Cecil Aldin Prints in the Dining Room

Since Charlie was born we haven't done much around the house besides general cleaning and up keep. But there has been this one area of the dining room that has been bothering me. It needed some art the appropriate size. We had been filling in with awkward sized paintings and prints for the last year and a half or so.

My grandmother had these prints in her den that I always loved. When she died my uncle got them and I started searching eBay for some just like them. I bought my first print in February or March. The second one I ordered in August or September. They were different sizes and in different tones, but that's okay.

I had them reframed into the same frame and I love how they turned out.

I purchased the (fake) fern at our church's bookshop. It might be a little bit big, but it's not bothering me right now. I need to restyle the demi table with different books and maybe different frames. I'm not sure yet. But for now I am happy.

Authenticity

At church and in Bible study recently we've talked a lot about being authentic and honest. How we put a version of our best selves up on Facebook and social media. We think that others live this perfect life based on what we see, but often don't know the pain and sin behind those photos.

So in honor of "keeping it real" or being authentic, here are a few honest truths:
- I didn't want to shower this morning so I put in some dry shampoo and called it a day.
- Yesterday Charlie and I wore our jammies all day. And it was awesome.
- After bible study this morning he fell asleep in the car, so we spent about 15 minutes sitting in the drive way while he napped. Listening to Motown hits, checking in on social media guilt free since he was sleeping, and snacking on the extra snacks.
- There are leaves all over our house. Sometimes I hate fall.
- I have no idea what I'm going to do with that pint of cherry tomatoes on my kitchen island.
- My baby ripped a page out of our bible the other day. I used packing tape to put it back together.
- We've run out of laundry detergent. All dirty clothes, wash clothes, towels, and sheets will just have to wait until I get to the store and make some more. I'm thinking sometime by the end of the week?
- The shirt I'm wearing, my favorite shirt, has some loose buttons and sometimes they come unbuttoned. The nursery workers got to see my bra this morning. You're welcome.

Let's try to keep it real, you guys, and stop judging one another.

State of the Blog Address and a Poll

I've had this blog for 8 years now. 8 YEARS! That's kind of a long time in blogging years. I've contemplated making this a serious, hopefully money making endeavor, but never really took it to that level. Mainly because I know that it would take a serious investment in both time and money and I've never been ready to take that plunge. But I still keep it up. Mostly for myself. I enjoy looking back and seeing what we did and what I was thinking over the years. I use this as a family scrapbook, a journal, and a creative outlet.

Recently I've been thinking about the blog again and what I should do with it. Keep it up? Take it seriously? Build a brand? Ugh. that kills me. Branding, cultivating your image and social media, it all makes me a little sick.

The state of blogging these days is changing. Big, money making bloggers are quitting, new sponsorship opportunities are happening, but are people still reading? Or is it a new generation of both bloggers and readers? Who really even knows.

Anyways, I'm not sure where I am going with this post or this blog. But I thought maybe just maybe, you wouldn't mind letting me know you are reading and what you like??? Maybe no one is reading this at all and that's fine. I just need to know. So if you have a couple of minutes, could you do me a solid and fill out the poll?

Create your own user feedback survey

I so appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

Garden Update Monday

There probably won't be too many more of these posts this year! Sad to think about!

Lots of clean up and harvesting has been happening in the garden.



Last week I harvested a bunch of carrots. I cooked these for dinner that night. Charlie ate them!



The girls helped me cut off the greens. They are so helpful.

I cut off all sprouts and extra growth from all the tomato plants. It doesn't look like much but I trimmed off a whole heck of a lot. 

We've had several cool nights and I am reminded that our first frost could come any day now. 

It's been raining since Friday so it is currently a soggy mess out there. Also leaves. Fall is definitely here. 

Garden Update Monday

Not much has been happening in the garden since the last update. I'm seeing some spinach and a couple of beet seedlings pop up. I'm still harvesting jalapeno peppers and some tomatoes.

I pulled up my sunchokes, or Jersualem artichokes, this morning. I'm going to have to investigate further on this.

These are the roots I pulled up. I dug a little bit, probably about 6" or so, should I have dug more? Or are the root balls the sunchokes? I'm confused. More research is necessary.

My tomato plants are out of control. I long ago stopped pulling suckers and they are just growing too leggy. Another garden savvy blogger I follow mentioned a few weeks ago about cutting off all the foliage and leaving just the green tomatoes. At this point we are weeks away from our first frost date.

I experimented with one of my Cherokee Purples that was particularly bad. I cut off the tops of branches and left the green fruit. I cut off all suckers and flowers. The point is to let all the plant's energy go to ripen the green tomatoes.

This is what I cut off. It looks like a full tomato plant. I'm going to watch the plant this week and see what happens. If successful I'll do the same to my other plants.

LuniTECTS Art Show

This past Friday night in conjunction with South Main Trolley Tour our local AIA office hosted a LuniTECTs members art show. We submitted photos taken at our events and they blew up and printed some of their favorites.







I had one that was included in the show. Above, top left hand corner.

It was a fun event and a great excuse to get the members together. After 5 years we've kind of gotten attached to one another. This event also encouraged me to think about taking different pictures at our future events.