Our nephew Ben and his sweet wife hosted a 4th of July cookout for all of us at their house. A good time was had by all, especially the kids who ran around and played.
My great niece took me outside to show me how to get the drop of sweetness from a honeysuckle bloom.
She is Granny’s oldest great grandchild. It seems like only yesterday that she was born, now she is the eldest of nine great grandchildren.
I grinned from ear to ear as she explained how to hold the bloom and then pull to get the drop of sweetness.
I really enjoyed myself at the get together.
There was delicious food, family fellowship, three cute little girls all sporting 4th of July themed dresses made by Granny, and the satisfaction of knowing another generation of my family has embraced the simple pleasure of getting nectar from honeysuckle blooms.
Tipper
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Oh my goodness. I hadn’t thought of getting the sweetness from the honeysuckle for years and years. I’m 80 and remember that from living in Texas as a child. Maybe learned it from some of my 67 (not an exaggeration or typo) Tennessee cousins.
Thank you for the beautiful memories of my childhood you brought back to me. We sure were not rich with material possessions but we were so blessed with the best childhood a kid could wish for.❤️
My sweet Pa (Mama’s dad) showed me how to do that with the honeysuckle when I was little. What a sweet memory you’ve brought up for me today. I’m so glad you had a wonderful fourth and that your family will be enjoying life’s sweetness for generations to come! ❤️
Miss Tipper, Family get togethers= memories and love. I really remember many times of fun family get togethers and truly miss so many of those moments with so many members no longer living. God bless all my family, friends and God bless every one of my fellow Americans and America.
This is your cue to teach her how to make a sound blowing on a thick blade of grass held taut between your thumbs.
Precious Memories!❤️
Happy you all a wonderful time together. I sucked out that sweet drop of nectar as a kid quite often. We had a huge honeysuckle vine on our carport. Had to be careful not to get stung by bees. Not so many bees anymore.
Our daughter named the blossoms, “Honey Suckers”, when she was about 3. She also saw “Pretty Flies” when butterflies flitted by.
She will be 42 next month. Where does the time go?
What a sweet story! Sounds like this little lady may be taking after her great aunt Tipper with her knowledge and love of Appalachia 🙂 The dress is adorable and knowing Granny made them for each little girl, how special!
I and my siblings use to get the tasty dew drop from the Honeysuckles every summer when the bush next to our home was in full bloom. Great memories! Glad she showed you how to get that sweet nectar from the Honeysuckle bloom. You need to show your grandsons how to do it too when they get older. Glad you all had a wonderful July 4th making sweet memories with all your family.
I don’t know how old I was before I realized I could be kind and let someone tell me what I already knew. She will remember telling you about how to get that one sweet drop of honeysuckle nectar. And someday she may realize you were giving her a sweet drop of something to – time and attention. I wish (can only be a wish now) I had lived my life till now more outside myself than I have. We’ve probably all heard, “Facts matter.” And they do. But love matters so much more. I know that in my heart and my head. But I have a hard time practicing it. From what you wrote, it is plain to see you received by giving. And someday she will realize about family and tradition and roots to.
I still do that at almost 83 years of age. I eat a lot of things when out in the yard, fields and woods. I’ve taught many kids some of the things I remember from my youth. Our daughter would try anything if I ate it first. She and one friend are the only people I could convince to eat raw okra. My wife won’t even consider it unless it was something from the garden. Even then she shies away from a lot of it. Her problem is she grew up in the city. It was so hot on the Forth we stayed inside and had tomato sandwiches for lunch and supper.
Faith and Family First!
I remember as a child doing the exact same thing, it brings back such wonderful memories, we would taste the honeysuckle along the way to the creek for some serious fishing, and then when we tired of that, we would go further up the creek to our favorite swimming hole…aahh…the lovely days of youth.
Ah, getting the nectar from a honeysuckle bloom brings back so many memories from my childhood. Growing up in North Georgia, as kids, we stayed out all day playing and enjoying the bounty of the land: blackberries, honeysuckles, muscadines! Thanks for bringing these memories back to life!
I miss being able to enjoy that treat—all the honeysuckle vines that once were there for enjoyment have either died off from age or destroyed in the name of progress. Simple free pleasures-wonderful gifts of God
Honeysuckle is one of my favorite flowers – they are not only a lovely intricate flower but have such a wonderful scent. As soon as I saw your great nieces dress, I thought “Granny’s been busy!” Happy day y’all.
We used to get the sweetness from our honeysuckle and also from red clover that grew everywhere! Sweet memory
One of my earliest memories of childhood.
That is a sweet post today & a sweet, sweet great grandchild to Granny to show you how to retrieve the sweetness from the honeysuckle bloom. Sounds like July 4 was a sweet, sweet day all around.
God bless Granny & prayers for ya’ll from all the rain from Hurricane Chantel.
How very blessed you are to have family all around and being able to pass on so many heart treasures! I remember playing house with my dolls under the huge honeysuckle bushes in our backyard. As a little girl I thought the flower honey was a great discovery!
I saw a little affirmation yesterday that said “find beauty in the ordinary “. In this crazy world we often forget there is great beauty in the ordinary. Like finding that drop of sweetness in a honeysuckle bloom.
Tipper, I’m so glad you had a family centered Independence Day celebration! I remember picking and sucking on those sweet drops as a child. Plus the honeysuckle blooms smelled so very good! I’d like to see a photograph of the little gals all in granny’s creations myself! I got a gander of a hemline and wrist with what looked like knitted hemming. I know it just makes you all proud of granny! I know I’d be very proud to have her as my mama and grand mama!!!! Yall have an awesome day! I pulled zucchini, cucumbers and purple green beans yesterday. I’m happy as a pig in mud! I’m rich in Gods blessings and a bit of garden bounty! I read your poem about seeds on the 4th and the folks loved it!!!
Your 4th of July celebration sounded like it was heavenly. I love spending the day with family, eating together and celebrating. Isn’t it just so sweet watching a child marvel at the simple things in nature? Two of my granddaughters come to my house several times a week and they never fail to run to the apple trees and get excited about how the apples are getting bigger and bigger and how many there are. We had a robins nest under the eave of our shed, and each day they would climb up and check out the blue eggs. They were fascinated when they found newly hatched birds…and watching them grow each day as well. Thank you for sharing your beautiful day with us.
As a kid I loved doing that and making Indian Head Bands out of big leaves and putting them together with little twigs. We had such fun.
That is so sweet! I’m sure it was a great time.
I have never tried to “get the sweetness” out of honeysuckle, but do like to smell honeysuckle. This has more to do with the “family get togethers.” Even though my wife has died, her family will still include me at any get together. The few of us left were together on July 4th. Yesterday I spent a little bit of time with my oldest grandson, last week my son was on vacation and we did several things together. I have tried to tell and explain to each of them, now when I look back on my life, I realize outside of my salvation, the most precious, valuable thing I have every had and still have in my lifetime is the time spent with family and friends. These friends could also include many of my coworkers. There is no way of putting a price tag on this time or the memories. The time does not have to be “partying,”with them, yesterday I was helping my grandson take his100 lb dog to the vet for his yearly checkup, it was just the fact we were together for a little while. He had to hurry and get home so he could go to sleep and go back to work last night. He had already worked Sunday night, he has had one night off since Easter Sunday. I worry about him wearing himself out.