Lobster. Facial Hair. Fancy Pillows. & Blessings.

Whew.  What a weekend!

We just arrived back at the homestead last night from a town a few hours away.

Why were we there, you ask?

Let me just show you:

Now, let me explain.  Remember our friends Jason and Aileen?  The friends we go shooting with?  And do craft night with?  And eat good food with?  Well, this trip was all due to our friendship with them.  And for that, I am grateful.  Lord, am I grateful.

You see, Aileen's wonderful Mom, Terri, is from Massachusetts.  And one of the things she misses most about east-coast living while living in the Pacific Northwest is the lobster.  The fresh, delicious, meaty, buttery, lobster.  So, in honor of her Yankee heritage, their family has decided to throw an annual lobster feed each year.  As in fresh lobster.  As in flown in from Maine the day before.  As in de-lic-ious.

And somehow, yours truly, snagged an invite.  We were invited to stay for the weekend and to enjoy all sorts of festivities.  And while this has nothing to do with the festivities, Aileen's parents had this in their house.

And I died with envy.

Mark my words. Someday, I will have a cow skin rug.  There are some things I just love.  Cow skin rugs are one of those things.

Anyway.

The day began with some time spent by the pool.  I can't even remember how many kiddos there were in the pool - I lost count at 648.  

Oh yeah - and did I mention that on this weekend, when we got to meet all kinds of new people, Stuart decided to shave his facial hair into a handle-bar beard thingy?

I told him he looks like he should be a member of the IRA.  Or a '70s Police Officer from Brooklyn.  I tried, and failed, to get him to shave.  So he went around the entire weekend looking like a serial killer.  Hey, I tried.

Anyway, back to the party.  Here's a rundown of the events:

1.  Georgia made all kinds of new friends.

2.  I got to sleep in a fancy bed that had so many pillows, I took a picture of it prior to sleeping in it so that I could remember how to make it up in the morning.

3.  I spent a lot of time talking with fellow bloggers and camera-geeky peeps.  I learned a lot and am ever inspired to further grow this 'ol homestead page... did I mention I finally bought my own URL?  Can you guess what it is?

No.  It's not up and running yet.  No, I haven't even begun to make the transfer from Blogger to WordPress.

No.  I don't know what I'm doing.

Thank you for asking.

Now, back to your rundown:

4.  43 lobsters met their maker.  Only, of course, after the kiddos had their fun...

Daryl, a fellow Yankee from Maine, made sure the lobsters were cooked correctly.  Nothin' like having a professional on your side.

5.  I ate this.  All of it.  

They ate these.  All of them.

6.  Post-lobster/coleslaw/potato salad/dinner roll/fruit salad/white wine, we topped the evening off with some rockin' music.

Ya.  That's my man.  Booya.

Oh, and did I mention that Jaret, Aileen's younger brother, plays the bagpipes?

Why are friends, family, food, and fellowship so enjoyable?  Why do I feel like I could have just died happy right there on the lawn at sunset - with my belly full of food and heart full of joy?  Why is it impossible to stop at two cookies?  (I ate four).  Why are there so many wonderful things to enjoy in this world!

Because they're from God.  That's why.  Pure blessings from heaven I tell you.

Just like lobster.

'Ell I be. I'm a contributor!

Hey guys!  Guess what I did today?  A guest post!  Check out my post today, at this wonderful new blog:


I'm Naturally Simply


I will be contributing weekly posts to this blog.  Ya, I know! Crazy!  The founder, Kimberly, is a wonderful lady that is putting together a site with a few of us contributors that can serve as a central "hub" for all sorts of wonderful homey things - seeking to find the natural goodness in your home, whatever that may be for you.  I love the idea of all of us encouraging each other as we go along!

Sometimes, I find encouragement in magazines.  As previously noted.

While the blog is still in its baby stages, rest assured, it will be a land filled with milk and honey in no time!


I'd love for you to swing on over there and say hello to me.


If you don't, I shan't cry, but none-the-less, would love a digital greeting. Side-note: Because I now have a SmartPhone, which I must admit, is smarter than me at most moments, every time I get a comment here on The Elliott Homestead, it automatically sends it to my phone!  So when I'm grocery shopping...or gardening...or waxing my eyebrows...I get to read your messages!  And I squeal with excitement every time.  Every. Time.  And that's the goll darn truth.


If you're new to The Elliott Homestead, this guest post will be a great introduction into the madness we call life here.


Cheers to new internet friends and blogger buddies!  And SmartPhones.  And encouraging comments from my lovely readers.  And wine.


I just had to throw that last one in there.

Guns on a homestead.

What's better than a sunny, warm, lazy Sunday afternoon?  

Nothing.  I'll answer that question for you.

To fully maximize the magnificence of this afternoon, we took a stroll with our friends Jason and Leena through God's country.  Actually, it wasn't a stroll per-say.  It was a short car ride up into the hills.

To do this:

Ah ya, baby.

Being as prepared as normal, I forgot to put shoes on my poor baby.

Leena and G-baby

Aileen was rockin' her Converse.  I dig that.

She also shot clays for this first time - I dig that too!  If it's a hobby you've never tried, might I encourage you to try it?  There is hardly a better way to spend an afternoon.  Unless, of course, your making lacto-fermented carrots or baking bread or something...

I shot 90%!  That means that for every ten clay pigeons, I hit nine!  


Okay.  That didn't happen.  Had ya goin' there for a sec, didn't I?  I must admit, I'm a lil rusty.  But after I shake off the dust of winter, I'll be right back in that shootin' saddle.

In all seriousness, or as much seriousness as I can muster at this moment, I do think it is absolutely important for every woman to know how to safely handle, load, shoot, and unload a gun.  Guns are the most dangerous when you don't know how to handle them properly - it is very empowering and responsible to learn how to use a gun before the need for one should arise (which it hopefully never does!).  My 12 gauge is by my bed each night and both of our .357 revolvers are tucked in my night stand. So should you decide to break into a home, might I suggest you choose a different one. Thank you for your cooperation.


I hope that I never have to use them (on a person that is).  But on a homestead, where there is fresh grown lettuce and dehydrating herbs on the porch to protect, you just can never be too careful - now can you?


There may be coyotes in your chicken pen.


Or coyotes harassing a weak calf.


Or coyotes terrorizing your dog.
(Them are pesky critters around here!)


Or a fox stealin' your eggs.


Or a rattlesnake in your garden.


Or a thief.


Or a robber. 


Or a pesky neighbor.


That last one was a joke.


Are there any other clay-pigeon-shooting, revolver-loving, holster-wearin', John-Wayne-lovin' women out there?


I thought so.

What we did.

I'm not going to tell you what the Elliott's did this weekend.


But what I will tell you is that it involved driving twenty miles north.

 

And plastic checkered tableclothes.

It also involved french pressed, freshly ground coffee.

And trees. 

Mossy trees.

Oozy trees.

It involved wearing my tennis shoes.

And a raging river.

 

 It involved wild ferns.

And, of course, wildflowers.

It involved dark chocolate, toasted marshmallows, and graham crackers. 

And it involved men attempting to build a squirrel trap after one of the pesky critters ran off with those graham crackers.

It involved not showering for multiple days.

And bugs.

And fire.

And hiking to the tops of mountains in order to capture photos, such as this.

And yes, I was horribly out of breath.  Thank you.

But most importantly, it involved Kaci.  And Justin. And Georgia.  And Stuart. 

And did I mention dark chocolate?


Note to self:  Must do this far more often.  What are your fun summer plans?


The end.