I have no pictures to share with you today.  

And no links or handmade items either.  

But I do have a story to share.

A family story.  

And since my family does not read my blog (those fools) I don't have to worry about anyone bugging out about my story.

Now I must let you know, right now, that my family has more nuts than a peanut farmer.

(If you are truthful, yours probably does too. lol)

Last night I called my older sister in Buffalo NY.  We'll call her Dawn (because that is her name).  We were catching up on the weather and my son's trip home with the baby at Christmas.  Then she filled me in on family sicknesses (since I live in another state, apparently I'm on a need to know basis for family health matters).  (Thank goodness for Facebook or I would never know ANYTHING).

Anywho...during the conversation Dawn fairly shouts out...

"Do you know where Kathy is?"

In case you didn't know, our sister Kathy passed away in 2000, so this question really made me pause...then I asked...

"Kathy who?"

"Your sister Kathy?"

"Um, dead?"

"Yes!.  But Marty (her husband) buried her near Mom".

Up until now Kathy's ashes have been in an urn on their fireplace mantle right next to their beloved dog.  Marty was suppose to spread her ashes in Allegheny State Park where we camped as a family every year (and most of them still do).  

But Marty couldn't part with the ashes (they were high school sweethearts and together for over 30 years).  Well, in 2009 he finally decided to bury her.  (The dog may still be on the mantle).

I got the feeling that both my sisters were upset that they never knew...but to me it doesn't matter.

Because I know where my sister really is, and I will see her again one day.

Family....gotta love 'em!

Be blessed,

Debbi

YBC Storytime - Time for a New Life - chapter 3

Last week we saw John and Sara finally come together again in their time of trouble instead of blaming and fighting.  Since then, they have finished packing up their most important belongings and sold everything else.  Furniture, vehicles, fine china, designer suits and shoes, electronics.  All that is left is some clothes, photo albums, and a few other items.  The money they received from the sale, while it couldn't pay their debt, it did give them some thing to live on, for now....

Chapter 3 - Where do we go from here?

"John, come quick!" I yelled for John as I came running into the house holding the mail.  Another pile of bills and letters from collection agencies, but one envelope held my attention.  The return address was a lawyers office, one I had never heard of before.  One from our old home town.  I had already read the letter on the walk into the house, and now I'm walking with a lighter step.  "What is it?  Is the house on fire?  We should be so lucky."  John jokes as he comes out of the bathroom.  He frowns when he sees the pile of bills, and starts to turn away until I hand him the letter.  He looks at it, then he starts to read it.  I see his face go from confused to surprised, and then a smile spreads across his face.  "Kids!  Kids, come in here, quick."  In runs Janie, followed by her big sister Anna, and then slowly, sullenly, in comes our oldest, Jacob.  "What is it Dad?  I was busy." Jacob growls.  Seems like that is all he does now, growl and sit in his room, alone.

John just tells everyone to have a seat, we have great news for everyone.  To my surprise, he hands me the letter and sits down with the kids.  "Well, Mom?  What is it?  Is that an important letter?  Do we get to keep the house?  Did we win the lottery?"  Janie is full of questions and starts to giggle.  "Don't be stupid, just shut up."  Janie's eyes fill with tears at Jacob's comment, but John just picks her up and holds her on his lap.  So I  read the letter...for the family.

"Dear Mrs. Wright,

barn photo

      First let me extend to you my condolences on the loss of your grandmother last year.  While you and I have never met, I visited your grandmother often while I was enrolled in the local university, and she was the most loving and amazing woman.  After I graduated, I left town to start my law firm.  Imagine my surprise when she contacted me two years ago and asked me to handle her estate.  I assumed that she would have used your family lawyer, but she wanted the matter of the family farm handled separately from the rest of her estate.  As per her request, I have sold off most of the farmland, but kept the homestead and the surrounding 3 acres, for you.  She used to regal me with stories of the summers you would spend with her when you were just a child, picking berries and making pies, feeding the chickens, and learning to drive a tractor from your grandfather.  She also shared with me the time you knocked down the barn door with that very same tractor.  She wanted you to have this property.  It has taken me all of this past year to clear up this part of her estate, but it is now ready for you.  The house and barn and property is debt free and repaired and ready for you.  The only requirement of this inheritance is that you live in this house for one year, after which you may sell it if you wish.  You can contact me at this number at any time.

Sincerely,

Matthew James Smithe, Esq."

barn yard quilt

"WHAT???  A FARM???  YOU WANT ME TO LIVE ON A FARM?  YOU MUST BE NUTS.  I WON'T GO!!!"  Jacob jumps up from his seat and screams at us as he runs from the room.  We can hear his bedroom door slam.  John and I just look at each other and I try not to cry.  Janie is quietly sobbing in her daddy's chest, then I feel a small hand in mine.  Anna, quiet little Anna takes my hand and looks up at me.  "Don't cry Mom, it's going to be ok.  Jacob didn't really mean that.  Once we move, he'll realize that God answered our prayers.  We now have a place to live.  We now have another home."

I kneel down and squeeze her tight.  "You're right Anna.  God has answered our prayers."  I look up and find John just looking at me, and then he smiles.  Janie smiles.  And then I can feel a smile sneak up on me.  And it feels good.

It seems that life is changing for the Wright family.  A farm?  How exciting.  And so are the handmade items I found to compliment my story.  You can click on the links below the pictures to visit the shops where you will find these items, and many others also.  And check in with us next week for moving day!

Be blessed,

Debbi

YBC storytime - Time for a New Life

It's been a while since I shared a story, mostly because I had writers block.  But a new story has been tickling the back of my brain for a few weeks, so today I start...

Time for a New Life

Chapter 1 - The beginning of the end

butterfly photo

Sitting here at my kitchen table, I watch the dust float in the air, caught shimmering in a beam of sunlight streaming through the window.  Watching them, I wonder, how can such a sunny beautiful day be so full of sadness?  I glance down at the letter in my hand, again, hoping against hope that this time it will say something different.  But it doesn't.   We're losing the house.  Our house.  The dream house that we planned, and designed, and worked so hard for, gone, just like that.  I get up from the table, rinse my coffee cup and place it in the shiny stainless steel dishwasher, and turn to look at my kitchen.  The granite counters, handmade cupboards, custom tile floor.  So much work went into this kitchen, and I don't even cook.  I hear the back door open, and watch my husband of 13 years walk in the house.  I can tell by his face that the news was not good.  "How did it go?" I ask him, but he just grunts and pushes past me and heads to his den.


vintage mini bar

I follow, just in time to see him pour himself a drink from his personal mini-bar he had added to his built in bookshelves.  What a laugh, John doesn't even like to read, yet he filled the shelves with classics.  Just to look like he fit in with the crowd at the office.  I sit next to him on the leather sofa and hand him the letter.  He just glances at it briefly, then lets it fall from his fingers.  I reach for his hand, but he pulls away and tells me to leave him alone.  Inside I'm screaming "I'm tired of being alone", but instead I just stay quiet, and leave the room.  I go to my sitting room, and mindlessly turn on the television.  Sitting in the bay window seat, I let my mind wander....and wonder, how did we ever get here?  John and I don't talk, and the kids?  Well, they just talk back.  I feel tired.  So tired.  But I don't have time to feel sorry for myself, I heard the bus pull up in front of the house, and my children come running up the long driveway.  Laughing and yelling.  Time enough to worry about the house later, now it's time to worry about dinner.



Just like before, stay tuned for a new chapter each week.  And click on the links below the pictures to see the great items I found to include in my story.  See you later...

Be blessed,

Debbi

The Power of Love - Chapter 3

To view my other stories, visit my personal blog, http://debbihuntington.blogspot.com/

Welcome back to YankeeBurrowCreations Storytime. Grab a drink, pull up a chair, and let's see where my imagination takes us today. When you're done reading, click on the picture links to see what cool handmade items I found to accompany my story, that are also available for purchase.

You can find Chapter 1 and 2 under the Yankee Burrow Storytime tab.

The Power of Love - Chapter 3

hand knitted lap robe

I look around me, at all the people walking...running...sitting...saying hello...saying goodbye.  I don't think I can do this, and I peek at the sliding doors, opening, then closing, then opening again.  If I time it right, I can sprint out those doors and be gone before Hope can stop me.  But I've done that before, and I won't do that again.  So I pick up my needles and yarn and continue to work on my blanket.  And wait. 
My name is Grace.
My mom gave me that name, and sometimes I wonder if she knew, knew my future, and knew that that is what I would need, grace.  I was the youngest child in a very large family and while I always knew my mom and dad loved me, getting their time and attention was next to impossible.  So I got it where ever I could find it.  And usually in the wrong places.  That is how I found myself addicted to drugs by the time I was 17.



vintage black leather jacket

High school started out fun, but then a boy noticed me.  One of the bad boys in the school.  What is it about bad boys, that just draws me to them? The idea that I can save them?  But I'm the one that ended up lost.  I started slowly, with some beer, then some pot.  I started to skip school, go to the parties, and that's when I discovered the hard drugs.  At first, I wanted so desperately to fit in with this group, but then the only thing that mattered to me was the drugs.  The boy?  He stuck with me, but he was as addicted to it all as I was, and by the time I was 20, we were living together, on the streets.  Mom and Dad tried hard to help me, but it was too little, too late.  So after stealing money from mom's purse for my fix, they kicked me out.  I hopped on the back of my boyfriends bike, and never looked back.  I never finished school either.  Soon I was turning tricks to make money, and then I got pregnant.  The boy? He took off, and so there I was, alone, but with a life growing inside me. 

baby pink shawl

I managed to stay sober during my pregnancy, and every pregnancy after that, but between babies?  All that mattered was the drugs, so I continued to turn tricks for money.  But having babies made it possible for me to get a trailer and food stamps, so I figured having kids had it's perks.  Never did I give the children any attention, or even any thought.  Till one day they were all taken away from me.  And I let them go.  I knew that they were better off without me.  From there I sprialed down till I hit bottom. 
 

I turn my head and look at my daughter, and I am amazed at the beautiful woman she became.  No thanks to me, but thanks to Faith.

 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. And remember, every item I have shared as part of my story is available for purchase, just click on the links below the pictures. And come back next week as we talk to Faith again.
Be blessed,

Debbi

The Power of Love - Chapter 2

Welcome back to YankeeBurrowCreations Storytime.  Today we meet Hope in "The Power Of Love". When you're done reading, click on the picture links to see what cool handmade items I found to accompany my story, that are also available for purchase.

 

The Power of Love - Chapter 2





white flower hair clip

Hi.  My name is Hope.  It hasn't always been Hope, but that is the name my Mom and Dad gave me when they adopted me.  You see, I was born with a different name, Mara.  It means bitter and from the fragments of my life that I do remember, my childhood was bitter. I was one of many children born to a drug addict.  I remember going to bed hungry most nights, and men just coming and going into my mother's bedroom.  Sometimes the men would be nice and bring me treats, and sometimes the men would hit me and push me out the front door and then lock it.  When that happened I would huddle under the porch with my brothers and sisters and listen to the sounds of yelling, and crying, and laughing, coming from inside the house.  Yet, despite the way my life was, the day all of us children were taken away, was the scariest day of my life.



Hansel and Gretal's home

The woman from the police department took me away from my brothers and sisters and brought me to this house.  It was a beautiful house, with green grass, a swing hanging from the tree, and a man and woman standing on the front porch.  They told me that I would be living there now.  But no-one would tell me where my sisters and brothers went, or how long I would have to stay here.  I was so scared that I did not talk to anyone for weeks.  And I refused to eat any food offered to me, but after bedtime, in the dark, I would sneak into the kitchen and eat anything I could reach.  After several months there, I started to relax, and my old life started to fade away.  Yet, in all my life, the fear never really went away.






waiting room chairs

Now here I sit, almost 20 years later, still afraid, but hopeful, finally hopeful.  And waiting.  Waiting at the airport for my mom, Faith.  It's been just over 2 years since I left home.  Looking for who knows what.  All I knew is that something was missing.  I turn and look at the woman sitting next to me.  If I was nervous, she was a wreck.  Her name is Grace.  She's my birth mother.

 

Thank you for joining me on this journey. And remember, every item I have shared as part of my story is available for purchase, just click on the links below the pictures. And come back next week and meet Grace.


Be blessed,
Debbi
http://about.me/yankeeburrowcreations

Yankee Burrow Storytime - Remembering #5

Today I present to you the final chapter of our fictional story "Remembering".  You can find #1, #2, #3, and #4 here or at the above tab, "Yankee Burrow Storytime".

custom party supplies

First I run to the party supply place...crepe paper, paper plates, cards, games, everything you would need for a 10 year old's birthday party.  As I walk up and down the aisles I see a similar theme that we used for Alyse's 1st birthday, bright colored polka dots.  So I grabbed everything that even remotely had polka dots on them and threw them in my cart.  Next stop was the bakery....a cake, and cupcakes to share with the nursing staff.  Perfect.  Now back home...

family cabin

I grab our wedding album and scrapbook and rush back to Al.  I rush into his room, all out of breath, and smile when I see what the nurses did while I was gone.  Al was out of bed, freshly showered and shaved, sitting in the chair by the window.  My heart still melts whenever I see him, and the excitement inside me builds.  I put the scrapbooks on the table next to Al, and pull out the wedding pictures first.  "Remember this Al?  We were so young and so nervous.  But we never doubted that we were meant to spend our lives together."  I grab the scrapbook and show him the pictures of our cabin.  "You built this with your own two hands so we would have a place to escape together as a family when life got too stressful.  But even our cabin on the lake couldn't stop the flash backs, couldn't keep you from leaving me."  I reach out and grab his hand. " Look at me Al, look at me.  Today is our daughter's 10th birthday and we will celebrate it together, as a family, again."  Suddenly I feel it, Al's fingers wrapping themselves around my hand.  Subtly, but firmly.

I jump up and grab the bag of party supplies and get to work to make this sterile room into a party place.  And I finish just in time as my mother and my darling Alyse walks in the door.  At first Alyse hesitates, then she runs to her father.  As she hugs him I see a tear roll down his cheek.  The nurses join us as we sing to Alyse, and I can hear him...softly but clearly, Al says the words to the song.  He's back.  Finally, he's back.  I walk to him and reach out, and he takes my hand and he looks at me, really looks at me.  And the past 10 years just don't matter anymore.  Because Al is back.  From now on we will live...

word plates

I hope you have enjoyed reading this story as much as I have enjoyed writing it.  Let it be a lesson for all of us, love still triumphs.

Be blessed,
Debbi

Yankee Burrow Storytime - Remembering #4

Today I present to you installment #4 of "Remembering", a new feature here at Yankee Burrow Creations. You can find #1, #2, and #3 here or at the above tab, "Yankee Burrow Storytime".

I inched closer to the bed, it's been so long since we touched.  I missed the feel of his skin, the way his fingers would curl around mine when he held my hand.  So I put down the side of his bed, and sat next

honeysuckle shea butter

to him.  I picked up the body lotion from the night stand, picked up his arm, placed it over my lap, and started to rub in the lotion.  Up and down, I rubbed and rubbed.  After some time I noticed that my tears were mixing in with the lotion.  I have to stop....I have to pull myself away from this pit.  Getting up from the bed, I walk to the window and watch the people and the cars moving about, people with lives.  And family.  I look back at Al and I feel something that I haven't felt in a while.

Excitement.  Hope.  Love.

I have decided...today is THE DAY.  Al will wake up, and he will remember.  He will remember the good days and not the bad.  He will remember our life and not the war.  The doctors told me that there is no reason for Al's health.  But the PTSD and the flashbacks have caused him to draw into himself more and more as the years passed.  Every loud noise, every story on the news, every time he heard that another serviceman had died, and then the protests, complete strangers calling our service men murderers.  It was just too hard for him.  So he went away.  But all that is behind us now.

beaded cell phone case

I grab my purse and pull out my cell phone.  A few phone calls, and the rest of my week is work free.  Then a call to my mother.  She has been my rock and my support all these years, helping me raise our daughter.  It was hard for her after my dad died, but Alyse gave her purpose again.  And Alyse will do that for her dad.  Today, Alyse's 10th birthday, we will celebrate it here.  With Al.  After a few more phone calls, and a quick discussion with the nursing staff, I give Al a kiss on the cheek and promise him that I'll be back.  Soon.  And so will he....

To be continued....next Thursday at the

 Yankee Burrow Storytime.
Just click on the link below each picture to purchase these items for yourself.

Be blessed,

Debbi

Yankee Burrow Storytime - Remembering #3

Ok, I know I'm a few days late...but I've been up to my ears with tomatoes, cucumbers, canning, and pickling.  But I'm not complaining...they will taste great during the winter. 
So, today I present to you installment #3 of "Remembering", a new feature here at Yankee Burrow Creations. You can find #1and #2 here or at the above tab, "Yankee Burrow Storytime".

The morning traffic was horrible.  It's hard enough to make the long drive from our cabin to the city...but then I ran into a delay due to construction.

Autumn Under Construction

I hate sitting still, sitting still opens the floodgates of our past, memories I don't want to remember....

The Navy Chaplain takes my hand and eases me onto the sofa.  My other hand cradles the new life Al and I created.  Our little one is due any time now, and Al was just weeks away from the end of his enlistment.  And now...

But then I'm told, Al is one of the lucky ones.  Despite the direct hit, he was lucky.  His injuries are minor and he's coming home!

vintage am radio

I blink my eyes, and come back from the past.  The hospital is in front of me.  I find a parking spot easily, but I take my time entering.  For 10 years after coming home from the war, Al and I had the perfect life, but then things changed, he changed.  So today, like every day for the last 2 years, I enter his room,  and try to reach him.  I turn on the radio to the golden oldies station, tuck the lap blanket around his legs, and start talking.  The doctors tell me that the stories of our past are good, and can help him.  But they don't help me,  every day I feel more and more alone.  Still, I tell them to him, on the chance, the hope, that my prayers will be answered and

vicki handmade doll

today he'll respond.  I pick up the doll from the nightstand and hold it close to me and begin.  "Al, remember the day you came home from the war?  A cane and some bandages were the only evidence of your injuries.  You came towards me then stopped when you saw my condition.  You had just received the letter I sent to you months ago.  Gently you hugged me, and almost reverently you touched my belly.  You couldn't believe that you were here, in time for the birth.  And just in time too, my water broke in the taxicab on our way home.  So a quick detour to the hospital, and then...there she was.  Alyse.  Little Al.  Soft, fine blond hair, cute button nose, and all her toes and fingers.  Remember? You must have counted them a hundred times.  That was such a wonderful day."

Oh we were happy...despite the flashbacks...we were happy.  I lean back in the chair and close my eyes and let my tears wash away the years.

 

To be continued....next Thursday at the Yankee Burrow Storytime.
Just click on the link below each picture to purchase these items for yourself.

 

Be blessed,

Debbi

Yankee Burrow Storytime - Remembering #2

Today I present to you installment #2 of "Remembering", a new feature here at Yankee Burrow Creations.  You can find #1 here or at the above tab, "Yankee Burrow Storytime".

Now it's morning.  The sun is shining through the blinds of my bedroom window, and I drag myself out of bed.  I don't have time to mope around.  I only have a short time to get ready for my daily visit before I head off to work.  I throw open my closet door to find the perfect outfit.

circa 1960 shirt waist summer dress

Last night's dream has given me a strong desire to go back..back in time.  So I grabbed Al's favorite dress.  The one he got for me in New York City right before he shipped out.  Maybe if I wear it, today he'll wake up, today he'll remember.  Standing in front of the mirror, my mind floats back...

It was the summer of 1971, Al was home on a two week furlough, and we decided to spend his last two days in the city.  The days were joyful and the nights were bittersweet.  It was also when we began our family, but we didn't know it then.  If we had, it would have been even harder to let go when it was time.  But duty calls....and so Al walked aboard the USS Higbee and headed towards the war in Vietnam.

Vietnam war memorial print

 

In April of 1972, the Battle of Dong Hoi was a fierce fire fight between Navy ships trying to stop North Vietnamese troops and supplies from reaching the battle front in the Quang Tri Province.  I had followed the news reports, and worried when I heard about the direct bomb hit on the USS Higbee.  Only 4 men at most were wounded, and so with a shipful of thousands of men, I prayed for Al's safety.  But still...something inside of me broke.  The day I saw the Navy Chaplin walk up to my front door, I knew.  Al was one of the wounded.

 

 

To be continued....next Thursday at the Yankee Burrow Storytime.
Just click on the link below each picture to purchase these items for yourself.

 

Be blessed,

Debbi

It's Yankee Burrow Storytime - Remembering

full moon rising

Despite the late hour, I could not sleep.  So here I sit, on the front deck of the cabin and watch the reflection of the full moon sparkle on the water as it peeks through the clouds.  And I remember....

I don't want to remember, it hurts to remember, but still I remember...

I remember a time when I was happy, and my life was good.  A loving husband, a warm home, and a new baby, everything I was always told would make me feel complete.  And they were right, I was complete, and completely happy.

family wall art

I close my eyes, and the memories rush in.  There was a time, a long time ago, my mother would wait for me to get home from school.  Always interested in my day, always asking questions about my classes and my friends.  As a teen, I pitied her.  I thought, how sad, to not have your own life, but to be stuck at home, day after day, trying to find happiness through your children.  In all my 16 years of wisdom, I tried telling Mom that she needed to get a job, a career, a life.  Mom would just smile, pat my cheek, and tell me that loving and caring for me and my Dad was her career, one that she would never trade for anything the world had to offer her.

navy wedding cake topper

And then it happened...to me.  I first saw him on the campus of Stallings University.  He was all decked out in his navy uniform, handing out flyers for the local Navy Recruiting Office.  There is just something about a man in uniform.  He offered me a flyer, our eyes met and our fingers touched, my heart didn't stand a chance.  He asked me out for coffee, my mind screamed "no...run", but my heart just smiled and I agreed.  Coffee led to dinner, which led to weekends, which led to marriage.  Now I understood my mother, her smile, her contentment.  Then he was called to active duty.

I sigh, and shake myself.  Rising from the deck chair, I head back to bed, hoping, praying, for the dreams to stop.....

To be continued....next Thursday at the Yankee Burrow Storytime. 
Just click on the link below each picture to purchase these items for yourself.

Be blessed,

Debbi