Now, onward for Friday's roust about!
Miss Scarf was quite ready to be out of the house! She INSISTED on driving, so I let her, but not for long!!! She's a fantastic touring partner, but not so much in the driving department!!!! Ha!Ha!
After a bit of a pout when I wouldn't allow her to drive any further, Miss Scarf settled in her favorite spot on the dash to enjoy the ride! We're heading into the small town of Middleton, which is where I grew up. Don't blink or you'll miss the whole thing!!!
And, here we are! Welcome to Middleton, TN! The town of my childhood, my youth and most likely my sunset years as well!
Middleton now has two main areas, the 'Crossroads' and 'Downtown'. Two major state highways intersect about 2 miles south of the 'Downtown', thus the 'Crossroads' area has grown a lot over the years. When I was a teen, there was a dairy bar, a supermarket and a service station at the 'Crossroads'; now it easily does more business than 'Downtown'. Many businesses have moved in and created quite a traffic jam there at certain times of the day. Yet, we remain with only the red flashing light for control of traffic flow. Not a traffic light in town!
This lovely little cottage is my first stop for the day. This is Wanda's Family Hair Cottage, although it also has grown over the last few years and expanded to offer nail services and facials. I keep asking when they're gonna add a masseuse?!!!!
And here they are!!!! Kim and Wanda! Wanda is my stylist, colorist, friend, and sister-at-heart! I love her dearly! Her daughter, Kim, now is in business with her and is my manicurist/pedicurist, friend and sister-at-heart! I love these girls. They have walked with me through thick and thin and loved me and prayed for me and held me up when I didn't think I could stand.
On this day, I am in to visit with Kim for a manicure/pedicure. I LOVE pedicures!!!! It just feels like the lap of luxury to me to have someone massage your legs and feet!
We are now headed into 'Downtown' Middleton. The railroad dissects downtown, but was the impetus for a town to be built here at all. The building straight ahead and across the tracks with big white sign on it was originally the hotel in Middleton. It was conveniently located near the tracks and the Depot for travelers. It has not operated as a hotel since I was a small child. It is now Rixie's Tire and Battery. In my youth and until the recent past, it was Neely's Service Station. Mr. Neely's Mom kept an apartment upstairs in the old hotel until she passed in my late teen years.
We are now heading back toward the 'Crossroads' area so I can go by the florist to pick up some arrangements I had ordered to place on Terry's grave this weekend. Sunday, June 14, would have been our 34th anniversary.
Fancy Flowers is owned and operated by a very sweet lady, who also happens to be my cousin-in-love! Wanda is married to Ricky, who is the son of my mother's brother, Bobby. Is that as clear as mud now?! Wanda does great work that is extremely reasonably priced. She is just a precious human being. Sorry, no pictures of Wanda! Friday's are her day off and her assistant was running the store.
Flowers now safely tucked into the trunk, we are headed back through town to go North to Bolivar. This is the entrance to ThyssenKrupp (formerly Dover Elevator), the largest employer in Hardeman County. They came to Middleton in the late 60's. Momma was the second employee hired at Dover, Middleton and was the first woman hired in October, 1968. She was later transferred a few miles down the road to their Walnut, MS plant because she worked in the Solid State Dept. and they had built a 'clean room' at the Walnut plant.
This is the Veteran's Memorial recently erected in front of the new City Hall nearing 'Downtown'. The project was totally privately funded and was the result of efforts by the local VFW. It was completed last year just before Veteran's Day.
The monolith in the center carries this inscription "In memory and honor of all veterans who served this great country."
Every brick was individually purchased by families to honor their veteran. This is Daddy's brick. He served during the Korean conflict, but never had to go to Korea. His unit was due to ship out to Korea on the day the conflict resolution agreement was signed, so they were held back. They were sent home on a 10 day furlough while their orders were re-processed. Upon returning to Fort Campbell, KY, they were given order for deployment to Germany. Daddy was in Germany for just over 16 months. He became a squad leader in Co. K of the 12th Regiment. He has medals for his marksmanship. His squad was a sharpshooter squadron, now more commonly known as snipers.
This is a picture of entering 'Downtown' from the other direction. The building on the right is the old hotel. You may also note the Dollar General Store on the left. The local high school is down the road just this side of the Dollar Store. I meant to go by there and take some pictures, but ran out of time!
The small building is the old City Hall, which then became the old Library. Both now have new buildings a bit more centrally located between 'Downtown' and the 'Crossroads'. It is now a police sub-station. If you look closely, you will notice a large polar bear statue in front.
Apparently, years before my time, this building was the Rainbow Inn and was the local hangout for teens. The polar bears were a part of the Rainbow Inn decorations. They had been missing for nearly 50 years. When a local group decided to restore the building, they searched high and low and were able to locate one of the original polar bears. When this guy came back to town, all the 'old folks' had a party in the streets!!!
Notice the line of buildings across the street. These, and others in town, are the buildings owned and occupied by J.P. Shelly and Sons Hardware. J.P. Shelly and Sons has been a fixture in Middleton since before I was born. Mr. and Mrs. Shelly have both been with the Lord for many years, but two of their sons continue to run the family business. You can buy basically anything you need at J. P. Shelly's!
Now leaving Middleton, we are on the open road and headed to Bolivar. You can see Miss Scarf really enjoys riding on the dash! We are heading to visit my mother-in-love, Ms. Gladys. She lives at Bolivar Assisted Care Living and done so since September of last year. In March of last year, she fell at home with us and broke her right hip. After her hip was repaired, she had to spend 5 months in the Nursing Home in their Rehab Unit in order to get back on her feet. After she was able to get about with her walker, we decided she would be happier at the Assisted Living facility than at the nursing home.
This is my petite little MIL! All of 4'9" tall and maybe 100 pounds soaking wet! She would so like to be able to come back home, but her doctor has advised against it. It is the opinion of the doctors that, when she stood up on that fateful night back in March, 2008, she did not fall and break her hip. Rather, her hip broke and that is what caused her to fall. She has severe osteoporosis and needs round-the-clock supervision. Therefore, we fell it is safer for her to be at Assisted Living rather than at home.
This is Amanda. She is one of the lovely ladies who take care of Ms. Gladys. These girls are so good to Ms. Gladys and to all of the people who reside at Assisted Living. They are truly gifts from the Lord. They love these people dearly and take as good care of them as they would their own family members. I cannot believe Amanda is old enough to do this! I worked with her Mom when Jenny was pregnant with Amanda! Gosh, I'm gettin old!!!
This lovely lady is Dianne, the administrator at Assisted Living. I do not know what I would do without this wonderful lady! When Terry was dying, she offered to drive Ms. Gladys out to the house on several different occasions in order that I could stay with Terry, but so that Ms. Gladys could come out too. She has just been precious to both Ms. Gladys and to me. When she lost her own sister, her main concern was for the people at Assisted Living, not wanting them to be upset because of her grief. She is a gift from the Lord to all of us who have family in her facility.
After leaving Ms. Gladys, I decided to drive by Western Mental Health Institute and snap a picture for you all. Truly, I just wanted to drive by. This is where Terry was working when he and I met and until after we married. We spent so many days interacting with the people here. Ms. Gladys also retired from Western. I worked there briefly, but had to move on when the state downsized the budget for the facility in 1988.
The hospital was opened in 1889. This is the original building. The cornerstone bears the name of my husband's great-great grandfather, who was the brick mason who not only laid the bricks, but made them from clay harvested on the property. After the hospital opened, he and his wife lived on campus in a small house and operated the campus store. In the beginning, the hospital was a completely self-sustaining community with their own store, Post Office, medical facilities, barns and hog farm. The patients raised gardens and farmed crops to supply the needs of the facility. Of course, all of that changed with 'modern medicine', when some air-head decided they were better off medicated and put on locked wards than out working with their hands and occupying themselves!
I'm now leaving Hickory Valley, the small town where my sister, Charlotte, works and lives nearby. Katie and Brian are back there tonight and will be leaving to go back to Iowa on Saturday morning. Charlotte invited me for supper so I could spend some time with them before they leave. What started out as such a beautiful day has turned dark and threatening and rain droplets are beginning to fall.
Wow! Those droplets didn't last long! We are now in a full-fledged rain storm! It is falling harder and harder. Miss Scarf and I are ready to get to Charlotte's house and get out of this car!
We seem now to have 'driven through' the rain. I wanted to stop to snap a picture of the Kudzu vines. Kudzu was transplanted from Japan in the 40's to help contold erosion in the southern U.S. In the summertime, they take over everything! They are the devil to kill and almost uncontrollable once they get a foothold in an area. I read recently that Atlanta has a full team of emplyoees who do nothing but try to keep the Kudzu under control during the hot summer months! I HATE these things! They are everywhere around here. If they happen to get onto a utility pole (as in this picture) they cause power outages and just wreak havoc in general.
And now the day is at an end! Allyson and Alix are just in from playing in Nannie's back yard. She bought them a pool with a slip-and-slide in it. They had a blast, to put it mildly! When I arrived, the girls had just gotten out of the tub. Aren't they just precious?! Jaden was still in the tub and didn't want to take pictures when he got out. So, guess we'll have to settle for just the girls!
Until tomorrow............have a blessed day!
We are now headed into 'Downtown' Middleton. The railroad dissects downtown, but was the impetus for a town to be built here at all. The building straight ahead and across the tracks with big white sign on it was originally the hotel in Middleton. It was conveniently located near the tracks and the Depot for travelers. It has not operated as a hotel since I was a small child. It is now Rixie's Tire and Battery. In my youth and until the recent past, it was Neely's Service Station. Mr. Neely's Mom kept an apartment upstairs in the old hotel until she passed in my late teen years.
We are now heading back toward the 'Crossroads' area so I can go by the florist to pick up some arrangements I had ordered to place on Terry's grave this weekend. Sunday, June 14, would have been our 34th anniversary.
Fancy Flowers is owned and operated by a very sweet lady, who also happens to be my cousin-in-love! Wanda is married to Ricky, who is the son of my mother's brother, Bobby. Is that as clear as mud now?! Wanda does great work that is extremely reasonably priced. She is just a precious human being. Sorry, no pictures of Wanda! Friday's are her day off and her assistant was running the store.
Flowers now safely tucked into the trunk, we are headed back through town to go North to Bolivar. This is the entrance to ThyssenKrupp (formerly Dover Elevator), the largest employer in Hardeman County. They came to Middleton in the late 60's. Momma was the second employee hired at Dover, Middleton and was the first woman hired in October, 1968. She was later transferred a few miles down the road to their Walnut, MS plant because she worked in the Solid State Dept. and they had built a 'clean room' at the Walnut plant.
This is the Veteran's Memorial recently erected in front of the new City Hall nearing 'Downtown'. The project was totally privately funded and was the result of efforts by the local VFW. It was completed last year just before Veteran's Day.
The monolith in the center carries this inscription "In memory and honor of all veterans who served this great country."
Every brick was individually purchased by families to honor their veteran. This is Daddy's brick. He served during the Korean conflict, but never had to go to Korea. His unit was due to ship out to Korea on the day the conflict resolution agreement was signed, so they were held back. They were sent home on a 10 day furlough while their orders were re-processed. Upon returning to Fort Campbell, KY, they were given order for deployment to Germany. Daddy was in Germany for just over 16 months. He became a squad leader in Co. K of the 12th Regiment. He has medals for his marksmanship. His squad was a sharpshooter squadron, now more commonly known as snipers.
This is a picture of entering 'Downtown' from the other direction. The building on the right is the old hotel. You may also note the Dollar General Store on the left. The local high school is down the road just this side of the Dollar Store. I meant to go by there and take some pictures, but ran out of time!
The small building is the old City Hall, which then became the old Library. Both now have new buildings a bit more centrally located between 'Downtown' and the 'Crossroads'. It is now a police sub-station. If you look closely, you will notice a large polar bear statue in front.
Apparently, years before my time, this building was the Rainbow Inn and was the local hangout for teens. The polar bears were a part of the Rainbow Inn decorations. They had been missing for nearly 50 years. When a local group decided to restore the building, they searched high and low and were able to locate one of the original polar bears. When this guy came back to town, all the 'old folks' had a party in the streets!!!
Notice the line of buildings across the street. These, and others in town, are the buildings owned and occupied by J.P. Shelly and Sons Hardware. J.P. Shelly and Sons has been a fixture in Middleton since before I was born. Mr. and Mrs. Shelly have both been with the Lord for many years, but two of their sons continue to run the family business. You can buy basically anything you need at J. P. Shelly's!
Now leaving Middleton, we are on the open road and headed to Bolivar. You can see Miss Scarf really enjoys riding on the dash! We are heading to visit my mother-in-love, Ms. Gladys. She lives at Bolivar Assisted Care Living and done so since September of last year. In March of last year, she fell at home with us and broke her right hip. After her hip was repaired, she had to spend 5 months in the Nursing Home in their Rehab Unit in order to get back on her feet. After she was able to get about with her walker, we decided she would be happier at the Assisted Living facility than at the nursing home.
This is my petite little MIL! All of 4'9" tall and maybe 100 pounds soaking wet! She would so like to be able to come back home, but her doctor has advised against it. It is the opinion of the doctors that, when she stood up on that fateful night back in March, 2008, she did not fall and break her hip. Rather, her hip broke and that is what caused her to fall. She has severe osteoporosis and needs round-the-clock supervision. Therefore, we fell it is safer for her to be at Assisted Living rather than at home.
This is Amanda. She is one of the lovely ladies who take care of Ms. Gladys. These girls are so good to Ms. Gladys and to all of the people who reside at Assisted Living. They are truly gifts from the Lord. They love these people dearly and take as good care of them as they would their own family members. I cannot believe Amanda is old enough to do this! I worked with her Mom when Jenny was pregnant with Amanda! Gosh, I'm gettin old!!!
This lovely lady is Dianne, the administrator at Assisted Living. I do not know what I would do without this wonderful lady! When Terry was dying, she offered to drive Ms. Gladys out to the house on several different occasions in order that I could stay with Terry, but so that Ms. Gladys could come out too. She has just been precious to both Ms. Gladys and to me. When she lost her own sister, her main concern was for the people at Assisted Living, not wanting them to be upset because of her grief. She is a gift from the Lord to all of us who have family in her facility.
After leaving Ms. Gladys, I decided to drive by Western Mental Health Institute and snap a picture for you all. Truly, I just wanted to drive by. This is where Terry was working when he and I met and until after we married. We spent so many days interacting with the people here. Ms. Gladys also retired from Western. I worked there briefly, but had to move on when the state downsized the budget for the facility in 1988.
The hospital was opened in 1889. This is the original building. The cornerstone bears the name of my husband's great-great grandfather, who was the brick mason who not only laid the bricks, but made them from clay harvested on the property. After the hospital opened, he and his wife lived on campus in a small house and operated the campus store. In the beginning, the hospital was a completely self-sustaining community with their own store, Post Office, medical facilities, barns and hog farm. The patients raised gardens and farmed crops to supply the needs of the facility. Of course, all of that changed with 'modern medicine', when some air-head decided they were better off medicated and put on locked wards than out working with their hands and occupying themselves!
I'm now leaving Hickory Valley, the small town where my sister, Charlotte, works and lives nearby. Katie and Brian are back there tonight and will be leaving to go back to Iowa on Saturday morning. Charlotte invited me for supper so I could spend some time with them before they leave. What started out as such a beautiful day has turned dark and threatening and rain droplets are beginning to fall.
Wow! Those droplets didn't last long! We are now in a full-fledged rain storm! It is falling harder and harder. Miss Scarf and I are ready to get to Charlotte's house and get out of this car!
We seem now to have 'driven through' the rain. I wanted to stop to snap a picture of the Kudzu vines. Kudzu was transplanted from Japan in the 40's to help contold erosion in the southern U.S. In the summertime, they take over everything! They are the devil to kill and almost uncontrollable once they get a foothold in an area. I read recently that Atlanta has a full team of emplyoees who do nothing but try to keep the Kudzu under control during the hot summer months! I HATE these things! They are everywhere around here. If they happen to get onto a utility pole (as in this picture) they cause power outages and just wreak havoc in general.
And now the day is at an end! Allyson and Alix are just in from playing in Nannie's back yard. She bought them a pool with a slip-and-slide in it. They had a blast, to put it mildly! When I arrived, the girls had just gotten out of the tub. Aren't they just precious?! Jaden was still in the tub and didn't want to take pictures when he got out. So, guess we'll have to settle for just the girls!
Until tomorrow............have a blessed day!
5 comments:
Diane...What a lovely tour through your hometown...it is lovely. Reminds me of Erin...the Crossroads, Dollar General store...sigh.
So nice to meet Ms. Gladys.
And you are right, she is where she needs to be. And blessed to have these ladies in her life.
What a loving group you have supporting you Diane. And what beautiful little gals to love at the end of your day!
~hugs~
trish
First of all...it was so nice to hear your voice in here today diane!
i just got home and i will get caught up with reading this delicious looking post but first i want to email you and ask you something....love terry
so many wonderful pictures. Love the one of your MIL...and those little girls at the end....thank you for sharing Diane and pray you are feeling better.
Dear Diane, You sure get a lot of hings done once oyu're on your wheels.
I'm bearthtaken.
I love the wonderful landscape of Tennessee in shunshine and in rain.
You are so right about pedicure being a healthy and stimulating thing.
My physiotherapist says that we have more nerve receptors under our feet that anywhere else on our body. They make us able to stay, walk and send important signals to the brain.
I'm getting foot therapy from my physio and its both relaxing and stimulating.
She doesn't lacquer nails though..
One should absolutely take more care of oneself, be kind and nurture both body and soul.
You are so doing the right thing.
Impressive monument with your father's name on that brick.
Those who serve their country with their own life sure should feel valued.
"No greater love has no man..."
So nice meeting Ms. Gladys.
She looks huggable. Those awake and shiny eyes tell me she has a good life and she likes it.
Also nice to present the staff assisting her where she is living.
They sure do a most valuable job.
In Norway we are concerned that too few health workers are educated. We import staff from East Europe, but again, they don't speak that well Norwegian. Gunnar's aunt Lilly is very frustrated about that.
The Mental Health Institute is a well designed and well built monument.
One just have to admire those brick stones, made by your great-great grandfather in love.
I'm sure the building will be preserved even though the care for the Mental ill has been "down sized".
The health "reform" also took place in Norway and the treatment for the chronic ill has diminished to a minimum.
The pharmaceutical industry makes big money, and pills sure are more cost efficient than people.
It's a disgrace.
Comforting scene with the two smiling girls. That's how life should be.
God bless you on the Lord's day.
From Felisol
A good tour once again, Diane. Your neck of the woods is very much 'small town charming' ... a good thing. Your mother-in-love is a sweet looking soul! .. and all of the other fine folks you met along your journey that have part of your heart as well. You are quite the town and family historian. Thanks for sharing.
Hugs,
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