A Weekend with Longtime Family Friends

The adventures for this week's stay at Paint Creek Cottage began as we prepared and packed for our stay. After last week's adventure mowing all two acres of the grounds with a push mower whose self-propelled mode is broken I called upon the MacGyver of small engines Kenny Ferrance to examine the garden tractor that Bruce and Fayanne had given us several years ago.
Kenny worked his magic with a tooth pick and a piece of gum and our garden tractor started once again. This left us with the next small challenge, how to get the garden tractor down to PCC?

Dad suggested that we call Ryan and ask to borrow his trailer. We did, and Ryan graciously agreed to allow us to make use of his trailer. Dad and I picked up the trailer, brought it back to our house, and loaded the garden tractor only to realize that the hitch was not sitting on the ball of my truck correctly and after an hour's worth of effort we abandon the idea of the trailer and decided it would be best to get the garden tractor in the bed of my pickup truck. So the two of us armed with ramps successfully placed the garden tractor into the bed of my pickup truck.

Meanwhile, as Dad and I fought with the garden tractor my wife was busy attempting to return my aunt's dog. My aunt was scheduled to return from the hospital after two weeks of recovery postsurgery and Carrie arrived at her house only to find the front door locked. I placed several phone calls asking those close to my aunt if they might have a front door key all of whom were unable to locate one. Enter our good friends Mac and Gayle who "dogsat" Shutterbug until my aunt returned later that evening.

In all of the prelaunch drama it was decided it would be best if Carrie and my mom took off ahead of dad and I so they could swing by the Grimshaw family farm and pick up Eli on their way to PCC.

We all made it to the cottage successfully and enjoyed a quaint evening sans music. With the challenges we faced as we prepared to head for the cottage both Carrie and I overlooked packing the sound system. WHAT A MISTAKE! In the prior weekends we'd recognize how much we enjoyed listening to great music, but did not realize what an essential part of a successful PCC weekend music has become.

Dad participated in what has become another ritual at PCC when he read Elijah a bedtime story. I am hopeful we will do much more reading at the PCC as routines become more established and preparations become easier.

Saturday morning began with a bit of country CSI. I had noticed a very large colony of what I thought were bees of some kind in a hillside next to the garage. Mom called Master Gardener Faye Mahaffey. She suggested that we get some good photographs of the entrances and of the insects themselves. Dad jumped out with his cell phone camera and we were able to determine that they were some kind of hornet.

Carrie was concerned that they might have been a variety of bumblebee that we should take great care to try to preserve. Unfortunately we are not able to preserve the bumblebee count in Ohio, but fortunately we were able to begin an immediate termination plan - Operation "Kill the little flying ^#*&(*$."

I tried to take advantage of a small window a sunshine that Saturday morning provided us by mowing with the new garden tractor. However, as fate would have it, the carburetor of our garden tractor is a bit gummed up. Eli took advantage of a stationary tractor and had an absolute blast imagining himself mowing our lawn.

Paul and Joyce arrived midmorning bringing new energy, smiles, stories, jokes, and most importantly, photographs of the new grandchild. Early in their arrival it was clear that too much time had passed since we had seen them last.

It did not take long for the friendship between Joyce and Eli to rekindle. Joyce has a spirit to which children are attracted much like a moth to the flame - It is ever so warm and ever so bright. "Aunt Joyce" even allowed Eli to play with her MP3 player. Eli is most happy when he has some form of technology in his hands.

In the mid-afternoon we were joined by Mac and Gayle who too came bearing photographs of the grandchild. What a cool thing it is to swap great stories of the next generation.

The Saundersi, McKibbensi and Mullinsi spent the afternoon over a lively game of dominoes while the Peelle family spent time doing chores about PCC. I mowed, while Carrie did more than a year's worth of windows, and Eli attended to some gardening.

Eli's Big Adventure

So the inside of the cottage is roughly 95% complete and the exterior of the house is undergoing a facelift, but the grounds of the cottage has a decade's worth of work remaining when you include the 15 wooded acres that needs to be cleaned up.

We began the yard work last weekend with the help of Steve and Tammy Reed by gathering the scraps and trash created by the new siding. We did not, however, give the yard itself any attention.

We have approx. 2 acres of grass that, as you might imagine, had become nearly overwhelming as it had not been mowed since last fall. Fayanne and Bruce gave us their riding lawn mower when they received Grandpa's old one. It has served us well for several years, but is in need of a tune-up before we can use it down at PCC... so... we took down a push mower. Yes that's right, Carrie and I push mowed 2 acres of bumpy farm yard with a mower whose self-propelling feature has long stopped working.

Eli loved that we were out in the yard. This video is a brief chronicle of his adventures. It includes cameo appearances from Eli's new friend "Bob" the neighbor's yellow lab.

Man, does the yard look so much nicer now that's its done. I do hope however that we are able to get the riding mower in at Compton's before the yard requires a second mowing.

Ranchhands Visit PCC

Romance made a pit-stop at PCC Saturday night when recently affianced Tony Long and Karen Urban dropped in from "Long Ranch." The soon-to-be newlyweds added a stop in Highland County to their active travel calendar.

Tony and Karen indulged our questions about their spring break trip to Nashville and their upcoming jaunt to Italy. Their Italy trip sounds like it will be the perfect balance of planning and improvisation, a reflection of their personalities and approach to life.

They brought a grill with them and Tony grilled t-bone steaks to perfection married with baked potatoes, salad, and Greg Norman Shiraz. Blueberry pie a la mode served as a perfect night cap.

Following dinner Tony took me into Greenfield and introduced me to Furman's.... it's Rod's Capricorn Inn meets Waffle House meets Frisch's meets Cheers. It was quite obvious that we were not regulars though the staff and guests were very accommodating. A double decker cheeseburger is a must during my next visit.

Sunday morning greeted us a bit more quickly than any of us would have preferred as both the dogs and Eli interrupted our abilities to sleep in. I made maple cured bacon and crepes from batter Carrie had prepared the night before. We filled them with fresh strawberries and Cool Whip. (Nothing like a killer desert for breakfast!)

Karen and Tony were able to take their time getting ready for the day and left around 10:00 with conversation about a possible trip to IKEA later in the day... each of our last two Saturday evening guests have been inspired to shop IKEA after a night at PCC. We wear this as a badge of honor, although we have since learned that Tony and Karen's trip fell short landing in Field's Ertel.

If not before... we will insist on having Tony and Karen back to PCC for a full debriefing following their June trip to Italy. Spending time with them was a genuine pleasure.

Patriarch Partakes - We Celebrate a Birthday with Bill Peelle

At our request, my Dad joined us Friday evening to celebrate his birthday, which is this Monday.

We followed the inspired lead of last weekend's Saturday evening guests by recreating the highly successful barbecue chicken Boboli pizza. (We gave it our best shot, but it did not compete with the original masterpiece created by Steve and Tammy.) Still, this recipe has already become one of the "staples" of PCC.

We washed it down with one of three bottles of Bordeaux my Dad came bearing as cottage warming gifts. His generosity did not stop with incredible vino, but he also came bearing a Haier wine cellar that will assure that all future guests of PCC are served wine at the optimal temperature and it stores the wine on its side preventing the corks from drying out. We have yet to determine the wine cellar's final resting place and will very likely need to install a new outlet to provide it energy. (Take note of the gorgeous buffet behind Dad. It was purchased at auction and was then sent to the Ohio studio of Pennsylvania artist, Teresa Marino, my aunt, where she and my step-mother Carol worked their collaborative magic. They painted a mustard base coat and used faux techniques to brush on a red top coat that gives the illusion the piece is an antique. It turned out brilliantly! Thank you ladies.)

We had lively conversation and caught up on news from Aiken and on Chaley, Bub, Shane, and Cameron. All seems to be going very well in the nuclear Peelle family. Our branch of the family tree is growing both closer and larger with each passing year. (We look forward to having the whole "Famn Peelle Damily" out to PCC soon.)

We also had a discussion about the recent earthquake and Dad gave us a small science lesson on tectonic plates. Can you believe Mother Earth experiences over 1,000,000 earthquakes annually?

Carrie made her famous handmade blackberry scones from scratch for breakfast.

Dad scooted out the door by nine in order to make it back to the office for a 10:00 appointment. It was very nice spending time with Dad.

The Reeds Visit Sans Kids

Steve and Tammy Reed visit...

The Reeds arrived around 6:00 Saturday evening. We gave them a quick tour of the place as it had been several weeks since they had seen it and it was a construction zone at that time... They made barbecue chicken Boboli pizza that was out of this world with a great salad full of mozzarella balls served with dressing from the Pine Club.

We talked late and learned amazing things about Dirty Dungarees.

Sunday morning Steve and I made a run into Greenfield for supplies. We determined that we need to start collecting the recipes of dishes prepared at Paint Creek Cottage to compile into a cookbook in the future.

We cleaned up the trash created from the new siding.

Alan and Emily Ledford Visit

Alan and Emily Ledford visited the cottage...

We were "dog sitting" for Aunt Dottie and Shutterbug took an extra special liking to Alan... or was it the other way around? I think it was mutual...

We stayed up until 2:00am talking about high school brawls and more...

The cottage successfully accomplished its mission!

First Guests

Paint Creek Cottage received it's first guests...

The evening of April 5th my mom and sister Annica joined us for an over-night and broke in one of the built-in beds while surrounded by tools and wet paint. They were very gracious guests and foreshadowed amazing experiences to come.