Blue Porch Ceilings and Backyard Projects

We had a great Memorial Day Weekend at the farm and it rained here at the city home...much needed rain. We had clouds, a few sprinkles, then sunshine at the farm. A perfect weekend to enjoy and to remember  all who have served/are serving. We are very blessed by you. Thank you!


I finally took pictures of the outside of the house with its new paint job...bye-bye streaky, half done yellow paint! So much better! We painted the porch ceilings blue - supposedly it keeps birds and wasps from building their nests there. Well, it didn't keep the swallow away. No wasps though - we'll see. It looks pretty anyway whether it works or not.

Front porch ceiling

swallow nest...so much for that working to keep her away

Back Porch Ceiling - used to be streaky yellow now a beautiful blue

House Front, New Paint

 Although it's hard to tell from this picture, the posts are white and the eaves are a sand color. It looks really nice with the brick.

Bruce worked on putting up a fence in the backyard. When done, it will keep the pups from running off after the deer or interrupting events next door. ( there's a bed and breakfast/ events venue next door) :o)


We put in a walkway from the driveway to the back door. Yay, no more stepping on sticker-y plants and dirt plus it gives me definition for a someday flowerbed.
Bruce dug and leveled the ground, I laid the brick.

You can tell where the old bricked area ended as there is grass growing in the cracks. :o) It got sprayed with weed killer. And when the fence gets done, we will continue the brick through the gate to the driveway.

I'm very excited to say I am almost finished painting the pew. I need to get the cushion done too. It looks so much better! Can't wait to get it done and show it off. I stained the legs dark walnut and painted the body of it Shenandoah Taupe-same as the dresser.

Oh another note, my beautiful pups are now 6 months old. They have gotten big and just love going to the farm!

Buddy

Herbie

Buddy now has a new nickname -Buddy Bear.  He was finding and eating the blackberries before I could get to  them. He finally convinced Herbie to eat some too. I wish I had a picture of them carefully biting the berries and pulling them off the thorny vines. So funny!
They bring such joy to my life. They are such a hoot to watch and play with. You can just see their Border Collie brains figuring out the next adventure. Lol.

As always the time there was peaceful and enjoyable.

Sunset

Ahhh, nice. Until the next time,

:o)
Cecilia

Linking up here:
The Dedicated House Anything-blue-friday-week-11

First B Farm Recipe

I love seeing what's blooming and growing at the farm. It makes me dream of the day when we move there and I get to have a huge (well ok, maybe not huge but big!) garden and lush flower beds. One day, I'll have all sorts of things to cook that come from our farm and flowers to bring in the house. In the meantime, it's exciting to discover what plants are showing off.

This last weekend, we found these just starting to ripen:

Blackberries!!

Our son went with us...before I knew it, he was out picking them. He got enough to make one of these:

And yes, he's the one who made it!

YUM...

Thank you, Jay! It is delish!!

Here's the recipe he used:

Recipe for Blackberry Pie:

Double-crust pie pastry (see below)
4-5 cups fresh blackberries (can use frozen)
1 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of flour
1 1/2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 Tablespoon butter

*Roll out 1/2 the pastry to 1/8" thickness on a lightly floured surface. Place in pie pan and trim edges.

*In another bowl, combine berries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, and salt. Toss well. Pour into pastry shell;             
  dot with butter.

*Roll remaining pastry to 1/8" thickness then cut into 1/2" strips. Arrange strips over pie in a lattice 
  design; trim even with bottom pastry, folding under and crimping to seal edges.

*Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes, reduce heat to 350 and bake 45-50 minutes more or until crust is 
  browned.   Serves: 8

Double Pie Crust 

2 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 plus 2 Tablespoons of shortening
4-5 Tablespoons cold water

*Combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until mixture is crumbly. Add water one Tbls. at a time, stirring with fork until mixture is moist and forms ball. Divide into 2. Roll Pastry out and fit into pie shell. Use 2nd half for top.

I think I will be bringing more of these beauties home next time...maybe Jay will make another pie (pretty please?) or we'll just put them on ice cream or perhaps eat them all by themselves....

Who wants to go berry picking?
:o)
Cecilia

PS

I noticed the muscadine grapes are growing. Hm, wonder if he's up to making jelly the end of June?

Linking up here:
Stone Gable On the Menu Monday week-of-may-18
Coastal Charm Nifty-Thrifty-Tuesday-no164
DIY Showoff That-DIY-Party-17
Life On Lake Shore Drive Time-For-You-To-Shine-At-Bouquet-Of Talent
The Dedicated House Make-it-pretty-monday-week-50