Sunday, January 29, 2012

WEEK OF REST AND SICKNESS

It's been a week of sickness for me. Nothing major just an old virus that kept me in bed a couple of days. I remember when I was little and I got sick. I lived in a house with 7 people (5 kids and 2 adults). Every time one of us kids got sick, Mom would send us packing to GrannyMaw's and PawPaw's house as not to infect the other kids. I loved it even though I was sick.

I remember GrannyMaw fixin' homemade smashed taters or oatmeal when I had a virus. She never failed us with canned vegetable soup when we had a cold, the measles, or the chicken pox. And when I say canned, I ain't talking aluminum. Straight from the garden, into a Ball jar, and put in a canner. Soooo good. I haven't had soup like that in over twenty years and I miss it so much.

These are some of the comforts I remember as a child when I was sick. What are some of yours?

Until next time...
Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear!

Friday, January 20, 2012

ANGLUN

To me, this is a picture of somewhere I'd like to live out my golden years. Well, that is if the weather ever improved. So this brings me to the Southernese word for the week:

Anglun: n. The country that gave us Anglish.

In reality, this Southern Gal would most likely retire to the wonderful sandy beaches of Florida with the rest of the Golden Girls.

Until next time...Where do you dream of retiring to?

Y'all Come Back Now, Ya Hear!

Sunday, January 15, 2012

SOUTHERNESE...

Over time I will be posting entries from alphaDictionary.com. Specifically from Dr. Goodword's at Play article containing Southern words and their meanings. Some I actually use and some I've never heard of, even though I was born in the South and have lived here all my life.

So...the first word is:

As in "A prefix to the present participle to make it purtier. e.g. "Abe's a-workin in backer t'day; Ma's a-talkin to you, son!" (see also agwine, agonna, acoming, aworking, etc.)

Dr. Goodward of, Dr. Goodward's Office, had kindly put together a lengthy list of Southern definitions at http://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/southernese.html . Anyone who writes Southern novels, such as I, knows this is a reference book just as Webster's dictionary.

So, I hope you'll practice your Southernese and until next time...

Y'all come back, ya hear!

Saturday, January 14, 2012

SOUTHERN DREAMING

In the South, most of us around my age (21-ish + a few years), grew up gardening. My grandparents (my mother's parents) were referred to as the Country Grandparents. I loved spending time with them and I miss my GrannyMaw and PawPaw dearly.

The one thing I remember mostly about spending time with them were summers of working out in the garden. Not just one garden but four. GrannyMaw had a small garden on the hill above their home where she planted what every Southern woman plants:

Tomatoes. Yes, tomatoes of all kinds. What I remember mostly was taking a huge, red, juicy tomato from the vine and slicing it up to put on two pieces of bread slathered with mayonnaise (Bama brand only) and seasoned with lots and lots of salt and pepper. Ahhh...heaven. Also I remember the more tomatoes that grew the more homemade vegetable soup that my GrannyMaw canned herself was available during long winters of sittin' in the house. Also a wonderful goulash she concocted with ground beef, macaroni noodles, and lots of tomatoes. Yummers!

She also planted her usual strawberry patch, bell peppers, hot peppers, and prettied the area up with her many Irises which bloomed in all colors.

My PawPaw had a medium sized garden where he planted corn, green beans, peas, and his section of melons. Among that section were beautiful cantaloupes and, of course, his pretty:

Watermelons. I remember him telling us grand kids as he walked us through the garden, "See these blooms and vines? If I catch you touching them I'll tan your hide." Apparently if you touch the bloom or the vine of a melon plant, it won't bear fruit. Or at least that's what he told us.

My PawPaw had another garden, about the size of my GrannyMaw's on the hill, where he planted:

Peanuts and:

Potatoes. Oh, the yummy goodness of fresh potatoes and oven roasted peanuts. The only thing better than that was salty, boiled peanuts. And he was the king of peanuts...at least in my world.

Their fourth, and final, garden was located many, many miles away from our home in Attalla, AL. We traveled to Fort Payne, AL to our great-aunt and great-uncle's farm on the mountain where there were vegetable rows as far as the eye could see.

I miss those days. I only wished my own children could have had the chance to do the things I did as a child. Ripping and romping in the garden with GrannyMaw and PawPaw, playing backyard baseball with the neighbor kids, and then evenings full of swimming in the cement pond--the pool was really a homemade cement pool about 4 feet deep made by us kids and our grandparents.

Well, until next time, keep living like today is the first day of the rest of your lives.

Y'all come back now, ya hear!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

WELCOME...Y'ALL COME BACK NOW, YA HEAR!

Welcome, y'all! Here's a brand new blog that I've started. It's a Southern Gurl Thang. All things Southern will be discussed here. Southern slang...Southern traditions...Southern everything! Here you can kick off your shoes, pour up a tall drank, and just be...well...Southern. So, I'm aiming to hear from all you Southern (and not so Southern) folks out there. Tell me what you'd like to talk about here in the South.

Until next time...

Y'ALL COME BACK NOW, YA HEAR!