The 'Rest' of My Family

Well, Miss Scarf should be on her way now. Unfortunately, I have not been well and haven't gotten her to the Post Office yet. Hopefully, we will make it tomorrow.

I didn't get to make pictures with four of my family members with Miss Scarf. So, I thought I would just post some pictures so you all could 'meet' them as well.




This is my nephew, Jared, with his daughter Allyson. This picture was taken in April just before Jared reported for his jail term. Allyson LOVES riding the tractor with Daddy! I am so proud of what the Lord is doing in Jared's heart while he is incarcerated. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for Jared once his time is served. At this point, we expect him to be released the week before Thanksgiving.




This is my brother-in-love, Ricky. He is Charlotte's hubby and is a pastor as well as the electrical inspector for the State of TN for this district. This picture was taken in Clear Lake, IA while they were visiting with Katie and her family last summer. He has that 'man on a mission' look, don't you think?!

Ricky just returned from Ecuador and has so many wonderful stories of meeting new friends and renewing old acquaintances. He preached at the largest Protestant church in Quito while there and was amazed at how open the people there are to the Holy Spirit.




This picture was taken in the Great Smoky Mountains of East TN in June, 2005. This is me with Momma and Daddy. Momma went home to be with Jesus the next April. She was already very sick at this time, but pushed on because that was her nature. I cannot recall a single time in my life when Momma put herself first. My sisters and I, Daddy and her extended family and her church family always came first. She was a truly amazing lady. I love her and miss her more every day.




This is my precious husband, Terry. This picture was taken on March 8, 2008; about ten months before he went home to be with Jesus. You can already see how tired he looks. We had a birthday party for Terry, Caleb and Allyson at our house. Allyson's birthday is Feb. 17, Caleb's is Mar. 6 and Terry's was Mar. 7. So, we combined them all and had one party on March 8.

Terry loved having all of our family there, but was so sick. By the end of the evening, he could barely walk due to exhaustion. Yet, he never complained; not would he allow me to tell our family how sick he was that night. He didn't want it to spoil their fun.

Well, that is the 'remainder' of my family! They are precious to me, every last one of them! Momma and Terry now await the rest of us in heaven. As new ones are added, we pray diligently that our family circle will not be broken in heaven.

Thank you all for being here for me; for loving me and praying for me. I you each and every one!

My Farewell Day With Miss Scarf

Well, the time is here. Today, Sunday, June 14, 2009, is my farewell day with Miss Scarf and is also my anniversary. Today, Terry and I would have been married 34 wonderful years. So, today I plan to visit the cemetery and place flowers on his grave and just have a little talk with him. It seems the most natural place in the world for me to be today.

Although I am sad today, I am also joyful and thankful. I have had a wonderful life, to a great degree because of Terry's love. It was in God's plan for us to be together. He laid that plan to work when I was only 15 1/2 and here I sit today still feeling the love and joy of living in His will.

I am also sad today because tomorrow will be the end of my time with Miss Scarf. We have had a wonderful 10 days together. I am so thankful to have been included in her journey and to have had the opportunity to tell you, my beloved Sisters, a little bit about my life and my family. I cannot express how blessed I feel to be a part of this precious Sisterhood.



My day started out rough, with very strong winds and heavy rain. At last report, the National Weather Service is yet unsure whether we had strong straight-line winds this morning, or a low-scale tornado. To look at the skies now, you would never guess what a turbulent morning we had! It is simply gorgeous now! I was without power for most of the morning due to the wind damage. As I started my day's journey, I was soon to see a lot of evidence of the morning storms.

The above picture is looking back toward my house from the drive. I have a ENORMOUS front lawn! I am so thankful to have an agreement with a neighbor to keep all that grass mowed! He pastures some of his cattle on the farm and keeps my lawn as a barter for pasture rent. I think it is definitely a fair exchange!



This is another shot in my front yard. I just included this one because I love the sky in this shot, especially after the storms of the morning. It was so nice to see the fluffy white cumulus clouds. No more storms, at least not today! Yippeeee!!!!

There is a small farm nearby that trains surrey racing horses. These guys sure don't look any worse for the wear of the mornings high winds! Just look at those skies!!!!

A bit more close up, the horses look even more content! You would never guess they had just hours before been in the middle of a disaster zone!

Just down the road from the horse farm, this was the scene. Clean up crews were still hard at work clearing fallen trees and pulling up fallen power lines. I drove about another half mile down this road and had to turn around and go a different route.

More of the tree damage along that first route. Thankfully, I didn't see any structure damage, just the trees and some fences.

Here is the spot where I was stopped by work crews and told the road was closed for the next several miles while they continued their clean up work. I had to back a good ways down the road in order to find a place to turn around. There was a drive just behind me, but power lines were strewn across it and I didn't like the idea of driving over the lines.

Now turned around and going on a different route, you can see the storm damage continues. This large tree fell across the farmer's fence. He and some helpers were just down the road putting patches in his fence.

You can get an idea of how strong the winds were by seeing these large trees that were blown up by their roots. I am inclined to think we had a low-scale tornado, but also know straight-line winds can cause some horrible damage.

This tree was across the road from the one above. The storm clearly came from the west and was headed in an easterly direction. The storms this year have been unusual. We most often get wind storms/tornadoes from the northwest and rain storms from the southwest. Rarely have I ever know us to get a storm of any strength directly from the west.

You can see how this tree was literally 'snapped' like a toothpick. The more I see, the more convinced I am this was indeed a tornado.

Having finally driven through the worst of the storm damage, I came upon these Angus cattle grazing. What a life they have! These guys were fat and happy, content just to eat and be merry!

I don't know exactly what it is about this old barn that attracts me, but I love it and want to stop to photograph it every time I pass by the farm! I guess because it reminds me of my childhood spent on the farm.

I finally made it to the cemetery. I thought Miss Scarf might like to pose with this picture of Momma and Daddy. This is on their monument. Momma is buried right next to Terry. Daddy will be on the other side of Momma and I will be on the other side of Terry.

This is Terry's grave. I come here usually at least once a week. Today was so bittersweet. I miss him so much, yet I know he is rejoicing in heaven and waiting for me to meet him there. Talk about a celebration! What a day that will be when I get to see him again! As much as I look forward to that, I even more look with yearning to the day I meet my Jesus face-to-face!

Well, my journey with Miss Scarf is now at an end. It has been a wonderful journey, filled with love, laughter, tears, sadness, great joy and precious time with my family. Through it all, the Lord has walked with us and kept watch over us. Thank you all for letting me be a part of your journey. I am more honored and blessed than I can express!

Many hugs....................

Diane

For Our Sweet Sister Diane

this is the sweetest love story i have ever read!


http://auntdisexperimentallife.blogspot.com/2009/02/beautiful-dreama-beautiful-life.html

This and That...

Well, hello! I am so sorry that I didn't get a post up yesterday. Thursday was a bad day at my house and I just didn't feel up to taking pictures, so had nothing to post for Friday. I have a chronic illness, which I will tell you all about later, that prevents me from always being able to do the things I would like to do.

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!

Thunderheads and Rain

It was such a nice day at home today. Miss Scarf was ready and willing for another sight-seeing tour, but sadly I had other things to do! As it turned out, it was a good thing.



When I looked out, the sun had hidden behind the clouds and I could see a thunderhead banking to the northwest. Hummmm, not a good sign in southwest Tennessee to see a thunderstorm coming from the northwest. Ours usually come from the southwest when they are heavy with rain. When they come from the northwest, they're usually windy and more likely to produce tornadoes and/or strong winds. Looks like today is a good day to stay home!



Oh yeah, it was definitely a good idea to stay home! The thunderhead continues to build and the air feels heavy. Ominous signs in my neck of the woods.

I don't know how well the camera captured this, but the rain droplets are beginning to fall now. The clouds have now cast a yellow-gray tint into the day. Again, not a good sign.

The storm continues to build, but I'm feeling better when I see these clouds. They don't have the typical appearance of a tornadic thunderhead. I love a good thunderstorm, but I having been in two different tornadoes as a child, and I can tell you first hand, they aren't fun!

Just as I'm beginning to feel better, I walked to the south side of my house and see these clouds now starting to form. This concerns me. Do you see how they are now billowy looking and one seems to 'drop' from another? That is exactly what clouds look like before funnel clouds begin to form. As the northwestern thunderhead meets the warmer southern air current, this is a common occurrence around here. Thankfully, the Lord had other plans for us today!

If you look closely (click to enlarge to see better detail), you will see little rain droplets yet clinging to the petals of the hydrangea blossoms. It was a gentle rain with somewhat heavy winds, but certainly nothing threatening. Thank you Lord Jesus for yet again being my Protector! You alone are worthy of praise!