Bountiful Harvest in North Carolina

My parents house in NC (near Murphy) holds a lot of special memories for my family over the years. They live full-time in Atlanta, but have had this house for over 20 years now and spend most of the summer up there. Our family spent so much time in NC when we were growing up, that my parents decided to build themselves a mountain house all those years ago, a place to get away from the rat-race of Atlanta, traffic, pollution, and too many people. This is the perfect spot for that. I'm so blessed to still have my parents healthy and living life to the fullest. They are gardeners and have been my whole life. I can't remember a time when we didn't have fresh vegetables every summer, the fruit of their labor, not mine. In restrospect, I've done very little in that garden over the years, but I sure have enjoyed it. I appreciate it so much more now that I'm older and realize all the work that goes into it. My parents always share their harvest with me and my sister and anyone else that they come in contact with, when there is extra to share.
It's not a fancy house, but a cozy and warm house filled with love. Our family enjoys gathering here whenever we can, especially this time of year when the garden's bounty is coming in full force. Since I don't live close enough anymore to drop by and pick up vegetables whenever I want, we had a great time filling the car up with fresh veggies from their garden to bring home with us to enjoy.
These were already picked and waiting on the porch when we got there. Me and my hubby, Peter and my sister and her hubby came up for a few days and really had a great time. You might remember from my post last year about this mountain house....we eat a lot! And boy, did we!
My sweet dad's favorite place to sit on the porch is in his swing. That and his full length lounge chair. He has taken many naps on this porch over the years. The temperatures here are usually 10 degrees less than Atlanta during the summer.
This is the scenery surrounding their house, full of mountain laurel and rhododendrun. It's beautiful in the spring too, as well as fall.
Coming around to the porch from the driveway, these steps lead up to the porch. Outside, this little creek runs in their frontyard. They've had such a drought this year that the creek is running the lowest EVER since they've been going up there. Hopefully the rains will increase and this little creek will be gushing again.
My dad is really a farmer and loves to raise his vegetables every year. I think this is what has kept them so active, healthy, and in shape over the years. Not to mention, it's so healthy to raise and eat your own food. They are a testament to that. They have quite a spread and a wonderful garden spot. He had to put up a fence this year to keep out the deer. First time they've had such a problem with them, but he got really tired of them eating all his beans and corn, so up went the fence. I'll show you more of the garden later.
They also have huge blueberry bushes that he planted when the house was built and they produce a ton of blueberries. It's such a treat to go and pick them off the bushes. My hubby really enjoys picking berries.
They were afraid that the berries would be giving out by the time we got up there this year, but you can see that wasn't a problem. They are oh-so-sweet too! These will be great on my raisin bran every morning and freeze well too. We picked this whole pan full to bring home.

More pretty scenery around their house, these native ferns are always so gorgeous and grow on the back hillside behind the house.
Another shot of the creek.
I think I mentioned that my family really, really likes to eat those fresh veggies. This is our meals while we were there. All of this is out of their garden. It just doesn't get any better than this, people!
Man o man, was it delicious! We all ate like pigs. My mama is the BEST Southern cook and could seriously open her own restaurant. Of course, she has taken care of all of us forever and wouldn't have time for that. You can see here from left, the black-eyed peas, pole beans, and zipper peas. Zipper peas are my absolute fave!

I got out one morning to a little area near them that has some antique stores and browsed around.
This little house is right down the road from them and we call it the rock house. Always have loved it.
A mama cat and kittens from next door have taken up with my parents. My mama is a soft touch and will feed them. They have another cat at home who adopted them too. He comes around for a good meal and can count on my mom to feed him.
Saturday's breakfast was a hash brown quiche with blueberry pancakes and bacon.
Oh, and fresh fruit too. Can you say yum?! I know you are jealous about now. I don't blame you, I would be too. Here's my plate...go ahead and hate me now!
After breakfast, me and my sister and BIL took off across the road where they are building new mountain homes right on top of the mountain. Nice walk uphill to see this view.
And these mountain houses.
This one was situated very nicely with a gorgeous view.
My sister's dog, Holly, was along for the walk and had a ball.

More pretty mountain scenes.
Nothing prettier than the mountains of NC.
Another huge house was going in. We got to walk in this one & it had a really nice view too.
This one was $300K. Not too shabby.
While we were walking, mom and dad and Peter picked in the garden.

We brought home one of these home grown watermelons, which were delish. My dad cut one open one day we were there.
If you've never had home grown tomatoes, I just can't tell you what you are missing! Store bought doesn't even taste like a real tomato. These are the absolute BEST tomatoes you will ever put in your mouth. Hello Better Boy!
Holly had a ball running through the rows.
Fresh Okra ready to come home and hop in the frying pan.
Dad picking

Hubby picking peas, he loves all this garden stuff too.
Mom picking zipper peas. My sister and I were talking about how our mama works circles around us and she's 80. We can't hold a candle to that woman!
Back inside their house, this is the greatroom. Dad builds a big fire in that stove in the winter to really heat the place up. And of course, he has to have his large TV up there for entertainment.
Many a family gathering has been had here in this greatroom. It's nothing fancy either, but it's home to us.
My mom doesn't mind recycling at all. I had these lamps in my first apartment in 1978 (can that really be 30 years ago?!). Earth tones were all the rage then. Did I tell you she's not into decorating? They work fine and look good in this mountain house, so she'll probably get another 30 years out of them.

You may remember I helped my mom pick out some new things for one of the bathrooms up there and here is the finished project. New paint, shower curtain, and a mountain scene border. It turned out very nice & looks so much better than the old peach and blue that was in here.

This kitchen has cooked many meals! We went in together one year and got her the dishwasher for the mountain house. She still doesn't use the dishwasher all the time, just can't get the hang of putting the dishes in there, filling it up and then washing them all later. She's afraid she'll need something that's dirty. When we're all up here though, she uses it.
This porch has held many visitors and family over the years and is a cool spot to relax on. Lots of conversations and laughter are heard on this porch. I perched on that lounger.
This is my family heritage....a profound faith in God. We weren't rich, but we sure are rich in blessings with our parents. I couldn't ask for better.
The vegetables are kept on the back porch for easy pickings.
This is the harvest that was picked just that one morning. We brought home some of all of this and I'll be busy cooking up some fresh veggies this week. Hope you all enjoyed going along with us to the mountains of NC. It's a pretty place and a slower pace of life, one that is needed often these days.

I'll get back to answering more of your questions later on. Some of them were more detailed and I may need some pics to illustrate, so stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for more design dilemmas. We can all get in on the action. And I've got a whole post on decorating mantels that will be up soon.

Excuse me while I go have another 'mater sandwich!