An Omnivore and a Beloved Neighborhood

I've been posting quite a few pictures of lovely Manteo but recently I got to thinking that Smithfield is lovely, too! In fact, every town in every state has spots that are beautiful and photo worthy.

So a couple days ago, while Steve and I were taking our evening walk, I snapped a few photos of our neighborhood.

Because it's pretty.

Because I'll miss it when we move.

And because it's provided Steve and I with hundreds of companionable evening strolls.

The neighborhood tour begins with our lawn ornament that stands right next to our front steps.

The house that has given shelter to the Smith family for sixty-two months.

Autumn sky and trees

A neighbor's fence

Fall loveliness

There now, wasn't that fun? You got to travel to a new city without ever leaving your front yard! I love that about the Internet!

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Thanks to everyone who wrote down ideas for fixin' and freezin' grean beans; it was very helpful. Green beans are not one of my strengths and I am thankful that you all saved me from having to enroll in four years of Green Bean College!

Speaking of green beans, we found out that a certain dog of ours thinks they're great. We had set our bag of beans on the living room floor in Manteo and before we knew it, Sir Snowy had sashayed on over there, inserted his head, and removed a green bean.

Cheerily chomping and chewing

Headed back to the bag for an additional bean. Or two.

Snowy is obviously an omnivore--he eats meat, veggies, dog food and miscellaneous rotten food stuck to the parking lot when we're walking him while traveling. What is it about dogs and old, yukky food?

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A Few Questions . . .

Q. Ann asked, "Is the house you're looking into this week the fixer upper you mentioned before, or something else?"

A. Actually, when I referred to this house before as a fixer upper, I wasn't using the right term. (House terms are not my specialty.) It isn't a fixer upper in the sense that it has to have serious renovations before we can move in; we could move in tomorrow, if necessary.

However, there are some cabinet fronts that need replacing and some painting that needs to be done and a few repairs here and there. Nothing too terribly serious.

Steve and I both enjoy taking a home and, little by little, fixing it and changing it and updating it and making it our own. This home has plenty of potential for that.

Steve called the real estate agent today to tell him to go ahead and make the offer to the owner so we'll see what happens from there.

Q. "Random" asked, "How are the 'during-the-week' duties being handled at the church right now? Surely you don't have to make the drive more than once a week."

A. Fortunately, Steve can do all of his sermon prep here in Smithfield and we can also get set lists and music and arrangements together for the worship team here at home. We also passed out all of our contact info to the church members and they know that they are free to call us anytime.

If there was any sort of big emergency, though, Steve would be ready to hop in his car at a moment's notice.

Q. Robin asked, "Does the Manteo church have a photo directory?"

A. No they don't. And I agree, a directory would make it infinitely easier for us to memorize names. For now, though, we'll just keep on cheerily bumbling our way through the proper placement of all the names and faces. Thankfully, the Manteo folks are being very patient with us, even if we ask them for the fourth or fifth (or sixth) time what their names are.

Eventually we'll know 'em all! Until we do though, I may continue to assign wrong husbands to wrong wives and wrong kids to wrong parents.

Oh well. Nothing like keeping life interesting!