House hunting continues

We are still searching out our housing options and have set a preliminary move date as October of this year. We'll see how that goes! 

We are fortunate because moving is not imperative at this moment, but we are tired of commuting and it seems like a good thing to do.

We finally got to tour the large older home I posted about earlier. It was stunning! I knew it was a large home but as we toured, it just kept going and going and going! I believe the total square footage including garage and upstairs studio was a wopping 4500 square feet!

There is such thing as too much house you know!

But it was gorgeous and has TONS AND TONS of storage and closets! The older home we live in now has two closets- total! And one is small half bath we turned into a closet because we were that desperate for storage! We currently do not have a garage so stuff gets stored in every and any covered space outside.  Sometimes I feel like I'm living like a hoarder!

But this is not a whining fest. It is simply time to move. We have outgrown our space.

We are also searching out house plans and really like the architectural stylings of Allison Ramsey Architects. We have selected these two as potential builds.

The larger home in town is still an option but it does need a new roof and replacement guttering. It underwent a full remodel in 1988 and partial update again in 2010. The eutopic idea of living in a majestic Victorian home is enticing but the reality of it sets in quickly. I think this is where many people go astray and end up getting into more than they realize. The reality of it is, the home is large and has 10 foot ceilings throughout. I am not sure what the heating and cooling costs would be per month. It is in need of some repairs now and there could be potentially more down the road. We are not wealthy by any means but do live comfortably and can handle some repairs on our own, but do we really want to take that on?

We'll see. We've got time to think about it.

Because it's never to early!

Literature for little ones!

Happy Spring!

Hello all and Happy Spring!
The world is green again and the air is getting warmer! Despite my last post, we really did have a pleasant winter here. Actually, it wasn't much of a winter at all. It was unseasonably warm and Spring came very early! In mid February we had snow and by the end of the month it was in the low 70's! It has been warm ever since!

This year is going to be a big year! In February, I worked on a huge commission for an upcoming network television series. I can't release too many details until the pilot airs. But it was my biggest commission to date. (As many of you know, I create historic costumes for the film, television, and museum industries.) More on that later!

In addition, we are in serious get ready to move mode. This is something we have been thinking about for a few years and as "just the two of us" has now become "three of us", we are finding the need for a little more room.

Right now the housing market is a buyer's dream but a seller's nightmare. Houses are priced 30-50% below their 2008 values. Definitely a great time to buy! Not a great a time to sell. However, when a house like this one comes on the market at a price we can afford, one gets a little more incentive to start packing those dishes!

This c1900 house (fully remodeled in 1988) is located in a small historic community outside of our current city of residence. It is just 5 miles from my husband's place of employment (whereas he is now commuting over 35 miles one way.) It is on a corner lot and has just enough side yard for our little one to play and the dogs to stretch their legs. But it would be city living as there are residences all around it.

It is by no means Eutopiaville, but the streets are quite and the crime rate relatively low. In our current city, there is a growing gang problem that is reeking havoc on our revitalized downtown residential districts.

This house is within walking distance to both the children's park and the local elementary school. (And, the schools in this community DO NOT have school resource officers! Can you remember a time when there was no need for police presence in our schools?) In addition, I could walk to the post office and ride my bike to the grocery!

However, it is city living. Our dreams have always been to build a house on our rural 30 acre farm (just 5 miles from this house.) But unlike the depressed housing market, the building market is still very high. Sky rocketing gas prices are driving up materials prices and right now it would cost twice the price to build a house on our property.

Lots to think about, pray about, and just plain wait and see about. But, I know in the end it will all work out the way it is meant to be :-) It always does!

To everything there is a season

There is no smoke coming from the chimney of the little green house across the street this morning.

Last night I knew as the police cars pulled up at sunset that something was direly wrong. And I was right. Our dear old neighbor had passed away.

Tommy was a small man- standing only 5'5". He always wore bib overalls and a plaid shirt. I remember the first time I encountered him. It was at my husband's father's funeral. He stood quietly outside the visiting room- in his best denim overalls and a clean white shirt, clutching a baseball cap in his hands. He refused to come in. He did not speak to anyone. He paid his respects and slipped out before anyone noticed.

Over the past six and a half years we have lived across the street from Tommy- on the top of a hill in my husband's old family home overlooking Tommy's house. Every once and a while I would stop by and say hello if he was outside, but mostly I kept my respectful distance and watched out for him from afar. He lived by himself, had never married, and as of late kept goats in the little mule shed in his backyard.

Tommy was born in the 1920s in the little hollar down the street- before there were streets here. Before this was a neighborhood. A time when this area was still a rural outcropping of the greater city.

But times have changed. This neighborhood has changed. There are houses everywhere. This area is becoming a mecca for urbanites. Houses are being remodeled and updated. New families are moving into the area. New families with new ideas and modern dwellings.

In the midst of this was Tommy. A man who still heated his home by a wood stove. A man who had been educated up to the seventh grade. A man who was never afraid of hard work and always helped his neighbors. And a man who spent his summer afternoons sitting in a folding chair in his front yard waving to neighbors as they drove by. A man of true Southern Appalachia.

I watched quietly from the window as the family stood outside and they brought his body out of the house. I felt foolish and guilty for spying like I did. But I watched. And cried.

I cried a deep sense of loss. I cried not only for the family's loss but for the loss of an era. For Tommy, time had stood still. He was the past. He was what we all once were and what we all seem so desperately trying to leave behind. And today, as I look out over the quiet little green house across the street, I wonder- Will anyone even remember that time?

Annual November Harvest Feast

Hello and I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!
Just wanted to share this year's feasty frenzy with you
(and a secret recipe from down South):

• Hickory smoked turkey
• Southern cornbread dressing
• Homemade cranberry chutney
• Chipolte-Sorghum sweet potatoes
• Naked Green Beans
• and Mom's homemade Pumpkin pie

In the American South, we do not eat bread stuffing. We eat cornbread stuffing! And here's my secret recipe just for you!


Southern Cornbread Dressing:

1 pan skillet cornbread (recipe below) cooled and crumbled

1 (8 ounce) can cream-style corn

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup butter

1 onion, finely chopped

2 celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon minced garlic (not dried)

1 tablespoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon dried basil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons salt, or to taste

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cups chicken broth

• 1 cup dried cranberries (or chopped apples if you prefer)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. In a saucepan, add butter, onion, celery, garlic, thyme, basil, oregano, and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook until celery is al dente.
3. In a medium bowl combine crumbled cornbread, creamed corn, eggs, milk and dried cranberries; stir until moistened.
4. Mix in the saucepan ingredients and season with salt and pepper. Pour into prepared baking dish.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.

Basic Southern Cornbread:
2 cups white self rising cornmeal
2 eggs beaten
2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons bacon grease or vegetable oil


Directions:
Mix all ingredients together and pour into a greased cast iron skillet. Bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees F or until golden brown.


Enjoy!