NOTES FROM THE HOLLER

Precious mem'ries, unseen angels Sent from somewhere to my soul How they linger, ever near me As the sacred past unfold. Precious mem'ries, how they linger How they ever flood my soul In the stillness of the midnight Precious, sacred scenes unfold. As I travel on life's pathway I know not what the years may hold And as I ponder, hope grows fonder Precious mem'ries floods my soul. Precious mem'ries how they linger How they ever flood my soul In the stillness of the midnight Precious, sacred scenes unfold...  Many of you know that I my favorite pastime is digi-scrapping, and I especially love doing heritage pages.  I have completed several family photo books for our Kiper and Phelps family.  It is my attempt to share with my children and grandchildren their heritage; a glimpse into  the lives of the families, they never really got to know.  They do not have the privilege of sitting around the kitchen table on a Sunday afternoon surroun...

As I have been doing a little bit of fall cleaning and decorating the past few days, I thought I would share a few of my favorite things with you.  My husband does not like a lot of clutter; in fact, if he had his way there would be nothing at all on the walls and only the bare necessities in the way of furniture.  Having been married for 14 years, he has learned to compromise, and I with him, and luckily, our styles are the same...we like old stuff, and we like blue.  His stuff and my stuff blended together perfectly. Our furniture for the most part is stationery and can not be moved as he built the rooms specifically to be arranged a certain way.  For example, our tv has to sit in the corner so he can see it from his "kingly" position at the head of the dining table as well as from his favorite seat in the livingroom, and our bedrooms were built with the position of the beds to be in one place so all other furnishings are centered around them.  In the beginn...

Since I began my new Facebook page, Grannynky's Recipes, Tips& More ,  I have been reading all the information out there for make-your-own cleaners, laundry detergents, shampoos, etc.  They are all things I would like to try out but let's be realistic here...it can be really expensive to 'go green'. Case in point...for years I used only Tide laundry products but it kept costing more and more, and finally I just could not rationalize paying that much money just to wash clothes.  I have had to try several less-expensive products before I finally found one that I am satisfied with.  I would really love to make my own laundry detergent but every time, I go to the grocery store and pick up the ingredients to make it, the total cost of the ingredients is more than my usual product.  Now granted, if I make my own, I will end up with more actual laundry detergent but I only have $10.00 to spend, and what if I am not satisfied with the finished product I have made......

I found something today that I just really wanted to share with you, a reminder, if you will, that we all should be good to one to one another.   Please watch this short video,  "Giving," which tells the story of a man unexpectedly rewarded for a lifetime of good deeds he performed without expecting anything in return.   Mark 12:31   'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Until next time, Hugz and Peace:)

Growing up, it was always a thrill for the new Sear & Roebuck catalogs to come in the mail.  I would spend hours and hours going through the catalog, page by page, and making wish lists.  I would write down all the ordering information: product name, product #, shipping weight....everything just like I was really going to order it.   I would "order" clothes for my brothers and parents, as well as for myself.  I would wish for Daddy new tools, and furnish Mama's house in the things I knew she would love, and when the Christmas catalog came, my brothers and I would have had everything we saw on television on Saturday mornings!  I loved wishing.....I guess that is where my Daddy first noticed that I was wishing my life away!  I have heard that phrase more than once in my lifetime, and usually it held negative connotations  from him or someone else who was frustrated with me! I can't help it; I like to wish!  Mama made most all my clothes, ...

From the time I was a small child, all I ever wanted "to be" was a wife and mother.  With one failed marriage of 23 years behind me, I was blessed to be the mother of three amazing sons.  I made a lot of mistakes along the way but raising those boys were the best years of my life.                                  2008 photo of my three sons and I In 1999, I married for the second time, and gained two step-sons.  Our blended family now includes in-laws, out-laws, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and wanna-bes which enrich our life.   There are moments of great joy, as well as sorrow, triumphs and failures, good and bad.  I embrace it all for it makes life worth living. Mothering now is trickier than ever before.  They are adults and each one is an individual.  Each relationship is unique, t...