In my blog I plan to chat about nature, crafts, baking, gardening, beekeeping, family, and whatever else seems appropriate at the time. Sit back, relax, and enjoy!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Coral Belle Ta Dah!

If you want to check out old pictures of Coral Belle, you may do so
and here
and here
and here
 And
and here
and here! 

It'd be a lot to read, but just look at the pictures.  They show you the condition she was in when I got her.  It was in February of 2013 during a Winter Woolen Workshop weekend when I got her.  And it was at a Granny Bee meeting when Beth and a couple of Granny Bees kept telling me how perfect she would be for me.  A lot sure has changed since then.

And I'm not going to say it's been easy.  I even put her up for sale last year when I got so frustrated about stuff just sitting around here cluttering up the place.  But I changed my mind. And I'm so glad I did!
 Last year we moved her to her permanent location on the edge of our woods.
And this year.....
I asked my Shug to make a clearing in the spot right beside her.  There weren't any trees there...just weeds.  So when he had the tractor out, he cleared out this spot.  Then we went and got some rocks (we have a pile of them) and we made a little fire ring.  None of this stuff was ever done all at one time.  It was 20 minutes here, half hour there.
 
 


I was trying to find some outdoor chairs to purchase, when my Shug reminded me of this....
do you see it?
 See it now?
 
 and years ago we put

this on our land across the road to have a place to sit.  Only it got all rusty over there, and we don't sit on it anymore.  So my Shug brought it back on the tractor.
 We did some painting....(we like red, can you tell!)
 
 All of this stuff, including Coral Belle, in my opinion, are "Diamonds in the rough."  You have to see through the weeds, the messes, the rust.....
 
 And when you see through the rough..with A LOT of elbow grease....you get this!
 
  The baker's rack was a trash find.  I did a post on it a couple of years ago.
 The sink came out of a neighbors basement when we lived in town.  I put it in the potting shed at our house in town for years.  Then when we moved, it sat outside in the woods, like the gliders.  Of course water doesn't run from the faucet, but the sink would be perfect full of ice, and drinks.  
And we used it for a counter top Thursday night.
Yep...
Thursday night, for the first time in years I'm sure...
 CORAL BELLE HAD COMPANY THE ENTIRE NIGHT LONG!

But first, Mom and Dad came over and we all had dinner, then played poker, betting with candy!  
I know!
Actually, My Sister was teaching black jack and
Mom and Dad taught five card stud (does that sound right?  stud? I don't know)
It was fun though.
And apparently, they decided they were going to make goofy faces when I took pics.
 Fallish hats were donned...

 and we headed to the campsite.

Mom and Dad left after a little while...
 After hanging outside for awhile, we went in and played Monopoly.
Taylor decided there were too many leaves inside...
it is in a woods after all.  And I don't know about where you are from, but the leaves here are fire orange and falling down like snow!
My Shug ran an extension cord from the house to the campsite.
And don't forget about the chandelier I bought in Brown County!



We did put a bed in her.
and this table makes in to a bed.
 

And when Nikki (from The Vintage Farmhouse) sold the camper to me she threw in some things such as this cot my sister is sleeping on!

A good time was had by all....well, the girls complained quite a bit....But Molly (the dog) enjoyed jumping from one bed to the other the entire night long!
Lights out!

Good night everyone!!!!!


Cindy Bee

PS.  Breakfast!

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Yearly Brown County trip

Nashville, Indiana is an artist's colony.  This is some of the art right outside of the Visitors Center.


 Most of the stores and restaurants are in old homes or log cabins, so the entire town has a very warm and comfy feel to it.






 This clothing store below, Mulberry Cottage, is going to have a style show on Friday, November 13.  Sounds fun to me!

During the month of October, the weekends are packed in this area.  I'd highly recommend going during the week if it's at all possible.
This blue house/business is for sale if you know anyone looking for a business in an artsy touristy town.  It's right on the main street.  It's been cute shop for years but I'm thinking a combo B&B and shop would be awesome.

When you finish shopping....say for new shoes.....
or jewelry......

 or mocs....

You can go to the Daily Grind
and enjoy a sandwich or snack
or a latte'
or sit outside the Daily Grind in the courtyard
sporting your new hat!

This area of Indiana is very hilly and woodsy.  So we like to go driving through the country side and the month of October is a perfect time to do this.  First of all, this wonderful garden center has a lot of their plants marked down to half price.



 It's hard to see this chandelier (above) that I bought for Coral Belle, but you'll see it soon enough!
 Second of all, there are artist studio tours the entire month of October.  So, you go to the Visitor's Center and get a map of the studios then head out to the hills of brown county.  This is one of the studios.  He's a metalworker.  I think it's called Cox's metal works.  And they have this working water wheel.  Beautiful place.
 That was the only studio we made it to this year.  We had every intention of going to several of them but time got away from us.

We did find this along the roadside.  It's a huge cross
and there were jars with nails and pens and paper in them
 and you nailed your prayer to the cross.
 I thought it was very cool!
 The other thing you can do in Brown County is go to wine tastings.  This is Brown County Winery, and Chateau Thomas also has a tasting room in Nashville.


You can also go to the Brown County State Park, which is where we stay, and either driver though it, or hike (or bike ride or rent a horse!)  We saw this wild turkey while driving through the park.

Then a couple minutes later we saw an entire flock of turkeys!
I was taking a picture of this guy taking pictures of the turkeys when he turned and looked right at me!  Embarrassing!!!!!
Then we went for a hike through the park.  They have several trails from Easy,  Moderate, to Rugged.







They have family cabins, rustic cabins (below-where we stayed) and a lodge which is very nice.  The lodge has an aquatic center that you can use if you are staying in the park.  They also have horseback riding and bike trails.   And everything is within a few miles of each other.  I love spending a few days down here with my Shug every fall.

Do you have any places you visit on a yearly basis?

Cindy Bee