Boxing Day

Actually it is post Boxing Day, but nonetheless it is still being celebrated here at Ocracoke. This morning a steaming tray of sticky buns arrived on our doorstep compliments of Al and Linda. I invited them in to share as I would be on fresh pot of coffee, but they had baskets of treats and still places to go.

What a lovely old custom. There are many theories for the origin of Boxing Day. Most say it is from the United Kingdom and was the day after Christmas that the boss, or the King gave gifts to those who worked for him or to the serfs. There are even wonderful old songs which celebrate this day. One such song talks about putting a wren in a box on boxing day as well! This is from Old England.

Where are you going ? said Milder to Malder,
Oh where are you going ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said Milder to Malder,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said John the Rednose.
And what will you do wi' it ? said Milder to Malder,
And what will you do wi' it ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'll put it in a box said Milder to Malder,
I'll put it in a box said John the Rednose.

A beautiful day and a walk on the beach will compose the rest of our post Boxing Day. It is actually cool enough to sit by the fire this evening with hot chocolate, and oh yes, a plate of sticky buns!

Wish you a Merry Boxing Day!

Lou Ann

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories

The scent of cedar...

Just a few hours on a plane and life changes for me...from gray and cold and rain to live oaks and cedars with air smelling like a cedar closet. It is intoxicating to step out into the sunshine as well.

Christmas with Philip is a lovely place to be...family, friends, a house full at any given moment. I like the winter here...it is quieter and dark...but not desolate or lonely. There is much more time for pot lucks and card games and just visiting.

Philip's house was so beautiful the night we drove in. (His brother, Buddy, met me at the Norfolk airport driving throught the dark and fog, we arrived just before midnight on Christmas Eve, Eve.) Candles were in all of the windows, the wreath on the door, and a right fine, scrubby tree in the corner adorned with lights. It was like stepping into a different century.

On Christmas Eve, Philip hosted a pot luck dinner with his house overflowing with family and friend. Late that same evening, he again hosted an open house for Christmas Eve egg nog. Christmas Day found us hosting lunch for family and friends as well. Gift unwrapping was progressive as we meandered through the village.

To you and yours a very Merry Christmas, one day late!

Merry Christmas, one day late!!

Lou Ann

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Two Nights...two stories.

Last night Aaron and Karen, Jonah and Matthew came for our annual Christmas party. Yes, it is a few days early, but I will be leaving to visit Philip over Christmas so we needed to carve the turkey, share in the cookies, and open gifts before I went.

The house was indeed filled with the scent of evergreen and peppermint (along with the turkey and trimmings) as we all gathered in my dining room. How blessed I am to have Aaron and his family in my life. Karen has become my good friend as well as daughter in law. (She also is amazingly gifted in the gifting department.) Matthew and Jonah were happy over trucks and tractors and things that bump in the night. I was thrilled over the artistically designed tea kettle for my kitchen..a striking black and white retro design with a red wooden top. We all had a wonderful evening.

Today, after a full day of school and rehearsals for The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I found myself (along with the V-Day committee) at the home of the Women in Transition. This organization will become the recipient of our work at the end of February. Already we have worked a couple of months putting together our V-Day celebration here in Angola. The women at the house cooked dinner for us. We sat around the kitchen table all evening talking about the home...what caused to women to come there...how they are recovering. I left knowing that we had chosen the right recipient for all of our hard work.

Two nights..two stories.

Please check Macy's....

The other evening I was strolling about town picking up a few more odds and ends for Christmas...you know my car pool buddy, Alia...Mary, my 'what would I do without my hairdresser Mary'.....

I like to pride myself in doing all of my shopping (OK, as much as possible) in my town...so I opened the door to Calico's and Collectibles. I have been a long time patron of Traceys's shop. However, on this particular evening, she didn't have exactly what I wanted in the way of candles. Much to my delight she substituted something equally wonderful at a 10 per cent discount...

Ahh...life in a small town.

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

How many V-Day women does it take????

On Monday evening the new V-Day board, Jamie and Erin and I, set out to find our recipient, Women in Transition.

We have already been meeting for a couple of months on Monday evenings for coffee and planning at Rachael's coffee shop...but this was the night to speak to the board of our recipient.

We needed to be professional, we needed to be passionate, we needed to be straight forward, we needed to be knowledgeable, we needed to be on time.

We were all of the above, well, almost...we were late.

We started out leaving my house ten minutes early (ten til six.) It's a small town, what can I say? However, we could not find the meeting...we had an address, but it was on the other side of town (again five minuts away!) We found a vacant lot. It should make a nice home some day...but on this rainy, foggy night we weren't impressed. We continued our journey...where was this meeting? We called Jamie's husband, he knew, of course, he and Jamie both write for the newspaper. Wrong. He sent us on another chase...now we were now two blocks from my house. We did meet a very nice young man and his dog, however. We continued on. Yes, this is it...we were sure. We knocked and knocked. Curiously I looked at the mail..is that illegal? We didn't open anything, just wanted to know if it was addressed to Women in Transition. Wrong again. It was from the prosecuting atorney. Oops. We left quickly. Next I met a nice couple smoking on their porch..I got out of the car and chatted a while. (OK, a good long while!) However, found out that we were on the right street just the wrong side of town...again five minutes away.

This will be our last stop, we said, if we can't find it we are going back to my house for supper and a bottle or two of nice wine.

An hour later, we were there..on the doorstop of the meeting. They were glad to see us. They thought we had forgotten. Forgotten? Not us. We are passionate, straight forward, knowledgeable...just not on time.

Everything went well..we found our way home to my house in the dark fog. (We were actually only a few blocks away.)

We did our job, and ended up with a great story as well!!

Drizzle...

After days of record breaking cold...the warmer winds have begun to blow...what little snow we had has now melted off and a cold drizzle has replaced the early hopes of ice fishing and skating.

The gray dawn of morning combined with drizzle made for a slow start on a Monday morning. I feel like I am in a cocoon in my warm house with Christmas lights and the fog and drizzle encasing it...but alas, alas...meetings and luncheons and work to be done awaits for me in the grayness.

I am so reminded of Carl Sandburg's poem this morning.

The fog comes
on little cat feet.

It sits looking over harbor and city
on silent haunches
and then moves on.

Fog

Carl Sandburg 1878-1967

The Cold of December....

I do think about this blog every day...it doesn't appear that way through the failure of writing...maybe after this one?

It is cold here in Northern Indiana as it is in most of the country. The snow is dry and as lacy as a grandmother's tablecloth. With the coming of Winter so many programs are taking place in my little town. Programs at the library.... at Wing Haven... at the University. I have gone to most of the them..and most of them I just put on my winter boots and everything warm I can find and walk.

I met a couple the other night who had just moved to Angola. They actually chose it to retire to. They were impressed with all that we have to offer so such a small community.

But my community is slow moving today...cars are creaky and the woolen blankets have not just come out of the cedar chests, but are spread across the beds. I still needed one more last night, but was too cold to get up to get one!!

So, with The Nutcracker on the CD player, candles lit, and snowflakes still powdering the earth, it is a lovely day for me to do "office" work in my p.j.'s with no where to go...except to the ktichen to refill my coffee cup!


Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

The Page Turners

The deluge of rain on Wednesday did not keep any members of the Pate Turners away from our monthly book talk. One by one we ran up the drive way through the rain, and without knocking or ringing the bell, we opened the door and were met by hearth and home.

Shaking the rain off of our raincoats and umbrellas we greeted each other with the usual barrage of conversation.

Once we entered the dining room, we declared our spot, and stayed for the duration of the evening.

We decided to have dinner first as we were chilled and most were hungry. We dined on chicken and wild rice accompanied by pumpkin muffins. By the time coffee and pumpkin pie were served, we were mellow and ready to begin our book talk.
Our book, Mrs. Mike by Benedict Freedman, was our monthly read.

Mrs. Mike is the story, set in the beginning of the twentieth century, of Katherine Mary O'Fallon, a sixteen-year-old girl from Boston, who is sent to her uncle in Calgary, Alberta, because she suffers from pleurisy. Soon, she falls in love with Mike Flannigan, a tall and handsome man from the Mounted Police, marries him and follows him North, into the great wilderness. The trip, first by train and then as part of a dog-sled caravan, is almost too much for Katherine and her lungs. But as she decides to follow Mike no matter what, she also begins a relationship of love and hate with a pitiless and beautiful country...

At first glance and possibly at first read, the book seems to be an enchanting love story, but it is more. It is about adventure and passion. It is about building a life even though extenuating circumstances make it seem, at times, impossible. Drawing these themes into our own lives is the essence of our book club. Our own adventures, passions, choices, and conflict.

The discussion was bit more lackadaisical than most. We awarded the book three pages out of five.

By the time the fire had burned low and the pumpkin pie was reduced to crumbs, it was time to bid our farewells. We have chosen Chocolat by Joanna Harris for next month. Why not read along with us?

Maggie Mae for the Page Turners

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Classical Guitars and Serenading...

Last night seventy folks or more gathered at Wells Theatre at Tri-State University for a concert of classical guitar. The musicians were students in Fort Wayne all minoring in classical guitar. The staging and performance was professional in every way as the students were decked in suits and ties with bowing before and after each piece as the protocal.

Following the concert Liat Peters of Caruso's shared a reception of 17th century food. The crowd gathered around the syllabub table (whipped cream, sherry, and beaten egg whites poured, or rather ladeled into wine glasses) with much interest!
There was also lavender cakes, lemon curd, fig preserves, pumpkin bread and spinach cookies! It was elegant and lovely.

I told one of the performers, Matt Lovell, that he could play outside my window any night he would choose.

When the last of the syllabub was gone, I put my black cape about my shoulders and walked back home to The House at White Picket Gardens. It was an enchanting evening.

Lou Ann

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Dark Clouds of November...

I drove down to Indy yesterday for elementary storytelling shows...always my favorite. Finishing up the shows, I drove to Ellen's for the week end as Kathryn Windham arrived last night to share her stories this week end also. Kathryn is an icon in the storytelling world from Selma, Alabama. My children all met her when they were in their young teens. She promptly fell in love with them and bought them moon pies. I think that is their favorite memory of her. We had dinner with friends, and it was good to share stories over meatloaf and a light red wine.

Today I shared my love of stories with teachers at a luncheon and off again tonight to another dinner party. I know it will be more of the same...howling November winds, spitting snow...and stories...always stories.

Happy Birthday to my Dad yesterday! He was going out with "the boys" when I talked with him!

Lou Ann

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

After the fact...

We voted well yesterday in Steuben County...the stats show that the voters were out and turn out was higher than usual. Well, that is a good thing. Yes, it can always be better, but the day was accompanied by cold, dreary rain. It was the kind of day that I like to curl up with a good book by a warm fire. (The good book I have..now if I just had a fireplace!)

I want to commend the folks who worked the polls yesterday. It was late afternoon before I could vote....but the mood was still cheery and quite festive. Of course, in a small town you know everyone...you chat going in..you chat up to the MOMENT of voting...and then you chat again. It was strange to show my driver's license to someone who has known me for over twenty years!

I noticed many cold cups of coffee....half eated pizza slices...and Krispy Kreme doughnut boxes. (I didn't check to see if they were empty or not!)

I guess I am even old enough to like listening to the election coverage on NPR.

Anyway, thanks to all who voted and worked the day!


Lou Ann


Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Saturday afternoon...

I love Saturday afternoons...after spending the morning at the gym (so the cardio is done!), I can cozy up with my new book, The Last Season by Eric Blehm, take a walk down to the town to have coffee and chat with Rachael, rake leaves, take a nap, and listen to NPR.

With no evening plans as well(!) I can settle down with my book, let the last of the leaves swirl past my darkened window and drink hot chocolate.

Yes, there is something lovely about a late fall day with nothing on the schedule!

Ahhhhhhhh.

Lou Ann


Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.

Closing out of October...

Halloween night was the perfect night here in Northern Indiana. A cool front came in late morning ending the rain and bringing brisk cold air. By the time the trick or treaters were wandering the streets, darkness prevailed and the sky was marbled with black clouds covering the three-quarters moon.

I had bags and bags of candy which was all given out to ghosts and pirates and vampires and such. I dressed as Pippi Longstocking. The neighbors are always curious to see what I come up with!

Later in the evening Karen and Aaron brought the little guys over..Matthew was Jack Sparrow and Jonah was a large candy corn. (He was supposed to be a dinosaur, but wouldn't put th costume on!) We had cookies and cocoa and chocolate, of course.

November came in with snow..the ground is covered this morning. It is cold at The House at White Picket Gardens. I am trying to keep the heat at 65 degrees, but at night, I send it down to 60.

Welcome November.

Lou Ann Homan-Saylor lives in Angola, Indiana which is nestled in the hills of Northern Indiana. When she is home at the White Picket Gardens you can find her gardening or writing late into the night under the light of her frayed scarlet lamp. She is a storyteller, a teacher, a writer, an actress and a collector of front porch stories.