Okra Patties

This is a recipe that my aunt makes. If you have a lot of okra in your garden and are looking for another way to use it, this little patties are so good!

1 c. sliced okra
1/2 c. onion, chopped
1/2 c. tomatoes, chopped
1 egg
1/4 c. cornmeal
1/4 c. flour
Salt
Pepper

Mix ingredients, shape into patties, fry in hot oil until browned.

My Visitor

Just stopping in for a little snack.

Our Home - The Inside

Here it is, as promised! We'll start with the front door. When you walk in, the living room and dining area are open. The ceiling in this area is very high.

Hey look, 2 little boys playing video games. It was raining like crazy outside or they would have been in the backyard playing!

Straight in front of the door are the stairs that lead to the loft. There's a gift in that bag on the stairs that I bought for my SIL months ago and still haven't given her!

Oops, looks like I need to dust up here. I haven't done much in the loft. I used to have my desk and computer up here but moved it downstairs. I think I'm leaving the loft until my kids are grown up and college is paid for so I can afford to fill it with antiques. That's the way I envision it anyway.

It overlooks the living room and dining area. There is also a bedroom and bathroom with a jacuzzi up here. My husband has all his workout equipment in there now. I decided not to post pics until it's a little more "homey".

Downstairs again, we go from the dining area into the den. Look to your left you see this...

Look to your right you see this....

There's my desk! That's where I am right now and L is napping in his "Under Construction" room. No it's not under construction, that's the name of his bedding set.

We had to take L's headboard off his bed for awhile. He kept bumping his noggin'! See that big ole window? I'm glad we have an ADT system....not to keep people out, but to keep him in when he's a teenager!

Then there's J's room. It's in John Deere of course!

Back through the den and towards the back through the kitchen towards the back door,

you have my canning shelves...

and the laundry room. I think we'll leave that one off limits so you won't see my pile of clothes in the floor!

Our bedroom still needs work (curtains, getting rid of the white piece that came from our other house, etc) but we're working on it!

and there's the bathroom through there.

That's my tour! Thanks for taggin' along!

HenPals Nest Box Give Away

The very generous couple over at Life On a Southern Farm are giving away 2 of their awesome nest boxes! You can find their giveaway here.

I need this box for my new chicken coop and I can earn 3 more entries by telling you all about it! Ok, that's not the only reason...I would love for you to have a chance to win it also but forgive me for being selfish and secretly hoping I win! There's 2, I'll be hoping that you win the other one, how's that??

So go on over and enter!

Our Home - The Outside

Want to take a tour of our home? I have a little get together planned for the 6th-10th of August and I will be sharing my home with some of my best friends, friends that I have met through the internet. This will be the 5th Annual TSMG GetAway and it is at my house this year! I am so excited. Since I am sharing my home with these gals, I decided to share it here on my blog also.

I grew up about 2 miles down the road from here so this is my old stomping ground and I love that my kids are being raised so close to their grandparents and the place where I grew up.

We lived in a small town nearby until March of 2007 when we moved in here. We fell in love with the house the minute we walked in the door and told the realtors that night that we wanted it and the 20 acres that it sits on. The log structure of the house was in great shape but there were so many things we wanted to add to make it "ours" so we started a list. We are slowly working our way through that list.

Today I will share the outside with you.
This is the front...



When we moved here there was a raised porch on the end of the house that was made for a hot tub. I hated the way it looked and it came down pretty quickly. We also trimmed the tops off the spindles on the porch to make them level with the top railing. I hated trying to sit up taller in my rocking chair to see over them!

Around this corner towards the barn.....
This is the end (our bedroom). We had a small porch out these doors until a couple of days ago. The heat and air guys are going to have to install the central unit at the end of the house (it's either there or in my front flower beds so I opted to move the porch. We'll still be able to use the door on the right once the unit is installed.
And around to the back.
The back of the house was black when we bought it. The boards and logs had tree sap and dirt so thick that it took woodcleaner/brightener and lots of powerwashing to get it looking like wood again! There was a small concrete slab just outside the back door on the left. We had the deck added last year and we love it! It's one of my favorite places in the world! There are deer and turkey that come into the backyard each evening and we love to spend time grilling while the kids play on their swings. Just a few more weeks and I can get rid of that ugly window unit upstairs! Central heat/air is a huge one that will soon be marked off our list! I am so excited. They are supposed to get to use within the next month. I also plan to do flower beds around the deck someday!

And then I have this photo and I know I have posted it before but when I see it, it reminds me of how my home makes me feel and how I want it to make others feel....warm, cozy and welcome.
I hope you have enjoyed the outside. I'll share the inside tomorrow!