Since I've Been Gone: August (So Far)

Ok friends, let's wrap up this time period of me being gone forever and a day. I've finished up talking about July, so let's talk about August so far. August has been pretty typical around here, lots of humidity (oh lord, the humidity) and heat. Also, lots of rain. I'm happy with rain in the summer though, we get such crazy downpours that I don't have to water the garden for 2 days. Talk about shaving some time off the chore wheel. But honestly, when you are talking about August in the garden (at least for me) there's not a lot to do. This downtime feels so crazy after the frenzy of landscaping the hubby and I did during the early summer. I can't complain though, it's a lovely contrast. I much need the rest after having such a full house. And August of the family's stay here was pretty busy-

Autumn in Kentucky: October 2015

Hola! I'm here with a Saturday post to show you some beautiful October leaves here in Kentucky.

This (above) was the view of the road right after leaving my house. That is, until the leftovers of Hurricane Patricia went through the area, viciously taking down those oh-so-gorgeous October leaves we had going on. Well, boo to you Hurricane Patricia. We were having the most beautiful fall that I can remember around here. 

That could be because 2 years ago, we spent October in Oregon and last year we spent the last 2 weeks of October in Mexico... Hmmm...

At any rate, the hillsides have been awash of gold and red, with the occasional evergreen poking out here and there. If I were to go back and take pictures today (these were taken last weekend), everything would look vastly different. Plus, they would all be gloomy and gray and who wants to look at those right??

House Hunting in Kentucky

Perhaps I should rephrase that to "House hunting in Southern Ohio".

It's true. The hubby and I are defecting from Kentucky to Ohio. Granted, as you can see from the above map, Ashland sits right on the Kentucky/Ohio border. Where we live in Ashland right now is 5 minutes from the bridge to cross into Ohio. The hubby's new job is  in Wheelersburg, OH which is about 30 minutes from Ashland and after working a 12 hour night shift, that 30 minutes might as well be 30 hours.

So off we go to Southern Ohio!

The Wheelersburg area is expensive. We haven't seen anything we LOVE yet. We did just start the hunt but we already have the impression we will be compromising on house to get a property we want. The hubby compares this hunt to a fat horse vs an ugly horse. A fat horse can always lose weight while an ugly horse will always be an ugly horse i.e. an ugly house on a great property can always be improved while a cute house in an awful location... well, you are just SOL at that point. I made the point that all horses are cute. Maybe he should use a mule in this analogy.

Baaaaack to the point.

On Thursday, we had an appointment to look at a house in the area. We left our house early to check out the locations on a couple of other properties for sale. At one point, we got lost on a hill and ran into a pack of wild animals!

All right, so the wily beasts were a herd of deer.

The house hunt has not been successful so far. There have been a couple of houses that we thought were cute (2 to be exact) but we drove past the locations and they are both located on a 55 mph road. Dislike.

The house we had the appointment for is located on a GORGEOUS property. It's 2 1/2 acres with a serene pond out front. Here is the view from the front door:

The house is less than stellar. Yes, it is need of cosmetic work i.e. new paint and new flooring throughout. The fork in this pot roast is that the layout is awful. We can deal with some cosmetic work but when you are talking about knocking down interior walls and maybe doing an addition, on top of the fact that this property is in the upper echelon of our price range... The hubby and I left feeling deflated.

It appears the house hunt may be a long process.

Best in the Tri State? Epic Fail!

I hold no illusions about the area in which I live. As a serious foodie, this area of the country is a little bit of a joke when it comes to fresh and delicious food. Ashland is chock full of the chain restaurants that serve frozen food. This is ok, but every now and then I want something amazing! Hard to find here. Well, last week I got a mini-magazine in the mail titled "Best in the Tri-State". I was skeptical but couldn't resist taking a look.

The first section of this magazine were the "winners" for restaurants in the area. I am not joking, but McDonald's was actually voted "Best Breakfast" in one county. Really?!? I should send that one in to SNL for Seth Myer's "Really?!?!" series.

Sorry, Kentucky. Photographic evidence does not lie.

The next item I was appalled by? Well, I mean other than having a buffet category! The chicken category. And who was #1 in 3 counties? KFC. Ewwww.

That Katie's Corner in Boyd county? Not a chain or fast food joint! Go Boyd County!

One more item before I throw this piece of trash out with exasperation. The pizza category. I will just post the picture and you can decide what's wrong with it :)

If Little Caesar's has the best pizza, it is indeed a sad, sad world we live in.

There you have it fellow foodies. I am sure this list does NOT inspire you to come visit the Tri-State area looking for fantastic food. I guess I will have to open my own restaurant to show people how good FRESH food tastes!