Wallpaper Anyone?

You all remember my parent's adorable little mountain house ? Well, there is one thing about the house that I wanted to show everyone. It has always been so fascinating to me! My father lived in this house as a child and they were extremely poor. The house was heated by a wood stove in the living room and a wood stove and fireplace in the kitchen. My Dad said that the floor boards in parts of the house had such big cracks in them that they could see the chickens underneath the house.

On the walls in the house to keep things warmer in the winter months, my Grandmother papered the walls with newspaper. When some renovation work was done on the house many years ago, one of the walls had some newspaper that was still "readable". It is so much fun to read the old newspaper. I tried to take some pictures, but the flash glared in them, but I think you can still read the paper.
This is an article about John Ringling, the Circus Czar and his death in 1936.
This picture shows an advertisement from a clothing store. Ladies suede jackets were $6.98. Men's pajamas were 98 cents. etc. Take a look at that old car too!
The newspaper is bordered with molding and it was protected with polyurethane to preserve it to be enjoyed for many years to come. I hope you have enjoyed seeing the old timey "wallpaper". Now you know what to do with your old newspapers!!!

More Mountain Vacation Pictures!

As I mentioned in my last post, the house that my parent's live in at the mountains is the house that my father lived in as child. It is the house that I visited my Grandparents when I was young. This is my Hoosier cabinet that I gave my Mom to use in the kitchen at the mountain house. It is hard to tell, but I made Mom a quilted table runner to go on the shelf of the cabinet. Look closely and you can see Mom's delicious peach-blueberry pie that we had for dessert. It was so good!
This is a picture of the old stone fireplace in the kitchen. This is how my Grandparent's kept warm. At one time there was also a wood stove in the kitchen.
Here we are (My Mom, Dad, brother-in-law and sister) getting ready to eat our delicious meal that Mom fixed for us!!! If you look on the wall, you can see a quilted wall hanging that I made my Mom. It has a cow on it.
Doesn't this look good? NC barbecue, field peas on cornbread, barbecue potatoes, tomatoes & mozzarella, cucumbers, fresh corn on the cob and a yeast roll. I ate too much!!! And as I mentioned earlier, we had peach-blueberry pie for dessert. And of course, being the Southern folks that we are, we had sweet iced tea with lemon to drink!

Here is my sweet Mom getting our dinner ready. She is a wonderful cook!!!
I just love my sister's front porch. This is just one end of the porch. There have been some good times out on this porch over the years.
Here is the other end of the porch. My favorite (and my girl's favorite too) is the porch swing. We love to sit on the porch swing and read!!! So relaxing!
I love this sign that hangs on the porch. Come and join us and "sit a spell". We certainly had fun sitting out on the porch last week.... talking, laughing, watching the world go by, working on our crafts (I was making a rag rug), reading, playing with the dogs, etc.
In the town near where my sister lives, the buildings have murals on them that have been painted by various artists. I only took a few pictures, but there are a lot more murals . This mural depicts the mountain music that is so popular in this part of the country.
Aren't the fall trees pretty? It won't be long and the trees will look like this in the mountains.
This mural depicts the New River that is in the area. In the bottom of the mural you can see someone riding in their canoe.
This mural is on the side of the cheese factory. I love the cow!
I had some pictures yesterday of my niece's flowers. Here is a picture of her adorable log cabin. Her whole front yard is wildflowers and it is just gorgeous!!! Speaking of canoes, she and her husband love to canoe and kayak. You can see the canoe in the front yard.
On the first day I was in the mountains, Adelaide and I met her sorority sister, Rachel, and Rachel's parent's for lunch. Our tea was served in Mason jars. For lunch we had meatloaf, veggies and cornbread. Yum!!!

I have one last round of pictures that I will post another day and I think that will be enough mountain pictures for one week.

Mountain Beauty!!!!

My mountain vacation last week started with dropping this sweet girl off at her apartment for her Senior year in college. I can't believe that she will be graduating in May. I miss her already, but I know what an exciting year she will have as a Senior!
After getting Adelaide settled, I went to spend the week with my sister. My parent's house is next door to my sister, so I got to see them too. August 22nd was my sister's birthday, so we celebrated her while I was there! We also had some fun times sitting out on her porch. (more pictures to follow another day)
My sweet parents love to sit out on their porch too. This house belonged to my Grandparents when I was a little girl and I have vivid memories of my Grandparents sitting out on this same porch. This is the cutest little house and it is full of memories of times spent with my own Grandparents when I was a child. My Mom loves flowers, so the porch is covered with her flowers. She even has a fountain on the porch.
Here is a close up of my Mom and Dad. My Mom is 86 and my Dad is 89.
On Sunday, we attended an old time singing and Homecoming service at a local church and they had a covered dish lunch afterwards. Lots of our relatives go to that church, so it was fun to visit and the food was delicious. This creek flows right behind the church. They hold baptisms here during the summer I am told.
We visited the local Farmer's Market and these vegetables were so pretty I wanted to share them with you. We ate lots of good food while I was visiting in the mountains. (more pictures to come another day on that)
Wouldn't you love your yard to look like this? This was at a motel in the area.
North Carolina grows a lot of the Christmas trees that are shipped all over the United States each year. The mountains are covered in Christmas trees and it is so pretty. Each year our family cuts our own trees, as they grow all around my parent's and my sister's houses. We have even cut them before in the snow, which is so beautiful and so festive!
In this picture you can see the New River, which is not too far from my parent's house. We love to go tubing on this river in the summer. The water is a bit chilly even in the summer. And this river is older than the Nile River, so it has been around for quite a while. You can also see the Christmas trees in the background.
We pass this barn each time we go to my parent's and my sister's. I just love the look of this old barn. More Christmas trees in the background.
When you look at this picture, you realize why the mountains are called The Blue Ridge Mountains. They have a blue cast to them on most days. On this particular day, it was extremely foggy. On a clear day, you can see forever from these overlooks on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
This is a view of my niece's front yard. Don't you love the old chair? She lives in a log cabin and the whole front yard is a wild flower garden. It is just beautiful!!!
This is a picture of my niece's front porch. I love how she took the old work boots and planted "hen and chickens" in the boots. She has a green thumb and all her plants are gorgeous!
This barn is near the house too. I love the quilt painted on the front. This was another foggy day.

I hope you have enjoyed some of my pictures. I took so many that I decided I better divide them up and share them with you over several days. I didn't want to overload you with pictures. You can see from the pictures why I love the mountains so much. It is truly "God's Country"!!!!! I feel so relaxed and rested after having spent the week there.

**My mountain vacation pictures to be continued another day!

Mountain Vacation!

My vacation in the mountains is coming to a close. I will be returning home on Sunday. I don't have a laptop, so I am using my brother-in-law's computer and will have to wait until I get home to upload my pictures for you gals.

On Monday, I got Adelaide settled into her apartment. She has been busy this week with her sorority meetings, so I have not seen her. I have enjoyed spending the rest of the week with my sister, brother-in-law, niece and her husband and my parents. We have eaten until I feel like I will burst, but all the summer veggies have been so good!!!! Plus, my Mom is a wonderful cook.

A lot of our time has been spent sitting out on my sister's front porch enjoying the beautiful mountain scenery and cool breezes! When I was at the beach last week, my friend Sherian taught me how to crochet rag rugs out of fabric and I have been working on my rug this week. It is turning out to be so pretty. I love it! I will post some pictures later for all of you to see.

We had one day of rain while I was here, but the rest of the week has been so nice. It almost feels like fall is in the air too. I am so looking forward to fall.

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday, so we will get to celebrate before I leave to drive home. I have enjoyed my week of staying up late, sleeping late, eating lots of good food and just enjoying time with my family. Making wonderful memories to cherish for a lifetime!

Hope all of you have a nice weekend doing what you love!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Willow House Blog Party!

My daughter, Lauren, is hosting a Willow House Blog Party on her blog. Willow House is the new name for Southern Living At Home. Please do not feel obligated, but if you are interested I will let you know about the specials. I have ordered from Southern Living at Home in the past and their items are gorgeous! The Willow House Representatives name is Callie.

*10% off your total order if you spend up to $50

*15% off your total order if you spend $50+

* 1 half-price item $39.96 or less if you spend $40

* The chance to be entered for a $40 gift card (everyone who places an order will be entered; and if you become a follower of Callie on facebook or her blog, willowhousemom.com, you will get 1 extra entry; and if you blog about the party you get an extra entry)!!!

To place an order, go to callieparker.willowhouse.com and then choose "order".

Select "Find a Host" and enter my daughter MRS. LSJ Mrs. (First name) & LSJ (last name)

Callie will have to go back & adjust the prices for your order to reflect your discounts!

Please email willowhousemom@gmail.com if you have any questions with placing your order!

Lauren's Willow House Blog Party will be closing on August 28th. Thank you so much for looking!

Have a wonderful week!

Back to College!!!

My sweet girl is heading back to college today and I am sad to see our wonderful summer coming to an end. Adelaide will be a senior and that is so hard for me to believe. It just seems like yesterday that her Dad and I were taking her up and getting her settled into her dorm. I can remember how excited she was!!
This is going to be a really busy semester for Adelaide, because not only is it her senior year, but she is pledge Mom for her sorority. She will be in charge of all the new girls who pledge and join the sorority this year. I know she will do a wonderful job and the girls will love her. She has worked real hard all summer getting ready for the new girls. She has lots of wonderful things planned.
We had such a great summer!!! We spent time in the mountains and at the beach,we went to the Beach music festival, we went to see Michael Buble', we enjoyed "girl time" together, Adelaide did a 6 week internship at a local children's hospital and she had a Nanny job for 2 sweet children. Although she has been home since the first week of May, the time has flown by.
Adelaide got to attend 3 weddings this summer. I went to one of them with her. I posted about it earlier.
I am blessed to have such wonderful daughters! For those of you new to my blog, Adelaide is my youngest daughter. My oldest daughter, Lauren, is married. They are both the joy of my life!!!

I am a bit sad today to be helping Adelaide move back up to college, but I am so happy for her as she enters her last year of college. She is an amazing young lady and she has a lot to look forward to this year! I wish her all the best this year and I pray that God watches over her every step of the way!

My nest will be empty again, but I have lots of projects to keep me busy. I will be counting the days until fall break, when Adelaide will be home again. I might even sneak in a visit to see her at college before then! I can't stand to be away from my girl too long. Holly (her little dog ) will miss Adelaide too!

Have a wonderful fall semester, Adelaide. I had such a great summer with you!

I Met a Blogging Buddy!!!

This past week, I went to the beach with my dear friend Sherian for some "girl time". The highlight of my trip was thrifting while we were there and getting to meet one of my blog buddies! One of my sweet blogging friends, Donna, lives in the area and manages a thrift shop. I emailed Donna and we arranged a time to meet at her awesome shop! It is always so exciting to meet a blog friend in person after reading their blog for so long.
Donna was just as sweet and precious as she is on her blog and I enjoyed so much getting to meet her in person! She has children who live near me. Hopefully if she is ever up my way, she will give me a call and we can see each other again. I would love that.

Donna's shop is very nice and the proceeds benefit a teen shelter/home in the area. It is a home where teens live that have had to be taken away from their parents. Not because the teens have been bad, but where the parents were sent to jail or were involved in drugs,etc.

I found some treasures at the shop and 2 things I will need to refinish. I got a really neat old shelf and also a table that I want to use to put a plant on. Sherian and I spent the entire day thrifting from one shop to the other. We were in heaven!! Then on Saturday we attended the largest flea market in SC at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. More on that later. It was an awesome show and we found lots of wonderful treasures.

Donna, I so enjoyed getting to meet you and visit. Your lunch recommendation was wonderful and we had the best seafood.

Ladies, I would highly encourage you to make an effort to meet your blogging buddies if you live nearby. It is so much fun to get to connect in person and see each other!!!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Going to the Beach!!!

The beach is calling my name again and I am so lucky to be able to get to go back to the beach for the rest of the week with my dear friend, Sherian!!! I can't wait. We are leaving after I get off work on Wednesday. I am so excited, I can't stand it. I love the beach!!!

We are going to have "GIRL TIME"!!!!! We have not gotten to see each other as much this summer, so I'm sure we will be talking non-stop the whole time trying to get caught up with each other. We are taking some of our crafts to work on, I have my book (Eat, Pray, Love) I am trying to finish before the movie comes out on Friday and we are both taking our dogs! We plan to eat out... who wants to cook?

I am looking forward to sitting out on the beach, walking, and just chilling out!!!

And the most fun thing of all, we are going thrifting!!! Saturday is the biggest flea market in SC at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center. We will be there with bells on! We went last year and it was awesome! We really got some great treasures!

We are also going thrifting on Friday and I am going to get to meet one of my blog friends who lives at the beach. I am so looking forward to that. I love meeting blog friends in person. It is so fun. I'll keep it a surprise, but I promise to take plenty of pictures and will post them after our visit on Friday.

When I get home from the beach, I will leave on Monday to take Adelaide back to college and I am going to stay with my sister and my parents for the week in the mountains. I am so looking forward to some much needed rest and relaxation.
I won't be on the computer that much, but I will try to stop by and visit every now and then while I am on vacation. I would miss you all too much!

Love & blessings,
Melinda

Beach Vacation 2010

In July, we spent a week at Kure Beach, North Carolina (near Wilmington) and had the most relaxing vacation. The weather was perfect!

We stayed at my cousin's beach house.
This is the guest cottage. Isn't it the cutest little house?
Here is a picture of the upstairs TV room.
I love this shower. And the bathroom is huge!!! The windows look out onto the ocean!
There is a lot of art in the house, but this picture is my favorite. I love these ladies in their "old timey" bathing suits.
This is a cottage that sits behind my cousin's house. I just love this cottage!
This is the boardwalk that runs along the edge of the beach. You can walk on the boardwalk all the way to the pier. At night it is lit up.
This is an old fishing pier that is right down from the house.
Adelaide and Tom out on the boardwalk walking down to dinner. Isn't the sky pretty?
Holly went with us to the beach. This is her friend, Mr. Turtle!! Our canary, Sunny, even went with us on vacation. Sunny loved watching the seagulls at her perch by the windows. I forgot to take her picture.
Dinner out. Who wants to cook on vacation?
We spent our days chilling out on the beach reading books, taking walks and people watching! The weather was gorgeous!
I love watching the seagulls. This guy was enforcing the laws!!!
I loved feeding the seagulls. All you have to do is throw out a bit of food and they all come swooping in to get their share.
This is a view underneath the pier.
I couldn't resist taking a picture of this sand sculpture that we saw when we were out walking one day.
Adelaide and Tom getting ready to walk to dinner.
Checking out the fishermen on the pier. We loved walking out on the pier after dinner.
These big pelicans were all over the end of the pier waiting for people to give them fish. They were so much fun to watch.
I love turquoise, so this was one of my favorite houses in the neighborhood.
I thought these houses were real pretty too. There were so many colored houses at this beach.
This is the local park at Carolina Beach (next to Kure Beach). There are paddle boats to ride. On this day, we went down to a Farmer's Market/Craft show. There are musical events held at the park during the week and they even show outdoor movies on Sunday night.
Lauren and Thomas came down to join us for the last weekend we were there. They were on their way for a week of vacation with their friends, but we enjoyed having them with us for the weekend. I love my daughter and son-in-law!
My 2 Lilly girls!!! We were waiting to catch the ferry at Fort Fisher to ride over to Southport to eat dinner. I am so blessed to have such beautiful and sweet daughters!
The cars drive onto the ferry for the ride over the river to Southport. The seagulls follow the ferry as it crosses. We got out of our car and walked around to enjoy the scenery.
This is another ferry that we passed en route. They go back and forth about every 30 minutes.
We are all wearing our Lilly today. Any clue as to whether we love Lilly? It was a bit windy. Excuse our crazy hairdos!!
This is our favorite place to eat at the beach. It has been written up in Southern Living and lots of other magazines. It looks like a fishing shack and the part where you sit and eat is out over the water with open sides. The food is so good!!!
Provisions is famous for their shrimp and crabcakes! A bit messy, but delicious!!

As you can see, we had the most amazing week at the beach! We didn't do a whole lot, but that was the beauty of the trip. We just enjoyed our lazy days on the beach and our time together as a family. We enjoyed eating out, watching movies in the evenings, working a 1,000 piece puzzle and just being together! We all got some much needed rest and relaxation and made some wonderful memories!