Welcome to more creative writing From the Heart. And while I must admit I am new to creative writing, I really do enjoy it, and hope to write more as the memories come my way, in moments of quiet or reflection!
In life, there are so many happenings, people, and changes that affect us deeply. And as kind and loving people, it is only natural that it will spill over into all that we do, know, and love...and while writing down stories and ideas is not new, these stories are mine. And the more I return here to offer a story or two, I realize this is as much a diary of my life as it is stories to entertain.
I decided to dig some out of my memories, write them and others down, and post them here. To share yes, but more for my own self-encouragement to write even more...Because life continues to roll along on a wonderful route, and I no longer want to be comfortable as just the big girl in the back. Where I felt safest for the vast majority of my life. And with that said, I thank you for indulging me with your visit today...
please note: While this is a published page, I will from time to time return to the stories and memories already shared to update with a photo, correct a typo, or continue a dropped thought, thank you for your understanding.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am going to issue an apologize right now!
We do not go all out for Halloween. We don't hate it or even feel the slightest Ba humbug about it. If in fact there was a Ba Humbug, for Halloween. The world and especially the blogging world loves Halloween! The pumpkin décor begins showing up right after school starts, then we move to on witches and finally skeletons. And while I love a good slice of pumpkin pie, I do not have a pumpkin pie recipe on the blog. I guess I figured by now everyone has their own favorite recipe, that they turn to year after year. Plus I am about the only pumpkin pie lover here on our little homestead...and I don't need a whole pie for myself.
I do have a delightful recipe for Honey Pumpkin Bread that also makes a truly gourmet French toast for breakfast, should you have any leftover bread. It is so good, I call it Bed and Breakfast good! And that is about it for pumpkin recipes. I would like to try more savory pumpkin recipes, but again, I am about the only pumpkin eater around here. I am growing pumpkins in the garden, but they are for the chickens. Pumpkins and the pumpkin seeds in particular are quite good for chickens. The pumpkin vines are the of the plants in that part of the garden. All the other beds have been weeded, mulched and covered for the season in hopes of less weeds next spring.
Halloween 2023.
We will be going on the trick or treat walk at our local park with the grandson, it is a family outing we all enjoy! It is always fun and I love to see the littles in their costumes. Our grandson has chosen his costume for the year, and his mom is busy sewing it right now as I tap this out. And yes you would be correct, she loves Halloween! And she always has. I have lost track of all the costumes she has made through the years! Their little end of the homestead will be decorated for Halloween, and we of course always enjoy seeing the decorations when we visit. But Halloween has also shown this interesting item. You know that candy collected for trick or treat? Well, it usually goes to friends or the blessing box, because the grandson does not eat candy! Just like we don't put up decorations...I guess we are related after all!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I put roses on the table last Thursday. It also happened to be the 11th of September. But something had happened the day before, something that almost shattered my faith in society. Just as all the killings I lived through as a child of the 60's when in 1963 President Kennedy was assassinated. And a few years later in April 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated.
And then in June of 1968 the president's brother Robert Kennedy Sr. was also assassinated. We were a broken country, with society fiercely divided. Our country was going through not only a war in Vietnam, but also a political war on our own home front. I remembered all of this, the day Mr. Charlie Kirk was assassinated. Why? Because in 60 short years we went from broken to thriving and back to broken once again. And a strong and honest man who was trying to bring us back together, was assassinated.
When I looked at the dead roses a few days ago, I realized that I had put them in a drinking glass and not the antique blue mason jar I always use. But why? Too preoccupied with current events? Too lazy to get it out of the upper cupboard? Too sad? Not paying enough attention to what I was doing? No it was none of those reasons. I realized it had been a metaphor because I was emotionally parched and so very thirsty for the kindness of what we can all be, when we are kind and not against one another. It is time my friends to mend the brokenness in our country once again...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I do love roses!
The yellow rose in the lower left corner is a rose I bought in Montana, in reembrace of my beloved Grandmother Carter. I have actually purchased and planted a yellow rose in the last six homes I have lived in. All to remember grandmother by. And as the house was flipped and hit the market, not only did I say goodbye to the home I had built, but the rose as well. Of course by now it was well established in the garden of that house, and became a gift to the new owners.
But when we hit Montana as a stopping place for our next adventure, I felt that I did not want to leave my yellow rose behind anymore. When we packed up to move to Wyoming, that rose in the lower corner, came with. And I even took it one step further with the help of my husband. When we started National Park Service Volunteering once again, that rose, hit the road with us and was part of every camp we lived in during our assignments. As well as on the road to get there and back again. The first item off the truck was the rose when we arrived and the last item loaded on the truck when we left, was, yes, the rose.
Grandmother's rose gave us blooms for Christmas in Arizona. Grandmother's rose was on and off the truck until we packed up to move to Texas. And it was the last thing loaded for that move. It bloomed right away once here! Which turned out to be one of the hottest summer in decades! Immediately Grandmother's rose became the yellow rose of Texas.
Currently all the roses need a good trimming, but Grandmother's rose needs it most of all. It is bushy, and the blooms are almost miniature in size. It has continued to grow and offer me beautiful flowers for the dining room table, year after year, move after move. Proving how strong and resilient something considered delicate can be, even when the reputation of being delicate is earned, LOL. And reminds me everyday that I too, need to show up, and never give up!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
News we never thought we would ever hear?
What do you do when you get a report of news you never thought you would hear? Do you crumble? Do you shrug it off? Do you need to think about it until you no longer have a gut lining? Or do you come back around and realize that just the day before, receiving the news, you had no idea of any issue, and were living life as you always had?
Speaking for myself, I do it all. Upon hearing the news, I am absolutely shook to my core, then I go through every scenario of doom, and then I slowly come back around to realize that I can (and will!) continue to do the best I have the ability to do to manage it all, and that it or rather I, will be OK.
Sometimes OK, is all there is. For those times when you cannot reverse what you were just told or learned about. So it is best to get the first few knee jerk reactions out of the way and simply get back to living. Because that was exactly what your were doing right up to the exact second the phone rang...
Thank you for visiting From the Heart Vol II beginning August 2025.
Would you like to comment?
Comments always appreciated, at Scratch Made Food! Please be aware comments with sales links will be deleted. Thank you for stopping by!