Why We Moved to the Country---in Pictures

 

It's been ten years since we've lived here, and we still occasionally get asked why we left our southeastern suburb to move to a rural area up north.  "You're so far away from everything," they say.  "But there's nothing there," I hear from others.  "You mean that even the nearest Walmart is twenty miles away?" they gasp.  As incredulous as it may seem, we chose to leave a beautiful, safe, preppy suburb in a warm climate to move 700 miles north to a quiet, sparsely populated, mountain farmhouse amidst the old-order Amish.  Since a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let this week's photos describe our reasons for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and these were all snapped from my Samsung Tracphone.  No photography equipment or skills necessary out here in God's country.

Sunday Brunch With 4 Generations

 

It might have been rainy and cool outside this weekend, but inside our farmhouse we were enjoying time with extended family and four generations under one roof.  Sunday morning I tried a few new recipes that I found on Pinterest: Cinnamon French Toast Bake, Baked Ham & Cheese Rollups, along with some cut fresh fruit, and Mimosas.

 

I needed to prepare enough food for eleven of us, but I also wanted plenty of time to hold our grandson, so these dishes were simple enough to make before everyone arrived.

 

The Baked Ham & Cheese Rollups consisted of Pillsbury crescent dough, thinly sliced ham, Swiss cheese, and a sauce made of butter, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, poppy seeds, and dried onion.  The full recipe can be found at http://www.highheelsandgrills.com/.  I doubled the recipe and made a total of twenty of these delicious rollups.

I forgot to take a closeup of the Baked French Toast, but you can see it in the first photo. You simply use two cans of Pillsbury cinnamon rolls and soak them in an egg/milk/cinnamon mixture.  This recipe is at http://www.mightymrs.com/.  This was the favorite with my kiddos, and I definitely should have filled two baking dishes with a double batch.

 

This was the first time we've all been together in the past few months, so we officially toasted the birth of our grandson with the parents and great-grandparents.

 

The guest of honor slept through my brunch.

 

But he was awake the night before for a Four Generations Photo Shoot.

 

And he even smiled for his delighted aunties and uncles.

This was the only weekend since school started that we had absolutely nothing on our calendar, and it was truly amazing that everyone else was free as well.  It was a rare treat for sure.

 

Finding Preppy Fall Fashion in Rural America

 

  This post is for those of you who don't live near any major metropolitan areas, and your shopping choices are severely limited, especially if you love classic preppy clothes.  This means no Vineyard Vines, Lilly Pulitzer, Kate Spade, or Tory Burch unless you shop on the Internet.  I don't know about you, but sometimes I need to browse the stores, try on a stack of clothes, and walk out with something today---not wait for UPS to deliver it next week.  So here are a few of the outfits I've been able to find recently.  Most of them were purchased locally, but there are a few items I did rely on the catalog/Internet to purchase.  These are all from major retailers that are located all over the country.  I figure if I could create a preppy wardrobe out here in the very rural Allegheny Mountains, you can do it anywhere.

In the photo above: Black & white paisley dress and shrug (Perceptions), black leather flats (Liz Claiborne) both from JC Penney.  The purse was made by an artisan in Aiken, SC many years ago, so that was not purchased locally.  I actually bought this dress and shoes 3 years ago, and it is the oldest outfit I'm wearing in this post, but I included it because it's one of the most comfortable dresses I own, and I love paisley.  I often wear it in the summer without the shrug since it's sleeveless and light weight, but it continues to work for early fall as well.  And it never needs ironed, which is a definite plus.  

 

I just found this shirt and skirt last week, and the entire outfit was on sale and only totaled $30!   Striped boatneck shirt (Tommy Hilfiger) & blue skirt (Lauren/Ralph Lauren) from Macy's.  The leather basketweave loafers (West 31st) are from the Bonton and are nearly a decade old.  I'm always looking for shirts this time of year that aren't too heavy, but that aren't summery either.  This one is perfect with 3/4 length sleeves, and it's not too thick or thin.  I think I'll also pair it with jeans or chinos.

 

I found this Argyle sweater (Croft & Barrow) on clearance this past spring at Kohl's.  It buttons up the front so I can wear it as a cardigan over a t-shirt, turtleneck, or collared blouse too.  The tan skirt (Merona) is from Target, but I purchased that about 11 years ago after our sixth child was born when I couldn't fit back into any of my old clothes.  And I never ever returned to a size 4 again.  The black & white striped ballet flats (Mossimo) were bought at Target over a year ago.

 

By the way, most of my children were enlisted to be my photographers yesterday whether they wanted to or not.  The only one who was excited about doing so was our seven year-old daughter who happily snapped away while I tried to give her instructions.  She must have taken 15 shots of me in this outfit. 

 

You can't really see the stripes in this blouse, but it's a beautiful pink & white cotton pinstriped shirt (Lauren/Ralph Lauren) found at Macy's last week.  There were many colors to choose from, but this was my favorite.  The navy blue chinos (L.L. Bean) are one of those items I had to mail-order, but I bought the white reversible leather belt from Kohl's, and the paisley canvas sneakers (Mossimo) were purchased at Target in the spring.  I know they're not really fall-like, but I like them so much that I'll probably continue wearing them throughout this month.  Oh, and that's me trying to keep the gnats out of my eyes and mouth.  Yesterday had to be the buggiest day all summer---which didn't make it any easier to persuade my boys to come outside and take pictures.

 

Aside from swatting bugs, we also had goat kids escaping their pasture and coming up to our photo shoot.

 

This is what they were doing under the clothesline while we were taking pictures of preppy clothes.

 

This is the last of my outfits today because it was the last of the photographing.  My ten year old son took two pictures while the gnats swirled around his head, and he said he was done.  I was tired of dealing with them too, and it was incredibly warm and muggy, and I was perspiring in my fall clothes.  This was the best shot of the two, and not very flattering of me, but it shows the outfit: White t-shirt (Land's End), oatmeal cardigan I purchased in early summer (Gap), blue jeans (St. John's Bay) bought at JC Penney a year ago, same leather reversible belt (Kohl's), dark brown leather heeled loafers from Bon Ton a year or so ago, and a gold cross necklace that belonged to my grandmother (all my pearls need restrung.)  I have discovered that cardigans are the best wardrobe item for those of us with an expanding midriff.  They camouflage that middle-aged spread quite nicely.

These clothes work for most of my days: volunteering, substitute teaching, chauffeuring children, shopping and running errands, attending meetings, and doing things around the house.  Macy's, BonTon, Kohl's, Target, and the Gap supplied most of the items, and I supplemented with L.L. Bean and Land's End.  It takes some real looking through the stores to find classic American clothing that looks good on a middle-aged mom who tries to be frugal, but it can be done...even in the middle of nowhere.

Why I Fall in Love With Fall

 

These are the things I love most about autumn. 

 

Making & eating chunky chili, soups, and stews

 Picking apples...

 

...and making apple crisp

 

Fall flavored coffees and fall scented candles

 

Decorating the front porch with pumpkins and mums

 

 Chilly hay rides 

 

Making numerous batches of pumpkin chocolate chip muffins

 

Wearing loose sweaters and warm boots

 

Using pumpkin body products...

 

...and trying tasty pumpkin treats 

 

Cool walks through the woods...

 

...and trips to the corn maze

 

Collecting pumpkins

 

But mostly, I love taking in the awesome beauty of it all.

What do you love most about fall?

 

Fall Has Come to Our Farmhouse Kitchen

 

While the children were at school yesterday, I dug out the fall decorations---new and old---and began embracing the upcoming season.  The near 90 degrees outside reminded me that it is still officially summer, but in my kitchen, it looks and smells like autumn.

 

Keep in mind that this 130 year-old farmhouse is a work in progress.

 

Our free time is limited, but I do what I can to spiffy things up here.  These wooden-wick candles really do crackle when they burn, making the kitchen smell like fall spices and sound like you've got a campfire going. 

 

With a household of seven and only one closet in the house, much of our stuff is on display.

 

Like this little stand that holds our phone books, schedules, and numerous papers that come home daily that I have to sort through.  For lack of a better place, all of the lunch bags tend to get stashed here too.

 

My dinner menu chalkboard hangs here, but it's also holding fall leaves for the time being.

 

I'm not sure how many days we'll get through before someone spills chocolate goat's milk all over the new table runner.  There's a good reason why my decorations come from Kohl's, Michael's, and even Dollar General.  My sanity remains somewhat intact if a $6 item gets ruined, as opposed to something much nicer that requires dry cleaning.

 

I still haven't done anything with this kitchen corner.  Instead of a secretary's desk, I think I need a corner hutch more, but I feel like we really must refinish the floor in here first.

 

My kiddos tend to eat more fruit when they're out on display like this.

 

A few years ago, I was ready to get rid of our electric stove/oven and replace it with a wood-fired one like the Amish have.

 

What was I thinking?

 

We do have this wood/coal burning stove that not only keeps the house warm in the winter, but it also serves as a backup for cooking if we lose power---which happens quite a bit.  It gets hot enough to simmer soup, boil water, and fry some eggs.

But it seriously needs cleaned and polished several times a year.

 

I don't know about you, but this is making me feel like warming up some spiced apple cider and baking some apple crisp or pumpkin cobbler.  

Thanks for meeting me today in our not-so-preppy farmhouse kitchen.