MINIATURE HORSES - RANDOM FARM CUTENESS

Adorable miniature horse

OK, I just couldn't resist, might have to make this a regular feature.

I was looking at farm pictures online (as I often do) and I saw this, a picture of two miniature horses.

Apparently this is the mother and her baby.

TOO CUTE!

FINDING A PAINTER

One of the hardest things we've had with regards to this farm is finding an interior painter who wants to tackle it AND shares the same vision as us.

The guy who did the foundation, and he did an excellent job on it by the way, his vision was sheet rock over the original walls, take up the hardwood floors and put down laminate, etc etc.  He said he could make it look like a brand new house, one room at a time.

That's not our vision.  We like the old charm of the house, it doesn't HAVE to be new. NEXT...

A second guy came and looked at it and, after not calling back for several days, he finally left a message saying yes he could "probably" do it, but he couldn't guarantee anything and then he dropped this little gem,
"you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear".
Really?  Really?  Did you just DISS our beloved little farmhouse?  NEXT...

So I found two people now, one comes highly recommended through a coworker at another office of my company, and the other replied to my email describing our project and said

"that sounds like my kind of job".  

SO, we might have progress here.  I'm going to see when they can go out and take a look at it, hopefully it will be sometime SOON.

The best way to find a painter is to ask around.  You'd be surprised how many people know someone who either is a painter, or recently had something painted themselves.  Even through your business, you can ask around.  I've found that when someone is referred to you, no matter who referred them, they are more apt to do a much better job, because word of mouth is everything.  Of course, when all else fails, just go to Google and start looking.  What I always try to do is when I find the name of a company on a website that I am interested in, I turn around and Google the name of the company, and sometimes add the word "review" or "service" or even "scam" or "avoid" to the search terms and, hopefully, get some listings of the kind of work they do.  If your area has a Better Business Bureau, you can check them out there too.   When you do get your first or second or third choice, don't be afraid to tell them you are still looking around, don't tell them they are your only choice so far.
They'll work hard to earn your business.

In our case, the house is old, we know that.  There is paint bubbling up in spots, rough patches, some areas where we want to sheetrock over and cover up (an old doorway for example), even some unpainted spots.  But like I said, it doesn't have to be perfect, it just needs to look fresh and updated.

Fingers crossed....again.

ICED TEA IN A MASON JAR, A FARM TRADITION

It's another HOT day in Houston (so what else is new??) and thus I'm relaxing at the city house

(while wishing I was at the farm!).

I made myself a glass of iced tea, a pretty much year round staple in these Southern parts of the country.  Sweetened, unsweetened, with lemon, without lemon, everyone loves iced tea.

We've done the taste test thing in our own household, and we lean toward the Luzianne brand as our favorite.  It never gets cloudy or bitter.

Image courtesy of: Southern Living

So, as I was drinking my tea, and day dreaming of the farm of course, I was reminded of the part of my childhood spent at my Grandparents in Oklahoma.  They reused their jars, be it jelly jars or canning jars, or whatever, and turned them into durable drinking glasses for all manner of liquids.

So, today I took my iced tea and poured it into a Mason jar I had on hand and I was instantly transported back in time to a more carefree life.  For some reason, it was so comforting and relaxing.  It felt good drinking tea out of a mason jar.  I'm thinking we might just have to keep them on hand in bulk for a glass of something cold on the front porch.

Not to mention it's a great way to recycle something and use it in another way.

In a future post, I'll talk about making Sun Tea, another southern favorite.

So get a jar, pour your favorite drink into it and relax.
Life is good.
  

VINTAGE GARDENING AND CANNING POSTER

This one seems to combine both growing a garden AND canning the results.

And of course, a version of Lady Liberty is front and center!

I'd love to find one of those books they offered.

This is a neat poster, and I believe it's from WWI, which would put it in the early 20th century.

SUPER EASY SPINACH DIP RECIPE

One of our favorite "quick dips" is this one.
It's so good for a very fast fix, about five minutes, and it's ready.  It's easy to make because you almost always have the ingredients on hand or at least can easily keep them on hand.

Some similar recipes use the old standby of a packet of onion soup mix...but we love using Knorr's vegetable soup mix instead.  The minced vegetables in the soup mix add flavor and color to the final dip.

Courtesy of: Knorr's

INGREDIENTS:

1 box frozen spinach, thawed and WELL drained.

1 cup mayonnaise (not Miracle Whip)

1 container (16 oz) sour cream

1 pkg of Knorr's vegetable soup mix

1 garlic clove, minced

pepper to taste

Simply put all into a bowl, and mix until combined.

Refrigerate for at least an hour, but doing it for several hours will allow the flavors to meld together.

Can be served in a bowl with crackers or vegetables for dipping.
Another great way to serve it is to create a bread bowl by hollowing out a round loaf of bread, and pouring it in, as in the picture above.

Enjoy!

PANTRY SHELVING IN THE MUDROOM

More decisions.

After much research and back and forth, we have decided that when we get our mudroom / pantry fixed up, we're going with this type of shelving. 

Of course, you'll have to picture black and white checkerboard floor, but there won't be many other changes.  We've decided not to paint the walls, we kind of like the natural wood look.  That's one reason we thought this style of shelving would be a nice compliment to the room.

The room is quite large, over 11' x 11', and we will put these shelves on two walls.  Of the other two walls, one has the doorway to the dining room/kitchen, refrigerator, and will have the small
utility sink we mentioned in this post,  and the other wall is a shorter side, with just the door to the porch and part of the utility sink.

We will bolt these shelves to the wall, just so they are safe and won't move.  Another reason we like them, is they match the same style as the Orchard Rack mentioned here.

I can't wait to get them all up and have them ready to start organizing.

I've never gotten to organize a house and start from scratch, yet that's what we'll get to do with this farm.  We will start with an empty house, fix it up and then start furnishing, decorating it, putting the right stuff in the right place, slowly and deliberately.

Please keep checking back for updates as we do it!

EIGHT BALL SQUASH

Another vegetable that we've seen and fallen in love with, saw them first at our  favorite grocery store, Hubbell and Hudson, is Eight Ball Squash.

It's also called "Cue Ball" squash or even "Billiard Ball" Squash.

They have yellow summer squash like above....

...traditional dark zucchini squash like this, 

...and even this spotted/striped Romesco variety of squash (another zucchini).

These are small and fast growing as well.

They require full sun, and reach maturity in about 45 days.

Kind of a nice plant for a smaller garden, as they only get to about 30" tall and about 18" wide,

but are very productive.

Several reviewers at various online seed websites call them the most prolific

plants in their gardens.



Stuffed Eight Ball Squash

Check this out! Yummy!

They are packed with flavor, almost as if the flavor is more concentrated due to their shape, so they are very tasty.  As you can see above, their size and shape make them awesome for stuffing.

You can stuff a squash with almost anything, meat, cheese, rice...they are very easy to cook, they can be sliced like any other squash and fried, used in casseroles, or of course hollowed out and stuffed like this picture.  Mmm, it makes me hungry!

If you need recipes, click HERE.

So these will go on our 'must have' list for our garden next season.

Enjoy!

INSPIRATION THURSDAY

This is a "carpet" of Silver Ponyfoot in a yard.

SO pretty and almost looks like water.


I almost think I'd be afraid to step on it, it's too pretty!

Love the contrast of colors.

See you Friday!

HORRIBLE SERVICE AT MAC HAIK CHEVROLET IN HOUSTON

No to Mac Haik Chevrolet

I know this isn't "farm related", but if I can save someone else here in Houston from the misery that is Mac Haik service, I feel it's my duty.

Just got my car back from the shop.  Now mind you, this is a 2008 model, just a month out of warranty.

Monday morning, it didn't start.  Tried jump starting, didn't work either.

So it was towed in to Mac Haik Chevrolet here in Houston.

They got it Monday morning about 9am.  I called several times, and by Monday at 6pm, nope, they hadn't looked at it.  Tuesday, same thing.  Today, Wednesday, they finally got around to looking at it about 2pm. 

It was only the battery.

It sat there for almost 3 days, and no one really bothered to see if it was something simple.

In the meantime, I am in a rental car, three days at $30/day, paying out of my own pocket because they "don't provide loaner cars".

Well, they finally fixed it alright, new battery, and charged me full price.  Didn't offer a discount, didn't offer to comp the rental because of their delay in looking at something so simple, not even a complimentary car wash.  Heck, they didn't even vacuum it out just to be nice.  

And here is the icing on the cake...

they BROKE THE KEY off in the ignition!!

No real apology, just "oh we will order you a new key at no charge".

Ya think??  Wow, thanks so much.....

So my advice to anyone in Houston, stay away, FAR AWAY,

from Mac Haik Chevrolet, a horrible customer service experience from beginning to end.

I will NEVER do business with them again.

I think I need some ZFT (Zen Farm Time)....

Hey look, I made it a farm blog entry, if we had the place up and running, I would have just driven straight out there and relaxed on the porch with a glass of wine!

Can't wait until we get to that point.

PAINTED MASON JARS

Did you know you can paint mason jars?

I had no idea!

White spray paint can create this:

Photo Courtesy of: designerinterior.net

Or yellow spray paint creates this: 

courtesy of: http://www.joyshope.com/

Or you can mix it up like these:

Courtesy of: http://thecsiproject.com/

I just LOVE this idea.  Apparently, from the various websites I could find, the best and easiest way is to paint them on the outside, using a few light coats of a good, quality spray paint.


My favorite all around spray paint is: Rust-Oleum Painters Touch Ultra Cover
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO

The white reminds me of milk glass (we have a rather large collection) and looks so pretty with a candle in it.  These would all make nice vases as well. 

Hmm, maybe even for pens on a desk, or tools in a kitchen too!  I don't think I would drink out of these.  They are however painted on the outside, and if you kept the top portion, where your mouth would go, as clear, unpainted glass, it might be OK but still, better for use as other things.


I like their use as accessories, candle holders, vases, etc.

Good luck and enjoy!

HOBBY FARM HOME, ANOTHER GREAT MAGAZINE

After my recent introduction to the magazine Country Living by my friend Kelly, I've been on the lookout for magazines that would be filled with articles related to our new adventures.

The other day, I ran across this magazine:

Hobby Farm Home Magazine

This one is great.  It's the perfect combination of recipes, gardening, and farm living.  Lots of great ideas, tips, tricks.  For example, recent issues have covered making your own olive oil, canning tricks, make your own sewing kit, raising bees and harvesting honey, heirloom vegetables, homemade soap, aromatherapy, chickens, even collecting vintage cake stands....the list goes on and on.
Just a fun magazine to give you lots of ideas on having and living in a farm home.
Here is the link to their website if you'd like to check it out.

It's put out by the makers of Hobby Farms magazine, this one is just skewed more toward home life on the farm, instead of running a farm business.

I do believe we'll be subscribing to this one soon, it will be the perfect compliment to Country Living.

THE BEAUTY OF FLOWERS IN A WINDOW BOX

As we sit here waiting for more substantial things to happen at the farm
(i.e. plumbing and painting), I try to plan for other things to do later so that I can already have it figured out.

One thing I've always wanted, ever since my Grandmother had one (exactly one!) at her house when I was growing up, is a window box.  In the city, it really wouldn't look right, it's just not a style that fits in with the design of our house or the colors of the paint.

However, at the farm, that's a totally different story.  The picture above shows just one side, with three windows just crying out for window boxes, overflowing with gorgeous flowers.

So, I present below, some of my favorites found during my "online" travels:

This is a very pretty, and simple design.  Of course, it's on a white window trim/red house, which you all know was the finalist in color choice for our farmhouse.  I like how this looks like it's always been there.  Very nice.

Another one that looks like it's always been there, or is at least supposed to be there.  The detail on the corbels (supports) is really nice as well.

Very pretty and simple design.  Sometimes minimal is best.

The corbels on this really stand out.  They almost add another architectural element to the whole thing. 

These boxes don't seem to have any support, they are just attached, or supported, directly to the house.  I like that.

Beautiful flowers in this one.  And a nice compromise on the detail, the supports are small but still noticeable. 

I think this is actually one of my favorites, a window "box" that is not actually a box but a support for clay pots that hang through it.  I REALLY like this look.  I think this might just be the method I use.  It would be so easy to water, to switch out plants when necessary and move around from window to window.

Now, one thing to remember about window boxes...when you water them, the water will drain out the bottom.  You don't want to put a window box in a spot where the draining water might go somewhere you don't want.  For example, we have 4 windows on the front of our farmhouse, but they are all on the porch.  Not only would they not get much sun on the deep porch, but the watering could present a problem to the the porch floor.

Now the sides and the back, that's a different story.  There are 2 windows in the guest room, 4 in the master bedroom, 1 in the entryway, and 5 in the dining room.  Of course, I'm not sure I'll put them on all the windows, but I do know that there will be some window boxes in our near future!

POTTING SHED IN AN ARMOIRE

Random cool idea picture of the day.

Potting Shed in an Armoire

I've always liked the idea of using armoires for things other than

their original purpose (i.e. clothing). 

Here, a nice old armoire is turned into a spot on the patio for keeping all your

potting and gardening supplies together.

Sort of a potting shed condensed into one spot.

Great idea!

CAR PROBLEM

Hopped in the car to head to work today and "click/click/click",

it wouldn't start!

Arrrgh!

Anyway, car is at the shop, back to blogging when I get home.

UPDATE: 7/12/11 Car is still in the shop, they haven't even looked at it yet

(don't even get me started) 

so I'm in a rent car

(don't even get me started on that either!)

MASON JAR LUMINARIAS / LUMINARIES

Not too long ago, I posted this link about using galvanized buckets as luminaries, and I thought it was such a neat idea for the farm.

Well, as I was doing some more online research, thanks to my friend who mentioned the baby food jar candles, and stumbled across this idea:

Mason Jar candles

It's the same principle, just using Mason Jars instead of the buckets.

In the photo above, they are filled with sand, and then candles of different sizes are stuck in the sand.

Simple as that.  I like that you can use jars of different sizes, for a casual look.

Then, I found this photo at an HGTV slide show on their website.  It utilizes the same idea,

and this time they have the same size jars and candles.

Mason Jar luminarias

Apparently, in this one, they used Epsom Salts as the "sand", and it gives it a nice, clean look, almost like snow in the bottom of the jar.

Since they are clear and you can see what's inside, you could literally use anything in the bottom.

We have some large hurricane jar type vases/holders on our dining room table, and I've used everything in them from sand, to salt, to coffee beans, I even used inexpensive aquarium gravel

(from the local pet store) in different colors.

I think we'll definitely have to have a supply of Mason Jars and candles ready for when we need them.

VINTAGE GARDENING POSTER

This one is very neat, no people in it, just the plants, some dirt, and a sprinkler.

All you need to grow a garden!

I'm assuming this was for the War, could have been WWI or WWII.


Very nice graphics.

THE LIPSTICK TREE / ACHIOTE BUSH

Have you ever heard of this bush / tree?  It is called the "Lipstick Tree"

Lipstick Tree / Achiote 

You may have cooked with, or almost certainly eaten its end product.....

Achiote Seed Pod

...this rather creepy and ominous looking thing!
It is the seed pod which, when split open, contains Annatto seeds.


We were watching another of our favorite TV Chefs, Rick Bayless, and his show "Mexico: One Plate at a Time", and he was showing some recipes that used Annatto powder and Annatto paste.  In giving the background of the ingredient, he showed the plant and said it was very easy to grow
(in fact he had one growing in his yard).  He showed the seed pod and how the seeds were removed and used, and I told 2nd Man, "we need Annatto growing at the farm!".

Annatto is used for coloring foods,

such as cheddar cheese.  It's what gives it the familiar yellowish color.  It's also used in cooking, it is turned into paste, and powder and even achiote flavored oil, due to it's slightly peppery and sweet flavor.  

I got online and did some research and found that it is more commonly called the "Lipstick Tree" (or bush).  It's believed that the name comes from the use of the coloring as lipstick and facial paint of the indigenous people where it was discovered.  It's also thought that the flower looks somewhat like a tube of lipstick.  Best of all, it grows well in our climate.  I just think it would be pretty cool to have yet one more plant growing at the farm that has a part that can be used for cooking.

Not to mention, the fruits are pretty cool!

So, my mission will be to find one of these.  I'll keep you posted.

INTERNATIONAL VISITORS

New visitors today from the great countries of Portugal....

and Cyprus.

Welcome to both of you, thanks for dropping by and please come back and visit.

You're always welcome at our farm!

SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS LAUNCH

It's the end of an era.....

I know, I like the quiet, low tech, rural life of country living, but what can I say, I also like the high tech stuff, so I just had to watch the launch this morning.

Best wishes to the crew of Atlantis on the shuttle's final journey into space....

OLD TRACTOR AS YARD ART

I think this is such a cool idea.
My friend's parents had this old tractor that hasn't run in years, so they found a new "home" for it...

Cool Old Tractor

...by parking it in a shady spot near their outdoor party area.

It's so cool because it makes a great photo op for visitors,

and the kids love sitting on it and playing "farmer".

I know it's not something I'll have to do early on, way too many other things to do first, but at some future point, I think this would be so much fun to do.

Why not save and reuse something like this that might otherwise be destined for the junk pile?