V: Fields of Daffodils

 

 

IMG_0025

 

Every year I eagerly await the arrival of Spring with it’s warmer temperatures.  I bask in the days of sunshine, so welcome after the long grey winter. The  budding flowers and  the promise of May, my favorite month of the year!

  “C” recently wrote about her family’s visit to the Wye Mountain Daffodil Festival, and a little ditty posted on Facebook by our blogging friend, Tess Kincaid, of www.willowmanor.blogspot.com, inspired me to post about my family’s recent visit to Wye Mountain also.  You might want to visit Tess’ blog sometime—she is a published poet with a new book coming out!  She is also a movie buff and  lives in a haunted house,  which I find most intriguing!!!

The little nursery rhyme she quoted is one most of us are probably familiar with.  I thought it’s origins were English, but Google research indicated that it was written by none other than the renowned American author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, of The Scarlett Letter fame!   

 

Daffy down dilly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our visit to the daffodil festival was on a particularly windy day—hope the old saying concerning March “In like a lion, out like a lamb” bears out as April nears!

 

IMG_0024

 

 

Eldest daughter  has two sons with birthdays back to back so she decided that a family visit to nearby Wye Mountain would be a perfect photo opportunity AND we could celebrate both boys birthdays with a little party.

 

IMG_0110

 

   

Eldest daughter with her sweet girls in the photo below.

 

IMG_0184

 

 

Youngest daughter with her toddler son.  He was an infant when they brought him to Wye Mt. last year! 

 

IMG_0202

 

 

Last, but not least-- my only son with his lovely bride!

IMG_0224

 

I’ll end with a photo of the whole family!  Eldest daughter is so right—our family is our greatest earthly treasure!   There are many trials to be endured as we walk through life, and lots of families are under immense strain, but some days you just need to walk through fields of daffodils!!!

IMG_0216

 

Little girls playing – reminds me of when “C” and I were young! 

 

IMG_0081

I love Wye Mountain and it’s surrounding rural communities and natural beauty.   It is only about 40 minutes from our home in central Arkansas and nearby is the  community of Little Italy where my grandmother taught the immigrant women how to can and preserve food at the local Catholic Church when she traveled as County Extension Agent during the mid to late 1930’s.  Remote Little Italy has a checkered past—perhaps I’ll write about it some day!

So does your family have a tradition where you gather together every year to create memories?  We’d love to know!

Comments

kath001 said…
Now that the hubs and I as well as our children and grandchildren all live in the same town, we see each other a lot more often and more casually. As far as extended family, it has been a long time for my side. I haven't seen any of my sisters in years, though I keep in touch fairly often with the one I'm closest to. My husband's large family is better about getting together, though not often are all the siblings together in the same place at the same time.
March 24, 2011 at 12:11 AM
Stickhorsecowgirls said…
Thankfully, for now all our kids live close so we can see our grandkids often, but who knows if it stays that way. Things can change. Hubby's family is close, but some are 3 or 4 hrs. away. We have been so fortunate to be near family!
V
March 24, 2011 at 12:21 AM
Mama said…
Beautiful, smiling family!! I agree with your daughter, too.
March 24, 2011 at 12:42 AM
Cynthia Moody said…
Beautiful pix, V. Glad you could get them all together. Yes, it is good to have family around. I enjoy working every day with my two siblings--even when we're squabbling! C
March 24, 2011 at 5:57 AM
HappyK said…
You are lucky to have such a great family. Lovely photos.
No reunions with my family.
March 24, 2011 at 10:47 AM
Unknown said…
What a day to remember, beautiful family. I love the crowns of flowers on the girls.
March 24, 2011 at 2:50 PM
Vee said…
Yes, she is so right! I think my family needs a stroll through the daffodils. Is that you, V, front and center? I hope you're in that photo! Too often we become the invisible women and especially when we have the camera.
March 24, 2011 at 8:21 PM
Pat - Arkansas said…
What a lovely family you have! It's been years since I've been to Wye Mountain to see the daffodils. I was privileged to know Mrs. Harmon, the sweet woman who started the original daffodil fields; it's a pleasure to see that her legacy lives on.
March 25, 2011 at 8:45 AM
Zuzana said…
What a lovely post and I love all the images - you have such stunning and gorgeous looking daughters and a very handsome son too, not to mention a truly lovely family.
Seems like a wonderful place to visit - anywhere where I can see blooming flowers is a a place of beauty to me.
Have a lovely weekend,
xoxo
March 25, 2011 at 9:20 AM
life in red shoes said…
What a wonderful memory to make and share...thank you :)
March 27, 2011 at 8:29 PM
Sandra said…
V -- You are so blessed to be able to regularly gather all of your family together. And it's wonderful that you all seem to understand that those times are important and to be treasured. :)
April 4, 2011 at 9:04 AM
Dreaming Woods said…
what a wonderful place to visit, daffodil meadow!

could you please send an e-mail for me, you have won an owl necklace from me :)

Delila
April 5, 2011 at 12:02 AM
Jody Blue said…
Oh do write about that checkered past(but give me a wake up call on it if I haven't checked in on you two gals). You have a lovely! Its the walks amongst the flowers that make wading threw piles of laundry and being up to your elbows in dishes that make life a bit sweeter.
April 15, 2011 at 2:29 PM
Anonymous said…
V, lovin' this post! What a great day to share with your lovely family (and us!), and in a daffodil field, at that! Reminds me of Washington State Park just a few miles down the road from you. Beautiful park with great history!
April 19, 2011 at 11:04 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Guest Post by K: Whirlwinds of Change & a New Normal

Image
  Cowgirl V:  Shortly after the tornado that struck Tuscaloosa, AL, I asked my sister if she would consider writing a guest post about her experiences there.  She is a registered nurse who previously worked with Hurricane Katrina refugees. V   Enormous, menacing killer tornado looming over Tuscaloosa, Alabama April 27, 2011   Well, it has finally started happening.  I knew the day would come, but it has taken much longer than I expected.  You see, I live in a tornado ravaged city.  The April 27 devastation that occurred in Tuscaloosa, Alabama did not destroy my home.  In fact, we had no damage.   We were out of town when the storm hit but were glued to the television as we watched it begin to tear across the city.  I cannot describe our feelings we had as we watched this giant storm make its way across the city.  Then we had to come home.  We actually came home a day early to see what we could do to help. ...
Read more

C: GIVEAWAY!! Our First Ever! Join the Fun!

Image
As promised in my last post, this is your chance to WIN!! If you read the previous post, you will see that I am intrigued by by-gone etiquette rules. I have two copies of this book, one dating from 1945 (for which you can all vie) and one from 1950. The questions I am asking below are from the 1950 book because I had not yet dug the other one out when I starting composing this one. The topics we cover in this quiz seem foreign to me, and we think they will to most of you, since the classes are so mixed up these days. Emily, herself, notes this trend. You can almost hear her sniff as she says in her introduction on Page xii: The smart and the near-smart...are all mixed up together. The walls that used to enclose the world that was fashionable are all down. Even the cartracks that divided cities into smart and not-smart sections are torn up. And, I must say, V and I probably hail from the "not-smart" side of the tracks...sigh. Okay, here are the rules (such as they are...
Read more

C: Lessons on a Bridge

Image
We have a graceful bridge over the Arkansas River, uniting the North and South of our metropolitan area from its western side.  I don’t travel this bridge very often—maybe three or four times a year—finding that my travels take me more east-west and, if I go north, I usually travel on the Eastern side of the loop. But this week I had court in another county, and the logical route home brought me by way of this bridge.  It was on that day (last Thursday), that something occurred to me.  Never —not one time, I’d venture to say—do I traverse this bridge without thinking of an incident that occurred there in 1999.  Yes, 13 years ago, and the incident is still in my mind every time I cross the bridge.  I told V about this, and she c onfirmed that she, too, often thinks of it. This young lady’s name is Carson Prince.  In 1999 she was  the nineteen-year-old daughter of two attorneys, one of them the former mayor of our city.  In April 1999 drivers...
Read more