Skating Rink

When I was little...real little...like 3 years old, my mother took me to the skating rink every day of my life. When I was four, I was in competition skating. ..so I grew up knowing how to skate pretty well. My brother who was eight years older than I, also skated. When he was in the Air Force he was an MP and one of his duties was guarding the under ground missals out in the desert. He used to get bored with it so he'd take his skates and would skate around the tops of the cement slabs that were over the missals. My Mom would worry about him cause she said if anyone ever came up that he had to stop them from doing anything they weren't suppose to do, he'd have his skates on and couldn't get off the cement slabs....lol. Luckly, nothing ever happened that he couldn't have done on skates. Well, when the slab to the barn was poured, all I could think about was .." wow!....I have my very own skating rink". That summer, Chuck bought me a pair of new skates so I could have fun skating in the barn. When I told my brother about my very own skating rink, he said that I needed one of those mirrored balls to hang from the middle of the barn and that he was going to make me one. He called me one day to tell me that he had the perfect thing to use for the ball, all he had to do was glue little mirrors on it. Sad to say, my brother died this last July and never got to finish my mirrored ball. Every time I put my skates on and skate around the barn , I think of my brother and wish that he was there to skate with me.

Merry Christmas Ya'll

Twas the night before Christmas in Alabama, ya know.
Way out in the country, with the woods covered in snow.
Asleep in their tacky trailer, were Barb and Chuck,
A dreamin’ of Christmas, and hoping for luck.

Not stockings, but rubber boots, at the foot of their beds
For this was Alabama, what more need to be said.
When all of a sudden, from out of the still night,
There came such a ruckus, it gave them a fright.

And Chuck saw ‘cross the drive, like a shot from a gun,
A loaded up John Deere, come on at a run.
The driver was “ Geein” and Hawin” with a will.
The cows ( not reindeer) he drove with such skill.

“Come on there Daisy May, Mary Lucy & Suzie Jane, to the right,
There’ll be plenty of travelin’ for you all tonight.
The driver in overalls and a shirt that was red,
Had a straw hat on top of his head.

As he stepped from the John Deere, he was really a sight,
With his beard and moustache, so curly and white.
As he burst into the Tacky Trailer, Barb and Chuck awoke,
And were so astonished, that neither one spoke.

And he filled up their boots with such presents galore,
That neither could think of a single thing more.
When Chuck recovered the use of his jaws,
He asked in a whisper, “ Are you really Santa Claus?”


“Am I the real Santa? Well, what do you think?”
And he smiled as he gave a mysterious wink.
Then he leaped into the John Deere, and called back in his drawl,
“ To all the good hearted people in Alabama, Merry Christmas ‘Ya’ll”.

Gathering of the Gourds.....

The first thing we did when we arrived on the land for Thanksgiving, was walk down to the very over grown garden to see what kind of gourds where left growing. It was like having an Easter Egg hunt.....here a gourd, there a gourd,every where a gourd, gourd and two in a tree. We made sure that we found all there was to be found because we knew we would be bush hogging the garden area the next day. We even found a couple of little acorn squash and two or three summer squash, all not eatable any more. The bugs made one little acorn squash look like a cute little jack o lantern. Shell said it looked like it was saying " Boo Ya'll". lol. We put all the gourds on the picnic table until we had time to take them to the barn and then Chuck figured a way to hang them without touching each other....to dry. I bet there aren't too many people who have gourds hanging off of their canoe stand.... but ya just never know in Alabama.

First time Bush Hogger.......

After a fun day of Thanksgiving, just before sunset, Chuck taught Shell how to run the tractor and to Bush Hog. Not only was it fun for Shell, but fun for us to watch her. Her comment was the same as mine...." it's like riding a ride"....you don't want to stop. So, anyone who wants to come ride the most fun ride at Brambly Pines.....(once we move up there) ya'll come!!

Thanksgiving 2008

We had a great Thanksgiving with all the trimmings, even though we didn't have water or electricity to do it with. All my holiday decorations are in the barn so it's easy to make it look like home. It felt like a real "family Thanksgiving" because the table we ate on was my Dad's, the side table we use for the food, was my Uncle Joe's, the table cloth was Auntie Barbara's ( who I was named after) and we even used Nana's ( Chuck's mom) good silverware. Even though all these people are no longer with us any more, it's a nice feeling that we have part of them there. Shell did a wonderful job of collecting things off the land to make our Thanksgiving Bouquet.( Martha Stewart has nothing on her...lol) She even found a pretty little bird's nest. The pheasant feathers were from our yummy dinner the night before over at the the BNOE. After Thanksgiving lunch, Shell and I went to our " annual" shopping spree at the import shop a couple miles out in the country. Everything was 65% off. What fun we had. While we were gone, Chuck hooked up the bush hog to the tractor and mowed the drive way and paths. Sure makes a difference after it's all mowed. ...like someone actually lives on the land. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving like we had. Wish it was time to do it all over again.

Here's your sign......

Here are some signs that we have come across through our travels in Alabama. I don't think anything else needs to be said about them, other than they made us laugh ..lol.