The "New" House

Hello Everyone!

Well, it's about time I returned to my blogging! I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and were sufficiently stuffed with all that turkey, stuffing, ham, candied yams, green beans . . . should I go on? Mr. Plant Lady and I celebrated THANKSGIVING with his mom, brother and sister-in-law and nephew on Thursday. My daddy joined us as we had lunch, then went home to watch those ball games that are a tradition on Thanksgiving. We had a great day of fun, good food and fellowship with grateful thanks for every blessing.

Sunday, my family will celebrate all the blessings God has given us at my daddy's with a similar menu. Here we go again! How can one resist?

As promised, I will tell you about my NEW (not really) house. The painting is done, the shutters are back on, the rocking chairs and bench are repaired and repainted and the Christmas decorations are beginning to spring up. The brick house was originally trimmed in white with dark green shutters. Selecting a new color palette was an easy task. I had in mind a small change in shades. The white was replaced with a shade called "Woodrow Wilson White", which is a fancy name for off-white. Doesn't that sound better than just plain, old off-white? The dark green shutters were replaced with a paler green called "Pine Boughs". Sounds foresty, doesn't it? We are very happy with the results! What do you think?

Notice the peeling paint. Imagine what it looked like all over the house! It was about time for a facelift! My next post will include the "after" photos with the house all decked out for Christmas.

Mr. Plant Lady has just a few more finishing touches on the outside decorations.

Included in this post is a glimpse of our Christmas 2008 Christmas tree! It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here!

Be Encouraged!

Plant Lady

Hurry! Hurrry! It's a Giveaway!

Hello Everyone!

Lynn at http://ljgolf823.blogspot.com is giving away three beautiful dolls. Scoot on over to her blog and leave a comment about why you would like one of these dolls. She and her mother make them and her mother takes them to bazaars! They are wonderful and would make a cherished Christmas gift for a little lady!

Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

A Wonderful Day

Hello Everyone!

It's been a while since my last post. I've been busy trying to tidy up our newly painted house. Many of you may remember that all the painting was to be completed after our family vacation, but alas, that was not to be! Rain delayed the painter and it was finally finished a few days after we got back. Stay tuned to see our new (newly painted, I should say) house before and after its face lift!

Halloween has come and gone and Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. So much to do, so little time to do it! This past Sunday was jam-packed with an assortment of events to command our presence. First, we had a Veterans Day Recognition and the Dedication of a new flagpole at our church. The Cub Scout Pack did a memorial wreath laying ceremony at the new flagpole and a representative from our congressman's office presented us with a flag that had been flown over the United States Capitol commemorating our church's 100th anniversary. A couple of days before this, we received a call from the Sunday School superintendent at my dad's church. His church was going to present him with a plaque for being the oldest male member in the church and for his 50 + years membership and his service as choir director and for building the fellowship hall many years ago.

The service was to be a surprise and I had to round up the whole family to attend. I could not round everyone up on such short notice, but my sister and brother-in-law were able to make it as well as Mr. Plant Lady and myself, although we had to leave immediately after the service to rush to the flagpole dedication at our church. We got back to our church about five minutes before the flagpole service began!

After a quick lunch, we rushed to the annual Veterans Day Parade in a nearby community in the county. Marching bands, fire and rescue units, a float with WWII veterans and other veterans along with many churches who made homemade floats of which ours was one. Families lined up along the roadside of the parade route. A section of the road was closed off by the NC Highway Patrol for the duration of the parade. Everyone enjoyed themselves as evidenced by the smiles, laughter and waving of hands and arms! Our church float was an equipment trailer filled with chairs back to back and lots of people waving and throwing candy to the crowd. Our church flag waved proudly along with our mini American flags. We had a wonderful day!

After the parade, we came home and took a Sunday afternoon nap! The perfect end to a perfect day!

Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

You Asked For It!

Hello Everyone!

Several of you have asked for the recipe for the Green Tomato Relish I entered in our county fair. If you remember, I could not find my recipe, but I have since received a copy from my friend. I had to promise her that I'd immediately put it in my recipe box upon receipt!

So, without further hesitation, here it is:

Green Tomato Relish ( A Family Recipe from the Wilhelms, given to my friend Susan)

12 green bell peppers
12 red peppers
20 medium green tomatoes
12 onions
6 cups sugar
3 pints white vinegar
1 Tablespoon each mustard seed and celery seed
2 Tablespoons salt

Grind vegetables in food processor. Pour boiling water over ground vegetables and let stand 10 minutes. Drain and add sugar, vinegar, seed and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer 30 minutes or until thick. Fill sterilized jars and seal. Process in a 10 minute hot water bath.


*****This recipe is for a large batch. It can be adjusted as needed. Try this one if smaller quantity is needed.

9 large green bell peppers
2 large red bell peppers
18 medium green tomatoes
3 large Vidalia (or any sweet) onions
Other ingredients do not change (USE YOUR OWN JUDGEMENT WITH VEGETABLES)

I hope you enjoy this recipe! Let me know how you like it!

Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

Let's Try This Again . . .The Results Are In

Hello Everyone!

Many of you have noticed that you can't receive my last post, "The Results Are In". All except the title was lost in cyberspace. I spent a couple of hours typing and reviewing and then posting, but Blogger did not autosave and I lost everything except the title and the message saying the post did not exist. Needless to say, I wasn't very happy about the situation!

I was going to let you know about the results of my entries in the county fair.

First Place (Blue Ribbon) Largest Sunflower
Large Gourd Variety - Apple Gourd
Dishrag Gourd (Loofah)
Small Gourd Variety - Bottle Gourd
Gourd Collection
Best Useful - Martin Gourd
Sunflower - Dried Seed
Halloween Craft (Carved Apple Gourd with Jack-o-lantern Design )

Second Place (Red Ribbon) Okra
Corn Shuck Doll
Green Tomato Relish
Dried Okra
Christmas Tree Ornament (Miniature Gourd painted as Santa)
Cucumber
Peas (Dixie Lee variety)

Third Place (White Ribbon) Painted Gourd Ornament (Sunflower Bouquet)
Tomato Juice


I did not enter as many items as I usually do. Our vacation was scheduled for the same week as the fair, so I did not have enough time to do as much and I had to rely on my dad to pick up my entries when the fair was over and I did not want to put him to too much trouble. I think it was a successful year and I am thankful for that which God has blessed me. All of these entries were gifts from Him and I did my best to use them for His glory!

I've had a couple of requests to share my Green Tomato Relish Recipe and I will in a future post.
It is delicious!

Our family vacation went well with a few minor exceptions which I will post about later. Many of you know that we were having our house painted and were expecting to return to a "new" home but the weather did not allow for that. It should be finished by this weekend, hopefully.

I will post some "before and after" photos as well as my Fall decorations. I mentioned that we will do a "Trunk or Treat" at church providing a safe alternative to the traditional Halloween goblins and things. I haven't decided the theme of our "trunk" yet, but I know I will probably carve some pumpkins and display some gourds and other fall decorations. If any of you have ideas, please share them with me. I need some ideas.

Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

A Love A-Fair

Hello Everyone!

Today is the day that I have to enter all the hand painted, handcrafted, homemade this and thats in our County Fair. The date has creeped up on me and I am not able to enter as much as I usually do. I guess I've been "on the road" too much this year!

Gourds, gourds, and more gourds are the majority of entries this year. Most useful, small variety, large variety, best decorative, gourd collection, and a few others are just some of the categories that I have placed gourds for judging. I am especially proud of a gourd vessel woven with seagrass that I made within the last week. Whew! My fingers are sore from the experience! I'll let you know how it does as well as my other entries.

Green tomato relish was a new experience this year! A friend gave me the recipe for the most delicious relish I have ever tasted. Wouldn't you know that I lost it! I had to guess at the measurements of ingredients and I believe, it is better than that she gave me! (I'm not really bragging, am I?) Well, anyway, I entered it and some tomato juice (made from my own heirloom tomatoes). Several other items were entered as well and I will post a complete list and let you know if they won any ribbons. Last year, I had the second largest amount of blue ribbons in the whole fair and won an extra $25! I was so excited!

You can have a love a-fair with county fairs and I would like to encourage you to enter something in your county fair if you have one. Those of you with children should have several projects with them during the year and enter their "creations". It is so much fun and I'm sure they will all enjoy it!

Be Encouraged!
Plant Lady

A New House and a Family Vacation

Hello Everyone!

Yipee! We are getting a new house! Well, not really, but we are having our house painted, - a job long overdue! We are having the trim painted a really pretty shade of white (off-white) with pine green shutters and doors. I'm so excited! I can hardly wait until I can post the pictures of our "new house".

It has not been painted since we bought the house back in 1999. The paint was beginning to peel and the storm windows needed a good cleaning along with the picket fence in the back. The painter married a former classmate of Mr. Plant Lady and he is working on the house in the evenings after work and on Saturdays. He is giving us a real good deal and he does a great job!

Next Friday we will travel to the mountains on our "family vacation". We have not had a "family" vacation since our first year of marriage. Mr. Plant Lady's mom, brother and sister-in-law and their son and sister will be going with us to Cherokee, NC and the surrounding area.
We are renting a nice cabin for a long weekend. I'm so excited because it has a hot tub and a pool table. I will enjoy the hot tub and I'm sure the fellows will enjoy the pool table!

I will try to keep you updated on my adventures with the "family". It's sure to make "adventurous" reading! Ha! Ha!

I'm hoping that I will return from the vacation to a "newly completed" house! I'll keep you updated.

Be Encouraged!

Plant Lady