Still Woods Farmhouse

Let me begin by saying that sheetrock dust is evil. It lands in the strangest of places and lurks in tiniest of corners. If it was a germ, it would take over the world in no time. No vaccination could stop it.  Sheetrock dust is resistant to the powerful suction of the best vacuum and the continuous back and forth action of vigorous mopping. Sweep it up you say?  Forget about it! It just dances around in the air while finding a new place to adhere to. I bet under a microscope, it has suction cup tentacles. I say all this while eating a cup of Blue Bell Cookie Two Step ice cream.  I am rewarding myself for  laying down sheets of brown butcher paper on the floors and covering more furniture with painters cloth.  All in anticipation of the disaster that will commence again tomorrow morning. By the way, the ice cream is delicious. So what's up at the farmhouse? I wish I could tell you that Mr. Still Woods has decided that I need a larger closet and we are beginning a renovation job

Many of the students along the Mississippi Gulf Coast began school this week and the remainder will start next week. There will be plenty of excitement mingled with the fear of the unknown.  As a psychometrist and counselor in various school settings, I saw it all the time.  The age of the student is irrelevant.  Whether it is an elementary student or student bound for college, there is often some amount of apprehension. An extremely polite kindergartner once told me, "Thank you for inviting me, but I don't think I will be back"! Loved his forthrightness!  I sought out the little fellow the next school day, knowing that his hopes of staying home would be crushed and he might need a little encouragement.  On the other end of the spectrum, don't forget our college bound students who need a good dose of encouragement before setting off into the big world of college.  I remember being scared to death when I first set foot on the campus of my alma mater, Mississippi

It's funny how a furry creature, weighing just a tad more than 8 pounds, can steal your heart and hold it captive.  Our little Luke Bailey did just that... If you follow my blog, you may remember seeing the post,  Puppy Love .  It was all about the new fellow in my life. To make a long story short, my husband was content with our two labs, but I fell instantly in love with this little boy. He was one of two puppies from my sister's maltipoo's litter.  I would visit whenever I could just to hold him. After hearing my husband's objections, I stopped talking about it and quietly began a Facebook campaign.  You know....if I get so many likes, this little cutie gets to live with me? It worked! Luke always thought he was as big as our labs.  Whenever it would thunder, Luke would bark furiously until I had our labs safe and sound in our garage.  He would round them up and usher them to the door connecting to our garage.  He looked quite smitten with himself after fini

Let me start by saying that I am back! I wish I could say that I went on some exotic vacation to conquer my latest mountain climbing quest or better yet, I was on a long term mission work in a foreign country. Maybe a long, post retirement European vacation.  You know the type you read about in novels?! Those always sound so nice...and expensive. The truth is I was here all along. Do you ever get in a blogging slump? Or feel that no one really wants to read you blog anyway? Or have those late night pondering sessions about your next blog topic to the point that you don't get a good night's rest? I did all of those and more! There was no other reason other than motivation.  There, I said it!  I was LAZY.  Hello, my name is Lynda and I was LAZY!  But no more...I'm saddled up and ready to visit with all of you again! See you real soon pardner! Blessings from Lynda at Still Woods Farmhouse

Are you ready for spring?  In my little area of the world, the azaleas are in full bloom and now a cold front has come through. That's nature for you! It is still a beautiful time of the year on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  I am spending part of the morning decorating for Easter.  My Mardi Gras decorations are down and now its time for the beautiful colors of Easter.  I wanted to share with you my decoupage Easter eggs.  If you are looking for sweet, homemade Easter gifts, these would be perfect.   They also make a terrific gift from your little ones to their grandparents.  Before we start, let me show you a vintage Easter egg from Germany.  Believe it or not, the vintage ones are not that expensive. Now for our project!  Since they are already having Easter sales, head on down to your local craft store and buy all the paper mache eggs available, select some pretty scrapbook paper, a sponge brush, and a jar of Mod Podge.  If the Peeps are on sale, grab a pack of those.  A litt

I love Valentine's Day and have many fond memories of the simple ways we celebrated as a family.  When the boys were little, we would always make a special Valentine's Day dessert for their daddy.  It might be homemade heart shaped sugar cookies with an edge dipped in chocolate, a heart shaped cheese cake, or my husband's favorite chocolate chip cookies. Our Valentine's Day dinners usually consisted of a heart shaped meatloaf. Yes, you heard me correctly!  No fancy restaurants for my guys.  They loved meatloaf and thought it was really special in the shape of a heart! This year I thought I would make a batch of my red velvet brownies.  They are the perfect color for Valentine's Day and especially delicious. You have to try these!! Let's take a look at this easy recipe: Red Velvet Brownie Layer: 1 stick butter 1 cup of sugar 1 teaspoon of vanilla 1/4 cup of cocoa powder Pinch of salt 1 tablespoon of red food coloring 1 teaspoon of vinegar 2 eggs  3/4 cup all

This Saturday, our church will welcome our new Children's Minister to our church!  Our previous Children's Minister retired after 39 years of dedicated service to the Lord.  Isn't that something?  So now it's time for our new Children's Minister to get to know everyone.  The day will begin with a brunch with the church staff, deacons and their wives.  I decided to bring this delicious casserole.  The south is known for grits and there are many types of grits casseroles.  Southerners eat grits anytime of the day...breakfast, lunch and/or supper! Shrimp and grits are one of my favorite dishes, but a good ole plain bowl of grits with butter, salt and pepper for breakfast can't be beat. So what is in the photo below?  It's a Green Chilies Cheese Grits Casserole.  A simple, but terrific recipe. Nothing better than that!   This recipe is a twist on a cheese grits casserole.  Let's get started! The Starting Line-Up : 3 cups of water 1 teaspoon of salt