A Little Bit of This, and A Little Bit of That

There is so much to catch you up on. The house at Bull Run has just sprung up out of the ground, and it is exciting to see our son preparing his home.

For those of you who are not reading Ashley's blog, I will be glad to show you a few pictures I took. Here are Ashley, Trevor, and Sweet Pea.



He has the cleanest, neatest, most spacious crawl-space in the southeast!



It's not everyday a guy has the opportunity to help his brother build his house. I'm sure Sayre will have some good memories of time spent with Trevor.



Sawyer loves being over at Bull Run with Trevor.



The first wall goes up. How exciting!



Our lovely Thelma.



A woman's touch is just what this home needs!




Here's the best looking man on the job site, and he's ALL MINE !



Fearless.



Up goes the roof.



Notice the clear, clear blue sky.



He's done this a few times!





We believe these to be graves.



The home at the end of the road.

I'm so thankful that I've been able to catch up on many of the projects around my home this summer. I'm hoping to show you some of the fruits of those labors. It is so wonderful to be able to find great contentment and joy in these domestic projects!



A friend of mine is getting married for the first time at the age of 40+! So the ladies in her church are making her a friendship quilt. This is my quilt square for her which I hand embroidered



I've also been recovering lampshades. I don't know if I'm doing it right, but I'm doing it!



I've had lot's of help!



Canning season was a time of learning for me. My mother canned up until a couple of years before her passing away, and I was able to help her some. But there's nothing like doing it yourself. I'm thankful for Marmee who answered a lot of random questions!
Here you see me squishing all the blackberries I have been freezing the passed couple of years in addition to a bunch I brought back from Michigan.



The bounty of the summer. Tomatoes, peach , blackberry, and strawberry jam.


Now that the weather has turned a bit cool, the flowers are going crazy!



This rose was given to me by the dear Mother of my Sister-in-law, Mrs. Doney, when my Dad passed away. It is called Perfume Perfection~a JacksonPerkins rose. It is heavenly to sniff.



I'm normally not a fan of calla lilies, but the price was right the day Ashley and I visited the Jackson Perkins outlet in Greenwood, SC. I had no idea they would be so pretty!. They are only about 15" high, and they keep producing these lovely flowers that last~litterally~ for weeks in a vase! The more you cut, the more they produce! These are called Captain Romance.



I can not remember if I had a name for these. They are left over from the Wilson's garden when they lived here. Very pretty.



The "MONSTER COSMOS" (my name for them) finally bloomed and boy are they striking!




Thank you Lord, for your great goodness to me.

Glorious Days in Early October

NEW DAWN

We have been experiencing lovely breezy weather here in South Carolina. All the roses love the cool evenings and warm days. I think they are tired of the extream heat we had coupled with the dry conditions.

How wonderful to have all the windows open to let in the autumn breezes.

Would you like a little tour of the laundry room? It is part of the new addition my men~folk built for me. I'm just tickled pink to have this room! It's so nice to have a clean area to do laundry! This is a view from the sewing room. David, my husband, found this solid old door at a salvage place and stripped it. Collin refinished it. David hung it on a track, so it slides inside the wall and is a pocket door! It's so much fun closing it!




This is the folding table. David located some huge beams from a building and Trevor then affixed them atop the counter frame. We bought the legs new.
Do you like my little clothesline?




I love my sink! My Mother always had a set of laundry tubs to soak clothes in and do all sorts of things! She used twin tubs to rinse her clothes from the wringer washer.
My sink was salvaged years ago from a Mrs. MacBee's house. (You know your husband MUST love you when he lugs a cast iron sink home for you and THEN moves it to two more houses!) I have another sink "stored" down in the barn and it is bigger than this one! He's a really sweet man....

This is the little closet Trevor put in.





We call this Rainbow Row ~ after the historical street in Charlestown SC.




Here is a little garden spider I found working on her egg sac. She has attached it to the bottom petal of BLUE GIRL tea rose. Can you see the little strands of silk?

Today it is raining! We thank our God for this! I would like to give you a couple of receipts that we enjoyed on Monday evening. They would have been even better on this raining evening!
This gumbo receipt is really quick and easy (if you have access to a couple of boneless chicken breasts). It is one of those "Comfort Dishes".


EASY CHICKEN GUMBO
from Betty Crocker

3 T butter
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 small green pepper, chopped

Heat butter in 3 pt. saucepan until melted. Add onion and green pepper. Cook and stir until onion is tender.

4 C chicken broth
1 16 oz. can tomatoes
2 small bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
dash pepper
16 oz. okra

Stir these ingredients into the onion. Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered 15 minutes.

2 C cut-up chicken
1 T nipped parsley

Stir into soup.

3 C hot cooked rice.

Serve gumbo over rice.! MMMMMM!



WHOLE WHEAT SNICKERDOODLES
from Taste of Home

1 C butter, softened
1 1/2 C sugar

1. Cream until fluffy.

1 egg + 1 egg white

2. Add egg and beat well.

1 1/2 C whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 salt

3.Combine dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture. Beat well.
Shape into walnut sized balls and roll in cinnamon sugar. (2T sugar:2T cinnamon)
Place 2" apart on ungreased sheet. Bake8-10 minutes in 400 oven.



I hope you all have a blessed time with your families this evening. God is good. Even when "things" aren't good.
It's getting about time to get Hamlin up from his nappy. He likes to have a little dish of tiny animal crackers, "candy birthday", and "cold water".

Evenin!

A Bit of Catching Up ? ? ?

Dear friends, it has been way too long between posts. It just became necessary to take time off in order to get quite a number of projects completed and done. I thank you for your patience. I hope to catch you up on the "doings" around our home.



It's always enjoyable to tell about the wonderful package that arrived in the Post! It was from dearest Mrs. Paula (that is how she is referred too around here). She sent me some lovely treasures for my birthday.



Isn't the card beautiful? Paula, you write with such a lovely "hand".



She made this lovely pillow for me! I just love pink! It matches a little quilt I have on my bed. The center panel is made with a fabric called "barkcloth", because it has a rough texture that is almost like that of crepe. It adds richness to the other fabrics.



She also made these coordinating flour~sack tea towels! One for Ashley, one for me. Don't you just love the little ruffles? They make drying dishes so much fun!

Here's mine! Friday just happens to be my favorite day! It was the day I was born on. Paula does such careful embroidery. I can imagine her sitting at Rose Cottage by the Lake, with Pearl the Poodle asleep, her head in Paula's lap!
Thank you so much, dear Paula!

The morning glorys did very well this summer. My favorites were pink, although there is no picture to show you. Next year I will scatter seeds along the roadside in front of our place. I'll also order the pink seeds for "fence climin".

These remind me of jolly~faced people, that always have a ready smile and infectious laugh.

Look how God painted this lovely face!

This little Babbity~Bumble was caught enjoying "The Glory of the Morning" before it closed up for the day.

It has been soooo very nice having Thelma join our home circle. She still keeps coming back, in spite of all the work we put her too!



How nice to have another lady in the house!



Maybe she comes back for the entertainment we provide!?

Thank you for visiting with me! It's so nice to be back!

Welcome to the Back Porch!

As you know, we live way out in the middle of rural South Carolina. I am so glad that you can visit me here by way of the web.

I often think of the women who helped their husband carve homesteads out of this land of America. They lived isolated and often lonely lives. There was always plenty of work that wore many of them down to shortened lives. They would have gladly welcomed just a glimpse of another woman, and would have thrilled to think of a visit. How fortunate we are to have one another.

I got these Morning Glories in the ground rather late in the spring . . .

Grandpa Ott's

. . .but they seem determined to take over! I think they grow about 8 inches a day! You dare not sit still to long on the steps, as one just might GET YOU!

Do you see the watermelon just beneath the porch? It's a volunteer! I've been faithful to water it.

When Dave and I were first married, we lived in a big old foursquare with a wrap-around porch! Morning glories crawled all over the side yard. I thought they were beautiful ~ as was everything~ I was so happy to be married to my Prince . . .

Heavenly Blue

So these flowers hold a special place in my heart.

Flying Saucer

These are all from a mix called "Something Old Something New" .

From Botanical Interests.

What a marvel that anything grows in 100+ temperatures with very little water!