The Secret is Out

Want to know how one gets moved into a new house and unpacked (for the most part) in 2 months? The following photo will provide a clue:

Ol' No. 7 to the rescue

No, the answer isn’t "throw back a few belts of Jack Daniel’s"!  The answer is: volunteer to host a brunch for 10!

Whew. What was I thinking? I don’t know, but when the suggestion was made at our October supper club dinner to make the November gathering a brunch, somehow or other my hand went up when the leader of our group asked “so, who wants to host a brunch the Sunday before Thanksgiving?”

(That reminds me of something my Daddy used to say about his Army basic training days: if someone asks for volunteers, take two giant steps backwards! Of course, he rarely followed his own advice. Need someone to head up the Dixie Youth Baseball League? Sidney will do it. There’s no one to be president of the Ripley High PTA? No problem...Sidney will do it! But I digress.)

I honestly thought that this was a time-delimited incentive to make the mountain of boxes in the main living areas disappear and all the stuff contained inside get in its proper place. And, since I have neither a wand nor a book of spells, I didn’t really believe the stuff would magic itself to the most logical location...but wouldn’t have minded one bit if Hermione Granger had popped in any time during the month-long ordeal.

Actually, we had 5 weeks and two days to get our house ready to receive guests. Piece ‘o cake, right? Right. First things first: make a list...one each for Mr. T and me, and one for things in general. Soon, each list had a sub-list, which spawned sub-sub lists, and...well, you get the picture. Each morning over coffee, we would discuss what we needed to do that day...and then have another cup. And another. Hey, they are now saying there are definite health benefits to drinking 3-4 cups of coffee a day, right? Right!

But I digress...again. Oh yes, so many times...in so many ways. You see, having deadlines was bumping into one of the things we are enjoying about retirement: NOT having deadlines.

Anyway...

I am pleased to report that we actually managed to pull it off! Boxes were cleared out* (for the most part...if you don’t count Mr. T’s office), pictures were arranged on walls, and personal touches appeared here and there...and before you could say ‘wingardium leviosa’** stuff seemed to be flying into the proper places. 

7-Up Biscuits

Mr. T cleaned the outside, front and back, of all the leaves that our trees were now contributing to the landscape, along with sprucing up the siding near the front door. We moved furniture around (I know, I know...we haven't been here long enough to be moving furniture!) as we wanted to accommodate 10 people in our cozy house: the Library gained a table and shed its comfy reading chairs to become the Dining Room (which is what it was originally designed for) and the Great Room became the repository of all the chairs so everyone would have a spot to sit and sip their mimosas.

The hosts usually provide the beverages (we set up a mimosa bar for starters, and then had strawberry-mint infused water along with coffee for the meal) and the main course (we had Bourbon-and-brown sugar-basted ham***...hence the Jack Daniels!)...and because breads are kinda my thing, 7-Up biscuits****. 

Others brought an egg casserole, grits casserole, fruit salad, and a dessert. Then we popped some Fall Crackers (you know, like the Brits have at Christmas...only these had a Fall theme), read the riddles, and wore the paper crowns. Thankfully the meal was tasty, the day was loads of fun, and we introduced Loganville to several Athens-area couples who hadn’t ventured this far out “in the country” before. 

Here are some photos Mr. T snapped of the house before the guests arrived:

Mimosa Bar in Foyer

Coffee Bar in Kitchen

Table in Breakfast Room

Table in Dining Room (aka: Library)

Great Room (aka: "Chair Room!")

After such excitement in our lives, we were more than grateful to be able to spend a quiet, non-traveling Thanksgiving in our new (and newly-unpacked!) home. Missy M and grand-dog Ella Rae spent a couple of nights with us, and it was just about perfect...the warmer than usual weather being the only odd thing of note.

And now, we can relax, right? 

Wrong! With Christmas fast-approaching, we have unpacked many of the remaining boxes in the attic in order to decorate the house. Candles are in the windows, Santa Nutcrackers are at their posts, and the Christmas china that Daddy gave me 30 years ago when he was working at Central Hardware is on the table. We sold our five-year-old 9’ lighted tree, and then bought a 7 1/2’ one for 75% off in the after-Christmas sales last year...it was still in the original box even, making it easy to set up in the great room...along with a smaller one for my traditional Sheep Ornament tree (which is now set up in the window of the floored-but-unfinished attic room over the garage...looking for all the world like we set it up in an upstairs den!). The outside light display is more subdued (as we seem to have shed ourselves of many strands of lights), but we still have Mom ‘n Pop Reindeer on the lawn. And, although our nutcracker collection was greatly diminished by being such a popular item in our NC moving sale, we have enough “mens” left to populate the mantle...and then some. I'll upload those pictures into my next blog post.

Oh my, can I say that it looks a lot like home here now? Our home. Where our hearts are...and our boxes aren’t...for the most part.

And, to think, it’s all because I volunteered to host a brunch. 

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*Most of our boxes will live on in our soon-to-be-constructed kitchen garden and compost bins. Cardboard is like gold to a gardener!

**the levitating charm from Harry Potter. 

***Bourbon and Brown Sugar Ham (from Southern Living, accessed at   http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/brown-sugar-bourbon-glazed-ham):

Ingredients

• 1 (6- to 8-lb.) fully cooked, bone-in ham
• whole cloves
• 1 (16-oz.) package light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup spicy brown mustard
• 1 cup Coca Cola soft drink
• 3/4 cup bourbon (or in the case of a Tennessee native...sipping whisky!)

How to Make It

Step 1:  Preheat oven to 350°. Remove skin from ham, and trim fat to 1/4-inch thickness. Make shallow cuts in fat 3/4 inch apart in a diamond pattern.

Step 2:  Insert cloves in centers of diamonds. Place ham in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch pan (I used the large Le Creuset roaster). Stir together brown sugar and next 3 ingredients; spoon mixture over ham. (I reserved 1/2 of the mixture to serve heated with the ham.)

Step 3:  Bake at 350° on lowest oven rack 2 hours and 30 minutes, basting slowly with pan juices every 15 to 20 minutes. Remove ham from oven, and let stand 20 minutes before slicing, basting occasionally with pan juices. (I cooked the ham the day before, cooled it enough to refrigerate overnight, then heated it in the oven on 275).

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****7-Up Biscuits (accessed at http://allrecipes.com/recipe/238379/easy-7-up-biscuits/)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 4 1/2 cups baking mix (such as Bisquick (R))
• (I add 1 T baking powder for a high-rise biscuit)
• 1 cup lemon-lime soda (such as 7-Up(R))
• 1 cup sour cream                                         

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Put butter in a 9x13-inch baking dish (I use round cake pans) and place dish (pans) in the preheating oven until butter is melted.
2. Mix baking mix, lemon-lime soda, and sour cream together in a bowl until dough holds together and is sticky. (I add the extra melted butter to the bowl of my cuisinart with the dough blade, then put the wet ingredients in first followed by the baking mix along with 1 T baking powder). Turn dough onto a floured work surface and roll into 1-inch thick circle (NEVER overwork any biscuit dough, this one included: turn it 4-5 times in the additional flour then pat it into the circle). Cut circles out of dough using a cookie cutter or the rim of a wine glass (dipped in some extra flour) and place in pan in which you melted the butter.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until biscuits are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove dish from oven and let stand until biscuits have absorbed all the butter. (I brush butter over the tops of the biscuits for softer crusts).

Slowly* But Surely

As Maggie, our GPS-controlled voice would say "we have arrived!" 

Of course, once the moving vans left, the next Big Job on the To Do List bubbled up: unpacking. Sure it's tough, but there is no time limit on this one. Missy M asked "are you setting yourself goals, like 'unpack 10 boxes every day'?" Uh...no...we are retired**, dear, so our schedule is our own.

The only real "goal" I have is to make this house feel like our home as quickly as possible. That, and to get out of the "moving mode" into the "settling in mode" by getting our things in place in the new place. Every time we have moved (19 times in 41+ years!), I am reminded of a quote from my favorite John Wayne movie, "The Quiet Man"...said by the marvelous actress Maureen O'Hara in character as Irish lass, Mary Kate Danaher: "Ever since I was a little girl, I dreamed of having my own things about me. My spinnet over there, and a table here, and my own chairs to rest upon. And a dresser over there in that corner, and my own china and pewter shinin' about me." *** Having my own things about me...I can definitely relate to that!

I recently re-read a post **** I wrote on the occasion of settling in after our last move (MO to NC in 2009), where I talked about returning to the blessed routine of doing laundry. Guess what? Nothing has changed! Well, the machines are newer, but we still have focused on getting the laundry room operational as quickly as possible. And I thought you might like the new addition: a decal I purchased from Sign Junkies on Etsy, pictured below. Messaged the photo to Brother J, who asked if I would charge myself 25 cents per load, as Daddy had back in the Henning days...or if there had been a price increase due to inflation? Ha!

Speaking of my Daddy...

I unpacked a box of pictures yesterday and found this one. I cross-stitched (back when my eyesight was much, much better...;-) this saying as a Christmas gift for Daddy in 1988, when he and Nana/Momma/Edith lived in Smithville, TN, and we had moved to Kernersville, NC. On the back side of the frame was a picture Mr. T snapped when Daddy opened the present. He loved the gift...and the saying. I love that we decided to keep this one.

Speaking of Christmas...

Another good thing about this huge chore of unpacking: since we haven't seen a lot of our stuff that has been packed since last Fall (just before the NC Estate Sale held in mid-October 2016), each box-opening is akin to Christmas morning: "Ooh...aah! I couldn't remember if we kept this or not!"

So, where are we in the process? Well, we've opened, emptied, knocked down, and recycled most of the boxes in the main living areas as well as our bedroom and the two bathrooms. We have placed most of the furniture where we think it should go (except...I now know the china cabinet needs to be moved from one wall to another...sigh); the rugs and their liners are on the floors (which does wonders for that awful echo created by an empty structure); clothes, cleaning supplies, and cookware are all finding the cabinets and closets where they will live here on Kings Way; and we are figuring out the science of stuffing 20 pounds of potatoes into a 10# sack (still? didn't we already get rid of a mountain of belongings?!?).  We now understand the art of downsizing a bit better: it's a two-step process, meaning you shed all the things you think you can live without...and then you buy a smaller house and figure out what will fit and what else is no longer classified as "essential"...and let go of that, too. Big Sigh.

After taking some time out to tend to yard work (in our yard as well as Missy M's...since she's taking a well-deserved break at the beach this week), Mr. T has started on his office and got the laptop and the air printer set up and connected to our wireless network. He spent most of yesterday installing towel bars, toilet paper holders, and other items required to be level, plumb, and straight. After getting the kitchen and laundry up and functioning, I will be starting on my office/craft room/guest bedroom (whew...it's a small room which has to wear many hats!). That should keep me busy.

Oh, and when we run out of things to do in the house, there's always the garage and the attic. "No rest for the wicked, and the righteous don't need none."*****

Slowly but surely, it is coming together. And you know what? We couldn't be happier.

Surely. 

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* Slowly...: Since my days as a Rosette at Mississippi University for Women, I have collected turtles, the symbol of doing things "slowly but surely." Only...that is contrary to my character, as I have never been blessed with that ability. My natural inclination has always been to be going 90 (at which pace one rarely does anything "surely") or nothing (at which pace one rarely does anything!). The whole turtle collecting thing came about as a result of a misinterpretation: as pledges, we were learning a club song called "Bond Eternal," which is sung fast...making the words run together. "Bond Eternal" sounded like "Bonnie Turtle" to me...and a tradition was born when, for my asking 'why were we singing a song about a turtle?,' I got the honor of creating, carrying, and introducing to all a pink and silver (Rosette colors) papier-mâché turtle called Bonnie.

** About being retired: Someone recently asked Mr. T if he liked being retired, to which he responded "I'll let you know as soon as I get to experience it." Ahem. It has been a less-than-leisurely 18 months, hasn't it?

*** About The Quiet Man: Not only was this my favorite John Wayne movie, it was also said to be Maureen O'Hara's favorite role and film. When we went to Ireland in 2008, Mr. T and I were determined to find locales where they made the movie, and we did! We were thrilled to discover and cross over The Quiet Man bridge, located 5 miles past Oughterard, on the N59 heading west. Here are the photos:

**** About that post from 2009: check it out here: http://adsit2.blogspot.com/2009/06/routine-blessed-routine.html

*****About that quote: That's what Uncle Billy always said in Jan Karon's Mitford Series. Love those books by a North Carolinian about North Carolina.

Master Disaster to Devine Design

It was a dark and stormy night. No wait...it was really rather calm and quiet in the wee hours of a Wednesday morning. Anyway. She and her faithful hounds were sound asleep on the king-size bed, lulled into dream-land by the whirring of the fan, for once not fighting for either territory or covers.

Suddenly, they were jarred from peaceful slumber by a wrenching, ripping, cracking sound, followed by a tremendous thump. Then, all was silent.

What the ^%$$ was that?!? Jolted from a deep sleep, I couldn't quite get my bearings at first. Was that sound in a nightmare? Or, did I really hear something? Better investigate. With the faithful and equally befuddled Duchess in tow (Gus was still sound asleep on the bed...never heard a thing...and Mr T was out-of-town, so he didn't hear it either), I first checked the deck to see if a tree had fallen on the house. No, that wasn't it. Then, I tiptoed down Mom's hall to see if she had possibly fallen while getting up in the middle of the night...and taken down her nightstand in the process. No, wrong again. What could it be?

Upon checking the master closet, I found the source of the sounds. The closet had collapsed, off the wall. Completely collapsed. I kid you not...every thread of clothing that Mr. T and I owned was in a pile...in a heap...on the floor. The wire shelving that the previous owners had used just couldn't support our clothes...and shoes...and other stuff. What a gigantic mess! Nothing to do but climb back into bed, pull the covers over my head, and pray that the closet fairies would fix it all by daylight.


No such luck.

Fortunately, for me at least, after a couple of weeks of dressing out of wardrobe boxes which we stationed in the dining room, Mr. T took over this project and wrangled it to a happy conclusion. He designed us a new master closet, complete with lots of shelves and cubbies and hanging space, and built it all...pretty close to how he designed it. Oh, there were a few words uttered in the heat of the moment, usually after he discovered that a shelf wasn't the exact length he wanted...followed by him muttering "that's why they tell you to measure twice and cut once." But, all-in-all, it's a fabulous improvement over what we had. (I can take zero credit for this one, as I would scamper away at the first sign of dust...terrified that I'd repeat my prolonged bout of bronchitis of earlier this year...and, I must say that re-doing a closet is one dusty project indeed.) Check out the photos (mid-way and after...I didn't have the heart to take a picture of the "before").



Meanwhile, the unpacking process continues. I have finally unpacked all of the Cat's Meows...I think. You see, the movers didn't pack them all together...no, that would have been way too logical. They packed them in whatever space they could fit them in...a few in this box, a few more in that box. Since I have over 200 of these little collectible houses, you can imagine that I didn't take too kindly to having to go through so many boxes to find them all. Oh well. I've been putting them up on the door jams and window sills, all around the house (see photo, left, for the view into the foyer from the great room). Before you ask, yes...I do find that I have to use this sticky stuff called Happy Tack to keep the houses from falling from their perches. Although that still happens sometimes, anyway. We call it "Falling Real Estate!" And, let me tell you...those little blocks of wood can hurt if they score a direct hit on your head! (Voice of experience.)

As I said in a previous post, we got the curtains up in all of the rooms, so it doesn't sound so hollow when you walk through the house on the hardwood floors. In addition, the quilts and quilt racks went up this past weekend...which means the house is really starting to feel like our home.

Just a Trifle

I cannot believe that I missed such a perfect opportunity. Last Thursday, N/M/E had 3 of her bestest NC friends over for their first bridge day since she's been back "home." And, all I got a picture of was the dessert! Yep, I snapped some shots of the Berry Trifle that I'd made for their special dessert (left)...and then I headed out the door without taking any photos of the ladies. Drat. I don't know where my head was, but it certainly wasn't on the business at hand.

Anyway, the Berry Trifle was really easy to make...actually, a better word would be to "assemble." I bought an Angel Food Cake Loaf at Harris Teeter's and sliced it into thirds lengthwise, then sixths widthwise...making nice, even-sized cubes of cake. I capped most of the strawberries in the quart container, leaving four of the prettiest with their caps on. These I dipped into sugar to "frost" and saved for later; the rest I sliced into bite-size chunks into a mixing bowl. After washing a pint of blueberries and a pint of blackberries, I mixed half of each together with the strawberries (save the rest of the berries for the top layer, added last); added a couple of tablespoons of Apricot Brandy; and tossed with 1/2 cup of sugar. In another bowl, I beat a pint of whipping cream until fluffy, adding a teaspoon of vanilla and 1/4 cup of sugar at the very end for flavor. Lastly, in still another bowl, I mixed up a large box of instant vanilla pudding mix with 3 cups of cold, whole milk.

Time to assemble! I put a layer of cake cubes in the bottom of my trifle bowl, then a layer of the sugared berries, followed by a layer of pudding. Repeat. Cover with the whipped cream, all the way to the edge of the bowl. Seal with Saran Wrap and let rest in the refrigerator overnight. Then, before serving, I topped the trifle with the rest of the berries, and sprinkled with some sugar. Pretty to look at...tasty to eat!

N/M/E said they all had a fun time, and that they plan on making the get-together a regular thing. They are hoping to find a restaurant where they can play bridge and eat lunch and play bridge and drink coffee and play bridge...well, you get the picture.

So, where did I dash off to while the ladies were playing bridge? I said that I needed to go be with my own kind...so, I headed out to the yarn shop. On the way, I ran an errand and snapped this shot of the Big Bureau in downtown High Point (right)...they've added the socks hanging out of the drawer since we were here in '97. I had hoped that they were actually knitted, but no such luck. Too bad. I also noticed that the building that this giant furniture facade hides is for sale...wonder what it will become? We'll see...

Speaking of furniture (were we?)...Mr. T and I did some rearranging of bookcases and unpacking of some more boxes this weekend. We found the boxes with the curtains and the drapery hardware inside, so I spent most of Sunday starching and ironing the creases out of the long-packed material, and he spent most of Sunday getting our windows adorned. My goodness, it's amazing how much curtains make windows look finished.

Speaking of knitting (were we??)...I'm slowly getting all my knitting projects rounded up and organized. I found a pair of socks I was knitting...only, I couldn't locate the pattern. Fortunately, I'd made a note of the pattern name on the yarn wrapper, and I traced the book back to Missy M's house...so she was able to read me the pattern over the phone. I also have another pair of socks on the needles, but that particular pattern is beastly...I cannot use it to sit and relax after a day of unpacking, etc. As a matter of fact, I can only tolerate 2-3 rounds at a time on this pattern...I'll write more about it when I've finished it. I will eventually get everything back in order so that I can just pick up a project when I sit down to watch some television...but I'm not there yet. And, I'm not ready to start reporting on my Finished Objects just yet, either. Later.