Granny's Pantry # 37: Finding Misenhiemer

Once upon a time we were riding down a side street in the tiny hamlet of Misenhiemer, NC. The "we" was likely me, Janie, Ruthie, and Mama (Virginia). We came upon a cottage-style house that was clearly uninhabited, but clearly a "house of interest"--one that you would buy immediately. So, rather immediately, we called the realtor listed on the sign. The price was...to say the least...astounding! For the house (never mind that the kitchen roof was falling in) and the land around it, complete with 5 outbuildings and a well) the owner wanted $6,500.00.  (Yes, the decimals are in the right place.)
And so, "we" (that would be Janie and me) quickly called our respective husbands to see if we could wrangle "a deal."  This was rather early on in our marriages, finances being what they were, and the fact that the roof was caving in, the tandem responses came back..."No Deal!"   
Oh well. It was a good idea at the time....wait...is that Aunt Ruthie crawling into the realtor's van (rolling office?) and writing a check?  It was...it really was. She bought it!

And so, the Misenhiemer House, or the "Holiday House" as it came to be called, came into the Cole family. Move ahead about $50,000 in renovations [it would have likely remained with the roof caved in had Janie and I bought it!], and here is a peek at the place today. 

corn crib

barn

smoke house

chicken boxes

machine shop? granary?

and buzzard roost

out house

Some parts of the old house, built by a Culp relative, could stand more attention, it's true.  But we've had some good times here. 

For every house is built by someone,
but the builder of all things is God. 

(Hebrews 3:4)

Granny's Pantry # 36: New Peacocks at High Rock

You've heard the saying,"While everything changes, everything remains the same, as well" (Aristotle). That's the way things seem to be at High Rock these days. Granny and Granddaddy Cole are gone, as are Uncle Brooks and Aunt Lorene. Ruthie and Virginia (Bid/Aunt Martha) have moved to Fuquay. 

Tommy is keeping the stove warm inside the house, and Brooksie is re-working the grounds. The place is by no means deserted. But without anyone from the generation before mine in residence, High Rock feels a bit...empty. Everything changes, yes.

They were shy, making good pictures hard to get.

And then up walks the new white and gray peacock ladies, and...although different...everything remains the same. As was reported in Granny's Pantry #35, there was a rumor of new peacocks coming to High Rock. The rumor was truth. There are four new ones (all white or gray), two are females, and they are incredibly beautiful. 

Standing just outside of the well house

No, not the same as the flashy, kaleidoscopic old birds...that are still in residence...but no less breathtaking. 

 

Also, there is a new generation that is finding High Rock as intriguing as we all have. Gunner kept insisting that he wanted to see "The Excavator," and his G kept telling him that the excavator was "gone." He and Duncan played on the trailer in the barn lot and hid in the hay bales, 

 

and suddenly...there it was...sticking up over the tops of the trees out in the lane..."The Excavator," after all!  (In reality, it was a track hoe, but that was of little consequence to them.) These little boys may have climbed under the big downed oak to get to it, 

  and they also may have climbed on it just to say they did. 

Thank you, Uncle Wiggly, for that moment of delight.

May many more generations find this special place hidden between the Yadkin River and the Flat Swamp Mountains in Piedmont, NC. 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.  (James 1:17)

Happy Thanksgiving!

 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession,
and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.
(2 Corinthians 2:14).

Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken,
and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship,
with reverence and awe,
for our God is a consuming fire.
(Hebrews 12:28-29). 

Life on a Ferris Wheel

 

Do you ever feel as if you live life on a fast moving Ferris Wheel? 
Slinging faster and faster around and around high above the ground without a way to get off?
Bordering on out of control?
Am I the only one who finds myself at the top, rocking back and forth, heart racing, head pounding, trying not to crash? 
On the other hand, if life were always calm and predictable, sane and without surprises, I'd probably complain of terminal boredom.
What are the options when that overwhelming out-of-control-Ferris-Wheel-feeling threatens to take away the day's peace and joy and sense of well-being? 
Go back to bed and hide?  Not always and option.
Push my personal state of mind onto those around me?  Very easy to do, but not commendable.
Give up and declare I can't handle any of this [whatever it is] any more?  Tempting, but makes things harder for others who have to pick up the pieces of what I scatter around in my wake.    

OR ...           
I can access the peace that is available to me as one justified by my faith alone because "we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).

I can rest assured that "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases" (Psalm 115:3).
I can remember that "In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:10).

I can understand that our "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control"
(II Timothy 1:7).

I can listen when He tells me, "I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world”(John 16:33).

I can rejoice in the truth "That people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the Lord, and there is no other. I form light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things" (Isaiah 45:6-7).

I can pray, "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all" (I Chronicles 29:11).

I can accept His promise that "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid" (John 14:27).

Glory!

And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all people will see it together.
(Isaiah 40:5)

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all.
(I Chronicles 29:11)

For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
(Romans 11:36)

An evening out at the old kitchen

It might have been the original house on this site. 

But we call it The Old Kitchen.
In some old houses, the kitchen was detached and sat out back to keep heat and the danger of fire away from the main house. If it was an old kitchen building, it would have served the little red house (now Martha and Mike's home) that used to sit where our home is now.
Whatever else it has been, The Old Kitchen has served as a dwelling and farm store in its day. 

One day this summer we decided it would be fun to have a family gathering inside--the occasion was a celebration of August birthdays of both Martha and Rachael. 
And so we did.

 

(Granny Cole joined us...by a cardboard cutout from behind an old screen door.)

 

 

 

We love because He first loved us.
I John 4:19