The old saying Christmas in July means something happened smack dab in the middle of the summer that rates right up there with Christmas.
Why do I feel like its Christmas in July?
- My kitchen is full of jars of goodness for the coming winter-green beans, tomatoes, dill pickles, and blackberry jelly along with a crock full of kraut in the corner, a small crock of 14 day pickles on the counter, and a dehydrator full of squash humming along.
- My nephews are both coming home for a visit this weekend.
- Pap is feeling better enough to get out and about by himself.
- I heard The Pressley Girls on the radio for the first time this week-very exciting!
- My snug comfortable bed and a good book at the end of a very fruitful day.
In honor of my Christmas in July feeling-I’m giving away 3 of Pap and Paul’s Songs of Christmas CDs. To be entered in the giveaway leave a comment on this post. Giveaway ends Sunday July 19, 2015.
Tipper
Nothing better than Pap sing in the kitchen!
SO GLAD your Dad is feeling better. We were traveling this weekend and I took all of your family CD’s along. Well actually they are on my Ipad, Nice the truck can play them.
Have a great week!
Hi ! I have following your post for quite awhile
I in joy this post cause your down to earth , an full of info
Am new to the Mts but my heart has always belong to the quite live style , that only these Mts can bring .
I love your stories about family, music and just everyday happenings in a country life. They all bring back so many memories of my family and spending as much time with my grandparents in Kentucky as I could every summer right after school was out for the summer. I feel that it is so important to keep those traditions and memories going because they are such an important part of our history. Thank you for sharing your memories and family with all of us!!
Glad pap is feeling better! Way to go getting all that canning done. Janet Pressley
Tipper,
About 1:00 today I heard them
gorgeous girls of you and The
Deer Hunter singing “River of
Jordan”.
I still ain’t got no fone, but at
least the driveway is open again.
I’ll get to sleep at home tonight! Sonny Reighard used his Front End Loader and cleared the remaining trees out of the driveway…gonna fix a Rainbow
and a Brown for supper…Ken
I am SOOOooo glad to read that Pap is up and about under his own steam and without the props that come with old broken bones. Go get ’em, Pap; looking forward to new videos with you pickin’ in the kitchen..
OK, not trying to increase my chances (know you won’t let that happen anyway) just remembered something else that fits:
PROV 15.15. All the days of the afflicted are evil: but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast
Maybe we should move the giving of presents, last minute shopping, travel, and all the other stress to July, and just devote the December date to the religious aspects. Maybe even have Thanksgiving all year long.
Have one of your CD’s already and would like to have the Christmas CD as well. Love the close harmony of
Pap and Paul.
I think I have all of Paul and Pap’s music as well as that of the Wilson Brothers so if I win why don’t you pack me a couple of baggies of dried squash and maybe a jar of blackberry jelly.
So glad your garden is doing so well! Ours is better than ever, so like you we are feeling like it is Christmas in July too! Nice to hear Pap is out and about and your nephews are home for the weekend. Can’t wait for the day that we will hear the Pressley Girls on the radio! Life is good, isn’t Tipper?
Merry Christmas in July. In Hawaii where i moved from after 16 years it snowed on Mauna Kea yesterday! Good to hear Pap is getting back to the being well again. Blessings be to all y’all!
Your post exemplifies a life lesson it took me over 50 years to learn. And it is that the grateful person; especially the one grateful for the so-called ‘little’ things, has a fuller, richer life than those who can only think of what they don’t have. Of course that, in turn, means ones life is ever richer for each additional blessing one learns to count. And guess what ? It’s clear from your reader’s posts that you are one of those blessings being counted.
So glad your Pap is out and about again. Now I’m guessing you worry he’ll do too much……
So wonderful that Pap has done some major healing. That process is so slow, and life seems to move right along no matter what we are dealing with. I am so thankful that you are experiencing all these summer blessings. It reminds me of something my Mother taught me years ago when life seemed to be handing me a bad hand. She said, “nothing ever stays the same.” This bit of advice always made me aware the bad stuff will pass, and it has made me so thankful for the magic times.
Christmas would truly be much better with one of Pap’s cds.
Tipper,I can’t say it feels like Christmas in July today for me because I was walking the two dogs with two of our great-grand children yesterday and stepped into a dip in the yard where the dog had dug him a hole to lay in several years ago. I had stepped in the hole before and always said “If you don’t fill that with dirt you are going to break your leg.” Well, I broke it yesterday at my ankle and today I’m hopping around with this big “boot” on up to my knee and didn’t sleep much last night because the pain pills make me itch all over.
I would like to win the music of Pap and the Gang.
Thanks,
Peggy L.
Growing up in the Sandhills of Nebraska I often heard older relatives use many of the phrases you post from Appalachia. Seeing them posted on your site brings fond memories of those dear people and the simpler way of life. We never canned the bounty of our garden, we put it up. I remember how we kids would argue about who had to go to the root cellar to dig through the sand for those wonderful “fresh” carrots! ( Inevitably there were some of them that had gotten slimy and how we hated it when we came in contact with those as we groped through the sand for those wonderful “carrots.”) Thank you for the memories.
Christmas in July reminds me of a July around 1953 when I was in high school. The Korean war was going on and some captured American soldiers had sent letters from their POW camp to a local radio station. The letters requested certain Christmas songs be played and dedicated to their families and friends. The letters had been mailed well before Christmas that year, however, had not been delivered until the following July. The DJ at the station dedicated a hot Summer evening and played nothing but Christmas songs that day in honor of the POWs request. The title of the article brought all of that back to me.
Santa will need AC in his Sleigh if he shows up in Swain Co. however fresh corn, beans, squash and maters for supper last night were a gift even if it was ninety degrees while I was harvesting them. Glad Pap is out and about.
I am so glad that Pap is getting around more by himself. Prayers are being answered. The girls on the radio – Yipee Yeah! You found time to relax after all this work, WOW! I would have crashed. I would love to own some country Christmas songs.
Doesn’t the bounty from the garden make you feel blessed? We’ve had to buy quite a bit this year between the pesky groundhogs & the pouring rains that let the weeds take over but I still feel happy to see it. We trapped yet another groundhog yesterday & relocated him. We’re downsizing next yr & talking about getting a stronger electric fence & maybe some chain link fencing–this will be inside the giant “redneck” fence we already have to keep the deer out. Makes me think of one of Grandpa’s favorite songs, ” I am determined to hold out to the end”. We are determined we will defeat the ground hogs one way or the other!!!
You just can’t keep a good man down. Such good news. Love your Christmas/July blessings.
Knowing Pap is up and about does rate right up there with the excitement of Christmas! And to hear the girls on the radio for the first time…I can only imagine how you felt!
So glad Pap is better and things are going well. Must have been thrilling to hear the girls on the radio. Life is good.
Wow, it does seem like your having Christmas in July, and your spreading the Holiday Cheer! Sounds like you will having a very tasty winter! Thanks for the chance to win some lovely holiday music!
Pam
scrap-n-sewgranny.blogspot.com
Sounds like alot of reasons to celebrate!! My canning won’t kick in full-throttle until next month(Christmas in August?). How happy that Pap is up and about and it must have been really exciting your girls on the radio!!
I have never used my dehydrator for squash. Used it for apples and peaches but I love squash so now I think I will get it out and try that. Haven’t heard “smack dab in the middle” since I was a kid. Thanks for the article.
Summer harvest is hard but rewarding work. I always preserve too much because I can’t bear to let it go to waste. Have to go toss out some old to clear way for the new.
Would love to have one of their CDs!
Thanks……..Glynn Harris
I enjoy each and every post. I wish that I had your get up and go!
Waiting to start our 14 day pickles Aug 4. Too hot now in Florida to start winter veggies. September is ok. Gotta keep busy.
Tipper,
I look forward to canning season
too, although I only can White
Runners and Tomatoes. I hope I can freeze some Hickory Cane Corn again this year, there’s nothing like it.
You can take some hot biscuits,
a garden fresh tomato, and a plate of cream style corn, and your jaws will beat your brains out. And of course, thumbolt the door…Ken
Sounds like Christmas in July to me! I am also celebrating with over 30 8 oz. jars of fresh-made wild blackberry jam! My favorite fruit, and we have had a bumper crop. I also froze a few quarts of wild blackberries. They make great cold snacks and thaw pretty well to eat on salads, etc.
We are approaching the end of blackberry season, I think. They are reaching the point where they are so ripe that they fall off the branch or go mushy when they are pulled off the branch.
Only had to compete with one 350-400 pound black bear on one occasion. I yelled at him and that was all it took to run him off. I know he wanted the same blackberries I wanted.
Some in this world would say, “You’re easily satisfied.” To me your list covers the basics for an unselfish person.
Thank you for sharing Christmas in July. It gives me such a warm feeling inside of memories my Mom shared of Christmas in Eastern KY. Christmas in July is something I treasure to this day.
There is nothing so satisfying as kitchen counters full of freshly canned food! During my working career I worked within a bureaucratic system. Within the system I worked in I never felt a real senses of satisfaction at completing something. Then I would go home and make jam, pickles, beans, or anything and look at those beautiful jars of colorful food that I had just processed. That’s where I got the satisfaction of a job well done! I would keep those jars on the counter for days just to enjoy the site of those beautifully colored jars that I had completed.
Tipper, you are feeding your family at the same time you are feeding your spirit! I love it!
I enjoy your site. 🙂