Reflection ...

Since my "word" this month is Reflect ... it was very easy to do so while on my trip last week ...

first of all, just being at Mama Neely's house brings back a wealth of memories ... everywhere you look, memories ...

LeAnna is making her "own" memories now every time she goes ... and I'm making them right along with her ... but I have more memories going back to her age there and before ...

I was about 3 when my family moved there ... so from 1973 on we made frequent trips to Florida.

This same house ... that my Aunt Betty and cousin Nena live in now ...

... their house has seen MANY changes ... many births, many birthdays, anniversaries, marriages, divorces, deaths ... happy occasions and sad occasions ...

sitting at the breakfast table one morning we were there I was thinking about it all ... and how that room had seen all of those things ... though the years ... wow ... it's a weird feeling ... just knowing that over the last 40 years, that room, with the table in the same spot, the same historic fireplace (the house is in the official historic district of Plant City) ... in other words, it's a very old home! =0) ... just knowing all the people that had come through that house, grew up there, changed there, been there on vacation ... etc ... it was a room of MANY conversations ... I remember as a child sitting around the table, sometimes on the floor under the table because I was tired or bored, just listening to the adult conversation ... and now, I am a part of that adult conversation (sitting in a chair, not on the floor) =0)

anyhoo ... my point is ... that house brings back so many memories ...

I still ... almost ... sometimes look for Mama Neely to be there when I go ...

I know she's not ... but she should be ... it's just not the same without her.

Sometimes I wish for "one more story" ... just one more detail about her childhood ... just to know about another "thread" in my quilt ... my life ... I know there are many threads that make up "me" ... but I don't know all the "stories" behind the "threads" ...

some I will never know I guess ... same with my other grandmother on my Dad's side ... she passed away 14 years ago ... which I can not believe it's been that long ... anyhoo ... there are some things I have of hers that are actually worth some money ... but that's not as important to me as how she got them ... I would LOVE to know the story behind the items ...

the items are two pieces of Tiffany jewelry ... they are in their original boxes, the beautiful shade of "Tiffany Blue" ... they are in mint condition ... and I've had several people look at them and even Tiffany jewelers themselves ... they are definitely antiques probably from the 1950's ... but they weren't sure ... to be "sure" I would have to send them to the Archives Department in NYC and pay LOTS of money JUST to see what they're worth ... hmmm ...

anyhoo ... I would just like to know where those pieces came from ... I'm sure they were from my grandfather ... but when? They had a baby that was a still birth ... she died a couple of days before my grandmother delivered her ... she was full term ... was it then? hmmm ... MANY questions invade my mind ... many "questionable threads" that I have in my quilt ...

oh well ... I will never know now ... but ... I will always wonder ...

Anyhoo ... back to Mama Neely's house ... I took some pictures last week on the trip of just some things around the house that were interesting to me ... that I remember ...

this is the old well ... when I was a little girl I was afraid of it ... for whatever reason ... who knows ... it seemed much bigger back then ...

one of the original bathrooms ... I still remember these old green faucets from when I was little ...

this tree in the side yard ... I never realized was a "bottle brush" tree ... the "flower" looks just like a bottle brush! go figure right?! and appropriately named ... ha!


this tree ... branch, limb, caught my attention ... it's been there for a long time ... but I never really paid much attention to it ... I loved touching it ... it was so soft, yet firm and didn't break to the touch ... wasn't prickly ...

it is WAY taller than the house ...

and Aunt Betty told me ... that it was a "Christmas tree" gift that someone gave to them years ago in a pot ... and she decided to plant it and see what would happen! ha! I told her she should just decorate that tree from now on every Christmas! =0) She said ... it's too tall, I can't ... =0) ... (ha - duh tammy)


Aunt Betty also decided to plant a pineapple ... they cut the top off of a pineapple and planted it in the ground ... THREE YEARS LATER it produced a pineapple! ONE pineapple in three years! oh my ... however ... she said it was the sweetest pineapple she had ever tasted ... she has two more growing and here's a pic of one of them ... it should be ready to eat by summer she said ... amazing!

the pink flower looking part, will be the top of the pineapple when it has reached it's "full potential" ...

this is a scene that very often took place when Mama Neely was around ... she LOVED a good game of checkers ... we have pictures of LeAnna playing checkers with Mama Neely when she was just a baby sitting on the checker board ... Aunt Betty has carried on the tradition and it's an expected event every time we visit! Priceless pic ...

It's easy to sit and "think back" sometimes on different areas of your life and take time to reflect ... but it's VERY easy when you are actually in a place that takes you back using all your senses ... taste, smell, feel, touch, see, hear ... and Mama Neely's house is no exception.

happy day ... tammy