Watermelon Sangria

photo courtesy google

A few years back the kids and I went to Cape May, NJ with my mother to visit an old friend of the family. One night we sat out on the balcony of our hotel overlooking the beach sipping the nectar of the Gods, I’m telling ya. Mom’s friend is one of those people who bends over backwards for the care and comfort of anyone and their brother, hospitality being her middle name.  She brought us a big pitcher of this thirst quencher, knowing we had spent a long day traveling and needed a reprieve.  I brought the recipe home with me.

 Watermelon Sangria

1 bottle white wine – don’t use an expensive kind

3/4 cup watermelon schnapps

1/2 cup white cranberry juice

2 cups cubed or scooped watermelon

2 limes, cut into half wheels

Combine all ingredients in large glass pitcher and stir well. Cover and refrigerate for atleast four hours. Serve over ice.  
 

  If you’ve never been to Cape May, it’s a lovely old seaside town  at the far end of the Jersey Shore…  Many victorian homes and inns, great food, a kid-friendly beach and lots of shopping. It still has the seaside hometown feel, and yet it’s not far from the big parks and attractions that the younger crowd seek, making it a great family destination.   The fresh ground coffee at Kiss The Cook is the best I’ve ever had, especially the Creme Brulee. You can actually have it shipped!…

The “hood”

 We live in a rural neighborhood… that isn’t quite as rural as it seems.  We’re a town of 6,000 and we have a main hub of retail spaces that include a Dunkin Donuts, a Subway, a few other restaurants  including chinese, pizza, a family restaurant, a gourmet take-out and a bakery.  There are other retail spaces including our little artisan gallery attached to a toy store…  and we’ve got a gigantic True Value hardware store.  And I mean gigantic…. because out here in the sticks (just 10 minutes from Route 1 along the coast)….we apparently need THAT MUCH  massive power equipment , tools, pet supplies, paint, carhart clothing and bird feeders to survive the wilds.  

Truth be told, the folks at True Value had another space that was more appropriately sized, and they wanted to expand some to meet their growing needs. This charming little hamlet’s town government gave them such grief they were forced to find another location up the street and rebuild unless they wanted to remain stagnant.  Rebuild they did, and in GRAND central scale. Their old place sits vacant.   In this economy?… well I wish them the best, they’re good people and they’ve been good to the people of this town.   We need a town planner, enough said.

 The street we live on has a very odd name, and it comes from a very odd circumstance that occured just behind our house on the hill you see frequently in pictures here. I have to repeat the name frequently when I’m asked for my street address because folks can’t believe someone would name our road what it is named.   Despite the hideous name and it’s origin,  it’s location and scenery are worth the weirdness . This Old House is one of quite a few old homesteads and our neighbors have settled along this road for much of  the same reasons we have….the rural character and the old world charm from the turn of the last century.  While none are fancy, the homes reflect their owners pride and appreciation for their history.

   This morning our neighbors across the street brought us a beautiful wire basket full of treasures from their garden.  The pickles and ratatoille are delicious and just look at those dried mushrooms and cukes.

We had our first fire in the pit last night
 and one of the dogs finally peed on a carpet 
yep…. it’s starting to feel like home.
 

Barn babies

 I went to the barn last night to tend to Opie’s wound…

(you’re welcome) ……
And this is what Opie thought of that…
So when I walked down into the darkened barn and flicked on the light… there were four scurrying creatures underfoot… four adorable baby skunks running for cover. They could fit in my hand.  I turned the light off again and stood still for a few minutes while they ventured back out, playing with each other like kittens.  The bravest started wrestling with another and then backed up to him with tail raised as if to say “back off,  or I’m gonna spray!!”  Really cute, until I realized I was just feet away and if he really WAS gonna spray, I wasn’t going home smelling like roses.  So I flicked the light back on and quickly took these pics with my iphone (sorry for bad image quality)….
I want one!
Three!.. poking their heads out of their current home the shavings pallets..

Happy Hour

 Last night the guy and I went to my favorite mexican restaurant to decompress.  I needed decompressing, you see… because this week has been less than joyful due to the still-unpacking nature of things at This Old House plus the financial stress of still owning two mortgages, my back went out,  the camp schedule for the manchild and  my back went out, my work schedule thankfully still part time, (my back!)  and the three times daily cleansing of the horses GAPING CHEST WOUND schedule.   

My charming little quarter horse thought he might try on a fence post as, oh.. I don’t know… a chest piercing maybe?…  and he learned it hurts alot and bleeds profusely too!!… plus there’s the gaping hole that remains, minor detail.  Kinda like those holes left by the (what do you call them) … pegs?  you see people wearing now and then in their ears.  I’ve always wondered what happens with those holes when they get tired of wearing the big round peg things.  Do they close back up or is surgery needed to repair the earlobe?  Anyone know? Just wondering.

  Anyway… I had my favorite things (cheese enchiladas with a big bowl of fresh quacamole and if you don’t recognize that drink, you’ve been missing out on something really good). …. in an atmosphere I just love.  The buzz was a necessary evil at the end of a hectic day…. it was truly a happy hour.

 
    

Master Bath

 Moving along… the master bathroom is unpacked and decorated with things from our previous house…..  I’m not showing you the toilet,   (it’s now stuck in that little cubby hole on the left next to the shower)    because it’s just a toilet and I haven’t found the right “stuff” to put over it or on it or even near it besides the toilet paper, and that’s just tacky…SO..

The cabinet to the left  in the picture below and the vanity cabinet under the mirrors were made by a local man with a great talent for making furniture out of old barn wood and material taken from houses, hotels, barns, etc.   His son  works mostly with new cabinetry, but Art adds the whimsy with layers of paint, old beadboard, knobs, hardware, etc…   For those of you who are local, you will recognize his pieces in my shop. You could say his furniture is “green”, or eco-friendly because it is recycled material.
It’s hard to tell from these photos, but there are several layers of paint, several colors intertwined.. a green/grey moss color as well as a deep maroon,  more obvious in person.  The cabinet doors are old windows.
We live about five miles from the shoreline, but one of my great loves is the seashore. I always do some decorating with shells, even in this old farm house.   Someday if I find just the right really cheap fixer upper beach cottage….
I found this glass bowl at Homegoods… and even though I’m practically chanting “less is more” lately….  I couldn’t walk away from it,  it was just $12!
Shower with pebbles… it’s like your feet are getting a massage every morning….

Before and After – Family Room

 In truth there is no “before” because this is the Chester House frame and I have no idea what it looked like before. We only got to know it dismantled in a trailer. But I can show you start to finish… and so here we go…

Chester house as Jeff’s crew reassembles it attached to This Old House….

Family room window framed….
Wayne walking the walk….
My son’s rock-climbing wall  Fireplace in family room almost to the roof….
Lived in… and I have to admit… I wanted bold colors in this room because there is an awful lot of grey, brown, earth tones. So I picked bold colors for the fabrics in this furniture.. (note the RED! I kept my word)  It’s taking some getting used to… the gold hues in these chairs.. but they are awesomely comfortable, so … yeah…there’s that.  
Found this rug at Homegoods for a great low price… love when that happens.
One of my favorite features in the room is the moss that remains on the rocks of the fireplace…
Needs a grate and screen….I’m hoping to find an old set in the near future…remember the owls with the glowing eyes?…
I bet some of you have a few of these ducks…
A few birds landed in here too….

This mirror is one of my favorite pieces of furniture.. made by a company called Sticks . Their pieces are fun, whimsical, inspirational and usually too expensive for my purse. This one was on sale half price years ago and so I splurged. 
The photo over the corner table is of This Old House in the beginning…
Butter Churner in the hall between the family room and Mancave…
 My books….this bookcase is tucked under the loft sortof  between the family room and Mancave…
The rest of the house is still alittle jumbled, and this room isn’t finished yet… needs “stuff”, but I’ll get to it. maybe when it’s on sale half price.  And there’s that thing I was preaching….
less is more  … or something like that.

Marilyn’s House

   Marilyn Monroe died three years before I was born, but her story always intrigued me. I don’t think the true full story will ever be revealed. The mob, a famous baseball player, a movie mogul, the Kennedys!… whodunit is right.

  I feel sorry for the celebrities who get caught up and die in the wicked machinery that is Hollywood.  Anna Nicole Smith is another who wasn’t mentally strong enough to handle the crush.  Will somebody please save Lindsay Lohan, even if it’s from herself?!

  Marilyn’s house is on the market…12305 5Th Helena Drive Los Angeles,  – $3,595,000.
She lived there for  just the  last six months of her life and it’s her place of death as well. 

What a beautiful little oasis it apparently was not.

Before and After – Barn/Garage

  There were several brown outbuildings where the new garage stands… The largest consisted of a dog kennel on the far end, a sculpting studio, an apartment and a two car garage. Next to that stood a  chicken coup and another two car garage. There was alot of wood rot and no historical significance, as the building was constructed approximately 40-50 years go, and the decision was made to take it down instead of trying to patch it up. We didn’t need that kind of extra space, either… (less is more! )

 What we have now is similar in look and in the same place as the old brown barn building, consisting of a small gym at the back, workshop for Mike’s “stuff” in the middle (this workshop has a rear entrance from the road)  and three bay garage at the front, entered from the main driveway.

 It was a cluster of buildings originally…

 Pared down to just one…
 

You’ve gotta be kidding me

Bristol Palin and Levi Johnston reveal exclusively in the new Us Weekly that they are getting married.

And, they tell Us Weekly, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been kept in the dark about their plans … until now.
“We got engaged two weeks ago,” Bristol, 19, tells Us Weekly. “It felt right, even though we don’t have the approval of our parents.”

I’m no fan of Sarah Palin, and I know that will offend some of you because she does have many faithful fans. But I do feel just alittle sorry for her at this moment.  Do any of you remember this lovely young man’s interviews after his breakup with Bristol?  The things he said about her family, her mother? …his apparently soon-to-be mother-in-law.  What is this young woman thinking?  I sure hope this is not the way SP found out, on the cover of a magazine.

This is why people should never be married before they are atleast 25.  ATLEAST.   Although, it’s also true that age does not guarantee the absence of stupidity.  

*sigh*