LIGHT CONSUMES COAL, VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Light Consumes Coal, vintage poster image, courtesy of US National Archive

Here is definitely a poster you wouldn't see today because I bet a lot of people would not even associate coal with electricity.  This one comes from WWI during a time when there was a coal shortage in the United States.  So of course there was a push to have people save power.

Funny side note, I was in the hardware store the other day and they sell light bulbs now that look just like this one, the same shape and style.  They called them "authentic retro".  I guess as they say, everything old is new again!

Hope you are having a good weekend.  It's nice here, but wow, the farm is a muddy mess...standing water everywhere and where the water has receded, it's just mud. 5" of rain last week will do that I suppose.  Still getting a few things done, updates later!

FINALLY A NICE WEEKEND

Well it's about dang time!

After last week of cold and then rain Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and yes, again Thursday and part of the day Friday, it's finally nice!

Of course "J" from 2nd Family tells us that it's "a muddy, mucky mess out there" but I'm determined to get more stuff done.  Biggest priority this weekend is getting the beehives primed and painted.  We HAVE to get them ready, the bees come to their new home(s) on April 17th, whether we are ready or not. 

So planning the spot for the hives, building the beds around them, getting them painted and in place, etc, that's all got to be done.  If I can at least get them painted this weekend (two coats), that will be job well done 
(and one more thing scratched off the list!)  

Then some weed pulling in the garden, possibly the beginnings of a flower bed in front of the garden and a few inside projects...then I'll roam around taking pictures.  We understand from 2nd Family that there just might be some new additions to their animal menagerie (and the neighbors' too!).  

We hope you have a wonderful weekend doing what makes you happy!

STORAGE UNIT FINDS PART ONE

A while back, I mentioned that I cleaned out one of the storage units that had stuff from my parents in it.  I got it cleaned out (yay) and here is the end result, an empty storage unit.  I should have had a before photo but at one point it was full, front to back, top to bottom.  A lot was donated, some just had to be thrown away and some ended up at the farm.  I won't bore you with every little thing, but I will share a few of the fun discoveries.  A lot of this is stuff that my parents had collected over the years while visiting flea markets and thrift stores so while they aren't necessarily family heirlooms, they are, in a way, part of the family and we're glad to have them.

I found these two metal trays with flower images.  I think they were TV trays once upon a time but there was no stand with them.  Still we think they would make great trays for using around the farm, serving drinks, food, etc?  Thoughts?

I'm not sure what you call these...they are maybe the old equivalent of a mass produced print that you might find nowadays.  We decided to keep it and will hang it in the guest room.  The flowering trees and peaceful nature of the scenery just seemed fitting.

OK...this might seem odd to keep but we want to find a use for it.  It's an old goldfish bowl/aquarium.  I'm not exactly sure what to do with it, but we just loved it when we found it in a box.  Ideas?

This one is a definite keeper.  It's an old, VERY old, Coca Cola bottle opener.  The kind that you mount on the wall or edge of a counter.  Now to find just the right spot for it at the farm.  On the porch perhaps?  


Part two in a future post!

DUTCH DOOR, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Red barn with Dutch doors, photo image courtesy of Southernliving.com

I'm posting two photos today, for some background.  

Since we already have this year's list more or less established and are slowly working through it, we are now thinking ahead to next year.  Near the top of next year's list is the exterior of the house house.  Painting, siding repair, porch railing, stairs and...new doors. 

Recently, while perusing pictures of barns before we got our buildings, I found this image; a red barn with Dutch doors.  The doors got us curious so when we found the photo below, we realized that we'd love to have one.  We only have two doors on the house, the main front door, and the mudroom door so I'm not sure if we'd want something like this on both or just one.  Interesting side note, they were originally installed to keep the animals out of farmhouses and children in, and they also allowed air and a breeze in while keeping out the yard dirt and leaves.  In barns, they were used in a similar fashion, only to keep the animals in and then still get fresh air and a breeze coming into the barn. 

We definitely see a "Dutch Door" like the one below in our future...

White Dutch door, image via Pinterest.com

Be inspired!

Mister Ed, the TV Show

UPDATE:  I was reminded today by FionaG (our friend from Australia) of a childhood show I enjoyed...Mister Ed...you know you've heard that theme song at some point in your life...

"A horse is a horse of course of course..."

Perhaps that's something that has been in my psyche for years, the first time I ever saw a Dutch door...and now I can have one of my own.  

Minus the horse of course...of course...(sorry, couldn't resist)

IS SPRING FINALLY COMING

Spring is in the air?

Huisache tree leafing out

OK, it's in the leaves anyway...this is one of our Huisache trees (a tree that is related to mesquite).  There is an old Indian legend that says when they finally start to leaf out, Spring is finally on the way!

I had to drive out to the farm to get the mower ready to be picked up for its annual tuneup.  The sky was finally clear and blue and the tree looks like it's leafing out to us!  Now of course, it means that Spring might just be on the way here, but we can't guarantee that it's coming to other parts of the country, LOL.

RAINY DAYS

DAY ONE

IT BEGINS

Check out these radar captures from the last few days.  It was raining at 11:30pm on 3/7...then still raining at 8:35am in the morning of the 8th...

DAY TWO

ALL DAY

...no breaks in the morning, it was still coming down at 11:05am and again at 3:58pm.  It was getting to be the same old same old...

DAY THREE

MORNING

Then when a loud clap of thunder woke us up at 1:10am, I checked the radar and yep, still raining on the 9th.  When we woke up to head to work yesterday morning at 8:05am it was pouring...

DAY THREE

AFTERNOON

At 11:47am, almost noon, still coming down in buckets...

Finally, by 8:21pm last night, it was starting to lighten up.

This is one of our semi-epic rain storms.  It's what makes gardening a unique experience here.  Our part of the state is in a semi-tropical climate which gives us high humidity in the Summer and cold, damp Winters (we still get freezes and occasional ice).  Unfortunately, when conditions are just right, moisture coming in from the Gulf of Mexico, it also gives us periods of monsoon type rain...lots and lots of rain.  Here for example, it has rained for 3 days straight.

Yet another weekend of nothing getting done outside, sigh. 

Flooded side yard

2nd Family sent us these photos today to let us know how the rain was coming down out there.  Above is their yard, under their party tree, off the side porch.  You can see out into the yard, water was about 6" deep.

Below is from their front porch, looking toward our shared driveway...yep, top left of the picture, that wet strip veering out of the photo is the driveway leading up to our house.

Flooded front yard

Thankfully, we are at the high end of the property and so there is no flooding risk to the house itself.  We do however get a lot of standing water around the yard but the topography makes it run off.  It runs from our property, down the driveway to their yard, then on out the driveway and their yard into the road and down the hill into a ravine/gully of sorts.  

Final tally out there: 5 1/2" of rain...and about 4" in town. And believe it or not, this is a lot of rain, but not the worst we can get.  10" is not uncommon at one time, at least once a season.  

Long story short, we couldn't get to our farmhouse yesterday if we wanted to.  Someday, when we are there full time during times like this, we could be stuck at home for days, not able to leave the property until things dry up.  Yet another reason to prep the house fully for extended stays. 

SHELVES ARE UP

On a rainy day, it was a good time to get some stuff done inside.   So here we have a couple more items to check off the list for this year, yay!

Bathroom shelves

First up, I tackled shelves in the bathroom.  We had one of those stands that stood behind the toilet but with the bathroom being so small, the stand, even though it's called a space saver, just seemed to take up a lot of space visually, if that makes sense.  So we opted for simple shelves on the wall.  These are the pre-made laminated shelves, 24" x 8" and some metal brackets, simple industrial style.  

Now we just need to figure out how to best utilize them.  

Craft area shelves

Then I put up two shelves in the spot we call (well, "I" call it) the crafting area.  These are 48" x 10".  One thing I've always wanted is a dedicated storage spot for arts and crafts supplies.  There is a sitting area off the bedroom and I figured that was a good spot.  I like to dabble in different things and in the future, I'd like to learn some new things.  So these new shelves are above a storage hutch that we bought last year at Ikea.  I have my Mom's sewing machine there, and storage boxes and containers of other supplies.  A few years ago (before we owned the farm), I did some herbal projects, including soap making, using dried herbs.  I'd like to get get back into that.  I still have all the one gallon jars that held the dried herbs and they will fit on here perfectly. 

Wet and cold weekend but two more things done....baby steps!

DON'T BE FUEL-ISH, VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Don't be Fuelish, vintage poster image courtesy of Wikicommons.org

This WWII poster is similar to another I posted a few months back.  This too urged citizens to save fuel...to make ammunition for the war effort.  This one is from the UK and the people do NOT look happy with the man leaving the door open.  As my Dad might have said, were you born in a barn?  LOL!

We just don't want to wast fuel today, period...no matter what it's used for.

Hope your weekend is going well.  We have had an inch of rain and it's in the 40's.  Just staying in today.  Will catch up on comments this afternoon.

BREAD AND PLANNING

2nd Man was feeling "bakey" (we say that when he decides to go bake something) and he whipped up a couple loaves of fresh white bread.

Homemade bread

So we had some slices with butter...

Barns with possible picket fence (our barns but not an actual fence, ha)

...and we daydreamed about the farm.  This is on our 'someday' list but I just couldn't help going in and doodling up something in a photo editing program to see what it might look like. 

Planning the future over a loaf of freshly made homemade bread was a great way to spend a cold and damp afternoon inside!

Hope you are staying warm (or for some of you, cool)!

GOTTA LOVE FARM EGGS

We used up the last of the farm fresh eggs that 2nd Family gave us recently.  We needed six and only had five...

Fresh farm eggs vs store bought

Of course we still had 'regular' store bought eggs in the fridge so we cracked one into the measuring cup.  WHAT THE HECK?

Amazing difference...

It's funny, I showed this picture to one of our dear friends and she said it has kind of creeped her out toward buying eggs at the store, LOL.  Chickens are on our someday list of course, so for now, we can enjoy the fresh eggs provided by 2nd Family's ladies at the other end of the driveway.

IRIS FLOWER BEDS, INSPIRATION THURSDAY

Iris bed

These beautiful flowers come courtesy of a Friend of the Farm.  She comments here all the time and she wanted to share pictures of her iris beds with us.  As soon as we saw them, we said "this is something we want to do!" and that makes it an inspiration photo (or two in this case) for us.  She did some great planning with these...there is something that is calming about a sea of color like this and of course iris flowers are SO pretty.

We will definitely have to plan some beds like this.  A big thank you to her for sharing her pretty yard and adding something new to our future 'want list'.

Iris flower bed

Be inspired!

BEE'S BUTT

This is a picture I took a few weeks back (came out pretty cool actually).  We thought it was funny that I captured the backside of a bee, while in flight no less, and just had to share.  

Look! 

It's the butt of a bee!

Bee's Butt

Hey, wait a second!  
Have I just been mooned by a bee?

VINTAGE COOKBOOK FIND

Found this old cook book at Half Price Books of all places, in the clearance section.  For a DOLLAR!  I was not going to pass this up!

Page after page of recipes, and many of them are stained and spotted, always a sign of a well used (and loved) cookbook...

There are even a few neat, old photos and drawings.

The original Boston Cooking School book was published in 1896 and then every few years after that...and it's by by Fannie Merritt Farmer!  This edition was published in 1924 which makes it in pretty good shape for 91 years old.  We are going to have a special shelf at the farm for all our old cookbooks.  We have a lot of newer ones (some might say too many, ha) so we're trying to just limit our purchases now to older, vintage cookbooks as we can find them. 

Sometimes, the best recipes are the older ones!

GROVE OF TREES ID

Since the weekend was cold, wet, and nasty, there wasn't much I could do outside.  I went back through some photos I took a few months ago and wanted to share these...  

This is something we'd like to keep and turn into something special.  It's a grove of trees that we've only ever seen from a distance.  It sits near the natural pond site.  Until a few months ago, we couldn't ever get this close.  But thanks to "R" from 2nd Family and his tractor with brush hog, he cleared out all around the pond site and now we can walk right over to them.

Grove of Trees

Anyone hazard to guess what kind of trees they are?  

There aren't any others like them on the property.  In the middle of Winter of course, with all the leaves dropped off, it might be a bit difficult, but hopefully someone can lead us down the right path...so to speak, LOL.  They are tall and thin and the branches grow kind of up at an angle as you can see below.

Now that we can walk 'into' it, we love it even more.  They have grown in such a way that they've created a sort of secret garden that we see much potential in.  Table?  Chairs?  Hammock?  Sure, it needs some cleaning up so you can stand up and walk around with having to duck your head but otherwise it's almost more of a 'woodland' type area.  We could see ferns and other shade loving plants and flowers (bulbs?) growing.  

This grove of trees is a wholly unique spot on the entire property and those we have to nourish and encourage. 

Secret Garden

By the way, the pond site we don't 'believe' is spring fed, we think it's just the right combination of clay soil and depression in the ground to hold water.  Someday, we will have the pond site dug out and built up around it and then filled with water.  And of course we'll stock it with fish.  

And then, this spot will have a 'waterfront' view...

SUNDAY POT ROAST DINNER

Our apolgoies to those up North, but it was COLD here today.  And rainy.  So it was wet cold.  At noon it was 40 and felt like 34.  Needless to say, nothing got done outside...

So...a big batch of veggies, sautéed in a pan...

Plus meat and some broth and herbs...

About 3 hours in the oven...

Equals...

Pot roast with a side of green beans and bacon

Dinner!!

And the cold day faded away!

FIGHT FOOD WASTE, VINTAGE POSTER SUNDAY

Fight Food Waste, vintage poster image courtesy of wikicommons

This is a fascinating poster image.  The USDA put this out for the Bureau of Home Economics, and as they always do, it promoted conservation.  It also had a bit of a military tie in, for WWII, with it starting out "Join the Ranks"...but then the words are as true today as they were then.  

"Buy to save, Serve to save, and Store to save.

Fight Food Waste in the Home...it's funny that I found this image, just the other day, 2nd Man and I were noticing that when we see some of our neighbors trash bins (this is in town and we have to line them all up in front of our house once a week, lucky us, ha) there is so much food that is thrown away.  I couldn't tell you the last time we threw away food.  We either cook small enough batches to eat it all at one meal, or we put up what we don't use to save for future meals.

We can only imagine what stores must throw away...

SATURDAY AT THE FARM

It was cold today, and gray and rainy.  

Not much I could do outside...

Of course, it wasn't too cold for the neighbor cow...she was not interested in me until I clicked the camera...then she looked over for her moment, ha.  

Cow

I did have these that I could put together...

...and so I did.  They are beehive stands that were delivered yesterday.

Metal hive stand

Here is what one looks like with the hive on it.  It lifts them off the ground and keeps them safer from animals.  They are made of powder coated steel so they will last for years.  And they look neat too!

Cows

We heard some noise behind the house and went back there to see.  It was the cow I saw earlier...with a few friends.  It's still so peaceful to walk around outside and have cows peering at us.

Pork medallions with asparagus, potatoes and gravy

All that was left to do was make dinner.  Pan grilled asparagus, pork tenderloins, mashed potatoes and homemade gravy.  It might have been cold and gray but it was still a good day in the end!

Hope you have are having a good weekend so far!