Beth Durham's Blog, page 21
August 16, 2018
Puttin’ Up Beans
Did someone teach you to put up beans? I don’t know that I ever remember lessons per se, but I certainly remember breaking beans with Grandma. And I watched both my Grandmothers canning all matter of things. Well through nothing but Christian charity I found myself with 4 or 5 bags of beans so I turned in to get them canned. And my Ruthie was very excited to help – in fact, she said she was “super excited.”
Well, it’s a process… she couldn’t get the ends off the beans (I was thanking t...
August 9, 2018
October in Tennessee
Last week I shared several events around the region during September. Today I want to give you some ideas for Saturdays in October.
October in Tennessee is a marvelous thing – I can hardly wait, although I sure don’t want to wish away these last weeks of summertime. But October brings clear blue skies that’ll nearly break your neck for want of staring at them. And cool temperatures that prompt leaves to turn colors that man will try the whole year to replicate in paint or fabric and we...
August 2, 2018
Fall Fun, Learning and Remembering – SEPTEMBER 2018
If you’ve read the “about” section of Tennessee Mountain Stories, you may have noted that when I started the website I intended to visit places and events of interest and report back on them here. Well I have lots of good intentions. We’re now better than 5 years into the blog (how time does fly when you’re having fun!) and I don’t think I’ve reported on any events. Well this year I intend to do better (see my good intentions!) So, I sat down to chart out my family’s fall calendar and ju...
July 26, 2018
Normal Families
A friend was recently sharing with me how her adult children are causing her grief and the feeling of failure she has as a mother. She asked, “Are any families normal anymore?” Well you guessed it, that got me to thinking…
The question of normalcy is not about right and wrong but about what everyone else is doing.
The Cleavers defined family in 1957 and that’s the picture many of us maintain today. Mama at home in high heels and perfectly coifed hair, Daddy comes home with an un-mussed suit...
Normal FamiliesA friend was recently sharing with me how ...
Normal Families
A friend was recently sharing with me how her adult children are causing her grief and the feeling of failure she has as a mother. She asked, “Are any families normal anymore?” Well you guessed it, that go me to thinking…
The question of normalcy is not about right and wrong but about what everyone else is doing.
The Cleavers defined family in 1957 and that’s the picture many of us maintain today. Mama at home in high heels and perfectly coifed hair, Daddy comes home with an...
July 19, 2018
Garden Mystery
Well we’ve come to the time of year when fresh garden vegetable abound. Now, I’m not a very good gardener. I was working in the garden a couple of weeks ago and thought to myself that I’m glad my Grandpa couldn’t see the poor potato patch I’ve raised – he’d just shake his head; he wouldn’t say a word but I know that he would be thinking that I might starve to death this winter.
But that fear that my family will hunger drives me to keep putting out a garden despite my poor skills. And this...
July 12, 2018
The Rolling Store
A Public Domain image of a Rolling Store.
We’ve talked here before about transportation on the mountain – cars were much slower to make their way out here and really weren’t common until after World War 2. Well families were accustomed to relying on the land as well as their own sweat and ingenuity to survive. Still, there were exotic things, like coffee, that one easily became accustomed to and conveniences, like flour, that drew you to a store. Well there’s a dilemma! You want somethin...
July 5, 2018
Cooking Out
My Grandpa always thought that food cooked out of doors tasted better no matter what it was. I tend to agree. Well we’ve been enjoying the natural beauty of one of Tennessee’s State Parks this past week and that afforded the opportunity to again test Grandpa’s theory.
Breakfast is a special meal for us – well I can’t always get together a traditional meal before sending everyone off to work and school, but when I have the chance I usually take it (not always in morning hours either!) and m...
June 28, 2018
New Kin and Old Paths
I met a new family member recently… Dale Welch was telling me about his great-great Grandparents who lived in the Martha Washington community. He mentioned the grandmother’s maiden name was Elmore and that got my questions started. Turns out she was a sister to MY great-great-great Grandmother! We parted with a ‘good-bye cuz’ and a promise to get together soon to share information. (I have much to learn from Mr. Welch’s wealth of historical information!)
You know that as soon as I could g...
June 21, 2018
Skirmish at Dug Hill
This week I had the distinct pleasure to chat a few minutes with Historian Dale Welch and he shared with me a booklet he’s put together and entitled Shadows of Gray. It contains 12 articles about brave Confederates who hailed from the Cumberland Plateau. Today I’d like to share one article with you about the only major skirmish fought in Putnam County.
Even with the blacktop and traffic, the Calfkiller Valley between Monterey and Sparta is more peaceful today than it was 150 years ago, on...
