An Update! (Picture Heavy)

Didn't realize it had been almost a month since I posted! I've been in the country taking care of a few things. We went up over Memorial Day & got a lot of stuff done on the apartment. We got the appliances placed in the kitchen & the shop pretty well cleaned up. I stayed the following week to get the baseboards finished painting & the gas hooked up to the stove.

Here's an updated pic of the kitchen. Still have to put the panels on the island & the countertops ordered & installed, but it's coming along.

The best news of all ......... We got the pantry started. One side is done & just need additional pins to hold the shelves for the other side. Now all I need to do is fill it up!

These are the shelves that I got at the World Market going out of business sale in January 2015 ($15 each). Three & 1/2 on each side. Greg had to cut the 1/2 one & fabricate the shelves but as usual, he did a great job. Once the shelves were up we decided that we needed a top in order to make full use of the space. There is no way we could have purchase wood to make this shelving for $105. It would have cost twice or maybe even three times that much. I can't wait to get it finished & start moving stuff in!

We got the grass mowed & everything cleaned up around the yards. Also had these for dinner one night, along with some potato salad.

The following weekend I hosted a small cousins get together to swap recipes for a family cookbook that I agreed to coordinate. We'll see how that turns out. Everyone is so eager to get one done but only a few actually take action to make it happen. I've got until the end of the year to use the software to get it finished for printing in January. So far, myself & only a couple of cousins have added 75 recipes, 50 of which are mine (or friends & MIL). Oh well, I'm not going to stress about it, if they don't contribute by the deadline then it's their loss.

Anyway, it was a lovely week, even if it was a bit HOT & no rain ALL week. It did cool down enough at night that it wasn't unbearable like it is in July & August. The mornings were nice until around 10:00a then you definitely wanted to find shade. I watered trees most every day, all the established ones are doing good. The ones I planted last October are struggling but I'm crossing my fingers. TS Colin brought some much needed rain to the area the day after I left.

Each morning as I was enjoying my cup of coffee, this guy showed up to spray the surrounding fields.

I have seen them do this before but not so many days in a row. The only thing that is different is that the field is planted in corn instead of squash, melons, cotton, etc. The fields behind my Dad's place & directly behind our lot are pretty small so it was pretty impressive to see his skills in getting to those. I'm sure it's pesticide he was spraying but there was no wind & he was very precise. Most mornings on his direct approaches I could see his face, he was that low.

He flew & sprayed a different direction each day. Although I don't like pesticides being sprayed, it must be an awesome job to get to get paid to fly each day.

In othere news, the Crepe Myrtles are doing great!

And Nelly enjoyed her time in the country as well.

I'll end with this parting shot. Thought it was pretty cool & shows that the property is not all completely flat. This is looking from the barn down the driveway through the branch.

Chicken Pot Chicken Pot Pie

Didn't know what to make for dinner so decided to use what I had on hand.

Home canned chicken & home canned veggies (corn, peas, celery & carrots) fresh potatoes, additional fresh carrots, onions. Sauteed all fresh veggies & then made a roux (1/3 c. flour) in the same pan (3/4 c. stock & 1 - 1.5 c. milk). Added chicken, canned & fresh veggies. Let cool to almost room temp.

Already had the pie crust in balls in the freezer which I took out to thaw earlier.

Rolled dough for bottom crust & then put in dish then added cooled filling.

Put top on & pinch just like my grandma used to do.

Bake for 1 hour & 30 minutes

Let cool for 30 minutes then enjoy!

Country Tree & Weed Update - Plus a Lady Fidget Quilt

Went to the Country last weekend. Summer is mowing season for us. Greg works until 1:00p on Saturday. We leave the city & arrive around 4:00p. Jump on the mowers & mow until dark.

This is only the 2nd time mowing this year. We are about 5 weeks behind due to the rain earlier in the season. Greg went the weekend I was at the quilt retreat only to find the larger 72" mower had a mechanical problem so he had to mow with my our 60". First mowing took almost 6 hours & a lot was still too wet to mow.

There was also string trimming to be done around all the trees & crepe myrtles. We usually only have to trim once or twice a year .... thank goodness.

But we got it done. Here are a few pics from around the place:

Oranges!

Peaches about the size of a 50 cent piece

Pretty blue weeds along fence line

Honeysuckle

Lots of it!

Pretty white weed bush. Lots & lots of these along the fence

Blackberry growing under In-Laws porch.

One of the Cherry Bark Oaks planted in 10/15. Birds seem to love it.

And last but not least, I made a Lady Fidget Quilt I mentioned in my last post.

Quilt Retreat 2016 & No Water

Went to our annual quilt retreat last week. It was in Lancaster, same as last year, you can read about the facilities here: 2015 Retreat. I got the same room with a separate entrance & private porch. It worked out great as I had Nelly with me this year. She became our official retreat mascot. A little skittish at first but by the end she had settled in quite nicely & everyone really liked her. Especially because she is so quiet, she would only bark when someone new came around.

Met some new ladies, many of whom are master quilters. Way out of my league but I had a great time anyway. Food, as usual, was excellent. Got to get back on the diet & exercise routine.

I must say my quilting skills are slowly improving. Here are a couple of projects I worked on:

Lap quilt top made w/fabic I had in my stash.

Started on a baby quilt. Plan on putting borders on each square.

More stash fabric. This will be a wall hanging or table topper.

The lady who owns the B&B is so very sweet & kind. Her husband died a few years back, from complications of Alzheimer's. My friend Debbie, who organized the retreat, suggested that we each make a fidget quilt to have Mrs. Catoe give to the local nursing home. A fidget quilt is a lap quilt with many sorts of things sewed on to make it easy for a patient to fidget with. Different fabrics for texture, velcro, zippers, etc. I didn't get mine made until I got home but I finished the 'male' version this morning. Will make another one & get them in the mail to her soon.

Our water pump switch went out last night so we are without water until Greg can get a new switch installed this evening after work. Gotta run to the hardware store. Hope I get the right one!

Hope everyone has a good week.

Barn Apartment Update

Left for the country house last Friday. Storms rolling through the areas that we were headed & that we were going to be driving through. But, since we left a little bit later in the afternoon most of the really bad stuff had moved on. We hit a few patches but nothing like what I was dreading.

Upon arrival it was obvious that a LOT of rain had come down that day. Water was standing everywhere! I have never seen it just standing like that. Plus, it started raining about 9:00 that night & continued until around 10:00 the next morning. We had hoped to get the 1st mowing under our belt but the ground was just too wet. I think it was estimated that we got over 6" in a 24 hour period.

Also, we discovered that the drain field for the septic was flooded as well. Not surprising but left us with no way to flush toilets or take showers. We decided to come on back to the city since we couldn't really accomplish anything, or at least what we wanted to accomplish.

We had hoped that the contractor would be finished with the trim for the apartment but alas, they have just a couple of things left to do. Isn't that what they always say?

We still have a couple of things left to get done as well. Like - install the fridge, dishwasher & stove, kitchen faucet(s), bathroom vanity & faucets as well as a light fixture for the bathroom. All are already purchased except for the bathroom faucet & light. We have all the shelving for the pantry, just need to get some hardware to put it together. That was one of my big bargains last year. We also have to get a separate septic tank put in because the one for the house is too far away. It's always something.

This is in a metal building we had built in Dec. 2014. It is divided into 2 sections - an apartment in the front & my Greg's shop & office in the back. Took a few pics to show our progress so far:

Living area (bedroom door to the left)

Kitchen. Still have the island to install

Looking down hallway to the shop.

Tongue & groove boards w/metal ceiling in living/dinig area

Dining room

Greg's office

Another angle of office

That stuff on the wall in the office is slat board that someone gave Greg many many years ago. He knew he would find a use for it someday! All you do is put brackets in for shelving & will will hold a lot of stuff. psst .... He's also giving me one area in the office to eventually put my sewing table!

The contractors wife had thinned her amaryllis & daylilly beds & gifted me with about 75 amaryllis & 25 or so daylillies. Guess what I did Sunday?

I put about 40 or 50 in various pots on our patio & gave the rest to a neighbor & my MIL.

Avocado with small amaryllis

Below are some Begonia cuttings that my friend from SC gave me last November when we went to visit. I believe she was gifted some by a friend whose mother or grandmother brought them from Italy. The leaves are huge & they are just starting to bloom. I noticed the honey bees from our city neighbor, have been visiting the last few days.

I won't be going back to the country until the end of the month as I have my annual Quilt Retreat to attend in a couple of weeks. Spending most of my time these getting projects ready for that. And yes, Nelly will be going with me. She's a travelling dog.

Gator Feeding

Had some more painting to do at the Country House. Does it ever get finished?

I had crown mold, door frames, baseboards & quarter rounds to paint before they started installing. I also had to get the last coat on in the bedroom. I painted all day on Friday & finished most of it by Sunday.

The carpenters showed up Monday & got to work on the trim in the kitchen & the window sills.

One of the carpenters noticed a 'nice sized' gator in the pond. My Dad just happened to be at his place so I called him to see if he could shoot it. Of course, by the time he got into position the gator went under. My Dad stayed out for about an hour & shot a couple of times but missed. He said that his gun needed to be sighted in or that his aim was really bad. He said that after the 3rd shot, the gator stuck his tongue out at him, & he knew it was time for him to quit.

The carpenter who spotted the gator asked if it would be alright if he tried to trap it. He said & I quote "It's kind of like a hobby of mine". OK. He said he would skin it, save the skin & eat the meat. I said sure, why not? He set out 2 hooks. One off the dock & the other at the shallow end. I left on Wednesday & the gator had gotten the bait a couple of times but didn't 'hook' itself. The guy said he would keep trying.

I talked to my Dad this morning & he said that as far as he knew, the guy hadn't had any luck. I told my Dad that it sounds like he's just feeding the gator & that the gator has probably told his cousins & they are just coming by for a quick meal. If he hasn't caught it by this weekend I will ask him not to set any more traps.

Shallow end after bait was taken. Broke the rod.

2nd baiting. Hook, line & rod were taken the 1st time.

Here are a couple pics of my pathetic garden, Nelly having fun & other weeds:

1 Peach tree blooming. The other only had a couple blooms.

Weeds have once again taken over. The branch looks so close but it's actually about 60 or 70 yards away!

Not sure what this is?

Bitter Weed everywhere!

Nelly running & playing

Sigh

Nelly hiding in the weeds

More weeds but these are kind of pretty.

We're headed back up there this weekend & I'll get some pics of the inside of the barn apartment to post next week.

Misc Country Post

I spent the last week of February at the Country House. Or, more appropriately, the barn apartment. This thing is going to wear me out. In January, I primed all walls & painted the bead board that was going up in the kitchen ceiling before the cabinets were to be installed. Next was to get the whole thing painted before the trim & flooring goes in. The living area has a 16 foot peak! Plus all the 9 & 12 foot walls. The sheet rock guys offered to leave their scaffolding but it was much to rickity(sp?) for my sense of balance. So I decided to stick w/my trusty painters ladder for the 9 foot walls (hallway, bedroom, bathroom, etc.). After Greg cut in the ceilings & corners I used an extension pole for the bigger & higher walls.

I have always used either BMoore or SWilliams paint & have always been pleased. But ... this time I had a gift card from one of the big box stores from Christmas & decided to buy from them. It's been almost 10 years since I did a major paint job & the girl at the store talked me into buying the top of the line - VSpar. It was guaranteed to cover in one coat, even unprimed walls! I thought, wow, paint has come a long way. So, I spent the extra $10 per can & bought 4 of them. Well ... they lied. Streaks, roller lines, etc. I did a 2nd coat & even that wasn't enough! I may not be a professional but I know how to paint. This will be my 3rd house that I've painted, 4th if you count our remodel in the city. I know to feather the brush strokes on the ceiling & corner cut ins. And, to let the roller do the work by not pressing down to hard. It just wasn't working for me.

I eventually broke down & went to the SWilliams store. They matched the color & recommended a different roller & that 3rd coat did the trick. It was nice to have someone who knows paint help me, unlike the big box store where it was a 20 something person that I never should have listened to in the first place. Live & learn. I still have the bedroom & bathroom left but feel much better with the better paint.

Here's a pic of the almost finished kitchen:

Almost done. But I made a mistake in measuring. I only measured one side & didn't take into account the wrapped steel beam on the other side. It was 4" too short & one of the cabinets is drawers so the installer couldn't cut it down to make it fit. I had to order 2 more cabinets & couldn't return the others because they were obviously already assembled. Oh well, the 2 extra cabinets will go into the pantry.

It also rained over 3" one night & our dock was under water for 2 days. It was just so much rain at one time that the pond was very slow to drain.

The birds are migrating. The geese are back.

Thought the next 2 pics were kind of neat

Here's a shot above the little barn of a bare tree

And, the same trees 2 minutes later, full of black birds. There are literally 1000's of them in all the trees along the fence line. It's something to watch when they all land & then ascend. It's like they are orchestrated.

Also, the Purple Martins are back. This will be the 8th or 9th year they have returned. These are just scouts & housekeepers getting ready for the rest that will come to live for a few months while they have their babies. This pic was taken around 7:00a. It is the stillest they will be all day.

Finally, I'll leave you with a shot of the now spoiled Nelly,sitting on the couch w/Greg.

I'll be back up there next week for some appliance deliveries & to paint trim & finish the bedroom before flooring is put down. 

I'll be glad when I can start moving stuff from the city that I've been accumulating from various Estate Sales over the past year or so. You can barely open the front door in our foyer!