North Georgia Flooding

It rained in Elljay.  Rained is an understatement.  Poured, doused... flooded.  Simple and so accurate.

I wasn't there to witness it, but apparently 4 inches of rain fell in just a matter an hour or two the very early morning of Christmas Eve.

I was in WV trying to spend time with family for the holidays when we got the terrifying call...

This is our store, Christmas Eve.

It has not flooded this bad since 1938.  The Cartecay runs directly behind it so there is always a chance, but I never expected it for real.

Thankfully we didn't actually flood.  It was waayyy too close for comfort, though.

Here is a few other pictures of the area.  Heck, it was so bad that even Atlanta reports came up to report.

Top is a park-- it is also known as the Apple Festival grounds.  Beneath that is the chicken plant in town.

There was pure destruction all around.  I can never be thankful enough that someone or something took mercy on us that day.

Mammaw's Spiced Gumdrop Cookies

My mom was visiting when she mentioned how much my dad loved his moms spiced gumdrop cookies.  My dad's mom is Mammaw.  She has no other name.  Well, she does, but not to me.

Anyway, Mom hooked me up with Mammaw's recipe so I baked a batch for her to take home to my dad.  I hope he thought to take some to my grandparents....

The recipe.  Easy to read, yes, but there is the whole fact that there are no instructions. Basically use baking common knowledge, dries together, wets together.  Mix together.  

 If I had to to this all by myself who knows what would've happened.... But it was Okay.   I had my mommy there coaching me to success.


There is something you much know about me... I, *hackum*, suck (?) at baking.  Yes.  Yes.  That word is a perfect description.

See, baking requires to much accuracy.  I like to throw a bunch of stuff together to see what happens--- to me a recipe should be a guideline.  Baking is not forgiving.... of anything.

Nevertheless, I baked a very successful first batch.  I halved the recipe and still had PLENTY of cookies.

I wish I took some pictures, they were quite beautiful.  I tried one and didn't care too much for it.  The cookie part of it was soft, moist, tasty.... but the spice drops were not something I enjoy.

Really this recipe would be a good base for anything-- chocolate chips, etc.

I would love to know if you try this recipe out.  I am sure Mammaw would love to hear about it, too!

I think about Christmas all year now...

Since I have bought this antique store, I have been forced to think about Christmas all year.  I set up the first Christmas items up before Halloween was even over.

This goes against everything I am...

BUT, that is how it has to be in this business.

I finally got some time to actually craft some things, Christmas themes of course.

Sugar Nation

Just got done reading Sugar Nation by Jeff O'Connell that I picked up at my local library.

Side note before I get into the book, libraries are awesome.  If you are not a part of yours, you need to be!

OKay, back to the book.

Let me start by saying this is a little like ready a very long college essay.  Trust me, it is worth it.  This book can set you on track to save your life.  Also, I am not a medical professional and you should always seek a professionals advice if you have questions about your diet.  (This book will also make you question, "who is the professional?")

Even if you are not worried about diabetes, I highly recommend taking the time to read why you should even without any family history.  It is very likely diabetes has nothing to do with genes, or at least for the majority of people.

Diabetes, especially at the pre-diabetic phase, has everything to do with our diet.

The enemy?

Take a guess....




If you are guessing sugar, that is just a very small piece to this actually simple cure.....

This book will open your eyes to a whole new, science backed thinking on preventing, treating, and reversing pre-diabetes and diabetes.

It's these guys.

Now, professionals warn not to completely get rid of carbs.  There are good ones and bad ones.  Or, in other words, simple and complex carbs.

The science is sciency but what it breaks down to is fiber is the difference.  Simple carbohydrates do not have the amount of fiber necessary to counteract the amount of sugar ingested.  

Wait, how did carbs turn into sugar?  That's more cool science stuff but simply put, carbs are sugar once ingested.  

The other part of the equation?

Exercise.  Even simply walking ever other day for a half hour or so can help tremendously.

Read this book, I implore you.  What you feed your body could kill you, slow and tortuously.  And do what I did, please.  Fact check everything.  You may also find your self needing to lift your jaw.  I did when reading about the governments blatant disregard of real evidence that goes against everything they have ever said about a diabetics diet.  Wait, that's the problem -- they were wrong, and too soon for pride to allow them to admit it now.

Dupont and the "most brazen, deadly corporate gambits in US history"

Oh, you like the Erin Brockovich story?  You should DEFINITELY read this... it will shock and anger you.  And make you wonder how it is not getting more national/ worldly attention.

----->>  WELCOME TO BEAUTIFUL PARKERSBURG, WV  <<------

And there is nothing we can do about it now...

Canning Salsa

I was busy this week canning salsa.  I didn't really have a salsa recipe last year when I decided to try this for the first time so I looked to the internet for help.  People on the internet know what they are doing, right?

I simply typed in best salsa ever, or something of the like, and what would you know -- the very first one I tried was a winner.

"But Mary Ann," you might ask, "why did you just stick with the first one you tried?  There could be better out there."

The answer is simple.  My husband said in a conversation with someone else, and I quote, "Mary Ann makes the best salsa ever. I have thrown away the last three jars because they weren't any good after I had hers."

Thats enough for me.

THIS IS THE BEST SALSA RECIPE EVER

I made this last year and it wasn't quite hot enough so I added another jalapeño and a habanero pepper this year.  Spiciness level is now acceptable.

This year I was being lazy though, and I regret it.  I used canned tomatoes.  I went for whole, organic, unseasoned tomatoes.

I will only say this once and it is very important to remember.  (More for myself.)  Never, ever use canned tomatoes for salsa.  I will now and forever go through the trouble of coring, peeling, deseeding and chopping the tomatoes myself.  There is a certain canned tomato taste in this years batch and I am quite upset about it.  Never again.

If you are interested-- I at least double the recipe so I only have to do it once a year.

The canning part is not difficult.  The salsa itself is probably hot enough to self seal but I put them in a hot water bath for about 5 minutes just to be sure.

Have you made this recipe?  What were your changes if any?  Happy canning!

Update on my garden

Hello all.  No pictures...

Just a quick update on my garden.  I got tons of jalapeños--none of which I got to enjoy because they were accidentally disposed of.  Weird wording -- short story is I froze them, our refrigerator crapped itself, jalapeños accidentally got left in the freezer, unit got thrown away.

I did actually get a few tomatoes.  I was surprised because I fought with them so hard this year.  I don't know what type of tomato they are -- my husbands grandfather's father (I think I got that right) got them from the banks of the Ohio River in WV.  They are over 100 years old, an heirloom.  They are fickle things.  They love coming out later-- like late June late-- otherwise they are just rebellious teenager tomato plants.  Anyways, they are absolutely delicious with cottage cheese and some pepper!!

Of course, I am a basil growing queen.  How you ask?  I don't know.  It just happens.

I won't even comment on the strawberries.  Just that I will never try them again.

It was a fairly successful year for how little effort I actually put forth.  I am happy.

Time for a craft

I have been busy.  And lazy.  I will leave it at that.  No, really-- there has been a nice mix of that since family was in visiting.

I did do a craft for myself in the time, though.  Check it out.  Of course, I saw something on pinterest to spark the idea.  Super easy-- you can pretty much guess everything used just by looking at it.  The hardest thing was waiting for the glue to dry so I could hang it.

Things are growing

We've been having a lot of rain here in GA lately.  It seems like every other year is super rainy and the others are dry and hot.  Hey, at least there is less watering to be done.  And more water is conserved.

Things are starting to grow.  I container garden because my husband is picky out the yard.  The only thing in the ground is some cucumbers and pole beans.

I am shocked with how easy everything is to maintain.  Thankfully there haven't been any bugs or pests yet.  I had a problem last year with the birds eating my stuff so I stuck an owl in the yard.  Not had problems since.

I don't know why I have rosemary.  I never eat it.  But it keeps the mosquitos away, right?

These are some heirloom tomatoes my husbands grandfather grew.  He just passed so hopefully I can keep the heritage going.

I am going to have to learn about strawberries.  It may just be the timing, but I have had to throw away 10 so far because they looked...wrong.  I would never have eaten them.  They were split and rotten looking but oddly still plump.

Cannot wait to harvest these guys.  And I should get 2 harvest in a year.  I got just a basic carrot, but if I am successful I would like to try some heirlooms.  Carrots seem so much cooler purple.  You should read up on the history of carrots, its pretty interesting.

I am one proud mama with these beauts.  I see a lot of salsa in my future.  especially since I have 5 tomato plants going.  That was not my intention, but that is what happened.  I plan to make the most of it.

Short series to rethink life

I love watching documentaries.  Generally, I would choose something educational than a drama or sitcom.  I do get wrapped up in them... SOA, Breaking Bad, Walking Dead.  Yeah, I am just like any other show junkie with those.

I recently watched a mini series called Pioneer Quest.  It is set in Canada where two couples live one full year just like the pioneers did.  Of course, you can never really escape the 21st century, which they discuss in the show.  The 21st technology saves lives when their water tested for Ecoli and one of the men gets a heart condition.

They go through typical struggles of pioneer life-- building their own cabin from scratch, growing and hunting for their own food, and battling time and weather.   It doesn't really teach you any one particular skill, but it definitely allows you glimpse into a life very few would ever brave.   Uh, especially in Canada, where it is much, much colder than Georgia.  Negative degrees?? No thanks.

The best part about the show?  They are happy.  So incredibly happy and positive throughout all the trials and tribulations.  Take some time to watch and appreciate all our 21st century comforts we take for granted while doing so.

This Year's Bucket List

I hate resolutions.  Whoever keeps them anyways?  I ran across a homesteader wanna-be's list of skills to acquire for a successful homestead.  This intrigued me so I fused together the idea of resolutions and a bucket list to create a yearly bucket list.

I have this fear the world is going to end and I will be stuck with no survival skills what-so-ever.  That would not be good.  I would die very quickly.  So my list, this year, is more or less revolves around this fear.   It would be good just to learn some basic "pioneering" skills regardless.  It's just amazing to think how people survived with so little but yet with so much happiness back in the day.  I envy that a little. 

I hope to chronicle my list and share with you the results. Gotta tell ya, went fishing a few weeks ago and it took me all of 20 minutes before I got bored and quit.  Maybe I should add learn patience to the list...

Staycation, Joyous Relaxation

My husband and I really have not had any time off since purchasing the store so we made a pact to have a staycation (since we couldn't actually get away 100%).

He has been wanting to go to Rock City forever now...and for some reason I always thought it would be lame.  IT WAS NOT!  We had a great time!!  I didn't know there were so many types of hydrangea and rhododendron.  There are tons of arches to walk under and rock walls to squeeze through.  We took the swinging bridge to the falls-- I could've kicked my husband who was jumping up an down.  (I have just recently gotten an uncontrollable fear of heights).  It was beautiful, but I will be honest, I was a little disappointed to learn that the waterfall was fake.

We also rode the incline.  It was relaxing and definitely something that you would not be able to do anywhere else as it is the steepest in the world.  I would recommend if you can't get in the very front seat on the right side to skip the next 3-4 rows and sit further in the back.  The way down we were in the second row and couldn't see much of anything.  But we learned our lesson quick and got wonderful seats on the way back up.

And, of course, there is Ruby Falls.  

WV has cooler caverns but they have nothing on this underground waterfall!!  They really make it amazing with the transitioning lighting.  The guide said that dye tests have been done and no one can figure out where to water comes from.  There is so much of it, how could they not find a source?!   Mother Earth is amazing.

Our day trip took about 5 hours but I would give a little more time for those who really stop and enjoy every little thing.  We went through it casually checking out all the stuff.   I wish we could've planned out lunch for the bottom of the incline.  Just a few blocks over is a little burrito joint with AH-MAZ-ING food.  We had it for dinner but it would've been great to add to the incline experience.  What a delicious way to end the day.

Ok, so I have been slacking

Not a post since October?  Really?  I guess that is what happens when you buy an antique store.  But this is it-- I am promising myself I will be posting from here on out.  I will try once a week, at least.  

What will I be posting?  Not particularly one thing over another.  I am a person of many, uh, different interests. 

Here is what has been going on...

That's me holding the gigantic scissors.  Southern Flare Antiques and Interiors in Ellijay, GA open for business.  That is my life right now.  And when I get time, I throw in some cooking, gardening, shopping, sometimes watching shows or movies (just finished SOA, GASP!), whatever floats my boat at the moment, and spending time with my darling husband.  

I have a pretty normal life, but I like to get into a lot of things.  This blog, I am sure, will chronicle my life and all its randomness.