Posts tagged life with the tuttles

And we’re back!

We took an unintentional technology hiatus when our camera and computer went kaput (Come to think of it… our microwave and vacuum also died around the same time.  What is going on here in this little cabin?)  Anyway… with a new camera thanks to Santa (aka Kraft family) and a new computer, we’ve come out from under our rock and have plugged ourselves back in.  While we were away from the interwebs, we read a lot of books, played a lot of games, ate a lot of soup, took a few trips to Chattanooga, played in the snow and went for hikes when the sun decided to come out.

Tell us, what have you been up to?   

The days will always and forever start with an over-excited Dolly.

And then…

Breakfast and a little stroll around town.  Getting cozy on the couch.  Granola-making.  Our tomatoes that just won’t quit.

And finishing off the grey day on the porch, watching the (little bit of) light fade.

While this was going on…

This was also going on…

Extreme grilling meets extreme bubble chasing.

(Psst… Being married to Kaylon is fun.)

This weekend is going to be HOT.  I think a trip back to the falls and a dip into the river is going to be in order.  Hopefully that snake has slithered on its merry way.

Oh and also, this will be happening:

Do it!  It’s so delicious!

Have a good weekend!

Our Saturday looked like this.

We went down the street to the annual Rhododendron Festival and didn’t see a single rhododendron, but tons of day lilies, artists and musicians.  We always walk away from art festivals with tons of inspiration and lofty goals of finishing all those little projects that are scattered around the wee cabin.

We ended the day at the drive-in.  We LOVE the drive-in.  Sitting in your car, being able to talk and look at the stars and fireflies, sneaking in a bottle of wine.  And being able to comfortably fall asleep through movies you don’t like.  It’s the greatest.

This weekend we took a little trip to see Megan’s mom in the North Carolina mountains.  She spends summers there work camping at a dude ranch.  It’s a pretty magical place surrounded by mountain views, wildflowers and horses (obviously).

We spent the day hiking to Crabtree Falls and spent the night by the fire pit.  And in between we drove around to all the surrounding small towns, stopping into cafes and bookstores and junk shops meeting the locals.  We can’t wait to go back.

We hope all the moms had a great Mother’s Day!

photos:

- an afternoon hike to climb some rocks.

- twenty dollars well spent at the farmer’s market.

- a drive down country roads.

- Art At The Barn art festival at Sweet Seasons Sheep Farm (baby sheep!!!  squeal!!!)

All that, plus the usual… lots of knitting, lots of reading, lots of front porch sitting, lots of painting, lots of gardening and yard work, lots of coffee and lazy mornings.  Lots of all of those little things that make our life a simple yet blissfully satisfying one.

How was your weekend?

Yesterday was a baking day.  We have those every now and then, though not as often as we’d like.  There’s just something so good about knowing that your loaf of bread has just it’s five simple ingredients:  water, yeast, flour, salt and sugar as opposed to a long list of ingredients that includes things like ethoxylated diglycerides and azodicarbonamide.  Am I right?  And warm, fresh bread is just so tasty.  (Evidenced by the big chunk missing out of the photo above.  Mmmm.)  

We’ve been thinking more about the food we eat lately.  I think this happens to us every Spring.  The colorful veggies that show up at the farmer’s market and the tiny green stems that peek out of our garden around this time make us wonder why  we’re buying food that contains so much non-food-like ingredients.  Real good food is tasty on it’s own.  Purchase a few simple ingredients, throw them together and voila!  A fresh, tasty meal!

photos: whole wheat crackers, beignets (which are actually fried, not baked, and not at all good for you but very delicious so it’s good for the soul, yes?), nut and seed granola [recipe here], and tasty bread.

This is Neighbor Chicken.

She trotted up our walkway from her home across the street to say hello.  We came out to visit with her on the front porch.  She clucked, we listened.  We chatted, she cocked her head to the side.  And then…

CHICKEN ATTACK!!!

Apparently Neighbor Chicken likes to make herself right at home.

This is Brown Betty.

She’s one third of our backyard chicken flock.  She is the smartest chicken we know.  Granted we don’t know very many chickens but this one willingly hops into the chicken tractor to be locked up at night (unlike the others that we have to chase and catch), she calmly hops up onto the highest point of the fence when there’s any sign of danger ie. our monster dogs running by on their evening walk (unlike the others that run around aimlessly, clucking their little chicken heads off) and she is apparently a brilliant escape artist.

We occasionally catch her outside the fenced off chicken area roaming the garden plot during the day.  We simply scoot her back inside the fence.  No problem.  Except…  She’s been laying her eggs during her mid afternoon stroll around the yard.  We know this because her eggs are green and the other eggs are brown.  We’ve been collected the brown eggs everyday, but the green ones are nowhere to be found.

Yesterday we went out to pick some lettuce for sandwiches (our first pick of the year!) and we spotted them.  Those green eggs…

Almost a week’s worth of eggs under an old park bench.  I guess it’s time to make a pound cake.

We just got back from a bike ride.  We rode up to the falls and tried to capture the beauty that has taken over the mountain to share with you all.  Mountain laurel is EVERYWHERE and don’t you love the almost blooming rhododendron clusters?  They look like little artichokes dipped in purple paint!

What are you up to this weekend?  We’re about to go down the mountain for happy hour.  Tomorrow we’re hitting up the farmer’s market and a plant sale.  And there’s a new art gallery opening in our tiny town tomorrow that we’re really excited about.  We’ve heard that it’ll have a little coffee shop and a stage for live music.  Woo hoo!

Have a great weekend!

It was a lazy weekend

…of reading in the orchard and playing with the backyard chickens.

…of going to the farmer’s market with our pal Dee-dee’s market bag (thanks Dee-dee!) to pick up delicious smelling homemade soap, some bok choy, and a ton of strawberries among other goodies.

…of having strawberry shortcake for lunch (and probably for dinner tonight, mmmmm).

…of going to the park and watching Megan act ridiculous.

A pretty great low key weekend, I’d say.

Last night we had a thunderstorm.  Matilda hates thunderstorms.

She used to hide up under our bed, but then we got a low platform bed that she can’t get under.  So then she would hide in our closet, but then we took the doors off.  Now she’s got no where to hide.  

So last night I put a blanket over her to stop her from shaking so much.  She kept the blanket on and went over to the corner to try to hide behind the guitar cases.

Poor thing.