Trash Find

There is nothing more satisfying to me (besides a thrift store find) than a trash find. Your trash, my treasure. On Sundays I always take a longer stroll through the neighborhood and this past Sunday's walk was particularly fruitful.

You see, I've had mirrors on the mind. The mantle needs a refresh and a mirror is always a go-to. Nothing has seemed "right." I've kept my eyes peeled at second hand shops and online retailers. Nothing.

Then, this was propped up next to a trash can down the street. A couple is in the process of closing on their house and this ended up in the discard pile. 

Above: Dirty (top), clean (bottom). A little glass cleaner and Old English oil later, voila.

She fits in perfectly.

Whitney Plantation

Paul and I recently went on a trip with students from the college that I will never forget - to Whitney Plantation in south Louisiana. 

Whitney has been named America's Auschwitz because it is the only plantation that talks about plantation life from the perceptive of the slaves. 

More importantly, from the view of the children. In the 1930's as part of the WPA/New Deal, the Federal Writers Project collected slave narratives from people in their 80's and 90's who had been children on these properties before the Civil War. 

The Whitney is their collective story.

When you arrive, your pass has information about one of the statues on the property, a real child who shared their story with the FWP. 

Since this trip was on a Friday, we decided to stay the night in New Orleans. I chose our dinner spot, St. Roch's Market. We had such a great time browsing the food booths, settling on classic seafood fare.

I ordered a trio, which included shrimp and grits, red beans and rice, and a crawfish and potato dish. Paul also ordered gumbo and we had bites of each. It was perfect.

After a nice morning at District Donuts, we made a stop to pile up the car at Trader Joe's. Oh how we wish we had one near us. We came prepared with coolers to bring back frozen items. Trader Joe's, if you read this, please come to Jackson!

And we couldn't make it back across the lake without a stop at Middendorf's (Paul's choice).

We've learned we are both the happiest when we split the seafood platter. Their stuffed crab is to die for!

We ended the night with a wonderful Friendsgiving with some of our nearest and dearest. Thankful for these sweet friends!

Man, don't you hate blog problems? I've been trying to blog via my phone, but my long posts won't publish. Back to the computer!

I have so much to talk about, but I'll start with one of my favorite things - the annual family punkin chunkin'. I can't remember what year we started this tradition. Maybe ten years ago? We had a little throwing phase that manifested in throwing some particularly rotten pumpkins one year.

Now, we all save our Halloween pumpkins (non-carved) until Thanksgiving for the annual toss. My parents have a 10 foot drop off the back of their deck into a gully, which makes it even more fun. Even our dogs look forward to it.

The highlight was definitely when dad brought out his machete. 

When your dad brings out the machete at annual McNeil Family Punkin Chunkin.

A video posted by Sophie McNeil Wolf (@sophiemwolf) on Nov 27, 2016 at 12:11pm PST