Chats on the FarmHouse Porch (#33)

Hey there everyone, I have been posting so many photos lately that I have neglected some of the other link-ups I love to do. This post I am linking up with Patrice over at Everyday Ruralty for her famous "Chats on the Farmhouse Porch"

Today was beautiful! It was almost warm enough to sit out in the full sun on the deck, but I would probably welcome you to sit in my living room with the fireplace going....and we could chat about this weeks questions:

QUESTIONS

1. Tell me a fond memory of an elderly person?
2. What's your favorite flavor of jam or jelly?
3. What goes through your mind when you drive by one of those whopping, huge houses that look like something in a magazine?
4. What's your favorite way to relax?
5. What's your favorite kind of pasta?

My answers:

1. I would answer this one by talking about my Gram and Grandpa. I love remembering how my Grandpa would take me out for breakfast and eat all the things that Grandma removed from his diet....He would say "Now Ali, we don't  need to mention to Gram what I am ordering this morning, this is OUR time" We would ride home stopping to talk to the Amish men that would be set up roadside selling produce or cheese. He loved chatting with them. We would make up  songs to sing in the car all the way home.  You can read more about him HERE. Also my Gram who we lost last year...she was "green" before it was the thing to be and she was a great cook ( all natural ingredients) i remember many days helping her in the garden, I can still feel the warm sun on my back and eating fresh raw peas...you can read about her HERE

2.My favorite...only one? I  used to love my gram's current jelly...I guess raspberry or strawberry? Anything but orange marmalade...yuck! 

3.Wow...do they clean that themselves? How many people live there...seems like houses get bigger, but families get smaller these days. I love my old farmhouse, it's not tiny, but it's not big enough to forget we live with our family members either...I love being able to her Cody playing guitar in his room, Collin playing drums in his room, and Colton playing in his room or running back and forth between his brother's rooms teasing and laughing with each other.

4. If weather is nice, either sitting on the deck with hot or iced coffee...or going on a photo walk, pausing long enough to focus on detail and clear my mind.

  If the weather is not nice, then curled up in front of the fireplace with hot coffee and a good book or magazine...or catching up on my favorite blogs and gathering amazing ideas on Pinterest :)

5. Pasta is such a comfort food...I  like it every which way...Olive Garden's never ending pasta ....oh yeah!

Well it was a pleasure having you over! Please continue the conversation in the comments below. I'd love to hear your thoughts to these questions too :)

Have a wonderful rest of your week!

Hugs and Prayers!

Allison

If This Chair Could Talk...

 

 This chair was my grandpa's. I can still picture him sitting in it, laughing at a comedy on T.V. or sitting reading the paper....sometimes looking as if in deep thought, sometimes napping. I was very close with him and there are many days I wish I could just sit and talk with him....ask him for advice...make up a silly song like we used to. Aside form my husband, I have never had the love of a better man than him. He taught me what a good man was...he didn't even try, and probably never knew....but because of his love and godly example, I chose a wonderful man to be my husband and the father of my children.
   My Grandpa went home to be with the Lord right before I turned 19. I remember coming home from a wonderful night with Dave...I was so excited because Dave had just proposed. My Grandpa really liked Dave and he knew I loved Dave before I did, so I was so excited for us to come in and share the big news. He smiled as he looked at the ring...he was happy for us. He asked "When's the big day?" ( it was March when we got engaged) I said, "We love the fall, and want to have an October wedding." He said, "Boy I don't know if I can wait that long!"...I just thought he was excited, but it turns out he hadn't been feeling well, but never told any of us.
   Just a couple of weeks later, and he was gone...he had a massive heart attack followed by a stroke. The doctors said he had significant scarring on his heart indicating he had probably had several small heart attacks leading up to that big one....
  Wedding plans kept us quite busy for the next 7 months. We had a wonderful warm October day when we said "I do". There was a tinge of sadness, because I had so wanted my Grandpa to walk me down the isle...
   Time moved on and we moved to an apartment and then discovered we would be adding to our family! We moved to our first little home in  the country with our new baby boy.
   I was given a gift when we moved there...my mom  and Gram decided I should have my Grandpa's chair. More than a year and a half had passed since he had died. That night I sat in that chair...it all hit  me. He  missed our wedding, the birth  of his first great grandson... but here I was sitting in his chair, and somehow that provided a space to heal. When someone passes at  such a busy time, it's easy to not really deal with the loss...there just wasn't any time to let it all sink in.
   Over 18 years later, I still find great comfort in that chair...now I'm the one sitting there laughing at the comedy, sitting with my laptop catching up on the news, writing my blog....many times just sitting deep in thought. I have sat there contemplating many things over the years....held my babies, searched through my Bible for answers, cried for my children's broken hearts....
   As I sit here now, I can see the soft blue fabric faded and tattered around the edges and I remember my Grandpa's strong hands on the arms....fingers slowly rubbing the trim when he seemed to be working something over in his mind.... there are some stains on the matching ottoman...but it is one of my most treasured things.
   I've been  spending  time here a lot lately, heart heavy for my family...I wonder if we were in his mind when he sat thinking quietly. Funny how your perspective changes as you get older.
   I am so thankful for so many blessings in my life including this simple, worn, secondhand chair, whose  beauty is  invisible to most.
  
   How about you? Do you have something that is special to you that ties you to the past?
   

A Day of Reflection

  It's hard to believe that it's been a whole week since my Gram passed away...although, it also seems as if I've been a bit frozen in time this week. Strange how that can happen...

   Anyway, I decided to go up to the cemetery. People think it's strange that I will go there sometimes to get away from it all. I usually go to the top of the hill where my grandparents plot is. I know they are not "there", they are in Heaven with my Jesus...but when I go there, it's as if I can hear my Grandpa speak encouragement to me. You see, they didn't have any boys to carry on the family last name - "Allison", so that became my first name. My grandpa was a great man of faith, and loved to tell people to "Keep the Faith"...sometimes he would say "Oh ye of little faith!"...but he had a great faith and wanted others to come to know that faith. So, this brings me back to my reason for going up to the cemetery...Well, better yet, let me show you a picture to help clarify...

   You see, the back of the family stone seems to speak right to me. I still remember the day that we were trying to decide what quote to put on the stone, it was a no brainer. I did not realize, however, that it would be right with the name.

   My dad left us when I was 10, so my grandpa stepped in to be the father I needed. He did it effortlessly, he was always so positive about everything, and was kind to all people...I really miss having him in my life...

   So on those days that I would love to run to him about something, I come up here and I can just imagine him telling me, "Keep the faith girlie" and repeat it again if he thought I'd need it, "Allison, keep the faith!"

   After some time reflecting on my grandparents, I took a walk with my camera, and focused on the beauty around me. Take a look at just a few of my pictures, hope you enjoy.

                                  

This is very nearby, my Gram I shared a love for gardens and birds...she would love this.

Beautiful sky!

A reminder that Jesus's death on the cross, gives believers a hope for eternal life.

   I don't know if you can see where the stone is, but he picked this plot out well before he died. The reason for this spot? So that he could be one of the first raised to meet Christ in the air when He returns...what a glorious day that will be!

A remembrance of those who have served our country...my grandpa included.

A curious young deer looks on as I drive out of the cemetery.

   I hope that each of you that reads this knows the love of our Heavenly Father, if you don't, please seek him while He may be found.

   If you do know him,...in the words of my wise Grandpa..."Keep the Faith!"

Missing My Homesteading Gram

 Friday, I had to say goodbye for now to my Gram. She fought a battle with Alzheimer's for several years. It is a cruel disease that changes so much about a person. My Gram was a fighter though, she held on to so many of her personality traits right up until the end... the biggest blessing was that she recognized us and knew who we were right up until the end. My mom and my husband and I were with her when she took her final breath here on earth...for that I am grateful. She was not alone, but surrounded by love - the love that she had poured into us our whole lives was flowing from us right back to her as she had her glorious homecoming...
   This brings me to another blessing, I know I will see her again someday. She loved the Lord and left that legacy to my mother and me and my children. I knew that as she exhaled her way from this earth, she inhaled the glory of our Heavenly Father.
   My Gram didn't have much growing up. As a result she saw a treasure in even the smallest of things. She loved to write poetry and had a unique way of looking at things. She was a gardener and a great cook. She was "green" before that term was used, and I use many of her methods that as a child, I thought were strange...like cleaning with baking soda, peroxide, vinegar...finding new uses for old things,...using natural foods and supplements rather than running to the doctor's office...composting...She taught me many things that only recently I have seen the value.



   My mom and I were going through some of her things, and I found a little black book full of handwritten thoughts and quotes, here is a sample:

   I am thankful for the heritage of my grandparents. We lost my Grandpa 19 years ago, I'm sure they are praising God around the throne together...Love that thought!
   Love ya Gram, see you in Heaven.
Linking up:
Farm Friendly Friday @ http://www.verdefarm.com/
 Farm Girl Friday @ http://www.deborahjeansdandelionhouse.com



Another site you may enjoy:
http://likeabubblingbrook.com/