Country girl wedding reception flowers
Puttin’ on a cowboy hat & a pair of boots doesn’t make you country; like puttin’ on a ball gown & glass heels won’t make me Cinderella. ~Kellie Elmore
Do you remember that song Barbara Mandrell sang years ago. “I was country, when country wasn’t cool.” I’m guessing that was a lot of you and me too as we grew up country. You all proved it by added some great reasons we might be country girls. I can’t say that I’ve done all the things you listed. I missed out on some of them because I just never liked to go fishing. But I hope you won’t take away my country girl star because of that. My dad didn’t like to fish and I guess Mom didn’t either. My dad once went on a paid fishing trip out in the ocean. He held the pole and pretended to fish but wouldn’t bait his hook. He did not want to catch anything. He went with some family members who did like to catch fish. I think he might have been a first for those fishing tour people. They weren’t sure what to do with him since they sort of guaranteed those on the trip would catch a fish or two.
But back to why we might be country girls. My daughter tried to leave a comment and the site wouldn’t cooperate, but she shared some with me over the phone. Hope others of you haven’t had trouble leaving comments. That’s always so frustrating whether you’re a country girl or not. So here are a few she came up with.
If you’ve ever stepped over a snake in a cow path, you might be a country girl.
If you remember how the summer bugs sounded as you rode on a wagon of cut tobacco to the barn…
If you bruised your buns on a frozen cow pie under the snow when sledding down a pasture hill…
If you decorated your wedding reception in a fancy old house with bouquets of fall branches and weed flowers, then you just might be a country girl.
That last was a true one for my daughter. I was the culprit who gathered all the hayfield flowers and colorful tree and bush branches. They looked really good. Honest! The picture up top is one of the bouquets.
I picked out a few favorites that you all shared too. A couple of you talked about squishing mud between your toes. That can feel country good.
Carrie F said if you ever washing your fair in rainwater, you might be a country girl. I promise you that your hair feels extra soft and silky with that rainwater wash.
Carrie also mentioned tying a string to a June bug. I did that. Poor June bugs, but those green iridescent bugs were ever after a favorite of mine. So I guess country girls know how to make their own toys. And their jewelry too with those clover necklaces and somebody mentioned acorn necklaces too. I missed out on that one.
Bessie said you might be a country girl if you ever ate a tomato sandwich. The tomato had to come out of your garden, of course. And I loved a nice ripe slice of tomato on a leftover biscuit. Didn’t take much to make me happy.
Brenda said you might be a country girl if you love the music of canning lids popping when they seal. That is a good sound.
Lisa B said you might be a country girl if you ever had to “get up” the cows for your dad to milk. I used to get up the cows sometimes and always wished for a cow herding dog. Or a pony to ride to the back pasture to head them toward the barn.
Kristy had a bunch. She even named some favorite smells. Some of them I wondered about being favorites!! But you can’t beat the good smell of freshly mowed hay. She said you might be a country girl if you’d ever sucked that tiny bubble of sweetness out of a honeysuckle bloom. A gift of nature, for sure.
Suzanne said you might be a country girl if you ever washed your car in a creek. We had a creek like that where everybody would go and wash their cars. Back then we weren’t as aware of water pollution. We just had fun splashing water on the cars and on us.
So many other great reasons we might be country girls in the comments last week. So go back and check them out. Thanks to all of you for chiming in. And if you have more, keep them coming.
Oh, and I have one for the road here.
If you’ve ever eaten a pawpaw, you just might be a country girl.
So do you know what a pawpaw is?
Here’s a bowl of them waiting for my husband to finish them off. I’m fine with letting him have them all. I’m a country girl, but pawpaws aren’t my favorite. Now if you want to talk about wild raspberries, then yum.
As always, thanks for reading.
Comments 10
If you ever sat on the ground in stall with a calf’s head in your lap and let him suck your thumb, you might be a country girl.
If you ever sat on a three legged stool, head resting on a cow’s flank, trying your best to strip the milk from a full udder, you might be a country girl.
If you ever softly walked through light bulb warmed barn stalls trying not to step on tiny chicken biddies (some call them dibbies) you might be a country girl.
Author
I think you qualify, Helen, but it’s good to be country girls.
You might be a country girl if you slacked your thirst with sheep sorrel leaves while “watching the cows” in the pasture so they didnt wander off. Or you might be country if you rolled out of bed on a bright Sunday morning and milked all 9 of the cows in the morning so Dad could sleep in. You might be country if you spent all day Saturday in the woods playing and forgot about lunch.
Author
Martha, a couple of those are prize country girl things. I don’t know about the sheep sorrel leaves. I always just took a jug or got thirsty. And you were an extra good daughter to let your Dad sleep in. Now, I did love playing in the woods and probably missed a few lunches.
Ann,
This made me grin. Just color me…a country girl! While I didn’t exactly grow up in the country, I was raised in a small town in a very rural area. Though times and the town have changed (in the name of progress), I still amble along its hills and valleys in my mind.
Oh…and we did build our home in the country. Does that count? 😉
Author
Those small towns count as nearly country, Cynthia. And my little town has changed a lot too, but when I use it for a setting for some of my novels, I always block out WalMart and keep my little stores on Main. Definitely that house in the country makes you a bonafide country girl. Glad the post brought some grins to you.
You might be a country girl if you find muscadines or scuppernongs going for a walk and have a taste. 😉
Author
If you’re eating scuppernongs, you do sound county. I had to look those up, Jill. I knew about muscadines, but not scuppernongs. Interesting info.
“Where oh where is pretty little Susie, way down yonder in the pawpaw patch. Picking up pawpaws, put them in a basket, pickin up pawpaws put them in a basket, picking up pawpaws put them in a basket; way down yonder in the pawpaw patch.”
Use to sing this as a child and never questioned what a pawpaw was until now! Thanks, Ann! Never too old to learn!!! 😊😉😊
Author
I’ve been talking about pawpaws on my Facebook page and I’ve had some others singing that song (in writing, of course) to me, Karen. One said “Where, oh where is dear little Mary.” But I think I’ve heard Susie the most. It’s always interesting what I can learn from all of you out there in internet land. One reader shared a link with all kinds of pawpaw recipes. I might even try one of them. My husband really likes pawpaws, but me, not so much. I’m sure if I live back in pioneer days, I’d have been thrilled to find a loaded pawpaw tree to add some fruit to my diet. And you can make pawpaw jam and one reader said they made pawpaw ice cream. The pioneers probably couldn’t do that, but I can imagine pawpaw pies on their tables.