How We Spent Our Holiday Weekend

I told you a few days ago that we spent the 4th of July holiday weekend with family (hubby's brother and sis-in-law) in Mississippi.  We always enjoy our visits, although we don't get to spend as much time together as we would like.  We all stay so busy with work and life, that the brothers usually have to come up with "excuses" to get us together--it's usually about a broken tractor, or replacing boards on a trailer bed, or putting up a fence, or some other similar reason.  They enjoy visiting while they work and my sister-in-law and I usually go antique shopping, cook, or do some fun project.  We have so many common interests and really do enjoy our time together...it's that kind of family.  The kind that leaves you smiling and remembering little things for days after the visit...

They live in her grandmother's house, and they lovingly restored it when everyone else told them it should be torn down.  It has been challenging with problems around every corner...She likes to think that her grandmother is in Heaven just laughing about it all; I think Granny is proud of the job they've done.  There's so much character in the house and I love the way it's decorated.  

I was busy visiting, so I didn't get as many pics as I would have liked...but I did snap a few details of pretty things.

My sister-in-law loves to dig in the dirt and make the yard pretty...and she sometimes digs up tiny treasures.  John Adams (on the right above) and the little car were some of her finds.  

It rained most of the weekend, but when it finally stopped and I had a chance to go outside with the camera, the lighting was gorgeous for nice pics...

She has a compost pile where she throws all of the organic waste from the kitchen and yard...These pumpkins just grew from seeds that were left behind in that compost pile! There must be twenty or thirty pumpkins and they are gorgeous!

The only problem is that it's the first part of July and she's hoping they will last until time to decorate for fall.  New ones are still coming on the vine, so maybe there will be some that are still good...I snapped a pic of a green small one, and I noticed still more blossoms.

There's an old chair out in the garden that had some interesting lichen growing on the wood...Of course, I'm always interested in the details, so I totally neglected getting a picture of the actual chair, just the lichen!  

They also have many, many animals...always.  I believe the dog count is currently at ten. The night before we arrived, they heard a cat meowing up in a tree.  My brother-in-law climbed up and rescued him and the little kitten hung out in the house with us all weekend. He is a very lucky kitty--the dogs must have been somewhere else on the property because cats don't last very long around their house...He would have been just a nice, tasty, orange, furry little snack.

I'm hoping they can find a home for him.  He is a sweet kitty.

And now, the tempting food pics...we had prime rib, potato salad and fried cabbage one evening ...It was delicious.   

Their youngest daughter just graduated from high school and will be heading off to college in August. I thought she might like a piece of Juju Queen's up-cycled denim, so I brought along a vest for her graduation gift.  Here are some pics of my sweet niece modeling the piece.

...and to complete her gift, I added this antique button ring to the bag on the outside as a gift wrap embellishment.

To wrap up this post, I'll say that our holiday weekend couldn't have been any better. It was perfect...even with the rain...there's something about staying inside on a rainy day. 

I'll see you in a day or two to share some new things that are going to the shop...

Hope you're having a GREAT week!