BOWLS, BOWLS AND MORE BOWLS

Bowls on top of the cabinet

In addition to a lot of BOOKS, we also have a lot of large mixing bowls.  Whenever we see some vintage ones at a tag sale, or online, or a unique set at a retail store, we just can't resist getting them.  We've tapered off the last couple of years, but we still have a surplus of bowls.  Little did we know that we'd need them for the farm!  So here are some vintage bowls on top of the cabinet on one side...

More bowls on top of the other cabinet

...and here are some nice white "hobnail" type bowls we found once upon a time on top of the other cabinet.  I've promised 2nd Man a shelf that connects the two upper cabinets (over the sink window) so that he can have them lined up from side to side.  That will be an upcoming project.

Bowls in the hutch

...and here are yet more in the yellow Nadeau hutch/buffet that we recently purchased.  The green set is a vintage bowl in a beehive pattern, and the dark yellow is a great set of bowls that are new, I can't remember the maker, but the are called "farmhouse mixing bowls", which now, of course, seems so appropriate for our house.

We have A LOT more that will be making an appearance somewhere down the line, after I build the shelf over the sink...and we also now have a new rule,
NO MORE BOWLS*

*unless they are really cool, ha ha.

50000 PAGE VIEWS

50,000?  Really?

Even though I started this blog a little over a year ago, it wasn't until last March that I began blogging on a more regular, usually daily, basis.  So really, in less than a year, you all have visited us more than 50,000 times.  Wow, I can't tell you how much we appreciate it!


Thank you!

MASON JAR CHRISTMAS DECOR

Mason Jars for Christmas

With only 20 days to Christmas, I thought I'd post this.  I found Yet ANOTHER cool use for Mason/Ball Jars...making Christmas decorations.

I think this would look so nice this season.  Pretty simple, just fill bottom of jars with fake snow, put some decorations in the bottom and you're done.  In this one, there are Christmas lights strung up behind the jars to add that extra sparkle while on display.

I'm sure if you were so inclined, you could put battery operated lights inside the jars themselves, hidden by the snow and/or decorations.

A festive way to show your love of the holiday season and use some of those old canning jars you might have laying around.

Enjoy!

A FEW CURTAINS UP

Curtains in Bathroom

It's always amazing to me how the addition of just a simple curtain on a window can soften up the entire room.  Not to mention, how they so quickly make it look more like "home".  Such is the case this past weekend.  We put up 4 curtains, all this same style.  One on each door, and then one in the bathroom and the other above the kitchen sink.  Scored them in packages of two, on sale leftover from "Black Friday" shopping deals.  They are made by Better Homes and Garden brand and we think they look just great.  Sort of vintage and not too frilly.  They look like the belong in the house, and that's what it's all about, right?

Door Curtains

 Side note, on the two doors, because they are metal, we used the magnetic curtain rods that are readily available at most stores in the curtain section.  In our case, I found them at our local TARGET.  They look like this:

White Magnetic Curtain Rods

They are wonderfully easy to put up, taking mere seconds, and they look like they were permanently mounted.  Best of all, no holes to drill in your metal door and you can reposition them anytime you need to.  I'd highly recommend them as a solution for curtains on a metal door.

We're putting up vinyl roller shades in the other larger windows. something like this:

White Vinyl Roller Shade

We're doing this so that when we aren't at the house, we have a way of closing the windows and keeping out any prying eyes that might want to look in (though no one should be ON the property, but you never know).  When we get there, we will open them all and let the light and sun stream in.  We'll have curtains on all the windows for our own use to soften rooms, provide filtered light, add color and pattern, etc.  These will just be more of a "when you leave close the blinds" kind of use.  Getting them measured has been a nightmare.  We have to measure, go have them cut and then come back.  The first two haven't worked.  The first was too short, the second was too long.  I'm hoping the third time is the charm?  Since all the windows are the same size in the house, once we nail down the proper size, the rest will be easy.  This weekend, I was able to mount most of the brackets, now we just need to get the right size.  That should be on NEXT weekend's "to do" list.

MISSION ALMOST ACCOMPLISHED, THIS WEEKEND ANYWAY

Well, after my post HERE about our plans for the weekend, I'm happy to report that we got most of the things accomplished that were on that list.

We like short lists, so that we feel we accomplished what we intended to.  If we put the actual list of things to do on paper, it would be so overwhelming, I'm not sure we'd even want to do it, ha.  I do like Tonya's idea of a master notebook, we just might have to try that out.

For now, it's small steps and small accomplishments.

As for this weekend, I'll share the adventures (and pictures) over the next few days...

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Truer words were never spoken.  If you dig now, and plant veggies, you'll have food all year long.  This was during the war to help remind people that growing their own vegetables would not only help them year round by providing food, it would also, hopefully, help with "victory" in the war.

I think it would be a "victory" today if more people grew their own food.

We'll be contributing our part in just a few months!

OFF TO THE FARM

Off to the Farm with the checklist for this weekend:

1. Install porch light dimmer switches
2. Hang vinyl window shade so we can see if we should get more
3. Take the other 2 bookcases for living room
4. Test the heaters we got in case of future freezes
5. Measure garden site space so I can start planning the raised beds
6. Put up curtain rods and hang curtains for the doors and small windows
7. Put the light bulbs in all the exterior fixtures
8. Finish cleaning the windows
9. Clean off the porch of leftover remodeling items
10. Take out misc small items and start finding homes for them
11. Put up shaker rail in mudroom

Let's see how much I can scratch off by the end of the weekend...
SAT UPDATES IN RED
SUN UPDATES IN BLUE

POLL: NIGHT OWL OR MORNING PERSON?

OK, here is another interesting topic for this week's poll:

Are you a "Night Owl" or a "Morning Person"?

Morning or Night?

I have no hesitation on this one; I'm most definitely a night owl.  I can stay up until midnight or 1am regularly without problem.  It seems I can get more done at night than in the morning.  2nd Man is quite the opposite.  He's usually asleep by 10pm, and up at the crack of dawn in the morning, cleaning the kitchen, baking or cooking something, or just watching TV.  Unless it's a work day, I'm not up at the crack of dawn, that's for sure!  During the work week, it's "snooze button, snooze button, snooze button" until the last possible moment.

Funny thing though, when I know I have something exciting to do the next day, for example, leave on a trip, or maybe even while on vacation or something like that, I can get up early very easily, maybe the excitement of the day ahead?

My dilemma now is what happens when we're out at the farm on a regular basis and spending the night out there?  Farm chores should probably be done by starting early in the morning.  Hmm, maybe the same will hold true out there, I'll be excited to get up and work in the gardens, do stuff outside, and I'll be up bright and early?

I guess time will tell...so, what about you?

Up with the early birds?  Or up with the hoot owls?

Please vote here:

...and if you want to comment, please do so below!

SEED CATALOG PALOOZA

So the other day, I blogged about how we had our first fairly hard freeze, which means the end of planting for this season and soon to be brown and lifeless for a few months.  It also means more time inside.  It can be rather depressing when all you want to do is go outside and plant.

So fast forward to night and when I got home from work, there they were...shining like jewels in the mailbox...SEED CATALOGS!  GARDENING CATALOGS!  PLANT CATALOGS!  All of these came on the same day. Weird huh?  There are more coming, I think I usually end up with almost twenty that all come in within a week or two of each other.  It couldn't have been better timing to head off the Winter blahs.

So I laid them all out, poured myself a nice glass of
RED WINE (blogged about here), and sat down on the comfy couch to enjoy a trip into the future...Spring of 2012.

I can spend hours looking at gardening and seed catalogs.  There is nothing better in the middle of a cold night than looking at the promise of Spring and all the potential that it holds...exotic vegetables we want to grow, dozens and dozens of different kinds of tomatoes, fruit and nut trees, flowers, bushes, plants, bulbs, shade loving plants, sun loving plants, perennials, annuals...the mind (and wallet) races at the very thought.

Tonight (and more or less on and off all weekend) will be part two.  What I usually do first is page through them and get a feel for what I'm interested in, and then go back later and look through them with a little more quality time and a red marker...you know, for circling the important stuff!

Winter planning leads to Spring planting

Later this weekend, I'll publish a list of my favorite catalogs and seed companies to share.  As I said these are just a few that I got, there are more coming, hopefully even today and/or tomorrow.

What about you, what are your favorite catalogs for planning your Spring?

ZOMBIES AND CANNING A FRIDAY FUNNY

Canning and Zombies

OK, many of you that are regular readers know that every Sunday, I post an image of a vintage gardening or canning poster.

Well in my search across the Internet for some more, I found this "spoof" of a vintage poster and I just HAD to share it with you.  It literally made me laugh out loud when I saw it.  Someone has a great sense of humor.

I'm thinking this will be the start of a new feature.  Since Friday is the last day before the weekend, we all might just need a laugh...so I'll find something that makes me laugh, maybe a funny picture, or a video or a cartoon, and I'll share it with the hope that it does the same for you.

So enjoy this first one!

INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Raised Bed Garden

OK, if ever there was a photo I've saved that inspired me, it's this one.

This is literally one of the very first photos I saw on the internet that made me go "I want us to have something like this!"  So I saved the photo as inspiration for us when we got the farm.

Of course, I've since found lots of gorgeous gardens, many of them on my list of blogs I follow and the gardens of those that comment here.  You all inspire me!

Today is blog day off, so I'll see you back here tomorrow!
Have a great day!

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY

We had our first Winter Weather Advisory of the season yesterday and it continues today and tonight.  We got down into the upper 20's last night, and it didn't get above freezing until mid morning.

I'm sure many of you in snow covered parts of the country laugh, as you've had snow for a few weeks already (or even longer for others).  But for us, it is our first fairly hard freeze and to me, it signals the end of plant growing season and that always makes me sad.  I don't mind the lack of grass to mow, and weeds to pull, and stuff to edge, it's a nice break from all that.  This time next year, we should will have our garden beds done and there are some crops that do just fine in Winter weather, as I'm sure many of you know.  At least that will extend my gardening time by just a bit.. 

Fortunately, we are blessed with a winter that very rarely has snow. We do get it on occasion, but when we do, it's an inch maybe, and of course causes the whole city to come to a standstill.  We do, however, have freezing temperatures frequently.  Last Winter we reached the teens several times, and the 20's a lot of times as well.  That's when we have to worry about pipes freezing, and protecting the sensitive plants.

Tree in Spring and Tree in Winter

But still, I will miss seeing flowers and green plants and other colors.  What is currently green will soon move to brown, and trees will begin to lose the rest of their leaves.  It's a good time to stay inside and plan for Spring.

More on that in a post Friday...

QUIKRETE COBBLESTONE PATH MOLD

I'M SO EXCITED!

Over the weekend, I found something I had been looking for.  2nd Family down at the other end of the property found it a few years ago and has used it extensively to make some paths around their yard.

I had found them online but I was hoping to find it locally.  I finally did find it at Lowe's carried it but was out and Home Depot did not carry it all.

Here it is at Amazon:  Quikrete 6921-32 Walk Maker

It was even on sale and had Amazon's free shipping plan.

It's the Quikrete Walk Maker.

What is that you ask?

Quikrete Path Mold

It's a 2' x 2' mold that you put down on the ground, mix up some Quikrete, fill it up and level it...

...then you lift it off the formed concrete, move it to the end of what you have just created and then start over.  Just repeat this step over and over, and you end up with...

Example of Cobblestone Path

...something like this!  A nice cobblestone path for the yard!  You can even add coloring to the mix to give them the exact look you want, or fill the gaps with dirt or sand or moss.  I think we want to go the moss route, to give the paths the appearance that they have always been there.


The first place I'm going to work on is this path that will lead from the new stairs on the end of the porch toward the "party tree". 

Future Cobblestone Path

The nice thing is our new stairs are 4' wide, and this mold is 2' x 2'.  So I'll just need to do two side by side and then proceed in a curve toward wherever we want our path to go.  I've got some overhead views of the property that we're currently looking at in order to figure out some options.  This is something I can do a few at a time each weekend.

Quikrete Walk Maker


Should be a fun, and best of all, rewarding, project. 

DAFFODILS

"A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze."  
                                                    ...Wordsworth

THRIFT STORE BLUE QUILT FIND

I will admit a weakness for thrift stores.  I think I got that from my Mom, she was the best at finding great deals. I think she taught me a little about that, ha.  The other day, on a whim, I stopped into a nearby store and found this.  It's a beautiful patchwork quilt, done in shades of blue.  It will be PERFECT in our
"BLUE WHITE BEDROOM"

It's got a great pattern that even highlights design cues on the bed set that we bought.  It's also reversible with a very nice Paisley pattern on the back side of it.  The colors are bright blue, but the flash of the camera kind of washed that out.  Best of all, it was only $15!

Of course, that would a quilt or blanket be without a cat exploring it?  While I was taking this picture, Hobart just couldn't resist.  I think he slept under there for about an hour before he found a new place elsewhere...

EGG CARTON PRESENTATION FOR MUFFINS

Muffins in an egg carton

I'm always on the lookout for neat ways of taking something ordinary and making it just a little bit 'extraordinary'.  I found this online and thought it was such a fun idea.  It's an egg carton, used as a presentation "box" for mini muffins!  Of course this one is decorated as well, looks like someone decorated it for Earth Day.  A very neat idea!

I just found the picture randomly with a google search, so I'm not sure who gets the credit for this.  As always, if you know, let me know and I'll make sure they get credit and a link back to their website.

In the meantime, I think I foresee some mini muffins brought to the office in an egg carton...courtesy of Seda Bolsa Farm!

Enjoy!

FUTURE GARDEN SITE DECIDED

Here we go with the planning!

Part of our plan has always been to build raised beds and create a fairly substantial (for us anyway) garden area.  So this past weekend, when it wasn't raining, we spent time roaming around and we finally picked the spot:

Future Site of Raised Bed Garden

It is this one!  It's a flat area, with minimal trees/bushes.  It's near the house but still far enough away that it will be its own separate area, and it gets full sun almost all day long.  This photo was taken very late in the afternoon and there are some shadows because the Sun was rapidly setting.  There are definitely 6-8 hours of full sun which is, of course, the best choice for a well producing garden.

OK, I'm not the best with using a photo editing program to draw on, but this is, roughly, our plan.  It's so not to scale, my apologies, LOL.  We want to put in eight, 4' wide and 8' long raised beds.  There might possibly be room for two more, giving us a total of ten.  But I'm thinking I might leave those out and just make a space for them, and then concentrate on the eight beds for now.  There's even a chance that we'll just leave it at six to begin with.  That can always be a future 'expansion' project later on.  I'm going to clear the area first.  One advantage of this spot is that there are no rocks and very little brush to clear.  It's really more just mowing all this down and then turning over the soil.  

Raised Bed Garden

After that is done, I need to start building the raised beds. Something similar to this above (this is just a random picture I found online).  I have already figured out what type we want and how to build it and just need to start buying the wood and screws.  I figured I can go ahead and get those put in place after the area is cleared.  No soil would be in them at first as I may try a method I've been reading about where we put down newspaper, wet it, then cover it with cardboard and some mulch.  You let that sit for a couple of months and it's supposed to give a good start to the soil.

Come next Spring, I should be ready for bringing in compost, dirt, etc, and planting our first crop of vegetables at our farm.

As always, I'll have photos every step of the way!

RAIN RAIN DON'T GO AWAY

Another rainy day, and we are loving every drop of it.  It put a damper on our original farm plans for this weekend, but we were able to get a bit done.
More on that this week...

Rainy Day



"Let the rain kiss you.

Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops.  Let the rain sing you a lullaby."

                                          ...Langston Hughes

VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Vintage Home Canning and Drying Garden Poster

This is really a nice poster.  It's sponsored by the National War Garden Commission, which was different from the later Victory Garden campaign.  This dates it from WWI (Victory Gardening came about in WWII).

I love that the main purpose of this campaign was to get people to not only canning the results of their gardens, but also drying them.

"Win the next war now!"

We could say that today, can your own, dry your own, grown your own, and win the war against chemicals and pesticides and preservatives in our food.

Enjoy!

POLL: MAYO OR MIRACLE WHIP?

OK, here is a fun topic for this week's poll.

Which one are you?  A Mayonnaise person or a Miracle Whip person?

Growing up, my parents always used Miracle whip at home, but then I spent a summer with my Grandparents and they used Mayonnaise.  I had never had it and was instantly hooked.  Have been a mayo guy every since.

Recently, on a whim, 2nd Man bought some Miracle Whip (he had never had it) for some homemade sandwiches and he's hooked on that!  So now, when I go to the store, I have to buy one jar of each!  Of course, we often make homemade mayo (more on that in a future post), but we are currently using both, depending on the "mood" I suppose.


However, if I had to CHOOSE, I'd choose Mayo.


So I'm not going to let you off the hook here either.  If you could only have one or the other for the rest of your life, which would it be?


Please vote here:

...and if you want to comment, feel free to do so below!