Well, we did it….Big Mill is now on Facebook!

Photo by Guy Livesay

For oh so long, I have resisted — but now that we are on Facebook, it is quite fun. 

We do hope you will "LIKE US" over on Facebook.  And while you're there, be sure to write on our wall to keep the conversation going. We'll be keeing you up to date on local attractions, special events and other happenings going on in and around eastern North Carolina's Inner Banks. And, as always, I'll post links to new recipes and other items of interest there too.

How's this for an enticement:  Once you sign up and give us the Thumbs-up "LIKE,"  follow the breadcrumbs I've left under the "Free Gift" tab to receive the famous (and top secret) homemade granola recipe.  This never-before published honey and almond granola recipe is the one Big Mill B&B guests rave about!  

Better hurry on over … before I come to my senses.   ;-)

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Kermit never looked so cute…and green!

(To see a pretty version of this post go to Chloe's Blog)

Photo by Guy Livesay

Wildlife in North Carolina magazine's 2009 photo competition had over 7,000 entries. This photograph taken by Guy Livesay, who lives right here in eastern North Carolina, was a winner! Other winning photos can be seen in the January, 2010 issue.

Many a late afternoon here at Big Mill you might see Guy and other photographers wandering around looking for that perfect photograph. Some of the folks are snapping shots of brides, graduates, babies — often with Old Red Truck taking center stage.

Photo by Guy Livesay

But Guy can be seen patiently waiting by a zinnia, sunflower, cleome or azalea for just the right shot of a hummingbird or butterfly or bee – any of Mother Nature's creatures are beautiful in the photos of a gifted artist like Guy. 

Photo by Guy Livesay

With these wonderful photos each perfect creature momentarily stands still for us to see. When you come to visit Big Mill B&B, be sure to bring your camera. These birds and butterflies will pose for you.

Note: You can see more of Guy's work at Livesay Photography. Other really fine photographers can be seen here at Big Mill are Peggy Rogerson and Andrea Wood. If you see a bridge, a pack house or an old red truck in their photos, chances are that the photo was taken here at Big Mill.

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Merry Christmas from Chloe Ann and all of us here at Big Mill

This post is much prettier on Chloe's Blog

              I still have this outfit.

Life on the farm is always magic at Christmas time. Today I walked to the woods (too wet for Old Red Truck) and found holly with berries. When I was growing up my dad and I would go into the woods to gather holly, pine and cedar. We had such fun. We hope all our friends, family and wonderful guests have a very merry holiday. You have made 2009 a special year, one we will remember for a long time. Thank you.

Love from all of us at Big Mill: Chloe Ann, Delores, John and, of course, Miss Moses.

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A good friend and frequent guest at Big Mill Bed & Breakfast emailed me the other day to let me know how much she missed my blog articles. I was chagrined when I realized how long it had been since I posted something!

Rest assured, these hands have not been idle! In fact, I don’t remember a spring and summer season at the B&B that have been this non-stop. Lots of returning guests and even more new ones just discovering the joys of a farmstead respite. It’s kept me hopping, but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

The flower and vegetable gardens are in rare form this year. The tomatoes are particularly noteworthy and even took center stage in this Farmhouse Tomato Sandwich recipe I posted over at InnCuisine.com.

Sandie, the webmistress for InnCuisine.com, asked me to be a contributing author to the Local Sustainable Foods column called Share the Bounty. I admit that writing for Inn Cuisine has stolen away a chunk of my time for updating my own blog, but what a wonderful site Sandie has developed for lovers of good food, gorgeous photographs and "secret" recipes from innkeepers all over the country.

I hope you’ll visit and subscribe to Inn Cuisine and receive updates via email. Eventually the recipes I post on that site will make it onto Chloe’s Blog, but you can get them hot off the press when you subscribe to Inn Cuisine’s updates. Click here to subscribe. It takes all of 20 seconds and is well worth it! Sandie has just returned from the BlogHer convention in Chicago where she met and talked to Paula Deen! She is the best!

And, definitely check out the Farmhouse Tomato Sandwich recipe. It’s getting rave reviews and even got a special mention on FoodGawker.com. Big Mill B&B hits the big time!

There are many things to do on a farm in summer. Moses makes her rounds…she has retired from hunting but her presence deters the rabbits. That is good.

Meanwhile, I have four Chloe’s blog articles in the works. There’s one about Big Mill’s resident hummingbirds. They are spectacular!

Another is on the disappearance of the country store and there’s one about the Great American Sunflower project that we are doing.

Also, I took a video of the opening of an evening primrose that’s amazing. I just can’t quite figure out how to get it onto the blog!

The photographs to go with each article are so gorgeous, I’m struggling to make my words measure up. Instead of fretting, I think it would be smarter to take a piece of good Eastern NC countryfolk advice to heart — "progress, not perfection."

So, stay tuned. And, I’m curious. How have you been spending your summer? How does your garden grow? Share in the comments section, below.

PS:

My recipe and step-by-step instructions for Fresh Strawberry Jam is on the InnCuisine.com site too.

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It’s Christmas here at my favorite Bed and Breakfast in North Carolina … I am the resident fur person and that is my opinion.

You know I have been around a lot, being a cat and all that.  So when I picked Chloe’s B&B, it was after much thought and I love it here. I even really like Chloe.

That is except when she gives me a bath and when she makes me dress up and pose for a photo. I knew this was coming, but she sneaked up on me. Hope you like me in my Santa outfit. Harrumph.  

She tried to get me to wear a beard, but I flatly refused. I am a lady – what was Chloe thinking?  Thankfully, it was only a Santa hat.

Life on the farm is always special, but at Christmas, it is magical. We never really finish decorating but we have such fun doing it. Chloe says I am a big help, Well, I try. 

(Below: Chloe made the wreath on the Pack House from our grapevine prunings.)

Chloe and I both want to let all our friends and guests know how much we care about them. This has been a wonderful year here at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast and we have met the very best folks.  Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, Happy Hanukkah, Seasons Greetings and we hope to see all of you soon.

And Happy New year from both of us.

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Not one to toot my own horn, I just have to share this good news.  Big Mill B&B has been singled out as one of the Top 10 earth-friendly inns by BedandBreakfast.com.  And we are the only North Carolina Bed and Breakfast to make the cut.  WOW! 

Of course, it was wonderful to be acknowledged last year when the Washington Post ran the article about our clothesline.  And now, to be in such good company with other environmentally-friendly bed and breakfast owners … I’m just tickled. 

That said, I realize that so many of the things we do here at Big Mill are second nature.  I’m always surprised when guests thank me for sharing a green-friendly tip or trick they didn’t realize.  I have a million of ‘em I learned from my mom  Hmmm, I should post some of these on my blog. 

In fact, I’m working on a new post called "Paper or Plastic."  It should have been finished by now, but I got so fascinated learning new things retailers are doing, it has taken me longer to wrap up the article.  But, I promise to have it ready for you in the next day or so.  It’s very interesting, if I do say so myself

We save the seeds every year from these stately sunflowers; some to feed the birds, some to grow new sunflowers.

Curious about the other inns who won the Top 10 Eco-Friendly Inns?  Click here to read the full press release. 

                 Chloe

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I saw my first Brown Bag Cookie Mold in the early eighties in a tiny shop in Virginia Highlands, a small Yuppie neighborhood in Atlanta, where I was living.

This love affair has never ended. I have St. Nicholas from the 1983 collection, which was the first year they were made. The Brown Bag name comes from the philosophy that small, ordinary things can be wonderful works of arts.

With these clay molds you can make gorgeous cookies, cast beeswax ornaments and hand cast paper. From what I have read it seems the originator of these clay molds now only creates one a year and she donates the proceeds of the sales to charity.  For 2007 the mold is a gingerbread house and any monies will go to Habitat for Humanity.

I have about 20 of these Brown Bag Cookie molds, some made by hand, and I cherish each one of them. Many of the molds are now collected and you can find them on EBay and other sites on the internet; they are no longer sold in stores.

If you buy beeswax directly from the beekeeper, it is cheaper, but it can be dirty, so you will have to clean it.  I used to keep bees; I even had bees in my early Innkeeping days here at Big Mill Bed and Breakfast. I had a great teacher, my cousin Bobby who was blind. I was his "eyes" when he checked the hives. I ordered my first colony of bees from Sears & Roebuck and they came by mail in a small screen box. My rural mail carrier was a wreck. En route wild errant bees had attached to the outside trying to join my bees.

Beekeeping is really a science, and without Bobby around, I couln’t protect my bees from all the dangers. But I still find them fascinating. Did you know that all the bees in a hive are women? There is even a book Beekeeping For Dummies. There are many good websites and books out there now, so if you want a fascinating hobby, you won’t be bored.

My bees knew me and could tell when I was upset or nervous; the pitch of the hum in the hive went up an octave. Bees have taken a bad rap. They are not naturally aggressive like wasps, hornets and yellow jackets. Please don’t kill them; we really need all the bees here on the farm at Big Mill. They are one of the reasons our blueberries are so prolific!

Recipe for Cast Beeswax Ornaments
(Download the Brown Bag Idea Book for more projects)

• Brown Bag Cookie Molds
• 1 pound beeswax (this will yield about 6-8 ornaments)
• Small amount of thin wire (like in a twist tie)
• 1 yard very thin ribbon
• A small amount of vegetable oil, 1 Tablespoon or thereabouts
• Small paint brush to apply the vegetable oil to the molds
• Old double boiler and ladle (or 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup if using microwave*)
• Wooden spoon or paint paddle for stirring

Chill the cookie molds at least 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

Melt the beeswax in a double boiler over medium to low heat, checking often to make sure the water does not boil out.  Remove the mold from the refrigerator and brush or rub a wee amount of vegetable oil onto the inside of the mold. Place the mold on a flat surface covered with some protective covering of waxed paper. This allows you to reuse any spilled wax. The mold MUST be flat and level.

Using a lipped ladle, gently pour beeswax into the mold. At this time you can tell if the mold is level. If not, correct this.  

The wax will immediately pull away from the mold and dry quickly. When it is cloudy, insert a twisted piece of very thin wire into the back of the mold at the top. This will be your hanger. If you forget you can heat the wire and do this later. Or you can use ribbon. You do not have to wash the molds between pourings; but you may have to add more oil.

To remove from the mold, turn it over and rap gently on a table. Do this before the ornament is completely cold. If you have any "over pour" you can trim off the edges using a heated knife blade. If you make a bad pour, don’t fret. Just put the wax back in the pot and reheat. This is true if you break an ornament…they are very fragile.

Now for the cleanup: Call the National Guard. But DON"T let any of this wax get into your drains…or you will rue the day. Actually, a hair dryer and paper towels work well.

The Rocking Horse design is from 1984, the second year of production for Hill Design’s Brown Bag Cookie Molds. Gingerbread Man and the Cherub are from 1992. These delicate ornaments are translucent and the tree lights glow through each one. The beeswax aroma lingers and is not lost through the years.

I store these treasures flat, with sheets of waxed paper between each one. They must be kept in a cool place.

I still have my hive, my bee suit and my pith helmet!   Chloë

*You can use the microwave to make these ornaments, but I prefer the stovetop because it allows me to keep the wax at a steady temperature.

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‘Bet you never even heard of Dinner on the Ground. Sadly, it has been called a fading tradition. It seems these days I look up and things I thought would always be there are gone or leaving.  Dinner on the Ground is one of them.

But for now they are still with us.  For many years it has been the tradition of southern, country churches to have a week-long revival that ended on Sunday with a great celebration and homecoming.

Folks came from everywhere for this big feast.  Dinner on the Ground only happens in the fall and often we attended several special events throughout Eastern North Carolina:  Macedonia, Piney Grove, Maple Grove and Smithwick’s Creek Primative Baptist.

My favorite of the foods was fried peach jacks, and I knew right where to find them. Fannie H.* and Miss Mintie both made wonderful jacks. Miss Mintie’s daughter-in-law Charlotte, keeps up the tradition. 

One year someone actually made homemade moon pies. You could find collard greens galore, Brunswick stew, cornbread, fried chicken, banana sandwiches (for the children), sweet potato pies, barbecue, succotash, all kinds of pickles and more cakes than have ever been in one place. Lots of sweet tea is always served. 

Every southern woman must have a deviled egg plate, and this is a time when you should use it.  

There will be much declaring and reckoning as in "I declare it is hot and I reckon it was cooler last year."  "Bless his heart" will be heard many times.  

After church is over folks rush out and spread the feast on a table made of chicken wire that is strung between tall oak trees. If the trees aren’t positioned just right, then a tractor will do just fine. There are often two or three tables made of chicken wire that are each a block long. Every family spreads a tablecloth over a spot (same spot every year) and puts the food out. Then folks graze up and down the table, visiting and eating.

I am glad to have enjoyed these wonderful events. I am also happy to live in the "country" where we love and linger with our traditions. The church of my youth still has Dinner on the Ground; and for that I am very happy.

All of the photos were taken at the same church, almost sixty years apart. Photo at right is my dad Ops, taken in 1948 or ‘49, at Macedonia’s Dinner on the Ground, after all the food was taken away.

That is my mother Chloe loading the car. Photo below is my brother John and me (with the very short skirt). Maybe some traditions will stick around.

(Photo credit: Barney Conway, Jr. for the color photos. I figure Barney’s dad took the old black and whites.)

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