Today is a special day...My Daddy turns 84. I baked his favorite cake-German Chocolate. I believe I have baked that cake for at least the past 30 years.
Sunday at church they sang, "Happy Birthday" to him and it tickled him and bring tears to my eyes. They ask him if he thought he could make it to 100 and he said, only the Lord knows that.
I am so blessed that I still have my parents. Many of my friends have lost one or both of their parents. My heart goes out to them. I will walk that path one day, but I sure hope that it's a long time away.
So Happy Birthday Daddy....from your little girl xoxox

Following Behind....

I bet a few of you thought I had forgotten that I had a Blog...well, It's just been a busy time.
So here I am now and that is all that matters....
Following Behind...as been on my mind for the past few months. I can remember when I was a little girl following my Daddy everywhere. Those of you who really know me, know that I am a Daddy's girl. It seems only yesterday that I was where ever he was and doing chores with him around the barn. Taking care of the animals, watering the garden, helping with the lawn or riding in the car heading to Lacey's Hardware Store. If I decided to piddle and not keep up with Daddy, he would say, "come on little girl." Those were the best days. I was always two steps behind him. I couldn't wait for him to get off work wondering what we would be doing that evening.
Now days it's a different story. Daddy will be 84 on Monday, February 22. Daddy's step seems to be slowing down. But don't let that fool you....he still push mowes his yard, tends to a small garden and drives Mom to the store to do her trading on Mondays. He can out work any young man on any given day. He will call me up on my day off and say lets go to lunch or he wants to go run errands. I have noticed as we walk through the stores I'm the one who has to turn around and say, You coming Daddy? Instead of me following Daddy, he is following me....I never thought I would be two steps ahead of him. So I just slow down and enjoy walking at a slower pace. There's a lot to see at a slower pace especially when you are with your Daddy.

Will they or won't they?

Was designing one of display windows this morning. As I was washing the window preparing it for a Christmas display people were watching me. So I figured I would wave at them. The first few people would just stare at me. I wondered why they wouldn't return the friendly gesture. Were they just mad at the world or just have to much on their mind. Or..were they wondering, why is that lady waving at me. The world has changed so much the last few years. Most people aren't as friendly as they use to be. Why? I know some folks who would rather walk down the next isle in a store just so they won't have to speak. I've done it....I just really don't want to hear all their problems or for some folks they are just plain mean and they have a poor attitude. I try to distance myself from them. Some folks think that we are the ones with the problems and they will make a long list of things they don't like when in reality that list is all about them.
Anyway, I kept waving and smiling and finally they caught on and began waving. Maybe I made them smile and it took their mind off of their problems for a moment. Everyone should try being a little kinder. You know it takes more muscles to frown then it does to produce a smile :)

My Day....

Yesterday, October 22 was my Birthday....I enjoyed an awesome day, doing what I wanted to do. I headed to Brown County to enjoy a day of shopping and enjoying the beautiful fall day. I knew the leaves were in full color thanks to a couple of frost and all the rain that we've had. Every color was visible orange, yellow, amber, red, rust they were all vibrant and with every bend in the road was like driving through a painted portrait.
I enjoyed lunch out on the patio fighting the yellow jackets, seemed they like my orange soda too. But I didn't mind, "It was my Birthday". I stopped in at one shop and the cashier ask how my day was and I informed her it was a special day. She, the owner said it was her birthday too. We gave each other a high five and she gave me 10% off my purchase. I stopped in at my brother Gary's shop and visited with him. Seems he has a opportunity to move to a bigger shop on one of the main streets. He ask me to go check it out. I was excited for him. Anyone who owns a business knows it's all about location. Finally it was time to head home. I'm making plans to go back in a few weeks and take in the sights and sounds of the Christmas season. I will go on a weekend when Thomas is off so that he can go with me.

enjoying a day in my kitchen...

In Uniontown we had one beautiful day this week and it accrued on my day off. One of my favorite things to do is baking and trying new recipes. I had a list of things that needed to be done in my gardens to get them ready for winter. But with the cooler weather I've been craving Persimmon Pudding. So I gathered all the ingredients and began.
Thomas and I enjoy heading out to our favorite spots in the township and gather the persimmons. But I'm the one who prepares the pulp. I don't mind. I remember my Mamaw Brumett with her apron on preparing a pudding. The smell Persimmon Pudding filled the kitchen ....I couldn't wait till it was done. I decided to also bake a Pumpkin Pie. Now Thomas will eat both but if he had to choose it would be the pie.
I did get some work done in my gardens and I even got the grass mowed. As I finished cleaning the kitchen after supper I sliced the Pumpkin Pie and placed a dab of Cool Whip on top and surprised Thomas!!

Fall is in the air......

Early Sunday morning I headed out for a Floral Convention meeting in Frankfort, Kentucky. It was an awesome drive. The morning was crisp and the dew drops were glistening like diamonds. The drive was just what I needed after all the funeral work I did this past week.
The trees were still wet with dew and when you rounded the bend in the road it was breath
taking. As I rounded one curve there in the road way were two young deer. Not quite for sure they could make it up the steep hill, the traffic stopped while they backed up and made a run for it. With the window down a bit, just the smell of the cool air and just a hint of pine from the mountains made this ole county girl perk right up. The only thing that could have made it better was to have been about 60 more miles down the road to where Daddy was raised to see the fog coming out of the mountains.
The meeting went great and all the designers are lined up. Lunch was a full buffet with shrimp, my favorite. The Apple Cobbler just needed a scoop of ice cream!!

Emotions......

It has been one of those weeks...non stop- phone ringing off the wall, customers coming in by the car loads. I made four casket sprays in 3 days. One was for a stillborn baby girl. That pulls on the heart strings. Brings back memories of my little girl. I met with the parents and I just cried with them. After they left you pull your self together and began preparing the flowers. I made sure this spray got extra special attention. All of my casket sprays are designed with love, but this one was special. Being a florist is a wonderful profession. Some days every human emotion is felt. From the jubilant bride, an excited man who gets to send flowers to his wife for their first anniversary or a new grandma telling us all about her first grandbaby. Then your emotions do a complete turn around when a family comes thru the door heart broken due to a loss of a family member. But you take in all in and at the end of the day your thankful that you could be there for them and maybe just one word was spoken that they can find comforting.