Still Woods Farmhouse

I've Been Thinking...those three words bring a look of terror to my husband's eyes.  He usually bows his head and rubs his forehead.  That's his signal for "Lord help me"! My hubby says that those three words always mean work for him! Guess what? He is completely correct! I'm sure I'm not the only one who utters those words. How about any of you? I love to move things around...usually big things.  We have a farmhouse (like you couldn't figure that out with my blog title 😏), which has two rooms on the right of a center hall and two rooms on the left. I have swapped my dining room for the reading room and back again too many times to count.  I am a little ashamed to say that not only does this involve moving furniture, but it also involves moving a chandelier.  I didn't realize how heavy the chandelier was until I had to help hold it! Yikes! So, I've been thinking again. This time my vision involves our living room and our reading room.  You...

I have to share this delicious salad with you.  It has been so hot here in Mississippi..and its barely June!  One evening all I wanted was a quick, refreshing salad for dinner.  I had watermelon and Feta cheese in the fridge and wanted a salad which combined both.  After a quick look through the internet, I found Ina Garten's recipe.  I was excited to see that her recipe also included fresh mint and I have a caboodle of mint growing in the garden.  It looked like a win, win recipe! I didn't have arugula, so I substituted crispy Romaine.  I also left out the shallot.  The salad was absolutely wonderful!  The mint added another level of freshness and the citrus vinaigrette was delicious.  I enjoyed the sweetness from the melon and the salty from the Feta.  Yummy!  I can't wait to make it again!   Forgive my fancy, blurry photo!  I wasn't planning on blogging about it, but did snap a s...

Hi friends! Is your home already decorated for Christmas or are you a die hard after Thanksgiving decorator? I admit that my home is almost Christmas ready.  My boys will be in Sunday evening and they once mentioned that they would rather enjoy our Christmas décor as opposed to fall leaves and pumpkins.  Well you know that's all it took, so I have been a little elf and have been in a decorating frenzy.  I'll share my Christmas décor with you later.  For now, we have one of my favorite holidays right around the corner...Thanksgiving! I am hosting Thanksgiving dinner, so my dining room is everything Thanksgiving.  If you are hosting Thanksgiving dinner, I imagine that you want your entryway to look festive and welcoming.  I love the colors of harvest time.  There is such warmth and beauty in the hues of fall.  There is still time to jazz up your front door before your guests arrive! There is an old English proverb based on Matthew 6:22 which...

Hi friends! Hope you all had a wonderful October. I wrote this post months ago and am finally getting around to posting it.  After I decided to start blogging again, my mother was rushed to surgery with a ruptured colon and was the hospital and rehab for over two months. Life suddenly revolved around ICU visiting hours and meeting with doctors.  I am happy to report that she is home and doing well. The Lord blessed us beyond measure with her incredible recovery. I'll write more about her journey later.  So for now, let me tell you about my little ray of sunshine! Last summer a new man came into my life, much to the distress of my husband! Whereas my husband has beautiful blue eyes, my new guy has big, brown eyes. The type that seem to look into your soul. In fact, that is what drew me to him...that look he gave me the first time we met. It was love as first sight. My new fellow is soft and likes to cuddle.  My husband is rock hard and when he doesn't shave for a da...

Almost a year ago, I wrote a quick post saying that I was "Back in the Saddle Again"! After a few less than inspiring blog posts, I just quit.  So if you don't believe me when I say that I am starting again... I will understand! To be very candid, a few things turned me off of blogging. So here they are... #1- I was invited to attend a few swingers parties. This does not mean sitting on a front porch swing with a glass of sweet iced tea conversing with a good friend. It does not mean swinging away the hours reading a great book or working on your Bible Study (my favorite place to work on my studies). To say I was shocked by the invitation is putting it mildly. #2- As I read other blogs, I began to compare my little blog to the other blogs. I wondered who would want to spend their time reading about Still Woods Farmhouse when there were so many wonderful blogs out there? #3- My time was consumed with a new business endeavor and I found my time management skills went o...

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 beginn...

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, ...