Mount Jefferson State Natural Area

Mount Jefferson rises above the West Jefferson area of Ashe County, NC. Once called Panther Mountain, it is now a national natural landmark with a rich history. It offers views of neighboring states and the small towns below. It has a few trails and one that is kid friendly. There are picnic tables and a picnic shelter to enjoy a picnic lunch in the cool breezes and cooler temps. There restrooms nearby. If you want to add a little learning to you trip, drop by the park office for a plant and animal checklist to take along with you as you hike. 

The park entrance. You can find directions to the park here.

The picnic shelter.

One of the views.

Another view of the towns below.

Some of the beautiful plant life.

A radio tower located at one of the view points.

Trail sign.

One of the picnic table areas.

Mount Jefferson is a spot I have been to many, many times. It was a favorite picnic spot of my parents when I was a kid. We have been there several times as a family to picnic or just to hike and take in the views. It is a nice little spot to stop to relax in the shade of the trees and the beauty God created for us to enjoy! 

Simply enjoying spending time with my family exploring the beautiful state we live in!  

New River State Park

The rest of the week I am going to share some great places to visit here on the blog and over on "A Life Lived Simply's" FB page. Most of the places are free to get into and are located in our beautiful North Carolina mountains. All of them are places that can be visited in a day's time, if you live in the western NC area. The last two places I will share this week are waterfalls. 

Today and tomorrow's places to visit are in the same area and can be visited in the same day. They are both have trials to hike and picnic areas. The places are New River State Park and Mount Jefferson Natural Area. They are located in Ashe County in North Carolina. The first place I am sharing is the New River State Park. 

New River State Park has several access areas, but the main one is off of HWY 221. Most of the areas have campgrounds and primitive campsites. All of them have canoe access areas where you can put in your canoes or tubs for that matter. There are picnic areas and spots where you can get into the river to wade. You can find a map of the park at the following link: New River Park Map. 

The Main Access

The Visitor's Center

Access to the river for canoes or for wading.

The New River

The park makes a nice laid back place to spend a hour or two in the river then enjoy a picnic lunch. Afterwards, you can spend a few minutes touring the Visitor's Center to learn about the river's history and ecology. Or make a weekend of it by planning a camping trip. Start planning your visit now, for this weekend or in the month of October when the leaves are changing. You won't be disappointed!   

Simply enjoying spending time with my family and creating simple memories!

Snapshots: Part 4

Enjoy these snapshots of what has been going around our simple home the past few weeks. 

We have had just right amount of rain and sunshine this summer. Our flowers have been beautiful.

Orange Cosmos

Lush and Green Beauty

All the rain has left behind some interesting mushrooms at times.

 

Even the potted flowers have been really beautiful this year.

I have spent the really hot days inside, a lot of the times baking or cooking. This day I made a lasagna and an Olive Garden inspired salad.

We served a garlic bread stick with the lasagna and salad. All of it was delicious!

One Sunday morning, I made Strawberry Cheese Turnovers. They exploded, but were oh so good!

I served our turnovers with bacon, eggs, and fresh peaches. Looks good, doesn't it? 

I also made some chocolate walnut fudge one afternoon.

We have been getting a lot of tomatoes.

So many in fact, I had to cook our bounty and turn it into juice.

Jars and rings sterilized and ready for the canning process.

DD helped out with the juicing process.

We got 7 pints this time, but expect more in the future.

I started my deep cleaning earlier this month. This is what deep cleaning looks like.

It is a mess until I can get it all put back together.

With afternoon and evening thunderstorms around, the evening skies have been beautiful. Cotton Candy, anyone?

I will never get tried of the view from our front picture window. We live in the middle of God's country and are thankful for it.

Hope you enjoyed a look into the simple life we lead! We simply wouldn't have it any other way!

Spray Paint

When most people think of spray paint, they think of graffiti or - here in the South, the poor man's car paint job. While it is used for these purposes, it is also an all around great product with a variety of uses. Another plus is that it is relatively cheap. We use it quiet a bit around our simple place. 

I first started using spray paint to freshen up all the plastic flower parts I have on hand. I like to use hunter green flowers pots to match the shutters on our home. I had bought several but they were faded and looked shabby. I also needed more of them, but didn't have the funds to buy them. So I thought I would give spray paint a try. I found a Hunter Green Krylon Spray Paint for plastic. I bought some and started painting. The paint made my green pots look like new. I then sprayed my other colored pots green. The paint covered them well and made them look like new. I have been doing this to my flower pots every year since then. 

Spray painted flower pots.

Since my flower pots turned out so well, I went on to spray paint our faded out plastic lawn furniture. I sprayed two Adirondack chairs and a small table. DH was so impressed with the results that he decided he would use spray paint to freshen up our fading hunter green shutters. They turned out really well and have held the color for a long time. This summer he used spray paint to freshen up the shutters on his parents house. 

Spray paint has become one of those staple items around our house. I have used it to make decorations for special occasions and to make pretty items for our home. I spray painted a cardboard box we got peaches in, put some ribbon around it, and used a paint pen to decorate it. I use the box to transport food in to family dinners and covered dish dinners. I received a lot of compliments on it. People are shocked when they find out how it was made. I also took a cardboard tray I got from somewhere. I spray painted it and decorated it with some ribbon. It turned out to be a pretty tray I use around our home. 

The cardboard tray I transformed with spray paint and a little ribbon.

Now that you have read and seen some of the ways I have used spray paint around our home, it is your turn to get those creative juices turning. How could you use spray paint around your home? Leave me a comment and let me now what you have come up with! 

Who knew a simple item like spray paint could turn out to be such a simply useful item!  

Homemade Apothecary Jars

When I started thinking about how to redo our guest bath and what to put on the cedar shelves, I knew I wanted some sort of apothecary jars. I started looking online for some, but soon realized they were way out of my price range. However, I remember saving a pin on my Recycling, Reusing, & Repurposing board on Pinterest on how to make homemade apothecary jars. So I looked at that pin for inspiration as I decided to make my own.

 

Picture via Pinterest saved from Decorating-Time.com

I started this project by looking at all the food jars we had in the house. Looking for the shape and size I wanted. As we used the food in the jars, I would save them until I decide which ones would work the best. I ended up with a Barilla marinara sauce jar and two pickle jars. I washed them well and let the air out for several weeks. Next, I soaked them in soapy water for a few days to remove the labels and the glue they were attached with. It took a little elbow grease but eventually I got all the gunk off of them. 

One of the two different kinds of pickle jars I used.

As the jars were airing out and soaking, I went to Hobby Lobby looking for some sort of knob to go on the top. I looked at various pegs, dowel tops, finials, and candle cups until I decided on what looked just right. I choose 1 1/4" birch candle cups. I also looked at candle sticks to put the jars on, but decided against that because it would make them too tall to fit in the shelves.

Picture via Hobby Lobby.

The next step was to decide on what color to paint the tops and the candle cups. I couldn't find a green or blue to suit me and I kinda of had black in mind right from the start. So I landed on a black Krylon spray paint in a satin finish.

Picture via Walmart.com

Once I had all my supplies together, I was finally able to get started. I spray painted the lids and candle cups several times. The metal lids were a little difficult to paint, but once I applied the right amount of paint layers to them, they turned out great.

The lids all painted.

Glue gun fun was the next step. I glued the candle cups on to the lids with the hole part facing down and let them set up.  

The candle cups turned into knobs for the tops of the jars.

When the glued set up really well, I filled the jars with various items and then they were ready to go on the shelves.
 

All ready for their new home.

I was very pleased with the way they turned out. I have also got a lot of compliments on them. The only bad thing I have to say is that with the humidity in the bathroom I have had to reglue the knobs on top, but that is no biggy. They fit in well with the other decor and look nice on the shelves. 

Homemade apothecary jars are simply a good thing!

Guest Bath Makeover

I have been wanting to update our guest bath for some time now. The white, greens, and peachy colors that I was using wasn't as appealing as it once was. I wanted to add more color to it, but I wasn't sure what colors to go with. I definitely wanted to update the shower curtain which was a  hold over from our old home.

The search for the new shower curtain began almost a year ago. I looked. DH and I looked. My MIL was even on the lookout for something that would work. We couldn't find anything that suited us. As a result, the bathroom stayed the same. 

When Christmas rolled around and my parents gave us a small shelving cabinet made out of cedar, I knew exactly where I wanted it to go. I had been looking for some sort of small table or shelving to go underneath a mirror we had on the wall. The cedar shelving was perfect. That cedar shelving inspired me and the makeover of the guest bath started in earnest. 

I had already bought a small make-up mirror in an oiled bronze finish from Walmart that went well with black finished mirror that was hanging above the cedar shelving. I had a candle that was in a blue and black jar I knew I wanted to use it on the shelving in some way. I bought a small bird cage in a black finish a few months ago that I wanted to use. So, I used those items as a starting point for decorating the shelving and went from there.  

I found some candles at Dollar General that were in tins decorated with green and blue flowers. The blues in the tin lead me to buy more blue candles from Walmart. All the greens I had in the bathroom already were blending in well with all the blues and greens I added in candles. 

Next I started looking for decorative storage items to put things like Band Aids, Q-Tips, dental floss, soap, etc. in. I cleaned out old candles from there little jars and used them to store dental floss in. I made some homemade apothecary jars to store extra combs and bars of soap in. I bought two plastic covered jars from Walmart to store Q-Tips and Band Aids in.  I bought two sea grass baskets to put toilet paper rolls on and to store shampoo, conditioner, etc. 

The blues and the greens were blending in so well together, I started looking for shower curtains again. I finally found one in blues and greens that had a design that fit in with some of the other items I had bought. With the shower curtain up, I only needed one more item to complete the makeover, a new trash can. I choose a black trash can to tie everything into together. I am really pleased with the way it all turned out. 

The Before:

 

The After:

The Before:

The After:

 

The Before:

The After: 

The Before:

The After:

The Trash Can: 

The makeover was a hit with DH and DD, too. I think it looks cozier and brighter that it did before. Let me know what you think by leaving a comment! 

Living a simply life and loving every minute of it!