Washing Quilts 1991
As I put a quilt in the washing machine I couldn’t help but remember when we used to wash quilts (and such) at the Windy Knoll. Back then Daddy would build a fire around the wash pot filled with water that had been drawn from the well by hand. Soaked pieces seemed to come clean easier — or so it…
Read MoreAunt Bill Offers Advice 2011
Thank goodness Billie asked me to write this. I shore have been a-wantin’ to give these folks some advice. You see, we’ve got a new young doctor here on the mountain and him and his bride come by The Windy Knoll the other day when I see’d she’s in a family way. Law me, these…
Read MoreI Love My Ferns
I’m sure my ferns are not as pretty as yours, but they’re mine and I love them. When we were younger, and more mobile, we belonged to the Birmingham Fern Society and enjoyed associating with people in the know in the fern world. At that time I could spit out the botanical names right and…
Read MoreI Can Remember — can you? 1991
Can you remember when…? Travel was done by horses and buggy and/or mules and wagon. Spend-the-day company came unannounced and often. Sewing was done on a treadle sewing machine. We striped syrup cane, cut it and hauled it to the syrup mill where the juicer was turned by mule power. Fodder was pulled and a…
Read MoreNursery Rhymes 1988
Confusion is what we will all be experiencing if a Mr. Carter of Conyers, Georgia has his way. Mr. Carter has a three-year-old son to whom he reads nursery rhymes and to whom he has difficulty explaining the said rhymes. Carter advocates updating the rhymes you and I grew up with and the same ones we’ve read to…
Read MorePepper Relish 1995
Talk about good — this is heavenly to serve in the cold winter time (or any time for that matter) with dried beans or meat. Some of our extended family enjoys it atop a hamburger, too. Allow plenty of time for this one as the relish has to simmer quite a while, but believe me…
Read MoreEvery Woman Should have a John 1989
Kudos this week to a man of small stature, but one who stands head and shoulders above most — a man of many talents. He’s quick tempered and short spoken, but even so he’s a keeper. I’ve heard him say many times of a Georgia friend, “She will work anywhere you hitch her.” The same applies to him,…
Read MoreVaried Room Uses 1999
The linens have been laundered and returned to the bed to await the next sleep-over company and now this room is to be used for something I doubt it’s ever been used for before. It’s July and time to harvest spent hydrangea blossoms for drying and that’s just what’s happening today. With clippers and large…
Read MoreAunt Bill Rambles
Well, I’ve had a good thing happen to me this week. Some woman called and wanted to talk about quilts — lordy, I can talk about quilts as long as anybody’ll set and listen. This woman must have had lots of time because we talked and talked. I shore do like to talk about quilts and tell stories…
Read MoreLet’s Make Ice Pickles
This is the time of year for making delicious cucumber pickles and the Ice Pickle is one of the best we’ve ever had. I’ve been making it for years. The recipe came to me at least 40 years ago from Mrs. Vera Hamby of Mableton, Georgia. Mrs. Hamby has been gone for years, but we…
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