Porch People

     Our family is getting together at our parents' house this week - sisters, daughters, nieces, nephews, sons, and dogs.   We have several things planned; a birthday/retirement party, a fishing trip, Chinese checkers, building a marble rollercoaster, and a day trip to Natchitoches, but the main event will be sittin' on the porch. (Sitting on the porch would imply straight backs with feet on the floor. Sittin' is leaned back, feet thrown over the arm of the chair, and an ice cold something in your hand.)

     We're porch people, always have been.  When we were little and visited our paternal grandmother, the adults would sit on the porch drinking coffee while we chased little toads, picked dew berries, and raked pine straw into floor plans of imaginary houses. Every now and then the deep laughter of our dad and his brother, Darrell, would come rolling off the porch bringing the assurance that all was well with the adults in our world so everything must be all right with us too.

     As teenagers the porch was often the scene of our life lessons.  Dad would call us out to the porch to sit on the swing.  Here he and Mom would hand out reassuring wisdom when we were sad or discipline when we were bad.  One particular disciplinary action holds a famous place in family lore. That night Dad innocently asked one of us sisters to come sit with him on the swing where he said, " The moon sure is pretty tonight." "Yeah", she answered.  "Well, you better look at it really good because you're not going to be seeing the moon for a while.  You're grounded!"

     Now that we're grown, Dad has taken the art of porch sittin' to new heights.  He has replaced the swing with a "swing-bed" so he can even sleep out there; weather permitting.  The old swing has been moved out to a tree in the yard.  Mom says they sit out there as often as not.

     When we are all together this week, the mornings will start with each of us sleepily drifting from our beds to the porch; one at the time, old folks first - young ones later.  There we will start visitin'.  We'll catch up on local gossip and share what's been going on with us.  If anyone is in a "low swirl", we'll boost them up.  If anyone is riding a wave of good fortune, we'll ride it with them. There is nothing that sittin' on the porch can't solve or celebrate.  Our laughter will roll off the porch and out into the pasture, and our little ones will know all is right with the world.

     When I decided to start this blog, I based it on this quote from Pauline R. Kezer:

            "Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us grow and reach new heights."

      Well, sittin' on the porch grew our family's roots.

    Love ya'll, 
  Shelli

    

Song of the Day

     James and our daughter, Katherine, have a special connection; they both love music, especially obscure songs from the '50s and '60s.  James has an encyclopedic knowledge of old songs and the groups that sang them.  His ability to identify bands and the titles of songs as they play on the satellite radio is uncanny. As Katherine was growing up, she would listen to albums with her dad and by the time she was three years old they could sing Aretha Franklin's "Think" word for word together.

     When Katherine came home from Madagascar last spring, James started texting her a "Song of the Day'.  (I think he was so excited to have her back on the same continent with him that he wanted an excuse to hear from her every day!)  Later he got fancy and added "One Hit Wonder Wednesday".  This has been going on for over a year now.  For Father's Day, Katherine put together a two CD package of the favorites she had downloaded. James was really touched to open his gift of "Songs of the Day's Greatest Hits" (vol. I) and S.O.D. Plays the Hits" (vol. II).  We listened to them on our way to Petit Jean, our car filled with a sweet father/daughter bond and the sounds of Archie Bell and the Drells' "Can't Stop Dancing",  Bobby Lewis's "Over and Over", Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime",  Rufus Thomas's "Funky Chicken", and Barrett Strong's "Money" just to mention a few.

           "What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life-                         to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories." ~George Eliot

Love ya'll, Shelli

Five Star Bicycle Seat

How about a product endorsement?!  This is the bicycle seat James bought for me at Walmart. I give it five stars for reasons that are, well, obvious. :)

Buicks and Day Lilies

     James and I go to Arkansas each Father's Day to the Petit Jean Antique Auto Show and Swap Meet.  We stop at favorite antique shops on the way to Hot Springs where we spend the night at the Arlington Hotel.  It is a relic of the era of grand hotels and we just love it.  The last few years it has been the venue for the Arkansas Bar Association's annual conference.  The lobby is packed with lawyers swapping courtroom anecdotes while drinking from an extensive open bar.  As we weave our way to the desk, we hear snippets of, "then the judge...", and "but the witness couldn't...".

 After checking in, we head across the street to Rolando's, a great Latin restaurant with a nice outdoor patio on the second floor.  It is built right into the rock of the mountain and is always cool and shady.  Early the next morning we take off for the top of Petit Jean Mountain where the swap meet is held.  It is a beautiful drive up and we spend it commenting on the scenery and the antique cars traveling the road with us. Our conversation goes something like this:

                                                                             Me 
                     " That's a cool old Chevy in front of us.  Looks like a '58."

                                                                             James
                      "Oh, yeah, you mean the Buick. It's probably a '68.  Look at the gardenias in
                       that yard."
    
                                                                              Me
                     " Those are beautiful, but I think those are mock orange.  Look at that great,
                        blue GTO!"

                                                                              James
                       "Yeah, I love that color, but that might be a Le Mans.   Look at their daylilies. 
                        They're so tall!  We need some like that."

                                                                               Me
                         (Looking over at a clump of canna lilies.) "Oh, they are awesome."


     And on and on, up the mountain we go trying so hard to be knowledgeable about each other's hobbies. The truth is, I don't know one make or model of car from another and by the end of the day will revert to just calling them by their color, "cool, red car". 

James calls every white flower a gardenia, every red flower a rose, and everything in between a daylily. 

 But the point is, we try and every now and then we have our "crowning glory" moments like when I spied three window cranks for his "64 Buick Skylark convertible hidden in a mountain of parts on a table at the swap meet and he picked out some beautiful daylilies (not cannas) at a nursery on our drive home.  It truly is the thought that counts. :)

     "Seize the moments of happiness, love and be loved!  That is the only reality in the world, all else is folly."       

  Leo Tolstoy

    Love ya'll, 
Shelli

    
    

Collard Greens With Pecans, Oh My!!

     This has been the weirdest Spring and Summer as far as gardening is concerned.  Vegetables and flowers have bloomed and ripened at the strangest times!  I just pulled the last of the collards out of the garden and cooked them using an adaptation of  Gina Neely's Turnip Greens from Food Network. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/patrick-and-gina-neely/ginas-turnip-greens-recipe.htm.

  Oh my goodness, they were out of this world!!

                                                          

                                          Picture from www.foodnetwork.com
                                                            
Ingredients:
   olive oil
   2 strips of precooked bacon
   1 vidalia onion
   1 clove garlic
   1 mess greens
   1 cup chicken broth
   2 T Dijon mustard
   salt, red and black pepper to taste
   1/2 cup chopped pecans, toasted

Directions:
   Heat olive oil and two strips of bacon in skillet.

   Add onion and sauté.  Add garlic.
   Add washed greens, mix, and cook until wilted.
   Add salt and pepper.

   Wisk chicken stock and mustard in a separate bowl.
   Add to greens and cook until liquid evaporates.
   Add toasted pecans.

 

The Tree I Want To Be

     There is a sweet bay magnolia outside our office window at home.  This time of year it is filled with new baby birds being taught by their parents how to fly and what to eat .  At first the babies just sit in the tree and their parents bring seeds to them from the nearby feeders, but eventually the babies try to go to the feeder by themselves and that's when the fun begins! They fly to the feeder but aren't sure how to perch so they flap, and hover, and flap some more, ultimately returning to the tree with nothing to eat. It is great fun to watch!! But my point is, after every trial run they return to the tree. It is their shelter and support; their refuge.

     That's the kind of tree I want to be for the people in my life - a refuge.  So today I am thinking about the branches in my tree that I need to prune or nurture in order to be a loving shelter.

     Pruning first.....I am bossy and I think I know it all.  Let me just put that out there.  In self-defense, I think that comes from my years in the classroom when I was the boss and it was my job to know it all.  But now that I am retired it is time to prune that branch!  No one likes a know-it-all.  I also want to prune my branches of judgment and criticism.  I don't want to be limited or confined by judgments rooted in "my way" of doing things. We have so many wonderful young people in our family.  They see the world differently than the old guard does. I want to respect, not judge, their points of view.

                    "If you judge people you have no time to love them."  Mother Teresa

     Once these branches have been cut away, I want to nurture the branches of love and acceptance.  My grandmother called us her "precious darlings". If we misbehaved she would switch us with a bridal's wreath switch and still call us "precious darlings". It was awesome!!! Later when I was in my teens and being judged by peers about everything I did , said, or wore, being someone's "precious darling" was balm to my soul - a loving branch to perch on.  My great aunt, Hittie, also provided a tree of love and support.  Just walking into her house surrounded you with acceptance.  While you were there, she kept up a constant barrage of reinforcing comments such as, "I'm so proud of you!", "You are so smart!", or "That is wonderful!".  It was nurturing at its best and I was lucky to have it in my life!  That is why it is so very important for me to provide this tree, these branches, for the people in my life. 

        "Love is an act of endless forgiveness, a tender look which becomes a habit."  Peter Ustinov

                                                                                                              Love ya'll,  Shelli
                                                                                                                                              




    

Change and Growth

     

Welcome to my blog,

"Growing Branches".
  

The title comes from a quote by Pauline R. Kezer....

  "Continuity gives us roots; change gives us branches, letting us stretch and grow and reach new heights." 

      I am Shelli Quayhagen and I live at Turkey Creek Garden in rural north Louisiana with my wonderful husband, our garden friendly dogs, and coop full of chickens.  This blog was born out of a big change in my life -  retirement after thirty-three years of teaching school, a profession I loved with all my heart.  Suddenly I was faced with "the rest of my life"! 

Spurred on by this change, I began writing about the ordinary events in our simple day-to-day lives where we are trying hard to grow "branches" upon which we can hang

a
 family/friend centered,
 church based, 
community minded,
 service oriented,
 garden growing , 
picture painting,
 story writing, 
squash frying, 
dog petting, 
chicken raising, 
porch sitting, 
good book reading,
 lightning bug watching, 
sometimes doing nothing, 
contemplative wad of appreciative contentment!!!

I hope you'll enjoy the  posts and will visit with us often.  Leave a comment; I'd love to hear from you. Until then....

       

  Love ya'll, 

  Shelli