My New House

I feel like I've been in a constant state of flux over the past few months, but I can finally say... I am settled. Almost as soon as we moved back to Oxford we began thinking about expanding our house or moving to a larger house. Specifically, one with a garage and a little more storage. We met with an architect to look at plans for an expansion, and also started looking at houses with a realtor. Then, we fell in love. With a modern-looking house built in 1975. In a neighborhood with big trees and a one acre lot. And a pool. :) For those of you who know me and know my style, I'm a solid Anglophile. I love everything English and England, like cottages and cottage gardens and David Austin roses. For me to fall I love with a house in the modern style (with a pool, no doubt, if you've heard my rants about the last pool) is a little unlike me. But, the house is fantastic.



This photo is from the house listing from the summer. I really love the landscaping in the front. I have two (or three?) Japanese maples. I've always wanted a Japanese maple, but I never wanted to spend the money to put one in. I'm so excited that I have them! I have azaleas that bloom in the spring and fall (I saw them in bloom this fall). I have camellias by the front door, and sweet olives on the front walk. I can dig that. My absolute favorite space, though, is the kitchen. I love, love, love cooking in here.















The kitchen and the living room are really the only two spaces that we have "finished" decorating. I say "finished" with quotes, because really, decorating is never DONE. I'm excited about sharing the rest of the house, but we still have work to do. I'm really excited about sharing the living room! More to come...

Old House Depot in Jackson, Miss.

On Friday, we wanted to do some shopping for the new house, but we wanted to avoid the Black Friday hoopla. What better way to join in on the fun than to hit up a few local stores. First we went to the Old House Depot where they were celebrating five years in business and the house cat's first birthday. Old House Depot is an architectural salvage warehouse, meaning they have reclaimed building materials from windows and doors to bath tubs and mantels. I love this place. They really know how to make their favorite cat feel special.

If you are familiar with Koscuisko, Mississippi, you might recognize this "Building Materials" sign. It decorated the front of Scarborough Building Supply on Highway 12 for many, many years. Now I didn't confirm with the owners that this, in fact, was the Scarborough sign. But as many times as I've seen it, I'm pretty sure it is.

An antique hand-painted sign, bread peel, and screen doors.

Doors and shuttered windows with patina.

I was in awe of this old wooden door that once graced the entry of a church. I really wanted to take it home.

The lighting in this photo is bad, but you can barely make out another dark wood door nestled in the back there that is even more fantastic than the previous one. Look at that arched transom window above the swinging doors with iron lining the panes. I imagined it came from an old train depot.

As we browsed we were tapping our feet to the tunes of the Jamie Weems Trio featuring Tim Avalon and Tyler Kemp.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I did. I relaxed a BUNCH and ate way too much.

Chance of Snow

So, what do you do when it is cold and rainy and there's a chance of snow?

You make hot chocolate. With bourbon. Or, in my case, Malibu rum. The recipe, complete with cardamom pods, was inspired by chef Maria Hines at Tilth Restaurant in Seattle. YUM.

Spooky Door Wreath

I got inspired by Casey's Halloween wreath and made one of my own. I know, I know, Halloween was almost a month ago. I am such a lazy blogger lately.








I got the fake crow at Michael's. I had the wreath and moss already.

I'm in the process of making a Christmas wreath. Since we close on a house on Dec 5th, I don't know if I'll have time for a tree this year. Yep, we will be moving for the second time this year. Ugh. We're crazy, but the house is worth it. I'm in love!

-- Post From My iPhone

It's Been A While...

So I am going to try to ease back into this. Today I am testing brunch recipes for a baby shower I'm hosting in a few weeks for Leah. I made my favorite muffin recipe - Morning Glory muffins - and modified it for mini-muffins. Morning Glory muffins are filled with goodies: carrot, apple, pineapple, raisins, nuts, and cinnamon spice. Little nuggets of fall.









-- Post From My iPhone

Hiatus

I am taking a break from blogging. We listed our house with Century 21 on May 3rd, and we had our first offer on May 5th. The contract was finalized on May 11th. We close on June 17th.

I do hope to compose some final blog posts about my garden at some point. However, right now life is just too hectic, and I may break into tears if I try to write about this garden that I've put so much time into. So, some distance... and some time...

Later gators.