From the windows to the four layers of wallpaper

I thought I could start this post with a quick history lesson about wallpaper.

After a few Google searches, I was bored and decided maybe I could find a funny story about wallpaper. Naturally, I searched presidents and wallpaper. I could just imagine Obama and Michelle having a comical tiff about decorating. I chuckled and did some impressions in my head.

Shocker, no such story existed.

But when you Google presidents and wallpaper the first entry is a link which leads to photos of Ronald Reagan on a velociraptor and Abe Lincoln on a grizzly bear.

Now you don’t have any wallpaper history facts, and I wasted 25 minutes of my life researching funny wallpaper stories.

So I will just say we started a project a few weeks ago. The dining room was covered in wallpaper, and we removed it.

The plan is to paint it green, use our large table and have a nice place to entertain. (Who wants to come for dinner?)

I really like these colors.My friend recommends Sherwin-Williams paint. Thoughts?

Michael purchased a scorer and chemicals. 

Chemical we used to get the paper down.

It came off easily at first. Then we realized there were multiple layers - make that four layers of wall paper! The hardest part was cleaning up the little piece of paper and the sticky glue.

What a mess!

Look! I'm helping too. 

It was four layers of paper!

They said they wanted to watch us. 

Everyone pitched in.

The funny thing about working with people on labor intensive projects is you see their true colors.

Michael kept at it. He is determined and a pretty laid back guy. Mamaw and Papaw just jumped in – they are always helpful. Me, I was restless. I just wanted it done. It took four Saturdays!!! Four. I assumed it would take about four hours. I was wrong.

The girls are still at the age where chores are really fun. 

Sanding the walls. 

Get to work Madi!

Michael has fixed most of the gouges and sanded the walls. Needless to say I am ready to get my paint on.

It's ready for paint and a new light fixture. 

Nailed it

I remember the first meme I ever saw. It was a Pinterest fail about a cookie monster dessert. I laughed so hard and thought who on earth could be so bad at making something that looked so simple.

The first meme I ever read. 

But little did I know - I was that person. The person who saw great ideas on Pinterest and tried to recreate them but in the end would create an ultimate fail. (Good thing my kids are young and think glitter glue and googly eyes on construction paper is the ultimate craft.)

I am faux crafty and, to be honest, my cooking creations should really end up on one of those nailed it articles you usually read on Buzzfeed. I can’t help it. I hate reading and following directions on recipes.

But with the farm, I am determined to use the fruit and vegetable we grow as much as possible.

Luckily, there are mature fruit trees. My super impressive mother-in-law made jelly out of the sour cherries. And I wanted to follow suit and make something equally as delicious.

We picked apples from the trees. They aren’t really good to eat raw, but I figured if we added some butter and sugar to them, it would make a great dessert.

I had some action shots of the girls picking fruit, but I can't find them. Instead enjoy this artsy no filter photo of the apple tree at the farm. 

The girls helped me wash them. And after I promised we would make a pie, I realized I didn’t have all the ingredients. So we improvised and took my blueberry cobbler recipe and mixed it with an apple pie recipe I found on Pinterest and it turned out great!

They aren't pretty, but they have a great personality. 

She wore a rash guard so she wouldn't get her clothes dirty. 

Madi lives to mix batter. This is not a typo. She would cease to exist if I told her no to helping mix.

At this point I was nervous. It didn't look so great. 

Surprise! It was edible.

I’m pretty sure Martha Stewart won’t be reading this blog just wondering how I pulled this dessert off. But if any of you want to know, here is my recipe:

The throw it together apple dessert

Ingredients:

• ·         Apples
• ·         1 ¼ cups of Original Bisquick
• ·         ½ cup sugar
• ·         2/3 cup milk
• ·         Brown sugar
• ·         Butter
• ·         Vanilla
• ·         Lemon juice
• ·         Cinnamon
• ·         Salt
• ·         Butter

*Some of these have no measurements because I just eyeballed it.

1. Wash, peel and dice apples

2. Melt butter and brown sugar

3. Pour on apples, add a little lemon juice, salt, vanilla and cinnamon

4. In separate bowl mix Bisquick, sugar, milk

5. Combine apples and batter

6. Either use butter or spray to coat a pan, add batter, sprinkle brown sugar on top

7. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes.

8. Serve with ice cream if you're a sugar addict like me.

This is my confession

It’s time I let you in on a secret. I have never watched “Fixer Upper” with Chip and Joanna Gaines. It should be a show I would love, but I just don’t want to watch it. To be honest, it stresses me out.

We have a beautiful farm house that is a designer’s dream. My Pinterest board is brimming with ideas. But I am frozen like a deer in a headlight, and I have never been this way.

In the past, Michael and I would go to Lowes, pick up a few cans of paints we both agreed would be ok for our house and that would be it. But I am overwhelmed on what to do with the new house. 

Enjoy some photos of the house. Please tell me your ideas. And if you would happen to run into the Gaines - send them my way, and I will pretend to be their biggest fan while they redo my house for me. 

I would like to redo the entire kitchen. The walls are textured so they need to be smoothed. 

Gorgeous windows let the light in .

Kitchen leads into the dining room. 

My favorite piece of furniture. The previous owner left it there. This will go in the dining room. 

Laundry room.

Laundry room. Cute picture of my mom sitting on my dad's lap. Look I am wearing a romper. I basically look 5. 

This dining room had layers of wallpaper on it. I will tell you about it on my next post. 

This is the one room we've been working on. 

This will be the fancy living room. Look at the fireplace!

The house is full of original pieces like this door and check out the doorknob. 

I want to get a huge canvas and place it here. 

The girls love the doorbell. 

Seriously, I'm not buying Christmas presents. I'll tell them to go play with the doorbell. 

The family room, don't pay attention to the man on the chair. 

Man cave/workout room

View from the second floor. This looks like a painting. 

This is a landing between the bedrooms. We are going to make it a library. 

Abby's room.

Whoever painted the murals is very talented. But it's not really my taste  so they will go. 

Another mural in Madi's room.Why doesn't the giraffe have pants?

A big shout out to Heidi Perry for taking these photos. 

July Fourth Shin Dig

Get crunked up, get crunked up. Not really – it was a family party.

Michael started working on the chickens at 7 a.m. He is serious about meat. His brine includes vinegar, salt, garlic, oranges, pepper and sugar. It makes the chicken taste so flavorful. I think Bobby Flay might be jealous.

My contribution was chili cheese dip, which is cream cheese, chili and cheese. Simple and elegant, I know. But the crowd always goes wild for it.

120 water balloons, hundreds of dollars of fireworks and a slip-n-slide. We were ready!

Abby enjoying the slip-n-slide.

Everyone arrived and brought a dish to share. Some of the favorites included a cookie dough dip, corn salad and the chicken. Seriously, the chicken tasted like it came from a famous person’s bbq restaurant. The kid’s favorite was a blue noodle salad with red peppers and white chunks of cheese. God bless America!

Michael's famous chicken. 

The kids went crazy for the patriotic noodle salad. Notice my chili cheese dip?

I recruited my friend Kathryn to help me fill the water balloons. The water source is in the barn. I figured we could handle it – righty tighty, lefty loosey right? It was an old fashion pump! I had to use my body weight to pump it. (I won’t need my Y membership since I am going to get ripped living on a farm.) 

Madi earning her farm muscles while filling up water balloons. 

I’m sure you’ve seen the commercial for the water balloons you can fill in 60 seconds. It’s a pretty simple concept, but with the way the pump was attached to the wall the task was way more difficult than it should be. In the end, I managed to soak Kathryn.

Sorry friend. But thanks for your help filling up the balloons!

Whoops. But the balloons were filled.

Mass chaos ensued while I tried to organize 20 little kids. Thanks to Eric Becker (aka Drinks aka Mr. Frinks) for the help!

Classic water balloon toss.

Kids were running around the farm, men were playing corn hole, women were chatting and a bonfire had been started – it was a Norman Rockwell painting in the making.

I am curious if anyone completed a game. Several of the children would run by and steal the bean bags. 

As it got dark, we lit sparklers, threw snaps and pulled the confetti poppers. No one was injured, a small miracle.

Adult supervision of course. Safety first!

Then the men showed their American spirit by lighting fireworks. Again no injuries. But so many giggles. Not from the children mind you, from the men. Why is fire so exciting?

Our own personal fireworks show. 

Michael and I had so much fun. I can see this as a yearly tradition. But I need some better water balloon games. Any ideas?

Fun but exhausted after our party. 

From the Farmer

The family, including our dog Bailey. Photo by Heather Welch.

I grew up all over thanks to my father’s air force career. But wherever we were my mom always had some sort of garden.

One of my earliest memories was chasing rabbits out of one of my mom’s vegetable garden and she stepped out the back door and shot a running rabbit with a pellet gun at about 25 yards. The animal dropped mid jump.

Growing things is in my blood. My granddaddy had a farm in central Georgia. My other set of grandparents have had a jungle of a garden for as long as I can remember (and some of the best blueberries).

My grandaddy

There are generations of growers in my family. I also have generations of military service in my family. I am talking back to the Revolutionary War. (I feel like LT Dan in Forrest Gump when he describes his family).

I always wanted to be in the military, and I was. My time as a Navy corpsman was fantastic. I had it a lot easier than most but still experienced some very hard times. But I loved every minute of it. 

Coming back home after deployment in Iraq. Photo by Michael Smith. 

I did have troubles adjusting to civilian life and still do – just like a lot of my generation. I floated from job to job since I have been officially out and finished with college since 2010. I was searching for something more. Something to give me meaning. Something bigger than me. Something to be proud of. I have found that in this farm! It’s bigger than me. The farm is something I am proud to call mine. It’s a pride I have not felt since I put on a uniform. I love taking a head of lettuce or a bag of tomatoes and cucumbers to someone and their eyes light up with joy over something I did, I made. It’s how I want my daughters to grow up, giving to others. I want to feed the world with fresh, clean food. (Well maybe I’ll start with my family).

Luckily the farm already has some fruit trees and bushes. Photo by Heather Welch. 

PS- I want to give a shout out to the East Tennessee RC&D and the UT Extension for the support and the wonderful beginner farming class I took. If you are a farmer or thinking about farming take this class.

Picking blueberries. Photo by Heather Welch.