Camp Cornelius

Belhaven North Carolina is a 1,685 located in the Inner Banks.  I know 6 of those folks really well.  We call it Camp because it comes complete with golf cart, trampoline, pool, hot-tub, playhouse, go-cart, 4 wheelers, dirt bikes and a boat.  My husband's sister is but a 5hr car ride away.  The kids love hanging with their cousins and we love hanging with the adults.

Last year they added some new members to their family

I had no idea how much work chickens are.  They are living in the lap of luxury in Belhaven.  They were so well taken care of that they had to add an addition to the coop to accommodate them all.  Some of them wear jackets...the things you learn in NC

Checking for the loot

Who is having fun?

Holding the loot

The latest in chicken fashion

When we weren't slaving away taking care of the chickens (ok, I was taking pics and the my sister-in-law was doing all the work with an audience) we went crabbing.

Bait

We had the nets ready for our bounty...

Waiting....

Our one and only!!

Ok, so if crabbing isn't working, fishing was Plan B.  I don't know about you, but baiting the hook is the part of fishing I can't get past, so I took pics.

Bait

Waiting...

Our one and only!!

Ok, so one to Plan C, a little crab and fish feast at their outdoor kitchen.  Then on to R&R...

All in all a great weekend, even came back with a goodie box packed with crabs, fish, chicken, hush puppies, cake etc.  THANKS Donna and Joey

Barns, more than just horses

Are all girls are horse crazy?  Edenbrook Farm is a little slice of heaven east of town.  They have chickens, ducks, horses, ponies, llamas, goats and a cow.

When you drive up to the farm you drive on a gravel road at 10mph it forces you to look at the wildlife that is out to greet you that morning.  We have made friends with the birds and bunnies.  The next view always takes my breath away.  I could image sitting there all afternoon reading a good book with a glass of iced tea.

Through Divine Intervention and my friend Margaret I found a farm for the girls to work on and they get a little riding in too.  Driving to and from 2 days a week isn't so bad, but lack of internet access is a bummer.  I guess horses don't care if they can't get on Facebook!

 One of many and ruling the roost and horse stall.

 Leo was the next to show his face but patiently waited until the opening was free and clear.

From a design perspective I am currently obsessed with patina.  I couldn't help but drool over this barn wood and siding.  My father-in-law had an old barn on his property that he took down before he sold it and brought the wood to the dump.  I was blown away when I was talking about this with my hubby a few weeks ago.  I was so close to such beauty and was too young to appreciate it....ever had that experience?

I hope to have a post about the reno of our downstairs bathroom that includes barn wood....stay tuned