My two siblings and I always called our grandmother “Mema”. According to my parents, we went to visit her one Christmas in Kentucky from our home at that time in South Carolina. I was so excited to see her from the car when arriving during one visit that all I could blunt out was “Me Ma” “Me Ma”. And so she was called Mema from that day forward. She always called the three of us her “little kittens”. Mema had been an elementary school teacher and her house still stands on Main Street in the one red-light town. She passed away in 1993. Almost all the other houses have been torn down along Main Street except for hers. There is now a bank on one side and a medical center on the other as there is no zoning in town. Across the street is an auto part store. My father still owns the house. You can see her front porch below that use to have a swinging chair that I would sit in with her during visits. Also visible is a magnolia tree in the backyard that her brother, Lee, had planted. Every time great uncle Lee came down from Indianapolis to visit her, he would bring boxes of plants to put in her yard. Mema was always thrilled to show me around after each of his visits. Now only a few irises and the magnolia tree are still remaining.
Mema’s magnolia is a beautiful shaped tree and I don’t think it has ever been trimmed or topped. Although my father would trim around the bottom so he could mow under it.
the birds really like the tree.
My father’s initials still appear in the back porch sidewalk next to the tree
Mema’s magnolia tree and I started over twenty years ago when I first brought a few branches of the tree back home with me to Connecticut. I probably cut them that morning before flying out and when arriving home that night placed them in water. Then I started cutting more branches during visits and flew home with them in a box or mailed them to myself. I started using them in holiday wreaths and roping. I never get rid of the branches as they dry nicely and I like the brown mixed in with other greens. Below is a photograph from 2011 and I’m sure most of this magnolia is recycled from earlier years.
this wreath was made in 2012
and its also seen below on the front door. I really went all out in Christmas 2012. This photograph won first place in an online Best Door/Entry Way Christmas contest.
the pine cones are recycled each year and the boxwood and pine came from the yard
Even when the magnolia leaves fall off, I save them to tuck into other evergreens
this is another shot of the 2013 wreath that was used in the diary’s heading. The hydrangeas are from my yard. I like buying the cheapest simplest wreath and adding to it with things from the yard as it gives a much fuller nicer look for free.
Even the house marker showing the year that the front section was built received it’s own embellishments in 2013 including Mema’s magnolia along for the ride
my 2013 Christmas tree was decorated with only dried hydrangeas from the yard, red cockscomb I grew that year and part of my pine cone hoard.
in 2014, I didn’t use the magnolia on the front door but did reuse the red cockscomb from the previous year’s Christmas tree and I believe you have seen the pine cones before as well.
the magnolia was back last year in 2015. I really started simplifying the wreath.
and the house sign received a few touches tucked in on each side
So let’s make this year’s wreath now. I was in Kentucky this past October and filled a cardboard box with magnolia clippings. Since Southwest Airlines allows two baggage check-ins and I only had one, the box flew free. When the Nashville airline check-in clerk asked what was in the box because it was so light, I replied magnolia branches. The clerk had a huge smile on his face and I did too because without saying another word, we two Southerners completely understood.
These are the magnolias and we’ll be using the wire wreath form on the right holding previous fall decorations.
Let’s leave the Sweet Annie to be used as a filler. It sure smells nice when rubbed against. The magnolia branches are just randomly being tucked in the circle.
After using all of the branches, I thought the wreath was still a bit shy in areas.
Ah, I think I know where there are some more branches. A large Macy’s shopping bag was pulled down from the garage rafters. A few of these finished off the wreath.
So the wreath was placed on the door and as you can see the door this year has gone from white to a dark Essex Green. I would have been happy to leave the wreath as-is yet decided to add a ribbon for the first time in many years — a sheer silver.
Hands down that this year’s wreath is my favorite. You can see below, the wreath would have been lost without the ribbon. Though at night time with the front porch light on, it shows up spectacularly but I’m not able to capture it very well in a photograph. Next year, I might spray this same wreath with silver highlights
the house sign also received its magnolia for this year
this ca. 1925 photograph shows Mema while she was dating my grandfather.
To the right of the photograph’s location was the one room schoolhouse where Mema started her teaching career. I go fossil hunting in the creek beside the schoolhouse ,now a Church, every time I go home for a visit. The Church and creek are shown below in the bottom right.
a previous year’s finds and treasures from the creek bed
Back behind the hollow in the photograph of Mema is where both she and my father were born. As well as my great grandfather and great-great grandfather. The house has long been gone but I have handmade bricks from its chimney made by my great-great grandfather, Leander. Mema’s hand-painted family coat-of-arms hangs in my entrance hall. She would love the fact that I am using parts of her magnolia tree. Mema was a very special lady to me as she was the only grandmother I ever knew as my other one passed away when my mother was only five years old. Mema is buried in a small cemetery on top of the hill in the above photograph.
I have Mema’s Christmas cactus and every time it blooms, it is her smiling at me. I miss Mema and look forward to when we can be together again in a swinging chair and hopefully I can be her “little kitten” once more. In the meantime, I have her magnolia branches watching over me.