Saturday, May 30, 2015

Back Home in Oriental

I snagged this nice photo of my parents' porch before we drove away from West Virginia.
Adam's been baking breakfast bread a lot since we came come. We now have Peter and Anna home for the summer, and this bread is popular.


While I was at Max and Anne's farm, they gave me a few gourds Anne had grown last season. They're nicely dried.
Dried gourds get this moldy growth look on the outside. Years ago in Iowa, I bought a beautiful swan's neck gourd and dried it, and then threw it away when it "grew" like this. :(
Anne showed me that all you have to do is sand the gourds, and the mold growth comes right off.
So I sanded them and then painted them with polyurethane. They're kinda shiny now.
I like this mottled brown look. Haven't decided yet what to do with them. To cut intricate designs on them I need a special tool. I'm gonna watch some youtube videos. I saved a handful of seeds from one of them, and next year at the farm I want to grow lots of them, design something cool on them, and sell them at the market. Bird houses? Lamps? Hanging gourds? Bowls and spoons?
This old house in Oriental has been sad-looking. Peeling paint, weedy/viney yard, derelict and vacant. At last someone is fixing it up, and it's looking mighty fine. They passed sheetrock in through an upstairs window.
These bright bushes are full of spring right now.

The views here are as wide and comforting as ever.
Welcome to the river.

8 comments:

Lisa Richards said...

Aw, you love your Oriental. :) I love my home, too. Glad you're glad to be home!

Dasha said...

I love that photo of your parents' porch. For me that is such a quintessentially American look. So peaceful - just needs your mum on there in the rocking chair with her quilting to complete the "look"!

happyone said...

What a great looking porch. I love sitting out on our porch.
My daughter once gave me a gourd that was made into a bird house. Wrens used to live in it.

Gumbo Lily said...

Love that porch too! And the bread looks SO good. I'm wondering, is it a white loaf or a mixed grain loaf? I'm curious. Does Adam bake it in a ceramic pot or cast iron pot? I use my cast iron Dutch oven to bake loaves.

Oriental is a beautiful place.

gretchenjoanna said...

I'm glad you're home, Mary Kathryn! I can tell it feels good. Somehow it feels good to ME and I've never been there! <3

Pom Pom said...

The river is such a friend. Beautiful. I love your gourd idea!
Breakfast bread sounds tasty.

Mary Ann Potter said...

There truly is no place like home! Now that your son is married and everything has settled, you can get to the next big event. Life's so full of them!

Deborah Montgomery said...

Love that porch! I could sit there and rock forever.
I'm glad my husband doesn't bake bread -- I would never lose weight. Homemade bread is my #1 comfort food, and your husband's looks delicious!