I'm my own "sou" (sp?) chef.............

 

I always get these pictures in backwards....this is the last picture....anyway the pre-prepping worked really slick.  The only drawback is the extra dishes but I have a dishwasher so it's not that big of a deal and even though I was tired when I came in, I had the motivation to throw it together since most of the work was done.  Before this, if I came in and was too tired I would end up snacking instead of eating a decent meal.  So....I will most probably be doing this from now on....problem #564,962 solved...now on to the remaining 564, 961 problems...LOL!

Here's the recipe and picture of the black bean soup I was making.

Ok...I have a problem having the  motivation and energy to cook supper after working outside all day so I decided I would take a tip from the chefs and cooking shows and prep everything BEFORE I started cooking....in fact, before I went outside and started working.  That way, when I came in and was too tired to "start" something...all I had to do was mindlessly throw it together.  Mindless is good for me! Here are my prepared ingredients.

Block #5 of my Folk Art quilt done.....this one took awhile

This was a "killer" block and I was glad when I finished it....I have a new camera but I had problems with getting pictures uploaded to the blog but got that figured out finally so that's why I didn't blog for a few days.  On to block #6 of 12  not counting borders, I think.

A REAL old cotton gin...really!

This cotton gin is about 6 miles from my house and I have wanted to get pictures of it but you have to do it in the winter otherwise there is too much overgrowth and you can't see it plus it is hard to "pull over" on many Arkansas roads. 

When my son was visiting I  mentioned it and he grabbed the camera and didn't just take a picture...he went inside and took pictures which I would have never gotten had it not been for his "gutziness" (is that a word?)...I have wanted these pictures for years.  He took them last March I think but then I couldn't find them but the other day I ran across them so I can finally share them!  I can't tell if this year is 1888, 1882, or 1880 but regardless it is older than me which means it's an "antique"!  Actually...things my age are also considered "antiques"...hmmm...what does that say about me?  Don't answer that!

This says Franklin, Arkansas Cotton Gin and something else I can't read...when the leaves fall I'll have to go back and see what that says...I'm thinking "built by"? 

It isn't "restored" but it looks like someone took the time to paint the outside and put the dates on it.  There are several historic places around here that are still in the hands of the original family that owned it.

This is the inside and I have no idea what these pieces of equipment are but there are still pieces of cotton stuck in them.

There is an Historic Society around here and I should contact them  and see if I can learn any more.  There are things down here that should be restored and maintained before they are lost but it all takes money I guess and Arkansas has never been a wealthy state but it has to start with someone caring and maybe that's me except I don't have any money either!  I hate to see any of this history fall apart and be lost and I'm not even from here.  There is still cotton raised in Arkansas but not as much as years ago and maybe they still have gins like this in use.  I have no idea.  If anyone knows anymore about this please email me.  I'll have to do some research so I can identify those items and learn how they took the raw cotton and made material out of it.

My best "before and after" yet? You be the judge!

This is my fireplace in my family room....but there's something missing...there's no mantel!  I wanted a mantel but couldn't afford to hire a carpenter and didn't really want to try myself and mess up the brick trying to drill holes etc.  So, I spent my Saturday night building a mantel without any nails!   See the results below.....