both well. Our church family is the only support group we need. They supported us when I had cancer back in 2000, and they are just as supportive now.

But there is one other I want to mention. As soon as we called our oldest daughter, Karen, with the news when the surgery was to be, she said she wanted to come and help out. Fred said she didn’t need to, but her reply was “what if I WANT to come?” And we told her to “come on down!” And she did.

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There wasn’t any need for her to be here the four days I was in the hospital, so she arrived the day following my discharge from the hospital, and she stayed five days. It was so good to see her and have her here. She did the cooking (remember, Fred isn’t much of a cook!), and helped me in and out of my chair. She unhooked me from the ice machine that ran across my knee 22 hours a day, and then hooked me back up. She encouraged me to do the exercises to jump-start my healing process.

And we had some great times of just sitting and visiting. We always seem to have something to talk about, and this time was no exception. I did mention to her that there were times that I wanted to just pick up and run to her and her sister, when they were having health issues – just because….. Perhaps just because I’m Mom. Karen had an unknown ulcer issue a few years back that scared us silly. My immediate response was to fly up there to take care of her. Her sister had emergency appendectomy surgery the week before our grandson’s wedding – and I wanted to jump on the plane and be with her. None of which could I do. So I fully understood Karen’s desire to just come be with Mom. Made this old heart glad, too

Karen and her husband, Brian, have been our traveling partners on many adventures, and they are great fun to travel with. Brian is a planner, and he works it out to see as much as possible on each trip. We are always delighted when they ask us to travel with them.

 

 

God has given me the blessings of family and friends that touch my heart in so many ways.

I am blest, indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Showers of Love

20 Sep

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

I’ve been on a sabbatical for a few weeks now, and the reason is that I had total knee replacement surgery, along with the recovery time involved with that (an on-going thing).

I am about to sing the praises of my husband, but I want you to understand that God Himself is the foundation for ALL that goes on in our lives. With that firmly in mind…..

I’ve mentioned in previous postings that I had breast cancer in 2000 (please see my first post with oldthingsrnew….Safe, September 16, 2012). What I did not mention is that my husband, Fred, was my anchor during that time. He has been the love of my life now for 54+ years, and God has blest me with his presence.

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There are so many ways of showing love to someone, but Fred absolutely showed his love for me during my cancer time. He was with me throughout all the visits to the surgeon, and through the surgeries. He was the one who cleaned my drain tubes each day. He took care of the household duties during that time. I’m sorry to admit that he really isn’t much of a cook, but we were blest with many friends bringing food, so all he had to do was heat it up.

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While all that took some time, the recovery time for a knee replacement is much, MUCH longer and more painful. Fred is my “coach” in all this. He attended the pre-op class and learned what he would have to do to help me through it all. And he has done so, marvelously. When I don’t want to do the exercises to get my knee back to working order – he’s the one who pushes me to do so. He counts out the reps I have to do for each exercise. He actually does some cooking – he’s learning to make a mean Canadian bacon and scrambled egg breakfast! (As a footnote – I always said he would never starve, because he knows how to make peanut and jelly sandwiches!) He hooked me up the electric ice machine throughout the day and night. He helps me into and out of the shower stall. He wrapped my knee with Saran Wrap and taped it down so I could shower – then removed it when I was done. He dries my feet when I get out of the shower because I have to hold onto something for stability.

I am up to walking with a cane these days rather than the walker, and he is right beside me – on the other side and holding my hand – giving me the stability I need.

There are so many more things I could say that he has done – and is continuing to do – that will enable me to get stronger and back to “normal” with this new knee I have.

All that to say, that my love, my Fred, has absolutely SHOWERED me with his LOVE!! What a perfect example of love he shows me each and every day.

I thank my God every day for bringing Fred into my life. His love is so very pure and wonderful.

I am blest.

Psalm 21:6

Surely you have granted him unending blessings

and made him glad with the joy of your presence.

Fred and Judy at EPCOT with Fred's sister, Sally

Fred and Judy at EPCOT with Fred’s sister, Sally

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Fair Babies

8 Sep

Our friend, Patricial Franklin is sharing today. Welcome back, Patricia!

Fair Babies

Patricia Franklin

I’m working the Pro-Life booth at the Fair. It is a lot of fun, and the children and adults love the baby dolls on display. Don’t know if you have ever seen them, but they are soft replicas of 12 weeks and up of what babies in the womb look and feel like. They feel the same, weigh the same, etc.  The kids love to hold them.  Last year a family came by — first the Dad came strolling by with two seven year old girls.  He walked on and the girls stopped to hold the babies.  The mother came up struggling with a baby stroller in the crowd, saw the girls, stopped, and shouted: “PUT THE BABIES DOWN AND BACK AWAY!! I looked at her and started to back away myself. The girls giggled, put the babies down and ran to catch up with their Dad. The exhausted mother stopped for a minute and told us the baby in the strollers was the first one she’d had in seven years and it was hard work. She said “And now I have to try to explain THIS to my girls!! Meaning pro-life. Then she stopped, relaxed, we both smiled and I said, ‘I’m sure you will do just fine.” I have thought about that so many times this year, and every time I have to smile… especially at her words … BACK AWAY, which is usually what you hear in the movies as a fierce warning.

I have never had a bad experience. Sometimes a few people will try to start an argument, but it just kind of dies on their lips and they either walk away, or we have a pleasant conversation about babies. Most people are very friendly and talkative and will often tell you the story of their lives. It used to be that people would walk by and try to ignore us, or they would act embarrassed. But something was very different last year. So many people stopped and talked to us. Many had never seen the replicas before, and I was surprised at this. Some came up and picked the dolls up and cradled them like they were alive. I was surprised by many young men who came by. One, who had on a ragged shirt and wore an earring said, “Oh, I love these! I want one of the babies!” He did not fit the stereotype of what you would expect by the way he was dressed. He was with some other young people. He got one from us, and several of his friends came back and bought some of the little 12 week replicas. They were apparently students and very pro-life. This would give them some help talking to their opposing students.

I have helped in the library at the Catholic School for years.  It is only one day a week.  We basically just check books in and out…. and read to the kindergarteners.  It keeps me in touch with the younger generation.

It is amazing how you get the feeling of people’s reactions even before they speak to you. Last year a young lady came and stood across the aisle from us for a long time, looking at our booth. Whenever I tried to catch her eye, she would look the other way. I got the feeling she would like some information, but did not want to talk to us. So I gave my attention to someone who came by. While I was busy, she came over to the end of the counter and picked up a brochure and walked off with it. My thought and prayer was instinctively “I hope you will save the baby.” I was almost certain that she or someone she knew was pregnant and did not know what to do about it.

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Granny~Part 2

19 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                    

I’ve mentioned before that my Dad was 20 years older than my Mother. When Mother had been dating Daddy for a while, she showed Granny a picture of Daddy, and Granny exclaimed: “Why…..he’s an OLD MAN!”   But that didn’t really make any difference to Mom and Dad, even though he was only six months younger than his mother-in-law.

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Granny was really a good cook. And back in those days, more women stayed home and did the cooking for their families, than we do now. For some reason, I remember being in San Antonio with Granny and Aunt Jessie, and the smell that I remember is one of Frito Lay Corn Chips™ that she had spread out on a cookie sheet and warmed in the oven, because they had become “limp” from the moisture in the air. Heating them in the oven would “crisp” them up again. It was a unique smell, and one I’ve not smelled since. I guess Frito Lay now has a better way of sealing their packaging.

I remember that whenever I had the flu or strep throat (which I had a lot as I was growing up!), she would make a pot of potato/onion soup for me to eat. It was so good and was just what I needed when I didn’t have much appetite. Unfortunately, I never got the recipe from her. I have a recipe for a delicious potato/leek soup (from my wonderful sister-in-law, DiVoran), but it just isn’t quite what Granny made, but as close as I can come without Granny’s recipe.

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One of my favorite things to eat is popcorn. I remember one time when I had either the flu or a very bad cold, and Granny was staying at our house. She asked what I wanted to eat, and I told her a BIG bowl of popcorn! She popped it up, fixed it just the way I liked it – lots of butter and salt – and brought it to me. Unfortunately, my sinuses were so stopped up that I couldn’t taste anything – and the popcorn held no appeal to me. To say that she wasn’t happy with me, goes without saying.

Granny had a terrific sense of humor.

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She could tell a joke with the straightest face – then just howl with laughter when I couldn’t tell if she was joking or not.  I’ve seen this look of mischief on her face so many times. She was such fun.

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Aunt Jessie always had a dog around the house. And she and Granny both loved those dogs. They came to Albuquerque with Ginger, a beautiful red Cocker Spaniel.

I don’t remember just when Ginger died, but I do remember when they got Trixie – a little Pug. As my Mother said when Trixie was just a puppy – “She’s so ugly she’s cute.” And she was.

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As Trixie got older, along came Bubbles – a black Poodle.

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They were all fun dogs. We had cats at our house, and dogs at Granny and Aunt Jessie’s house – so we had the best of both worlds.

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Granny (Addie) with Judy and Bill Lites, 1956

~~~~~~~~~~To be continued~~~~~~~~~~

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Granny~Part1

12 Jul

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

                                                  

 

I call her my “favorite” Granny, mainly because I didn’t know my other Grandmother very well. The “other” Grandmother lived two states away, and we only saw her once in a while – I would like to think we went there every Summer, but I’m not sure.

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But Granny lived in Albuquerque near us (with my Aunt Jessie), and we saw her quite often. She and Aunt Jessie moved to Albuquerque in 1952, but before that, Granny would come and stay most of the summer with us. One of my strangest memories, is of coming home from school and realizing that she wasn’t there anymore – she had returned home to San Antonio. It was a very empty feeling.

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But then they moved to Albuquerque, and she became a very real part of my life. They lived about 10 minutes away from us, and then in the years I could drive, I would spend nearly as much time at their house as I did at ours. So that house became as dear to me as our house did.

4I remember that Granny could make the best meringue pies ever. She could seal that meringue to the pie crust so I could never tell what kind of pie it was – until it was cut.

I would come home from school and she would have a pie cooling on the rack, and would challenge me to guess what kind of pie it was. It could be one of her wonderful chocolate cream pies, or perhaps her butterscotch pie, or then again, it could be her great lemon meringue pie. And by George – I could never tell what it was. When I make a meringue pie now, even if I seal that meringue to the crust, it ALWAYS pulls away from the crust as it is browning! Shucks!! I’ve never gotten the knack – and she never taught me how to do it. I have her recipes for the chocolate and butterscotch pies, but she died before I could get the lemon. I’ve never found any recipe to match the one she had.

One memory I have of her pies is a fun memory, but wasn’t too pleasant at the time. She had made a coconut cream pie especially for my Dad, since it was his favorite. He took one bite of it and didn’t really say anything about it – most unusual for him, as he always complimented Mother and Granny for their cooking. Then Granny took a bite and exclaimed, “Whoa! Who put the salt in the sugar bowl?” Apparently she had mistakenly replaced the sugar with salt and didn’t know it until she tasted it! Into the trash THAT pie went! And Daddy was too much of a gentleman to tell her how horrible it tasted!

I have mentioned in other musings that my Aunt Jessie owned and operated a small diner in downtown San Antonio in years past.

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It was small, but well attended and even earned a write-up in the San Antonio newspaper.

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While they had a “cook” for the diner, Granny made all the pies. And people would come in for a slice – or even purchase an entire pie to take home to their families! They were that good.

~~~~~~~~~~To be continued~~~~~~~~~~

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Animal Attraction

13 Apr

My Take

DiVoran Lites

Author, Poet and Artist

Animal Attraction

Sonya likes the furry pets,

But her brother is away,

So she cares for lizards,

Feeds and waters them each day.

Her brother has a snake, too.

She feeds him two live mice.

She thought she wouldn’t do it,

But she only thought it twice.

The furry ones are furry,

The cat and ferret too.

She has a tiny hamster

It’s called a berry blue.

She writes her brother often

And sends money for the phone.

She doesn’t want her bro to feel

As if he’s all alone.

 

Animal header

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My March Madness

19 Mar

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

I know now why March has been named March Madness and it has nothing to do with basketball! I don’t think I have caught my breath yet. I even set my alarm clock an hour earlier to pack more into my day. That is a big deal for me.

The disturbing part is that aside from doing first round edits on Rebekah’s upcoming release, Spring Dawn, I can’t tell you why is has been “mad.” Isn’t this how life goes most of the time, busy, busy, busy with little to show for it.

As I began writing this, the phrase “Be Intentional” came to mind.

Keepand Be Intentional

 

.So I decided to be intentional as I think back on my March activities. I realized that I had accomplished more than I thought.

  1. Created a blog for my son’s travel business, Oasis Travel.
  2. Created and posted content to his blog.
  3. Searched for travel blogs to follow and connect with.
  4. Regularly maintain this blog and Rebekah Lyn Books.
  5. Edited fifty chapters of Spring Dawn.
  6. Actively participated in two book promotions.
  7. Then there is the every day routine of social media networking.

The best part was spending time and sharing laughter with friends and family. I think I will choose to be intentional and be thankful for the things I did accomplish and not fret over what I did not.

If you haven’t visited Rebekah Lyn Books stop by and see our new projects. On Sundays, DiVoran is sharing her serial novel, Go West. It is a historical western romance complete with original artwork. Wednesday is Promise Poster Day. You will certainly want to view them.

Rebekah Lyn Books is a part of an exciting book sale and giveaway March 16-20. One lucky reader will win over FORTY digital books and registration is very easy.

That’s all for now. Our time in Florida is over for a few months and while I will miss my precious friends and family, the beautiful western Carolina Mountains are calling my name!

 

PS I forgot to mention that Rebekah is giving away an autographed copy of Summer Storms. For a chance to win, leave on comment on the blog hop post.

Created this as part of my March Madness

Created this as part of my March Madness photo license free from bing images

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An Amazing Adventure~Part 14

25 Jan

SUNDAY MEMORIES

Judy Wills

JUDY

 

After our venture into the mountains, we drove back to Denver. We parked and walked some of the downtown area. It is a lovely city. We walked through Lincoln Park.

 

We saw, across the way, the County Courthouse, decked out with pink ribbons on the columns.

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We saw a statue memorial to a Medal of Honor Recipient from World War 2;

 

we saw a cowboy and an Indian warrior.

 

We saw bronze statues,

 

and the library, and a cow!

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In front of Katie Mullins bar were some bagpipers.

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We went through the library and were fascinated by it. Very modern. It was of great interest to Karen, as she is a librarian in her hometown. We rode the downtown bus—free—for several blocks, just to take in some of the town, and the architecture.

Finally, tuckered out, we drove back to the hotel. Actually, we stopped at the Texas Roadhouse Grill for supper. The food was really good, but there was an enormous amount of it! We were stuffed! Then back to the hotel to pack and sleep.

The next morning, we checked out of the hotel, then went back to Rosie’s Diner for one more breakfast. Then Karen and Brian drove us to the airport, where we said our goodbyes to them. We then flew home. Karen and Brian had most of the day to do with, and they made a full day of it.

So, as you can see, the whole thing really was an A…M…A…Z…I…N…G adventure! One we would happily repeat!

As promised, one last word about the friends we stayed with our second night (I invite you to revisit my November 2, 2014 post).

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Ruth Anne and I have known each other since early childhood. We both lived in New Mexico: she was in Deming, and I was in Albuquerque – about a four-hour’s drive apart. Our fathers played college basketball together in Louisiana (early 1920’s). We are fairly convinced that her father was partly responsible for bringing my father to Albuquerque. I would spend weeks in Deming in the summers with her, and she would spend weeks in Albuquerque with me. We met up with her and her husband while studying at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, in the early-to-mid 1960’s. Charles went on to become a pastor, while Fred went into the Air Force. We visited with them and their family once when we were all living in Kansas. After their daughters were grown and away from home, Charles and Ruth Anne went to the mission field, in Malaysia. They were invited back recently by the Malaysian Christians to help them. They are absolutely lovely people, and we rejoice that our family has stayed connected with them all these years.

~~~~~~~FINALLY…..The End…of an AMAZING adventure!~~~~~~~

 

 

 

The whole earth is filled with awe at Your wonders…..

Psalm 65:8

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Making Biscuits

8 Jan

On the Porch

Onisha Ellis

I'm a winner

For many years the first stop on our family vacation was at my mother’s house. She lived a few blocks away and on the route to I-95. Mom would get up early to fry sausage patties and bake homemade biscuits for us to take with us. Most of the time, she would bring them to us at the car so we didn’t lose time loading and unloading the kids (you KNOW the havoc that creates!) A good question to ask now is why didn’t I make the biscuits? Well, there is a story to that. You see, my mother taught me how to cook full dinners with everything being ready to serve up at the same time. She taught me how to bake cakes. She tried to teach me how to make biscuits, but I was hopeless. My biscuits could have been deemed lethal weapons. They were so hard a chicken wouldn’t eat them.

Chicken and coffee 1

Finally, she forbade me from trying to make biscuits, the cost of flour and buttermilk was too expensive. Fast forward fifty years and I came across a recipe on Janet’s Appalachian Kitchen Facebook page for homemade biscuits made the way my mother made them. I decided to give it another try, with a twist. In the past, I could mix the biscuits fine but kneading them was my downfall. My daughter Rebekah has the knack for kneading so I would work with her to make them. Finally mother’s biscuits would be back on the family table. The first batch was edible but not soft and flaky. It seems Rebekah doesn’t have the knack for mixing. Round two we used our stand mixer with a dough hook to mix the dough into a ball, then we turned it out on a floured mat and Rebekah gave it a knead. To make biscuits like my mom, the dough is molded into a log roll, then each biscuit is pinched off, placed on the biscuit pan and pressed down with the back of three fingers. These turned out delicious! We ate them for dinner the night before our road trip to Florida and guess what? We cooked sausage the next morning and had sausage and biscuit for the trip. Biscuits are back!

southern buttermilk biscuits 4

Unfortunately we didn’t take a picture of ours.

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