My husband and I rented an old house on the river on Lady's Island, SC, one year while we were waiting for our house to be built. The house was in a well established subdivision of homes built in the 80's, yet this house was over 100 years old, and stood out because of it's older, Victorian farmhouse style architecture. It had three levels, that included a walkout basement, which is very rare in a coastal area where the properties are so close to sea level. The story behind the house was that it had originally been owned by a woman, who after a huge dispute with her neighbors in downtown Beaufort, had the house moved by barge across the river to Lady's Island onto property she had inherited from her father. There was no bridge to the island in those days, and she used to row herself across the river into town for provisions each week. The first paranormal experience happened to DH, who was out in the yard mowing one afternoon. Our kids were at school and I was at work, and the entire neighborhood was quiet when he suddenly heard this strange, lilting music coming from the house. He went inside, expecting to find a radio on, or that one of the kids had come home from school without his knowledge and turned on a tape player. As he climbed the stairs from the basement to the living floor, the music stopped and he never could find the source of where it came from. The house was empty, and the kids didn't get off the bus until hours later. He told all of us about it, but none of us had a clue as to what it could have been. A month or so later, my daughter took her 8-track tape player to her girl friends house for a weekend sleepover. The girls turned on the tape player and heard this strange lilting music, something like they had never heard before, coming from the tape player. My daughter remembered what DH had told her about the music he heard, and called us immediately and played the tape over the phone for him to hear. It was the same music he'd heard that day previously in the yard, and was a tune none of us recognized. He told DD to bring the tape home with her the following day so we could all listen to it and try to figure out the mystery, and she agreed to do so. When she returned the next day and we sat down to listen to it, the tape was blank - and she swore that she hadn't erased it, she was as disappointed as we were that it was empty. The next occurrence in that house was also with DH. We had a group of friends over to the house one night for a cook-out, and the upstairs bathroom was occupied when DH needed to use it. He went downstairs into the basement where there was a tiny half bath installed. As he stood in front of the toilet peeing, he felt a tap-tap on his shoulder, as though someone was trying to get his attention. He said, "just a sec and I'll be finished", and turned his head, expecting to see someone waiting to use the room, yet no one was there. He immediately turned around and walked through all the basement rooms, and there was no one around, anywhere. We later heard from our neighbors that the house was haunted and previous renters had also witnessed strange occurrences while living there. One woman had been setting up the dining table for a birthday party for her daughter, when one of the balloons she'd blown up and attached a string to suddenly began moving about the room on it's own accord, as though it were held by someone walking around the room. It was an airless day and all the windows were closed, and she claims the string wasn't vertical, but angled as though someone was running with it. As she stood there, three other balloons were invisibly grabbed up and then they all went floating, as though they were being held by someone, up the stairs to the bedroom level. That family apparently had so many other bizarre happenings in that house that they got spooked and moved out. That's why it was available for us when we needed a quick short term rental. We never felt threatened or in fear about our "ghost", just figured it was the old woman's energy still there for some reason, and we always wished we could have found out more, but we moved out soon afterward to get into our new home.

We had our first real freeze last night. Crap. I wasn't expecting it and didn't move the house plants back inside. I moved them once when we were supposed to freeze but didn't really...not completely anyway. But we did freeze last night--water in both the dogs' bowl and chickens' waterers were partially frozen. Sigh. And it was the plants we received when my mother in law passed last February. And the watermelons that are growing right next to the house froze too. Yes, I have "bush" watermelons growing in a narrow bed right next to the house on the west side. It's weird, but weird is what I do. And I"m trying to be okay with that. How many eggs per person do y'all use each week. I'm curious. My sister and niece were out tonight and as it was getting dark they were looking in on the chickens who had put themselves to bed. They were peeking into their window. As soon as I came over to them and started talking the chickens all came down their ramp. They (sister and niece) were amused that the hens know my voice. It was warm today so we put the outside lights up. My job was to put those plastic hanger things on the light bulbs (Yay for not have to staple strands of lights to the roof [Clark Griswold]) and the chickens kept pecking at the red lights...I was sitting on the ground and they couldn't resist. They've been obsessed with the front yard lately. I was just glad to be home. I love being home. And I even baked cookies while my son and daughter played Christmas music on the piano. Could life get better?

Heat, like taste, is subjective. And how much, or how little, depends on the dish it's going into. I haven't watched Pioneer Woman much lately, but back when her show first started, I watched every chance I got. I don't remember ever thinking she was adding way too much heat to anything, but that is something I would automatically adjust to my own tastes if I were following a recipe, hers or anyone else's. I've tried a couple of her recipes. Most of them are, like many of Paula Deen's, just repeats of recipes that have been around for a pretty long time. And that's fine, because they probably are new to many of the younger, newer cooks out there. One I especially like is her recipe for Brussel Sprouts. Even some of my family that would never eat them, gobble them up when I make this dish. I honestly don't remember if I got it from her website or from her TV show. I'll post it in case anyone is interested: Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic and Cranberries (Pioneer Woman) Ingredients: 3 pounds Brussels Sprouts 1/2 cup Olive Oil Salt And Pepper to taste 1 cup Balsamic Vinegar 1/2 cup Sugar 1 cup Dried Cranberries Preparation Instructions: Trim/clean Brussels sprouts, then cut them in half if desired (or you can leave them whole). Arrange on two baking sheets and toss with olive oil. Sprinkle with plenty of salt and pepper and roast at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until brown. Combine balsamic vinegar and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and reduce until very thick, about 15 to 20 minutes.Drizzle the balsamic reduction over the roasted sprouts, then sprinkle on dried cranberries. Toss and serve immediately. Rusty

They are now offering a $20,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the killer. The truck has been identified as a Nissan Frontier with crew cab, I think it's black, definitely very dark. I am hoping with the increase in rewards someone will be talking. Here's pictures of the lady and her husband. This needs to be solved!