I BLOG FOR FUN...

Feel free to pin photo's from this blog...I'm not one of those blogger's that will flip out and go on a rant about you "stealing" my photo's because you liked it enough to share it, lol. I am not a "professional decorator, cook, gardener" or "professional" anything else....I BLOG FOR FUN. Nope....not one of the perfect blogger's here. My house is not perfect, and you will never be led to believe it is. I simply cannot offer you "how-to's", nor will I leave comment's on your blog offering decorating advice...sorry. If you are one of the "professional blogger's" as I refer to so many of them these days, I simply am not interested in your invite to your linky parties...with YOUR strict instructions to follow YOUR rules, lol, in order to increase YOUR traffic. If your not here for enjoyment, then this simply isn't the blog for you.

9/25/15

Good Ole Southern, rib sticking food

Yea, that's right, rib sticking food, only in my case, it sticks to my butt, thigh's, waist, even my toes!! I was talking to a childhood friend yesterday, and of coarse food/cooking came up, and well, this is what happened.
 Dumplings, always from scratch when made in this kitchen. My CH friend shared her secret ingredient that she adds to hers, so of coarse I had to try it.

 They turned out wonderfully!!

 Home grown green beans cooked down in a black skillet, then fried on down in a tad bit of oil, and bacon, and salt. Just doesn't get much better than this.

Of coarse you need cornbread with the dumplings and green beans. I always add a dash or so of sugar to my cornbread....just don't ask how much a dash is. Most days it all depends on the mood when I start "dashing", lol. 

9/24/15

The sky is the limit...when a girl has her very own saw!

Ok, ladies...and maybe a few men, I have my very own saw now...at miter saw!! It is hubby's old one. He got a new one, and I never thought he would pass the old one down to me :). It needs a new blade, DH says, but it didn't stop me. I knew exactly what my first project would be, went to town and got my supplies, set my saw horses up (I have my very own saw horses too), and went to work. All I have to say is...every girl needs her very own tools!
When we built the house, the shutters that were put on didn't reach the top of the transoms (yes that was my doing), and quite simply weren't wide enough for my liking...and they were plastic...UGH!

Check them out....and shutter dogs from my friends, The Frost Steel company, that were a fraction of the cost of the "big stores". I showed Adam a picture, he cut me out 8 shutter dogs, much larger than what I could order, and they were only $30.00!! Those guys rock at Frost Steel.

Now...you have heard that old saying, one thing leads to another...not good photography because it isn't "doctored" but after the new shutters went up, that front door just kinda got lost, looked tiny, boring, and needed something. Don't ya think??

 Again, not a "doctored" pic, but I will do better later...check out the new door. At this point, it is still a work in progress, but you get the jist of it. I wanted the front door to "outshine" the rest of the front and be the focal point, so it had to be massive.

We had no idea that under all of that white paint, was wood. We thought everything was medal. After seven days of stripping and sanding, we were finally able to start the wood work. . Hubby added lots of wood work over the hardy plank, we stained it, and the door, to make a statement. I will show pics of the finished product a little later. How many of you remember Annie Parsons from my blogging before?? Well, Annie got ahold of the new wood work, and some of it is missing, and other has lots of teeth marks in it.

Hubby did the wood work around the new door, and it looked great until Annie got ahold of it.

These are the old shutters, short, narrow, and not so attractive. Loving the change that the large shutters have made, and LOVING having my own saw!

9/23/15

Sharing fall pictures from the past..

Well, since I have been way too lazy to finish  my fall decor, I am going to pull up some pictures from the past, in no certain order. I have always enjoyed decorating for fall, so I don't know why I haven't wrapped things up yet...

 I love decorated mantels...for every season.

The more you have piled on, the better, as far as I am concerned.

 A really old picture here, these pumpkins came from Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge road side stands.

 DH's old truck, that he no longer owns, with Farmer and Mrs P posing with all of the fall decor. Of coarse there is a roo stuck in there. What farm girl decorates without Roo's?? lol

Another picture from way back....

Judging from colors, and picture quality, this has to be from waaaayyyyyy back, lol, but I love looking at all fall decor, inside and out.
Of coarse, who can go thru fall without a praline cake?? I wonder if I can find this recipe again...I'm thinking it is from Southern Living??

I just found so many fall pics looking back, so more to come later. I had forgotten how much I miss blogging, so stay tuned for more later. 

9/18/15

Tidbits of fall arriving slowly, here and there

 The great room mantle Fall 2015

 Just loving the fall colors....



 It is actually much more massive looking in person.



I am using real live scare crows outside this year :) lol

More to come later, taking my time and enjoying the decorating this year. 

8/14/15

Sunflowers from the garden....

 Just trying to rush some Autumn weather by bringing in some sunflowers, so far it hasn't worked.






9/10/14

Pear butter, and more fall goodies at the farm

I have stayed inside the house with all of the windows closed up today because of the heat, so I have managed to get some more fall decor put together.  Here are a few teasers...

It has really "cozied" up the house.

I will show the whole picture later......I'm just teasing until I get finished.

How can a girl have fall without a rooster?? More of that later also.

Look what dear sweet hubby brought home for me this time... yes...three five gallon buckets of fall pears. Actually he was expecting pair preserves, but we still have plenty left over from the last five years! Sooooo, off I went to find something to do with all of these lovely pears (besides eat them raw, which I have done also).

I ended up with pear butter.  This just screams fall to me, and it is absolutely divine! After hubby tasted the first batch, he was all for more pear butter instead of preserves.

This is mostly for my benefit, because I did not follow one recipe, or write anything down.  I combined several that I liked, and I will never remember this next fall when I want to make this again. Since I never measure anything, all I will have to do is look at this post and know what I added......oh, and literally cups and cups of brown sugar for that caramel taste.....that is the key!

One batch (12-15 pears) doesn't make much after it is cooked down (I used the crock pot) then pureed, and then cooked down for an hour or so on the stove top. I used the little 4 oz jelly jars for one batch.  I love to fix little baskets of goodies at Christmas time, and I think these will fit in quite well.

When I went to dump the pair peelings at the compost area, look what I happened upon. I knew hubby had planted the fall garden, but I had no idea it was this far along. Guess what's for supper at my house???


9/4/14

The beginnings of fall, and a new horse..

 I finally got started with my fall decor, but I didn't get as much done as I would have liked.
I haven't bought anything new...I used leftover's from years past. (No money spent = really pretty to hubby) lol

 I am loving the new over-sized mantle that hubby built when we re-did the fireplace with the airstone (faux stone).

 I absolutely love the rich, vibrant, colors of fall.

I wish it could be fall all year long.

Now, the real reason for this post...No, it is not a real horse. Sorry if I got your hopes up.  A while back, I ordered an over-sized poster from All-posters. It is a 48x36, for $36.00, using a discount that they were offering at the time, and free shipping. Take a look...
It has been awful trying to get a decent picture of it, and this is the best that I could do with the poor lighting in this room. It looks all washed out, and it really isn't. Now, after I got this poster, I just simply could not,  would not pay the price that everyone wanted in order to get it framed. The least amount that I could find a frame for at this size was $500.00!!! Whew...this would defeat the whole purpose of trying to find a piece of art at a reasonable price.

We have friends who owned a gift/frame shop, who recently closed to go home and enjoy life, who had leftover material's, and when I asked...he was happy to frame the poster for me. Ahhhh, thank goodness for bored friends. I only had to pay $25.00..and that was for the glass. He wouldn't take another penny. His name is Mr K. D., and I am so grateful that he was willing to help me out. (He knows how tight hubby is) Now, I have this huge picture in my new dining room, with a total of $61.00 invested....not $500.00+.

Here is a close up of the frame that he wouldn't let me pay for. Thanks, Mr. K. D.

Hopefully I will have more of the new dining room to share soon. I just simply can't get decent pictures with the poor lighting and this latest camera that I have.