Sky Top Orchard

Saturday we headed out to Henersonville to go apple picking at Sky Top Orchard.

If I didn't know better, I would have thought Eve was a Man!

The orchard was on top of a mountain with beautiful mountain views in almost every direction. Even Bently got to come and get all kinds of love and attention.

Gala apples were in season and just right for picking.

Sooo pretty and nice to be outside!

Who needs a ladder!?!?

They had every kind of apple.

Peaches and grapes too!

One of our baskets

They also had apple smoothies and warm apple donuts too! ;-)

Bagging the apples

1/2 a bushel of apples = $15!!!

Fresh air and sunshine = Free!

Beautiful mountain views = FREE!

Home Sweet Home... Maybe????

We made an offer on a house last week. It is a foreclosure that has had some new improvements to make it more appealing to buyers. We were the highest bidder until yesterday when a new (4th) offer came on the table. The bank is waiting to see their "highest and best" before getting back to us....
Front of house

Sorry, forgot to turn this one. Entry with 2 story foyer

View from entry, wouldn't this be beautiful with wood/iron rails!?!?!

Kids chillaxing in the formal living room

Formal dining room with nice wood floors

Back yard

Master Bathroom

French doors to MBR

Upstairs hall, this house has 5 bedrooms upstairs. MBR, Ashley's, Dylan's, Guest room and flex (game room).

Master Bedroom with tray ceiling

Flex/game room

Dylan's room

Upstairs bath

Family room / kitchen

Office

Family Room

French doors to deck from eat in kitchen area

Dusty eat in kitchen light

NEW kitchen cabinets with whirlpool gas stove and dishwasher

Some of the tiles on the back splash are broken, but hopefully we could match them up well.

PRETTY KITCHEN with NEW cabinets and counter tops

Basement Steps from bedroom

Master Bedroom, we would take down this wall to make it larger.

Master bedroom walk in closet. Shawn would closet the sump pump and clean out access.

Full bath, you are looking at the sink and toilet. I am standing the the future shower

Flex space - could be office, den, or quest room.

Living room with flex space beyond

View of living room from kitchen

Kitchen / entry and dining area

Back of house

Entry to apartment from garage access to back door. We would side walk to corner and build steps to back door.

Entry to back door

Back of house and yard




We are praying God would have our family in this house and would work out the details. Until then, we are just waiting on the Lord!

Down the Shore... AGAIN!

With Ashley away at the Wilds, Dylan and I decided to spend a couple days down the shore. After we unpacked and got settled in, Dylan fed these ducks some crackers. They soon became fast friends, and followed him everywhere.

Mom stayed a few nights too. It was a beautiful sunset, so I decided to take advantage of the evening colors and play with my camera.

Mom's spoiled rat/dog, Zena. She really is very cute, and an awesome buddy to take a nap with!

The house... OK, so it looks like a choo-choo train... It has water on 3 sides - beautiful! And its a great place for spending time with family and friends! AND its a great place for swimming, boating, catching seafood, and eating seafood!

Speaking of seafood... Dylan here, if freaking out because of all the fish jumping out of the water. In spite of the DNR reports... the Bay IS getting healthier! The seaweed is growing back, and we are seeing much more marine life!

Dylan and Shawn tried fishing...

...But the most they caught was this poor horseshoe crab.

The mouth opening is between the legs, so it took some tricky handiwork and tools to get this hook out.

Debi, Nick and Mike came one night to play with us.

The boys worked together and made a neat sand fort.

Can you guess what the dogs were looking at so intensely???

Dylan's new cracker friends!

We enjoyed another gorgeous sunset over the water that included every shade of pink and blue.

And then an incredible full moon.

This buoy is attached to a line, and the line is attached to a crab trap (approx. 2 ft. wire cube with openings placed in distinctive locations with a inner section for the placement of bait.) So why am I telling you this???

We decided to put some traps out to see if we could get some crabs. Thought it would be great fun for the boys to check and hopefully catch a few. Dylan and I filled the dinghy with air, hooked up the motor and gas line and drug it all out to the beach. Only we had the most difficult time getting the motor started. My cousin Bobby, came over and got it going 3x for us, but it just didn't like a girl messing with it. We had to wait for my hubby, aka Super Man, to come down and get it going. So, Debi and I decided to place the pots by hand - dragging them to where they could possibly catch something.

We got a few feet past the jetty off the front of the house, when I spotted it. 5-6 feet in front of Debi was a snake! I (rather calmly, yet firmly) told Deb to "drop the pots and go back." She read my voice, as only a best friend can do, and upon seeing him, grabbed my hand and did her treadmill-paced-walk back to the beach. I walked backwards, along with her, hands still clenched together.

I remember thinking it wasn't good to turn your back on snakes, and I wanted to know exactly where he was! With praise, I can report, the snake did not follow us. I think he was after the chicken bait and must have sensed it as we walked past the jetty. But the traps stayed where they were - all night & into the morning, until Shawn got the dinghy going.

When the guys went out, they discovered 3 crabs among the traps. One Jumbo, one Large, and one Medium sized crabs. What fun they had! Eventually, Dylan and Nick moved the traps out farther. By then it was a little too late in the day, and unfortunately, the jumbo sized crab escaped.

But hey! These were the first crabs the boys caught right! So, how does one steam 2 crabs???

Like this! Break up a couple rocks and place them in the bottom of the pan (to keep crabs from laying in vinegar.) Pour vinegar on bottom, season with... shhhh... secret family recipe! And steam 20-25 min. Test to see if apron lifts easily...and wallah!

For the sake of time, I won't go into how to clean a crab. Dylan, early in life, found that if he didn't learn to clean his crabs himself, he didn't eat! I had mercy on Nick, and cleaned his for him. The boys were there for about an hour! I think they got every scrap of meat possible! The end!

I made this dessert for the trip. It's supposed to look like fireworks.

Dad has been visiting with Mem Mem this week while Aunt Sue and Jimmy are away. They came for an afternoon. It was great visiting with her and talking with her. Even found out that my Great-Great Grandfather drowned in the bay one winter after his dinner cruise boat sank.

Cody and Shelby love swimming down the shore. Especially Cody, I think he would stay forever if he could, he loves it so much there.

Nick holding on for dear life while they cruised around. Dylan loves it here too, never bored, always into something... fishing, skipping rocks, swimming, exploring etc. etc.

Until next time!