Google Website Translator Gadget

Monday, November 19, 2012

Moonshine Whiskey and the Revenoors

Welcome to Golden Pond, Kentucky...





Before I get into a tale that my mother-in-law shared with me years ago I thought I'd give you a bit of background on the town that she and my father-in-law grew up in.   Yep, this is where they grew up, and this sign is the only thing left to show that Golden Pond even existed.   It was a tiny town with lots of backwood roads and not much going on.


This is an aerial view of Golden Pond which is known as Land Between The Lakes, a huge resort where people have homes and come during the summer months to vacation
My mother-in-law grew up during the depression and times were tough.  Jobs were scarce and people sometimes had to barter and trade off to have enough food to eat. Her mother, Stella (we called her Miss Stella as did everybody from the area) and her husband, Loy Forgusen had 6 children, five girls and one boy.  One of the girls died in early childhood before my mother-in-law and her twin sister was born.  Miss Stella was a wonderful, hard working and sweet woman who was not at all happy with her husband's choice of work during this period of their lives.

Loy, not being able to find work did what a lot of men did back in 1929, he made moonshine whiskey.  Unfortunately, it was during the period of Prohibition, 1920 to 1933 when it was illegal to manufacture, sell or import liquor and if you got caught brewing it, (which he did)  it was punishable by serving time in jail (which he also had to do (6 months) adding further to the hardship they suffered.


This is what I think his still looked like...pretty basic for the times
In the woods behind their small wooden house and near the river, he had a still set up and was making "moonshine" whiskey. His still was usually hidden from view and moved off and on so that the "Revenooers" wouldn't find it.  Usually, while he was brewing the whiskey some of the mash (fermented corn used in the whiskey) could be found in or around the still.

Jean, the oldest was in charge of helping Miss Stella, her mother take care of the twins. One day, Miss Stella had to go into town and left Jean in charge of the twins.  The twins, my mother-in-law and her twin left the house and walked down to the river and guess what they found?  Yep, you guessed it their dad's still which was making whiskey.  They came across some of the mash around the still and started tasting it and upon deciding that they liked it because it was sweet proceeded to eat it and ended up getting snookered! Jean, realizing that the twins were missing started a frantic search for them hoping to find them before her mom returned back home.  She took off towards the river and low and behold guess what she happened upon?  You guessed it, two drunk 4 year olds sitting on the ground eating the mash.  Well, needless to say she knew she was in trouble so she tried to round them up which was pretty hard to do as they were laughing, and unable to stand up.  But somehow she managed to get them home but not before Miss Stella arrived and saw them coming up the drive. Upon finding out what happened, Jean was punished and the twins bathed because they were full of mud, and put to bed to sleep it off. Ha

I will say that Loy was very good at making "moonshine".  Story is, that he was nick-named "Pepper" because he brewed the hottest whiskey around.  Once, after my mother-in-law and father-in-law were married they took a bus to Detroit, Michigan to visit my father-in-law's sister.  After departing the bus and waiting for my father-in-law a man making conversation with her asked her where she was from.   She told him Golden Pond, Kentucky.  He said "I used to know a man from there who used to make the hottest whiskey around.  He told her his name was "Pepper".  Imagine that, who would have thought that traveling 567 miles from home you would run into a man who knew your dad!  Ha



Thursday, November 15, 2012

Second Place Winner Christmas Gift

I just wanted to pop in and show you the second place winner's Christmas Ornament that will be given away. It's a decoupaged glass ornament that is handmade by moi!  It also comes with some Angel gift tags.  Don't forget to enter and leave a comment here: (Christmas Giveaway.)

A close up of the decoupaged Glass Ornament for the 2nd place winner


Add caption

Quote of the day~  And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so?  It came without ribbons.
It came without tags.  It came without packages, boxes or bags.
And he puzzled and puzzled "till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before.
What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store.
What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more."

Dr. Suess

A song to remind of us what Christmas is really all about.




Tuesday, November 13, 2012

A Christmas Giveaway

Hi Everyone,

Is it snowing where you live?  If it isn't, it won't be long before it is!  We will be lucky to get maybe a dusting here in the Dallas/Ft.Worth area anytime this winter.  Although, we did receive a nice surprise Christmas Day three years ago when we woke up to a winter wonderland.  It's not every year (hardly any) that we see that.  With Thanksgiving only 9 days away and the big kick-off of the holiday season getting ready to start, I decided to have a giveaway for Christmas.  YAY, you say!


Source via ~ http://inspirationlane.tumbir.com
Brrr, its cold outside...and

...time to cozy up next to a fire and


Source via ~ http://inspirationlane.tumbir.com
 drink something that will warms you up on those cold snowy days.  Doesn't this look inviting?

Source via ~ http://inspirationlane.tumbir.com
I could use a hot cup of this right about now.  Now, for the giveaway, I will be giving away an angel from my special collection of Radco Christmas ornaments. She is looking for a new home and wants to be mailed in plenty of time to be hanging on somebody's tree before Christmas gets here.  She is about 15 years old, in mint condition, and no longer available (I think she may be retired because I couldn't find her listed anywhere).

Isn't she sweet?
She comes with a lovely lavender ribbon to hang her from your tree and a set of (6) of my handmade angel gift tags.

(6) Angel Gift tags
These tags are made from vintage digital graphics from EvaAgnes Etsy Shop .  She has some of the most beautiful Old World Vintage looking photos.  I have trimmed the outside of each tag with German Glass Glitter and attached a beautiful satin reversible ribbon of navy and grey.  They are the sweetest tags.

As a special addition to the giveaway, I will also be making a handmade decoupaged glass ornament (which I will show to you later in the week) to give to a second winner along with another set of the gift tags.  So, there will be two winners.  To enter, just leave a comment beneath this post, no other strings attached.  It IS Christmas after all!  HAH

The winners will be selected on December 1st so to allow plenty of time for the gifts to reach the winners before Christmas.


I will be reminding you to enter in each post I write between now and then.  Good luck everyone!

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

A Family Owned Store and Six Children

A bag of penny candy


I guess as you get older you have a tendency to think back to your childhood days more and more.  Yesterday I was thinking about a family owned grocery store that my mom used to order our groceries from.  I was remembering how kind the family who owned the store was to all of us.  My mom would call Schaffsteins Market on Friday morning with a grocery list from their store.  It was a small family owned store with a butcher shop.  This was back in the day when you would call an order in, they would prepare it, package it and drive it to your home.  Imagine that!  It's hard to imagine that in this day and age.

Anyway, the lady's name was Rose and she was so kind and sweet to us.  She usually delivered the groceries sometime in the afternoon on Friday and always included a brown bag of penny candy for all of us kids.  At that time, there were 6  or 7 of us and she always had enough candy in the bag for each of us to have 4 pieces of each kind of candy she put in the bag.  I was usually the one who separated it into piles and made sure everyone got the same amount.  It was a real treat and something we looked forward to every Friday.  She never charged my parents a penny for the candy, she just wanted us to have it.  Of course, we waited with baited breathe for her to pull into the driveway in her station wagon and would help her bring in all the bags she had gotten together for my mom.  She always took the time to ask each of us how we were and what we were up to. Her goodness showed in her smile and she would usually pat us and tell us she would see us the next week.  Usually, my dad would stop by there on Tuesdays and Thursdays on his way home from work if we needed an extra gallon of milk or a loaf of bread (which we always did) throughout the week.  Back then, everybody knew everybody and Rose and my dad had gone to school together in a one room school that they had to walk three miles to.  (I believe back then every parent told their kids they had to walk three miles a day in the cold and snow.)  HAH  We also had an account with them and paid up at the end of every week.  Nowadays, I doubt if any store would let you do that.

I often think of her and wonder if she ever knew just how much that little bag of candy meant to us.  In the summer months and as hot as it would get, we would walk a 1/4 mile down the road with our cane poles on our backs to fish under an old bridge and after we had been their about an hour, my brother would ask "why don't you run home to see if the grocery lady has come."   I always did...without question because after all I was the one who separated it and made sure we all had the same amount.  HAH   Funny how such a small thing seems like such a big thing now...

Some Of My Favorite things

Some of my favorite things:
Source via ~ http://crushculdesac.tumblr.com/post/1717863213/dressdesigndecor-blogspot
Source via ~ http://inspirationlane.tumbir.com via ~ Pinterest
Love the quilts!!


Source via ~ http://inspirationlane.tumbir.com


Source via ~ http://zsazsabellagio.blogspot.com via ~ http://rusticpeace.tumbir.com
Beautiful eggs!


Source via ~ http://peonyandsage.blogspot.com/


Source via ~ http://desdemventana.blogspot.com/2010/09/vintage-inspiration.html



Source via ~ http://desdemventana.blogspot.com/2010/09/vintage-inspiration.html


Source via ~ http://franciskasvakreverden.blogspot.com/
Source via ~ http://inspirationivitt.blogspot.com/

Monday, November 5, 2012

A Link to A Giveaway, A quote, and A song


Quote of the day:
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. 
Martin Luther King
Source via ~ http://www.brainyquote.com

________________________________________________________________


What a great song!





Thursday, November 1, 2012

Staging, Vignettes, and Photographs

Hi everyone,

I found these pretty images and wanted to share them with you.  I love looking at pictures that are out of the ordinary and these photos are no exception.  I am always amazed at how it is that people can create such gorgeous vignettes.  It's an art in and of itself.  Staging plays such an important role when taking pictures. You know, getting things just right and in perfect balance, a real talent for those of you who do take such beautiful and life like photographs.  Why sometimes I wonder if it's a photo or the real thing I'm looking at.  I'm not much of a photographer which is why I am always on the lookout for beautiful and inspiring photos. I wish I was but I'll just have to be content with oohing and  ahhing and wishing I had some of that creative talent flowing through me.
Source via ~ http://berussagroup.tumblr.com/post/26092379477/berussa-berussa-music-art-berussa-anatolia


Source via ~ http://meaghan-antoinette.tumblr.com/post/8462046984
http://inspirationlane.tumbir.com
http://pinterest.com

Source via ~ http://shabbychicinspired.blogspot.com/


Source via ~ http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/2012/06/pastel-cream-wafers.html


Source via ~ http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/2012/06/pastel-cream-wafers.html


Source via ~ http://rootedinthyme.blogspot.com/2012/06/pastel-cream-wafers.html


Source via ~ http://agirlsrighttodream.tumblr.com/post/25802442126


Source via ~ http://ana-rosa.tumblr.com/post/25431980112/http-www-wanillarose-com

Source via ~ http://lacrisalideinversa.tumblr.com/post/23989807609

Source via ~ http://la-la-la-bonne-vie.tumblr.com/post/25019384466


Source via ~ http://myinnerlandscape.tumblr.com/post/23091659334
How about you?  Do you like to take photos or do you like to find them?  HAH
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

Panama City, Florida