September

September has been a busy month, so we haven't had too much time to update the blog. Wife has been busy with a brief when not trying to recover from an allergic outbreak to an antibiotic and the resulting crop of hives. Husband has been busy removing old paint, applying new paint, and doing yard work. Of course, no updates meant that everyone got to see the Obama banner when checking for new posts.

This is the kitchen window on the side of the house. It has now been stripped of alligatored paint and primed. The windows were also painted and have been put back in. Lots more windows to go.

Finn on the run.

Remnants of Hurricane Ike - lots of wind. Poor mulberry tree. Fortunately, it didn't damage anything.

Scout demonstrating the proper way to spend a weekend.

We added a new face (yes, a furry one) to the family this weekend. Say hi to Jake! He is a playmate for Finn. They have worn each other out.

The three pups chowing down.

Holy Grail of Beer

For any serious craft beer drinker the name New Belgium Brewing brings to mind one thing - Fat Tire Amber Ale, the Holy Grail of beer. But unless you've either lived in or visited the western USA during the past 10 years you've probably never been able to drink one of New Belgium's fine beers.

While visiting the in-laws, to my great surprise, I learned that New Belgium had started distributing several of their beers to Tennessee. We promptly set off on a beer run to find some of the elusive beer. After several unsuccessful tries we found several stores that had the beer in stock. We were able to buy all three of the beers available - 22oz bottles of Fat Tire Amber Ale, Mothership Wit, and 1554 Black Ale.


Notice the commemorative Tennessee label

Obamarama!!!!!

We're all watching the Democratic Convention.

Savannah is a yellow dog Democrat.

Wishy & Washy

After eight years of faithful service our clothes dryer decided it was time to retire. Luckily we found a new washer and dryer looking for work.

Holy Cow!

We have had an eventful morning. After enjoying coffee and a little reading on the deck, we took the dogs for a long walk downtown. As we were walking down the main street within the local college, a gigantic brown bull (it did not take a bovine expert to figure out that this was not Daisy) came ambling down the sidewalk that intersected our path just a few feet ahead of us. Wife's new heartrate monitor probably recorded the highest heartrate of the walk at that moment!

Husband called 911 and was asked if the call was about the bull. Meanwhile, Wife hightailed it to high ground: a loading dock. Finn and Savannah were overwhelmed. The bull continued on its path toward Main Street with local police and deputies swarming around. It crossed Main, wandered through a few backyards, and then crossed back to campus toward its home. The owners were following trying to rope it - with no luck. Hopefully, it made its way back to the farm safe and sound and without trampling anyone in the process.

Madison Trip

We have just returned from trip to Madison, Wisconsin to visit our friends and go to the Great Taste of the Midwest. We drove up through Chicago and were sorry we chose that route after about an hour in snail's pace Chicago traffic. Fun to see the city, though.

We walked down State Street to the University of Wisconsin campus on Friday. Below are the Red Gym and the Wisconsin Union.



Lake Mendota from the Union Terrace. Beautiful. This makes Wife want to move to Madison....at least until she remembers that it is SUPER COLD there in the winter.


We have no pictures of the Great Taste of the Midwest. It is not worth it to cart a camera around a beer tasting event in the hot sun.


We ate at the Old Fashioned on the capital square on Sunday night. The guys tried some old-school beer. Wife ate mac and cheese with some traditional Wisconsin fare: ring bologna.

Downtown

Sunday

Husband painting one of the french doors for the living room.

Ditto.

A view of downtown from the yard across from us.

Pawleys Island

Pawleys beach - about 1960.

At Pawleys in 1980.

Homebodies

We so enjoy spending much of our time at home after all our efforts to get the house done. It's still not totally done of course (nor will it ever be since keeping up an old house is an ongoing battle). Below are a couple pictures of our endeavors at home - the dogs relaxing and us making a pizza that included some peppers from the garden.

Garden and Gun

A fun new Southern magazine keeps arriving at our doorstep every time Wife's parents arrive for a visit. It's called Garden and Gun. Check out their website. While you're there, take a look at the article about great Southern towns. Be sure to check out the runner-up for the Best Equestrian Town.

Jeeps

About a week and a half ago, we arrived home to find a couple of college-age fellows working on a couple of forties era jeeps in the parking area across from the B & B. It turns out they restored these jeeps that were in very poor condition and they are now on a trip driving cross-country to California. One of the jeeps happened to break down here and they stayed overnight to repair it. Check out their blog, Dueling Flatfenders, at http://willystrip.wordpress.com/

Peppers and Estate Sales

We have five different types of pepper plants in our garden. Since many of the peppers are ripe, there is some homemade salsa in our future.


We stumbled upon an estate sale in another old Victorian house today as we were walking the pups. We found this rocker for $45. It is similar in style to our dining room chairs. A lucky find.

The Serpent

Look closely at the edge of the stone foundation. Yes, that is a snake. We think is it a rat snake, but we're not sure. It seems that the snake made its home under the front porch and decided to slither out and view the world after Wife did a little gardening next to the porch. Ick.

Yard cats

These are a couple of the cats that hang around in our yard and the adjoining yards. They were lounging together in our backyard this morning.

Painting Prep Work

It's been a while since we've had any renovation pictures to post on the blog. We've finally gotten around to finishing the painting in the living room. All of the trim has been scraped, sanded, caulked, and primed. Several coats of finish paint is all that's left to do. The front door trim and small stained glass window trim have also been prepped for painting.

Here are some pictures of the living room and some from the front porch.

Aha!

We have been wondering why we aren't getting many bird at the feeder. Now we know why.

Beasties

The weather has been hot and humid for the past several days, so it was time to get out Savannah's pool. She likes to lounge in the water especially after long walks. A real Esther Williams. Finn is not, however, a swimmer. He prefers to drink from the pool like it's a giant water bowl. But not a single paw goes in.

Scout seems to have an affinity for the WW2 books. She got behind the books one evening on her own.

These are two of the six (at least) cats that live in our yard and the adjoining backyards.

June 2008

We finally got part of the back of the house cleaned up today. We put in some new plants and used the old brick to pave a spot for the hose reel. This looks much better than the pile of junk that was there.



Scout lounging on the rocker.....