Our "Second" Batch of Fall Company

Yippee!    Our son, Jarrad and his wife, Dawn and our grandsons arrived this last weekend for a quick visit before heading to a cabin in the Smoky Mountains.  

 I was so excited to see their car pull up next to our vehicles and have them all hop out of the car!   It's been a long time since we've seen each other and we've been happily anticipating their arrival for months.

I think the boys were really glad to get out of the car after their long drive up from Florida.  

First item on the list for the men......go check out the farm, starting with Joel's workshop.  Dawn and I lazily walked behind them, taking advantage of the time alone to catch up on some girl talk.

After the 8 days of rain we had last week, I was especially happy that we had sunny weather for their visit.  Their dog Charlie seemed glad to stretch her legs and run around in circles.

Of course, we had to show them the huge bluff rock formation on the farm.

By afternoon, Jarrad was itching to do some target practice.  Jeremy set up the targets and he and Jarrad filled the woods with the sound of gunfire.  

Next, it was time for Josh's first gun lesson.   Uncle Jeremy is such a patient teacher.   And Josh carefully listened to every word.

Ready.  Aim.  Fire!   He did really well and said he wanted to do it again.

Gotta love the Bucs t-shirt, along with the eye and ear protection.  

Meanwhile, back inside the farmhouse, Nate kept telling Grandpa Joel, "I not tired.   No, I not tired."  And then 30 seconds later he was laying on the floor sound asleep!   We just cracked up.   When this little guy poops out, he just drops, no matter where he is.

Some things never change......the guys took up their accustomed places on the two couches and spent a few hours watching Speed TV.  

 And Uncle Jeremy entertained the kids with his huge variety of video games.    I think the boys would have stayed in here and played video games with their uncle for days.

One thing we always know how to do is eat whenever we are together.  Doesn't matter if it's something as simple as sandwiches or as elaborate as a holiday meal, we always enjoy sitting around the table with some good food.

Grandpa Joel and Nate had some very interesting conversations over the weekend.   Nate is always ready with a silly remark which cracks Joel up.

All too soon it was time for them to pack up and head East.   We're so glad they were able to stop in on us and visit, no matter how brief.

Hopefully we'll be seeing them back here real soon.

The boys said they liked sleeping down in the RV with Uncle Jeremy there to "protect" them.   Now they're off to another adventure in the mountains.

See you soon.....

I watched as their car rounded the bend at the bottom of the farm......already thinking about their next visit here.

Sooo glad they came,
Debbie

Last Harvest

Several days ago, our temps were predicted to drop down near the 30's so I took a break from all our other activities and went out to the garden one last time to pull the remaining tomatoes off the vine.  Even though a lot of them were green, they are ripening nicely on the windowsills in the laundry room & kitchen.  

 I drove the Polaris around the farm and picked whatever produce I could find.   At the bottom of the bushel basket are some pears from our granddaddy pear tree.   Then there were quite a few tomatoes still left on the vines, most of them green ones.   I also found more onions and pulled them from the ground.  And on top are the leeks that remained in one row of the garden.  

I decided to dig up a few more potatoes and make a batch of leek-potato soup.   Oh.  My.  Goodness.   It was so yummy!  Leeks have such a gentle flavor, not as strong as onions, and make the soup taste so delicate.   I added some of the tarragon that I grew this summer and dehydrated to finish it off.   Nothing like homemade soup and a sandwich to warm you on a cool autumn day.

Cooking in my new kitchen is such a pleasure....it just warms my heart to spend a few hours puttering around in my new digs and putting homemade food on the table for my guys to enjoy.   It just doesn't get much better for this country girl.

Happy Days,
Debbie

Sweet Company

Before I tell you about our weekend, I thought I'd share one last remnant of damage from our lightning strike.   Joel had turned on our air conditioner late last week so we could work in the kitchen in comfort.   NO AIR.   Yup, we had to have a new compressor motor and computer board put in our unit outside.

Fortunately, the same company that did our drywall in the studio has a division that takes care of heating and cooling and they were able to get it all covered under warranty.   Whew!   Hopefully, we are completely cured  of all our lightning issues.

Early Friday morning, our friends Joyce and Dick from Florida arrived for a quick visit.   They were on their way to their retreat in GA and made a little detour to see us and check on all that we've accomplished since their last visit in May.   It was so great to see them again. 

It's funny how you can go a long period of time without seeing good friends and as soon as you sit down with a cup of coffee and start chatting the months just melt away and it's as though you saw them last week.   That's how it is with Joyce and Dick.   While the guys hung out at the farm, Joyce and I ran to our local yarn shop....twice!   Yes, it was so much fun the first day that we went back there the second day.  

One of the stops Joyce and I made on Saturday was at Miss Miller's doughnuts.   Dick just couldn't get over how huge they were.   He said they were big enough to be a life preserver.   It rained all weekend so we stayed indoors most of the time, but the guys did eventually take advantage of  a break in the weather to do a little shooting down into our woods.

And sweet Joyce kept insisting she was serious about helping me unpack some of the remaining boxes of our kitchen stuff.   During a break in the rain, the guys went down to the pavilion on Saturday afternoon and they hauled up 6 boxes for us.  We got them all unpacked, and washed and dried the dishes and put them all away.  Whew!   Thank you so much, Joyce, for jump starting my final unpacking!

All too soon it was time for them to head to GA and we reluctantly said our goodbyes.   We hope they both come back to see us again..... soon!

I was sad to see their white car disappear around the bend below our farm, but at least we had a few days of great fellowship together.  While Joyce and I had been driving around in the mist and drizzle, we both kept remarking about how much the leaves were changing each day.   And of course, I didn't have my camera with me when we were driving around.   So, Sunday afternoon during halftime of the football game, Joel and I jumped into the car armed with my camera and I snagged a few shots of our fall foliage in the misty weather.

This is part of the curvy country road that leads up to our farm and I think it looks particularly pretty dressed in fall colors.

I hope the leaves stay pretty until we have a sunny day with blue skies so I can get some more pics of the local color.   It's still very foggy and misty today as I type this and we are expected to get some bad storms again tomorrow.   So, I'm not sure if the leaves will stay on the trees if we have high winds again.

The local cows seem unaffected by the weather.   They just kept looking at the crazy lady with the camera who was talking to them as though the bovines would understand what she was saying.  Hey, I just wanted a pic of the cuties.

"Cutie?   Are you talking about me?   How flattering!"

"Who are you calling a cutie?    Get back in your car lady!"

Gotta love the pretty lime green field of newly sown hay with a little cabin and fall treeline behind it.

As we pulled into our lane we could really begin to appreciate the changing leaves of one of the oaks near the potager garden.   Our other oaks have barely begun to turn color, even though they are pelting us with hundreds of acorns as we walk under them.    The wind keeps blowing the acorns off the trees and when they hit the metal roofs of our outbuildings it sometimes sounds like gunshots going off.

The black walnut trees have yellow leaves and they are almost half off the trees.  Last year we had hundreds of black walnuts and this year we only have dozens.    The trees alternate years of plenty and little, so, this must be a year with little yield.  How disappointing.   Well, we'll harvest what we get and wait until next year to see what comes.    The freeze and snow on April 15th really decreased our yields as the pretty blossoms froze and it's those blossoms that become fruit.   No flowers, no fruit.   And so it is on the farm.

And I love every single minute of it,
Debbie

Final Kitchen Reveal

Yes, it's true!   We are finally done with the entire remodel.   I still have boxes in the pavilion and our front porch that are marked "kitchen" from the move, but I can unpack those one at a time over the next week or so.   The point is, there are no more piles of tools, materials and dirt lying around.   Even the trusty folding tables are all gone.  

Joel popped the cork on a lovely bottle of red wine for us to toast the successful completion of another Roberts remodel.  It was worth the wait to get the kitchen we are really happy about.

 We can finally use all 4 chairs to sit at the table now that the folding table is gone from behind the left hand chair in the pic. 

I went back and forth trying to decide what kind of light to put over the table and this is what I came up with.....a retro looking bare Edison bulb light with a cloth cord attaching it to the ceiling.   The baking center is one of my favorite parts of the kitchen and I think it will get a lot of use over the years.   The black beadboard is distressed to age it a bit and I really like the deep contrast to the crisp white cabinetry.

To the right of the baking center is a stack of drawers with a cutting board on top of the counter.  That makes it convenient to chop veggies since it's right next to the stove.  The small cabinet to the right of the stove has a pull out drawer which holds baking sheets and muffin pans.   Very handy.   The corner cabinets above and below both have lazy susans in them which makes it so easy to access the contents.

The center island will be a workhorse, too, as it holds all my pots and pans and has another pull out drawer for more baking sheets and cutting boards.   Right now it's all set up as a coffee station....I just had to decorate a little bit, now that I'm finding all my pretty dishes and things.

 The cookbook shelves are put back together again after being repainted to match the white cabinets.  I decided to add the black beadboard behind the shelves here as well to tie it in with the rest of the kitchen.

I love the way the baking center turned out.   All my ingredients are stashed away in the upper cupboards and the lower drawers hold all my measuring cups, spoons, tart pans, fancy baking pans, and cake decorating "stuff".    And that's a lot of "stuff"!  

The counter will be so nice to roll out pie crusts and cookie dough and the mixer never has to be put away...it now has it's own space....handy, but not in the way.  Did you notice the curve detail at the bottom of the baking center?   It is repeated around the kitchen under the sink, the center island and the cookbook shelf.   For me, it's the little details that make this room sing.

So, just to the right of the baking center is a bank of drawers with silverware and my Cuisinart and other large doo-dads.   Yes, I have doo-dads.....and I like my doo-dads....and now they have a home close to where I will be using them as I bake.

Of course, the stove is next....with it's awesome hood.   The hood has great lighting so I never have to squint, wondering if my soup is coming to a boil.   And Joel just finished installing all the lighting underneath the upper cabinets all across the kitchen.   There are no dark corners in this kitchen, no sirree.

As we turn the corner I have loads of empty counter space....something I'm happy we were able to accomplish.   And then our caffeine fix is lined up near the water filter spigot on the left side of the sink.  

And oh, how I love the sink.   This kitchen just cried out for a farmhouse sink.   And I really like how large it is, making it easy to wash even the largest of pots and pans.   The high faucet stays way above the top of my tallest pots, even the canner, so, I don't have to struggle to fill and remove a full pot of water from the sink.   Then the dishwasher is to the right of the sink.   I picked out a Bosch again because it is so quiet you don't even know it's running unless you look to see the red light shining on the floor.

I went back and forth about the center island and whether to paint it a different color than the main kitchen cabinets.   I'm glad we choose black because it seems to "ground" the other light cabinets.   The edges are all sanded to a "worn" finish to age the island more like a piece of furniture.  

When we were in the showroom choosing our countertops, I instantly knew this was the corner treatment I wanted on the island.   It's called a Kentucky corner by the owner of the shop.  He told Joel he saw it at another shop in Kentucky and got permission from that craftsman to replicate it on his own.   In the showroom it had another thicker piece on top of this one, but that would have been a little over the top for our little farmhouse.   And by the way, the counters are all quartz!    I really like that they look like French marble....without all the hassle of maintenance.

The pantry we had built several months ago by another carpenter got their new paint job and handles applied and now they blend in seamlessly with the new cabinets.   The painted finish is much prettier now as the old doors were not sanded well at all.   Now they are smooth as a baby's bottom.  And we have an amazing amount of pantry storage behind those doors which we've put to good use already.

It's so wonderful to have all this open space around the table for the first time since we moved in 8 months ago.   Up until last night, there was a 6' folding table along the left wall behind the door, effectively blocking anyone from sitting at the chair on the left.   Now the eat-in portion of the kitchen feels so spacious!  

 Joel and I kept trying to figure out if we wanted to tile all the way up under the cupboards over the sink....or leave some space open and painted the soft blue of the rest of the room    Finally I decided I really liked the relief from all the white tile and we left the space free of tile.   I'm glad we did that now and we hung my fun mixer clock with the cupcake pendulum in there. 

Here is one of the two sliding baking sheet/cutting boards holders in the kitchen.   What a clever idea!   The cabinet maker suggested them and I'm so glad he did.   No more struggling on my knees to retrieve a baking sheet from a tangled mess of pans under a dark cabinet.  

Well, that's the grand tour.   I hope someday you come to see us and you can visit the kitchen in person.   It's taken a lot of work and planning, but we're both thrilled with the end results.   Not only does it please me aesthetically, but I think the kitchen is going to be very functional. 

 A lot of canning, baking, cooking and preserving is going to get done in this room and now I can hardly wait to dig in.   We'd like to offer many thanks to the very talented folks at Chuck and Cyndi Palmer's cabinet shop here in Crossville.   They were so easy to work with and produced a high quality kitchen for us.....one we're sure to enjoy for years to come.

Feeling like one very blessed lady,
Debbie