Logs, quilts, and paint...

This week there's been lots of projects. I've been sewing too! Really! It's slow going with so many interruptions but the top of Old Tobacco Road is coming together.

We've been chewing away at the log pile in the front yard.


I held or sat on the logs to keep them stable. Not too hard...I don't really like being so close to the saw though!


Loading and unloading the truck is a bit harder. :-P


While sitting on my log I took photos. This one reminds me once again how much this house needs to be painted. Not the brick. But the trim and the addition are so dark and dreary. We have water issues that need attention too. No rest for the weary!


Talk about surprise lilies. These big lilies are a surprise in October too! I have no clue what they are but we have a few large clumps along the foundation. Anybody know anything about them?


This is our sink hole. The grass is brown because I sprayed it. There's no way to get the mower across and I don't really like walking in it with the line trimmer. Neighbors tell us it's an old well and remember the previous owner topping up the hole. That's fine, I just wish we'd been told.


We still have a couple more truckloads to go....sigh.


I'm feeling hugely better about taking the pecan trees down. Yesterday, at the Wake County Heritage Day at Oak View County Park, at one of the "agricultural display" tables we chatted with a man from the North Carolina Pecan Growers Association. It was quite a learning experience, both about North Carolina and about pecans themselves. I told him about our pecan tree concerns and he informed us that pecan wood is very brittle and he personally never walks under the trees when in a pecan grove. It's too risky! He also said that professional growers never let the trees get too large or more than 30 years old and he told us how to prune our younger tree. This will be great news to share with our neighbors. :-)

Also at Heritage Day, the Capital Quilters Guild held our quilt auction. For a first time ever effort, I think we did a marvelous job and learned a huge amount about running an auction as well. The Tramp helped set up early in the morning, then Mom and I stayed all day, working in various capacities as needed. Quilts were hung inside the historic farmhouse, on the fences, porch, balcony and trees. There were tractors, antique cars, music, food, 4H kids showing off everything from hamsters to chickens, rabbits, dogs, goats, ponies and I even saw a llama! There were crafters too and I bought myself a pair of tatted earrings, a wooden toy for DGS1, and a tussie-mussie for Mom from the herb growers society.













I don't know what our "take" was yet, but the net proceeds are to be shared with the Make-a-Wish Foundation of Eastern North Carolina. I hope we did well!

My house is a complete shambles! When not doing all the other things I do during the week I've been up a ladder (or crawling on the floor) painting. I got most of a coat of primer on the interior brick wall. A nasty job. We bought another gallon to finish....now I just gotta do it!


Then I tackled the remaining red wall in the kitchen. Before.... (or during really)


And after! All the white trim has to be done yet but it's a great improvement. :-)

Then the bathroom. Before....

And after!
And the hallway. Before...

And after!
Ivy, bless her heart, managed to stay paint free. Ngaire however, has a large yellow streak down one side of her! I managed to get the clumps of black hair off the wall before it dried thank goodness! :-) There are new light fixtures and wall switches courtesy of The Tramp and every space is so much brighter and more cheerful! I still have to do the doors and trim and touch up the ceilings but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yippee!