A Song and a Dance

In all the cleaning and clearing projects I have been working on, I sorted through a drawer that held piano music that belonged to my Mother.  My grandparents lived very modestly in a white frame farmhouse on a hill in East Texas.  There was an outhouse and a water well  because there was no indoor plumbing, even as late as the 60's when my grandfather died and Grandma Terrell moved to town.  But Opal was their only daughter and there is much evidence to prove that they doted on her. They bought her a piano and gave her lessons, many done by a mail order music course, but also piano lessons given in person by Mrs. Moss. The music I inherited has been a delight to me. I have enjoyed playing through it and thinking of other hands that played those songs.   I have not treated it with the care I probably should have, but I have done something I think Mother would like more - I used it.  In previous posts, I have talked about the story of this music.

www.tinyurl.com/pzmjxj2  

www.mappingsforthismorning.blogspot.com/2013/02/marriage-in-model-t-love-story.html

When I was sorting through the crumbly pages this time, I was doing so in order to pass the music on to Nora Opal Parker, since she carries Mother's name.  Knowing that I might not be turning the pages again myself, I may have looked more closely. But I don't recall ever seeing this title before.  It is a piece in a book of waltzes and fox trots. There must be a story in that title!

 Before the music goes into a box to pass on to Ben and Kristen to keep for Nora, there is one more way to use it.  A few pieces of  love songs will be used to help decorate for a wedding in about a week,  I also think I will sit down and play through some of the old songs again. I think Nora's great grandmother will be listening.

Steel Magnolia

October 20 will always be Mother's birthday on my calendar even though it has been 9 years now since she left us. I took this photo two years ago when we visited hers and Daddy's graves, along with the many others of our family who were laid to rest here in the Bullard, Texas cemetery.  The giant magnolia tree reminds me of Mother, who was indeed a steel magnolia, a true lady, a eautiful, strong, courageous woman with deep roots who deserved the name long before anyone thought of making a movie!  She would have laughed at my calling her that.  That is one of the things I miss the most - laughing with her. Remembering!   Opal Auntionette Terrell Teal October 20, 1913 - September 21, 2006.

Autumn

"The heart of Autumn must have broken here, and poured its treasure out upon the leaves."=

Charlotte Fiske Bates

Books are everywhere in our home. Even though both Joe and I read many books on his Kindle and my iPad and listen to audio books as well, we have stacks and shelves of printed books. Bible study books, theology books, gardening resources, mysteries, memoir, poetry, and fiction. In the kitchen, 50 plus years of our cookbook collection keeps growing, mostly due to gifts from those who know my love of cooking. In the spirit of cleaning, clearing clutter, and paring down, I have filled boxes to donate to the library, and have passed down a number of cookbooks to family members.  Honestly, I don't know anyone else who has both their mother's and their grandmother's cookbooks!  Treasures, these.  I have written about them before and will again, but soon it is time for them to go to one of my own granddaughters.

There are a number of favorite books of different genre that I keep and go back to regularly.  The little book in the above photo is one of those.  Autumn. by Susan Branch, "From the Heart of the Home." This wonderful collection of whimsical drawings, quotations, celebrations, and recipes was given to me.  It is autographed by the author: "To Mary Ann - Happy Fall! Susan Branch 2004."  But I value more the note written under that - "Thanks for all the nice things you do for others. With love, Jen."

As the title announces, the book is an invitation to celebrate this time of year in magical ways.  I love to settle down with a cup of tea or hot cider and turn the pages one more time.  And yes, we do follow up with "doing" and enjoy some of the recipes. I particularly enjoy the seasonal quotations sprinkled throughout.

Hang bunches of fresh herbs, pepperberries, yarrow, and hyrangea.
Candles, candles, candles! Lots of votives in green or gold glass. Pop a votive in a citrus shell.

"If you were to ask what is most important in a home, I would say memories."  Lillian Gish

"In the village store someone says 'I heard the geese go over,' and there is a moment of silence.  Why this is so moving I do not know.  But all of us feel it."  Gladys Taber

Recipes for Spiced Pecans, Garlic Shrimp, Red Chili Onion Rings, Corn Pudding, Indian Shuck Bread, and Maple Butter!

Bring leaves and pinecones in for a Thanksgiving table.

Fun gifts to assemble in baskets and old bowls for Christmas.

"Display old books!  Heidi, Pollyanna, Wuthering Heights, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  And all your favorites!"

"Autumn is the best season  in which to sniff, and to sniff for pleasure, for this is the season of universal pungency."  Bertha Damon

Progress?

I promised last week I would make progress and post some results of my clearing out project.  The first thing to know is that it is going to take much longer than this one week. But a promise is a promise, and something is better than nothing to show!  Starting is slow business.  I am hoping to pick up speed and will power as I continue. These are some of the ways the sorting and simplifying is happening. Most of these I was doing already, but not as intentionally.

Over 50 years of cooking and gathering people around to enjoy our home and hospitality, we have not surprisingly gathered a great many things related to cooking and dining:  cookbooks, cookware, utensils, dishes, glassware, serving pieces of all shapes and sizes.  Appliances for mixing, beating, baking, broiling, grilling, poaching, steaming, and brewing!  Trays, bowls, bread baskets, centerpieces. Table linens, candleholders, flower frogs, and napkin rings. Honestly, no one but a restaurant really needs several woks, one of them a giant! And does anyone even know what a flower frog is anymore?

Time and circumstance change the need for using all of these. Since the arrival of young grandchildren, most of our larger family gatherings avoid tablecloths and crystal!   Entertaining business guests at a long table in Jakarta might have needed fancier trappings, but it is so much more fun to gather around Grandma's oak table with our little ones. It is time to pass things on that we do not use.  Note that I am not adhering to the 200 things to throw away style - I am able to throw away when no one else would be able to use something, but I am determined to pass on and recycle and repurpose every time I can.

So I started with my kitchen cabinets, pantry, pot rack, cooking utensil drawers, and the armoire where I store table cloths and napkins. One drawer at a time, one shelf at a time. I am giving many of my cookbooks to family, in particular ones that belonged to my mother and grandmother.  My 12 year old granddaughter went home with baking pans to fuel her passion for cake baking. Her mom left with a box full of copper pans and skillets; she will be happy that the stemware in the above photo is hers when she comes next time.

I have switched back and forth to other areas in the house - all the board games other than the ones our granddaughters like to play when they are here are going to 2 church groups - Youth group and our Young at Heart group that meets monthly to play....board games!   The pick of the garden books went to my daughter in law who loves to grow her garden!

I am posting photographs of some items on our neighborhood FaceBook page "For Sale and Free."  If it does not sell, it will go to the curb for free.

And (still not throwing away!) I have taken boxes of magazines and seed catalogs to a preschool for art supply.  Boxes of books to the public library book sale.  Donated sweaters, pillows and bedding.

Electronics, cords, etc. are going to a neighborhood girl scout troop for their recycle drive.

Results from paring down clothing and pantry supplies go to Helping Hands, our local food and clothing pantry.

And yes, some things, do go in the recycle bin that sits at the curb once a week.  I always have twice as much recycle as trash.

And I don't miss a thing!