Heritage Schoolhouse is Eight Years Old!

Eight years ago today, May 4, 2008, I was sitting home alone one evening, under the weather if I remember correctly, and I started a blog called Heritage Schoolhouse.

So...on the eighth anniversary of Heritage Schoolhouse I thought I'd come back to this long neglected place. :-) I can't believe the last blog post I wrote was back in July!  

Since that time I've been blessed, and busy, and challenged, and tired, and working, and playing

and of course cooking and baking ;-)

and time just got away from me.

And, I sure have missed posting here!

So, I'm back and here are a few pictures of what's been going on around here lately...

I have four chickens right now.

A Rhode Island Red,

a Silver Laced Wyandotte,

a Gold Laced Wyandotte,

and a Welsummer. 

I love my chickens!

I lost my favorite cat, Reese's, several months ago and it just broke my heart,

but thankfully, I still have her baby PB.

I got some ducks again!

We named them Buttercup and Honeysuckle.

Butter and Honey for short. :-)

And Miss Daisy will be nine this summer. 

I bake when ever I get the chance.

And we have a little bit of a garden growing this spring - 

tomatoes, peppers and squash.

My kids are growing like weeds!  They're 16 1/2 and almost 19!

And Mr. H. is still the most handsome fellow around. :-)

I'm happy to be back! 

Memorial Day 2012

"The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree."

~Thomas Campbell

"12"

At 2:42 AM on November 18, 1999, the partially completed Aggie Bonfire, on the Texas A&M University campus, standing 40 feet tall and consisting of about 5000 logs, collapsed during construction. Of the 58 students and former students working on the stack, 12 were killed and 27 others were injured...

Those that lost their lives will never be forgotten.

The Crepe Myrtles are in Bloom!

I love that there are crepe myrtles in our front yard.

There have been crepe myrtles 

in every place that Mr. H. and I have lived

over the past seventeen years. :-) 

There was a crepe myrtle 

at the first little apartment we lived in,

the duplex we lived in when our daughter was born,

the first little house we bought 

and were living in when our son was born,

the house we built,

and now this house we live in now.

Different homes,

same pretty crepe myrtles outside.

At this house we have 

a purplish pink one,

a white one,

 and a dark pinkish red one.

Even in this long drought we're in right now,

it's the middle of June and the crepe myrtles are in bloom. :-)

"We who are left how shall we look again
Happily on the sun or feel the rain
Without remembering how they who went
Ungrudgingly and spent
Their lives for us loved, too, the sun and rain?"

~Wilfred Wilson Gibson

"12"

"12"

At 2:42 AM on November 18, 1999, the partially completed Aggie Bonfire, on the Texas A&M University campus, standing 40 feet tall and consisting of about 5000 logs, collapsed during construction. Of the 58 students and former students working on the stack, 12 were killed and 27 others were injured...

Those that lost their lives will never be forgotten.

Veteran's Day

"We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude."  ~Cynthia Ozick  

September 11th

"This is a day when all Americans from every walk of life unite in our resolve for justice and peace. America has stood down enemies before, and we will do so this time. None of us will ever forget this day, yet we go forward to defend freedom and all that is good and just in our world."

from President George W. Bush's Address to the Nation

delivered September 11, 2001

Oval Office Washington, D.C.

NEVER forget.

The Alamo

Flag Day

"You're the emblem of

The land I love.

The home of the free and the brave."

~George M. Cohan

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"American Porch" by Daniel Pollera

You might also like ~

Flag Day

Come and Get It!

When supper's ready and I need to let the family outside know,

I don't have to holler anymore!

My parents brought this bell to me this weekend on their first visit to our new home.

Having a rich family history, it first hung at my great-grandfather and grandmother's ranch in north Texas. It also hung in the two houses that I lived in growing up.

It now hangs proudly on our back porch. :-)

In Memory

March 1, 2010

Your Loved One Lives In Your Heart

May tender memories soften your grief,

May fond recollection bring you relief,

And may you find comfort and peace in the thought

Of the joy that knowing your loved one brought...

For time and space can never divide

Or keep your loved one from your side

When memory paints in colors true

The happy hours that belonged to you.

~ Helen Steiner Rice

"The angels are always near to those who are grieving,

to whisper to them that their loved ones are safe in the hand of God."

~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book

by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Wildflower Bouquet" by Katie Rostine

Veteran's Day

"We often take for granted

the very things

that most deserve our gratitude."

~Cynthia Ozicke

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Heading Home" by Thomas Kinkade

Never Forget

September 11, 2001

65 years

Several years ago my family had the privilege of visiting the beaches of the Normandy Invasion at the sites of the American D-Day landings - codenamed Omaha Beach and Utah Beach. The following pictures were taken by Mr. H.

June 6, 1944 D-Day

"a mighty armada crossed a narrow strip of sea from England

to Normandy, France and cracked the Nazi grip on western Europe"

Omaha Beach

The Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial is a World War II cemetery and memorial in Colleville-sur-Mer, Normandy, France, that honors American soldiers who died in Europe during World War II.

The cemetery is located on a bluff overlooking Omaha Beach and the English Channel. It covers 172 acres, and contains the remains of 9,387 American military dead, most of whom were killed during the invasion of Normandy and ensuing military operations in World War II. The graves face westward, towards the United States.

Pointe du Hoc is a clifftop location on the coast of Normandy. It lies 4 miles west of Omaha Beach, and stands on 100 foot tall cliffs overlooking the sea. It was a point of attack by the United States Army Ranger Assault Group commanded by Lieutenant Colonel James Earl Rudder, "Rudder's Rangers".

Utah Beach

THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

IN HUMBLE TRIBUTE TO ITS SONS

THAT LOST THEIR LIVES

IN THE LIBERATION OF THESE BEACHES

JUNE 6, 1944

There aren't words to describe the feeling of standing on the very ground were so many brave Americans gave their lives for the freedoms we enjoy today.

Remembering the Fallen

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead.

Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

~Lt. Col. John McCrae (1872 - 1918)

illustration courtesy of www.allposters.com

"Poppies on Wood" by Wendy Wegner

Looking Back

Some of my most favorite posts from the past year include...


A Little Thread of Gold
Blueberry Crumb Cake
On the Banks of Plum Creek
A Little House Inspired Supper
Panhandle Beef Brisket
Strawberry Jam
Scenes from a Christmas Kitchen
A Sweet, Sweet Valentine's Day
A Simple Little House
Autumn Nesting
Wonderful Things of Summertime
Summer Dessert Pizza

I hope you enjoy them too! :-)

Memory Lane :-)

I headed down memory lane this evening

and thought you might like to come along...

wedding day 1994

graduation day 1995

High School Reunion 2000

Las Vegas, Nevada 2002

Family Ranch 2003

BBQ Fort Worth, TX 2004

Cancun, Mexico 2004

Isla Mujeres, Mexico 2004

Texas Stadium 2005

Oahu, Hawaii 2007

Rome, Italy 2007

Ruidoso, New Mexico 2008

Walnut Grove, Minnesota 2008

That was fun!