Do you remember?

Be transported back to a different age, where butter was made by hand at home and life took place around the fire. A sharing of stories and a celebration of life in its small precious moments. ''It takes a lot of living to make a house a home. The living connects ancestry to posterity creating a nucleus that supports and strengthens the extended family. Like a tree families put down roots that give support and stability to extended branches. The home family provides a shelter belt and that sheltering can encompass the extended tribe when life gets stormy.'' Alice Taylor takes us through her. Read more... Abstract: Alice Taylor takes us through her home, reflecting back on the routine of her family life growing up in rural Ireland in the 1950s - a time when food was home-baked and everything was reused. An uplifting account, full of nostalgia and wise words to treasure from Ireland's best-loved author. Read more... Alice Taylor remembers her childhood home – the farm with all its tools and animals, the home with its equipment for living, its daily challenges, constant hard work, and its comforts too. She describes the huge open fireplace where all the cooking was done, where the big black kettle hung permanently from the crane over the flames; here the family sat in the evenings, talking, knitting, going over the events of the day, saying the rosary. She experienced the sow being brought indoors to have her precious brood of bonhams. She recalls the faithful, beloved horses and their wonderfully varied outfits – one set of tackle for each job they did on the farm; the ritual of lighting the oil lamps – from the fancy one in the parlour to the tiny one under the Sacred Heart picture; the excitement of threshing day and the satisfaction of a good harvest – the stations, the neighbours, and later the local dancehall and cinema. All the jobs and tools of a way of life long gone live on in the hearts of those who were formed by it. Here Alice Taylor celebrates them all with love. 'magical ... reading the book, I felt a faint ache in my heart ... I find myself longing for those days ... it is essential reading.' Irish Independent Content: Cover Reviews Title Page Dedication Contents Introduction: The Memory Butterfly Chapter 1: The Home Place The Brook, Alfred Tennyson Chapter 2: The Woman of the House I Remember, I Remember, Thomas Hood Chapter 3: The Picture that Told a Story A Soft Day, Winifred M Letts Chapter 4: Don't Call the Doctor Chapter 5: The Long Litany Chapter 6: Always on a Sunday Chapter 7: The Sewing Box Chapter 8: Around the Fire The Ant and the Cricket, Anonymous Chapter 9: Day-old Chicks The Little Red Hen, PJ McCall Chapter 10: The Light of Other Days Chapter 11: Grandmother's Dresser. The Old Woman of the Roads, Padraic ColumChapter 12: Dancing on Blankets The Table and the Chair, Edward Lear Chapter 13: Tea in the Parlour Chapter 14: Cow Time Chapter 15: When We Sported and Played Chapter 16: Minding the Bonhams I Wandered, Lonely as a Cloud, William Wordsworth Chapter 17: Tackling the Horse Chapter 18: Fruits of the Earth Trees, Joyce Kilmer Chapter 19: Hear My Song Chapter 20: Bring Blossoms the Fairest Chapter 21: Thank You, Mr Cooper Chapter 22: Dancing with Eddie Fisher The Lake Isle of Innisfree, William Butler Yeats. Chapter 23: Memories Are Made of ThisAbout the Author Copyright. Be transported back to a different age, where butter was made by hand at home and life took place around the fire. A sharing of stories and a celebration of life in its small precious moments. 'It takes a lot of living to make a house a home. The living connects ancestry to posterity creating a nucleus that supports and strengthens the extended family. Like a tree families put down roots that give support and stability to extended branches. The home family provides a shelter belt and that sheltering can encompass the extended tribe when life gets stormy.' Alice Taylor takes us through her home, reflecting back on the routine of her family life growing up in rural Ireland in the 1950s - a time when food was home-baked and everything was reused. An uplifting account, full of nostalgia and wise words to treasure from Ireland's best-loved author. '[It] warmed my heart and reminded me of the value of family, friendship and community ... I was enthralled ... wonderful.' Irish Independent on And Time Stood Still]]>