Let them eat soup!

Is it a soupy day where you live?  It is rainy here.  I love rainy days.  They are so cozy.  They also call for giant vats of soup, especially this close to fall.  I think that I shall go with a Veggie Beef Soup today.  It’s pretty basic.  Maybe some Loaded Cornbread.  Yum!

Have a happy, relaxing, Saturday, Dirt Roaders!  Enjoy the sound of that rain. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

~Coziness in a bowl.~

“Leave a candle in the window…”

A little touch of primitive for fall is so fun.

In this case…leave it on the ledge between the family room and kitchen.  😉  How fun is that?  I love it!  So much fun… as we look forward to fall.

Yes…I did happen to go back to the “honey hole.”  The name of the store is actually Creative Poverty.  It’s the old hotel place that I visited a couple of weeks ago.  She has so much fun stuff that you kinda have to rein yourself in and dream about stuff until your next visit.  (The dolls were gone today…hmmmmmm…..)  Anyway, I thought that the candles were so cozy for this time of year.  Plus, I do have a surplus of mason jars.  (The color…you know.  ;))  The really cool thing is that you just leave it on all the time.  They take two AA batteries and she said that she has had them last two months before.  We have rechargeable batteries for later…so that is kind of… win/win.  Yay team!

Happy Friday, Dirt Roaders!  Crank up those fall scented candles…it’s not long now!

Take some time to…chillax!

Everyone is busy.  Most people are stressed to the max.  Guess what?  We don’t have to be.  I’m going to give you a few suggestions that might help if you are feeling crazy…lately.  Are you ready?  Here it goes:

1.  Take a deep breath.  (Have you done this in the last six months?)

2.  Do something nice for someone.  (Don’t groan…this one is tried and true.)

3.  Do something nice for…YOU!  (Yes…chocolate counts.)

4.  If you are a reader…check out a good book at the library. (Library=relax)

5.  Last…but should be first, think about your blessings.  (We have so many!)

I hope that these help.  When we rush…we miss out on life.  If you are constantly looking at your cell phone…you miss the beauty around you.  (Don’t feel bad, I’m preaching to the choir. 😉  God made this place beautiful but sometimes we just get too caught up in the swirl to notice the simple beauty…ya know?

Okay, okay.  Happy Thursday, Dirt Roaders.  Take care of YOU…we want to come to your 115th birthday party!  😉

Little ones know how to enjoy life.

Welcome to our fall porch!

Okay, because I am an honest person, I have to confess.  This is not our porch this year.  It is our porch… last year.  I’m sorry.  Do you forgive me?  😉

Someone mentioned to me the other day that they were worried about the pumpkin crop.  I guess that the drought this summer had them wondering.  Do any of you know?  Have you heard one way or the other? I hope that we can still get pumpkins. (Without paying an arm, a leg and a little toe.) Big ol’ fat (real) pumpkins are my fav.  I love them in all different colors.

A porch, big or small, always makes a statement.  I think that the mood of the inside of your home can be felt on your porch.  Why not set a pumpkin on your porch?  When you drive up to your home…it will be there…to greet you.

Happy Wednesday, Dirt Roaders.  ~((()))~

~WeLcOmE~

Recycle that old furniture!!!

Okay…before I get started I have to tell you something sad.  I have no before or during pictures of this project.  I only have the finished product.  You are going to have to use your imagination.  Imagination is good, right?  I thought so.  (Unless you imagine creepy, limbless dolls, going bump in the night. Okay…enough with the dolls. )

Okay so…this chest used to be in our little girl’s room.  We had two.  They were actually free and brown.  I had a wild hair when our church was cleaning out an old rental property…many moons ago.  So…we became the proud owners.  It was wonderful because I had this brainstorm of painting each drawer a different color.  It was grand….for quite a while.  So cute….so” little girly.”  Then they got NEW (like actually from the store new) bedroom furniture.  Sooooooo….the little “labor of love” chests went to the basement.

Fast Forward to 2011:

One day…I got, yet another, wild hair.  “Honey will you drag one of them thar chests up out of the basement?”  (Okay…I don’t really talk like that.)  He did.  I smiled.  He moaned and groaned and called our chiropractor.  (Not really…I made that last part up.)  Anyway, for some reason my little brother was there and he got in on this too.  Ahhh yes…I remember now.  He was told by our mother to bring me that antique mirror that hangs over our mantle.  I also remember that I paid him to do it.  Smart little brother. So…back to the chest.

I decided to apply some of that wall paper that looks like old ceiling tiles to the fronts of the drawers.  Then I painted it a wonderful antique-y green color…that was actually left from our master bathroom.  My friend Jodi actually did this wall paper on her ceiling and it looks amazing.  She lives in a wonderful, old, two-story house.  That is another story for another day though.

So…this is the story of a poor little chest that could have been part of a bonfire.  Alas…I looked deep into its little soul and said, “Would you like to come home with us?  We will put you to work.  I can tell that you still have life left in you.  You will hold our little one’s clothes with great care and then someday I will make you beautiful.”  Okay…I didn’t say all of that…but if you are a true junker…this kind of stuff is swirling in your head….most of the time.

Happy Tuesday, Dirt Roaders!  Have mercy on some junk!

A wonderful little lady…

There is just something about a day with your mom that seems to make the world a brighter place.  My mom is this very vibrant person.  She is wild and crazy and fun and I would never…ever….trade her for another.  When my kids tell me that I am doing something like my mom….it is the highest compliment.  Appreciate your moms for what and who they are.  You only get one…treasure the one that God blessed you with.

Happy Monday, Dirt Roaders.  Now…go call your mother!  😉

This is one of my favorites. Just a shot we took ourselves on a “fun day.” 🙂

Cowboy Cookware……Yee Haw!

Lemon Chicken with Rosemary and Olives

Ooooookay.  Where on earth is she going with this?  😉  I just can’t resist any longer.  I cannot go one more post without shouting from the housetop, (okay…. the couch) all of the finer points to cooking in an iron skillet.  It has changed my life and our meals in such an amazing way!

Now…before we get started with that, I do have to tell you that I have never been a stranger to the iron skillet.  I grew up around them.  Matter of fact, when we got married I even owned one.  I was just a young, blushing bride with weak arms and so I got rid of mine.  Dumb.  Why oh why did I do this thing that I speak of?  Why am I being so dramatic about an iron skillet?  I will now tell you why….

My grandmothers have used them for years.  My mom has all shapes and sizes and uses them constantly.  Their food is amazing.  Their cornbread is second to none.  Their fried potatoes….award winning. (Well, not really, but you understand.)  Don’t get me wrong…there is a time and place and recipe that calls for non-stick but there are just some things that will never taste as good cooked in anything other than an iron skillet. Plus, if seasoned right, your iron skillet becomes “non-stick.”

If you don’t have one, the one thing that you are truly missing out on is the way that they heat.  It’s really an amazing difference. They heat very evenly.  I love that. I also love the fact that my MIL had one hiding under her cabinet…from their first days of marriage…and she GAVE it to moi!  So I am now the proud owner of three.  🙂  I know that you don’t have all day for me to go on and on about this but if I had to weed out my kitchen stuff…the iron skillets would be at the top of the “keeper” list.

Have a happy Saturday Dirt Roaders….and use that Cowboy Cookware!  (That is what I call it to the “Mister.”  He loves it… that I finally got smart and listened to my mom. )

I WANT to hear about your iron skillets!  Tell me what you love.  Tell me what you cook.  Tell me lots of hints, tricks and recipes!  😉

Hints of Fall…

Here they are.  Like I said.  Just a few little hints of fall…from our house to yours.  I hope that you find a little inspiration to drag out your fall decor.  It’s so fun!  Come on Dirt Roaders….it’s time to get cozy.  😉

All things Fall-y

I have a friend.  Her name is…well…to protect her identity… lets just call her…S.  One day S. and I were on the phone.  She started talking about her fall decor.  We were flapping our gums, as only we women can, and all of a sudden she said something about loving her stuff that was fall-y.  I started laughing…then she started laughing.  Now, I do need to tell you this, S. is an asthmatic.  Sometimes when she laughs, she gets silent.  It’s okay if I’m with her but when we are on the phone it’s scary.  I have to ask her if she is still with me.  Okay…. this may not even be funny to you but it was to us.  I said “Do you mean autumnal?”  This made it even funnier.  We decided that we really didn’t care…we liked “fall-y” the best.  Ain’t nothin’ too good for us.  😉

Happy Thursday Dirt Roadakins!  😉

These are the “punkums” that my sweet husband spray painted for me and the little fall banner that I made after hanging out on Pinterest. I thought about spraying the pumpkins again…since we just used his chrome spray paint….but I kinda like the two different finishes of silver. Nice contrast. Whatcha think? Chrome or do I go buy the Looking Glass paint? Opinions greatly appreciated!

Scary dolls and beans…

(I usually don’t post twice in one day.  This was actually for the 5th…but I went ahead and posted before midnight.  Idk…I just want my early morning readers to enjoy. ;))

Okay.  I admit…that sounds weird.  Real weird.  But I do have a little story to tell.  It is a little creepy.  It’s a lot good but a little creepy.

One day last week, I spent the day with a friend.  We went out-of-town on a little road trip.  She had happened upon this “honey hole” of a place.  (Do you know what that means?  It’s like a good fishin’ hole but to a junker…it’s a place where you hear heavenly music when you see a pile of good junk.)

When we pulled up to the amazing place on the back side of a railroad track I was so excited, I think I even said, “Do you hear angels singing?”  The place was uber  super (my daughter thinks I’m too old for words like that…hee hee) cool!  It was actually an old motel.  I’m talking old like as in old, old.  What could be better?  All of that cool stuff for sale…and in a really old hotel/motel (someone tell me the difference…) that was just oozing character. Some of the stuff was new and some was not.  This brings me to the scary dolls and beans.

After we gleaned through the things on the main level…we then ascended this MAHVALOUS old staircase.  More antiques and such up there…and then we happened onto this little room that at one time must have been a child’s nursery.  The reason I knew is because there was actually a painted rug on the hardwood floor.  Then…much to our horror there were boxes of doll parts.  My friend, very creeped out, was trying to cover the doll parts with other junk in the room.  We were both  weirded out.  Not long after that…like the grown women that we are,  we casually ran (just kidding) walked down the staircase.  My friend then began to tell me that she was glistening.  (She is from the South…like as in… more south that I.) I said “Girl, around here…you are not glistening…you are sweating! In the Ozarks…we just sweat.  😉

Okay…so now you are wondering about the beans.  Well…we both spied this amazing little primitive scoop.  There is something about primitive things in the fall.  To me they just feel cozy when other parts of the year I am a little (just a little) more modern.  Modern Farmhousy….that’s my style.  Doesn’t that sound like something you would want to buy!?  lol!  Anywho……she said “Ahhhh…wouldn’t that be great in a big jar?”  We both realized that I had a big jar…and birthday moolah burning a hole in my wallet.  So…I bought the scoop, plus some other goodies.  Then I bought four bags of baby limas over the weekend.  There you have it…scary dolls and beans.

The End.

Not really….I have one more thing to say.  I love it when I visit a new little place and I feel like I have made a new friend.  The lady there was so kind.  I can’t wait to visit with her again!

Watch out for doll parts Dirt Roaders!  😉