Canning or Memory Lane???

Hey ya'll!  I hope all of you are doing good. I love this picture that I've posted about canning.  This isn't mine but I wish it was.  I love the rustic items in the pix especially the jars.  I love what we call now-a-days as the "old stuff".  I never thought I would say this, but I remember jars like this when I was younger and didn't pay a lot of attention to them.  Sad to say, but I remember hearing some of my friends who were older than me talking about the old stuff and me thinking at the time that I wasn't old and would never be old like them.  Ha, 20 years later and here I am.  It's so hard to believe that 20 or so years have passed and it really does seem like yesterday.

Twenty eight years ago, I was pregnant.  It was the best time of my life so far.  I had a new life growing inside of me and I was the happiest I could ever remember being.  Almost twenty nine years ago, my baby was born.  That was definetly the best day of my life so far.  That beautiful curly headed baby was the prettiest baby I had ever seen and I was in love more than I had ever been able to imagine.  The years of raising my beautiful daughter were the scariest but best years of my life so far, and without the help of my heavenly Father, I wouldn't have made it. 

During those years, I had some wonderful friends in the country that taught me how to garden, harvest, prepare, freeze and can.  I owe pretty much everything I know to my neighbor on the corner, his daughter, his granddaughter, his two sons, his son-in-law and his two daughter-in-laws.  They also taught me how to cook like a true southerner.  I am so very thankful for the times I spent in their kitchens, on the road talking, in their barns (sheds), or sitting in their yards.  I loved sitting and listening to them talk about the old days, there were always stories about them growing up.  They had us all laughing and always having a good time.  All this would go on while one of them was cooking, shelling peas, preserving veggies, etc.  Those were some of the best times and fondest memories I have.  I do miss them all terribly.

Going down memory lane and canning is almost one and the same to me.  As I'm preparing my garden list and collecting jars and canning supplies, I can't help but think of all of this.

I want to carry on the things I've learned over the years.  Teach and learn with my daughter and my granddaughter.  So one day they can think about the old stuff and me fondly, like I do now.

See you in the funny papers!