October 8, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. I’m sorry to be late reporting, but I had a whole page of sentences to diagram. Plus two pages of Algebra and I had to draw a picture of a flower showing all the parts, stamens or pistils or something like that. Mrs. Boggs, she teaches science, is a flower …
Banana Croquettes, a KY Church Dinner Treat
Have you ever eaten banana croquettes? Chances are if you’ve been to a church dinner in Kentucky, you’ve had the opportunity to give them a try. My little country church had Homecoming Day today. Once a year we invite everybody who has spiritual roots in the church to come “home” for a special service. That can be a lot of …
Winners, Bicycles and Birthdays
My birthday month is over. September has slipped away too soon. No more birthday stories in my e-mail box. 🙁 It’s been a crazy month down here on the farm with Christmas at Harmony Hill out in September and Orchard of Hope coming out in its new package on October 1. Add in one of Mom’s caretakers being sidelined with cataract …
Hollyhill has a New Book
October 1, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Somebody has written a book about us here in Hollyhill! Again! Last year there was that book about all the things I found out in the summer, Scent of Lilacs. Now I’m finding out lots of new things in this story, Orchard of Hope. And some of it happens right …
Story Webs
A Story Web Four years ago I wrote a piece for my on-line journal here about how a story can be an intricate web like a spider web. I wanted a picture of a spider web to go with it, but it was late October and the spiders were battening down their hatches for winter, I suppose. I looked all …
Surprises, Parties and Chocolate Cakes
“Let’s face it, a nice, creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me.” ~Audrey Hepburn Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for a lot of people; it does for me. Audrey Hepburn Read more at http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/chocolate_cake.html#FS468PmEH8F8rtSo.99 Let’s face it, a nice creamy chocolate cake does a lot for …
Miss Sally’s Old-Fashioned Ways of Predicting the Weather
September 23, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Holly County. We were at Miss Sally’s house on Sunday. You remember her, don’t you? She was the one who took those chickens I won and then let me visit them. She lives out in the country close to Dad’s church. Everybody loves Miss Sally. And everybody listens when she talks. Even …
Spotted on My Walks
“Happiness is a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne I love spotting things on my walks like this butterfly. I’ve been pursuing him or his brothers and sisters for the last couple of months in order to take his photo. They were all …
Birthdays Mean Cake
“All the world is birthday cake, so take a piece, but not too much.” ~George Harrison Birthdays mean cake. And sometimes surprises. At least that’s what I’m hearing in the stories you’ve been sending in as you enter your names in my Celebration Giveaway for Christmas at Harmony Hill. 12 more days to enter your name by sending me a …
Jupiter Watermelons and Carbon Paper
September 16, 1964 Jocie Brooke here reporting from Hollyhill, Kentucky. Thank goodness, I managed to stay out of trouble at school this week so that I could write this report. Did you like Dad filling in for me last week? He wouldn’t let me read it. Said that was part of my punishment for getting in trouble with Mrs. Jackson. …