Neal and I are always planning a trip away to escape from the summer heat of the South. In fact, we planned the most exciting trip to Montana this year only to find that when we arrived, it was 98 degrees with the heat index into the 100s. That is absolutely my luck to take the oppressive heat with me. …
When my sweet little granddaughter Amelia told me that she wanted to learn to sew, my heart skipped a beat as I replied, “that is wonderful.” She is almost 5 years old, so we will start on the things she can do now. It will be a couple of years before she can operate a sewing machine. The journey of …
Those three words just send chills down my spine! When I was a child, our school year went from the Tuesday after Labor Day through the Friday before Memorial Day. Is it just me, or have school years gotten longer and longer with the passing of time? Back to school for me meant Mom would start sewing school clothes in …
I must confess that I am already counting the days until fall. But my late summer garden is always beautiful. Years ago I discovered the American Beautyberry. I first learned about this interesting plant when Neal and I were seated at a lovely table in a café where a small branch of the shrub was in a small vase. The …
Several months ago, I wrote and committed to all of you that I was going to do something creative every day. And for the most part, I have done that. I have continued to stitch on my sampler that I started several months ago, I have continued working on my quilt, and I have sewn several garments for Amelia. Hobbies …
The Norton family, of which I am a descendent, came to America from England. In fact, when we were publishing needlework magazines, one of the great historians of needlework Joanne Harvey told me that she had created a needlework kit whereby I could re-create the Hannah Norton sampler from the Historic New England collection. The original was stitched in 1795, …
We love reading essays written by Ann Dorer. She captures the South like no other can. The first time I met Ann was at an afternoon tea at my house that I hosted for my niece Beth. Ann’s daughter, Kate, is friends with Beth and was one of our honored guests. We let the young girls sit in the dining …
Neal and I just returned from a trip to Montana. We went there to escape the summer heat of Alabama only to find that we had taken the extreme heat with us. Everywhere we went, the locals kept telling us “it is never this hot here.” Such is our luck. We still had a marvelous time exploring the area, though. …
This time of year I long for icebox desserts. We had one that was a family favorite while growing up, “Lemon Icebox Pie.” When Mom made this delicious dessert, it was a special day. When I was grown and ready to make treats for my own family, I called Mom to ask for the secret family recipe only to find …
I had the pleasure of hosting a bridesmaids’ luncheon a few weeks ago. There were two friends that served as hostesses with me. We had such a magnificent time planning and thinking about food and settings for a summer event. We decided on blue and white china with white linens. White looks so crisp and cool in summer months, and …
