@The Brown Barn

This is a tale of our jouney from living "in town" to moving out into the "country".

Monday, August 29, 2011

The Celebration....


Friday night was a celebration of joy. We got together @TBB to share an evening with Chanelle and Gabe. There was good food, good wine, good beer and much happiness. There were bubbles and toasts.....



and even some rice krispie cakes...





Music filled the air....




It was a grand evening, and we had so much fun....

Thursday, August 25, 2011

The Tomatoes Have Started...

Well, I harvested some goodies today, some of which are for the celebrations this weekend and some are just for us. The tomatoes have started and I picked a lot!!



This is about 30 minutes worth of picking. There is another small bucket of cherry tomatoes, but they are going to be skewered and grilled @TBB. I also brought out several smallish eggplants, numerous cucumbers, and some Tabasco peppers. There was also a tomato with a "nose", we will leave it at that (pictures to come!). I am sure Jon will be crafting his wonderful vegetable animals this year as always. I promise to share some pictures with you all.

Jon, Randie,and Kai arrived home today and we went out for a visit. Gifts were given, wine was tasted, and plans were lain. Randie was fussing over what wines will be sipped and which plates to use for this and that.

My daughter Lydia is staying the night and will love every minute of the attention. She has been anxiously waiting weeks for Randie to arrive. They will be sleeping out on the deck so hammocks have been hung, and beds made. I'm sure the conversations will last well into the night.

My wife Tricia is busy downstairs making the "traditional" (??!!) Rice Krispie treat wedding cake in several interesting flavors. There are caramel, chocolate, mint chocolate, strawberry and I think even some regular ones.

It is late and time to go to bed.....

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

The beginning....

Well, I was talking to Kai last night and I thought it would be a good idea for all of us who have named their houses to start a blog. I am going first. This is @The Brown Barn (TBB), home of Randie and Jon, and where Kai and Gabe grew up. Randie and Jon have two named houses: @The Red Couch, and @The Hilltop. Of course I would be leaving out an important nugget of information if I didn't mention that Kai is also residing @The Hilltop. Gabe lives a few doors down from @The Red Couch at a place called @The Red Door. If I have confused you, don't worry, you will get the hang of it eventually. My family will be moving out to TBB sometime in the near future. It will be a change, we currently live 2.5 miles from work, 15 minutes from school, and it is a short distance to the grocery store, Menards, TJ Maxx, etc. Now, we are 25 minutes from any of these things.

We were out there tonight getting the place spruced up for two big shindigs this weekend. Friday night is going to be a grand celebration for Gabe and Chanelle, recently wed in sunny Arizona. In preparation, we have mowed a path around the pond (and found the fire pit), re-discovered the paddock, and created an enormous parking area over by the boats. The second event is the annual Garden Party put on in lavish style by Randie. This is a gala event. I will be taking photos for both events, so I'll keep you all posted on the goings on.