Antique Malls & Blanchard Springs

Antique Malls & Blanchard Springs

June 5, 2024

The only thing better than a swimming hole is a huge antique mall. 

On Wednesday we headed downtown to wander all the shops and then spent the afternoon at Blanchard Springs in the North Sylamore Creek. 

It took everything in me not to purchase this box of records. It was a set of square dance songs and calls for each one. 

Not only do I wish we knew how to square dance, when I was a child my grandparents did. I went to a few of their practices and very much recall them all decked out in their outfits to dance at a festival. Nanny in her red gingham twirly square dance outfit is a favorite memory of mine. Sorry Pop, I wish I knew what you were wearing, I remember you dancing, but Nanny's outfit won with all the ruffles and twirls! 

Once the kids had "had it" with me we went into the Amish store that was bought by someone else, but still carries Amish goods and candy. They loaded up a candy bag and forgot how much they hated antique shopping. 

This was the lesson to be learned last year. Mountain View closes down at 5pm. Get all your shopping done in the morning and swim in the afternoon. Last year we did the opposite and didn't get to shop one bit. 

Off to Blanchard Springs to their swimming hole. Keep a few loose dollar on you for this trip. All of the swimming/park areas cost 3 dollar for day use. There isn't an attendant, but you'll be filling out a form and dropping it into the drop box by the bathrooms. 

Much of this the kids could do without life jackets, but some parts are just deep enough and we haven't created the best swimmers. We also don't swim enough to get any real practice in. 

It's hard to tell from the photos but this entire area of the creek is a huge rock bottom that has been carved out by the water. The deepest bits are waist deep on the kids and the water flows through it so quickly that it is a fun little water slide to glide through. 

If you love ice cold water, this is the creek for you. 

My only complaint about this part of the creek is that this time of the year it is pretty shallow and you've got a ton of rock bank to walk over to get to the water. Gunner Pool is better in my opinion for this reason. 

Pictures never do this area justice. It's beautiful, the weather is mild, and the sun seems to always shine. Who wants to buy a cabin with me and never come back to a city again? 

 

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North Sylamore Creek @ Gunner Pool

North Sylamore Creek @ Gunner Pool

June 3, 2024

I realize it's been quite here lately. The end of the school year was not only exhausting, but I developed a cold that turned into a two week long sinus infection. 

Then we wandered off after school ended to spend a week in Mountain View, Arkansas. Last year we loved it, this year Elliot and I tried to convince Jeremy he needed to buy us a cabin here. Basically what I've learned is that my happy place is zone 7b and up. I can not vacation in the tropics, we live in the tropics. Take me to the Ozark's.  

Gunner Pool is a small rec area stretching along a stretch of the North Sylamore Creek. All camping is primitive, which is why you won't find us camping here. We shall be cabin people in this area. 

The water is absolutely clear and no more than chest deep in the deepest area. I've heard that when the water is higher (early spring) that you can float from Gunner Pool to the Blanchard Springs area. 

Over the next few vacation blog posts I want y'all to play a game of "who took that photo?" I'm going to break down and offer a photo lecture to my fellow family members. I love y'all, but photos just ain't ya thing. 

Theres a sections of the creek here that starts to trail back off into the wooded area and the rock set up is either man made or naturally formed, who knows. But the water rushes through it and it's perfect for little people wanting some fun. 

These areas remind me a lot of how I grew up in Vidalia/Natchez. It feels close enough of our camp life in Monterey and summers spent swimming on the Homochitto River in Franklin County Mississippi. One of my goals this summer is to find the Low Water Bridge area with the kids when we go to Vidalia. The hidden aspect of Gunner Pool feels a lot like Low Water on the Natchez Trace. 

This far south it feels like we are missing a lot of the swimming hole aspect of where Jeremy and I grew up, and I think that is what continually has me wanting to take the kids to these areas. I want the boys to know the fun and simplicity of hanging out by a creek with your ice chest full of snacks and playing all day. 

Isn't that bluff just gorgeous. 

My poor little terrified of fish and butterflies child. He swore the butterflies at Gunner Pool weren't going to terrify him this year. That was an inaccurate statement as he went straight to the spot they all hang out and then proceeded to scream bloody murder. 

I bought the kids the tubes and myself the blue float. As you can see it didn't work out well. That cheap blue float wouldn't hold air and the second I sat on it I went straight into the icy creek water. I quickly abandoned my float and hijacked one of the tubes. 

 I think that above photo was part of an Elliot rescue mission when he once again realized that animals lived outside. He is kind of like his mother in that sense. I'm great as long as I don't think of what is in the water, hence my constant desire for clear water. 

The joys of being in a cooler weather area, and also why we camp the last week of May every year. I drank my coffee outside in the cool air every morning while reading the coffee books at our AirB&B. Expect me to share some of what I found over the course of the summer. 

The boys enjoyed listening to the birds every morning, there was quite a bit of chatter and woodpecker noise. There was a little sparrow living in a bird house on the porch that we got to watch. The most interesting was a huge turkey vulture that showed up and was communicating with the other big vultures in nearby trees. 

Dill was informed to be on the lookout. 😆

We toasted some marshmallows and looked for more lightning bugs that night. Which I really need to improve my bug identification because the braconid wasps on the stumps were in fact not a lightning bug and I quickly abandoned catching one. 😬

A dear friend of ours gave Harry a big pack of Reese's cups for being Student of the Week, he held onto them until we got out here camping and specifically to use them as chocolate in his S'mores. I wish I had kept count of just how many he ate, and then started using Oreos instead of graham crackers. 

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Super Harry and the Lettuce Patch

Super Harry and the Lettuce Patch

May 8, 2024

Eventually I'll take a break from weekly recaps and dive into old style blogging. I've got a post I've been sitting on for a year an a half. 

I literally wrote it over the course of a few weeks and then deleted my blog domain for an entire year. I briefly mentioned in an Instagram story what was going on, but IRL friends heard at the time. The last couple years has just been a roller coaster.  

This past weekend we went to a friends house for the Kentucky Derby. As you'll see from the photo, this is why I don't wear hats. I've got a big ole noggin' and there is no need bringing attention to just how large it it. 

I'm still a touch traumatized when I think of the year a student gave me a beach themed gift and my giant skull wouldn't fit in the beach hat. 😂

We haven't taken the kids bowling since Elliot has been of bowling age, so Friday night we went. I told them this big elaborate story about how terrible Jeremy is at bowling and had them convinced I could beat him, so they weren't too happy to find out my wrist isn't healed enough to bowl.  He whipped their butts and they were shocked. I'm really surprised they continue to believe my stories. 

I pulled something on the ulnar side of my wrist in December and it's finally on the mend, but not mended enough to lift weights yet or risk killing myself bowling. 

I've been absolutely shocked at how well the lettuce patch is doing. I threw some seed out in January thinking that it would do nothing, the little seedlings took ages to sprout. One variety finally popped up and we are cutting leaf lettuce for salad with dinner every Thursday night. 

Plant the lettuce people. 

I'm tempted to do a blog post on my tiny garden. This has been my solution to not having raised beds up. I think I've said it before, but Jeremy doesn't want to bother with installing beds or a chicken coop until the wood fence is in. Which I totally understand, no one wants to work around it. 

My biggest issue with a raised bed is going to be rats, City Park is a rat haven (near sanctuary level) and they ate every single bud that popped up on my pumpkins this past year. I plan to try again and plant them in a different area, but still. I doubt they will work. 

Dill and Harry watching squirrels. We've got quite the family of tubby little squirrels in our yard and they live it up in that big old Oak tree. 

Dill is so funny about how he has to be where we are. I had dachshunds previously and Ellie was more like a cat. She came around when she wanted to. This cockapoo though, he is always laying down where we are. Jeremy prays before the kids go to school every morning, as soon as he starts here comes the dog to sit in the middle of us. 

At bath time Dill lays in front of the bathroom door, as if he is guarding his children. If he was a girl I would have long since changed his name to Nana (Peter Pan). Sometimes I call him Nana anyway, but only when he's guarding the children. Come to think of it, when Elliot was hiding from us the other day I should have know he wasn't outside, the dog was inside. Dill typically follows whoever goes out the door. 

Weekend before last Jeremy put on a one day conference/retreat for the teenagers since the Winter Retreat was last minute cancelled by the venue. 

From what I hear (I don't take the kids to youth events often) the speakers were great. We snuck in after bath time to hear the band before everyone was done and wanted to go to bed. Jeremy brought in Zeal House Music, our youth group in Alabama had heard them at Fuge Camp one year and were impressed. They did a fantastic job, and Elliot loved it. 

These events don't get Harry excited, it's all the over stimulation. Elliot on the other hand had a great time dancing around and singing with his Daddy. We stayed in the back to make an easy exit for the moment everyone had seen enough. About half way through their set Elliot declared it was bedtime, and we snuck out. 

My little artistic child has been drawing Super Harry and making Super Harry books lately, so one Sunday when I was cleaning out kids clothes he saw we had some white t-shirts leftover from school project and put me to work. He designed it and picked the colors, but I did the painting. 

Elliot also wanted one, insisted he has glitter, and is now not happy that his shirt has "sprinkles." 

Personally I don't see the need to correct him, I'm going to be so sad when all of his Elliot-isms disappear and he not longer speaks like such a little boy. 

I did the math the other day and realized just how fast the school years are going to go, especially with Harrison. If we could pause the little kid stage of life I would have. We could loop Elliot's first 5 years of life for the next 40 years and be happy to do it. Or maybe just the summers when I'm home. 

We've had our fair share of grief in these 5 years, but the little boy stage has been so fun.

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Gluten Free Pastalaya with Mountain High Organics

Gluten Free Pastalaya with Mountain High Organics

May 6, 2024

 For Celiac Awareness Month I am super excited to partner with Mountain High Organics. We have used their gluten free pastas for several years and I am always impressed with the quality. But not only quality... if you've bought gluten free before you know not all are created alike and texture is different between brands. 

The biggest kicker for me, outside of being gluten free and organic, is the texture of Mountain High's pasta. Some pasta varieties tend to fall apart or have a grainy mouth feel, this one is so well made that I would bet you can't tell a difference between this penne and a regular gluten penne. 

I was so hoping one of our favorite college kids who happens to be gluten intolerant could come by last night for dinner to taste test the pasta, but they had all headed back home after church. While we don't have to worry about any intolerance in our own household, we have had students who do. 

This makes such a difference when we all get together to hang out or for a game night, being gluten intolerant puts many stipulations on where you can order food from or what you can eat at a get-together. 

I really love that this pasta is made in a dedicated gluten-free facility (so no worries for customers), and certified by the Gluten Intolerance Group. It's also been tested to contain less than 5ppm of gluten. Plus you'll notice the American Masters of Taste Gold Medal endorsement on the front of the box, showing you just how great this product and company are. 

The next time our little group of friends get together I'll be making this pasta dish again for everyone to taste test Mountain High Organics pasta themselves. In fact if you were around the blog several years ago I made this Party Sandwich Pasta for some friends and they loved the taste and texture of dish. 

On to the recipe steps. Y'all forgive my awful lighting. It was a gloomy day of sprinkling rain in South Louisiana yesterday. 

Also, against my blogger judgement, I won't run all through the recipe here and then give it to you again. I just want to give a few pointers before I leave you with the recipe below. 

We are actually working on a church cookbook right now and I am finding my biggest issue with entering my own recipes is that I want to go full blogger and leave massive explanations in the notes sections of each recipe. 😂

So let's get going. 

First off, cut all of your meat up ahead of time. It will make cooking so much faster. This recipe also is only 1/6th of the original, so it is super easy to scale up for a big crowd. 

The recipe calls for Cajun Seasoning. I personally use Cajun Red Head for anything that I want to have a more authentic Cajun flavor. Tony's comes off as more of a house blend seasoning and not super Cajun tasting. But use what you love, I get this particular seasoning at Rouse's grocery store. 

While you're browning your Jimmy Dean and chicken, grab your seasoning blend. I've mentioned seasoning blend in previous recipes over the years and anyone not from the South is always confused. 

It's just simply an onion, bell pepper, celery blend with a bit of parsley added in. You can find it in the frozen foods section here. Another popular brand is Guidry's, it is in the produce section and fresh. 

When you make it to the andouille chopping section of the recipe, after the chicken is removed from the pan. Make sure that your andouille is in a small dice. It is spicy and you really don't want some huge piece of it in your mouth. 

As I mentioned above, this is 1/6th of the original recipe. It's meant to be cooked large scale for a crowd. Because I only make a small batch when I cook, I have a gallon bag labeled "for pastalaya" in the freezer. 

You are going to use the whole package of regular Cajun sausage and chicken, but the Jimmy Dean Hot and the andouille are 1/6th of the package. Because of this I like to go ahead and cut my link and Jimmy Dean package into 1/6ths and freeze for the next time we make this. 

Finding the Cajun sausage you want can be a chore. Ideally I would have gone to a local meat market, but it was Sunday when I finally had time to run out and grab the sausage (Walmart doesn't carry the brand I like) so I headed to a local grocer. The recipe calls for Savoie's, but if you are not in Louisiana you can use Manda or any smoked sausage. Just know, more andouille is not the answer. It adds a different spice and you don't want tons of that in your pasta. 

When slicing the Cajun sausage I just cut it on the diagonal. Nothing tiny, just bite size. 

After browning your meat the bottom of your pan might have built up some browning. When I put my sausage into the pot I just went ahead and added my frozen seasoning blend. The frozen onions let off enough liquid that it deglazed everything easily. 

You'll then add your garlic and cook everything down really well. Notice the swap between camera and phone photos, the lighting was really a pill.

After all of my meat was cooked through, I tossed it back into the pot with all of the liquids. Brought it to a boil and weighed out 1lb of my Mountain High Organics Penne Pasta. Which by the way you can order from their website or even through Amazon. 

Once your pasta is cooked, you are done. 

Pastalaya

1/6th of the original recipe

Ingredients: 

1 lb penne pasta

1/2 bunch green onions, snipped

12 oz seasoning blend

1 tsp minced garlic

2 cups heavy cream

5 tbsp whole milk

1 patty Jimmy Dean Spicy 

1 lb chicken thighs, cut into bite size pieces

1 lb Savoie sausage, sliced

1/6th lb andouille sausage, diced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 quart chicken broth

Cajun Red Head Seasoning to taste

Directions: 

Cook Jimmy Dean sausage, breaking into crumbles. Set it aside. Cook diced chicken thighs, season well with Cajun seasoning. Set aside. Brown all other sausage, add in seasoning blend and cook down. Add in garlic and season with Cajun seasoning again, cooking for 2 minutes. Add all meat back into the pot with heavy cream, milk, condensed soup, and broth. Heat to a boil and then cut down to simmer to thicken. Add pasta, cover, and bring to a light boil. Cook according to package directions on pasta. Continue to stir to prevent sticking. Add in your green onions and stir. Serve. 

The original recipe calls for chicken breasts, but honestly I am just not a fan of the texture. So if you are one of the anti dark meat people, just sub in chicken breasts. 

One thing I really like about this is that is has plenty of sauce. There is nothing worse than a dry pasta recipe when it touted to have sauce and you even made the sauce... but the sauce just seemed to vanish in thin air. 

I really hope you give this a try! This is honestly my favorite gluten free pasta brand that I have tried. When we eat this as leftovers for dinner the pasta will still be holding it's shape and not falling absolutely apart like some of the brands on the market. 

Mountain High Organics Pasta

Mountain High Organics on Amazon 

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All of Last Week

All of Last Week

April 28, 2024

Call it a catch up post I've been meaning to get up. 

I made a deal with the boys that any time Jeremy is out of town they can sleep with me. They're (specifically Elliot) are always wanting to sleep with us. Jeremy has a conference at the seminary, so last Friday they got to cuddle up with me. Harrison read Elliot books, and then shockingly the octopus child slept very still the entire night. 

I find it funny that the kids are on a Dr. Seuss kick with a mother who isn't a fan of the author. Not for the usual reasons, but I just don't care for the illustrations or writing style. I get that they are easy beginning readers, but I don't (didn't previously) own many of his books. 

How do you like that face of a child who was beside himself with getting to sleep by Mama. 

After what felt like two months of searching for Distylium I finally located some. We also replaced the Lobelias with Lavender. I just didn't find them to be sturdy enough. They require too much water for me and look pathetic so easily. 

I make dessert for Monday Night Bible Study at our house ever week, and I've recently been sick and tired of the labor of cookies. So for three weeks in a row I made a bar something, the kids finally revolted last week. 

Harrison told me when he grew up he was moving out of the country and not telling me his phone number. Elliot immediately started sobbing that he didn't want to be alone. I told him that eventually Harry would move out anyway.... more tears. He "doesn't want to be old and alone." He also said he wanted to start over from a baby again. The crying and gnashing of teeth carried on until bed. 

I had to finally swear I would redeem myself by making cookies on Tuesday. The kids opted to only bake half the batch and eat the other half raw. 

Elliot had a field trip to the park for the end of the school year. I don't know if you can tell from this photo how he feels about Cool Ranch Doritos. 

Last on the list is this poor old dog. He can not stand to be left alone. What I find most interesting with him is that I am the primary person, until all the boys leave and he's left with just me and acts like he was dumped on the side of the road. He cried for 20 minutes when Jeremy took the kids to gymnastics Thursday. 

 That about wraps up the highlights from last week. Hopefully this week I will be better with updates. 

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An Easy Spring Weekend

An Easy Spring Weekend

April 16, 2024

 I love an easy weekend at home. I know I'm dipping deep into introvert while I'm married to an extrovert who wants to go places and see people. I don't, I want to stay home and be quiet. 

Blame it on this time of the school year, as things rev up I slow way down. 

Friday night we finally got to have dinner at The Flats in downtown Lafayette. The food was great and the atmosphere was amazing. The restaurant opened up to their courtyard that had additional outdoor dining. We stayed inside and watched the Master's. 

Saturday I got back at it on fixing my backing for the quilt. This has definitely been a lesson in fabric sizing as well as understanding why quilters have fabric stashes. My attempt to be conservative left me making another trip to the fabric store and fixing errors. 

On the upside I finally basted it and will start the actual quilting this weekend. 

After yardwork we shoved the kids outside to play in the water in this gorgeous weather. The boys jumped on the trampoline until everyone needed snacks. 

In gardening news that no one cares about, I have my first pepper on the plant.  I seem to remember the Marconi producing early last year and then continuing to produce until Fall. Also, if you want leaf lettuce let me know. We HAVE leaf lettuce galore. 

It's high time to pressure wash this old house. There are even a few boards we need to change out. I really think the board issue will resolve itself when we install gutters one day. 

I'm really wanting to paint our bedroom while Jeremy is in Brazil this summer, but I'm afraid these boards might jump paint in the project line. 

As far as house projects currently go the want/need list is as follows: 

***Find 3 distyliums for the front flower beds (everyone is out of stock)

1. Paint the bedroom

2. Finish bedroom decor

2. Paint the back room (all wood paneling)

3. Pressure Wash/spot paint outside

Surely I'm forgetting something. But on the "when the fence is done" list is putting in two long raised beds, and then eventually a chicken coop. 

Granted, none of this "has" to be done. It's all a want list. Minus that wood that needs replacing outside. I'll be forever grateful that a good, much wiser, friend told me when I bought my first home to not just buy thing to fill it up. It's best to wait and buy what you really love. 

That waiting until you really love something idea has been helpful in not feeling the rush to do a project, waiting and really saving up for items, and even just taking the time to make a decision. 

The downside of an 80 year old home is definitely the projects, but at the same time a benefit is the projects. This is the first house we've had that I've been able to really make decisions on exterior and interior paint colors and decor. But we've also lived here longer which has also allowed for more time to think and save, and then spend those project savings. 

The other benefit to taking my time with these projects is that I have all the time to change my mind. Y'all I think I looked at couches and living room furniture for 5 years before we finally bought a new couch to replace our Facebook Marketplace find. 

This has somehow turned into an "Emily talks about saving money for projects" instead of a "weekend review" blog post. 

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