Fall and Southern Vegetarianism

I love Fall.  I love the crisp days when I get to open up the windows and air out the house and cool nights when finally there is hot flash relief.  It is a great time to laze around in the hammock, watching the leaves begin to change into their flashier attire.  Aldi had these pretty flowers on sale for around $4 so I thought I would decorate my dining room table.  My husband even commented on how nice the table looked.  Of course it took him two days to notice the change.

I decided to cook us a vegetarian meal the other night.  My husband is not big on meatless meals, but this one was what I would refer to as traditional Southern vegetarianism. We had macaroni and cheese (not that silly Kraft stuff, but the real thing), pinto beans, sliced tomatoes and cornbread.  It was quite tasty.  The cornbread recipe was one of Paula Dean's, so you know it was good.  Does that woman cook anything that isn't good?  The mac and cheese was my mama's recipe and that woman doesn't cook anything that isn't good either! Except maybe Granny Toast and that is a story for another day.   I think my husband  enjoyed it as much as I did.  I reminded him that it could be tofu chili instead.

 

Latest Hannah Fix

Well, I got my latest Hannah fix in last weekend.  It is football season, which I love, by the way, and I went to keep Hannah so her mom and dad could go to the Georgia Tech game as unencumbered adults.  We had our usual good times.  We read tons of books.  I see a library card in that girl's future.  This weekend's favorites seemed to be In the Night Kitchen and Pete the Cat. She actually sat/snuggled and listened to me read for 30 minutes before bedtime one night. During one of her naps, she snuggled up against her books, holding them like security blankets.  We worked puzzles, played with the the piggy bank, and built with the blocks.  We chased each other around and did a lot of giggling, too.  

Hannah continues to show us all what a clever girl she is.  When I turned the game on the tv, she points right at it and says "Football."  Her daddy's influence!  I also had her saying "Go Jackets", but that didn't seem to help much as GT lost in overtime.  She is talking so much these days, naming the foods she eats and telling you what she wants more of.  She has a new doll and she loves to snuggle with "baby."  Baby even went to the park with us on Saturday.  We took a snack and spent an hour in the neighborhood park.  Hannah likes swinging and bouncing on the seesaw.  She also enjoyed chasing after the squirrels and people watching.  A group of birthday party pirates passed by and they were very entertaining.

Hannah likes to carry her stuff around with her.  At the park, she insisted on carrying the snack container, her water and my water from place to place.  Guess she didn't want anyone making off with our picnic.  

Big girl  ate a whole container of yogurt with a spoon. All by herself!  She wasn't neat, but she managed to get the job done.  It is a good thing that thick Greek yogurt sticks to the spoon so well.   Hannah can be very independent.  She did not want any help with that yogurt.

I was sorry to leave, but I will be going back soon.  You can't get too much Hannah!!

Saga of the Secretary

This whole thing started because a friend suggested I try Annie Sloan Chalk paint.  I painted my bedside table, dresser, and chest of drawers a lovely blue called Provence.  No sanding, no prep, just paint and wax.  I loved the results!  Here is the bedside table.

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 Considering I really did not know what I was doing, things turned out rather well.  Soooo, I decided to tackle my Granny Walker's secretary.  You have to understand that I have loved this piece of furniture since I was a little girl.  All the little drawers and cubby holes were fascinating to me.  The fact that I was not allowed to go rummaging around in all those drawers, probably had something to do with my fascination.  Granny's dogs had chewed on the secretary and it was definitely in need of some sprucing up.   So I decided on two different colors of paint and distressing.  I found a ASCP stockist in Spartanburg at Terris Treasures. I was so excited to find someone who stocks Annie Sloan so close to home.   Terri ( it was meant to be!) gave me lots of great advice and convinced me to try Primer Red over Provence. 

So here is the before picture.  

First I had to put painter's tape around all that lattice work.  That took awhile!  Then a nice coat of Provence.

 So far, so good.  It was tight painting in that small corner of our bedroom.  All the drawers were painted in the guest bedroom where there is a bit more working space.  Next came the Primer Red.  Can we just say that I hated it?  Primer Red is the color of dried blood.  Sounds great, huh?  I wanted to cry but convinced myself to go ahead with the project.  When the whole thing was a lovely dried blood color, I got out my sandpaper, sanding sponge and wet t-shirt.  No, I was not wearing the shirt.  Having no training in distressing furniture, I tried a bit of everything I had read about in various blogs and seen in YouTube videos.  Maybe next time, I should try taking a class or actually buy one of Annie Sloan's books.  My point is that I had no idea what I was doing.  It was very distressing. Pun intended!  I sanded and wiped and sanded and wiped some more.  Then I put on two very light coats of wax.  Of course there was lots of waiting in between the various painting, distressing and waxing phases.  I am not a patient person.  Especially since I was not expecting to like the finished product.  Funny thing though, somewhere along the way, it started to grow on me.  I decided that I liked it after all.  The color matches my new quilt and curtains and doesn't clash with my rusty orange gooseneck rocker, another of Granny Walker's hand-me-downs.  So here is the finished secretary.  It was hard to get a picture of the whole thing that would show up the distressing.  It is a tall piece of furniture.  

I made these photos with my phone and I don't think they really do it justice.  I like my "new" secretary very much.  Now I am wondering if we could paint the rocker or maybe the front door.  I find myself cruising Craigslist for old (cheap) furniture.  My, my.  Is there a support group for ASCP addicts? 

Just because it makes me laugh....

Blame it on 4th Grade

Obviously I need to come up with a good reason for not posting since Easter.  I am probably the world's worst blogger.  How do those people who write in their blogs every day do it?  So here are my reasons for not writing:
1. I am lazy.
2. Too many books and not enough time to read.
C. The cat is sitting in my lap and I can't type.
D. My Netflix video came to day.
5. You cannot type while laying flat in a hammock.
6. Shopping! (Not at the grocery store, either)
G. It's another Law and Order marathon.
H. I am busy losing yet another Words With Friends game.
9. I am reading other people's blogs.  There are a million of them out there!
10. The REAL reason is my fourth grade teacher, Mrs. Huff.

In fourth grade we were expected to do "creative writing" every day.  Here is your paper.  Here is you pencil.  Write  a zillion words about such and such.  Have I mentioned that I do not perform well under pressure?  I HATED creative writing.  There is not a creative bone in my body.  It should have been considered cruel and unusual punishment.  I threw up every day before going to school.  My mom, smart and no nonsense lady, would then put me on the bus and send me to school.  To the dreaded creative writing.  To this day, I am traumatized to write anything, especially anything that someone else might read.

And that is where my excuse for not writing goes down the drain.  Cause nobody but me reads my blog.  I am sure my kids think my brain is turning to mush or at least getting mushier with retirement.  Maybe writing will help slow that down.  We'll see.

On a final note, guess what my favorite part of the kindergarten day was?  Writer's Workshop!  I just loved watching my students learn to write.  Hope I didn't traumatize any of them!