Sunday Rest Time is Best Time

Around the house today at the homestead is a little cleaning with a couple of tea breaks. Much, much needed as it's been months since I had the energy or time to do so. Getting it back in order for guests.

The curtains and linens are all washed up and fresh.

Friends are truly the best therapy. This is true.

But sometimes the introvert in me calls for alone time to recharge my batteries for the next week.

Pick a cup and your favorite flavor of tea.

The kettle is on

Miss Abbie is saving my place for me

and the needles are at rest to enjoy the day.

It's hot and humid here but the view outside is nice and green. Thank goodness for air conditioning and good window views.

and enjoy the quiet if you can to get some much needed recharge-rest for the week.

I hope you are enjoying this Sunday day of rest wherever you are. And most of all are at peace, happy, and healthy.

Matthew 11:28  "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest"

Happy 4th of July! Apple Cobbler recipe

Need dessert tonight?

Apple Cobbler

This recipe is a little different than my usual cobbler.

But it was a definite winner at our house today!

Whipping Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream is perfect a few  minutes out of the oven,

and, also the aroma of all the ingredients cooking for 30 minutes in the oven will please the crowd!!!

~~~~~~~~and it will definitely go fast so prepare in a 3 quart long oval casserole dish.

The cinnamon, vanilla and butter are awesome.

You will need to preheat the oven to 350 degree F

Take about 8 medium size apples or enough for 2 cups here or there chopped in medium pieces after peeling.

Sprinkle a good 1/4 cup of brown sugar all through the cut up apples and stir and let rest for a few minutes.

Grease a 2-3 quart glass long baking dish with olive oil

Take all the cut, brown sugar coated apples and place by hand in the cassserole dish.

Sprinkle about 1 tablespoon of cinnamon over the apples.

Then, with a mixer combine 1 egg and 1 cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup of milk well.

In another bowl, put dry ingredient of 1 cup of self-rising flour

Melt 2 tablespoons of stick butter in a small cup 

With the mixer and sugar, egg, milk combo, mix in flour, melted butter and 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

Continue mixing the batter. This batter will be thicker and will produce a cake-like moist cobbler.

Pour all the thick batter over the apples evenly. Do not worry if apples are still seen. The crust will rise around them.

Put in oven to cook 30 minutes.

Take out of the oven and let rest 5 minutes or 10 before serving warm.

Top with ice cream or whipping cream.

In this recipe, I substituted Lactaid milk with no problem or detection of tasting differently.

We are having barbeque chicken in the crock pot, 3 color spiral pasta/egg salad with fresh veggies, corn on the cob and biscuits!

I hope you enjoy and have a safe 4th!

Jennifer

Pink and So Very Precious Baby Blanket finished

Hey friends!

This past week still recuperating from shoulder surgery and PT but had to cancel out due to another corneal ulcer on my eye. Last time this happened and I got an amniotic tissue transplant was December 2015.

Seems the eye doc said this one is deep and my left eye with glaucoma already and a scar will always have the potential to just exfoliate, or have ulcerative keratitis.  So drops in my eye with a bandage now for 4 days. Then Wed will get another amniotic tissue placed on the eye which provides alot of immunity building proteins and will be absorbed by my eye. Amniotic tissue is nearly the same as corneal tissue. I'm so thankful there are donors and I hope and trust the tissue has been screened well for no transfer of any pathogens.

However, in the wait, I was determined to finish the baby blanket I started many months ago.

I also added two bows. Interestingly enough, I found my gauge when I started it before my shoulder surgery was tighter than it is now. I have not washed or blocked it.

It turned out to be 23 x 28 inches.

  just putting it over the top of  my baby grand piano.

The very first cast on was started Oct 30th in an ICU waiting room.

Knitting provided much needed stress relief.

For the bows, I used a tutorial HERE at this blog with a variate of a slightly larger size.

 Pink and So Very Precious Baby Blanket

designed by Feathers in the Nest (blanket only not the bows)

2017 copyright

Yarn:  Bernat Baby Softee in Pink

Simple bows designer referenced  For the bows, I went by a tutorial HERE at this blog with a variate of a slightly larger size.

This is a very simple beginner knit pattern that I may put in Ravelry. Will let you know if and when I do.

Craftsy.com has this yarn on sale NOW for the 4th. It's washable acrylic.
Check out the sale and get your color choices HERE

On the homefront today

We've had a ton of afternoon and nightly rains around here. Miss Abbie has found herself a hidey hole as we call it when storms are brewing by sliding under the sofa. I can't believe she fits under it but she does.

I couldn't get pics last night but I hope to when I can get our new guests all in a frame. Our cat Louise we had for a couple of years went missing in November. This left our male cat Jim Bob who is forever getting in fights. Well, right close to Christmas we had a stray, tiny and petite who looked identical as one of Jim Bob's descendants cruise over to see us and she stayed. We named her Noel.

Noel didn't get pregnant or we definitely would have been able to tell as she is a small cat herself; however, yesterday one by one, 3 kittens about 2 months old max came to eat with Noel. Seems they are all from a liter of somewhere but Noel watches over them like her own. They are definitely in that wild stage running and hiding up and down the side porch while Noel sits in a rocking chair and watches them pounce in the garden and through bushes.They are all variations of a cashmere gray coloring. The darker kitten Mr. Darcy named Stormy. The other two still having pending names. All three have perfectly white paws like they are dipped in paint.

The variations of gray and white with blue eyes are giving me ideas of a knitting project. :)

I can't believe July 4th is tomorrow! Here's hoping that you don't get rained out of the fireworks and have a good evening with the ones you love. Here in the North Georgia mountains, it's a steamy humid day. We have definitely had our share of evening rains.

Around the house on Mondays at the homestead is wash day. I got a little start yesterday but still have the sheets to do. I consider folding part of my at home shoulder exercises. :0

The Indian Mound in Sautee, GA near our home.

Till later,

Jennifer 

The Present Moment---A True Present

There is something uplifting about water of any kind. This is the view on our back porch. On a nice, sunny day here in the North Georgia mountains, I could stare at it for a long time. The thick green in the trees at this time of year nearly obscures the view; however, it really helps frame it if I look at it in a more positive way.

The temps here this week have been awesome. If only the weather could stay like this, right?
I thought that one morning when it was in the 60's at night and 75-80 in the day with little humidity.

Then I remembered how could I really appreciate this so much if there were no changes to really cold, dark, humid weather? Icy cold weather?  In reality, I wouldn't. We are pretty much conditioned this way to ebb and flow with change because change is the constant in life.

It's kind of like when I was a teen growing up. In June our church always had the youth group go up to Ridgecrest, N.C for music week camp. I think of that every year at this time because attending those camps yearly instilled the love of the mountains in my heart. It took me until I was 37 to finally move to the North GA mountains but it was always a hope.

After living here for a good while now, I have to remember not to take the beauty of where I live for granted. I'm reminded each time I go back to South GA. I may not always live here in the mountains. We really don't know where our life journey will take us but for me right now at this moment, I can enjoy the beautiful weather, fresh air, and nature's beauty here.

Being the introvert that I am, living in a place like this has it's benefits for sure. But will God have me stay here forever? I'm not sure on that. However, as I look at the pond below our house, I'm reminded gently to live for the moment because that is what I have.

So I'm going to take the moment of today and as I do that I'm hearing birds of all kinds singing, reminding me that if God takes care of the birds He will certainly take care of me.

I hope you are enjoying this Saturday with whatever helps you feel at peace.

Jennifer

Feathered Friends at the Homestead!

Well, let's go on down to visit Fox Mountain!

 I've seen a few wild turkeys since living in the woods but haven't housed an entire flock like this year.

They just hang out with the children........show 'em how to find food......

Yup, an entire flock of about 30 turkeys are in our yard/forest every morning and evening.

For the last month, we've watched them from the porches grow into a nice size family.

They kind of are like our pets now. And, no, we will not be shooting them for Thanksgiving dinner.

This one came up to hubbie within 5 feet and just stopped. And stared.

I  held my breath and so did Abbie in my arms. She didn't even bark one time, amazed at them all.

This is one of the Tom's. He always waits for all of the little ones, or large babies now, to gather up. He's on baby watch.

And man, does he and the hen have babies that have grown. And fast.

They like hanging out at our homestead here. Gives a new meaning to Feathers in the Nest.

And we enjoy their company.

We just have to make sure we don't back over a turkey every day now.

Hubbie has cleared out alot of areas and they are lovin' it.

After their visit, they all gather and fly up in the trees when the sun is setting.

I can't wait to show my daddy these pictures soon!

Don't mind me crossing the driveway here...........got to go find that one youngin' that stays behind!

I found some interesting facts about wild turkeys here:

http://blog.nwf.org/2011/11/twelve-unusual-and-fascinating-facts-about-wild-turkeys/

Ya'll have a gobbly-good evening!

Jennifer and Gary Fox

Fox Mountain

P. S. Some stitchy news coming soon........

The Nichols-Hardman House 1869---A Sampler in the Making!

 My creative mind never tires of ideas and places to go and homesteading in the mountains!  Alot of times, I don't have to go very far to find the absolutely stunning gems in the North Ga. mountains, valleys and hills.

I would like to share with you some pictures Mr. Darcy took this afternoon of the old Hardman House right here in Sautee-Nacoochee, Ga, very close to where we live in this beautiful mountain country we call home.  He drove by and stopped to take several pics of the gorgeous, absolutely stunning restoration of a home from the 1800's here. The house touring will start and open this week. He said he had to take the pics from the road. A couple of folks were there still working on the inside of it today.

 People from all over visit Helen, Georgia, the little town next to it all year long. 

The house was originally built in 1869-1873 by Captain James H. Nichols. Nichols actually served as a Colonel in the Confederate army, but was called, "Captain" by those who knew him well. The farm was sold in 1893 to Calvin Hunnicutt of Atlanta. He sold the farm to Dr. Lamartine G. Hardman in 1903. Hardman later served as Governor of Georgia 1927 - 1931.

Captain Nichols named Anna Ruby Falls after his daughter, Anna Ruby, which is a beautiful waterfall just a couple miles away. I think I have posted pics in the past of Anna Ruby Falls. 

The house has been in the process of restoration for several years so I'm excited when I drive by to see all the restorations in progress and almost to completion now.

The estate will be reopening this Thursday for tours. A lot of the furniture of Dr. Hardman still remains in the house.

This is the main house. Yup. Isn't it beyond beautiful? Would this not make a gorgeous sampler???????

 It was modeled architecturally in an Italianate style after Nichols' aunt's house in Milledgeville and he called it West End.  "An unusual feature of the porch is clustered columns. A scroll-saw railing encloses the porch. The arched entrance has double doors with sidelights carrying over in the form of a transom arched at the bottom and top".~~~ from Digital Library of Georgia.

This is a fountain to the right of the house.

This is a second house on the property.  Not sure right now, but we think it was a guest house or the home of the care taker of the property years ago.

Side view of the Hardman house

One of 15 farm buildings on the property

The left front side to the Summer kitchen

Three of the fifteen other buildings on the property

We can't wait to see what is inside this fenced in area.

All these pics are taken from the highway or outside of the property until it opens this week.

This is a close up pic of the Summer kitchen.

http://www.snca.org/bp/history/bldgHardman.php for more information on the grounds.

These pics intrigue me for a future sampler design. I can feel the birth of a new design to work on right now! So, somewhere down the road..........in the future, know that I will be recreating my take on this beautiful house.

#inspirationisrightatyourfingertips

I hope you have enjoyed these pics that Mr Darcy made this afternoon and when this site opens, for an inside tour, if they allow pictures, I will for sure be taking some detailed pics for the blog. I never thought of myself as loving history in school so much but as I get older, I really enjoy seeing something old, restored and valued just as before. 

A sampler of the entire property front, or including the Indian mound across the road.....just ideas now....... I do know that the first picture with the detail of the house would make a gorgeous linen sampler. The red roof, the white house and the shutters.

Of course, when the leaves change their beautiful colors in just a couple of weeks, my heart will be happy soaking in the views here. 

There's always, always, always, things to do at the homestead here and with working full time as a practitioner, I've been quite the busy one. However, I'm still clicking my needles at night and weekends, along with reading some good books and taking one room at the time right now week by week, cleaning out and redesigning our home for the two of us. I'm still on track with my 2014 goal to simplify.

I love to stay busy in my life, especially when I'm so blessed with a loving husband, a continuing career in women's health as an NP, and the love of needlework, homesteading, designing, music, and reading. 

~~~~~~~ And all of this started with a dream in my heart at age 10 in Ridgecrest, North Carolina with my church youth group. I said a little prayer to God that He would let me live in the mountains
when I grow up..........because literally each Spring when we traveled there and then again to Gatlinburg, Tennessee in the Fall with the church group, my heart fell in love especially during the Fall. 

Being raised in South Ga at the time and really not thinking that life would slow down enough for me to have that dream come true, I pushed it away until one day. One day, I made the move. God didn't share with me all the things I would have to go through to get my dream of a loving, kind husband, and a home in the mountains, and working in nursing but I can say it was all worth it in the long run. I know He watches me.

 If you are reading this and you have had dreams and prayers, please know even though it seems the impossible, with God all things are possible. It's the timing that makes the difference. He showed me through circumstances, some very surreal, what His promises hold in His timing, not mine. It's so good to know He loves us all unconditionally without rejection and judgement. After all, we are sons and daughters of a King.

I always appreciate all your comments, both private and public. They really do mean so much to me and have through the years. Have a Blessed Monday!

Best and Blessings,

Jennifer

A New Sampler and New Beginnings for Fall 2014

These past few weeks have gone by in a flash. I'm halting one area of work and have accepted an offer full-time in a medical practice that I'm excited about. During the past few weeks I've worked extremely hard in the area of home health, revisiting my years of home health from about 20 years ago. I learned alot, sweated alot, drove with my knee alot while answering the phone and managing cases with an office in the car, and frequented McDonald's dollar menu probably more than most!  I'm switching gears again as I have an excellent opportunity again as a women's health nurse practitioner and very excited to be back in the swing of things.

Thank you to all who have still hung out and followed my blog. I literally had to take a long break as I didn't have time really for any personal hobby time. I'm hoping this new position will put back the balance I need in my life back and also serve the community at my best.

Mr. Fox and I went to a farmer's market last weekend and had so much fun, enjoying  a Peach Festival. I wish I had photos but I don't :(

Anyways, I can share with you that all the kinds of peaches that were possible, were there!  We also had some homemade Peach ice cream and hot Peach pie. Along with some Jersey sweet peaches, I also got some fresh Romaine lettuce, carrots, lemons, sweet corn on the cob, honey, a loaf of cinnamon pecan bread, and squash. I already had so many tomatoes that kind folks had given me through the past 2 weeks and we have eaten our good share of tomato sandwiches. I LOVE fresh tomato sandwiches with lot of salt and pepper, mayonnaise (not the Miracle Whip stuff......yikes) and lettuce, and thick, peppered bacon.

I definitely will be back more frequently especially with the Fall coming up very soon. I can already feel it in the air at night here in the North Georgia mountains, the coolness, but still the days are warm.

With the coming of that little bitty nip at night in the air and visiting the farmer's market, I was inspired to design this little sampler for those getting out their Fall decor, or who would like to add a pillow keep/pinkeep to their kitchen wood bowl of ornies. There's just nothing like the smell of Apple Cider and to have a warm cup of it with your sweetheart in the cool Fall Days coming up soon. Apple Cider is definitely a staple at the Fox homestead during the Fall and Winter here.

I hope you enjoy! Thank you so much for respecting copyright. I so appreciate it. Nothing fancy here, just a simple sampler for Sunday. But, sometimes simple is better to me.

Apple Cider 

designed by Jennifer Ann Fox

Feathers in the Nest

copyright 2014

70 x 106~~~size

antique white or vintage linen of choice

recommendation for threads

Weeks Dye Works

Pumpkin

Hazelnut

Marigold

Gentle Art

Shaker White

  Here are a couple of photos from our yard/forest around the house with 2 beautiful deer that come around the house regularly. We have named the buck-------Buck.

We named the doe--------Buttercup.

We saw Buck when he had only a little bit of antlers a long time back and now they have grown so much and he is getting a little heavier now. He still has the velvet on his antlers. Thank you to my DH for the photos.

Buck and Buttercup

Buck's picture was not taken with a closeup lens. DH was actually out right there with him and then after a couple of pictures, he just walked off slowly. They really are quite comfortable around the house.

The cats just sit in the porch chairs and watch them, not even chasing or making anything of it. Amazing.

I'm glad to have a couple of weeks off between jobs to get some things done around the homestead and go visit my parents. 

Mr. Fox's mother had surgery this past week as well as my dad. Yup, all in the same week.

Thankfully, they are both doing well. 

If you have any questions or comments or any topics you would like to be reviewed or explored in a blog post, please notify me at jenniferann_fox@yahoo.com. I'm always loving to here from you! And I'm always loving to write about needlework and/or encouragement on this journey.

Today we watched two really good movies on Amazon Prime for free and popped some corn from the farmer's market with oil in a large pot on the stove. It was really tasty! One of the movies was The Cider House Rules..............ironically.

Till later,

Jennifer

New Release! Winter Joy sampler No 2 Monday Mini

I designed a number 2 Monday mini sampler this weekend, and then model stitched it. It's progress is here!

 

 

Winter Joy

Monday Mini No.2

designed and stitched by Feathers in the Nest

copyright 2013

for sale

$2.00

e-pattern only

 

the pattern has backstitching, cross stitching and half stitches

the linen~~ 30 ct Coconut Macaroon from Lakeside Linen

Gentle Art threads

design is approximately 3 x 3 inches finished

 

I pulled these goodies from my stash and the trim I found and have had for oh so long but now can use. I'm still thinking on what size and more precise finishing today. The trim is from a major reduction pile probably at Walmart or Hobby Lobby. I heart, oh so much, the return rack for fraction of the cost at Walmart.

When I'm done, I'll show you the finished product. I believe the fabbie is from Moda, one from a Layer Cake set for Christmas. As I do not quilt, this size makes the perfect backing for a stitching project.

 

If you haven't seen Number 1 Monday mini, it's free to you if you scroll back to last Monday. I still need to stitch it up too. If you stitch any of these, please feel free to share and send to:

 

feathersinthenest2013@yahoo.com

 

If you would like the E-pattern sent to you by email in pdf format, please email me at the above address and I will send to you with a payment of only 2.00!

I use Paypal only please.

 

Around the homestead this morning, it's quiet and serene, with nature right off the back porch.

A doe. A deer. A female deer.............................

Three of them actually.

And a redhead woodpecker this morning.

Today is a cloudy, cold wet day. Yesterday, was actually a partly sunny day and Mr. Darcy got some downed trees cut for firewood.

Well, off to finish the leftovers of leftovers for lunch. Our 11 pound turkey is finished. I can't believe we ate that in about as many forms of eating as you can for 4 days. I made a Turkey Pot Pie last night and it was really good! Good comfort food.

I hope your weekend went well. A good start to the week ahead! In fact, it's December already and I can't believe where this year went by.

Till later,

Jennifer