A project and a find

Here's the project (a purse/coat rack):
We found the piece of wood in our neighborhood (someone else's trash) and I bought the different drawer pulls at Hobby Lobby.  Rob built the shelf a while back, but we just now got around to hanging them up in our empty space behind the front door.

And here's our find (an old upright piano):

We had been looking for a piano on Craigslist but couldn't find exactly what we were looking for or the right price.  I stumbled upon this one at the S.O.S. thrift store in Greenville.  (Have I mentioned that I'm a thrift store frequenter?) ;)  Anyway, the price tag said $75, and my bold husband convinced me to talk them down to $60, so we ended up with a HEAVY piano and a deep gouge in a section of our hardwood floors.  Does anyone know any DIY floor repair? ;)  Oh, and probably someone who can tune pianos?

Weekend in York

Last weekend Rob and I went to York.  While I was helping with a baby shower for a sweet college friend in Charlotte, Rob was being put to work.  He really doesn't expect anything less when he goes to York, but he doesn't seem to mind.  Daddy put him on the skidsteer (first time ever) to help with cutting and bagging oats.  I'm thankful for a husband who works so hard and is always up for anything new. He also got to experience picking blueberries for the first time!  We picked 2 gallons together in about an hour, so I'd say he's pretty good at it!  Needless to say, this week I've been using lots of blueberry recipes.  I froze most of them:

But I also made blueberry muffins and blueberry crisp (which is really this recipe- just substitute blueberries for the raspberries.)

One of the highlights of the weekend was seeing our cutie pie niece:

I love her funny faces. :)

And we got to celebrate Father's Day with my dad, Pawpaw, and brothers.  (Hard to believe that my brothers are dads now!)

Very thankful for a wonderful father who has pointed us to our perfect Heavenly Father through Jesus.

Homemade Ice Cream

I grew up with home-churned ice cream every summer, and I'm not talking pulling out the churn once a summer; it was more like every 2 or 3 weeks!  My dad says this is his "calcium", since he doesn't drink milk. :)  So, I thought I'd share my mom's homemade ice cream recipe since it's ice cream time of year.  First of all, if you don't have a churn, I recommend White Mountain.  They're pretty pricey, but it will last.  (We've tried the Wal-Mart churns before, but they break pretty quickly.)  Maybe put it on your wishlist for Christmas or birthday.

I made strawberry ice cream this weekend, but peach is probably my favorite. (The recipe for both is the same just substitute peaches for the strawberries).

Mix the following in a food processor or blender:

• 4-5 cups strawberries (preferably from the B-N-V)
• 1 quart half & half
• 1 can evaporated milk
• 2 cups sugar (I used a little less & it was fine)

(I also didn't have room in the food processor to mix all of this so I just mixed the sugar and strawberries first, then dumped into a bowl to mix the rest.)

Pour the mixture into the ice cream churn canister and add whole milk to the "fill line" or in our case, the churn isn't to be filled over half full.  Stir.

Let this mixture chill in the fridge for at least an hour.

Make sure you have rock salt and plenty of ice on hand.

Place the canister in the churn, and alternate ice and rock salt layers (make sure you have way more ice than rock salt.)

Lock the motor in place and plug it in (preferably outside since it makes lots of noise & the ice/salt mixture leaks as it melts).  It will only take 20-30 minutes before it's ready.

I didn't take any pictures of our ice cream when it was finished, because of course we were too busy eating it.  We had plenty leftover so we put the rest in a freezer container to save for later.  It's not as creamy when it's leftover but still oh so good!

A Few Favorites

Since Summer is right around the corner (two more half days and two teacher days), I thought I'd share some things I'm looking forward to!

1. Reading!  I just read this book after watching an interview of the author.  It was a quick read and it really challenged me to think about how I am called to love people- speaking truth with grace.  Some other books on my "To read" list this summer:

• And The Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini
• Glimpses of Grace by Gloria Furman
• Letters to My Daughters by Paul Friesen
• The Hidden Art of Homemaking by Edith Schaeffer

Any other recommendations would be appreciated! :)

2. Mornings outside.  Summer is definitely here to stay so that means I'd rather not be outside in the heat of the afternoon unless I'm beside or in a body of water.  My goal is to keep getting up fairly early so that I can run and work in the garden. (The squash and zucchini are doing really well!  I guess there aren't any city animals that will wreak havoc on those- at least not yet.)  We did see a raccoon in our back yard a couple of weeks ago, but haven't seen him since.

3. More time to cook.  I'm hoping I'll be ambitious this summer and try some new recipes.  I found one for stuffed bell peppers last week and it was amazing!  (I didn't have enough peppers to stuff so I just took the "stuffing" for lunch one day.)

4. Lunch dates.  For any of you who have lunch breaks or also have the summer off, I'd love to hang out! :)

It's been a while...

It's been a while since I've posted on the blog, but summer is so close I can almost taste it!  I have one more full day and three half days with the kids.  Here's a little of what we've been up to the past month. We were out of town three weekends in a row.

Weekend #1: celebrated my mom's 60th birthday with the family in York.  I'm so thankful for her, her love for Jesus, and her love for us.  We (the sisters) had a shower for Lindsey the same weekend and got to go to her shower at the church.

Gift from Daddy...wonder if we'll ever see Macey in this outfit. ;)

Weekend #2: We went to Barnwell to visit the Martins then to Batesburg-Leesville to celebrate cousins' graduations and Grandma Sharpe's birthday.  I forgot to take any pictures that weekend, but we enjoyed visiting with family that weekend too.

Weekend #3: We went to the mountains for our second annual couples trip.  This time it was much colder and rainy so we played a lot of games..."The Game of Things" might have been the highlight of the weekend.  If you don't have it, it's a great group/couples game.  We also watched the Kentucky Derby, and thanks to Erin had mint juleps & hats for the occasion.

Rob and I found a waterfall (Elk River Falls) the day before everybody else got there, that would be fun to go back to when it's warmer, to swim in the huge pool at the bottom.

After three weekends in a row out of Greenville, we planned to stay in town the weekend of May 10th, but our little niece, Macey was born on Saturday, May 11th!  We excitedly drove to the hospital that day to meet her.  I know we're a little biased, but she is a cutie!!

We can't wait to see her again soon!

The following weekend we went to a wedding of some friends, Holly, from the church where I grew up, and Scott, my friend and former roommate, Anna's brother.  (It's such a small world.)  It was a beautiful Christ-centered wedding and the reception was lots of fun at the Clemson outdoor lab.  My Gamecock husband restrained himself from making too many Clemson/Carolina comments. ;)

Until next time...  :)