Summertime and Peaches

 I grew up in what is known as the Peach State but it didn't take me long to realize South Carolina actually has the best peaches. I suppose no matter where you live, fresh peaches are hard to beat. There is just something about peach season that makes me want to bake. It doesn't matter that it may be hot as blue blazes outside—if fresh peaches are on the counter, you can't risk letting them go bad, so you bake. Today, I was also lucky enough to have a nice amount of fresh blueberries, so a recipe was made.

Fresh Peach and Blueberry Cobbler

Cobbler:

• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup self-rising flour
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 cup of milk

Fruit:

• 4 cups fresh South Carolina peaches, peeled and sliced (I blanched the peaches first to make the skin slide right off)
• 1-2 cups fresh blueberries, washed and drained
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Melt butter in a large, shallow casserole dish. Mix together flour, 1 cup of sugar, and milk until blended. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir.

Combine peaches, 1 cup of sugar and water in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes.  With slotted spoon, spoon peaches on top of the batter.  Sprinkle fresh blueberries on top. Add the liquid from the peach simmer and dust with cinnamon.  Bake 35 to 40 minutes until light brown.  

 

Enjoy!  

Hurricane Irma....

Living an hour inland from the Atlantic, a lot of focus this week has been watching this beast, named Irma, churning in the Atlantic.  The endless guessing (forecasting?) of where she was going to go kept everyone on constant watch.  I can't count the times I have been asked this week if I was going to stay or evacuate. After weathering Matthew last year, who was a baby in comparison, I was more anxious than I would like to admit. Irma had me nervous and not wanting to go through a repeat of last year, and the flooding the year before.  To say our area has had a string of rough weather events over the last couple of years would be an understatement.  Also, seeing the devastation that Texas faced only a week or so ago made it feel even more frightening, not to mention the wild fires burning away the lives and land at a frenetic pace in the West.

For now, we seem to be totally out of the danger zone.  After a week of seeing the forecast track right at us, it is a relief to see it turn...sort of.  Either way, there is devastation coming and lives at risk.  Now it is tracking towards my daughter and son-in-law, my parents, many friends and family and that doesn't feel better.  It feels a lot like holding your breath while you pray a hedge of protection around those in Irma's path. 

A few days ago I did my hurricane prep and already gasoline was running low in some stations, bread was nonexistent and water?  You could forget it...and that was several days ago.  I think I was not the only person planning not to be caught off guard this year. Hotels and dog kennels are filling up now as people who previously never dreamed they would ever need to evacuate towards the beach are coming here.

I will admit, this week is the first time I have thought that maybe moving away from the coast might be worth it...and then Irma shows me it doesn't matter. There is some kind of risk everywhere.  I think the issue of having to ride these storms out alone is more the drive behind my internal debate on just picking up and leaving.  It is tiring.  But, here today....it is a gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky day...who would dream a monster is preparing an attack on the state of Florida at this very moment and heading northward towards Georgia? 

Praying God's protection upon everyone.  Stay safe.

Sparkle has not left the house!

 

Yes, I disappeared!  It has been a crazy couple of months filled with football, fun with friends & work. We have had so much dreary weather I have been in kind of a funk so I have focused a lot of work.Work is good in that way.  I can dive in and hide behind it while my mind doesn't have time to dwell. . 

  

Oh, and if you are wondering...it is STILL raining in South Carolina....STILL.  That has not helped my funk one single bit.  There are areas where people have still not be able to return to their homes from the flooding weeks ago.  I think it is the general consensus in SC that WE ARE SICK OF RAIN!

 

But, I am not loosing my sparkle again....just spending some time polishing it up.

On becoming a Belle in the Carolinas....

I didn’t grow up thinking myself Southern.  No, I just grew up.  I was reared in the mountains of North Georgia by a family who had also grown up there. Now I did have those relatives that lived in South Carolina but they didn’t seem all that different from us…well, their accent was different, but I forgave them that.  My parents were good, decent people but found their parenting influence more by the homogenized world of television than the culture in which they were formed.  They even worked when I was young, to rid us of the twang that is native to our South as a matter of preparing for the future.  Not until I, myself, moved to the deeply Southern state of South Carolina as a young newlywed did I realize how Southern I might not be.  See, apparently, many in North Georgia fell under the influence of all those “you’re not from around heres” that had flooded into Metro Atlanta over the last few decades and we were no exception.

I was fortunate though, long before my introduction to the culture of the Carolina’s, to have the influence of a deeply Southern lady in that of my first employer or I would have been completely lost in the the ways of a Belle.  She was what you could completely and thoroughly label a Steel Magnolia.  I was a waitress in a little cafe that she owned in my hometown throughout high school and into my first year of college.  She took me under her magnolia scented wings and began teaching me what I had missed out from my homogenized, modern upbringing.  She taught me about the differences in cut crystal and what real silver is, how to pick my china pattern, how to make a proper tea sandwich (and how to keep it fresh), she even helped me develop and directed my wedding. I also learned through observation how to be strong and direct in the ways that only a Southern Belle can be.   She was a beautiful creature, inside and out.  She was strong and competent in the areas of life that men generally ruled before the feminist movement happened, but she kept everything rolling in a decidedly feminine way.  She was Julia Sugarbaker long before Julia came to life on the TV screen.  Southern velvet on a steel frame; oh, she was my idle.  She watered that little Belle seed I had inside just waiting to bloom. 

When I moved to South Carolina, the first time 20 plus years ago, I realized that I still had a lot of Southern learning to do and I had better do it fast!  Honestly, I think I probably should have brought my parents up on child neglect charges in the things that they managed to not teach me that I had to know…yes, HAD to know. I am only kidding.....just a little bit.

I have come to realize that my upbringing missed much of what was considered standard for bringing up children in the true South.  I never took Cotillion classes, I never wore smocking, my Mama didn’t pass down any china, silver or linens to me, nor did she teach me to make cheese straws.  It was shameful.  I was an almost an adult before I attended my first funeral and tasted my first (and last) tomato aspic.  But, deep down, lurking below the surface was a Belle who was determined (as all true Belles should be…determined, that is) to come raring to the surface. 

Guess what I am dreaming of today...

It is still chilly, cloudy and rainy (at least no ice or snow, right?) here in my corner of the world, but I got up this morning longing for some bright blooms of spring Azaleas.  I love them.  I was a newlywed when DH and I  moved to South Carolina, 21 years or so ago, and I fell completely and totally in love with Azaleas.  Yes, I had seen Azaleas before, but the versions we had in North Georgia didn't compare to the ones I discovered in SC.  They were (ARE) breath taking.

So, I am looking for those first blooms.  I know my yard is laden with mature Azaleas, and the surprise will be in what varieties and colors..I have no idea.  It will be like a party as they show themselves.

 Will they be pinks, reds, whites, fuchsias, lavenders, oranges or a mix of all?

Oh, I can't wait!!!!

In South Carolina...finally!

We are here! Yes, the move actually happened and it went very smoothly. We have been moved professionally many times during our marriage, but we had the best moving crew/company this time. Dh's company uses Graebel Relo. and their movers were just wonderful. They were kind, considerate and just a joy to work with. Also, the home office was available all the time for any questions and concerns and really held my hand through the whole process.  Moving under any circumstances is stressful, so I appreciate all the help and assistance Graebel provide.

Graebel Relocation Service

Of course, this is what I saw when that wonderful moving crew drove away...lots and lots of this.  Fortunately, we had an unpacking crew arrive the next morning to help make a dent in the lovely brown box heaven.  Although, a lot of people don't like to have the unpack help, I do because it causes most of those boxes and all that packing paper to go away much sooner!!!  Though we still have a ton to do, and much more unpacking and organizing, it is nice to at least be able to move around without getting lost in a maze of boxes.

What is this, you ask?  This is what my 3 children have done every day since we moved in.  Yep, they have been keeping cool and occupied in between organizing their rooms.  Maybe next week I can work in some pool time!!!!  I am not so sure I appreciate this grown up responsibility thing.

So now that we are moved, it is time for the projects to begin...keep watching!

NOTE:  No compensation was paid for this endorsement, only a happy customer sharing the good word!

Moving, Redecorating and Project Central...

You know you are about to move into a new (new to you) house when all the flat surfaces start looking like this! 

Yes, it is time to start the transition and planning the projects for our new house.  No, we haven't sold the current (or otherwise known as the old) house.  Actually, it isn't even on the market yet because I just can't live in it while it is on the market, especially with all we have going on this Spring!. 

DH actually moves into our new house next week.  He will be roughing it on a blow up mattress for a few weeks until we get there.   Yesterday I actually committed to a "movers will arrive" date and delivery date.  Honestly, I guess that is when it really hit me that, yes...indeed, we are moving.  When we decided, several months ago, that we would make this change it seemed so far out in the future and I have been so focused on the kids and their activities that I haven't been real consumed by the coming change.  Well...no more!  Change is A coming!  Get those paint brushes, spackle and all manner of DIY tools ready!!!!!!!!!

Vacation 2009...

Vacation 2009 came and went too fast....

When we are on vacation, this is one of my favorite spots...I like to sit here and read, pray and just reflect - often until late into the night.

If you have never dipped your feet in the magic that is the low country you have missed something wonderful.