Memories of childhood and fall....

Fall is in the air, and with it fast approaching, I got in the mood to share this song...I have a couple or three new followers since I posted it originally that I think might enjoy it. The song is Good To Be Home by The Everybodyfields...no not a spelled wrong...they spelled it all together. Notice the past tense there...they have since broken up and went each gone their own way. I love a lot of songs, but think that deep down this will always be my favorite one....

SO GOOD TO BE HOME by The Everybodyfields

I was sick about the time we hit Virginia,
I had tombstones down both sides of my face.
Driving all night home from Boston,
I was so tired of being away.
Thinking about summer time and heat waves
And a town, it hardly ever snows,
Hitting apples with a baseball bat in August,
That's where I want to go...
So good to be home.

Well sidewalks down here, they go forever
and they always seem to meet you with a smile.
If they don't park the cars out where they shouldn't [??]
I believe you can see clear for a mile.
Well there's a tree on Maple St., it turns so yellow,
it turns lose the leaves; the ground, it turns to gold.
My car, it always knows what gear to be in
and my feet can always take me home.
So good to be home.

Well the lights here, they can spin the head of a young man
into thinking that the whole town loves you.
But your heart is not protected from the city
it might help to get you through.
Well the downtown has given me some problems
and we've all had some growing up to do,
walking on cars and across the tops of buildings,
I think that God was probably laughing too.
So good to be home...

Down the street my neighbor's son is walking,
the north side is getting bigger all the time.
I owe the girl down at the library some money,
she says she's just gonna let it slide.
In my mind every single day is sunny,
it's so bright it almost hurts my eyes to see.
When the rain is pouring out over the gutters,
thank the lord just to be here in Tennessee.
So good to be home...

Half a mile now from the border,
half a mile just to roll my windows down.
Sitting, staring at the windshield,
telling myself "not too much further now".
I call David up to see what he is doing
and I pass him as he's getting in his car.
Down the road and take a right down State of Franklin
and we'll p__ the night away down at the bar.
So good to be home...

Anyway, my brother, Neal put his photos to the song...they are all pictures from around our childhood home...

There is just so much to this song...it is the mood of the song.....the words don't exactly fit my childhood but the mood fits me to a 't.'
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Just thinking about how every fall, before school started, mom and I would try to get done with canning and freezing soon enough to have a couple weeks to sew and make my dresses for school before it was time to cut tobacco. About the only place that carried fabric back then was J.C. Penneys...at least in the little town we went shopping in...across the mountain in Middlesboro, Kentucky.

Patterns and fabric were up on third floor I think...and I am almost thinking the bottom floor was the ground floor...not positive but thinking that up the first set of stairs was kids clothing..maybe just girls, and I think the next floor was women's...followed by the next floor having household goods and and fabric and patterns...but maybe the children's and women's was one floor, don't know for sure.

There was an elevator, but I don't ever remember taking it a single time...we always went the stairs with mom telling me to slow down and don't fall, etc. I don't think I listened to her for more than a second on that one...but most stuff one did not ignore when she told you not to do.

But we would go up, and I would browse the patterns...McCall's and Simplicity...I don't think they offered Vogue or Butterick. I don't know if I even heard of those till I was away from home...but I may have.

Once I found the pattern, I looked for material...and I think I always chose the pattern first, then the fabric. I think most times I chose a couple patterns and made a couple different versions of the dresses...and believe me I didn't get that many dresses. Mom did most of the sewing, though I can remember her walking me through making a dress when I was probably in 5th grade, and I may have made some of my dresses when I was in high school, but don't remember for sure.

We sometimes spread things on the kitchen table to lay them out to be cut, other times the floor. One thing, I know my mom never got as much fabric as the pattern said to get...she would look at it and decide how much less she needed than it called for and I don't ever remember her being short of material...lots of times we had buttons at home, but had to buy zippers if required.
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The cicadas are calling here now, and if we sit on the porch at night, it sounds like autumn could be here in all its glory except maybe it is just a bit hotter than it will be later. Hearing them the past few nights just made me think of the days of my youth, and getting ready for school. And I can't think of fall, without thinking of that song...so thought I would throw them together for this post...and am sure I will probably do another in the weeks ahead. I am hoping for long fall season.

With a thankful heart....

Someone mentioned that I should show my sewing project(s)...well this is a quilt top that I finished a few months ago when my shoulder was still bothering me. It is 87 inches square. This was taken in harsh-middle of the day sunlit. Actually it was overcast and sunny by turn...either way this does not render the true color....I happened to be out in harsh light.

Anyway, I really had trouble when I sewed the long seams to put the quilt together because my shoulder/arm just ached. Then it got worse...but you know what? I sewed the lining for the backing today....with not a single pang. And I am planning to pin baste it in the next few days if nothing happens. Not so long ago, I could not have even thought about pin basting it...I could not even get down and reach back under the shelf to plug in the computer...it literally brought me to tears. I am still careful with that one, but I can do it. It is just it was such an unexpected thing, I will always remember it.

I am so thankful to be back on my feet...at least once a week I do something and think 'That didn't hurt!' When going to Sarah's it was getting into Roger's truck...it is an older Ford Ranger, but it is 4-wheel drive and I actually have to grab the handle above the window to get in...plus step up first on what is the step board....not so long ago it was a real struggle to find a way to hold on and pull myself up on the passenger's side.

And you women, you know how we grab the covers and flip it up in the air to spread it out better when we go to make the bed...I can do that with not a single twinge.

I had to miss a lot of therapy when I was sick, and thought I would start it again when I got over whatever I had, but I am finding that just living my life and doing the things I do normally seem to be doing the trick. When I quit therapy, I could not get in the truck without a struggle, I couldn't reach and hang clothes on a couple little clotheslines I have in the basement and I can now, and there are several other things that I can do that I couldn't do before I got sick.

And I am just so happy to be able to do them....I don't know how many times I have told Roger 'Look, this doesn't hurt!' So many simple things I cannot think of all of them. There is not much I can't do, but still have a little range to get back...but I think it will come with living. I can reach around behind my back with that side much farther than I could when I first got sick. I can put a belt on after I put my jeans on, and don't have to think and put it through the loops before I put the jeans on.

Well, this has been a self-centered post....I wanted to say a little about this but kept wanting to explain farther. The point of the post was supposed to be about being thankful for what we have....especially good health.

Decorated tree

We came across this tree in some little town in Illinois last week...I have never seen anything quite like it. It was by a place that sold exotic fish and supplies....the entire situation had a strange feel to me. It sort of had the feel of a home, yet it looks like an old store.
I should have had Roger park somewhere till I could have gotten better shots, but like I say, I felt like it had the feel of a home.
It seems to have a little bit of everything thrown on it for decoration...
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We have been to Sarah's for a couple days. I figured with her seeing us the day before, that it would be no big deal when we walked in but she came running and jumped for me to grab her. To just walk in and make someone that happy...there is no better feeling.

I am not sure what I am going to be doing the next few days...got home so late I did not check my tomatoes. I finally had a ripe tomato from the Brandywines and it was simply delicious, red and ripe all the way through--just the way I remember tomatoes. So I am hoping I have some more of them ready to eat. I may even end up taking a flashlight out there to check before the night is over. Yes, I am that hungry for a home grown tomato. I meant to take a few with us just to have....Sarah nor Jeremy likes fresh tomatoes but we would have enjoyed them.

I also have some sewing ready to do, and would really like to get started on that. And there is the never ending laundry...so I am sure I won't be bored. Plus I want to get caught up on blogs that I have missed the past couple of days. I hate getting a week behind...and I never can just simply start off and not go back and see what I have missed.