Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

A Pumpkin and Pomegranate Party

pumpkin

green pumpkin

sheep and tractor

pumpkin

pumpkin

green pumpkin

little pumpkin

pumpkins

one jack in the pumpkin patch

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tree fairy

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a-million in the tree Pomegranates

Pomegranates

Pomegranate 



ruby fruit jewels Pomegranate seeds

Pomegranate 

Pomegranate seeds


 

 

Happy Birthday Mom!!

My mother tells the story

"… I was probably nine or ten, when my father came to Glenn county to buy a dairy ranch. When he returned home to Ferndale, (where we lived) he brought a gunny sack full of pomegranates.

We had never seen pomegranates, and when we ate them we thought they were so delicious, and took some to school to share with our friends. 

We asked our father if pomegranates grew on the ranch that he had bought. He told us there was a pomegranate tree and we were excited at the very thought of it.

I promised myself that when I had my own home I was going to plant a pomegranate tree and I did… our tree is over forty years old…and heck I never water the darn thing, and it never stops giving the most incredible pomegranates."

My Mom makes pomegranate jelly and the nieces and nephews eat them every afternoon. Ruby red jewels and love stained shirts it is a October tradition… and my Mother's birthday joy.

Comments

64 responses to “A Pumpkin and Pomegranate Party”

  1. Karon

    I adore pomegranates. The first time I travelled to Greece as a teenager I stayed in Delphi where there some amazing ruins. I read in an old Mary stewart novel about a pomegranate tree that she mentioned was at the top left of the old amphitheatre. The Greeks say that if you eat the seeds of a pomegranate where you find it you will come back. Well i ate my pomegranate and i ended up working in the Greek islands for five fabulous years. Pomegranates hold a special place in my heart for that.
    I’m off back to France tonight, can’t wait. going to the brocante in San Sever at the weekend.
    All best
    Karon

    Reply
  2. Katiebell

    juicy and beautiful!

    Reply
  3. Gracie

    Happy birthday to your mother, I’m sure she will be pleased to have you back home for the occasion.

    Reply
  4. amylia

    thank you for the most beautiful photographs! What a joy!

    Reply
  5. Stacey

    Hello Amelia!! Please give Erika and Amelia a big hug from me!
    My first pomegranate was at my aunt´s house in Redlands, I´ve been fasinated ever since. Enjoy your stay in California!
    Stacey

    Reply
  6. Jeanne

    Fabulous indeed.
    I love your stories your photographs and you
    Love Jeanne

    Reply
  7. Mardog

    Happy Birthday Dolores!
    This is the first year our 2 pomegranate trees have really given us a good crop. My brother Mike and my Dad make jelly every year for all of us from trees up there.

    Reply
  8. Marie-Noëlle

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mrs Amaro !!!
    How delicious you are !!! You’ve seeded so much !!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY again and again !!!
    Keep cropping, Corey !!!

    Reply
  9. Annie

    Happy Birthday to your mother. I loved her story of the pomegranates.

    Reply
  10. kelleyn

    Happy Birthday to your mommy! Corey you look just like her. Both Beautiful!

    Reply
  11. Jenny McH

    What a lovely story, I hope someone else in the family has planted a pomegranate tree to carry on the tradition.
    Best wishes to your Mum.

    Reply
  12. Cindy

    Ah…those beautiful photos made me smile. Stunning work!

    Reply
  13. Sheala

    For Sweet Delores
    Happy Birthday to you
    Happy Birthday to you
    Happy Birthday Dear Delores
    Happy Birthday to YOU!
    XOXOOXOX Sheala

    Reply
  14. Susana

    Best, Best Birthday Wishes to your mother, Corey!!

    Reply
  15. Erin

    we had three pomegranate trees at our home in southern california. i so enjoyed them. we planted them in 1990 when we bought the house. so hated to leave my beautiful trees behind when we moved to virginia. have been thinking about planting one here but, don’t know how it would do.
    happy birthday wishes to your lovely mother.

    Reply
  16. Vicki

    Happy Birthday to your mom!!!! Beautiful story, children and photos. I just adore fall!!!

    Reply
  17. Mary

    Happy, happy Birthday Delores – know you are enjoying a wonderful day with Corey there to celebrate with you. Lovely to see the photos of the grandchildren.
    Can picture you all there at your cozy, beautiful home – thank you again for inviting us in this Summer, we loved it! Hope the shop is doing well – it was awesome too.
    Hugs – Mary, Bob and Jasmin
    (from North Carolina)

    Reply
  18. Alena

    Happy birthday to your lovely MOM, Corey!
    She is beautiful!
    And all of your family!

    Reply
  19. Hillary Whitt

    Happy Birthday to your Fabulous Mother!!! October is the best birthday month, I should know. Enjoy all you family time. I know how much you must miss them. They are all so beautiful.

    Reply
  20. Betty M

    Wishing you a wonderful birthday Mrs. Amaro. I have never had a pomegranate but they sure look delicious. What adorable kids. Corey I know your mother loves having them around each day.

    Reply
  21. if jane

    oh she looks fabulous! happy birthday!

    Reply
  22. Lilly

    Corey, there is beauty wherever you go and you see it and share it with us. Thank-you! Those pomegranates are beautiful. Now I want to try to grow a pomegranate tree! Happy Birthday to your wonderful mom!

    Reply
  23. Holly

    Happy Birthday D…
    I love you!
    Holly

    Reply
  24. splendid

    So glad you are Home for a visit ~
    they seem like magical apples to me
    can you just get one and save the seeds and plant them i wonder?
    i am in KY and wonder if they will grow here as well? perhaps if started indoors?
    xoxoxoxox

    Reply
  25. Ed in Willows

    Happy Birthday Delores

    Reply
  26. Rebecca

    Happy Birthday to your Mama! She is really beautiful! And you look just like her…lucky you! I have not had a pomegranate in years, I’ll have to go searching the markets here….xox

    Reply
  27. Margaret Bouwmeester

    Wonderful story, beautiful photos!!!!
    I love to read and your posts, especially the one about your father….. it brings back memories…….. of my mom and sister….
    lovely!!!
    Hugs,
    Margaret B

    Reply
  28. Massilianana

    Joyeux anniversaire to your mom ! She looks incredibly tiny next to the young boy holding her ( or maybe he is particularly tall ?? He looks huge !). Pomegranate are such beautiful fruits ,aren’t tehy , they look like jewels inside….

    Reply
  29. Carolyn Mallin

    Happy Birthday, Mrs. Amaro. Corey, you have such a striking resemblance to your Mama. Two lovely ladies.
    The pictures are all so lovely. And pomegranates are so luscious. I’m going to have to go to the farm stand out here and see if they’re selling any. My granddaughter is coming over tomorrow and I’m betting she’d love to have one.
    Carolyn

    Reply
  30. Ellen Cassilly

    Pomegranates! The mystery, the myths, Persephone, the underworld, the turning of the seasons, rebirth, hibernation.
    Happy birthday Delores. I’m so happy that you planted that tree.

    Reply
  31. Shannon

    Happy Birthday to your mom!
    Pomegranates are my favorite fruit. I’m totally jealous that she was able to grow a tree full of them.

    Reply
  32. martina

    The first time I had a pomegranate was in high school when a friend shared one. Oooh the color of those seeds-like jewels, but so hard to eat gracefully. I’ve never seen pomegranates on a tree.
    HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY MRS. AMARO AND MANY MORE!

    Reply
  33. Lieselotte

    Dear Corey,
    wonderful pictures and very tempting to bite into – the pomegranates, of course. Your mum´s face reminds me of someone I know…
    While you´re having autumn fruits we´re having snow here in Austria- have to hurry up to get the garden cleared up before eternal white covers it all up.
    Kind regards, Lieselotte

    Reply
  34. Jenny N

    Oh, Corey. That is a wonderful story of a thing of joy giving for generations to come. Happy Birthday to your mom. What wonderful family pics.

    Reply
  35. jani

    happy birthday to your beautiful mama…… enjoy special times together…
    poms… mmmmmmm.. shanti..jani

    Reply
  36. Isabel ~ Maison Douce

    I am crazy for pomegranates, too… Happy birthday to your sweet mae!!!!
    Isabel

    Reply
  37. Kris Grover

    My goodness…you look like your sweet Mama!!!

    Reply
  38. Lizbeth

    Super photos, Corey! I have never actually seen pomegranates hanging from the trees. They are like jewels!

    Reply
  39. annie

    Happy, happy birthday Dolores!!!! Safe journey, Corey.

    Reply
  40. Ladelle

    Happy Birthday Mrs. Amaro!You are such a beautiful lady. I am so glad I got to meet you last Thursday night…I will always feel that hug you gave me outside the restaurant…it felt so comforting.loving…and everything good. I will see you again! Corey, there’s more I want to say too…I will see you again. Love, Ladelle

    Reply
  41. carolyn

    just gorgeous !

    Reply
  42. Donna @ An Enchanted Cottage

    Happy birthday, Mom!! Corey, I know those are your beautiful nieces (not your own children), but their resemblance to you is uncanny! Oh my gosh, how I see you in their sweet faces! I hope you are having a fabulous time with your loved ones!!… Donna

    Reply
  43. Shelley Noble

    My God, woman! these photos are stunning! The top book publishers and finest magazine editors should be on your doorstep shortly! Holy Cow!
    Poms are my #1 favorite foods as well.

    Reply
  44. joanny

    Hello Corey
    Happy Birthday to Mrs Amaro — you must be quite the lady for the fruit of your tree is very blessed with beautiful off-spring– your daughter is a very special person and the saying is the “Fruit does not fall far from the Tree” and Corey has touched many peoples lives in a most positive way. Remember that — “Everyone is the age of their heart.” Celebrate this day however, “A Birthday is just the first day of another 365 day journey around the sun.
    Enjoy the trip.
    Joanny
    I just had to give a quick mention about Ferndale California, years past I had the most unusual experience in Ferndale California, which made me feel a part of me most of lived there at some time, a very strong feeling I cannot say where it originated from but never the less the feeling persists.
    Some things in life are never quite understood and remain a mystery- which to my mind can be so much nicer,

    Reply
  45. Melissa

    Happy Birthday to your Mama!
    Oh how I love Pomegranate trees! Not only do they have such incredible history and stories galore, but they taste like what I imagine the nectar of gods would enjoy.
    We planted a Pomegranate tree for my little crumb on her first birthday!

    Reply
  46. Anne A

    Happy Birthday to your mum..I hope she had a wonderful day 🙂
    I am soo jealous of your Pomegrante tree and just look at the fruits…we never get them like that in the UK..but I still buy them, had one yesterday. Yours look so red and vibrant..oh I wish!!

    Reply
  47. Anne A

    sorry and just to add, these have been one of my favourite for years and years..and my boys…and we get in a right mess eating them 🙂

    Reply
  48. mindi

    Happy Birthday Mrs. Amaro! What a sweet story to share! My aunt always makes us pom jelly every christmas and I savor each and every drop! Happy Fall! Can you believe the rain?

    Reply
  49. momof5

    Do you mean to tell me pomegranates grow on trees? Who knew? Then again I’ve never seen rice harvests either. I’ve been living on the East coast way to long.

    Reply
  50. Kimberly

    Happy Birthday wishes to your beautiful Mother! I bet you are just tickled to be able to spend it with her. Blessings, Kimberly

    Reply
  51. Marie-Noëlle

    I’m back, Corey, because I’ve just read these lines about the Greek myth of Demeter, goddess of the harvest, and her daughter, Persephone :
    “One day, Persephone was picking flowers in a field, when Hades, the King of the Underworld, seized her and carried her to his dark underworld to be his wife. Grief-stricken, her mother, Demeter, killed every living plant on earth and refused to let new crops grow. To prevent man-kind from starving, Zeus ordered Hades to release Persephone. However, before she was released, Hades tricked her into eating seven pomegranate seeds, “The Fruit of the Underworld”, this condemned her to life in the underworld for four months out of every year. For those months (winter), the world is plunged into a dark cold emptiness, but when Persephone returns to her mother each year, the earth again begets flowers, fruit, and grains.”
    Amazing… well, so I think !

    Reply
  52. Marie-Noëlle

    http://cartelen.louvre.fr/cartelen/visite?srv=obj_view_obj&objet=cartel_18860_20585_p0003960.001.jpg_obj.html&flag=true
    by Linard – around 1600 –

    Reply
  53. Penny

    What fabulous pictures! I never new how pomegranates grew and was so excited to see them on your tree. Thank you.
    Your post evoked such a wonderful childhood memory for me. Christmas. A huge fruit basket delivered at our door. My father peeling it open, taking out the first pom I’d ever seen, opening it and telling us all about it. He’s been gone now for forty years and I still remember that moment.
    Happy Birthday to your mom.

    Reply
  54. Marge

    Happy birthday to your mom Corey! It’s amazing how much you look like her!Love the photographs!

    Reply
  55. Gina

    Wishing your Mum a very happy birthday. She must be so proud of you and the wonderful extended family she is a part of!

    Reply
  56. Kathie

    Bom aniversário para Dolores Amaro (sung to “Happy Birthday to You”):
    Parabéns p’ra você
    Nesta data querida
    Muitas felicidades
    Muitos anos de vida!

    Reply
  57. Irina

    Happy Birthday to your mom!!!
    Wishing her many happy, healthy years ahead!
    Corey, you are so lucky to have your mom with you even though you see her only once a year. Enjoy your time together.

    Reply
  58. Catalina

    Oh! Happy birthday Corey’s Mom!
    pomegranates…? I JUST LOVE THEM!!!! Jelly? I’m SO jealous! 🙂 Enjoy!

    Reply
  59. Beverly

    Happy birthday to your mother! I’m so glad that you’re able to be there to celebrate~
    Pomegranates are amazing fruit!! Eat!!

    Reply
  60. Donna Liljegren

    Happy Birthday to your mom…
    and thank you for the images of your pomegranate tree. I love poms, and have many happy memories of my mum sharing them with me. I have to go looking for a tree to plant in our yard now!
    xoxo
    Donna

    Reply
  61. shannon in oregon

    my father and your mother share a birthday. 🙂 that makes me smile.

    Reply
  62. Rebecca in the Pacific Northwest

    Those are some truly spectacular kid photos — those EYES!
    they brought me out of invisibility once again, for one of my rare comments.
    lovely. thanks.

    Reply
  63. elaine

    so very cool.. and what wonderful images!

    Reply
  64. Laura

    Sitting cross legged on your Mom’s lawn, while eatting pomegranates from her tree….and those fabulous Halloween parties on the old back porch. My best childhood memories are from the Amaro house. Give my love to your Mom!
    Laura McGarr-Chaney

    Reply

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