Tuesday, December 3, 2019

Tipper Pressley Shares Two Special Christmas Memories & A GIVEAWAY!!

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."  
Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

Guest Post #2

"A Memorable Christmas Ornament" 
by Tipper Pressley

"Most of my Christmas ornaments are handmade by Granny. The girls' elementary school was big on ornament making, so I also have more than a few that were made by them in school. And I have store bought ornaments that have special meaning, like the silver balls with the girls names and birth date engraved on them.

It would be hard for me to pick a favorite ornament. I love the crocheted white stars Granny made and the chubby cherubic faces of the girls on some of their school ornaments. But near the top of my favorites list is an ornament that was supposed to be a joke. 

When my husband and I were first married, we didn't have the many ornaments we do today. Thinking he'd play a good joke on me he made an ornament out of an old spark plug and hung it on the tree. He figured I wouldn't see it until I was taking the tree down, but I noticed it right away. 

He was surprised when I told him I loved the spark plug ornament and planned to use it every Christmas. 

For whatever reason, my husband making the spark plug ornament is one of my favorite Christmas memories, and all these years later I'm still putting it on the Christmas tree."

"Granny's Special Christmas Memory"
as told to Tipper by "Granny" (Tipper's mother)

"The other evening I stopped by Granny's after work like I usually do. I've taken to carrying a notebook with me every time I visit so I can ask her to tell me a story and write it down. That evening I said "Tell me a Christmas story about when you were a little girl." Granny said "Well you know the one about the year mother cut down the holly tree for a Christmas tree because I wrote about it in my poetry book."

I told her I remembered that one, but always wondered if Granny Gazzie didn't miss the tree being in the yard. Granny said "No it didn't come out of the yard, it come from way up in the woods behind Shady Grove Church. I reckon mother knew it was there, it was a good size one, and went up there and cut it down herself and brought it home. Although my brother always tells me it was our older brother George who cut it down and brought it home. I still think it was mother."

I said I bet it was pretty with red berries and Granny said "No it didn't have no berries on it at all. We decorated it with what we had and it was a pretty sight. I'll tell you a story I've never told another living soul in all these years. Mother always got each of us a bag of candy and since we didn't get much candy we really looked forward to it. That year I went to bed with my shoes and clothes on so I could be the first one up to get the candy. See, I wanted to steal some of the other's candy and put it my bag so I'd have the most. It was way in the night and I got up and tiptoed into the room. No one heard me up and nobody got up to check on me either. I got one piece of candy out of a bag and realized it just wasn't worth the feeling I had of guilt. Then I got scared. Thinking of all my family that I loved so much in the bed asleep while I was up trying to be a robber scared me bad. I went and got back in the bed and never did tell no one about what I had almost done. None of them knew that I had been up at all and the next morning we were all together and happy for Christmas."

As Granny told me the story I smiled at the thought of a little girl thinking of herself as a robber. I asked Granny how old she was when it happened. Granny said she was in first grade."

Bio:  Tipper is the author of the Blind Pig & The Acorn blog, where she shares her love for preserving and celebrating Appalachia.  She is crazy in love with her home in Appalachia-the people, the food, the music, the colorful language, the sustainable lifestyle, the history, the soaring mountains, and the deep dark hollers.  She loves to garden and preserve the bounty her family grows; she plays the bass in the family band; she is a wannabe folk artist; she teaches Appalachian Cooking Classes at The John C. Campbell Folk School and other locales, and of course she writes.  You can connect with her on FacebookTwitterYouTubeInstagram, Pinterest, and her Etsy Shop.




Tipper is kindly offering a special giveaway for our readers!
She is giving away a copy of Pap (her Dad) & Paul's (her brother's) Christmas CD!!!!!!


If any of you are Blind Pig & The Acorn readers, you already know what a treasure this is!
Tipper is giving away one copy, and if anyone else would like to order a CD, please visit Tipper's Etsy Shop!

To enter the giveaway, just leave us a comment below.
If you are an anonymous commenter and you would like to enter the giveaway, please include your contact information in your comment.  Otherwise, you won't be able to enter the giveaway, as we have no way of knowing who you are or contacting you.
Offer is for US residents only, due to shipping costs.  😢

Zach will draw a winner one week from today on December 10th, so please hurry and leave your comment below!!  You don't want to miss your chance to win this amazing CD!!

Many blessings to you all and a big thanks to Tipper and Granny for sharing their Christmas memories with us!

Here is a sample of the beautiful harmony you will hear on the CD!


It Came Upon the Midnight Clear by Paul & Jerry Wilson

And, as a special bonus, here is a video of Tipper's two sweet twin daughters, The Pressley Girls, singing "Christmas Time's A Coming!"


Christmas Time's A Coming - The Pressley Girls

In case you missed them, you can read previous Christmas Memory Sharing Posts by clicking these links:
Christmas from the Dumpster
Matthew Timmons Shares his Heart this Christmas

30 comments:

  1. I enjoyed reading about Tipper's story, as told to him by Granny! What a precious thing for this little 1st grade girl to realize she would be a robber! We all need to have a conscience like this! Thank you for sharing! Badawson16 at aol dot com

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    1. I absolutely love reading Tipper's stories, too. I hope you can check out her blog, where you will find many more stories that will inspire and warm your heart! Thank you for your sweet visit and kind words! God bless you this Christmas season!

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  2. Loved your stories here, Tipper! Thanks for sharing with all of us.
    Blessings!

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    1. God bless you with a wonderful Christmas season, Martha! I so appreciate your encouragement and support.

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  3. What a precious and sweet story! I am so enjoying all of the memories that you are sharing here, Cheryl.What a great idea. I pray that you are doubly blessed for your generosity, and have a wonderful Christmas with your Family!

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    1. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas season, too, Bettie! I continue to pray for you and trust you are feeling better. Many blessings to you!

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  4. How wonderful to read this post with the memory of Granny. I love family memories. I'm praying that you Kevin and Zach will have a wonderful Christmas full of new memories being made.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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    1. I loved reading this, too! Thank you for your visit, kind words, and prayers for us, sweet friend! I hope the same for you and Dennis. I could feel the pain in your heart last night when I read your blog post. I know you miss your family so much and pray Jesus is comforting your heart today. Much love to you!

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  5. What a wonderful story to read. Family memories are so precious and so happy Tipper shared this. Wishing you and your family a blessed Christmas season.

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    1. You are so right! Family memories are so dear, and it is so wonderful to be able to make new ones each day. Every moment of life is a precious gift indeed. Have a blessed Christmas, also, Angela!

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  6. What a precious and sweet story! Enjoyed reading it so much. Hugs and blessings to you sweet lady. Cindy

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    1. I enjoyed reading it so much, too, my friend! Many hugs and blessings back to you today!

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  7. I love music together as a family, what a blessing. The cherished memories passed down inspired me to write a few myself, thank you. This area, so rich with traditions, will endure and thrive through music and these stories. I've subscribed to both blogs and look forward to future posts! (Also, my son and his wife, who study fiddle and guitar and play old time music) would LOVE the CD:)

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    1. Oh, it is such a dear blessing, isn't it? A lot of my favorite childhood memories include my dear Daddy playing his 5-string banjo and guitar, along with so many other relatives. Oh, thank you so much for subscribing to the blogs! I am so grateful to you for your support and friendship. God bless you, sweet friend!

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  8. Tipper Pressley is a very talented writer being able to transport you back to a time in your family's past where perhaps the same type of precious family memories are stored in the pages of your mind. I can fully understand why that first ornament on the newly married couples tree was important. I was just telling our sons funny things that happened as my husband and I tried to put up our first tree. The story about Granny cutting a holly tree resonated with me as I recalled my Aunt telling me that she and her older sister went out and cut down a cedar tree to be the family's Christmas Tree. They cut of branches of a holly tree to use as decoration with the red berries. I was told you need to have two trees, a male and a female, to get the red berries on one. I don't know if that is true or not. And Granny's realization that what she had thought of doing was actually wrong was uplifting. Not knowing if she had a personal relationship with the Lord at that time, I would say she had Christian parents who had instilled in her from an early age the difference between right and wrong. I so enjoyed all these beautiful memories recorded.

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    1. You are so right. Tipper is so very talented, and I love reading her stories and seeing the way she makes them come to life. I feel the same - Granny must have been raised in a Christian home by Godly parents who instilled those precious values. I just loved reading that and thinking about her sense of innocence and how carefully she was trying to walk with the Lord, even at such a young age. SO sweet. Oh, if only the children and youth of today had that same sense of conscience and tenderness toward the Lord! I SO enjoyed your kind words and comment, Dee, and thank you for sharing your heart!

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  9. I grew up with both grandmothers, one grandfather, two great grandmothers as well as lots of aunts and uncles. They all shared stories with me constantly. I firmly believe you need to know where you came from in order to know who you are.

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    1. That is so wonderful! Yes, I totally agree. We are so blessed to have been surrounded with family and love! Merry Christmas to you, Jackie!

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  10. What a wealth of memories! And I have to agree that my favorite ornaments are the homemade ones that either come with a story or remind me of the hands that crafted it.

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    1. I agree, Michele. It is one of our favorite Christmas traditions to think back on each ornament as we hang them on the tree each year. The ones that mean the most are the ones with the most sentimental memories attached.

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  11. Love that story of the handmade spark plug ornament and the sweet story of the conviction of a young heart. That was early on in a life that brought so much wisdom and love to a family that still feels the sweet effects.

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    1. Yes, you are so right. I love being around older people and hearing their stories. It is amazing how much wisdom they acquire over the years. Thank you so much for your visit, brother. May God bless you!

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  12. I loved reading the story of Granny as a little first grader and her guilty conscience!! Don't we wish that all people felt those feelings? How cute that she never told anyone until she relayed it to Tipper.

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    1. I loved that story, too. It really touched my heart! Yes, if only people were that keen to the Holy Spirit's dealings in this day and time. Sadly, so many consciences have been seared with a hot iron, as the Bible says. I was thinking of how Granny told Tipper that story after all these years. That was really something, and maybe it just made her feel better to share it with someone. It certainly was cute and very sweet! Thank you for your visit, dear Kitty! God bless you!

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  13. Love the story of the spark plug ornament! Thank you Tipper for sharing , many blessings to you!

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    1. I so enjoyed these stories, too! It is such a blessing to read how God works in the lives of others. I am so thankful you are enjoying the posts, sweet friend. God bless you!

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  14. Thank yiu Cheryl and these posts you’re a blessing to my heart, I struggle to comment though. Thank you for this beautiful story of grandmas can’t beat a grandma story!
    Thanks for being a blessing, and may God bless you too.
    Hugs, Shaz in Oz.x

    {Wonderful Words of Life - Shaz in Oz}
    {Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}

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    1. I am sorry you struggle to comment. Thank you for persevering and leaving such kind words! God bless you, sweet sister.

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  15. Wonderful story about Tipper's granny. Loved seeing the two videos as well. What talent. The music was lovely. Hugs!

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    1. Aren't they so talented? I just love to listen. They are as sweet as they are talented, too! God bless you! Sending hugs back to you. :)

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