Freshly baked hickory nut pie. | Hillside and Holler | Stories of Appalachia

Grandma Lillian and Hickory Nut Pie

Family Stories, Recipe Stories / By

I collected my hickory nuts a little late this year. Hickory nuts and Grandma Lillian came into my life around the same time. She wasn’t my blood grandma, but she surely was my heart grandma. Grandma Lillian was like that . . . adopting grandchildren in whatever manner they came, birth, adoption, marriage, or stray. You would never know that granny-ing didn’t come so easy for her.

Mother Beech, Queen of the Forest

Tree Stories / By

I have a deep love for trees. They fascinate me and calm me. I feel protected when surrounded by them and laid bare when I’m not. I have a need to study them, feel their bark, lean against them, sit under them. I’ve been this way as long as I can remember.

Grandpa Jake Skeen Appalachian Fox Hunter | Hilside and Holler - Stores from Appalachia

Grandpa Jake

Family Stories / By

Grandpa Jake’s life was full of work…from sun-up to sun-down, from the day he could walk to the day he couldn’t. He provided for his own children, a handful of grandchildren, and even a great-grandchild or two… all from the rocky soil of a mountain top farm in West Virginia.

Appalachian sandstone pavers found for free at the creek. | Hillside and Holler - Appalachian stories about life, culture, herbs, folklore, ancestors, and history.

Twelve Stones a Day

Stone Stories / By

I’m using these found sandstones to get the walk directed to the right angle. They are fairly even in thickness with clean edges. My favorite wading creek has fair riches of them, a gift from the earth and the running water.