Tour of Homes....Preview

In just a bit over a week, the ladies from my church will be hosting a wonderful event.  On September 8, from 1-5, there will be six fabulous homes open for viewing.  I love going into other people's homes, just for inspiration, mostly. I race home and start cleaning.   hahahahaha.    Really and truly you can get some great ideas for your own home by seeing what others have done with theirs. On this tour of homes, there are several different decorating styles.  Real families live in these homes and words cannot express how grateful we are to them for agreeing to be on the tour. Here is a list of the homes. I don't have any inside pictures, just the outside pics, but I can tell you a bit about each home.

This is the home of Don and Peggy Hanks, on Hanover Street, right across from the church.

I've been in this house. It is fantastic.  Don and Peggy have an amazing collection of antiques and collectibles and have displayed them so beautifully. This house is in the Arts and Crafts or Mission style so popular in the first decades of the 20th century.  Be sure to check out Peggy's music room.  Peggy keeps our church showcase decorated and it's fun to see all the items from her own collection that she uses to highlight each season or holiday.

This is the home of Mark and Tappi McLeod, on Warren Street.

I have never been in this house, even though it was on another Tour of Homes a few years ago.  This home must be fanstastic inside.  The owners are lively and fun, and definitely have the means to create a special home for their family.  There's a lot of tile and a sunken room and so much more. I'm anxious to see it.

                                           This is the home of Trent and Ann Collins on South Putnam.

I kow the picture isn't as good as it could be, but this home is surrounded by so many trees and is a real gem.  It is a contemporary style and I was in it when the former owner still lived there.  He had it decorated in a gorgeous modern style, which isn't my favorite style, but he had such good taste that even to me, it looked fabulous.  I'm anxious to see what the Collins' have done. If you see Ann or Trent that day, you might notice crocodile tears in their eyes. Their firstborn, Amanda, has gone off to college and they are missing their little girl. They aren't yet empty-nesters, however, so their household is still quite active.

This is the home of Mike and Shawn Conlin on North Macon Street. 

 I can't wait to see this house. I was in this one years ago when it was on another tour of homes and it was decorated in Victorian style. It was beautiful, for sure, but was more reminiscent of a museum than a comfortable home. The new owners have a great family with fun, smart kids, and Shawn says her decorating style is more like HGTv's "Trash to Treasure".  I know Shawn likes to go "picking" and I am so anxious to see how she's used her treasures.

This is the Richard and Barbara Gregory home, and the only home that is in the country (but not very far out).

I have never been in this home, but I've been told it is absolutely beautiful.  Richard and Barbara are farmers and have always lived in this area, their ancestors lived here and there is a lifetime of memorabilia, plus their own lifetime of collecting displayed in this home. Quite tastefully, too. To get to this home, drive past the golf course just west of town and at the first opportunity on the west edge of the golf course, turn left and follow that road around a couple of small curves, then south about a mile or so.  There will be signs to follow.

                               This is the home of Grant and Carrie Alward, just 1/4 mile west of the Village.

This home is sometimes referred to as "The Homestead" or the "Whitacre Mansion".   The original portion of this house was built by Michael Schneider and his wife, who were the founders of the Village of Moweaqua.  They were early pioneers to this area, and many, many descendants of theirs still live in and around the village, but the name has become anglicized to Snyder. Their daughter and her husband bought the house from her parents and enlarged it, then THEIR daughter and her husband transformed in into what you see now, with some exceptions.  The home changed hands a few times through the years, but in recent memory it was owned by the Andreas family of Decatur (ADM), Dr. Alan Bilyeau and his wife, and Mark and Ginger Whitacre, who added on the large addition to the south.  Dr. and Mrs. Phillip Alward of Decatur purchased the home and Mrs. Alward made a lot of changes on the inside, completely redoing the kitchen, as well as many other gorgeous features.  This home was featured prominently in the movie "The Informant", starring Matt Damon.  The movie company, including Steven Soderbergh, Mr. Damon, Melanie Linsky and many others were in and around the village for several weeks a few years ago.  It was quite exciting to see how they made it snow in May, and catching glimpses of (and even getting the autograph of) Matt Damon. After Mrs. Alward's death in April of 2011, their son Grant and his wife Carrie moved back from Florida and are purchasing the home from Dr. Alward.  Grant and Carrie have two cute little children, with baby number three on the way.  You won't want to miss seeing this home.

So there you have it.  Doesn't it sound grand?  The ticket price is $7 and can be purchased that day, beginning at 12:30. You'll receive a brochure with the addresses, a map and descriptions of the homes.  Just come to the First United Methodist Church in Moweaqua, located at 222 North Hanover.  There will be a cookies and tea/punch reception in the Wesley room, and our own Pastor Sharon will be on hand to explain the symbolism found in the choir loft and beautiful stained glass windows of the sanctuary.  The sancuary will be decorated with scads of chrysanthemums, since we designated Sunday, September 9 as Chrysanthemum Sunday.  What a glorious way to begin autumn.  We will have our own ladies as hostesses in each home, and I'll be in the Alward house for a couple of hours at the beginning of the tour. Stop by and say hello.  See you then,

Blessings,
Brenda

Channeling the ancestors....or hickory syrup in 5 easy steps.

Not having enough to do, I set out to find something else with which to entertain my ever-curious peabrain.  Those dang ancestral parts of my DNA surface every now and then and just won't shush until I've satisfied a hankerin' (SEE!! I told you they surface), to re-create some ancient recipe or some-such. This time, the idea of making hickory syrup took hold. My son had purchased a tiny, sample-sized  bottle of it somewhere, and said he liked it. He got his father to taste it, and he liked it, too.  That's all it took. The challenge was on. First up, I had to do a little research on how to begin. I had no idea such a product was even out there. I need to get out more. Once I deduced that this syrup was a product of the bark, and not the sap like with maple syrup, I set out to traipsin' over yonder and found a shagbark hickory tree. Between what had newly fallen on the ground and a couple of pieces I plucked from the trunk, I came home with plenty of bark. Unwashed, it looked like this:

The instructions  were to wash this with a stiff brush under running water, which I did. This gets rid of any pests which may be hiding in cracks and crevises, dirt, and such.  The next step was to put it in an oven at 350 Degrees for approx. 15 minutes.  The bark turns a golden brown, and makes the house smell so much like a fall campfire. I loved that part. Once it's roasted, it looks like this:

It really does smell nice and looks good, too.  The next step was to break this up into smaller pieces, measure out a half pound of it, and place it in a saucepan, with water to cover. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer it for around 25 minutes. Strain this, saving the bark for your next cookout, or just pitching it.  Put the hickory tea back in the pan, then simmer more until it's been reduced by about 25%.

Now, pour the tea into a measuring cup and using a 2-1 ratio, add cane or pure sugar to the mix. I had some pure raw sugar from Beachy's in Arthur, so that's what I used. It's naturally brown.  I had a bit over 1 cup of tea after the reduction, so I added two cups of the sugar.

Now you just boil this until it has turned into hickory syrup. Stir often and as it starts to thicken, stir it all the time, so it doesn't scorch.  There you have it....your own hickory syrup.

I started with one cup of hickory tea and added the two cups of sugar. After cooking for 15-20 minutes, I ended up with 2 cups of syrup.  It's very sweet, like any syrup, but has that smoky, woodsy flavor unique to hickory.  Use it like you would any syrup; over pancakes, in baking, or in a glass over ice, with selzer water and a splash of real vanilla extract. mmmmm.

Ok, now that that's over, I'm off to have a talk with my ancestors. They're driving me nuts. LOL
Walk in the woods blessings,
Brenda

A fun time was had by all.

After listening to my mom go on and on about how funny Nadine the Church Lady is, and how much they enjoy watching "Larry's Country Diner" on cable TV, I did a little research and found that tickets to the taping for the show could be attained.  So, last year for Christmas, I presented momma with a "Best of Nadine" cd, and tickets to the taping. You should have seen her dance around the living room. It was hilarious. She was so excited.   The good part was that she liked the gift. The bad part was that the reservations were for early October, which seemed like an eternity to wait.  However, early in the summer, I received an email from the very nice lady that coordinates the reservations for the show, and they were redoing the schedule and had moved us up to a date in August, which worked out very well. So, our journey began this past Sunday morning. My mom, step-dad of nearly 50 years, and beloved aunt and I hopped into the car and headed south. Destination:

We arrived in steamy Nashville, Tennessee mid-afternoon, found our hotel, and had a fun time snooping around Music Valley.  I surprised them with reservations to a Nashville dinner theatre, which was fabulous. The buffet food was wonderful, and the two hours of toe-tapping classic country music was great.  Every performer had abundant talent, sang familiar songs and gave their all.  Every musician was expert and we loved when Charlie Vaughan played "Orange Blossom Special" on his fiddle. I highly recommend this show if you're going to be in town and need a filler one evening.
Monday morning arrived, and after a Cracker Barrel breakfast, there was still some time to kill before heading over to the Northstar Studios for the taping.  We explored the area a bit more and found:

The Dukes of Hazzard museum.  I never knew there was so much Dukes promotional material and souvenirs and merchandise made.  It was a fun nostaligic trip back.  The day before we had also discovered the Ernest Tubb museum, but it was sadly lacking in excitement, at least for me. The tour bus was available for a walk-through, and that was a bit interesting, with the horseshoe drawer pulls and claustrophobic bunks.

Next door to the Dukes museum was the Willie Nelson museum and gift shop. They were wanting $8 per person to tour the museum part , so we satisfied ourselves with looking at all the Chinese crap souvenirs and finally, it was time to go. A short commute later, we were there. Actually, we were early, and the security gate nazi  guy wouldn't let us through yet, so we waited a few minutes and finally were allowed in so we could stand in line waiting to actually get IN.  Someone didn't get the memo that three dozen folks were sweating their butts off outside the doors. It's a very laid back operation and the staff have multiple hats to wear, so the audience lady just didn't know we were there. We did eventually get in, and went to a waiting room, since the first taping of the morning wasn't finished yet.  Nadine and Renae, another lady from the show, came in and chatted and made funnies and gave us the lowdown on the actual taping and what was expected of us.  There was time for picture taking, so here is the gang with Nadine:

And Renae:

Renae is the waitress in the diner. She works her fanny off. She is constantly on the move, delivering actual food to the patrons (us), and bringing drinks and pie and cleaning up and everything. She does take a minute now and then to enjoy the entertainment.  When I got reservations for the show, I didn't have a clue who the entertainment would be, and actually nobody knows until day of. They just don't announce it. We lucked out. Instead of Nick Nasal and his Nosepickers, we had EXILE.  Absolutely fabulous. They have been together for nearly 50 years and  still have a great sound. Their harmony was spot on and they are all excellent musicians, as well.  What fun. We were up close and personal. The diner set is very intimate, and we were right up front.  After the taping and promos were finished, there was time for picture taking, so we did that, too. Here is my aunt with the Boot Daddy guy. Boot Daddy is the show sponsor, and they are an American company, selling American made products. This guy was such a friendly young man. Cute as a button, too.

This was quite exciting for a 70-something young lady. 

This was quite exciting for a 50-something young lady.

They were nice. Very nice (insert me, fanning myself....lol)

Anyway, the diner excitement ended too soon, and the lush, green landscape of Tennessee was soon behind us, as we ventured north towards Metropolis. We were staying out one more night and the plan was for the parents and aunt to win fortunes to enhance their children's inheritance, but since that didn't happen...ahem...we just had a good time and before you know it, we were back home.  I had a good time and I'm pretty sure they all did, too.

If you want to see us at  Larry's Country Diner, tune in to the RFD channel on cable tv, Thursday evening, August 30, 2012. It comes on at 7:00.  If you watch it, let me know.

Country blessings,

Brenda

The grass is always greener...I hope.

My DS texted me Friday and said "So, you didn't blog about the rain?"  My reply was "There really wasn't much to shout about here."  The rain did come, for some. Oh, sure, some lucky souls got a really nice rain. It rained inches just a couple of miles south of us, and at least an inch a few miles west of us. What did we get? Two measly tenths of an inch.  It did wash the dust off the trees and bushes and woke the crickets up for a little while. That's about it. I'm fed up. I have had it. I'm leaving this place. I am taking off for a change of scenery, someplace where the grass had better be green. I'm going to Nashville, Tenneessee to see:

Larry's Country Diner is one of my mom's favorite shows on cable TV. It is on the RFD channel on Thursday nights, and one of her favorite characters is Nadine the Church Lady.  Tickets to sit in on a taping of the show can be obtained (they are all taken through 2013) and during the taping,which actually takes place in a diner or at least a set which looks like a diner, you get to eat a meal, as if you are really in a diner.  (sorry I used the word diner so much).There is musical entertainment with various country music artists of currrent or has-been or never-was fame entertaining the audience. Lots of country humor and down home fun.  We will be there for the 11:15 taping Monday morning.  One Thursday night a few months from now, we'll be on tv.  You'll see us (well, if you watch that show), having the time of our lives. This was a Christmas gift to my mom and I think she liked it. :)
There may or may not be a country opry dinner theatre experience thrown in, and then on the return trip, Metropolis beckons. It's not only the home of Superman, but a gambling boat, as well. Since I don't have a lot of luck when I try to gamble (remember the lottery ticket machine that didn't like me and wouldn't let me play??....even though I hadn't even TRIED to buy a lottery ticket in years!!....go figure), I will mostly watch as the others win their children's inheritance. Ha.

So, DS, it doesn't really matter anymore if it rains. It really doesn't (sniff, sniff).

Aloha, I mean, Yee-Haw blessings,
Brenda

p.s.  Don't worry about the girls. Today, I'll be giving a lengthy tutorial to DH about chicken keeping. As a backup, I'm leaivng lots of pots of water here and there, and the food bin is full. He won't sing and coo to them like I do (hahahahaha...I'd LOVE to see that), but they'll survive without me for a couple of days. He did ask if he had to gather eggs while I'm gone. Sheesh.

Guess where I've been?

We had to take care of some legal business today in the big town, so we gathered our wits about us and headed out. After a so-so sub sandwich for lunch, we did what we had to do, then checked our list and began the fun stuff. Well, fun is a relative term at our ages. LOL

DH needed a few un-fun things and since I always welcome an opportunity to see what's new out there, we took a little side trip to one of my favorite stores. That is where I saw this:

and this:

and this:

and how could I miss this:

?????

There is just no excuse for boredom.  You don't even have to buy the stuff. Just take pictures of it and act like an investigative reporter for an underground weird food blog. Ha!  I love Rural King.  I am so easily entertained.

Blessings,
Brenda