Favorite Poems - Poems of Home

Pumpkin patch in Delaware, Autumn 2018

I have loved poetry most of my life, and with each changing season there have been poems and poets that have resonated with me for various reasons. But poems of hearth and home are the ones I love best, and the poem I am sharing below is one of my favorites.  

I first came across it some years back in a little book I picked up at a used book store, Poems That Touch The Heart. (It's available to borrow from Internet Archives, just click the link.). She also has a collection of poems she wrote herself, The First To Kneel, though I haven't been able to find it online. But this little poem so beautifully captures my own thoughts of home, and I wanted to share it here with you today.  I hope you will enjoy it.

Let there be within these phantom walls

Beauty where the hearth fire's shadow falls . . .
Quiet pictures, books, and welcoming chairs . . .
Music that the very silence shares. . .
Kitchen windows curtained blue and white . . .
Shelves and cupboards built for my delight . . .
Little things that lure and beckon me
With their tranquil joy, and let there be
Lilt of laughter-swift forgotten tears
Woven through the fabric of the years. . .
Strength to guard me, eyes to answer mine
Mutely clear. And though without may shine
Stars of dawn or sunset's wistful glow,
All of life and love my house shall show.

~ Catherine Parmenter Newell

Savoring The Lovely Days of October

Elizabeth over at Ponderings From the Inglenook is hosting an October blog series, Cozy Reveries! It began on October 1, and even though I'm a few days late, I've decided to join in the fun. I'm not sure if I will post every day in October, but I am going to try to post as much as I can.

Autumn and winter are by far my favorite seasons of the year, and of those October is my favorite month! There is just something about the mix of the warm but still cooler days that gradually fade to into the dark, colder days that I find so enchanting! Living in within the boundaries lines of George Washington National Forest, and less than ten minutes from the Blue Ridge Parkway makes this time of year even more spectacular! We are literally surrounded by beauty, especially in Autumn!

Our porch is decorated with mums (my favorite color in the picture above) and pumpkins, and just this week we had our first chili, Frito Pie to be exact, which is a traditional dinner choice every year when we watch October Sky. October Sky is hands down my absolute favorite movie of all time! It is so inspiring, and definitely one that I believe everyone should watch! The movie is based on the book Rocket Boys by Homer Hickam. I learned recently that they are actually considering a second installment, December Sky, and I am so excited! Our family actually traveled to Coalwood, West Virginia and attended a Rocket Boys festival there one year. There isn't much left of the town, but we got to see the house where Homer grew up, and the remains of the high school he attended. It was a memorable trip!

As for Frito Pie, for Halloween each year I have a favorite chili recipe that I make from scratch (I'll share the recipe soon, because it is SOOOO good!), but on a whim and to save some time I picked up a package of William's Original Chili Mix, and rather than using stew meat (which my recipe calls for), I just browned up some ground chuck, and my was it good! I love my recipe, but it takes a lot more time to get the stew meat nice and tender, but is so worth it! But for occassions when I'm short on time, I am going to start keeping several packages of William's on hand. We eat a LOT of chili this time of year!

I made an apple crisp for dessert, which I had been intending to make all of September, but it simply flew by and before I knew it October had arrived! I typically try to make several yummy desserts using apples in September and save all things pumpkin for October, but it looks like this year I'll be combining them, which is fine.

I've really been enjoying perusing Instragram recently, probably too much, if I'm honest! I get so lost in all the lovely images and recipes, and the talented women of several of the accounts I follow have become sweet friends!

I follow several illustrators and absolutely LOVE some of their recent offerings! The one above is from @chimneysmokeart and I loved it so much I made it my wallpaper on my phone! It just makes me so happy! There are a lot of stone walls that trail across the landscape of Virginia. I would love to have one on our property, but coming up with that many stones in this day and age would be rather expensive. Sometimes you see people post things like, "Free fence, just come and dig it up!" (which we've done). So if anyone ever offers the chance to dismantle a stone wall, I'm on it!

There is a 100 Mile Yardsale happening this weekend, and it begins about fiftteen minutes from our front door! We have acquired so many wonderful pieces for our homestead from yard sales and through Facebook Marketplace, although Marketplace can often be frustrating. So we plan to go tomorrow, which is opening day, and we may go again on Friday. Our daughter wants to go on Saturday and try to pick up some things she needs for setting up household, so we'll be going then, as well, in case anything she finds would require our trailer to haul it home. We don't have anything specific in mind, and we look for deals which may be in shorter supply at an event of this magnitude, but you never know. It's our first time attending so we don't really know what to expect. We even considered setting up shop with some of our own junk somewhere along the route, but since we've never been, we decided to check it out first and then we may well do it again in May. They do it twice a year, so if we think it lives up to the hype, maybe we will? I kind of hate the thought of sitting on all that stuff until May, but since our location isn't prime for a yard sale here at the house, I may have to. I am on the lookout for some pretty plates for the season. I came across this picture in a magazine recently and I just love this pattern! I have it saved to my phone for reference in case I come across them or something similar.

In the coming days I'll share some more lovely images, and hopefully some lovely finds I come across over the weekend, as well as some of my favorite seasonal dishes, including my chili recipe which we'll be having for our All Hallows Eve celebration! Until then I'll leave you with one of my favorite quotes for the season;

“Listen! The wind is rising, and the air is wild with leaves,

We have had our summer evenings, now for October eves!” 

- HUMBERT WOLFE

I hope your October is off to a lovely start, feel free to share some of your favorite things about this season in the comments!

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Twelve Things In Tribute To My Grandmother On Her Birthday

My paternal grandmother, Irene Hooper Hutsell, was born on this day in 1902, and to honor her I thought I would share twelve things about her.

1. Her family once owned a significant amount of land in Keller, Texas and what is now South Lake. But when her father died when she was eight years old, her mother sold most of it to support herself and her three children. 

2. She did not have a middle name. 

3. She grayed very early in life (attributed to scarlet fever) and always seemed old to me. By the time I was born she had a full head of silvery white hair. She was 59 the year I was born, an age I have now surpassed, yet I don't feel as old as she seemed to me as a child.

4. She could grow anything, and had beautiful vegetable and flower gardens. A trait that sadly, did not pass on to me 

5. She lived her entire life in Keller, Texas. The house she lived in throughout my lifetime is now the parking lot of a Baptist Church. But at the back of the property where the house used to stand, is a patch of grass that was never disturbed, and every time I visit Texas I make that trip, take off my shoes and bury my toes deep into that soil. 

6. She had false teeth that never fit right and were prone to slipping out of her mouth. Because of that, she would grit her teeth in public when she spoke, giving her a stern demeanor. But the minute she got home, she would take them out and her entire composure changed. She had a soft, wrinkly smile and wild hair. That’s the way I prefer to remember her.

7. She never learned to drive.

8. She was an excellent cook and I have several of her recipes. I will never be as good as her, but that’s a trait that did pass on to me. 

9. She never had much and her house was very old, but I learned how to make any home inviting by her example. Her home was always cozy, and warm. 

10. I was born on my grandparent's 39th wedding anniversary, November 11, 1961.

11. She LOVED magazines and always had several on the coffee table that she was perusing. She cut out the Betsy McCall paper doll from McCall's magazine every month and would have it waiting for me to play with when we came to visit!

12. She was a devout member of the Church of Christ and “disowned” me in 1982 when I married a Baptist. She didn’t have anything, so she basically never spoke to me again. I’m a lot like her in many ways, and just as stubborn, so I told myself I didn’t care and went on with my life. When she died I found out that she kept a picture of me in my wedding dress beside her bed. I also learned a few years ago that her grandfather was a Baptist preacher and her own mother (his daughter), was raised a Baptist. I often wonder how her grandfather felt about his daughter leaving the Baptist church, maybe he disowned her, too? At any rate, if I allowed myself to linger long in regret, not mending that relationship would be one. She’s one of the first people I hope to see again in heaven. We have a lot of time to make up for!

Happy Heavenly Birthday, Grandma!

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