Happenings at The Windy Knoll
We butchered Penny Mac yesterday and it was not before she needed it. The Penny Mac Hydrangea was so overgrown we could hardly get between her and the Japanese Red Maple and this is our path to the rooting bed. Our job was not professional by any means, but we did get the shrub cut back a…
Read MoreStill Learning Jan. 2003
“Never too old to learn” is an old adage that’s been around for years; however, it still remains the same. The residents of The Windy Knoll, even with their advancing years, keep learning. One thing for sure that we learn daily is that we cannot do what we used to do. John re-learned that a…
Read MoreSchools of Music 2007
During the 1930’s and ’40’s Sand Mountain was known for it schools of music — called “Singing Schools” – and the mountain produced some famous singers. The two closest to The Windy Knoll were Cat Freeman and his sister, Vestal Goodman, who grew up just north of Geraldine. We were in the same age bracket;…
Read MoreWhatever Happened to Mama-isms? 2008
Recently I’ve read a book entitled Grits is Groceries . . . . . and other facts of southern life, written by Darrell Huckaby – a Georgia author/educator. Mr. Huckaby mentioned mama-isms in his book and wondered when they went out of vogue. He thought it was about the same time the Andy Griffith Show…
Read MoreTheads of Love
Threads of Love is a national organization that makes tiny clothes for pre-mature babies, donating them to hospitals around the nation. A number of years ago I read about the organization, made a few things and sent them to Louisiana. They thanked me, but told me of the chapter in Birmingham, so now that’s where my caps go,…
Read MoreAunt Bill Rambles
Well, I been a-thinking what I could say to you what you wanted to hear and I couldn’t come up with nair thang. So I decided to say a poem I learnt many years ago, but I don’t know who wrote it. The hardest thing on the farm I think Is teaching a little new calf how to drink. You pull…
Read MoreMemories in a Pocketbook 1999
It was an article in a recent magazine that started me thinking about when had I ever cleaned out the innermost pockets of my purse — not only the one I carry every day, but others I never carry any more. In the beginning of this undertaking I discovered a virtual time capsule. This quote…
Read MoreA Windy Knoll Report
Whew! This small garden we have is in full swing. Yesterday John brought in okra to be worked and today he brought a peck bucket of bell peppers and another peck bucket of tomatoes. I’m considering leaving here ’til we have a frost. We are too old to do all this, but. . . . . I…
Read MoreProtracted Meetin’ 2008
The last two weeks of July and the month of August was a time when farmers and their families could take a step back and not work as hard. Spring was always a hard time — tilling the soil, planting the seed and then tending the crop. The weeks in mid summer were reserved for revival…
Read MoreThe Rewards of Buterfly Gardening 2005
Lepidoptera means scaled winged and describes the butterfly with its most obvious features — wings covered with flattened scales. Few people think of butterflies as pollinators, but just like bees butterflies pollinate plants, too. One report states that the number of honey bees in the US has decreased by 25% in the past decade due…
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