Of Lint and Linguine!

Ok, so this won't be terribly long because it's already kinda late. Several interesting things from the last few days though:

(1) Noel can make a MEAN chicken alfredo. From scratch. I had no idea he could make this stuff. I t was SOOOOOO good! Very impressive! If anyone wants the recipe, I can get it from him.

p.s. It's really healthy - 1/2 stick of butter per serving. And also heavy cream! And cheese!

(2) The lady at the local appliance store is probably too honest for her own good, but YAY for customer service!! See, as previously mentioned, our dryer had decided to crap out - it wasn't getting our clothes dry, but was heating up so much on the outside that it would almost burn you. We had cleaned the lint trap and the vent hose when we moved it, and so we knew that wasn't the problem. Maybe it was the thermostat, we had no idea.

So! We went to the local appliance store here in Sealy and looked at dryers. We were discussing the merits of lint traps in the door of the dryer or on the top of the unit, when the saleslady came up and asked us what was wrong with our dryer. When we explained, she suggested that we take the entire back of the dryer off and check for lint buildup, because sometimes lint can get into the rest of the dryer and essentially block up the motor, etc.

We explored the insides of the dryer, determined that wasn't the issue, but decided to clean out the entire venting system. Turns out that it wasn't our dryer or our vent hose that was clogged. The vent pipe going from where we hook up the dryer to outside the house was full of super-thick lint. No wonder the thing was so hot! We cleaned it out thoroughly, and the dryer works like a charm now! So the lady talked herself out of a sale, but I guarantee we'll go back to that store when we need any other type of appliance/mower/etc.

SO! Everyone please make sure you clean out your dryer vents thoroughly! We realized once we started cleaning it out, that we couldn't feel any air coming out of the outside vent. This is the sign of a problem! Be safe and prevent house fires!

(3) My job is awesome.

Ok, I'm going to go get some knitting done before going to bed!

Oh Play Me Some Country Music!

As you may have guessed, we've been extremely busy here at the house, working, working on the house, and...working.

This weekend though, we thought we'd take some time to kick back and relax and even go out and enjoy some local events! We ended up seeing so much (and yours truly took so many pictures), that our weekend in review will actually take up a couple of posts.

(Also, forgive me if I have to take breaks occasionally, as my lap is currently occupied by a rather demanding, but cute, cat in desperate need of petting.)

First things first though. House updates!

My sewing room was a DISASTER AREA, so I had to purge some fabric (and will donate a big ol' box to a local group/theater/school or something). I also organized stuff, which took a while. Noel put some shelves in the closet so I could store things in there too, which was very helpful. I don't have the room totally finished yet, but major progress has been made. I can actually use the room for (gasp!) sewing now.

Here's a picture of my sewing room closet, most of the way full. Please note the "Organizing Professional" doing a thorough examination of one of the higher shelves. He is so helpful.

And here's the view from my sewing machine. Don't hate.

I didn't take a picture of the room itself. Huh. Well, I'll do that in the next week.

We've also been working on other things, like cleaning the window sills and other such fun stuff. Poe has found his Happy Place.

Considering that they're covered in black fur and we don't have A/C, they seem to enjoy the sun a lot.

I've been doing a lot of cooking lately too. Guess this whole Big Kitchen thing is more exciting than I thought. Dinner the other night: meatloaf, salad, and homemade bread.

Noel cut himself a path to the little creek by the house so he could have a Deep Thinkin' Spot. He put a bench down there and everything!

It is a pretty little spot. Particularly with the wild daylilies.

And the wild roses!

And also stinging nettles. I didn't get a picture of them. Which I should've, so y'all will know what they look like so you can avoid them like the plague. My mom brushed her arm up against one and it came out within seconds in big painful welts. Looked like a jellyfish sting! Noel wonders why people don't plant them in their window boxes, because they would certainly be a deterrent to people trying to sneak into your house. Brilliant.

We also swung in our tree swing the other night. It was cool out and the fireflies were dancing all around. (Again, don't hate.)

I took a picture of the tree (Thing In Sky!), just so you can vicariously swing too. Just sit back in your chair, look at this picture and move your head up and down slowly.

It's like you're right there! Except without the breeze. Or the fun.

So on Saturday we went to Hot Springs, NC to a bluegrass festival there. The bands were AMAZING. I also loved that they had old quilts hanging behind them as they played.

There was a group of cloggers who performed too. These kids were from the local school system and were the state champion clogging team! They were impressive. There was one little guy with red hair who couldn't have been a day over 8, and he was tearing the dance floor up.

We had bbq from the local volunteer firefighters tent, sat there and enjoyed the music, and had a wonderful afternoon.

We had a great evening too, but that'll have to wait for another post (too many pictures for one!)

Joust Kicking Around

Much progress has occurred on the house and its environs! We've been busily unpacking and piling up the mountains of stuff we don't need anymore on the porch. Will we have a yard sale? Or will we just take it to donate (or the dump)? Good question. Not sure yet.


First off, let's talk about wildlife today. Noel and I had to jump in and perform Turtle Rescue 2010, when we saw this little guy in the middle of the road:

That's him, resting (and probably panicking) in the floorboard of the truck. Noel safely relocated him to the creek by our house.

He is probably a very happy turtle now, thinking he had a near-death experience that somehow transported him to the reptile equivalent of Beverly Hills.

In other flora and fauna news, Mom came over on Friday and helped me clean out the old flower beds by the house's front porch. We left the mint & sage already growing there, but tore out everything else (mostly weeds) and planted some hostas and some plants that are perhaps weeds, but they're pretty flowering weeds! I also planted some basil, rosemary, and catnip seeds. They should start coming up soon.

Speaking of coming up, look!!!

Our cucumber seeds are growing!! I am SO. EXCITED.

The other stuff in the garden should be coming up soon, and might already be coming up (I haven't checked on the garden in 2 days). (I am perhaps a bit impatient to be a gardener.)

And as a last fauna update, the kitties were relocated to the house last week. They weren't sure what to think of the house at first:

They hid under the couch for oh, about 3 hours. But then started to explore, and I'm happy to report they seem to be enjoying the new house quite a bit. They have lots of windows to stare out of, lots of bugs to catch (must spray the house for bugs!), and their choice of furniture to sleep on:

King of the Castle, indeed.

I got them a crinkle cave and Loki particularly seems to really love it.

Right now they're sleeping next to me on the couch. I think it's good for them to have lots of space to run around - it was always one of my concerns in the RV that they didn't have enough room.

Speaking of the RV, I can hear all of you now asking "where is the RV?" On Saturday morning, bright and early, we went to pick up the RV from the campground and bring it over here. See, we have plenty of room here at the house to park it and keep an eye on it (and also get our residual junk out of it on our own time). We also have a steep and curvy driveway that makes bringing the RV to the house a special challenge. Our nice landlady and her mom (who lives next door to us) kindly allowed us to drive through her yard and the field between our homes.

We drove through it once with the truck just to make sure we could make it, and then went and got the RV. We cut quite a swath through the field!

We managed to get the RV into position and park it just fine.

The only issue occurred right as we pulled it off the asphalt road, when the bumper fell off. FELL OFF. Completely.

Kelli's Towing Service to the rescue. Heh.

So the RV is here, with only a small appendage lost, and now we have all our vehicles in one spot.

Yesterday, Noel and I decided to go to the Renaissance Faire in Rogersville, TN. It was, frankly, somewhat disappointing. Noel had never been to one before, and I had high hopes that this would be similar to other faires I've attended. It was MUCH smaller, with only a dozen booths, and NO steak on a stake, my absolute favorite thing to eat at these faires. SIGH.

We didn't bother to wear costumes (I have my blue velvet Renn dress but it was hot out and also...the dress was a bit tight. Must go on diet.) Noel had his kilt to wear, but said that if I wasn't going to dress up, he wouldn't either. I don't think he believed me that lots of people wear kilts to these things. Anyway, I would've been seriously overdressed at this affair, because other than the royal party, who were wearing gorgeous costumes:

the other costumed women were dressed up as...how can I put this politely?.....ladies of the night. Inexpensive ones. Noel asked me why they weren't dressed in normal Renaissance dresses like mine, and I was asking myself the same question. There were more women dressed as "fairies" (and I use that term loosely, which is also how they were attired) than actual historical women. Mini-skirts, bare midriffs, fake fairy wings, belly dancing costumes with bra tops, and one woman actually wearing a string bikini with a chainmail loincloth over it (!?!?!) all made me sad for the future of the Renaissance Faire. See, I always liked to go to these things in the dresses I took a lot of time in making, and enjoying the pseud0-historical chivalry of the times. Now it's a meat market, similar to Halloween, when women compete to see who can wear the skimpiest costume.

I just don't get it. What's wrong with elegance and leaving things to the imagination? I worry for girls nowadays, growing up with this kind of example.

Anyway. Enough sermonizing.

We had some food that was NOT steak on a stake (sigh) and then proceeded over to the jousting area. And this is where things turned around for our Renn Faire experience, because these guys were AWESOME. Full armor, full contact jousting. Loved it.

Before the jousting began:

(PONIES!!!)

Getting all suited up:

And this is the best picture I could get of the actual jousting action, very blurry because it was pretty fast.

I have much higher hopes for the Highland Games in July - they're supposed to be HUGE and very impressive. They won't have steak on a stake, but we can surely get some shortbread and meat pies!

Movin' On Up!

Busy busy busy!! We've been busy as little bees around here this week.


As soon as I got back from Virginia, we got to work on the house. So far, we've:


- painted 3 rooms
- scrubbed & waxed the floors
- scrubbed the walls
- bleached the bathroom & kitchen
- cleaned the carpets
- cleaned the windows
- swept about 8 million cobwebs
- spackled and wood puttied problem spots

And did all the other 30,000 things you do when you move into a new home.


Now we're in the midst of unpacking, and plan to spend our first night in the house on Wednesday (June 2nd). Yay!


My friend Barb (hi Barb!) has requested photos, so here we go!


First, we had SO MUCH CRAP in our storage unit, both literally and figuratively. Thankfully we had put out roach baits. They had obviously paid a visit.


We rented the biggest truck Budget had, a massive diesel with a 24 foot bed. We filled it up!

It's amazing to see the things we put in storage, after not seeing it or needing it for a year. We really need to have a yard sale soon.

So here are some pictures of the house after cleaning and before moving in:

The living room (the bathroom is at the end of the hall on the left, and the dining room is through the right-side door):

The master bedroom:

The stairs to the attic room (picture of attic room forthcoming - it's adorable!):

The kitchen (already done, thanks for helping Mom!):

So part of the issue that we're having is that our furniture is BIG. And this house is old, so the rooms aren't huge. We're having to be really creative with our furniture placement. So far, this is what we've come up with:

The living room (love the fireplace bricks, but the fireplace was replaced with an oil heater):

One of the bookshelves in the living room:

The tv room, with the fab yellow couch (only slightly mouse-eaten):

The dining room:

I love this peg wall in the kitchen (we didn't do it - it was already like this):

The master bedroom, some assembly required:

The sewing room, a LOT of assembly required:

We met one of the neighbors yesterday:

I named him Mopsy McGillicuddy.

One of our other neighbors is my darling Aunt Betty, who kindly offered some of her garden space for me to attempt to grow some vegetables. My history of growing veggies hasn't been all that great.

Years ago, when I first moved to Savannah, I decided to grow a garden by my house. I planted cucumbers, tomatoes, and beans. My aunt & uncle came to visit, and I offered him my entire bumper crop of green beans. I walked into the kitchen, and handed him a plastic baggie with 3 shriveled green beans. Yup, my entire crop.

I refuse to blame this on my actual farming skills, however, and choose to blame it on (1) the unbearable hellish heat in coastal Georgia, and (2) the "soil" in Savannah, which is really nothing more than damp sand.

So this shall be an interesting experiment!

I found it really fun today, digging rows and planting seeds, pulling weeds, etc. I had some more boxes to unpack, but we really needed to get the seeds in the ground asap!

So here is our garden!

Ok, so it's a plot of dirt, but it WILL be a garden as soon as some of the seeds sprout!!

Note, my Aunt Betty's corn is already up and growing and putting my little seeds to shame thus far:

We'll give it a few weeks and see how our little seeds are growing!