Weaving

The weaving has begun!  I bought the additional tools needed to begin thanks to someone here in town that was looking to unload a few items.  She has been a great resource!  So Drew helped me to warp the back beam after I planned my projects and I threaded all of the heddles and off I went!  I have completed 2 dish towels thus far and am starting on a 3rd. 

While weaving I also get to enjoy some awesome views out these west facing windows.  Here are a few shots of the sunset while weaving the other night!

 

The photos are not the best at capturing the actual beauty I witnessed but they give you an idea.  You can also see the start of my weaving!

We also experienced our first snow fall and have had several more since then.....actually it is snowing here right now!

I think that it is going to be a beautiful winter and we cannot wait to snowshoe around here!!

I know this is not much but it is all I have time for.

Stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

 

Loom

I did it....I bought a loom.  I have been thinking about it, dreaming about it, talking about it and searching them on the web.....and now I own one !  We picked it up this afternoon.  We tried to get it up the stairs in what we had decided would be my "craft room" in one of the smaller bedrooms upstairs, and there it sits....in the middle of the kitchen!  It just so happens that old farm houses built in the late 1800's/early 1900's have really narrow stair cases.  You think that maybe we would have thought about that....nope!  So I looked that bad boy over and decided we could disassemble it further and get it up there no prob!  Right?!?  Wrong!! Very wrong. However it doesn't end there.  I actually used my fore thought, measured the feet of the loom and went upstairs to measure the actual door way, because I had a 'feeling' and my 'feeling' was correct..... The door way is also quite small on my 'proposed' craft room and there is about a 1/4 clearance.  Did I mention the 1/4 clearance requires a straight shot in the doorway and that doorway just so happens to be at a funny angle so there is no straight shot!?!  Haa...yes...back to the drawing board!

So the rest of my day will be spent cleaning and rearranging furniture to get creative.  Yes, this thing is big, but it is going to make some cool things in the future and I am super excited about this!  Stay tuned for pictures of my new toy....the trials and tribulations of getting it up and running and my first big project!

**Update**
Got the loom all set up.  Took some rearranging creativity on our first level, but it is ready to roll.  I took myself to the weaving shop on my way home....spent an hr there and left a whole lot more excited!!  I'm kinda really geeked now to get started!!  I really need to sit down and plan a project here soon!

Long time!!!

Well time has been flying by in a blink of an eye!!  It is back to school, back to the reality of life....and working!!!  The weekends are dedicated to the house and yard of course!  Couple weeks ago we had some run away cows across the street....I found this to be hilarious!  I ran up the street to let the neighbor know they had a few cows on the loose!  I think by the time they got out there the silly things found their way back into the pasture.    We did watch out the window a while wondering if they would figure it out that they were free but they were way too busy grazing.  We joked about coaxing them across the street and starting our 'farm' out with a new cow or two.....we haven't though!  Since this time the cows have continuously broken out and we have counted up to 7 or 8 wandering through the field & pine trees across the street.  I yelled at them one day as they were right next to the road and they took off running trying to get back through the fence, which I again found completely hilarious!  Tess finds them wildly a-mooo-zing as well! (haaaa!)

Well, what else is new?!?  We took down some trees that were dead thanks to the invasive emerald ash borer.  We have finally finished cleaning all that mess up just this weekend.  It made a real mess of things.  I wonder how much more they would have charged us, or if things would have been kept cleaner had we asked them to haul away the wood afterwards?  Oh well we will definitely be burning it this winter to keep this place warm!

We have begun deer season here and along with that has come endless questions about hunting our land!  I wish I got a dollar every time someone asked....I'd be raking in the doe! (no pun intended...well maybe ! haa haa)  We have also started posting no hunting/trespassing signs on the perimeter of the property.  We had it surveyed and went out to follow the lines and make sure tree stands are gone as there were 8-9 throughout the land when we moved in.  We also had a lot of ground blinds as well and most everything appears to be gone now.

We got the tractor back from the mechanic and began plowing the garden site for next spring....I can't wait!  I love having a garden and fresh food!  I also enjoy knowing my food isn't modified, overly processed with chemicals, or going to harm me in some way!  I also love that it come from our own blood, sweat and tears!  I know it's hard work, but it is beyond rewarding!

I am also shopping for a weaving floor loom to make textiles and am hoping to purchase soon!  Stay tuned for updates!

Sorry I do not have photos to add today!

Projects....

We have lots of little daily projects going on around here but the 'big' projects have gotten under way.  We had some mighty big trucks pulling in here and some wonderful visitors to pour our concrete floor in the pole barn out back.  I had the fun job of baby sitting 2 very cute little munchkins for one of the guys who helped with the pour.  It was a complete blast.  However I was not able to get a lot of pictures because I was quite busy in the kid department.  Whew!

Here is a shot of the trucks:

dumping the concrete off...
 

really wet concrete

more wet concrete!

Everything went great, the floor looks fabulous and while they were waiting for the concrete to dry they even managed to use the tractor to load up a few truck loads of scrap and make a couple trips to the scrap yard which paid out nicely.  The 'junk' that 'gives back' so to speak!  WHO knew!?!  The environment is cleaner, and we have more $$ for projects.



Our next project was the septic being replaced and moved.  So more big trucks were here that week.  This project we knew about before moving and the owners paid for it at closing, which is nice.  We just stalled because we have ideas....of more projects.....of course!  So we needed to explore options before having the replacement done.  Can't wait !!

And so the day of digging begins!

I had a hard time believing that they could complete the work in one day, but they did.  Someone did come back the next day with a bobcat to try and smooth the ground out, but take a look at the day....

See the lean?  That happened in our big storm in June.....we've waited for it to go on its own in future storms but no dice....so these guys took it down for us.

 

See no wheels!!

and there it goes!!  This will be the site of our new drain field.

 

old tanks

 

                        New lines to run to new tanks                New tanks installed

 

 



 

Ready to pour the approach on the barn

 

The curb pour out back!

 

 

The hubby at work!

Pouring a pad for the air conditioner

 

 

This is about it on the projects for now.  It has been extremely busy around here!  I am now trying to get the yard back into order after all the big trucks tore it up.  We also had a tree service come to take out trees that weekend as well(more to follow on that project!).  It was overwhelming, but good to have all the busy-ness of the companies coming and going out of the way.  We maybe should have shelled out the extra $$ to have them complete the last of the dirty work so that we had more free time but as the saying goes...."you can't be a Monday morning QUARTER-BACK!"

 

Well, stayed tuned for what adventures come up next!!!

 



 

 

 

The Dirty Life

No, I am not talking about the new house.....at least not directly.  

  A few weeks ago one of my aunts contacted me to tell me about this book she had heard about on the news.   It was called The Dirty Life by: Kristin Kimball.  If you enjoy the country life and a story about farming, it's ups & downs, and everything in between you may really enjoy this book.  I ordered my copy on Amazon.com for a good price and I would say I read it in less than one week.

  The story synopsis is a young journalist who goes to PA to write an article about a farmer whom she falls for.  They end up living together and starting from scratch on borrowed land to create a full fledged CSA where members can buy shares and be provided everything from meat, milk, cheese, butter, maple syrup as well as fruit & veggies.  This is a true story and they are currently still functioning in upstate New York.  The farm is completely organic as well.  Their adventures, troubles, and life unfolding is a heart warming story that I felt was relate-able.  She describes using good detail (which I like) and one can feel the emotions being conveyed.  You can even check out their website & blog online with pictures of the farm.  Another perk is that there is a lot of talk about cooking,  and the back of the book contains many of the recipes for you to make!  Double Bonus!

So, if you are looking for a heart warming read and you enjoy, life, love, the country, cooking, farming.....I highly suggest it.  The beginning may be a bit of a slow start, but give it a minute and you will be sucked in!

Enjoy......and if you read it, please let me know your thoughts! I'd love to hear what you think about the book!

Here is a link to Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/The-Dirty-Life-Memoir-Farming/dp/1416551611/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377467214&sr=8-1&keywords=the+dirty+life

Nature at its best!

Living in the country could not possibly put one closer to nature.  Thanks to the newly brush hogged paths, my trusty sidekick and I have been taking daily walks.  I have captured some shots along the way to share with you.  I hope you enjoy......

 

Sunflower

Trusty sidekick

creek

Lil waterfall that adds great sound on the walk

deer tracks

 Can you see them??

 

Flowers

 

tree frog

Golden rod

Dogwood berries

 



 

 

This is by no means everything we saw.....or do see on a daily basis.  However I have to be honest....I am tired of uploading pictures! LOL  Hopefully this little photo montage lights your fire to go take a walk in nature today.  I am loving my life here and dreading my return to work, meetings and stress next week.  I suppose one needs to pay for it all!  Each day these photos and the memories of this summer will pull me through each day.  I believe my level of appreciation for all of this will increase as well! 

The sun is just starting to rise at this point and it appears that it is going to be another gorgeous day!

 

Carpe Diem!!

Happy, Happy, Happy.....

Do you watch Duck Dynasty?  I do....and I LOVE it!  I find this show to be completely hilarious, and I greatly enjoy their value of nature, keeping life simple, and their devotion to family.  It has a good balance, but after a long day of work, their random encounters & conversations make me laugh so hard that the stress literally melts away.

Now that we moved to our 40 acres, I am starting to feel as though we are living a Duck Dynasty episode every day..... Well despite being broke in comparison to those guys.....we are about as happy as can be.....some days, I even say 'I'm Happy, Happy, Happy!'

Did you know that everything just looks better in the country?  I'm convinced that this is true.  The sky is simply gorgeous .....every morning I see a beautiful sunrise, every night....unbelievable sunsets, and throughout the day the skies are bluer than blue, or I am able to watch storms blow in with their front lines or large storm clouds....it is simply amazing.  The fireflies are more vibrant, the birds sing in chorus, and there are deer everywhere....as well as snakes!  The snakes don't bother me, and I find deer to be beautiful & tasty but those buggers better not decimate my garden or war will be wagged in a Dynasty episode type way!

Here are a few of the photos I took of the sky line around here.....

 



Isn't this pretty!?!

Looking a bit stormy?!

 

Even the night sky is quite gorgeous....wouldn't you say?!!

 

So go outside today, take a look at the sky and notice it's beauty!  You never know what you will find up above, but most days it is quite glorious.  I find that the more time spent outdoors, the more I appreciate the world around us, our impact on it, and my desire to do my part to protect it grows.  What are you doing to make the world around you a better place?  Think about that, figure something out, and do it today, tomorrow or everyday!!  We need to leave this place better than we found it.

And, doing so just may make you feel

 "Happy, Happy, Happy!"

 

Go ahead and try it and let me know how it turns out.

 

 

Scavenging....

So.....I have been dying to scavenge around here some more for 'treasures'.  Up until this point there has not been much time as I have been trying to get the house in working order and eliminate boxes completely from the first level and as many as possible on the 2nd level.  While working in the landscape a few treasures have popped up along the way which has continued that desire to get out and pick around some more.  As I understand it, back in the day, there was no garbage service and so farms had their own dumps somewhere on the property.  We just so happen to have a couple locations which would make sense if this place was settled back in the 1890's.

 

We brush hogged some paths which makes getting around much easier as the pastures have really filled in with wildflowers and weeds.  I set out with my 'trusty'  partner in crime....

This is a picture of her

trusty sidekick

 

She gets really excited when I go to put my boots on and head for the door.  Plus she doesn't talk much, always keeps a watchful eye, and she listens quite well!  Now if only I could get her to help me carry stuff.....haa!  Our first venture was to a section of woods near the creek where I had previously found a neat old cast iron stove door. It was rather heavy and so I was never able to take it out with me before.  It was a one item trip. Below is a picture of that.....

Jewel Stove Ranges

is the name on the door

Our next trip took us on the other side of the property where the larger dumps are located.  We first stopped off at an area that is typically a pond and under water but due to a recent dry stretch it was dried up so I climbed down in there and started rootin' around.  Found some old jars, car parts and other rusty junk!  I think there was an old mattress dumped in there as I found some springs(which I will later salvage for an idea I found on Pinterest!).  However the big find half buried in the ground....the rest of that neat stove!  Or so I think.  It is rather large, has some of the same ornate looking cast iron and is submerged in the muck.  I may need the tractor to pull it out, but you better believe that I will be revisiting it to see what I can do with it! 

 

A little further down the path there is a large drum tipped on its side, half rusted out and filled with old jars & bottles.  Of course a lot of them are broken but if you sift through the rubble, you are bound to find a gem or two! The next picture shows a few that I carried out of the woods in my galvanized bucket.

I should have rotated this....I am trying to decipher the codes on the bottom of the bottles if they lack markings, but it is a bit more of a project than I thought.  There is an old Faygo pop bottle, some Anchor Hocking jars that appear to be from 1937-1960(according to marking research), and a few other random ones.  I found a gallon sized blue ball jar out there but it was broken :(  Hoping to find a few more neat ones!  Then I plan to clean them up and use as flower vases or décor.

I also found this neat galvanized watering can:

 

 





It won't hold water because the bottom was buckled out but I am hoping that my handy dandy husband can change that with his magic work in the garage!  If not I have a neat new planter for annuals next year!! ;)  May even look cute with a mum stuffed in there this fall and a few pumpkins flanking each side!  One person's trash to another person's repurposed treasures is fabulous isn't it?!  The possibilities are endless!

 

The next few shots are things that I found right here in the immediate yard while landscaping and monkeying around.

 

This was dug up by previous owners but left for us because he felt it was good luck!

 

After a big rain storm, I found this lying on top of a washed out hill.  Mind you we have driven the pick up as well as several loaded dump trucks over the top of this and yet here it is with not a crack in sight!!

 

Dug this little thing up too.....not sure what it is, maybe it goes with the stove?!?  It obviously attached to something and appears to be a swinging arm.  I think that maybe a finial or something was on the end of the piece but the top has a look as if something broke off of it. Appears to be cast iron as well.

 

Well, I am going to stop here for now.  I know there is a lot more!  However I have chores to do and am starting to work on plans for the orchard and garden that we are putting in.....lots to think about and prepare for!!  Until next time! Have a great day/week!