A fresh cut fir tree is the best smell in the world. Second would be hot spiced cider.

When I was in elementary school there was a girl in high school named Snow White. She had jet black hair and I thought she was so beautiful!

I love the smell of a pine tree, acutally a pine forest. When I was little my grandfather had a place near a pine forest and my cousin and I would lay on the pine needles and talk. It was like being under a Christmas tree! So, pine is my favorite Christmas (and all year round) smell. And baking cookies comes in second!

The smell of cedar trees. I go to tree lots just to smell the roping and trees lined up ever so carefully. The smell of cookies baking as I slap the hands of every little boy and big boy trying to snatch one off the cookie sheet. The smell of snow in the air like today in Kirkwood. You can smell it and if you look hard enough you can see the tiny flurries flying all around. Christmas is on the way I can smell it in the air.

No snow here yet,I was hiking yesterday in the woods outside of Spokane and climbed into the snow and at a
particular switchback a huge aroma of cedar brought back
Christmas memories. I heart Christmas too!!!

Another aroma fav for me is Yankee Candle scent "Jack Frost", very much peppermint……yummo

Happiest of holidays to you and your family, Rebekah.

My favorite Christmas scent is cinnamon. I burn cinnamon candles all year long and always double the cinnamon in my recipes.

The smells that take me down Christmas Memory Lane (yes, it’s a real place) are….
Cinnamon,Clove decorated oranges,peppermint,butter cookies,early morning coffee mixed with the smoke of my fireplace,my REAL Christmas tree:), Hunting for the greens we use to make our wreaths every year,pancakes and pj’s with syrup on them (spills will always happen), a snowy dark, sharply cold quiet smell that makes you feel blessed, OH! and the smell that would explode into the living room every year when I was little. My parents had a Christmas Barrel in the attic. Every year when mom would pry it open,cinnamon and pop-cycle sticks and candle wax and pine would all burst out of the barrel.Mom would always wait until I was standing right beside it and then open it. It was almost like there was all the memories and joy from the last year in that barrel! I will always remember that smell 🙂

I love,love,love the smell of Christmas trees (fir!!!!)!! When I go to the grocery store I go over and stick my face in them and INHALE!!!!!!!!!! (I’m not able to have a real tree anymore, but the Balsam & Cedar from Yankee Candle does fill my house with the most WONDERFUL smell)And I’m right there with ya’ on the peppermint coffee!!!!! Gotta’ have it!! Merry Christmas Rebekah and family!!!!!!

Merry Christmas Rebekah! I just love your words! Like you, I’ve still only got up one Christmas decoration and in fact, my fall wreath is still on the front door! My favorite smells of Christmas are, chocolate, pie and vanilla scented candles…and PEPPERMINT! We Brigham’s Peppermint Ice-cream too! I don’t think there’s anything low fat about it! We also like to take things nice and slow during the holiday season,nothing fancy, just good food, lots of love and plenty of Christmas spirit to last the whole year! Come by and see me on my Beach Blog this Friday for my farmgirl Christmas entry! Lot’s of love and thanks so much for your wonderful way with words all year long her my blogging sister from the south!
Farmgirl hugs,
Deb

I LOVE CHRISTMAS! Since I grew up on a farm in Colorado I’m very familiar with the Colorado Blue Spruce which is also the state tree and my favorite tree.
Christmas smells like the blue spruce tree! Fragrant evergreens all make me think of Christmas! Ahhhhhh!!!!
We have purposely planted some in our yard as well and they are just the most stunningly beautiful, majestic trees. We also love to decorate them with Christmas lights . . and our neighbors tell us they enjoy them as well!
Merry Christmas!
CJ

Christmas always smells like pine and/or fir trees. I have an allergy to them, so after the first night I can’t smell it anyway! Stay plugged up until the tree goes out the door! Oh well. Also chocolate…cookies baking in the oven, dipped chocolate spoons, fudge. Always at Christmas.

Hope your trip was snow-filled!

I left one of my favorite scents on the other blog. Another is sugar cookies baking. I guess my Christmas smells all have to do with sweets. I have three daughters and the name I always loved I finally gave to the third daughter. Shannon. But I also love the other girls names or I would not have named them Elizabeth and Samantha who we all call Sam. Now we have Grand daughters Savannah and Natalie, love those names also. My name, I always thought was so plain and there were always 3-4 Brenda’s in every class. I will slow down the week after next. We have our family here the weekend before Christmas which leaves the week of Christmas quiet and relaxed. Have the best holiday ever!

Oh, the smell of spiced cider, or Wassail, that fills our house this time of year. I even "cheat" and simmer some spices in cider on the stove when it is NOT a beverage. Makes me all dreamy/fuzzy feeling.

Peppermint, vanilla, cinammon! Christmas baking is my favorite part of the Christmas season.

My daughter’s name is Noelle. And I always loved that name. Anyway, my favorite smell at Christmas is the kitchen on Christmas Day. I love when all of the food is baking and cooking, getting ready for the family.

CHRISTmas smell means my mother’s kolache’ recipe. I swore as a child, teenager, young woman that I would NEVER make this stuff.

Yeah, right. I married a fella who just happens to adore nut filled kolache’, apricot filled kolache’, and on a really inspired day, cheese filled kolache’.

37 years later. I am still making this Slovakian sweet dough roll all wrapped jelly roll fashion with those fillings. When I can make it, lekvar. That is stewed prunes simmered to a thick black filling with a twist of homegrown meyer lemon.

Yep. I think he is going to keep me.

Merry CHRISTmas and God Bless you BIG!

Adore your writings, Miz Rebekah.

Grandma T over @
Tindel Den Cottage

My favorite smell at Christmastime is balsam. When I get my balsam tree I cut extra branches and make a spray for the door, decorate it with ribbons, berries, and holly. I love putting dried needles of balsam in little sachets or pillows, so that you can recapture the lovely scent all year long. So fresh and natural. And I agree with you about snow: it is so beautiful and romantic. I hope we get some soon instead of dreary rain here in Vermont!
I also love cinnamon and sugar cookies baking and Swedish toffee cooking on the stove…
And I love your slow decoration plan and relaxed view of the holiday! Yes!

The smell of pepermint candy canes, I agree with you there, except I don’t drink coffee, so I like to put a candy canes in my hot chocolate. The smell of sugar cookies baking or home made fudge.

Dear City Farmgirl, Rebekah

I am a city farmgirl too, and I love the aromas that drift from the kitchens of my family and friends. The smell of the cinnamon scented pinecones and gingerbread man baking in the oven. There even seems to be a fresh sent of Christmas drifting through the streets of the city, it’s a special Christmas smell that is all its own. A winter perfume of the anticipated joys of this wonderful time of the year.

Cinnamon is my Christmas Scent

The smell of the Christmas fir tree is absolutely my favorite smell. I could just stand there and breath in that smell all season. Next it would have to be the smell of baking, especially cinnimon. I like to heat cinnimon sticks and orange peels in a pan of water to smell up the house.
Merry Christmas!

From my childhood on a 200 acre farm, I most remember the smells of fresh cut evergreens, hot cider, and home baked rolls and our secret recipe for pumpkin pie. Now with my four grandchildren, we have carried on those traditions and my sons and grandchildren will only eat this pumpkin pie and no other. And my son has taken up the ‘role’ (pun on words)of baking my Mother’s famous yeast rolls as we lost her in October after a tragic accident. Her legacy lives on through all of us and the smells are the best part. Thank you so much for reviving the really good memories in a very hard time. Bless you and all your traditions as well.

There are so many great sights, sounds and yes scents to enjoy this time of year. My favorite is that of cinnamon scented pine cones. I am sensitive to scented products and can’t use a lot of chemical products that are scented. So my answer to car freshners, closet freshners and hiliday scented ornaments is to use cinnamon scented pine cones. they always go on sale this time of year so I replace the bag in my car, trunk and closets and usually buy at leat one bag to use in a glass hurricane lanterns with colored Christmas balls. Mmm. Yummy.

Hi Becka,I loved cinnimon,and we always had a cedar at our house cut from off the prairie,I also loved sassafrass tea dug from roots of a nearby tree this time of year.Have a wonderful xmas! carol

THANKS EVERYONE! THESE MIGHT JUST BE MY FAVORITE COMMENTS EVER!

 
WHAT WONDERFUL IMAGES AND MEMORIES YOUR AROMAS OF CHRISTMAS BROUGHT TO ME AS I READ YOUR WORDS.
AWESOME, JUST AWESOME. THANK YOU!!!

AND THE WINNER OF THE CALENDAR IS……

ADRIENNE!!!

CONGRATULATIONS ADRIENNE!
(EMAIL ME WITH YOUR MAILING ADDRESS atr rebekah at maryjanesfarm dot com)

YAY!

Wonderful blog! I found it while searching on Yahoo News. Do you have any tips on how to get listed in Yahoo News? I’ve been trying for a while but I never seem to get there! Many thanks
My blog is on educational toys for toddlers.

Yes, God, THANK YOU FOR EVERYTHING and thank You for Rebekah’s wonderful way!! I wish you all a Happy Blessed Thanksgiving.

Well, you certainly made MY day. I was right with you in each phrase and each word. My special jolt was your reference to the aging uncles, and the wish to "freeze time".
Your posts must take a great deal of time and thought. Believe me, they are worth it to all of us who read them.
Thank you for everything!

Leaving India and my near and dear ones so many years ago I had to form another family in these shores with my friends – some of whom have become closer than family. With them we celebrate this holiday sometimes with Indian or Chinese food. We have come to realize that "family" actually means taking care of each other, loving, sympathising when things go awry, and above all being thankful that we have each other to lean on.For these gifts we give thanks and also say a prayer for our other families that we have left behind and miss a lot.

Lovely post. Our backgrounds are so similar! There were eight in my father’s family, a ton of cousins, extended family and always an orphan or two. One aunt died this fall not long after her 100th birthday party; she was very vibrant and independent until she fell, and that was that. There are now only three left of the original eight. It’s sad to see it all slipping away, although we are trying really hard to keep it going.
My prayer is that the younger generation, my kids included, will value family enough to make an effort to maintain relationships with each other, though I honestly don’t see that happening. Everyone is so geographically scattered. Thank heaven for Facebook! At least they are able to keep up with their cousins that way!
Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Rebekah, the Thanksgiving Song and the descriptions of the hay ride and pecan-cracking and, well, ALL of it. So lovely. And, yes, a hearty and heart-felt "thank you for everything," is truly my prayer as well. Your daughter had it right on the mark. Much love, xoxo, Libbie

Oh, your Thanksgiving celebration transported me into such an idyllic setting. For that, I thank YOU. :o) Shery

When our oldest son started Kindergarten, we instigated no television during the week. It has helped immensely with focusing on the family and helping make evenings less stressful. We also focus on little rituals, like our annual trips to the pumpkin patch, Christmas in the Park, and even local college sporting events. You can create great bonds over a tub of popcorn watching great athletes!

This blog spoke to my heart today. I have been asking these questions and trying to answer them for my own family. Maybe with Thanksgiving coming it is that time of year. I have 4 older children. My daughters are 20, 18, and 17. What makes my life different is: after home schooling my kid for 12 years I returned to Community college 2 years ago when my oldest daughter came to college. The other two are here with us now and I will be taking my exit from homeschooling at the end of the semester.
I am graduating from college and closing my homeschooling chapter at the same time.
1) Eating together means sitting in a Fast Food Place and talking to my kids at least once a week
2)Open communication in the car…if it isn’t pleasant, the driver will not talk, so keep it nice or I clam up…any subject is allowed as long as it is civil
3)Rituals: Yes, we go to church, but I almost think Starbucks on the first day of November when I can get a Peppermint Mocha sounds like a ritual
4) The kids talk about their dreams and goals all the time, I think I need to talk to them about mine more too.
5)Love and Acceptance is a challenge with 3 teenage girls and the 15 year old little brother… sometimes he needs a little more credit for having a brain. Putting him in a public charter school and walking away was a very hard day.
6)Memories are my favorite thing. It is so funny to me how styles of now are so much like the 70s when I was in their place. I spent the last 20 years trying to make teachable moments and memorable experiences. (Of course, as teenagers they are not always on board for some of the memories I am getting them into)
7)SMILE! I love that it. A smile can change my mood and hopefully the person I give it to.

I don’t know if this is something you want to share on your blog, but thanks.

Rebekah, no fall/winter garden here. I may not be brave enough but probably without a greenhouse no one here in Michigan would venture there. We have not snow as yet, it is holding off longer than usual. I am not unhappy about that at all. The chickens are enjoying the garden right now. Hubs said one of them actually found some leftover cherry/grape tomatoes and a few late raspberries and was having a feast. The big garden is empty, only dirt and the strawberry bed has gone to sleep.

I make breakfast every Sunday. My adult daughters and their husband/partners come over with their dogs. This makes 6 adults, and 5 dogs all together. It’s a great time to try new recipes or enjoy some old ones, and just connect before the work week, starts.

Hi Rebekah… This is my first time commenting on your blog, but NOT my first time reading it!! 🙂 I also read the "back page" of Mary’s magagazine 😉 Anyway, I was thinking about your comment about "how" to get your children to "like one another"… I noticed when my (4) children were younger, that they re-lated to one another very closely to the way *I* related to THEM– as opposed to the way I was trying to teach *them* to treat one another. And as un-popular as this idea is: ELIMINATE (or at least "cut back") all those sitcoms that use sarcasim ‘and such’ as "humor". Very seldom do you see siblings being "close, caring, and considerate" of each other– or children/parent relations that are good and healthy on these types of shows(IF they do, it’s usually shown as something they are embaressed/ashamed of after a particular incident that occured… and they sure don’t want anyone to know it~ as they "laugh it off"). That’s enough of that soapbox 😉 Have a good day 😀

I don’t remember any scary stories. However my brother’s birthday is on Halloween. So when me, my sister and brother went trick or treating (only to homes that knew us) they would give my sister and I candy and my brother would be fawned over and given extra treats bc it was his birthday. Stinker!
I love this weather, walking Violet is much more fun bc I’m not sweating 😉
Julie

Here in Oldham County, there is an awfully scary tale of people hearing crying babies at certain times of the year. So much so, a lane is named CryBaby Lane. The oldest stories begin back when Kentucky was part of Virginia, still a colony. Life was hard, very hard on the banks of the Ohio River and it was whispered many infants and sickly children were tossed into Harrod’s Creek at an isolated part of the creek. During fall and winter, apparently when starvation threatened, this happened. *shiver* And as the decades passed, many people hear the wails and cries of babies from the deep cold water of Harrod’s Creek. Now, as a child growing up, my uncles told me that during the 1950s, small babies and children began disappearing from Oldham County houses and homes. Even in the fifties, this county was still very isolated and most roads were simply tracks except of course for the big horse farms and dairy farms. Thick heavy woods were everywhere, many many springs and creeks and caves and old quarries hid in these woods. The story says as many as eleven or twelve small children vanished over the decade…until some deranged person burst into the the Sheriff’s office confessing of the existence of a cult that stole the babies and children and threw them into Harrod’s creek or even worse unspeakable things. This man had either been a reluctant member of the cult or forced to join but he had fled from the dreadful cries and sobbings of the babies…and when he looked back, swore that small pale-white babies and children were climbing up from the creek and through the woods…crying crying crying. At night, even now, at times, people hear this constant crying of babies and small children wafting on the cold autumn air and even some people have stepped outside to see if there is perhaps a baby on the lawn or steps. I hadn’t lived here one summer without some of the older people telling me to never sleep with the windows open when it’s cold and if I heard a baby crying…DON’T GO OUTSIDE.

There are some very eerie areas in Oldham County and at night, in those thick woods near the creeks or by a cave, there are many that swear they have fled from camping or parking or all the things people do in the woods, even big ol’ burly hunters have fled leaving behind all their gear!

As for me? I live a good good distance from CryBaby Lane and like it that way. Especially at night.

Jenn

Frankly, Rebekah, I DON’T like Ouija boards. My sister thought it would be fun to dabble in that and we got a board and also had a seance and lived in a haunted house after that. I have a lot of scary stories growing up in a haunted house and we’ve always believed they ushered the spirits in. It was a frightening place for a child, you can be sure. I don’t mean to put a dampener on Halloween but you asked for opinions.

I love your posts and those are some BIG taters! One would make a panful from the looks of it. I love home grown potatoes!

Thanks for your posts. I always enjoy them…

Ouija boards…..toss ’em out.

Ah oooooh! Love Halloween too- I’ve had my goodies up since August. Oigua are wierd…. Christians oppose them- but my experience is (my 1960’s Mom was OK with them) that me and a sweet neighbor plugged in often… one of my answers at about 10 yrs. old was that I would marry a dark haired, mustached handsome man named David with a green Porche. Well, I’m still waiting on the Porche, but married the man 25 yrs. ago. Happy Halloween!

Oh, we love Halloween here too! We fooled around with the Oigua board when we were kids but I don’t recall anything strange ever really happening.. I’m not afraid of them, but I’m not rushing out to get one either! We did go on a Lantern Ghost Tour in downtown Plymouth Harbor where much of the tour took place in a graveyard at night! I thought I might get creeped out ( never been to a graveyard at night ) but the gal giving the tour was sort of animated and would break out in a wickend witchy laugh at times so it was hard to take it all too seriously! But,it was fun and of some historical interst! Would, have made a great MJF Halloween post but I forgot the camera! Happy Halloween Rebekah!
Love, Deb

I use to have a Ouija board along time ago and oh the questions we use to ask. never was scared by it. Now about your potato soup let us know how it turns out potato soup is one of my favorite of course soup any kind is top of my list of food.

Gee whizz! I wish my decorating looked so good! I love your old tool cabinet, and the trunk (I have one like it) Your little farmhouse is darling! 🙂

I grew up in the heart of San Diego, Calif.
Standing on my front porch one day, holding our son,
I longed to raise him somewhere in the mountains.
Later moving to Phoenix Arizona, once again all I dreamed
about was a place far away from crime, drive by shootings,
and city life.
One day we sold our home, packed our bags, and had $1,300 in cash, I thought I was rich.
We headed for the mountains of Montana, no home, no job,
we had never even seen Montana, but we lived our dream
there for 12 yrs, buying a 100 yr. old farmhouse, chickens,
ducks, geese, goats too, and homeschooling our two kids.
Now, the Ozarks are our home, and once again, we are living
a dream, in different mountains, but still with hopes
of a bright future.
Never give up your dreams, only you can make them come true
and live joyfully!
Diana Henretty, Noel, Mo.

My story is all about my roots. I was born in Big Spring Texas and although I don’t leave in Big Spring I wouldn’t live anywhere else but Texas. Most of my family lives in Texas and we all have such a closeness that I couldn’t live too far from them for too long and think that it was home. Don’t get me wrong I have tried other places. When I was a child my family moved from West Texas to Anchorage Alaska and lived in Alaska for 5 years. It was wonderful we traveled up above the Arctic Circle lived on a prairie where one time the heard of buffalo up the road got out and came to eat our prairie grasses. We were even in an earthquake trimmer that shook the 3-story house full of girls; it was my sisters’ sleepover. We even came back home for a visit via Hawaii. It was a week of welcome relief from the cold weather, but nothing like Texas. When we did decide to move back we traveled by car to see the sites of the lower 48 and it was a site to see. My mom drove our station wagon and we camped out along the way. As a kid, youngest of 3 girls, I had a ball. When we got to Texas we lived with my grandparents for a short time on their ranch. I remember my grandfather giving me a pony that my uncle had and the first time that my sister and I road it I kicked it in the flanks and my mother, that was trying to take a picture of us, couldn’t because she was laughing at me yelling “it’s an earthquake, it’s an earthquake. The pony was jumping each time that I was gigging him in the flanks. Our big family outings back then were the Big Spring Junior Rodeo’s. We would all load up in the car and go out on a Friday night and watch the Rodeo. I could see my great aunts across the arena because of their Texas size hair that was jet black. During the intermission we would walk over and talk to them. My sisters were old enough to participate in the younger “kid events” that they would have at the Rodeo. My uncle even arranged for all of us, my cousins included, to ride in the parade and grand entry. I as in heaven, up until then I was not old, or big enough to participate in the Rodeo, it was a blast. We moved to Midland and at the end of my 6th grade year in school my mother bought a used motor home and took our family on a wonderful summer trip up and down the eastern coast of the United States. We visited all the battle fields, went up in the statue of Liberty’s crown, visited a grist mill and lastly went to Disney World, but we all looked forward to going home to Texas. After I graduated high school I went to college, in Texas. By this time my sisters have married two good old country boys and are living out among the cotton fields of West Texas, my grandparents have sold their farm and ranch, live in town and go into business with my great uncle. I had the opportunity to go and study abroad in Italy my first summer of college. I was so excited to go and experience another culture, beside Texan, that I stayed all summer. I even went back 15 years later for another month. Yes, it took me almost 20years to finish my degree. During that time I married had two great children and, wait for it, moved to Florida. My heart tore when we had to move such a long way away. My husband took a new job and I had to leave mine. I enjoyed the time there, because I didn’t work and got to spend time with my children, but my grandfather died and so did my marriage and I moved back to Texas after a couple of years; were my family made all the difference in the world to make my life whole again. I got a job, I finished my degree in Fine Arts and just as I was putting it all back together again I met the kindest man, Brian, he was from Kansas but loves Texas. I told him that if we got married that we would always have to live in Texas. I would love to travel and visit places, but never leave here. We did marry and we honeymooned in Gurene Texas and traveled, by car to all of the old little towns around Texas. We have also taken some really nice trips to Porte Rico, California, New Mexico, England, Scotland and next year China, but I will always be thinking of home and our family in Texas where my roots will always be firmly planted.

Rebekah
What a beautiful view and peaceful place. I could imagine myself on that hammock with a good book, or Mary Jane magazine. Your style and mine are alot alike. I too have an old trunk that was given to me by a friend who is a nun and she told me that when they first went into the order that they were given this trunk and they could only have what would fit in the trunk. Each time they moved they were only allowed to take what would fit in the trunk. Simple life. I felt very blessed that she entrusted it to me when she moved away. I too am deathly afraid of snakes. Being from Louisiana I had to deal with alot of snakes. Now my husband and I are in North Carolina and I tell people I do not allow snakes on my property. However one did find its way here and I grabbed my husbands pistol and shot it. I have not seen anymore. (and no it was not a good snake I checked first and it was headed for my chickens so……)
We are on the outskirts of town but I would love to have a place in the mountains. The closest ones are about 2 hours away. My husband and I like to RV all over the states and mostly go to see God’s beautiful creations. (try to stay away from the touristry areas.) I have two grown sons one in NC and the other in LA. Both married, no grandchildren. (no one wants to help me in that dept.) Oh well. I have a wonderful husband who is my best friend and we do everything together. People think we spend too much time together but he always says and I agree that he can’t think of anyone better to spend his time with. (What a Sweetie). Thank you so much for sharing your little piece of serenity with us.
Be Blessed.
Ms Scarlette

Hi Rebekah!
Um… the heck you can’t decorate! The inside of your farmhouse is filled with such soul and love! It just oozes warmth! Simple farm house living to a T! I’m a huge fan of cast offs ( that’s part of my story ) because they tell their own and our home and cottage are filled with them too. My story? Well, Like you, I’m lucky beyond my wildest dreams and a farmgirl at heart who loves sharing in my little space next to yours on this here channel every two weeks! I so enjoy your posts!
Sending love and Beach Blessings!
Deb

Your place is whole lot like mine. I love you nest and isnt it about what we love more than what goes with what? Colors? i love them all so i put lots per room. My kitchen table is the one i ate on growing up at home….it was old then passed down from prior generations. LOVE IT.

My story, well i got a late start. We just purchased our "farm" last year. Old repo on 44 acres. My husband is 62 and I am 56 but we have some great plans for retirement. He got his first ever tractor and is loving it. I’m putting in berries for when I retire and can add income by selling at farmers market along with some produce. Chickens are next,,,,in the spring. Still working full time….but retiring looms ahead in the not too far future. Purchased tractor number 2, a 1949 Allis Chalmer. our house is not big but cozy and we’ve had to do alot of work to make it ours….the upstairs hasnt been touched…yet…. Thanks for your posts, love reading them

love your home isn’t nice to have things around you that brings memories of someone you love and your view outside is heaven too. My house is all mix match but that is me. Enjoy life daily life can be short.

Thank you for sharing your gift of a glimpse into your private life. I love to see how other people live. The house was beautiful and the scenery breathtaking. Unlike the new houses built today, the old ones have real character. You can feel the pride of craftsmanship. The old houses have a soul.

When I first read your question, "What is your story?" my thoughts went to my past. Unfortunately, mine has was not "lucky." But after a bit of thought I decided that my story does not have to be about my past – that is not who I am today. Today I am "lucky." I am married to a man that loves me dearly and I have two grandchildren close by that are the light of my life. My husband and I retired to 66 acres in Southern Colorado, built our own house and are raising milk goats. It is alot of work, but we love the peace and quiet. In my last house every square inch of the walls were decorated, but here we have huge windows and the outdoors are our decorations. It was a year after we were in the house before I even hung up a picture. I did not want to distract from the view that we have. We had friends over for Thanksgiving and it was snowing like crazy. The wife said, "I feel like I am in a giant snowglobe." This is now my story and I feel very lucky.

I harvested the last of the Early Girl/beefsteak that were a quarter the size I expected them to be today. (Um, that was a bit run on.) Still have a Roma tomato going strong in a pot in the backyard. It definitely felt like fall today though.

A little pool like that is a brilliant idea! I shall have to try it next summer. I bet the dogs will think its fun too.

Right now I am harvesting a beautiful crop of cucumbers (my neighbors and everyone else that I run into LOVE me) and tomatoes, peppers, yellow squash, zucs, onions…
Yes! This was the year of aphids (covered my dill!), earwigs, ants, slugs, spiders….. We had a wet spring and we blamed it on everything that has to do with bugs. Now we are having a warm summer’s end and we are blaming that for the huge amount of yellow jackets and hornets. This was the first year in many that I got ‘stung’. I don’t let them bother me and try to remain calm. Usually works! I am experimenting with natural traps, made out of water bottles.

Then there are the MICE. I usually don’t do anything about the colony that lives in the garden area. This year they have invaded my tomatoes and have eaten their share. At first I thought that it might be one of my rabbit colony that lives in the iris bed. I covered everything in the nylon screen material that is supposed to be a wildlife deterrent, even though my hubby told me it was ‘MEECES". When my first wonderful heirloom fell to their chomping little mouths, we resorted to trapping. Yuck…Yesterday caught 20…Now there is a skunk eating the corn!
Ah, the unpredictability of gardening!!

Ah, Texas has been hit hard this summer as it was the hottest state on record and we are in one of the worst droughts ever with almost everyone in water rationing. And then there are the fires! So my garden this summer was the worst. But the one thing that has survived is my okra. It has been a thing of beauty! In this trying time, I decided to almost double my veggie garden area – why I don’t know. Maybe I’m just waiting for better days ahead.

Your garden sounded like mine…we planted so much this year and almost harvesting anything to put up for the winter. Oh well, there is always next year. Thank you for sharing your story I really enjoyed reading it.

Our garden is minimal, at best! I’ve never had such a "minimal" garden and it’s so very disappointing. However, we are harvesting volunteer pole beans, some tomatoes and a few carrots or beets. My hubby brought in three carrots, or what was left of them, the other morning. Those dirty, rotten, gopher scoundrels had eaten most of them away, from the bottom up, of course.
But, I’m also harvesting satisfaction in my life and my heart with the completion of projects, pursuit of friendships and the enjoyment of my family.

Hi Becka,My garden was simply awful,it started good early in the spring and I took things to the market along with all the clothes I sew and then it got too hot and I started getting hot flashes along with the heat,and I just could not take the heat.I think I will make some Chow Chow just coz I like it so well in the winter with a big pot of beans.I am still trying to be creative.Things are good here as long as I stay positive!Wish I could be at Creative Connection with you,it would be so good for me.Money issues for me,or I would be there,see negative thinking again.I am still doing a lot of hair and a lot of sewing.Getting ready to do my 4th fashion show,if I get finished Oct 13th,Its so much fun.have a great day,carol Branum

Here in Sacramento, California we had a pretty mild summer compared to what we usually get heat-wise. I planted my tomatoes in pots around my pool, because most of the yard is in the shade, and they did very well there. We have had a steady stream for eating but I will have to go buy some at the farmer’s market to put up any. Everything else was a bust. Normally I have zucchini coming out of my ears but I just got 3 small squash. My Serano peppers are just now producing in time for fall, and I only had a few string beans and a couple of asian eggplants. My arugula didn’t come up at all but my herbs are doing so well I am drying some for winter use.NowI look forward to sowing a fall/winter garden and take some more abuse. I don’t know why I find this so enjoyable but I do.

Dear Rebekah,
Thank you, from one backyard Georgia gardener to another!

Red Clay is extraordinarily difficult to work with, isn’t it? But look at what you were able to grow and you did it organically! Do not despair. Turn over all that vegetation right into your beds, as Green Manure is the best composting material. By next season it’ll have broken down and turned into a nice rich humus. Don’t let your garden sit idle over the winter. Sow some red clover cover crop now that you will turn in next spring as green manure. Also, you need worms! Lots and lots and lots of worms. Worm castings…awesome.

And, instead of digging down, try building up. Amending upward, implementing a raised bed technique, will definitely pay off. I live in the N.GA mountain area and pulled off a decent first year garden utilizing the ‘lasagna’ layering method, raising my beds and some heavy mulching. Moisture remained deep in the beds and while watering was a challenge, I did not notice the effects of our drought until very late into August.

If you can get connected with some Alpaca manure, jump right on it. Alpaca manure can be applied directly to your beds as it is cool enough that it will not burn your plants. Most all Alpaca farmers employ organic farming principles due to the sensitivity of the Alpaca digestive system, so their manure is ‘clean’ and very, very, very good fertilizer. Your flowers, shrubs, vegetables, everything will love it!

As for the bug issue, try some more extensive companion planting. Herb and Vegetable Combinations really deter pests. Beneficial bug wildflowers are also very helpful. You’ll be amazed at the results. Rodale’s Organic Gardening Reference Books are a must for your library.

Looking forward to next year’s growing season…

As the beauty of seasonal change just keeps going we keep learning and loving our gardens. I met my first horned tomato worm this year and have gotten up close and personal withat least 50 so. Iowans had the heat so that things like beans and zuc did not pollinate. The last month has brought good conditions for growing so we’ll see. Squash and melons are plentiful the beans have recovered, tomatos still growing. During the harvest moon I did a garden walk in my pj’s. I am overwhemed with gratefulness that I (like you) have a place to harvest our veggies, our profound thoughts, and reap the products of our creativity. Next year I resolve to prevent tomato worms by spending more time out there in my pj’s with my morning coffee!

The summer was either very dry or very wet herein Kentucky. But we did manage to get quite a number of tomatoes. Our five okra plants is still providing us with a lot of okra.Being Indians we planted some bitter melon seeds and I am stll getting a lot of those vegetables from those creepers. Our biggest surprise is our yellw squash creeper. That one grew out of some seeds that I had thrown last year. I have already harvested one and will probably get three or so squashes from that vine before frost gets to it. I am thankful for litle miracles such as this one!

Howdy! You sure got my attention with that Eastern Box Turtle! I have one just like it. She has been with us a dozen years or so and she just LOVES all the stuff I give her to eat from the garden!
Otherwise, we also tried out a new garden bed this year and luckily, had a great result. Our soil is pretty decent to start with and amended with chicken poop, the garden was pretty much gangbusters! We did have to contend with predators (the worm type, the rabbit type, the mole type, the deer type), super cold temps, super hot temps and a shortage of rain. Somehow, though, we worked through it and I am so thankful for our harvest.
I hope to hear your luck has changed next year. Stick with it, there is a life lesson in there somewhere.
Suzy aka The Pocket Farmer

Much appreciated for the information and share!

Hahaha…I found you because os seeking images of Tomato plants as poor looking as mine!!!!! (bleh)

Beautiful post about a beautiful woman. Reading this blog is a great way to start off my day. Inspiring! I’ll try to live by those tne things too.

What a great post, and what an incredible woman! I don’t think I would want to live to be 115, but who knows what modern medicine and technology might come up with! I think you become a little old lady when you FEEL and ACT like a little old lady. I intend to NEVER become a little old lady!

Soap box replay: I totally agree with your sentiment. In the US we have a tendency to tire of those that GAVE US LIFE..I am continually blessed to have been able to help care for my parents until they passed. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t sit in my garden (which was theirs)and think of the blessings that I received from them.
I can’t imagine making it to 100, let alone 115. The ‘Besse Ten’ is right up my alley, though I struggle with minding my own ‘bees wax’. I have purged my life of ‘friends’ that deplete me and strive to simplify…
This blog was wonderful!

Rebekah,
Your soap box is so very true and not to sound to overly dramatic, but 1 Timothy 5:8 says:But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever and Ephesians 6:2
“Honor your father and mother” That’s all I have to say on my Soap Box.
Love "The Besse Ten" !!!

Thank you! Awesome article. My Grandma is 104. She remembers in detail back to when she was 4. 100 years of history she knows and has lived. Last year the family got her a Kindle. She loves to read on it, lighter than her large print books. A few months back she got her first scooter. She’s learned to operate the joy stick and get around her retirement home. She goes on shopping trips, to the theater, does chair aerobics (a year ago they made her sit to exercise after she had a fall). She is a testament of love, guilelessness, forgiveness and the fact that you are never to old to learn something new. Her husband lived to be 98 and one of my great-grandfather’s to 98 so I’m planning on a long joyful life by following their examples. 🙂

I love the Besse Ten! And I am looking forward to my little old lady status, although not in the near future! If I can live to be 115, I will think thats great! I loved dorm living in college so I can only think I will like living with a bunch of like-minded (or maybe no-minded!) individuals when I am old and in a "home". In the meantime I am going to work on #2 and #4 so that I can live to be a little old lady! (my only concern- I am currently 6 feet tall- will I really get to be a "LITTLE" old lady?!)

LOVE little old ladies! I’m 63 and am in a women’s camping club, Sisters on the fly…our oldest member is 90! Am I going to be camping when I am a little old lady! You bet! Our motto is "we have more fun than anyone"! That’s another one for the list…

Weeellll…I am 62 and haven’t cut my hair yet
and don’t wear sensible shoes…sooo guess I am
not a little old lady yet.

I love listening to Clarinda (my 87 year old friend)
and admire her energy and attitude to match.

I try not to look in mirrors that way i continue to feel at least 30 years younger than my actual age.I know it takes longer to get things done but I accept it and keep pushing onward.Life is good!

I plan to become an excellent little old lady, like my Grandma was. I hope my two (younger) sisters reach this with me, too, so we can be three little old lady sisters, and still giggle like we do now.
Years ago, when I was somewhere over 30 years old, a coworker said something (to anyone who was present) about how she cut her hair when she was 30 because, when you are that age, you "just don’t do that(long hair)anymore". I felt sorry for her. It’s fine to have long or short hair – whatever you like best(shorter hair worked best for my Grandma) – but it should have nothing to do with one’s age. Doing what you like (instead of what you think you are "supposed to" do) helps you enjoy life so much more. I’m now 55 – almost 56 – and I still have long hair, which I often wear in a braid, and that works best for me. 🙂 Doing what’s best for us, and enjoying Life, that’s the Farmgirl attitude! 🙂

Hi – love this story. I turn 50 on the 6th and am feeling so good about it! My life is terrific and my motto is 50 down/50 to go! My parents are in their 70’s and are very active. The only thing they do not like about aging is the feeling of being invisible when they go to stores or restaurants. They are often not spoken to or ignored, they feel because of their age. Do others feel the same? Thanks for the inspiring story.

What a wonderful article . Bessie is so lucky to have a loving family

I love it! A little late in reading this post. So funny to me as I am know to quite a few people as "your little old soup lady" For many years I did the cooking for "Tuttle’s Red Barn" It is the oldest farm in America handed down to youngest son for 13 generations This past year the "youngest son" decided farming was not for him and put the farm on the market to sell. WHAT IS HE THINKING!!!! Anyhow, minding my own business. Many of our customers wondered where they would get their soups and one by one they found me. I cook them once a week and deliver door to door. If I can do this till I’m 105 that would be great. I think 115 might be pushing it. I grew up in a 3 generation home and my memere was my best friend for a very long time. I too wonder why we thought elderly housing and retirement homes was a good thing……..my thinking? Elderly care and daycare….what were we thinking.Going on a picnic now with a good book.Thanks for the reminder

This reminds me of one time we went to visit my older daughters church for Easter and my daughter Sarah then about 15 saw a beautiful older lady who had a name tag that said Ethel, in passing Sarah said "I want to be an old lady name Ethel just jesting, but later still I had the opportunity to share the comment with Ethel who promptly stood up walked over and placed her name tag on my daughters chest. It has now become one of "our" family stories and we still tease Sarah by calling her Ethel, she was so surprised I wish now I had gotten a picture

No, have not gone to any of my high school reunions. Live in another state and there was always something pressing that kept me from going. What I would say to my 18 year old self. Smarten up, don’t marry that boy and find a way any way at all to go to college. I married him, divorced him 11 years later. Did not have a clue about student loans or if there were any back then. Grew up in small towns and all the girls were getting married or engaged that I hung with. All is well that ends well though. But I would still tell myself that one thing.

I’d tell myself to act more like my daughter is now. She is hopelessly in love with her friends and enjoys high school. She states out loud her opinion to those that boss around other kids, won’t tolerate swearing in front of her, and won’t hesitate to tell others when they’re being overly dramatic—even her friends. Sound bossy? Not at all. She adores and even protects her teachers. And would give the shirt off her back (or lunch in her hand) to anyone that needed it. She’s everything I was not in high school…self-assured, assertive, and outgoing!

Attended the 10 year reunion. With a graduating class of
nearly 1000…there were alot of folks…and most were unchanged. Haven’t had a hankerin to revisit the event.

I would tell my 18 year old self to take it one day at a time…don’t worry about the past or future too much.

I have been to nearly all of mine. Just went to my 41st last month. I like the people I grew up knowing. I was invisable in school. Never anyone popular but I knew everyone. I planned a couple before I knew it was supposed to be the class officers. They did not care and came anyway. Things I would tell myself:
I too would say slow down.
Go to college.
Believe you can regardless of what others say. Because you can!
Don’t marry to leave home.
Wait a bit before you have children.
Life passes quickly.
Enjoy your children while they are growing up. They will be grown faster than you think.
Save for the future.
Would I really change things now? Just a few.

I went to my 5th year and than to my 20th reunion. The 5th year reunion everyone was still hanging out with the same people, like they did in high school. But our 20th was good, everyone mingled more. I too have found my class on facebook and have reconncted with my class.
I would tell my 18 yr old self, give college a try, don’t drop out after the 1st week, we think your major. I did later go back to college 12 yrs later.
I fine it funny those who have never gone to a class reunion wear it like a badge of honor that they never went.

Pay attention to time…don’t waste it!

Attended 10 and 20….nothing new so skipped 30….40 is coming up…we’ll see….not so much of the past but the current. The folks I want to stay in touch with, I do. So much for aging, but FaceBook has helped.

What a great post. I would tell myself not to get married so young. It seemed like the thing to do, but yhears later I saw the mistake. I haven’t gone to my reunions. No real interest there.

I blogged my answer.

I’d need to take a look at with you right here. That’s not something I typically do! I get enjoyment in reading through a publish which will make individuals believe. In addition, many thanks for permitting me to comment!

Rebekah you crack me up!!!! We did not plant any yellow tomatoes this year but the tomato plants we thought were going to die and need replaced lived, I think we have close to 40 because we added some in other spots to replace the ones we thought would die but would not pull them out until they were dead. Not dead. Then up in the raspberry garden where we use to plant some tomatoes we have probably another half a dozen that came up on their own. Looks like they may all be cherry or grape tomatoes. Only two little tomatoes are red so far but it is August now and August is tomato month here. I have been remembering my mother use to make a tomato jelly but she did not skin them she cooked them down then ran them through a sieve that had a crank type handle on it. I am thinking I my buy one just in case this year. Wonder if you could do something like that with your yellow tomatoes. I think they might make a pretty jelly? Wedding has came and gone. It was a success. Started posting about it today. Your all going to have me checking in with you more often. I will probably just become a bug I have been gone so long. Happy Farmgirl days!

Rebekah, I live in an apartment in San Francisco and we have at least a dozen farmers markets scattered around for every day of the week. I’m disabled and have a difficult time walking around so I don’t go to them as often as I would like.
I’m a vegetarian and if I lived closer to you, I would take all those lovely yellow tomatoes off your hands. Since I can’t, here are some suggestions:
Do the same as you did with the cannellini beans except pour the tomato mixture over some angel hair pasta.
Can them and use them in a big pot of vegetable soup.
Blanch them and put them in the freezer for later.
Take some to the local elementary school to add to their lunch menu.
Take some to a nursing home or shelter: they really appreciate fresh veggies and fruit.
Congratulations!

I made jam with these although I used red and yellow. Boil the tomatoes (whole) in water with sugar and lemon peel and I added lemon thyme. Cook till thickened, cool and keep a jar in the fridge. I serve with meatloaf or grilled meats, also makes a nice sweet and sour sauce.

OMG I LOVE these so much!!!!!!!!! We don’t get them here in SW florida. They are so sweet. I just put them in a bowl and snack on them. Lately I have been roasting little colored peppers and grapes tomatoes. Then I add herbs and some olive oil and put them in the food processor and then over pasta with parmesan. Yum. I love your stories and I am a big James Taylor fan.

love those tomatoes. you can make fresh salsa and we like to eat them just fresh from the garden. thanks for making me smile.

My Mom always told me that they are less acidic than the red types of tomatoes. She loves them, as do we. We put them in salads whole and in pasta salads. I think the best way to eat any small tomato is, washed with salt and whole!! Yummy.

Rebekah, I laughed the whole time I read this. You are quite funny! And I really like the salad you made with the yellow tomatoes. Very happy to come across your blog. I will be back.

In today’s San Francisco Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/g/a/2011/08/09/21_tomato_recipes.DTL&object=

You might find some ideas you and your family would enjoy.

I got a bunch of these also from a farmers market over the summer. One of my favorite things to do with them was to slice them, drizzle them with balsamic vinegar and toss with chopped basil and put them in a grilled cheese sandwich.

I’m pretty good at lifting my own spirits. I just enjoy everything and everyone around me. Of course there is that occasional time when I try too hard to control things and that’s when I need someone else to reboot my spirits. However I’m dropping you a line to thank you for bringing this up. It seems that a lot of people out there are stressed and I think we should all make an effort to boost others along with ourselves. It is amazing how those younguns can get a smile on your face isn’t it.

Hi Rebekah! Spend time with my grands, that will almost always fix my lows. Go shopping with my best friends to the quilt shops for new patterns and fabric. I have a happy stash. Maybe you should make your number 10, fire the garbage man and recycle more. Oh yeah, another happy, read your column in the newest MaryJane Mag. I just got the other day.

There are several ways that my droopy spirits get a lift. Digging in the gardens is one, it is so theraputic to see the plants growing, setting their fruits….
Another way to lift drooping spirits is dog hugs, nothing like them! Kisses and snuggles from your favorite dog, what can beat that?
Color also is a great lifter of spirits! Sunny yellow, vibrant orange, serene blues…colors of yarn, fabric, paper then do something creative…..

I took that same trip about 12 years ago and loved it, including the night on the train. I showed my son your pictures today and now he wants to sleep on the train and visit the aquarium. Thanks for reminding me of a wonderful trip that I can take again, this time with my son!

Absolute favorite summer fruit dish is the blueberries and fresh sliced peaches together, have to be fresh from the farmers market. Love it and missed it so much while living in South Florida, imported even across the state line is not the same.
Went 3 summers with no blueberries when we lived overseas, made for long summers. I was born, raised, and returned to live, in the blueberry and fruit orchard areas of western Michigan.
In some countries they are not cultivated in fields, they are only wild like huckleberries.

Ohhhh, you lived one of my "bucket list" dreams!! Staying in the train car made me 77 shades of green. How fun for you and your daughter will remember it all the days of her life.

I used to ice skate like a fish swims. Used to. Being from the south isn’t the only thing that hinders a person. At age 55, I no longer have Olympic visions. Oh wellllll :o)

Love your candor and wit. You always make me smile and today, you gave me a real & true endorphin rush……the train room pic. Sommmmmmeday. shery j

Rebekah, so very glad that you had a great time in Chattanooga, TN–my hometown! Even though I grew up there, I never went to Ruby Falls until after I got married–my mom didn’t like caves! And it wasn’t the Chattanooga Choo-Choo, but my parents took my sister and me on the last passenger train run from Chattanooga to Athens, TN. It was the close of an era. Oh, and if you’re down, just sing a few lines of "The Chattanooga Choo-Choo", it’ll lift your spirits! "Pardon me, boys, Is that the Chattanooga Choo-Choo….."

I love this. The cave was beautiful, but — if you went *down* a thousand feet, that means you had to walk *up* a thousand feet. Erk. (I’m out of shape lately.)I’m trying to think of my fun things.Thank you.