Some Favorite Family Photos
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About Me
- Melanie
- Southern gal from the Gulf Coast of Alabama, Love coffee, Married 17 years & counting, & Mom of 3 terrific young children (1 boy-age 15 & 2 girls-ages 11 & 9). I'm a pretty laid-back, down-to-earth kind of person and I enjoy being outside with my family...whether it be camping, training my horse - Jewel, walking through the woods here at home, or just watchin' my kids play outside. We live surrounded by woods, so there is always the daily herd of deer that grazes through our yard in the late evenings, raccoons that play around, coyotes, and various other wildlife we enjoy watching around our home...including our "too many" family pets (wink).
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From Our Table to Yours
When you're brewing your tea bags to make Sweet Tea, try substituting 2 bags of chamomile tea with 2 bags of your regular tea (Lipton, etc.). Let it steep, and sweeten as you normally would. It's delicious & my own kids LOVE it! I "created" this sweet tea version for us when I ran low on tea bags (which rarely happens...sweet tea is a staple in our home). I love chamomile tea and normally only make a cup of it now & then for myself. I didn't tell the kids what I had done. Their ages are 13, 10 & 7 so they seem to have an aversion to anything remotely healthy right now, except fruit. So, you can imagine how shocked I was to hear them start yelling at the table how YUMMY the tea was.
Creek Indian Legends
THE THUNDER HELPER Once there was a boy who had no mother or father. All day long he would take long walks and play by himself. One day as the boy was walking along the creek, he heard a noise like Thunder. When he looked up, he saw a Tie-snake and the Thunder having a fight. The Tie-snake called to the boy saying, "Kill the Thunder, and I will tell you everything I know. I know all the things that are under the earth." Just as the boy was putting an arrow to his bow, he heard a loud noise. It was the Thunder speaking to him, "Boy, boy, don't pay any attention to the Tie-snake, I, Thunder, can help you to be brave, strong and wise. Shoot your arrow at the Tie-snake." The boy shot at the Tie-Snake, killed him, and the Tie-snake fell into the creek. Now the Thunder made the boy strong and wise, but the Thunder told the boy that he must never, never tell anyone that the Thunder had made him strong, brave and wise. The boy became the best hunter in the village. He was good and kind to all of the people. When he talked, the people listened. In the cold time, the people were very hungry, for there was no food and very little corn. Many days passed, and the boy stood before them and said, "Last night the owl in the tree talked to me. The owl told me to come to his tree. He told me there was a bear sleeping in a hole in the ground." The young men of the village laughed at him for saying the owl talked to him, but the old men did not laugh for they knew the boy was wise. One of the young men did not laugh. He told the boy he would go hunt the bear with him. He knew the people were hungry. The young man and boy went to the tree with the owl in it. By the tree, in a hole in the ground, they found the bear sleeping. They killed the bear and took it back to the village. The people were happy to have so much meat to eat. Now, when the boy said something, the people found what he said was true. The time came when the men of the village went to fight. Many men were killed. The women were so afraid; they knew the enemy would come and burn the village. The boy stood before the women and said, "Do not be afraid. I will go and kill the enemy. They will not burn our village." The boy went into the woods and found the men of the village. He said to them, "Stay where you are. I will go to meet the enemy and kill them. Never again will the enemy try to burn our village." The men watched the boy as he went to meet the enemy. They saw the Thunder and the Lightening. The Thunder and Lightening came down upon the enemy. All the enemy were killed. The men waited in the woods for a long time. The boy never came back. No one in the village ever saw him again. When the old men hear the Thunder and see the Lightening, they know what to think. They are now wise in many things. They are sure that they hear the boy call in the Thunder, and when the Lightening illuminates the sky, the old men are sure they can see the face of the boy. "The Thunder Helper laughs," the old men say, and then they go to sleep unafraid.
Insight of the Day
Picture of the Day
My 2 yr old mare, Jewel
Lost Histories In or Around Alabama
In the early 1700s much of what would one day be Colbert County was Chickasaw Indian tribal land. The few whites who entered the area were both mistrusted (mostly for good cause) and sometimes feared. Either way, the Chickasaws did not take kindly to intruders and often attacked them, ending up with their goods and possessions as a "bonus" of sorts. In 1720 one unfortunate soul we'll call "Benjamin" decided to enter the area to hunt and trap. In short order Benjamin found himself trussed up like a hog and being dragged through the woods by a war party of angry Chickasaws. The Chickasaws brought Benjamin to their village which was located on the north bank of the Tennessee River somewhere near modern day Muscle Shoals, Alabama. While the village elders debated among themselves just how to dispose of him, Benjamin was led to a nearby cave where he was untrussed and unceremoniously shoved inside. Left to his own devices while two warriors guarded the cave entrance, Benjamin explored his new prison. Fortunately, the cave was partially lit by a beam of sunlight that streamed in from an opening in the rocks and earth above. The cave was small, but dominated by a larger central area high enough for a man to stand upright. When Benjamin entered this larger "room" his eyes grew as wide as saucers. There before him were stacks of gold bars and a number of wooden chests filled with silver and gold coins and jewelry, in essence, a vast treasure storehouse. This cave, now known as Redbone Cave, became the focus of a treasure legend because Benjamin managed to escape from the Chickasaws, living to spread his tale far and wide to anyone who would listen. How Benjamin pulled that feat off is unknown, but the Redbone Cave Treasure is likely NO MYTH. Because, in 1971, two lucky treasure hunters (who had obviously done their research) recovered a brick-sized gold ingot. This ingot, due to its markings, was determined to be Spanish in origin. Another, similar find was made by a farmer working a field near Smithsonia in Lauderdale County, Alabama. In that well-documented incident another gold bar or ingot was accidentally uncovered. This gold bar was also Spanish. Many treasure hunters (and quite a number of Colbert County locals) believe that both of these gold bars were originally part of the Redbone Cave Treasure trove that Benjamin had seen with his own two eyes. Regardless, 2 gold bars (probably of nearly 100 troy ounce weight each) have been recovered in or around Colbert County. And remember, these are the only recoveries that were publicized or brought to the public's eye. How many other recoveries have been made in the area by keen treasure hunters who know how to exercise Treasure Hunting/Finding Rule Number 1? …"KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT!"? Where did the Redbone Cave Treasure originate? One theory is that the Chickasaws took it as loot in an assault on a Spanish column or payroll train. This is possible, but not proven. Either way, Colbert County holds possibilities for treasure hunters willing to do a bit of research and then get out there and get dirty. Use caution in your efforts however, and please don't trespass or dig on private property without permission.
