1. I told you about our church’s plan to read the New Testament this summer.
Would you think less of me if I told you we’re woefully behind?
Why is it that it can be so hard (especially in the summer) to squeeze in time for the most powerful words on earth?
These words of His aren’t just any words—they are sharp and powerful and lifechanging.
The Word is so important that it even became flesh and ‘dwelt among us’.
Christ Himself.
So, in desperation to find a doable way to catch up, I searched for a free audio version of the scriptures that we could listen to in the car.
I found the ESV podcast version on my iphone called ‘Faith Comes By Hearing’ and it is WONDERFUL.
It reads like a story, using different voices and some sound effects.
We all love it and we just may catch back up this week.
2. I read THE most fascinating article by Susan Wise Bauer this week, refuting some of the arguments made by Neil Postman on image-centered culture.
I love Neil Postman and find so much truth in what he says about culture and media. I’ve never heard anything quite like Susan’s rebuttal.
It reconfirms in my mind what a brilliant thinker she is and how blessed we’ve been by her homeschooling curriculum. The article has four parts and is lengthy but
is so well worth the read.
3. I made paella and sangria for Father’s Day. Both these recipes are fantastic. They will most definitely go into the regular rotation.
You should give them a try. Your people will love you.
4. The girls have been in VBS this week so I’ve been running around in Knoxville looking at countertops and wood and tile and appliances and outdoor furniture.
Here’s what I’ve purchased so far:: two remnants of absolute black granite (60 x 20 and 48 x 24) for $565, which includes installation, a floor model 48 inch subzero
refrigerator for $3000 less than the builder’s price, a Lloyd Flanders Nantucket wicker sofa at a steal and I’m waiting for a quote right now on the most gorgeous piece of Calcutta Gold
marble that I have EVER seen in my ENTIRE life. It’s a beauty.
Today, I plan to pick the tile for my shower and bathroom floor. I’m probably using octagon and dot (all white) for the floor and white subway tile for the shower.
I also have purchased almost all my lighting online and I think I’ll have to dedicate a whole post just to lighting.
Here’s the sofa 🙂
5. This is my inspiration picture for my screen porch. This blue ceiling is very southern and is called ‘haint’ blue.
It’s supposed to ward off evil spirits and make for happy healthy porch sitting.
I’ve got my blue narrowed down to 2 or 3 colors. Any thoughts or suggestions?
(I know it really doesn’t ward off evil spirits but I also love good southern folklore)
And this is my inspiration picture for my upstairs landing/catwalk.
I’m not a huge fan of railings but this one makes me so happy. My builder showed it to our trim guys and they think they can do it!! Yee-haw!
This is my hardwood floor inspiration picture. Wide plank, worn looking, deep rich color.
6. I’ve listened to some really good podcasts lately that you might enjoy:
Christ in the Old Testament–The Flood—-this could be one of the most fascinating podcasts I’ve ever heard!
The First Pentecost, simply amazing!
7. A big hug and kiss and a heartfelt thank you to the top ten referrers to this blog. I love you and admire you all!
Darby at Fly Through Our Window
Melanie from My Sweet Savannah
Shannan from Flower Patch Farm Girl
Lindsey from the Pleated Poppy
oh and I couldn’t stop at ten when one of my favorite bloggers is next
Emily from Chatting at the Sky
Thank you all! You inspire me and teach me and make me think. LOVE from me to you!!!
8. My current favorite Mumford and Sons song.
I’ve never heard about the southern folklore part, but I do know that painting the ceiling of porches blue helps deter bugs/spiders from “nesting” in the corners… It’s something about it looking like the sky…at least that’s what I was told 🙂
Love this randomness….and LOVE following along as you tear down walls while putting them up. 🙂
We’ve been listening to “The Hobbit” while doing all our running around and chores around the house. It sure does make it easier to get all that good “reading” in. Thanks for giving the name of the bible reading you’re using. I’ll have to give it a listen.
Haint blue. Love it! And that hardwood floor is making me drool. Don’t you just love it when you find a bargain? I hope you continue to be inspired and find the good stuff for a good price.
I just wanted to agree with you about the Faith come by hearing podcast. I’ve been listening to it via a podcast called ‘you do have the time’ which divides the NT into 40 half hour episodes. I have found that it really helps to have the accountability of know that there is one a day!
http://itunes.apple.com/lv/podcast/youve-got-the-time-esv-bible/id349510010
Your new house is going to be beautiful
Hello Edie, love your blog, writings and have enjoyed watching you rebuild. If you do not have a hardwood floor man confirmed, I know of the best in the business. Roy Garrett Floor Company in Memphis, TN. I promise you will not be disappointed. Tom Garrett’s phone # is 901-386-4580. I just can’t say enough about his work. He does exactly what your looking for and will exceed your expectations.
Glenda Beeler
My screened porch has a ceiling painted “haint blue” and we’ve got no “haints.” I saw it when we visited Charleston and I had to have it. I had our painters paint our front and back porch ceiling that color. I love it!!
I love this post – it is like the magazine I want to be reading – fabulous snippets of everything!!!
I love love love all of your choices! This is going be one beautiful house. My dogs told me that your new sofa looks very tasty… (I have a furniture eater in my family, which makes for interesting times.) Love the Haint Blue…sadly I don’t have a porch, but I might have to find another place to use it.
Dianne’s right! One of our neighbor’s had the porch ceiling of his historical home done in blue, and it worked great to keep bugs away. I would go for a shade close to sky or robin’s egg blue.
Concerning the blue porch ceiling, I once read in a history of Norcross, Ga that the blue color was made by crushing blueberries and mixing them with the paint or whitewash. I don’t know if this is true, but I love the idea of it!
that makes me like it even more betsy!
amazingness! love your porch inspiration… and can’t wait to see that Calcutta Gold!
off to read that article, and listen to some mumford 🙂
Love your porch ceiling, for obvious reasons:)!
now miss amy, i fully expect you to come do some porch sitting with me when this house is done.
can’t wait til that next book comes out.
xo,
edie
Oh, that railing!!!!!
Edie~You are such an amazing blessing. Thank you for sharing all these great links to encourage our faith. Currently I do not have a home church and these podcasts feed my soul. You are such an encouragement. I am always blessed by your posts.
Love that couch. You have found some amazing bargains. How fun to be out shopping for all these goodies.
I would love a porch with a blue ceiling. Yours will be spectacular I’m sure. I am looking forward to seeing it all come together.
Hugs,
Ruth
love you ruth!
you’ll have to come sit on that porch and sip coffee with me one day 🙂
BTW~I love your choice of floors. We have very light hardwoods. They were hidden by a hideous rug throughout the house when we moved in. We had them redone but they are worn now and I would love to stain them a color similar to the one you have chosen. I think it would give them more character than the light color we have now.
Love Sangria, too. Paella sounds yummy!!
Ruth
Gosh, I love a blue porch ceiling! I mentioned this bit of Southern lore to someone one day, and they gave me a blank look. . . nice to know I hadn’t just dreamed up the tradition of having a ceiling like the sky!
Glad you’re having a good week. . . it’s such fun to follow your progress.
I have a book I really want to send you. I know you’re too busy to read much right now, but I think this one will bless you, and it’s an easy read. All I have is Patty’s address. Should I just use that, or could you send me another address? Thanks!
you’re so sweet richella!
you can send it to 1480 darbee drive
morristown tn 37814
hugs and love dearie!
edie
the screen porch inspiration is beautiful. i’m so jealous. i always wanted a screened in porch.
and i fully expect you to come sit on it with me 🙂
So dreamy…all those pictures! What a perfect place for the mind to wander on a fresh summer day! Don’t you just love podcasts?
yes Robyn, I’m quite addicted to podcasts—especially IssuesEtc!
xo,
edie
Love this post. You sure know how to feed a woman’s soul. Mumford just tops it all off….too much, really too much! We are also building a house right now in South Florida and we chose Duron’s Historic Colors of Charleston “Piazza Blue” for the porch ceilings of our Key West Style home. I love all of your choices and I had to laugh because I have been dropping off my girls (4) to VBS this week and making the same building supply choice runs. Have a super week and I love everything you have chosen for inspiration.
thanks so much tara—and i gotta check out that color! fun week for us both 🙂
xo,
edie
Not to complain…and don’t mind me…but I’ll be here a while! So much GOOD STUFF!!!. So let’s see love the porch, porches are my favorite room in a house. Porch snob…my favorite porch was 12 x 20 w/vaulted ceiling, so awesome. Spent a lot of time out there. I had always heard to paint the ceiling blue to confuse the bugs. ??
I’m putting that kitchen shot in my favorites for when we build our forever home on the family farm.
Can’t wait to read more of the articles & some of the pod casts.
You’ve been super busy…do you sleep? Thanks for the inspiration, looking forward to digging deeper!!!!
Stay as long as you want my friend:)
I’ll make coffee and we’ll pretend we’re sitting on the ‘coffee porch’—which is what my cousin has deemed the screen porch!
It may make me a porch snob too!!! Thanks so much for journeying with us.
Bless you friend,
edie
I would love nothing more than that my dear friend!! You are so sweet. Oh what a fun time that would be. Wish it was now.
Hugs,
Ruth
Looking at your floor inspiration – A young lady from our church completely renovated her new home and for the flooring she used reclaimed horse farm fence boards. They are beautiful and living in Lexington Ky, I’m sure there were plenty of them to have. You may be able to see it from this link: http://www.bizlex.com/Articles-c-2011-05-05-97637.113117-Marrying-Modern-and-Rustic.html I am blown away by the great deals you’ve gotten on granite and wicker and etc. And I also find the summer is a hard time to keep my Bible study going – though we seem to have plenty of time to plow through Harry Potter. Horrible summer back-sliders. 😉
Hello sweet girl..It’s been a while. I’ve been moving and not online for a while. We just had every wall, trim, ceiling, and door painting in the entire place. Lots of shades of blue/gray/turquoise and I think you would love wedgewood gray by benjamin moore.
Miss you.
Hi Edie!! Our front porch needs help – and the blue ceiling – inspiring! Thinking of you always!! xo michele
muwahhhhhh!!!! i’ve missed you.
xo,
edie
I love your inspiration pic for your railings! Beautiful! I’m so excited for you as you get closer….
muwahhhhhh!!! i’ve missed you 🙂
xo,
edie
It takes a DAY to go through all of your links. . .and I WANT to go through all of your links — you do all the hard work for me — ha! Love your inspiration pictures and design decisions. . .and great job with the deals in town (and online) too!! Fun, fun. Thanks for taking the time to blog about all of this.
Hi Edie,,,Glad things are going well for you,,,LOVE LOVE LOVE the choices you’ve made thus far,,,the white on the outside the dark rich wide planks on the floor, all beautiful. It may have been mentioned already, but the many times I’ve been to Savannah, Ga on the tours, the guides also mentioned that the blue is called Haint blue,, because it aint blue and it aint green,,,so you have haint blue,,it’s a mix of the two colors. and it was used as you mentioned to ward off evil spirits and to keep the bugs away due to it appearing like the sky.
Blessings,
June
love the wood floors you are getting….I have that same inspiration photo in my files.
just went to my book club last night where we discussed Neil Postman’s “A Bridge to the Eighteenth Century.” Have you read it? It was heady for me, but a very worthwhile and challenging read. I’m following your lead and reading “Amusing Ourselves to Death” next.
love your updates..can’t wait to check out the podcasts….
I don’tbelieve in evil spirits, but I do know that blue paint will help keep wasps from nesting @ your porch ceiling. Love the railings! Love the wicker sofa!
Edie, I read your blog all the time, and I just had to ask what paint colors you’re deciding between for your porch. I am moving into downtown Savannah, Ga in a couple of weeks and have been looking for the perfect “haint blue” color swatch. Thanks!
Edie,
Looking forward to your post on your online Lighting for your new home!
Thanks for sharing.
Angela
I agree with you about Susan Wise Bauer but sometimes when I read her blog or listen to her at the Cincy Homeschool Convention- waves of thoughts come across “Is she a teacher of truth or is she a wolf in sheep’s clothing? ” I can’t figure her out but we have all her books, too. Sometimes things just don’t settle right with me with her:).
yes i definitely have some theological differences with her but as an educator/writer, i think she’s one of the best. i like that she keeps her theological views separate from her curriculum.
i’m much more ‘put off’ by those who integrate the two.
thanks for stopping by 🙂
xo,
edie
Hey Edie…it was really great to come by and catch up on where you are at. SO pleased to hear your building restoration is moving on quickly. Your doing an amzing job! SOme of those podcasts sound good and I’m I’m off to read (or start reading) Susans article. Thanks for the links! xxx
Love your inspiration photos and thanks so much for the recipes. I wanted to tell you something cool I heard about the blue porches yesterday. A girl on Pinterest told me they are also supposed to ward off critters and spider. I’m as Southern as they come and I’ve never heard that before, but I’m going to believe it!! Every little thing helps right? I’m glad things are falling in to place for you and you have scored some major deals. Can’t wait till your family is back in YOUR home once again. Best of Luck, Stacy
Awww…Lloyd Flanders is in my home town! The sofa picture made me smile! 🙂 Have a beautiful weekend!
Love the railings Edie! I’ve warned all within earshot of the pain that is dark colored hardwood floors, but their beauty always cancels out anything I say. Besides, you’re not a complainer like myself, so I’m sure you’ll love them. Yeah, those links are going to take me awhile, but as I said in today’s post…what else do I have to do, I’m in ‘hunkered down mode’ as you’d call it. I’m so sorry you’re still having bad dreams about the fire. I would too, hope they’ll go away my friend. xoxo, Jess