IS THE SKY FALLING??

Poor Chicken Little stood under a tree.

He looked up at gold pieces falling like leaves.

But he knew leaves were GREEN,

And the sky, it was BLUE....

So the SKY wasn't falling,

Oh what should he do???

 Should he find Mother Goose?

Could he find her in time??

Surely THIS was no time

for HIS nursery rhyme!!

 Oh these gold blobs were big, as he stumbled around.

And they were not just bright gold,

They were dark red and brown!!

 Chicken Little birds-eye-view

 Mother Goose had flown south,

(more Southern than here!)

But a friend had shown up,

Looking perky and clear...

But he soon walked away,

And began to blend in...

 And joined in the fun with some of his friends!!

How many?

Chicken Little counted five...

Don't forget to count Robin Tails!!

Now try again....

 Could there be five,  

 Could there be six??

 Once more.....

I see it is Seven, 

 But wait....Is it Eight??

Then he squeezed his eyes shut.

Then opened them wide,

And his beak, it dropped open

When he looked side to side...

 What, oh what,

Oh, what should he do????

The robins were GONE

And he hadn't a clue.

LOOK UP, CHICKEN LITTLE...

help has arrived!!

" I know whoooooooo you are...

and I have this to say ~~~~~~

That tree you were under,

That tree over there,

That tree you stood under,

Is a Bradbury Pear.

The leaves that were fallin'

Will do you no harm.

They'll carpet the ground

With a crisp autumn charm.

But I have this to tell you,

And it is no joke --

Some thing WILL be fallin'

If you stand 'neath an oak."

So Chicken Little ran home,

Dodging oak trees like mad,

When he got there he yelled:

Y'all will be glad!!

The sky is NOT falling,

The leaves AREN'T a storm...

Come out here and look,

 Just watch out for acorns!!

Happy Fall, Dear Readers!!!

Thanks to daughter Amanda for taking the super owl photo!

Chicken Little cartoons from internet source.

Remember those Beverly Hillbillies?

"Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Jed...."

Do ya'll recognize those opening lyrics??

That's the introduction song to a TV series from a ways back that will ring a bell with those

of you from the U.S. who were born...well...a ways back (!)....

and those who love to watch re-runs!!

Want a refresher or to hear it for the first time?

Well, turn up your volume and Click on this word:  LINK (sorry about the ad at the beginning)

and you can see and listen to the whole intro.

However:

The show never talked about the ROUTE the Clampetts 

drove to get to Beverly Hills, Californee...

Where they were caught on camera just as they drove under the palm trees... 

Now take a look at this next picture...!!

  

  Yes, I've uncovered photographic* evidence  showing that they drove thru...

my town: New Albany, Mississippi!!

Since no one who witnessed this historic event actually had a camera with them at the time,

the Union County Master Gardeners (UCMC License Plate) 

immediately gathered  together the  local materials to create this

fine replica of the Clampett Truck tooling downtown!

*(One of the gardeners finally found a camera and snapped this picture for future generations!)

 In the back seat are Ellie Mae and Grannie and in the front are Jed and Jethro.

Ellie Mae holds onto her hat, Grannie and Jed have their shotguns..

and Jethro (the brain) is steering.

(Check that black and white photo at the top, to see that it matches!!

The b/w photo was taken once the truck GOT to Beverly Hills...

they had LOTS of camera there!!)

 Yup, there they are driving through New Albany...shocked and amazed by the buildings and the traffic...

 Grannie wore her glasses and brought her 'medicine jug, bottle'...

 Jed brought his shotgun and his moustache...

 And Ellie Mae brought two of her 'critters',  a big white goose and a big ol' Turkey...

Jed admired the courthouse...(good to know there's some law in these parts)

And then they're off down the road....traveling West...

Try this LINK for their 'see ya later' song!

Y'll all come back now, hear??!!!

Hope my readers have had fun with this story!!

Thanks so much for commenting!

Vardaman, Mississippi

Let's take a drive today to Vardaman, less than an hour

away from home.  It's a fine day, blue sky, puffy clouds.

And a stunning water tower.

With a bushel of something painted on the side...

YES!!, welcome to the Sweet Potato Capital 

of the World!!

Betcha didn't see that coming!!

And today is THE Sweet Potato Festival...

in fact, the 40th Yearly Festival!!

The first Saturday in every November.

Hubby, born and raised in Mississippi has never been to it.

He doesn't like sweet potatoes.

But I do...so here we are...ha-ha!

I wonder if anyone else is going to be here...

 

 

 Not to worry, the place is packed!!

 Vendors of all kinds of crafts...

and it doesn't have to be only about Sweet Potatoes!

 It's hard to take a discreet picture of someone's back...

But for the sake of the Blog, I'll take my chances!

 There was music...this picture doesn't do this musician justice,

he was VERY good on the guitar and had a great, deep, bluesy voice.

He was happy to be back in the South...

He told a story that he had been in Europe with his band for the last 2 months and

had lost weight.

Why?

"Because they've never heard of cornbread or biscuits and gravy or  Sweet Tea 

or Sweet Potato pie over there!!"

  Of course Elvis was there...he loves southern cooking...

And he thanks the heaven's above  for Sweet Potatoes!!

(seriously, this man did an excellent Elvis tribute, with classic songs and moves)

There were authors present, like these twins (Margaret and Mary King), who have

written several books about their lives, beginning with "Ya'll Twins?"

They are funny ladies, wisecracking with everyone.

The first thing one of them asks is "Which one of us is the prettiest??"

They know it's not something you want to answer,

so after a pregnant pause she says about her sister, 

"Of course SHE's the prettiest.  I'M the smart one!" 

 

I LOVE this stuff!!  Haven't had any freshly made in the actual kettle,

in years.  Sorry, Orville Redenbakker doesn't count (!)

 

 

 Yup, it's THE  place to be.
This is taking place on Vardaman main street, closed for the occassion.
It's a small farming town, established around 1915.

 This bakery bakes ONLY with Sweet Potatos.
Cookies, breads, cakes, candies...

 And, of course, this international favorite...
(the sign at the top of the blog DID say
Sweet Potato Capital of the WORLD!!)

This is not for us...a friend of hubby's called while
we were here and made us promise
to buy one for him!!

 And, if you want to cook with your own recipes,
you can buy your potatos in bulk at this DRIVE THRU, and never have to leave your car!

 The fields around Vardaman still show some potatos laying on the ground.

 Not a great picture from the car, but this field is
still being harvested...look to the left and there's a blue tractor and wooden crates.

It's Autumn, it's harvest...
and the colors are warm and beautiful.
Vardaman began around 1915, and it's population
now is a little over 2000 people.
It's the center of the Sweet Potato Farming Community, which is large scale.

 Here's a photo I took off the Missisippi Sweet Potato Council website...
Showing they do NOT grow tiny potatos!!
When these are piled up in the local supermarket bins,
they're downright scary!!


Hope you had fun with us in Vardaman!
See you next time......