The transformation was amazing! It's now bright and open and cheerful.
Thursday I will be going to pick out the border I'll put above the chair rail this weekend.
Kerry, my wonderful cousin, is plowing my veggie garden and herb garden this week, so we will be doing some planting this weekend as well.
Before we left Sunday, Michael and I took a walk down to the creek. As soon as we stepped into the woods, we scared out a wild turkey, then a couple of black racer snakes down at the creek.
The whole area is packed with wild life. Saturday night Dave and Jason seen a few deer at the wood line next to the house.
Now the trick will be to keep all that wild life out of my gardens!! LOL
This weekend, the boys will be with their other people, so we are taking the dogs down with us.
More to come!
May 10, 99
This weekend was another productive one at the homestead.
We ended up not taking the dogs, no room after putting the lawn mower in the back of the truck.
Dave and I arrived Friday afternoon to find a note from Kerry on the counter saying He had some GOOD news for us. Knowing Kerry, I knew that did not mean Good news! He had been doing some plumbing work for us under the house last week and found that the water heater was shot. So, we had cold water, but no hot.
Friday, while Dave was mowing again, I put up the border in the dining and living rooms, and hanging some of the kitchen artwork I brought down.
Early Saturday morning Kerry went to town and bought a new water heater, then spent most of the day putting it in.
It wouldn't have been an all day job, except Kerry & I haven't spent much time together the last 23 years, so we spent most of the day talking out on the porch! LOL
But the job did get done and we had hot water Saturday evening.
Tammy cooked a wonderful supper for us and we sat around the table for a couple hours, talking more! *G*
While Kerry was working under the house, and Dave was scrubbing the porches, Tammy and I went shopping for flowers. Her sister was having a $.50 sale on cuttings she had taken from her own garden, so I bought a flat of a little bit of everything, then planted them in the flower bed in front of the side porch.
About the only other thing I managed to accomplish this weekend, other than talking on the porch with Kerry, was getting two coats of paint on the den. It's painted with Abbey Slate.
I will be picking up the border for the den on Thursday and putting it up this coming weekend.
We will be taking all three dogs with us this coming weekend since we will be taking both trucks down.
More next Monday!
May 18, 99
It's Tuesday and I am just now having a free moment to update on this past weekend.
We got quite a bit accomplished over the weekend. I went down early Friday afternoon, with all three dogs in the cab of the pick-up with me. Charr-Lee in my lap most of the 3 1/2 hour trip, Brandy and Red taking turns standing and sitting in the back seat. It was a hairy trip to say the least! *G*
After showing the pups around the place, I unloaded the pick-up, fixed myself a tall pepsi and parked on the front porch for a spell, watching the deer at the tree line and just enjoying the quiet. Mom and Michael arrived around 11pm..then Dave around midnight.
Saturday morning, I put up the border in the den. Then Mom an I started taking the doors off the kitchen cabinets. It took a while to get that done since I ran off and forget the electric screwdriver! Then we started painting the cabinets. We painted them a slightly darker shade of yellow then the upper yellow on the walls. The house has a tiny kitchen, but lots of cabinets, so painting them with two coats,took all weekend!
Mom surprised me with two rose bushes for the front of the house. One is Red Blaze climber and the other is a White Lace climber. Sunday morning we planted them along the front porch.
Dave spent the weekend mowing and cleaning the rest of the decks and the South side of the house.
Kerry had finished with all the plumbing by the time we arrived, so we had hot water! *G*
Things are geared up for the move now. My Mom is here with me for the week to help pack. Tommorrow will be Michael's last day of school here in Indiana. Friday, Kerry and his son Jason are coming up, as well as my Step-Dad, Carl. After Dave gets off from work, we will be loading up the trucks and heading South! So this will be my last update till I'm connected in Ky.
I did take some pictures this weekend, but as anyone who knows me will tell ya, the rolls of film are still in the bottom of my purse, along with a couple of rolls from Christmas! LOL
So wish up luck and I'll see ya'll after the move!
Sandy
June 3,99
Well folks...the move is complete, most of the boxes are unpacked, the whole downstairs and one room upstairs have been repainted and papered, and we have managed to find time to sit out on the porch and watch the wildlife a few times!
This week we made it back to the 20th century. Phone, internet and digital satellite installed. Altho, I must say, it's been rather nice not having them for a while, very peaceful! *G* Except for Major computer withdrawal! :)
I've taken a bunch of new pictures and will post them as soon as I get them developed.
My son, Michael, has already had his first experience working in the tobbaco patch. Kerry and Tammy introduced him to the fun part of the year long process. Setting tobbaco.
I am come to the conclusion that my kid was born to be here in Ky. I thought for sure when he came home from setting, he'd be wore out and draggin', but instead he was thrilled and animated, dirty, but he had a great time!
Personally, I don't remember it being THAT much fun, but he sure liked it! *G* But I'll bet he won't be that cheerful when he comes home from cutting and housing late this summer! LOLMy husband is still somewhat in culture and relative shock.He loves it here and I actually heard a "ya'll" out him yesterday! LOL But he's floored by the vast amount of relatives I have here!
As with any small, country community...word of mouth has spread that I'm back home and folks stop in for a glass of tea and a visit on a daily basis.
One of my closest cousins, Jo Ann, stopped in last night with her kids. It was so great to see her. We caught up on about 15 years in about 30 minutes! LOL If you've read my Childhood Memories page, she's the one that I grew up with as a sister and we tended to stay in trouble in one way or the other! LOL
I have two more rooms to paint and stencil, so I'm off to get to it! :)
More next time!
June 10
This week has been a hectic one, but still fun! Instead of working all the time, we took some time to go exploring. Altho it has been many years since I've lived here, I can still find my way around pretty good. One of the first places I was longing to see was where we used to go swimming. So, we loaded up the boys and the dogs and set off for Caney Fork. It hasn't changed much in all these years.
Dave, Michael, Jason, Brandy and Red at Caney Fork
The kids and the dogs loved the place. The only major change to the old swimming hole is that the road getting there is paved now. Still only a one lane, slightly wider than a cow path, road, but paved! LOL
My Maw-in-Law, Corkie, is coming down from Indiana for the weekend. This will be the first time she's seen the place.
She's heard me talk about my hometown for many years and now she will get to see it for the first time. When I emailed her the directions, I told her not to blink when she came thru Exie or she would miss it. She laughed I'm sure, but now she'll see that I wasn't kidding! *G*
More to come!
Nov 10
Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I updated my page...Where did Summer Go???
I really can't complain much...today was a glorious, warm day!
Where to begin??So much news to tell...First...My Maw-in-Law liked it so much down here in the hills that she moved here! :) AND my Sister-in-Law, Miki and her hubby Mark likes it so much that they just bought a house in nearby Campblesville! My Mother and Step-Dad have moved back as well! (They are both from here.)We have recently bought more land that is directly behind our house..so David bought himself a bushhog to go with his tractor and is clearing out alot of the underbrush in the woods closest to the house. We plan on building a modest barn at some point in the future to house all these toys Dave has gathered! :)
The garden did great this summer, even tho I did get it in a little late! Dave spent some time yesterday plowing the new garden area for next spring.
I have been cleaning out the fence row on the West side of the house. It was grown over with poison Oak and thorny things....I'm not allergic to the Oak, but I'll be picking out splinters and thorns till January! LOL
Inside the house, I've been doing some stenciling in the Master bedroom. I waited till a rainy day to get started...and since we haven't had much rain this year, I only have a little done so far. I'm stenciling an Ivy pattern border in three shades of green on the light blue paint. I'll post some pics when I get the job done.
I have taken tons of pictures of the place over the summer and some great ( I hope) shots of the wonderful fall colors...but, as usual, the rolls of film are in the bottom of my purse waiting for me to get them developed!
Let's see, what else to tell ya'll about...My boys are doing great in school here! They played football, which they loved and it made me as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full of rockers! We all survived tho! :) They are gearing up for hunting season now. With all the wildlife around here it shouldn't be to difficult for them....except I won't let them sit on the porch and shoot the critters (deer and turkey) that are in our yard every morning. That just isn't fair!
Well, enough for now. I wish you all a Happy and Healthy Thanksgiving!
Nov 19My cousin Jason, got his first deer last Saturday. He and Kerry brough me a cooler full of meat. So I have been making jerky round the clock. The boys are eating it as quick as I make it!
Feb 21Cousin Kerry almost has the tin roof on the place now. This week is suppose to be warm, well, in the 60's, and rainy. Which is great since we still need lots of rain to refill the ponds that dried up last summer.
I'm slowly going insane for want of Spring to hurry up so I can play in the dirt! I've rewritten my garden plans..oh...at least a million times.I think I have the design I want now, but it is subject to change at any time! Hahaha
July 19, 2000Time sure does fly when you're having fun ! The tin roof has been in place since early Spring. I think it really makes the house look great!
Mom, the boys and I spent a great deal of the early Spring building raised beds in the garden and planting so many things that I have a hard time remembering what all we did plant!
In the landscaping area, we planted 2 Japanese maples, a 5 in 1 apple tree, a fruit cocktail tree, several Oak leaf Hydrangias, a Persian Lilac, a Mock orange shrub and much more.
We built a stone wall around one of the peach trees from flat rocks we hauled from Uncle LeRoys creek, then filled it in with top soil. I planted 4 kiwi at the base of the peach tree and staked them so they will climb the tree.
The garden has doubled in size from last years plot. David built fence corners for the garden. And, bless his heart, spent many hours plowing then tilling the garden for me. It was quite a job considering how rocky the ground is! The boys helped me get most of the big rocks out. By the time we got to the North end of the garden, I decided rocks were needed for good drainage, and we quit hauling them off! Hahaha
In the South end of the garden, we built the raised beds with landscape timbers and planted rhubarb, blueberries, red and golden raspberries, asparagus and a bed for herbs.
At the North end of the garden is this years experiment..giant gourds! They are suppose to grow to 5 feet around and 100 pounds. I planted 10 seeds and now that end of the garden is covered in the beautiful huge leaves with large white morning glory type flowers that open in the evening. And the gourds are indeed huge! I have no idea what we are going to do with all of them, but I'll think of something! Dry them, water-proof them and make flower pots for annuals out of them maybe...or very large bowls! It's great fun to watch them grow in any event!
I made an interesting discovery while I was out walking in the woods yesterday! I may have to call National Geographic about this discovery!
There are Howler Monkeys in Kentucky!
I have proof!
You never know what you're going to find hanging around in the trees!
Our Garden
Mom and I started canning this week. So far we've canned 14 quarts of dill pickles, 16 quarts of tomatoes, 14 half pints of blackberry jam, ( we would have had more than that except we made the mistake of sending the boys to pick the berries! ), 8 pints of hot pepper mix, and 4 pints of Tarragon spiced mushrooms and onions. All of that was from the first picking.
This is how the house looks as of July 18, 2000.
What do you think of the green tin roof?
Garden Plans
Home Page Index/Graphics Index
Page design and content by Sandy Anderson-Miller
Page begun April 15,1999. Last tinkered with on July 19, 2000.
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