Terri Waters Gallery Blog

Smokies Wildlife - Bobcat

Smokies Wildlife - Bobcat
Wide-footed tracks break the smooth snow up the mountainside, and beyond lies a heap of leaves and twisted limbs powered with new snowfall. The tr...

Quilting

Quilting

In early American homes quilts were a necessity of vital importance to all, especially in the settlements where the winters were cold. Here in the mountains, the pioneer's poorly heated log houses made it necessary for an adequate supply of bedding.

 

School Days In 1919

School Days In 1919
 "In my day, school consisted of 8 readers (each grade or year you got a new reading book) and a primer. The primer was basically to teach children how to act in school, and what to expect next year. It (the primer) was very similar to today's kindergarten. School usually started in May or June and went through the early part of December. Kids dropped out for a couple of weeks at a time to help with the crops. This usually happened late in November when it came time to harvest the corn crop."

When Christmas Falls

When Christmas Falls
Sounds of long ago, yes, but not so foreign to our ears that they do not stir our memories. And recall the smells of those distant holidays: the penetrating scent of balsam as the Christmas tree was brought in, ginger and clove-dusted cookies stored in the pantry, red peppermint splotches upon the baby's face, and the scent of hot apple cider topped with butter and stirred with a cinnamon stick, while children crunched and munched on brown mediciney-smelling horehound and licorice whips.

Peace Is More Than A Season

Peace Is More Than A Season
Peace is more than a season...

On Old Christmas - Christmas in the Smoky Mountains Has Changed

On Old Christmas - Christmas in the Smoky Mountains Has Changed
The stockings were hung by the fireplace. Each child was confident Santa Claus would know which stockings belonged to him. Apples and oranges, different types of candy, and maybe a small gift was placed carefully inside. There was always the threat that we might get corncobs, fire coals, or rocks for any misbehavior during the year.

Smokies Wildlife in Winter Wilderness - by Sharon Hurst

Smokies Wildlife in Winter Wilderness - by Sharon Hurst
  Painting - "Weathering the Storm" - Terri Waters      By late autumn the creatures of the Great Smokies sense the changes in the air, the unrelen...

Stories from the Smokies

Stories from the Smokies
 The older brother knows what he is looking for. It must have the right taper, along with a full bough and a strong, pointed-just-right spire that will hold the star that has topped-off their Christmas trees for as long as he can remember. 

Reminiscences of a Mountain Man - An Old-time Thanksgiving

Reminiscences of a Mountain Man - An Old-time Thanksgiving
He sat whittling in the cool air of an early October morning. Although the sky was a brilliant blue, the sun overhead did little to dispell the fall "nip" in the air. The story, much like the man, was simple, direct and unhurried.

Pioneer Lifeways - Preserving Foods for Winter

Pioneer Lifeways - Preserving Foods for Winter
The scene was ordinary in a mountain home years ago: beans and peppers drying in long strings against the cabin wall, a crock of bleached apples, tightly covered in a cool corner, and the springhouse, with crocks of pickled vegetables against its dampened earth.

A Season Of Return

A Season Of Return
       Painting; "Autumn Memories", by Terri Waters.      Dry leaves shudder in the wind, drifting softly to the ground on a cool Autumn day. The ...

The Mountains - by Sharon Hurst

The Mountains - by Sharon Hurst
The mountains had a voice, in autumn or any season seldom heard, for few men ventured there.