Summertime beginnings

Yes, you’re correct. This is the longest I’ve ever gone without writing – at least on my blog. The truth is, I’ve been writing, and actually editing like crazy on the final portion of my new book, which will be out this fall. I’m in the final stages of approving artwork for the cover, which…

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Doll Club

While writing a true story about my husband’s grandmother, I needed to mention a doll she received as a child. I knew from experience that if I got even one tiny detail wrong, the antique doll-loving crowd would run me out of town with pitchforks because you know how strict those doll lovers are. To…

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Lovely Ireland

If you take away their stone walls and sheep, then add kudzu and table salt, Ireland somehow feels a little bit like Alabama.  We travel in order to experience new things and begin with the thought, “I’m tired of this old place. Let’s get out and see the world.” Yet once we arrive, the similarities…

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It’s 3 o’clock somewhere

The world is at its best at 3 am, for that’s when mothers everywhere awaken to pray.  Deep sleep is paused for rested minds, finally cleared of daily routines. The needs of others have been placed on our hearts and mothers begin to talk to God. My doctor said waking in the middle of the…

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I loaf you

In my long history of exploding food (technically, the hushpuppies weren’t my creation. I was only an observer – but there’s a biscuit story I’ve yet to tell . . . ), I’ve recently added a new exploding meatloaf.  My grandmother once dropped her heaviest cast-iron skillet full of hot cornbread all over the floor.…

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Party Pumpkins (for seniors shhh!)

My darling mother had a birthday last week and I’m always looking for ways to spend more time with her. This is a great activity for seniors, but please don’t tell my mom she’s a senior. She can say it, but I can’t.  We decided to make “party pumpkins” for my cousin’s eight- year old…

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The longest days

 I answered the door to let my grandparents inside, and Granddaddy said, “These are the longest days.” It was a strange, yet not unexpected greeting. My retired County Agent grandfather measured life by crop schedules. “Hey honey” Grandmother added as they both hugged my neck. I took the paper bag of corn and a basket…

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Betty Crocker raised my boys

When my house would rumble with skinny, sweaty, screaming teenage boys, I learned that all I needed to calm them was my 13-inch cast iron skillet and a $1 box of Betty Crocker Cake Mix.  Sure, I can bake from scratch and have produced beautiful Hummingbird, Red Velvet and Lemon Curd layer cakes — regionally…

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To blink or not to blink

Readers often suggest topics for my columns, and by far, the number one thing everyone wants to read is a story on why (insert one or the other) Northerners / Southerners don’t use their turn signals. I’ve avoided the issue like a lying, crying politician, because it’s a scorching hot topic in my own house. …

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Table napkins pull us together

The sale of paper table napkins is on the decline, due in part to people not sitting down at a table to eat a meal. Millennials in particular feel that paper towels are just as good and a faster option to dabbing the corners of their crumbly sticky mouths. When I read this breaking napkin…

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