This week has been the oddest and most exciting so far this summer! Last Sunday was decoration at the church my nanny grew up going to and is buried at. Every year, decoration becomes a time of reflection and remembrance for me. Memories from childhood come flooding back when I visit my grandparents' homes. Pulling in to nanny and papa's house reminded me of summers spent with papa will he set tobacco, took care of his dairy cows and tended the vegetable and sunflower garden. I thought of the early morning breakfasts I despised as a teenager and helping nanny shell green beans on the back porch. My sister and I would play one v. one softball in the yard for hours with home base being a tree that I found was now cut down and prepped to be firewood this winter. I would be lying if I said my heart didn't sink a little when I saw it. My first time riding a tractor and getting whipped with an apple tree limb happened on that farm. I only wish I had known then how special our time together was. I probably wouldn't have tried to avoid visiting like I often did in high school.
Decoration (also know by many communities as homecoming) is an interesting event. At Walker's Chapel, the graves are decorated with saddles, wreaths, vases of flowers, and sometimes figurines prior to the church service Sunday morning. The service is taken up largely by the whole congregation singing hymns and putting in prayer requests. Then, there is a few individual performances and a short message by the preacher. Afterwards, everyone heads to the church hall where everyone has brought a dish for a scrumptious potluck. This year, I made one fruit salad and one vegetable salad. There's usually plenty of butter and sugar filled dishes so I thought I'd bring a healthier alternative -- although I mostly indulged in the other stuff.
Once you've eaten, if you haven't already, you go out to the graveyard and see your loved ones graves all decorated. It's a tradition in our family to also get pictures during this time. Here's a few photos from the day:
Celebrations
Lucas' only full day off during the week is Friday so we've unofficially declared it our date day. This Friday, we decided to head to Harrodsburg, KY. Neither one of us had spent any time there, only drove through it a few times, so we wanted to check things out. Plus, there was a Beef Festival (gasp!). Their downtown is the cutest--a quintessential small town.
(Photo credits: my husband)
An its-such-a-small-world story: The shop on the right is called KentuckyLit with a tagline "Old Books, New Cigars." As I was skimming his Silas House collection, the shop owner started informing me that he was a Kentucky author. I politely interrupted before he continued to inform me letting him know that I'd just taken a class with him this past semester. I learned that the two were actually fairly close acquaintances. We shared a few stories and Hubs ended up getting two cigars on the house (one that the shop owner had rolled himself from KY proud tobacco).
Our Semi-Spontaneous Schedule of Events:
- Picnic at the Park: Held on Fridays from noon-1, it's a free event with live entertainment under a big tree in Fort Harrod State Park
- Explore downtown
- Drive out to Lake Herrington (Beautiful farm country and extra small town called Burgin on the drive there)
- Stop at Kentucky Fudge Company, a locally owned shop with coffee, desserts, pizza, deli sandwiches and retro decor
- Find a jug of water (ended up at Kroger)
- Beef Festival at Mercer County Fairgrounds (Met Miss Ellaneous and her bf there, ate an amazing ribeye sandwich and got a free cow cookie cutter and oven mitt)
- Then, we headed to Danville, KY for the Big Brass Music Festival. They were having a mini Mardi Gras. Great music there!
(Photo credits: my husband)
Sales
Yesterday, I went to yard sales with Miss Ellaneous and her mother from 8am to 4pm. Boy was I beat when we got done! I hadn't been yard saling in a long time until just a few weeks ago. I'm thankful to have started back again. It's saved me quite a few dollars. Here are the purchases I've made so far:
- A vintage yellow sweater vest - $3
- Two tables (that are getting a major revamp!) - $15
- A Vera Bradley small sidebag - $1
- Two heirloom tomato plants (1 baby roma, 1 big rainbow) - $2 each
- Five or six free flower pots
- Pashima scarf made in Scotland - $2
- Random decor (3 items) - $3
- Very full hanging basket - $4
I hope to put my tomato plants in permanent pots tomorrow. Here's a photo of them:
I plan to post more as they grow. And just in case you're wondering, I watered the one on the right just after taking this picture and it perked up within an hour. Isn't it amazing what a little water can do? I'm excited to see red on these girls! Overall, my week has been very exciting. Hopefully its beginning of good vibes for the rest of summer!
Until next time,
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