Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Nothing To Something...Sparta Hilton Update


We thought the last time we went to the Sparta Hilton would be the last time to take a trailer load of stuff. NOT. Here we go again. Most of it is "Sweet Honey's" stuff though. Four wheeler, plow, deer stands, seeds & corn and more.
If you don't know what the "Sparta Hilton" is.....it is a little hunting shack that we are fixing up with our hunting buddies! Our "honey's" tell us that hunters would love to have this place.
But do you notice that mattress? I bought a Serta king size pillowtop mattress and foundation at an estate sale for $150.00!!! Is that unreal? It was practically new. They still had the plastic and paper work on it. It was a 1200.00 mattress. Now this makes the Sparta Hilton just a little more appealing to me.
Here is how our livingroom looks now. Jeremy helped us rearrange it to give us more room. That door in front of the rocker stays closed most of the time. Looks better huh?
That is Granny's couch and recliner. The rocker was already at the Hilton and it looked good so we kept it. The lamps and tables are from my house. I did some major cleaning out. The picture I bought at Salvation Army for $3.00! And of course you remember that D. & I layed the carpet and when I say layed.....I mean layed in there but it looks good we think.

Jeremy suggested moving our little game table over against the opposite wall from the couch and it works great. The little lamp on the table has a trout on it. It is the only thing my honey has ever bought from a thrift store. I think he paid 1.00 for it. Jeremy bought the picture that is on the wall and it matches my picture so good. He bought it before even seeing the" Hilton."
On the table among other things is a Bible word search book that Granny gave me before she left us.
I must have been at one end of the table taking this picture of our feast of a breakfast. I just thought I would show you a closer picture.
It was delicious!
This is our kitchen. D. worked in here for a long time organizing everything. Since we are not here all the time we put everything in containers. That sink did not look like that when we first got this little place. Underneath the sink you could see everything. Josh fixed it so we don't have to see all the pipes and stuff. And me & D. painted it. Actually we painted the whole place with the "honeymooners" help. We have got to get them to come and see the place now. We are proud of it.

This is a little shelf that we have hanging in the kitchen. The stuff is just from yard sales. My Mom gave us the picture. Looks pretty good, huh?

This is what the guys come for....the deer woods but they sure don't mind the little shack (I mean Hilton) either! I bet there are not many deer hunters that have wives that come with them and have a good meal waiting on them along with a comfortable cabin complete with hot water, air conditioning, & electricity. Do you think that is why they want us to come along?

Here is what our "honey's" worked on. They tilled up some little food plots.


Rog is checking out the ground after it is tilled to see if it is ready to plant.

Josh found this box like crate and is turning it in to a hunting blind.
Is that smart or what?

This is Rog & D.'s bedroom. They are still working on it. Isn't the bed pretty though.
Rog's mother refinished it. They have got to find a mattress though. That is why they stayed in the Marriott. I know that D. just hated leaving. (Ha! The Marriott that we stay in is so nice.)

What a woman!!! You would think that she mowed this whole yard, right? Actually her son Josh mowed most of it but D. finished it. Can you tell we haven't been here in a while? I hope she was watching for snakes with those flip flops on. Believe me, she was!

Believe it or not this place did have air conditioners in it but we had to replace 2 of them. Here Rog is putting this one in my bedroom.

And "sweet honey" is inside helping him.
They make a good team!

We forgot our spray foam this time so I am checking for holes until we get some the next day and stuffing aluminum foil in them. I bet we have used a dozen cans of spray foam on this place. It had lots of holes and cracks and we don't want critters in here with us.

Here is "sweet honey" and Jeremy putting my bed frame together for my new mattress.
I am supervising!

Look at that thing! $150.00! Wow.

And let me tell you that it sleeps like a cloud! The lamp and nightstand in the corner are Granny's. Rog's mother made us curtains for our windows. We only have 3 windows in the whole place! I think they look great. Mom gave me the picture above the bed. The wardrobe is from Granny too. I brought the t.v. from home. I am planning on making a quilt for the bed but until then it has an old king size quilt that I bought at a yard sale for 3.00 on it. I turned it to the white side because the other side is faded but it is a great big quilt. The quilt at the bottom of the bed was made by my dad. It was his 3rd quilt that he had ever made. Mom gave me the big pillow on the bed too. This is just half of the room. The other side has Granny's bed and I don't have it made up yet. We wanted to have plenty of sleeping room if anyone visits us!

I was in my bedroom when I heard a gun shooting.
I had to go see what Rog and D. were up to.
She is a good shot!

So I had to join in on the fun! Rog was showing me how to shoot his gun. I really liked it but D out did me! She was good!

I thought you would get a kick out of seeing what our target was.
It is our leftover biscuits!!!
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We are still working a lot to get this place like we want it but it has been so much fun.
We are looking forward to many more fun times at the Sparta Hilton.
It sure looks different that when we first saw it. This just shows you that you can take nothing and make it something!

Monday, August 30, 2010

Breakfast At The Sparta Hilton Part 5a

This is the first time that we actually spent the night at the Sparta Hilton.
My Sweet Honey, me, & Josh (one of our hunting buddy's sons) stayed. Rog, D., & Jeremy went to the Marriott for the night. Our bedroom is ready but theirs is not. Here is Josh starting me a fire so we could cook a breakfast on it. He is our professional fire starter!
Josh & Sweet Honey were heading to the woods to start planting food plots.
Here I am in my P.J.'s peeling potatoes to start our breakfast. I was having a ball. This is almost like camping. We have a kitchen but we love being outside. Do you notice the bowl that the potatoes are in? It was Granny's. Granny had told everyone a long time ago that this pan was mine. She did everything in this pan. The other bowl is one of many that my Mother gave me. Do you see the little grill in the background. I found it at one of my houses that I clean. They had left it so we cleaned it up and painted it. Potatoes cooking on the fire.

Bacon and sausage cooking on the fire.
We had already cooked some deer tenderloin.

D. came and cooked the best fried eggs ever!
She scrambled a pan full too.
Along with all of the meat & fried potatoes & eggs, we had gravy & biscuits
and some great Apple cinnamon bread that I had bought in Ellijay, Ga. at an apple house.
Yummy!
The guys came in from the deer woods and were ready to eat.

From left to right my sweet honey (red shirt), Rog & D (our hunting buddies) and this is Jeremy. This is Jeremy's first time to come to the Sparta Hilton. Josh and Jeremy are twins even though they don't look anything alike. Jeremy isn't too sure what he thinks about our little shack-- I mean Sparta Hilton!

We are going to fix us a place to wash our dishes outside but for now these totes worked fine.
The best part of our little place is the shed outside so that is why we love to be outside instead of inside. D. sure is working hard.
More pans? Considering D. & I never knew each other before our honeys got together hunting we sure do work good together. We have so much fun.

I just had to show you our swing. Notice the pots with the plants in them!
Don't they look so pretty and green? There is a reason why. I tried planting some flowers but we are not there enough to keep it all watered so they just would not grow. But my Mom came to the rescue and gave us lots of artificial vines. They look great! Before we left everyone kidded about someone watering the plants!

This is after breakfast and all cleaned up. The table and chairs were given to me by my Aunt and Uncle. I think I have showed you those before. We brought them down the last time we were here.

D was determined that we were roasting marshmellows sometime on the trip.

And we did..... and they were great!
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Notice in the title that this is just part of our trip. I will post the rest tomorrow.
We had such a good time. We still worked this time but it is getting better and better. We are expecting next time to be more games and movie time for the girls & hunting for the guys! We can't wait until more of our family come and check out our little getaway! It is very rustic but we had so much fun fixing it up. D & I were talking about the work and saying that it was almost like playing house. I guess the little girls in us are coming out.
It is so much fun to have friends that you are comfortable with. We are having a ball. We love it!
Stay tuned to see more tomorrow!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

After All This Time



Last Saturday night we celebrated Mike (hubby's brother) & Glo's 40th Anniversary!
They hosted a party that was wonderful! They renewed their vows and then the party began. There was great food and music and fun!

Once upon a time about 33 years ago there were 2 young girls that were recently divorced from their spouses. I had 2 small children and Gayle had 1 little boy. We shared an apartment and made a home for our children while dealing with things the best we knew how. I have not saw Gayle since then. We both went our ways and went on with life but I never ever forgot her. We both went through some rough times and were there for each other.

When we saw each other at the party it was just like we saw each other yesterday. Things have changed for both us since then. The most important thing is that we are both Christians. We have been emailing each other, but Saturday night was the first time we have saw each other in so long. We were both so excited. I have been blessed to be with my soul mate for 32 years. Gayle has now found hers. I am so excited for her.

After all this time the love story begins.
This is Bruce and this is Glo's (my sister in law's) brother.
Isn't this something? Bruce told me that he loved Gayle back in high school but she didn't know it.
Wow. We never know what life will bring us. Once, good friends and roommates and now we are kind of going to be family in a round about way. Bruce and Gayle are engaged! They both needed each other. Life brought them together. What a blessing! Can you tell that I am so excited?
Our children are grown and here we are full circle. I just know that there is a plan and I can't wait to see it all unfold. They both are wonderful people and we look forward to many many good times with them.
The band that played featured my niece Sanna and my nephew Schylar.
They are so talented. Here you can see "Baby Sanna" (as we call her) in her Tina Turner mode!
She was awesome!
I don't know why this picture is so small.
This is us with 2 of our daughters at the party.
Shannon (Trouble) & Maranda (Big Sis) helped with the party.
Unfortunately I had been sick last week with vertigo and could not help but I was so proud of my girls!
Here Sanna and Schylar are singing some of the oldies that Mike & Glo loved as they were dating.
I cannot even begin to describe to you how good they are.
I was taking pictures of Bruce and Gayle dancing when all of the sudden I looked up and there was my sweet honey with our Granddaughter, "Sweet Teen". Is she not beautiful?

Angel & Brother are having a ball dancing to the music.
They even had a hoola hoop contest!

Look here! This is mine & Glo's Mother in law!
She is dancing with Angel!

Grandmother ( my mother in law) out on the dance floor again.
She tried to get me to go out and dance with her!!!!
But she found her brother's wife and they had so much fun.
The funny thing about this wild woman is that she is 80 years old and she has a pacemaker.
They say that only 30% of her heart functions like it is suppose to after heart attacks.
She also has had back surgery and goes through a lot of pain because of it. But Saturday night was her night. We got the biggest kick out of her. She is so much fun and truly amazing!
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Snippets From My Heart
This party was to honor Mike & Glo for their 40th anniversary and what an example they are to all of us. They have a wonderful family and we are honored to be part of it. I was not feeling great at the party due to vertigo but as I looked around I realized how blessed that I am. I thought of my marriage of 32 years and realized we are not far behind them. Then I looked at my daughters that were there along with their families. I was so proud how my girls helped make this night special for Mike & Glo. I looked at my grandchildren having so much fun. The smiles on their faces told the whole story. I looked at Sweet Teen dancing with her Paw Paw and thought about how fast she is growing up and she will have her own story one day. Then getting to spend the evening with my very good friend after so many years and realize that we both had to go through so many things to get to where we are now. She was there for me and I was there for her when we didn't have anyone else. I know that the Lord has a plan for all of our lives if we open our hearts to see and hear what he has for us. I watched as Gayle and Bruce danced and laughed and just looked at each other with love in their eyes. How blessed we all are. I am so thankful. After all this time......

Monday, August 23, 2010

Cleaning Mood - The Pantry

BEFORE

AFTER

You would not want to see this drawer before I cleaned it out.
It was a mess!
And so was this one.
And this one. I conveniently forgot to take BEFORE pictures of the drawers.
Cabinet #1 BEFORE
Boy I have got messy!
Cabinet #2 BEFORE
Hope hubby doesn't see this one!
Both are empty and clean.
Cabinet #1 AFTER
Cabinet #2 AFTER

Top of counter tops BEFORE

Top of counter tops AFTER

This is what the room looks like now.
My pantry room is all clean and organized.
One room at a time.
I think this deserves something yummy!

This is one of my favorite things!

Crescent Rolls with a twist.
Roll up and place on pan. Drizzle olive oil over rolls. Sprinkle with freshly ground pepper and sea salt. Then sprinkle with basil and oregano.I add Parmesan cheese too! Bake as directed.
Worth every calorie!!!
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One Room At A Time!!!!