The Gregorys are ready to entertain! If you’ve got the time and ability to drive up here, we’d love to have you on the farm. I can’t say we are 100% where I want our guest room to be, but I can confidently say a comfortable stay can be achieved. My Inlaws tested it out just last weekend!  Afterall, they are the generous donors of the gorgeous antique bedroom set. In time, we’re going to remove some pieces of furniture that are stored in there and an added-on closet that is unnecessary.  Once we make space, we will be adding an equally gorgeous sofa that I’m envisioning will dual purpose the room into a quiet sitting space as well.  This momma REALLY likes that idea!

In addition to getting the guest room organized, I’ve been spending almost every good weather day in the barn doing massive clean out. While a few of what I would call treasures have been found; (no gold or silver…yet)

most of it has been scrap metal (coffee cans full of nails/screws), disintegrated empty cardboard boxes, rat poop/nests and lots of layers of dirt and cobwebs.  While gross, it is coming along nicely! Fingers crossed that continued activity out there keeps the rats from moving back in!  Additional barn cats are on the list.

Annnnndddd speaking of cats…..Christmas came early for Ashlyn when we adopted a sweet little 3 month old male kitten from the Henderson County Humane Society last week.  She has actually been asking for 2 years for an indoor cat to make her own and the timing was finally right when she asked again a few weeks ago. And it made Christmas easy for me. As soon as we walked into the cat room, she had an instant connection with what is becoming a perfect fit for our family. She had already made up her mind beforehand that it’s name would be Fluffy, making a welcome sign and all. And, of course, the gender did not impact that decision. We have since given him nicknames like Mr. Fluff, Fluffernutter and Kitty. It’s only been 4 days, but aside from regularly removing him from the Christmas tree, neither party has had difficulty adjusting. He’s really laid back! He lets everyone pick him up and isn’t biased about which lap he will curl up in. Although, he does sleep with Ashlyn every night. Skye (our dog that was raised around cats) has been great. Fluffy is coming around little by little. He doesn’t “play” with her yet like she would like for him to, but he will be in a room with her now and not get all hissy. Baby steps!

Ashlyn is an amazing care giver! She caught on quickly to scooping the litter box that is in her room. Her cat, right? I’m actually quite impressed with the pinterest inspired system we put together to make the cohabitation bearable.  This way, minimal litter is tracked out, sight and smell is contained, access is limited and the feeding area is provided on the top! Pretty slick, eh? We also crafted a tower/window perch out of an extra barstool we had. I think we will be adding carpet to the top for additional scratching.  All in all the timing was just perfect for this addition and I’ve caught myself many times already in awe of not only my little girl’s maturity, but all 3 kids’ ability to be so mature and caring with this little guy.  Makes a momma proud.

-Lindsay

Now that we have officially polished off the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers, it’s time to relive all of the deliciousness in photographic form! Yes. I took pictures of every dish and more than one of the turkey. It all turned out damn delicious and I partly want to show it off and partly want a keepsake of the occasion in case I can’t ever duplicate it. 😆 This year was the biggest I’ve prepared so far and that’s with Mom still bringing the made-from-scratch dressing and rolls. I really got into the holiday this year. Something about an old farmhouse in the country just screamed, “cook lots of food all Betty Homemaker style!” It was a 2 days of preparation, Wednesday being mostly spent on this insane pie and Thursday spent cooking the bird and other sides. Here’s the rundown:

Turkey: I didn’t brine it and even after sitting in the fridge for a full 5 days, the 20lb monster still wasn’t completely thawed on the bottom. Nathan got right to doing the dirty work for me. Slimy, raw bird is just gross. I slathered it up in butter and herbs after he had his way with it and in it went! It finished 2 hrs earlier than my online source said it would with minimal whitemeat dryness. 👍🏻

Sides: Mashed potatoes(not pictured) roasted brussel sprouts with butternut squash.

Sweet potatoe casserole WITH a pecan streusel. Oh boy! Let me tell you how amazing a pecan streusel makes a sweet potatoe casserole! I ate that bad boy for breakfast more than one morning

Mom wouldn’t show up empty handed, so she took 2 days of her own and made an all from scratch dressing unlike any I’ve had before! Organic at that!! You’ll have to ask my kids about her rolls. They ate them all!!! 

Dessert was the INSANE pie. You know when you see the news on Wednesday and they feature the lines outside of the popular pie shops backed up for blocks and scoff at those idiots that would wait that long for a pie? Well that may only take a couple hours. After spending 3/4 of an entire day fussing over one damn pie and its finicky flaky crust…. It all makes sense! I stumbled across the INSANE pie also known as a Chumpcan Pie on Pinterest and was immediately obsessed with the idea of a “three pies in one” pie. Get it? (CH)eesecake, p(UMP)kin, pe(CAN). Hahaha! Honestly, it turned out really good and I’m not as scared of diy flaky crust anymore, but that freezer section looks mighty appealing next year 😜

I hope all y’all had a great Thanksgiving Day!

Two days prior to our feast, Archer turned 3! My youngest is by definition, a preschooler! Of course, he fancies himself a threenager now and like any philosopher that age enjoys daily debates about wearing pants, sitting on his butt at the table and whether he truly HAS to come to the store with us. To be 3 and have it all figured out, right? We managed a great day for him that began with breakfast at Dunkin Donuts, playtime at Brookshires park, a trip to the zoo that Mom joined us and dinner at Chuck E Cheese with Daddy. I only managed 2 decent pictures of him the entire day because he decided memories weren’t important. 😆

Ashlyn, Weston and I managed a picture in front of a really pretty fall tree at the zoo though! 

-Lindsay