Dream Come True

It was 19 years ago when Joel, Jeremy and I rented a sweet little cabin on 10 acres up in Valle Crucis, North Carolina.    That little farm intrigued Joel and I, and we often talked about how much we would like to own a property like that some day.   We have searched, researched and traveled around over the years......looking to recreate the lovely "feel" of that original property.    And then 4 weeks ago we found it!   Seriously!   Our very own restful piece of land, a farm we can now call our own.  We closed on the property 3 days ago and couldn't be happier.

We haven't come up with a name for the place yet, but here are some pics we can share with you.

This is the back of the farmhouse on the left which has a screened in porch running the length of the house.   The structure on the right is a huge pavilion with it's own kitchen and bathroom in the enclosed area.    What a great place to sit under the shade while the breezes keep you cool.

Whenever we buy a house, I always ask Joel to take a pic of me with the sale sign.....the realtor was removing it and he snapped this pic for me.....we're just a little excited about acquiring the farm!  It was a little drizzly that day, and windy, too.   Hence the raincoat.

We'd like you to meet some of our new neighbors.

From the road approaching the farm, this is the view of the bluffs, boulders that are 2 stories high are hiding behind the trees in the foreground!

Two of the barn stalls have garage doors and a cement floor.   Joel has big dreams of someday putting his woodworking tools in there.

 Here's another view of the pavilion.   The family that previously owned this property had a large family and they had their family reunions here.   See the RV garage off to the right?   It even has water and electricity right at the garage....all set up for our RV.

This used to be a working farm, and we're not quite sure what we'll be doing with the remaining part of the barn.    For now it'll be a good place to shelter the huge mowing equipment Joel has been daydreaming about.

 All I can say is......pretty..........all 12.7 acres of it!

 The wind vane is always in motion.

And the back porch even has a "slamming" screen door.   I just love that!

This solid cedar picnic table with benches was built by the farmer who had access to a mill where he had all his wood cut from the property.   Talk about solid!   

We even have a pear tree!    And was it ever loaded
with pears.......I backed up Joel's truck so it was under
the tree and jumped up and started to load the
bushel baskets we bought the day before at Tractor
Supply Store.   The flatbed of his truck made a handy
ladder for us.

Every time I pulled a pear off the tree, another 3 fell, making Joel do a lot of ducking.   There are also 2-40' grape arbors which had been loaded with grapes when we first looked at the property 3 weeks ago.    Joel thinks he may have to learn how to make wine now that we know they produce about 30 gallons of picked fruit from each arbor.

On our way back home to Florida we made a 4 hour detour in north Georgia to see a guy about a stove.   We found exactly what we wanted for our old farmhouse kitchen......a 1952 Chambers stove.     Won't it be fun to cook on this pretty baby?

So that's the nickel tour of our new farm.    We are beyond excited and can't wait to go back up there and spend a few days exploring our new land once again.

Farm Chick Wannabe,
Debbie

Dog Day

We all have a morning ritual, something we do to start our day with a familiar task.   For my husband, it's taking the same coffee filled travel mug with him as he drives to work.   My mornings are not complete without a cup of cappuccino in my favorite mug.    And I guess dogs are no different than we are in that they like to do the same thing each and every morning.

Since we moved into the rental, we have a lot of people walking or biking up the sidewalk in front of our house.   This seems to provide endless hours of amusement and entertainment for Winston and Molly. 

She jumps onto the couch and deftly lands on the sofa table which is up against the window, parting the  verticals with her nose so she can see what's going on out there.   Winston is tall enough that he just parts the verticals and barks.........at each......and........every....person who goes by.  Without fail.    Are you getting the picture?   Molly just looks, but Winston barks.   Over and over again.  

Think I'll have that Cafe Mocha Vodka Valium Latte now, please,
Debbie

Knitting Fever

The thermometer outside is still registering in the 90's, but my internal clock tells me Fall is just around the corner.   And while waiting for lowering temperatures to bless us with sweet relief from the heat, I get the irresistible urge to pick up my knitting needles.   I know just how to scratch that itch, too.   It just so happens that when we moved earlier this summer, I took the time to organize (ahem) some of my enormous stash of craft supplies, making it easier to find projects all ready to go.

Let's see, there's the bin of U.F.O.'s (unfinished objects like quilts, etc.), there's the bin of Christmas quilts(someday I hope all the beds in our house will be graced with lovely holiday quilts), there's the bin of smaller sewing projects I've collected over the past couple of years, and then there's the bin of yarn....complete with patterns.    So I dug out the bin of yarn and discovered some simple cotton yarn and a few patterns I downloaded from the internet.   Ahhhh, just the perfect project for a few nights of knitting.   AND, the cotton isn't so hot to work with (remember, we still have our A.C. running full tilt).  Who wants to work with itchy wool in this heat, right?

 

And here we have it......Ta-da!   Wash cloths!   And they were so fun to knit, too.   I think I'll be making a whole bunch more of these.   I especially like the wavy one.  Each one took only a few hours to knit, which was a perfect way to satisfy my knitting fever.  And how gratifying to have something useful as an end product?   I started using the wavy one yesterday and I love the feel of it under my fingers as I'm scrubbing dishes.   Yes, I'm hand washing dishes as the dishwasher at our rental has been deceased for a week now.   Ah, but that's another story for another day.....

Till then,
Knitting fever has abated,
Debbie

These are the Dog Days of Summer

No, I mean that literally.....these are the dog days..........of summer.

 Molly was so happy to see Sydney in our car that she kept smothering her with puppy kisses.
There was a lot of giggling coming from that back seat while I drove us all home.

 Jackson was not going to be ignored and Molly moved on to his side of the car.....more giggling!

 Molly gets into a lot of trouble and she seems fascinated with the bushes in our backyard.   Many times she comes in with plumbago flowers stuck to her head......looks like a girly-puppy to me!

Sydney helped wear Molly out before bedtime by playing tug-of-war with Molly's favorite, colorful chew toy.  I'm so glad we had grandkids to help us tire out the puppy so she would sleep all night.

"Who you talkin' about?   Moi?"   She just cracks me up.......

Just call me.....
Smitten,
Debbie

Movin' on Down the Road

Yes, that's us.....movin' down the road again.   When we sold the tin can cabin at the river, we had to go up there and empty out our personal belongings that didn't convey with the sale.   Luckily, we had just picked up the RV from the dealership, so we headed to the river to pack up.   This is what our caravan looked like after 2 days of cleaning out the cabin.....all loaded up and ready to head home.

My Tahoe was loaded to the top as was Joel's truck and truck bed.   And we simply transferred our dishes, linens and bathroom toiletries, etc. to the RV.   The timing for acquiring the RV couldn't have been more perfect.

Molly made the trip with us and there was just enough room for her in the front seat of my car to nap the whole way home.   Thank goodness she travels so well!   We'll still go to the river to camp; it's just that now we will use our RV instead.

Glad that's overwith,
Debbie

What's New News?

Oh, my gosh!   Where should I start?    We've had a bit of a crazy year so far in 2013.   Everything from family illness(Joel's sweet cousin Stevie) to a death in the family(my mother-in-law) to an accident(my mom's, which resulted in fractures and more) to my husband's surgery(from which he is just now feeling better) to our youngest joining the U.S. Air Force(only to be medically discharged 8 weeks later) to our identity being stolen(someone filed duplicate IRS forms!!) to selling both our house and our place at the river(which required we move into a rental) to a bulging disc in my back(I'm healing nicely, thank you!) and those, I promise you, are just the highlights!    Ready for that Xanax now?

Well, we're fine.   God's timing has been perfect and we only had to deal with one thing at a time and are now happy to recuperate from all this craziness.  As part of that recovery program we have purchased a travel trailer RV and took it to Tennessee for a short week to enjoy the Great Outdoors.

We stayed at Fall Creek Falls State Park, which is a gorgeous 22,000 acre park with several waterfalls and very large campsites.   Our second night there a fellow from a neighboring campsite came over to offer us some firewood and we struck up a conversation with him.   We ended up spending 2 evenings around the campfire with he and his wife, a lovely couple who live just an hour away from the campground.  You can always make new friends when camping....campers are just the nicest folks around.  They even invited us to stay with them at their home next time we go up there!

 The temperature was cool every morning and we wore jeans and long sleeved shirts to start the day by the campfire.  Yes!   I know!    What a relief it was from the heat of Florida we endure during this time of year.  By afternoon we had to change to shorts and cooler tops, but it was so refreshing to feel that cool air on our faces every evening and morning.

These falls were beautiful and surrounded by very steep canyons.   The scenery was breathtaking to us.   Now that's a steep mountainside, wouldn't you say?

 

We had a chance to go hiking a bit up some trails lined with rocks courtesy of Mother Nature.

There is even a huge lake for fishing and canoeing.  And there is a restaurant on the far end overlooking the lake.  We didn't have a chance to go there this trip, maybe next time.

 Early in the morning I would sneak out of the camper with my camera in hand and was always rewarded with a "reach out and touch me" moment with the deer foraging for their breakfast.  They apparently are so used to campers that they are unafraid of them being in such close proximity.

 Around every bend was a new and even more beautiful spot than the one before.....

All in all, it was a great vacation and just what the doctor ordered.   Can't wait to go back....maybe  to see the fall leaves?    I'll bet that would be spectacular.

Ahhh, can't wait for the next trip,
Debbie

Just Another Monday....

Well, not really.  You see, our youngest son is being whisked away on an airplane today and he is starting a whole new adventure.........in the United States Air Force.   We are so proud that he wants to serve his country and hope this experience is everything and more than he is hoping it will be.  As the weeks and months go by I'm sure that you'll see posts here about his new life.   Come along with us and enjoy the ride.....

Chanting, "USA! USA!",
Debbie