The Calla Lilies Are in Bloom Again and Mama's Georgia Peach

I have not posted for a week now.  Sometimes life gets in the 

way of blogging.  I had electricians here installing new under-cabinet

lighting in the kitchen.  I had planned for puck lighting in the glass

door cabinets, but there were issues with the installation in that space,

so we scrapped that idea and will probably go with the new strip type 

lighting.  I am meeting with the designer tomorrow to work that out.

I finally had a chance to go to San Antonio to look at a new iMac.

My old one has been choosing to just shut off on its own.  I had

debated on whether to have it repaired or get a new one.  When I

went to the Apple store I checked out the new models in both the

21" and 27".  When I looked at my blog and my Pinterest

boards side by side, I was blown away by the size and clarity of the

27" screen and so it came home with me. I don't have it set up yet,

but will have it all set up in my office this weekend.  I have been 

using our MacBook for the last several weeks and although it's a

good laptop, the huge screen on the new iMac will be such a treat.

I purchased this calla lily at my HEB recently.  The flowers are

so pretty and delicate and I love their color.  When I look at them

I cannot help but be reminded of the Katharine Hepburn quote from

the movie Stage Door ...

The calla lilies are in bloom again, such a strange flower,

suitable to any occasion ....

As an old movie buff, my life seems to have been highlighted

by lines like these.  

I recently began a self-directed study of Southern literature.

I am reading both older and current Southern literature and have

become completely enchanted by its rich language and

culture.  In many ways, my own mama was a Southerner at

heart.  She loved to throw big parties and she always took so

much pride in her appearance.  She always had recipes for 

the trendiest appetizers and loved her silver and crystal.  She

had hostess gowns when they were popular and always wore

her pearls.  She was a Southern belle at heart who had just 

happened to have been born above the Mason-Dixon line.

Although my daddy was a Northerner from a long 

Pennsylvania and Ohio lineage, before my mama married my

daddy, she dated a man from the South whom she called

her Georgia Peach.  She told me the story of how she

almost ended up in Atlanta.

Daddy and my mama were dating for a short time and 

had a little tiff about something trivial and they broke up

for a couple of weeks.  Mama found out that daddy took

some other girl to the country club dance and mama told one

of her sorority sisters that she was mad.  So mama's sorority 

sister, Eleanor, suggested that she and my mama double date

with Eleanor's fiance's college buddy who was visiting from

Atlanta.  

This young man from Atlanta was charming,  very much

 the Southern gentleman, and was quite taken with my

mama.  Howard asked mama out for dinner every night he

was in town.  For Howard, it seemed to be a whirlwind romance,

but my mama was missing my future daddy.  Howard went

back to Atlanta and wrote to her every day, yet mama was

no longer smitten.  She and daddy made up, kept dating,

married and lived happily ever after.

For a few short weeks, mama dated her Georgia peach, but she

gave up any ideas of being a Southern belle when she married

a Northern born and raised man who later became my beloved

daddy.  

These calla lilies remind me of my mama standing elegant

and proud.  I think they have a Southern belle attitude, just

like mama did.  

The leaves of the live oak trees have been falling down on

my yard like rain.  I am hoping (and our lawn man is too) that

the trees will stop shedding their leaves soon.  There is a lot

of work I want to do in the garden beds but will wait until

I don't have to rake away a sea of leaves.  I am looking

forward to working on a little corner I have been planning

near the breezeway and sharing the progress with you.

Until next time, which I promise won't be so far away.

Big Texas Hugs,

Susan and Bentley