Celebrating Daddy......

Daddy has always loved to put out a big garden. He's told me many times of the big gardens they would put out on the mountain when he was a young boy. Now that Daddy has gotten older the garden has gotten a little smaller. Daddy has always been picky about his tomato plants. He usually plants a few red and a few yellow.  The tomato he's holding almost weighed a pound. I believe he sliced it and made his self a bologna sandwisch......

Celebrating......

   Daddy will be 86 years young on Wednesday and our family will be celebrating all week. Daddy was born February 22, in the hills of eastern Kentucky in Harlan County. He is one of twelve children. We always make a big deal of birthday's in our family and Daddy is at the top of the list. We're having a birthday dinner on Wednesday at my home. Thomas will be frying his secret recipe chicken along with tators, corn, tossed salad, cooked apples and corn bread. Nothing fancy for Daddy, just a home cooked meal.

   All this week I'll be sharing pictures of Daddy over the years and funny stories. The picture below was taken on Foresters Creek in Harlan County not far from Daddy's home place. He was 16 years old.

Sunny day.....

   Today was a wonderful day...the sun was shinning and I had the day off. Been in the VD Day daze for a couple of days. Was glad to be home, kick back and do nothing. Took Bristol and Lily for a long walk and the sunshine felt good. Checked the trees and bushes around the house and the majority of them are starting to bud out. I can't wait for spring and to get my hands in the soil and do some planting. Can't wait till my gardens look pretty again.

Last of the Valentine's.....

   We were all tired when we came into the shop today. Our feet hurt and our fingers were sore. I touched base with a few of my florist friends in Kentucky and they had the same aliments. There wasn't much to pack away for next year. Just a few bears, couple of mylars and the red hearts that hung in the window. That's what we like, sell it all. We made notes for next year and did our final count of flowers. We went through almost 1100 red roses and could have used about 400 more.
   Now, it's time to put out the spring flowers in hope that it's just around the corner. Here's some pics from the last few days.....

Paper Valentines....

   Do you remember back in elementary making paper Valentines. We would take construction paper and make special ones for our friends. I remember a week before we would get those white paper sacks and we would cut out hearts and paste them on. and draw on them with our crayons. We would go to the dime store and buy a box of little Valentines with corny little sayings on them. The envelopes were so thin that if you wasn't careful they would tear. The teacher would give you a list of the names in your class and we had to make sure we gave everyone a Valentine. We had party's and our Mom's would take turns bringing in cup cakes and we would play a couple of game. We were able to look in our sacks and couldn't wait till we got home to see who they were from and if our girlfriends or some cute boy wrote anything special on them. We didn't know who lucky we were back then.
   Still today, I get excited when I open my mail box and receive Valentines......

Flowers, Flowers and more Flowers....

   What a busy day... we were swamped all day. Phones ringing, men standing in line and men wondering around not knowing what they needed. What fun....I love the excitement that Valentines Day brings. Yes, it's extra work, long hours and you must be on your toes at all time. But the joy you see when a husband sends his wife flowers for the first time on Valentines since they got married. The man who came in and told us how he has never missed a holiday in 52 years and he writes her a special message on the card and how she has kept all the cards. It's a day for love and friendship.
   One young man I waited on today really likes this girl and he was taking her to dinner tomorrow evening for their first date and he wasn't sure of what flowers to give her. We decided to give her a single rose when he went to pick her up and then give her another rose on the way home. Each card was written with special note. Young love......
   We all left about 7 tonight. Our cooler was full and all orders were filled and ready for delivery. But come 7 in the morning we will start all over again.

Putting up the tent......

   Daddy came back to the house a little bit ago for a visit. He wanted to know how Valentine's Day was going at the Jubilee. He started remembering all the Valentine's at Mountain Memories. Daddy talked about all the times we put up the tent by the back door and how cold it would get. All the precautions we would take for the snow and ice that would usually come. We had some fun times at the shop during the holiday. We laughed about how you couldn't get out the back door with your next delivery unless you were checked off on Nathan's list. Linda lining up vases and running an assembly line, those were some fun memories lots of work and no sleep.