Nannie's Shelf

I found this old shelf in one of the outbuildings and saw through the dirt, bugs, rotted wood and mice nests to it's beautiful bones. It is very similar to a larger one we salvaged from our church's basement in Memphis; with that one, we had to see through peeling turquoise paint and evidence of a cockroach colony to its innner beauty...

 

I had spotted it back in April when we first visited with intentions to soon move. The restoration project hadn't made it to the top of the priority lisr, but a few days ago I hauled it out into the sun and let it dry out. It was situated under a hole in the roof of the outbuilding and I think the top board will have to be replaced, but it is in remarkable condition.

My dad seems to remember that it belonged to my great-grandmother, "Nannie," and that it had to be stored in the building when she moved in with my grandparents and there wasn't room for it in the house. He recalls her being none too happy about its location!

In her own home, it had been used for dishes and such- there were little cup hooks above the top shelf. In the outbuilding, along with serving as a mouse high-rise, we found it stored an assortment of paint thinners, holey work gloves, rusted metal odds and ends, and a bag of sevin dust. In our home, it will find new purpose as a bookcase. I will post more photos as we make progress on it this week!

 

Still here...

Not sure where the past week+ has gone, but I haven't forgotten the blog! Just a lot going on. We have activities away from home every day this week which I always think I can handle when planning, but halfway through the week I realize it isn't just a preference to be home a lot- I need to be home a lot.

I'll try to carve out some time to post some new photos soon, and I have some recipes I have been wanting to share, too.

How do those people who blog every day do it?

Fewer pics of my girl...

...because this is what I get when I aim my camera at her these days. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I have taken multiple thousands of pictures of her in her 8-year lifetime.

 

In case you noticed, yes, I am avoiding using our real names on the blog. But I really need to come up with "code names" so that it is less awkward trying to reference everyone. But if you read my first ever blog entry (see Growing a Blog), you'll understand why I have not yet done so...

Body by Big Sister

The kids seem to be enjoying the books we have been reading about Stone Age people and prehistoric art. The afternoon has been spent in tribal fashion (read: underwear and boots) and now they have moved on to body decoration. As she showed off her human canvases, Big Sis reassured me that they were "washable markers, except for one." Oh, good. I wonder which one?

 

 

 

 

What kind of mother am I?

Conversation overheard between my two sons (ages 3 and 6):

3yo: Do you like girls [he actually said "dirls"]?

6yo: Hmmm. Sometimes.

3yo: You do?

6yo: Well, I like to mess up their stuff.

3yo: Yeah, I like to spit on them.

Birthday Dinner

The Daddy-o's birthday was Monday, and he requested Spaghetti with Italian Sausage for his birthday dinner. And then I forced him to add green vegetables. He finally agreed to salad (including home-grown tomatoes) and green beans (also from our garden)cooked Southern-style, that is, cooked for a really, really long time with bacon and onions! I added cream cheese stuffed mushrooms on a whim and thought the resulting meal was rather lovely:

 

I also made his favorite dessert: chocolate pie. I had to call my mom-in-law for the recipe, which reminds me yet again that I need to organize all the recipe cards, magazine clippings and random scraps of paper with scribbled recipes! While very tasty, the results were not very pretty, as you can see. Let's just say I need to work on my meringue. A lot.

 

That's the latest from my farm kitchen table! Stay tuned for more food photos and a few favorite recipes- the weather has turned a bit cooler and I'm in the mood to bake!

KM

First Barber Shop Haircuts

While at the beach (we're home now!), I decided to take the boys for their first haircut at a barber shop. That is, their first hair cut not done by me! My 3-year-old has been asking for "spiky hair" like his big brother for awhile now, so we headed to downtown Manteo to Reynolds' Barber Shop to visit and get haircuts from a friend of mine from high school and his dad.

After watching their grandaddy go first, my six-year-old climbed right up and little brother clung to my neck- opposite reactions from their usual personalities! So 3yo got his hair cut while sitting in my lap. I think the only reason he did even that was because of how important getting "spiky hair" was to him. When we got back to the house, he talked Grandaddy into spiking his hair up, too!

So, 6yo has updated spiky hair (and a huge grin every time he looks in the mirror) and 3yo's precious curls are gone (sniff, sniff) and big boy, spiky hair is in their place.

 

 

 

 

Beach Trip-Day 3

Jockey's Ridge State Park

 

 

More fun at the beach

 

 

Beach Trip- Day 2

 

 

 

 

We're at the Beach- Day 1