The Perfect Fall Day + Beef Stew Recipe

You know those fall days you look forward to all summer long, when it starts getting chilly outside and the sunlight changes and you have nowhere to be but home? We had one of those days this weekend and it reminded us why we love this season so much.

We spent a lot of the weekend binge-watching Netflix’s new show The Haunting of Hill House. Have you seen it? It’s based on Shirley Jackson’s 1959 book of the same name, though the TV adaptation differs a little from the original book. It’s also been made into two different movies, most recently the film The Haunting in 1999, though, again, the film is pretty different from the original source material.

The show is SPOOKY, and we scream/jumped so loud (twice!) that we’re pretty sure a couple of our neighbors heard us. We wouldn’t recommend watching it alone, but just know it’s sort of a family drama at heart, with chilling situations here and there, but it’s set in this gorgeous old house, so you know we were game from the start.

PJ had a taste for beef stew, so we went to the grocery store after coming back from visiting our land and stocked up on all the ingredients. He didn’t really follow a recipe, just kind of dumped it all in there. From what we can remember, it included:

Easy Beef Stew

• 1/2 bag of carrots

• 1 yellow onion, chopped

• 1 can of corn

• 1 can of green beans

• 1 can of peas

• 1 large chuck roast

• 7 gold potatoes, quartered

• salt & pepper to taste

• chopped garlic to taste

• 1 packet of beef stew seasoning from McCormick (though next time we plan on making this seasoning ourselves)

• 2 cups of beef stock

He dumped everything in the crock pot and put it on high and left it over night to really soak in all the juices and flavor and by lunch the next day, it was ready to eat.

PJ also has a love affair with corn bread so he whipped some up following the recipe on the back of the Krusteaz box. We didn’t have any milk, so he used sour cream instead and it tasted fine all the same. Does it get better than warm stew and corn bread on a chilly fall day? When there are windows to be opened and scary Netflix shows to be watched? WE THINK NOT.

Hope you had a good weekend, too, friends.

xx

A Light-Filled Friday Night

Tonight was kind of magical.

The trees separating our house from our neighbor’s have started to lose some of their leaves, which means natural light floods our kitchen and breakfast nook this time of year. Most of the time, those two rooms don’t get as much light as our living room (in the front of the house where the sun rises) and dining room (in the back of the house where the sun sets) do, because they’re squished in the center of our house and the tree branches are usually blocking all the sun from coming in.

But tonight was a different story. For the first time this year we could really see the first little signs of fall in our house and man, did it get us excited. The light was dancing all over the floors and walls and Alexa was playing our favorite radio station (Bossa Nova). We made some coffee to wake us up for a few more hours and took it all in for a second. We were running around all day making sure we have everything ready for our trip tomorrow and it felt nice to just relax, take a breather, and just be.

There’s nothing like the feeling of being home on a Friday night when you know you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Do you know what we mean?

We hope you have a great Friday night as well, friend! Here’s to the weekend!

xx

Where Does All the Time Go?

How do you find time to:

• water the plants
• walk the dogs
• mow the yard
• sweep the front porch
• vacuum the rugs
• dust the wood furniture
• change the cat's litter box
• feed the dogs
• give the dogs a bath
• see your friends
• see your family
• shop and cook for dinner
• drink a half-gallon of water a day
• sweep and mop the house
• respond to emails
• go to social events
• watch Netflix
• read a book
• read a blog
• listen to a podcast
• listen to your favorite music
• watch your favorite movie
• spend time with your significant other
• get your oil changed
• go to the doctor/dentist/chiropractor
• post to Instagram
• post to Facebook
• post to Twitter
• post to YouTube
• post to Tumblr
• workout
• eat healthy
• keep your cholesterol down 
• have a life

What else? Asking for a friend.

New PO Box!

We have a brand new PO Box number! 

Everything else about our PO Box address is the same, the only thing that has changed is the number. So if you want to send us any letters, packages, or even Swedish chocolate (we've gotten that before!), you can send it to:

PO Box 485 Cleveland, TN 37364-0939.

We write back to each and every letter and love hearing from you guys. It makes our day each time we open the box and see something new from y'all. The internet is amazing and we look forward to your comments, but nothing beats an actual hand-written letter, don't you think?

We Finally Got Haircuts

It's Thomas' first haircut in six months and it was long overdue. He wanted to grow it out for as long as he could, but when it's longer, he can't seem to stop touching it and messing with it. Rather than having to deal with it, he decided to cut it all off! PJ went with a quick trim. We always feel 100 times better after getting our haircut. Do you feel like that, too?

Click here to see how they turned out!

Someone Found PJ’s Long Lost Twin

How crazy is this picture?! Doesn’t it look just like PJ when he grows his beard out? And check out those eyebrows! Identical.

One of our sweet followers (thanks Scott!) sent this to us a while back and we just now saw it. We can’t stop staring at it and have so many questions, mainly: how can we meet this guy, tell him to grow his beard out, and persuade him to take a side by side picture with PJ? Open to suggestions...

Day 23: Heading to Marfa, TX

We spent all day yesterday cleaning the house for our house sitter because we’re heading to Texas!

We’ll be spending the next few days in Marfa, TX and we’re really looking forward to it. We’ve never been to the Lonestar state before, have you? We keep getting messages from folks telling us how hot and sticky it is there. We brought our sunscreen and handheld fan, though, so we’re hoping for the best 😊.

How our dining room table almost always looks when we go on trips:

We’re at the airport about to board the flight, so we’re off for today. We’ll see you in Texas! xx