Which Came First?

 

As with writing an essay, you should never start with your most poignant argument or point, so we will therefore not be starting this blog off with our most exciting news. 

Oh the Ides of March, and Oh my achin' bananas!  I had a birthday-- the big 2-8, and just so you know, I just got inquiry in regards to my 10 year high school reunion.  Yes, it is that time.  I am no spring chicken...  I had a good birthday...the actual day of was a little stinky seeing as how I had to sit at a conference for 8 hours AND I forgot my toothbrush for when I finished my coffee, but once that was over, commence the partyin'!  I arrived home to a lovely family birthday
(including my little brother from D.C.--nice present).  We had barbecue chicken pizza from Asheville Pizza, and for a second year running, Sam's most wonderful strawberry rhubarb pie! 

I got some much needed certificates de pampering-- a massage and facial.  Hey, a girl just needs that sometimes!  I also go a new pair of yoga pants with a homemade paper promise of a "moveable feast" around Asheville to be redeemed over spring break.  For this "moveable feast" we went to Bouchon for brunch where we had mimosas!  Then, we strolled around downtown and went to the French Broad Chocolate Factory and took a tour.  It was pretty interesting; the couple who owns it is super innovative and know their chocolate!  You get to taste some, too.  Highly recommended.

The next March wind blew in my brother, Tim, and three nieces from the north.  Although I had 2 tests and two projects due that week, I managed to squeeze in a little q-time with them which included park, ice cream, mall, dollar tree, and RUB ON TATOOS!  They are a hoot! 

With March also came MARCH MADNESS and blooming orchids.  Sam and I filled out brackets...let's just say, my bracket was victorious.  I did have to do a little bit of research, though.  All of my orchids are also blooming and are very pretty.

Right on the tail of that, we scurried down to Folly Beach, S.C., right outside of Charleston, with Sam's parents.  Luckily, Sam and I had the same spring break.  Unfortunately, there was a cold snap.

  I think it actually snowed in Asheville while we were gone.  However, it didn't feel much warmer at the beach.  Nevertheless, we did brave the chill to enjoy some walking on the beach.  We also did some shopping, ate a lot of really yummy food-- Poogan's Porch, fried oysters, CUPCAKES!  Additionally, we saw some neat sights. We went to the Hunley Museum and saw a Civil War submarine they had recovered as well as went on Gullah tour and got to see a different side of Charleston.

Once spring break was over, the race to the finish line for my semester commenced.  I now have three weeks of class left before finals.  That means that I have three projects, a research proposal, and an exam all the while trying to prepare for my five finals.  Ayecarumba!  It will all get done; I know this.  The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is two weeks off between spring and summer sessions.  "I THINK I CAN, I THINK I CAN..."



We also went on a hike that turned out to be just what we needed.  We hiked up Stone Mountain in Dupont.  It was a beautiful, warmish day, and the trail was pretty deserted. We just let the sun hit our faces and listened to the quiet with the occasional gust of wind.  We followed this up with a visit to the new Oscar Blues Brewery in Brevard.  We took the tour; it was fun--also a neat operation.






AND FINALLY-- our most exciting news.  I will let Sam, the born again chicken farmer take it from here.  I say born again because the below picture will speak for itself...

 

POWER ANIMAL: The Rooster

  Farmer Sam's bit:
That's right.  As you can see, I'm no spring chicken when it comes to chickens.  I mean, looking at this picture, not all that much has changed except for the glasses, and I'm thinkin' about bringin' those back!  Yes, I remember farming chickens when I was just a wee lad as seen here.  I believe my Mom said my first word was actually me mimicking a rooster crowing.  What can I say about chicken farmin?  It's intense.  Those four buggers we have are a mess!  Here's the rundown.  Serena is our Buff Orphington, and she rules the roost.  She's a good week older than the others and twice their size, but she doesn't know how big she is, so she just bulldozes her way around.  Blair is our Australorp.  Australorps hold the record for laying the most eggs in a year.  Guess how many???  Guess again.  364!!!!  Crazy!  She's been a bit timid, and we think she might be like our cat Weezy who gets nervous and poops in Kellie's hand when she tries to hold her.  Then there are the twins.  Plymouth Barred Rocks.  We haven't settled on names for them.  But they are sweet.  Things have been a little intense in the brooder stage.  Trying to get the temperature right.  Trying to keep Serena from literally flying the coop.  Trying to keep on of the twins from flipping over the water bowl ONTO herself, soaking her and trapping her under the bowl at the same time where she stayed for maybe 20 minutes.  I would image it's a lot like having a baby.  They just poop and eat.  A LOT!  It makes me a nervous mother hen really.  However, it's all really exciting.  Today I built a couple of perches for them to go in their coop.  It's a coop de ville, if you will.  Very fancy work from Kellie's dad.  It's modeled after one I saw on the internet selling for over a thousand dollars.  FYI, they can be made much cheaper and much better than a thousand dollars. 

Other than the chicken news, the garden is underway.  Greens, broccoli, celery, onions, beets, carrots, and peas have been planted.  Don't tell anyone, but I might have accidentally planted a row of corn, mistaking the seeds for peas.  There's a logical explanation though.  I was really excited to start planting, the seed packages look REALLY similar, and both peas and corn were covered in this red stuff so it was really hard to tell.  Could have happened to anybody.  Give me a break, I was just really excited to start planting stuff. 

 

 Blair on right and unnamed twin.

For the twins we are thinking Beezus and Ramona, Laverne and Shirley, or Mary Kate and Ashley--Thoughts?

 

Spring is here--and it couldn't have come any sooner after that cooler than usual March.  Flowers are blooming, herbs are in the ground, and the hammock is in the tree. The porches are also looking inviting after Sam and I gave them a good cleaning today.  Don't forget to get outside and soak up a little sunshine!  Boy do we have the fever!

See you later!

Christmas in March...Why not?

So, this is the promised "Part II" blog, delayed as usual. Here we are, spreading a little holiday cheer in March. I'm sure it much appreciated with all of the gray days.

 

Holiday event one:  Homemade gingerbread house! 

Yes, a completely independent conception from blue print, to construction, to decoration. It was definitely a learning process. Note to self for next year is to decorate the house before we put it together to allow the candy to dry in a horizontal fashion. Gravity poses a problem when you try to adhere the candy when the house is already put together. This is evident in some of our pictures. Also, to be fancy, we gave our house stained-glass windows made with melted Life Savers.

 
Holiday event two:  Christmas! 

 As usual, we spent Christmas Eve with my family:  parents, little bro, big bro and his crew (2 nieces, nephew, and wife).  T'was a good time.  We mixed it up this year and drew names for presents and played "Dirty Santa."  We loaded up with a sweet travel neck pillow, some maple syrup, and wine goodies.  Sam scored a sweet crossbow. 
 
Christmas morning was spent together.  We opened presents, had our traditional Christmas morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon roles, bacon, and eggs, and then opened our stockings.  In lieu of the whole going-back-to-school thing, Christmas for us was a little lighter.  The highlights were table tennis, lots of good books, a foam roller, ear and nose hair trimmer (for Sam), and clothing items.  All-in-all we are extremely lucky and love spending our morning together leisurely! 
 
In the afternoon, we headed over to Sam's parents' house for lunch and to keep the festivities going.  The food was delightful as was the company.











Holiday event three:  New Year's Eve!

 

New Year's Eve was pretty low key for us.  We decided to have a night in and cook dinner together.  We made a wine braised beef brisket, kale salad with bacon and dates, and baked mashed sweet potatoes.  Delicious!  After that, we just hung out and watched the movie New Year's Eve (not recommended) and fell asleep at 10:30 on the couch.  We woke up at 11:30, just in time to get ready for bed, see the clock hit midnight, kiss each other HAPPY NEW YEAR, and roll over and fall asleep.  Yeah, that's how we roll.

Holiday event four:  Sam's birthday! 

 

Since Sam's birthday falls on the third, we had a family celebration on the first.  We did his big 32 up right with black-eyed peas, ham, collards, and at the birthday boy's request, a homemade carrot cake.  Sam got an exciting present:  chickens!  We haven't actually gotten them yet, but Sam goes to a class entitled "Backyard Chickens" this week, and we should be getting them around Easter.  We have considered names, but are not releasing those at this time. 

On his actual birthday, I cooked his requested meal of pad thai, and devised a fun birthday scavenger hunt for him!

In other news, over the break, I started a t-shirt quilt.  I got almost finished before classes started back, but once they did, all my creativity and mess got crammed back into the closet.  Hopefully, I will have a day to finish it up, otherwise it will have to wait until next year.  Here is the layout:



Sam had a pretty gnarly beard, and my semester started back up, and it has been consistently busy and keeping me on my toes.  The classes I am taking are Dysphagia, Anatomy and Physiology of the Speech Mechanism, Professional Issues in Communication Sciences and Disorders, Research in CSD, and Language Disorders Preschool.  I am thoroughly enjoying the content I am learning...and I got a stethoscope!  It is hard to believe that midterm time is quickly approaching and the semester is already half way over.  That has been pretty much the extent of what I have been doing.

March will bring some good times:  my birthday, brothers visiting, and spring break getaway to Charleston with Sam's parents.  We are also going to be adamant about using up all of last year's garden stockpile, both frozen and canned goods, to clear the way for the fresh veggies that are in the not so distant future!  Until then, we will be here cuddling cats to stay warm, looking forward to spring time temps!

A note from Sam:
 Well, I don't have a whole lot more to say that hasn't already been eloquently described by my lovely wife.  A few items she forgot to mention are....

1. We finished a 2000 piece puzzle of Washington Crossing the Deleware!  Holy smokes was it crazy hard.  We can slap down a 1000 piece in NO time, but this one took us forever!  It got to the point where it just wasn't fun.  It was all gray and blah.  A cool picture but not a cool puzzle.  But we just HAD to complete it to say we could.  It was a true test of our marriage and resulted in a success....minus about two pieces the cats stole/ate or we lost because we had to constantly move it.  Yeah. During the day we had to move it into the bedroom so the cats wouldn't destroy it.  Ok, so Delilah wouldn't destroy it.  Have you ever tried moving a 2000 piece puzzle?  I don't think so. 

 2.  I've been so lucky that my wonderful wife has let me accompany my dear friend Mathew to TWO Civil War shows.  One in Dalton, Ga, and one in Salisbury, NC.  WOW.  So incredible.  I won't bother with putting too many details here, because if you're like my wife, you probably aren't that interested.  But Mathew and I had a blast.  I was able to pick up a Confederate bayonet and some bullets.  By far the coolest Civil War related thing I've gotten lately is a picture of my great-great-great grandfather, "Devil" Tom Summers, who fought in the Civil War in the 4th NC Infantry.  Receiving this really made my year.

3. Pretty excited about my chicken class.  Pretty excited about gardening.  Pretty exciting about being done with National Boards.  Pretty excited about Charleston.  That's about all for now.  I'll leave you with something else I was pretty excited about, but the wife wasn't.  For my birthday, my wonderful wife let me have a mustache:

 A little side-by-side comparison of my with a mustache and my great great grandfather, John Berry, with a mustache.  "Devil" Tom had one too.  I'm just sayin', they run in the family and it looks pretty swanky.  It's a mustache tradition!

Autumnal Atonement: Part Uno

Here I am working my keyboard mojo, again.  I don't know that I have had reason to put my fingers on the home keys since my break began back in 2012.  This blog will be an attempt to capture what happened up through the Winter Solstice.  Four months is a lot of time to cover, so one blog can not satisfy all that has happened.  With that, I hang my blogspot head in blogspot shame and attempt my blogger atonement. 

Fall was muy bonito this year.  Sam and I snuck away one weekend for a hike up through Black Balsam to enjoy the bursts of color.  'Twas a pretty day.  We took a picnic, and on the way back home, we decided to stop by Westville Pub for an annual Catawba Valley Pumpkin Beer.  Other celebratory fall musts was a traipse through the Elida Corn Maze.  We got all 12 hole punches- score!  We can add reading the corn maze map to the list of things we learned this year (not an easy feat or easy on the feet!).

Up next was our The Summer Halloween Party Before the Party.  We sort of slacked on parties in 2011-2012, so we decided this would make up for it.  The problem with throwing a party concerning a much celebrated holiday is that everyone else is throwing a party which causes conflicts.  Either no one comes to your party because they are throwing their own party, or people RSVP to your party with every intention of being there, but alas, they stop at two other parties before planning to make it to yours, and wind up not making stop number three.  It happens.  We understand.  Hence the "Party Before the Party" was born.  Brilliant, yes!  We had a Halloween party a few weeks earlier than might be appropriate, but our selling point was that you got to try out your costume before Halloween.  Anyways, we had food and a bonfire, and an all-around good time.  Sam was a pumpkin, and I was a peacock, and we of course, tortured the cats with their traditional costumes just long enough to snag a picture!

In the weeks leading up to Halloween, Sam and I carved pumpkins, a yearly tradition.  However, this year,  I was tired of the same ole patterns that come in the books that you can buy, so I decided to design my own.  In an attempt to avoid school work probably, I set to work sketching out patterns for Frankenstein and The Bride of Frankenstein that I found online.   When I finished sketching them, I really wasn't sure how they would turn out, and it turns out Sam wasn't either, but he of course wouldn't say that until after they turned out (in our humble opinions) amazingly well.  You can make your own judgement, but I think we have set the bar for years to come.  It is sometimes a blessing and a curse to do things well (you can ask Sam that as he has acquired some "chores" that are solely his because of his greatness... like making coffee).

Moving right along to November:

Sam's mom had a birthday.  Due to our new budget with me being in school full time now, our gifts to our parents for their birthdays are the gifts of a homemade cake and manual labor.  Back in September, for my mom, I made a chocolate cake, and we re-landscaped her flower bed.  For Sam's mom, though, I made a German chocolate cake.  This was my third attempt at a German chocolate cake, and I must say, I was satisfied at how it turned out, and those who tried it boasted that it was quiet yummy.  Also, Sam's mom became a victim of circumstance as the only candles we had at the time were the relighting ones.  Consequently, it made for a good laugh, which is also a gift!

We were also fortunate enough in November to get a visit from my brother, Tim, and three nieces, Phoebe, Scarlett, and Eden.  They are growing up so fast and are such enjoyable little girls.  Nevertheless, Sam can turn them into screaming banshees with his "I'm going to get you" antics!  Oh, Uncle Sam...you are so much fun!   While they were here, we visited the gingerbread houses a Grove Park Inn, went on a hike to a waterfall in Cherokee, and had an early Thanksgiving celebration.  It was truly great to see them.

Thanksgiving happened...and thus the trail of food begins.  We celebrated Thanksgiving as Sam's parents' this year, my parents joining.  As always, the food was delightful.  Funny story.  Sam and I decided that we would buy a computer on Black Friday this year.  We are novice Black Friday shoppers.  We naively thought that we could walk into Best Buy at midnight after enjoying a late movie and get the computer we wanted, no wait, no throwing punches, pay, and homeward bound.  Luckily, they offered the same deal online, but that night we decided to drop Sam's car off early at the Honda dealership, and then we decided to drive by Best Buy.  People were camping out and lined-up around the building!  Seriously!  Who does that!  I don't know about you, but after seeing that, there is nothing that is worth it to me...especially when I can have it delivered to my house.  Extreme shopping is not my cup. Anecdotal story aside, we got our new computer which has Windows 8 and a touch screen.  Fancy!

In November, I got very sick.  I had bronchitis which put me out of commission for a few days.  I had a fever and was prescribed an inhaler. I watched way to much t.v. and sat around in sick delirium.  I also had lingering symptoms for a few weeks afterward.  I am just glad that it didn't hit during my finals week because I was not able to even think about school work. It was, in fact, the sickest I have been in probably 4-5 years since I had the flu.

The last weekend of the month we went with Sam's parents to Pigeon Forge where we stayed in cute little cabin with a hot tub.  The hot tub was especially nice since I was just getting over being sick....Ahhhh.  We also did some pre-Christmas shopping and went to a dinner show at Hatfield's and McCoys.








The following weekend we got our Christmas tree, decorated it, and  I tackled finals.  AHHHH!  It is not every bit as stressful as I remember it to be, but I can say in my old age, I am a way more focused student than I used to be (not that I ever did anything but acceptable in my undergrad).  I don't mean to brag, but I came out very well grade-wise ::cough::4.0::cough::! To celebrate the end of semester I went out with some CSD ladies to the Biltmore Estate for a free wine tasting...(free- that's college students for ya).  Besides the 10 hours a week of commuting, I can say I genuinely enjoy the program I am in and am very thankful to have the opportunity to go back to school full-time!  I owe Sam one.  I will leave it up to wise Samuel Walker to wrap things up.

Well, winter's off to a wooly start, and the worms aren't the only thing that's wooly this winter.  The beard is getting pretty outrageous.  And by outrageous, I mean grey.  What to tell?  Well, after Thanksgiving, my parents and I once again went to Iredell County to hang out in some graveyards.  Actually, just one, but it was out in the middle of nowhere, as you can see:

 

We found the Williams family cemetery, which is my mother's side.  The cemetery dates back to before the Revolutionary War and most of the 200+ headstones are fieldstones with no inscription.  One of the only one's we could read was the brother of my several great grandfathers, Samuel Williams, who was named after his father.  So I directly descend from a Samuel Williams!  

Otherwise, I don't have much else to add to our autumnal atonement.  Until next time....

Oh!  and...

Obligatory cat picture!

...and Brother Gus sporting the latest in fall puppy fashion!

Schooled

It's hard to believe that it is fall already, but you don't have to look at the calendar to figure that out!  The leaves are quickly changing, the mornings are brisk, the sky is clear blue, and there are apples and pumpkins right and left.  And, the best way you know it is fall is that the Summers have their falls display up!  We are big fall lovers...LITERALLY.  We began dating in the fall FIVE years ago, and just today, we relived our first date at Ultimate Ice Cream where I wooed Sam with my talk of high school heavy metal music, and he wooed me with his talk of college debauchery.  Somehow it just worked...he met me the next evening for a viewing of the Montford Park Players, Much Ado About Nothing.  He was actually super worried about meeting me because he thought I was going with two guys, John and Christian.  Nevertheless, he showed up and found out that Christian was a girl, and here we are today:  FIVE years later...and so is Ultimate Ice Cream-YUM!  Ok, so a little walk down memory lane.  There is something about the fall that just makes you nostalgic.  Apple cinnamon doughnuts anyone?

Since the last time we posted, I finished 2 summer online classes and got accepted to graduate school.  So, back to school for me!  I am attending Western Carolina's Communication Science Disorders program full- time, and I am loving it so far!  I am learning so much, and the professors are so welcoming.  I even enjoy doing the school work (dork).  The toughest part for me is the drive;  it seems to get longer and longer.  Luckily, I hooked up with a carpool three days a week which helps on gas, makes the time go by faster, and gives me a chance to study.  I am currently enrolled in a phonetics course which teaches me IPA; Introduction to Audiology which teaches me about the anatomy of the ear, disorders, and how to perform hearing tests for hearing loss; Fluency Disorders which teaches me about stuttering assessment, diagnosis, and treatment; and Articulation and Phonology which teaches me about errors in articulation and phonological process theory, assessment and approaches to treatment.  I'm really geekin' out over it and come home with a new interesting tidbit daily.  For example, did you know that the animal that has an ear that most closely resembles a human's ear both anatomically and functionally is a chinchilla?  I also have to say that I have an AMAZING husband that affords me this opportunity and totally supports me...he also occasionally serves as my guinea pig (switchin' gears from chinchillas) and lets me probe his ears and give him oral peripheral exams.  Yay!

My other great accomplishments for the summer were finishing the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo trilogy which I totally recommend if you like strong female characters, mystery, and don't mind a little gore and edginess.  It is totally something I wouldn't have typically went for, but I wound up loving it!  I also did tons of canning and preserving of our beautiful, bountiful garden this year.  This is the first year I have been confident in the ability to use the pressure canner without being under the supervision of someone more seasoned (AKA the moms).  In the Summers' pantry are:  green beans, soup, marinara sauce, salsa, ketchup, barbeque sauce, and peach butter.  In the freezer are:  loaves of zucchini bread, several squash casseroles, zucchini lasagna, sugar snap peas, kale, blackberry jam, and green peppers.  While the gardening season seems to wear on me by late summer, I sure do love the taste of summer throughout the winter time!  I am hoping to also do something with pumpkins and apples, time and energy allowing of course.

To top the summer off, Sam and I made a short trip to Charleston to stay at a bed and breakfast we got a Groupon for.  It was really nice!  We really did just relax on this trip, going to the beach during the day and piggin' out on good food at night.  Funny story- I will call it Sam's chocolate cake hissy fit:  So we went to a restaurant the first night we were there, and our waitress recommended a place for dessert.  Well, since we were currently partaking in dessert, we decided we would go to this place the following night.  All day Sam salivated over a big piece of chocolate cake, saying how he was going to eat the whole piece over and over again.  Well, we arrive at this place the next evening after walking around post dinner, and we see that the pieces are HUGE.  I suggest that we share a piece, and Sam looked at me like he was insulted.  He was actually mad.  I finally convince him to share a piece of cake with me, and if he wants more, he can get another piece afterwards.  Well, he didn't take but two bites, and he said he couldn't eat anymore and started whining that he was sooooo full after all that!  Hurumph!    Our one excursion was a paddle boarding tour around an estuary.  We learned about oysters and other animals in inlets and got to practice our balancing skills.  Neither one of us fell in!  It was fun, and I do believe we would do it again.

In other news, my mom got a puppy for her birthday.  He is a little shi tzu puppy named Augustus Theodore Plemmons, Gus for short and more suited to his actual size, all four pounds of him.  He is lively and will bite anything in his path!  He is pretty cute, though, and fun to play with.  We have only briefly introduced him to Delilah and Weezy seeing as how they are literally 3 times larger than him and much scarier!  Maybe when he is a little older and not so rambunctious and wearing safety goggles will we give them a proper introduction.  My "little" brother also made it into town for a visit.  We had a good time and enjoyed seeing him.  Among the things that we did while he was here were hiking, bowling, and badminton.  I also cooked him an Indian meal to show off my cooking skills from my class last fall.


Speaking of badminton.  I don't know why we waited so long into the summer to bring it out, but it is ON at the Summers' household.  Badminton everyday rain or shine.  It is really a fierce competition.  I don't know what the actual score is, but we have played nearly everyday since late July.  We tied it up tonight.  We'll report in on the next blog to let you know the official score...

 Ok, time for an update from Mountaineer Sam.  Don't you think it's fitting that I went to school where the mascot was a Mountaineer and now the wife's going to a school where the mascot is a cat?  I sure do.  Well, summer is over.  The garden was pretty successful.  Except for the pumpkins.  That's my goal for next year.  I did score some seeds from the 2012 Mountain State Fair #1 award winning giant pumpkin so expect big things.  Literally.  One other mistake I made was fertilizing newly sowed grass.  Killed it.  The crab grass sure survived though.  My summer Summers genealogy trip this year included another trip to Iredell County, where my family on both mom and dad's side have our roots.  Fortunately, those roots don't run into each other if you know what I mean.  We found the grave of my great-great-great-great-great-great grandfather, John Summers, who moved to Iredell after fighting in the Revolutionary War with his father.  It was a pretty neat trip.  What next for Mountaineer Sam now that the garden's done?  Well, I hope to spend a few more days sittin' on the back porch, listening to records, and carvin' before it gets too cold.  Oh, that reminds me, we went to Heritage Day at Western Carolina University this weekend where I learned about hide tanning.  Other than that, I don't know what I'll get into this fall.  Hopefully a caramel apple or two while I help the wife with her flashcards, and riggin' up a target for my throwin' hatchet.  Oh, and we're having a Halloween party. Stay tuned for the deets. 

I'll leave you with a picture of the garden and the cool "thing" I built using locust posts and an old window from our house.  Did I already post this?  Oh well.

Into the fall season we go.  I study best with a cat or two on my lap.  Go Catamounts!  We wish everyone the best.  Get out there and enjoy the leaves and pretty weather.  Forecaster Sam predicts a bad winter:  2 weeks of snow due to the foggy mornings in August, the wooly worms, and the acorn crop!