Favorite Things Friday....

Quilts...I love them....They are cozy, warm, comforting. There is something special about them.

 I have a few that my Grandmother made and I cherish them.

This one she made when i was a baby..

I'm not sure when she made this one. I love how she used all different fabric scraps!

This one I found at a garage sell for $5.

These pillows use to be a quilt until I cut it up and made pillow covers out of them. I bought it at a garage sell as well. (Excuse the foot at the bottom of the picture...)

This quilt my mom made when I was a baby.

This quilt is outstanding...my great aunt made it and I love it! It is called "Egg Money"

I have attempted to make quilts and they turn out ok. Mostly mine have been baby blankets that have little ties or tacking instead of actual quilting. I just don't have the patience.

I have been wanting to make a quilt for my bed, quilted or tied, but I haven't got around to it yet.

So there you have it..one of my Favorites!

Happy Weekend!

Looky here...

I just found this cute blog thanks to All Things Vintage and they are having a give away!!

 So check out this adorable blog Little Miss Momma!

Just once i would love to win something!!

Chickens

So i have been looking at my chicken order form and am trying to decide which ones to get. Here are some of the breeds I've chosen...

Araucana -

Jersey Black Giants

Buff Orpington  

Brown Leghorn 

Rhode Island Red 

Golden Comet  

White Leg Horn      

These are all good egg layers. I rhink i might get a few of each! By august I should have eggs in brown, white, blue, green, and a pinkish color!! So fun!

Yummyness..

So check out the Farm Kitchen page above..I just put a really good recipe on there.

Also, I wanted to share a cute little shop that belongs to one of my friends!!

Check it out...Winsome Cottage It is the most adorable shop and my SIL sells some of her things there.

Outhouse..Yes I have one!

So this is my outhouse..Isn't it fun!!

It is just a few feet outside the back door. It is still functional of course. It even has a real toilet seat inside! I should have taken a picture. Days like today I am sooooo thankful for indoor plumbing! It is frigid!!

I actually had a lady stop one time and ask if we were getting rid of it...Never would I dare to do such a thing!! The door was ajar do to one of the hinges coming loose and she thought we were tearing it down. She was going to take it home she said! 

Last summer we found a cute raccoon hiding in the top of the outhouse. Actually our dogs spotted it...needless to say that was short lived. So was the raccoon...Does anyone else have an outhouse? 

Let me know!

Here is a picture of the barn and the silo in the snow! I love my home..Thank you Lord for your blessings...

Yes, I know the barn door is a different color of red. It came that way when we purchased the property. It hasn't really been a priority around here...

Enjoy your day of Rest tomorrow!

Favorite Things Friday....

I can't believe Friday is upon us once again. This week went by so fast. We had a good snow storm here yesterday and everything is covered...I LOVE IT! The snow is God's glory at it's best!! With the snow came freezing temps..the thermometer in the truck read 0 on our way home tonight! Brrrrrr....

On to my favorite things...it's so hard to choose..i love so many things,. but since I promised pictures, I had to take some today and I was walking around my house and everywhere I looked I saw...

Enamel Ware!!!! It is one of my most FAVORITE things!

I have always loved the 50's style farm house look. Enamel ware just reminds me of that. I mostly have red and white, that's my most favorite..but I also have some black and white and one or two blue and green and white. I love it..It's on my walls, tables, it will hold a multitude of things! I have all different shapes and sizes.

It reminds me of a simpler time and I think that is what I love about it! This world is crazy, and we are in the midst of it going a million directions. It reminds me of a time when life was slow. When people worked their land so they could live and eat and they appreciated the simple things in life like a really great Enamel Ware bowl. They are perfect for canning season by the way. I have some big ones!

I never pay a lot for them. I just pick them up at garage sales, swap meets (another favorite), now that everyone knows that i kinda collect them, I get them for gifts!! Fun!!

They just add a little quaintness to my house and kitchen. I'm getting all excited talking about them!!

There is such a thrill when you are driving down the road and you see a hand made sign that says "Garage Sale" with an arrow pointing to the driveway, you hit the brakes, and break your neck trying to see if you can get a peak of what they may have. You start walking up the drive and automatically you start scanning for the perfect item that you just can't live with out!! Oh, you just spotted it, the medium size bowl, white enamel with a red rim...You hurry before anyone else sees it, pick it up look at the price...$5.00....I can do better than that, I think to my self..I ask the money box attendant if she'll take $2.00. She replies...reluctantly...sure..!! Fire works go off in my head! Wow, I love the thrill of the chase!!

I think I might have gotten a little carried away..

 I love it..it's practical and cute! This is my bread box.

This adorable little lady, white table with red rim, was a gift from my mom and dad, who by the way are the best ever (Love you Guys!!), for Christmas last year. It was in the little antique town down the road!

Well, I hope someone else in this world appreciates Enamel ware the way I do!

There you have it, my Favorite things for this Friday!! 

Happy weekend!

By the way, thanks to my new followers!! So exciting!

Followers

So I know I have lot more than 10 friends!!! This is depressing I've been blogging for 2 or 3 weeks now and I only have 10 followers. Five of which are family members!! Give me a break people!!!

Do me a favor...If you read the blog, follow me...It sounds like a cult I know, when I say I have followers.. but I promise it's not!

Plus It's really fun for me to see who all is reading it! Come on girls from church..help a girl out!

Ok, enough complaining already...moving on...

So you might have noticed the new tabs at the top of my blog page! I just figured out how to do that...Thanks Rae...I will be adding some post to those in the future. It's a good way to organize my post..and I really like organization! I think it will be fun. 

The Farm Kitchen will have recipes and anything else related to the kitchen.

The Farm House will have to do with our old house and the rehab of that.

The Red Barn will obviously be....The Red Barn...Ok I think we are getting the point.

Anywho, I'm looking forward to putting some things together!

Before I go, check out this really cool blog.. oh yeah, it's my SIL...VanHook and Co.

Also there is a giveaway going on at this cool blog.

Once again, no pictures, I hate when blogs do that...It's not as fun!!
Ok, have a great evening everyone!

P.S. Leave a comment, become a follower!!
P.P.S. Sorry for all the sarcasm, that's just how I feel today....a little grumpy...

Another week!

 I took a couple days off. As always Sunday was a day of rest and visiting with family.

So the weekend is over and we begin yet another week! I can't believe January is half over! Time flies when your having fun!

This time of year I start thinking about my garden and what I want to plant. I get several seed catalogs in the mail and I love looking through them. There are so many different plants out there its crazy! I always like to try something thats a little out of the ordinary! Last year, chocolate tomatoes, which by the way do not taste like chocolate! I was despartely disappointed... heirloom veggies of all sorts. Its fun growing things! I  will keep you informed on how that goes!

As you may know, I have chickens. They lay a good assortment of brown, green, and blue eggs! Fun yeah?? Anywho, my chicks are getting old and have started to slow down on the egg laying so I will be replacing them with new chicks this spring! Its so fun getting baby chicks. They are so soft and cute...and they won't attack you! I have a mean rooster...more on that later...

I have been looking at different kinds of chickens on the web and in catelogs! I always look for unique and rare breeds. I call them fancy chickens!

I will keep everyone informed on how my chicken search turns out. I have a month before I have to order them.

Have a great day everyone!

P.S. Sorry there are no pictures..I'll make sure i get some for ya!

Tea or Coffee...

So the other night I had a craving for something sweet but much to my dismay we had nothing sweet, other than a few chocolate chips which I had already nibbled on and it just wasn't cuttin it. So I whipped up some short bread cookies! They hit the spot! With my short bread cookies I had a nice cup of tea.

I am a tea drinker not coffee. My lover drinks coffee like crazy! I just don't get it...I've tried it with cream and sugar and I just can't get past the first drink! Blah...! Almost every morning I will drink a hot cup of Lipton with sugar. However Lipton has caffeine in it and I can't do caffeine after like 7pm. So I branch out to some flavored tea for my evening cup. My great aunt introduced me to this tea and it has become my favorite in the evening.

It is sweet and spicy! So yummy! It is cinnamony (if that's a word) and a little sweet so I don't have to add sugar! It smells and taste like Big Red gum. The only thing that I've found about it is, is that if you let it steep to long it becomes so spicy I can't drink it. It only takes a few dunks of the tea bag to turn the steaming water a dark color and that is when it is perfect!

I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend along with a great cup of tea! Or coffee, which ever it may be!

Organizing

So today I organized and cleaned the Laundry room! Love when everything looks so nice and neat and in its place. I'm a little OCD when it comes to things being in there place...anywho the laundry room is thanking me. Clean floors, base boards, shelves all dusted and organized. If you are not so lucky as to have a laundry room, I am truly sorry...

My wonderfully talented lover built all the shelves in the laundry room! When we moved in, this room was a horribly ugly brown color. The door is still pretty bad in fact it still has giant sunflowers on the back of it. I refuse to take pictures of them, they are that bad! The chamber pot in the picture has my laundry detergent in it. I love red and white enamel ware. You will see it all through out my house.

These are the shelves behind the door. My love made these as well. I love having the space as a pantry of sorts. The laundry room is one of my favorite rooms when it is clean and neat. The bright color makes it cheerful too! I hope everyone has such a room!

This is another garage sale find. I paid a whopping $3 for it. I'm saving it for my office. Surprisingly it is very comfortable. I want to do the office in black and red accents with tan walls and white trim. Oh, the little goose on the floor will also be going into the office.

Tomorrow...some of my favorite things...

I almost forgot...My cousin Sara has a giveaway on her blog so go check it out!!

Lots to say...

First, this is what the trees across the road from us look like....

We woke up to more snow!! Yay!! We love snow. Steve got called out to plow and I am keeping the home fires burning, literally. I love being home on snowy days. It's so cozy!

So as I promised, here are a few garage sale finds that I love!

This is a frame of sorts..I haven't decided what to do with it yet. It could be a mirror, cork bored, or I really like the idea of a chalk bored. I've kinda been saving it for the office. Super cute though right? I love the detail at the top but we can't figure out why it has a little nub sticking out from the right side..any ides?

This I was so excited about...It is an antique oak table with five round legs. The two ends come out to make it fit about six chairs. The guy was asking $90 for it..lets just say I got it and 7 other items for $100. I never pay asking price. The chairs were given to me by a cousin and I just recovered the seats.

I especially love the legs on this table. It has such great character! I love old things!

Switching gears...I said I have lots to talk about...

Love this book! I'm sure some of you have heard of the Pioneer Woman..anywho..she has this cool cook book that my wonderful sister gave me! It is really cute! Great pictures and detailed steps for the recipes. I made this last night for dinner and it was pretty good.

 Chicken Spaghetti...Not bad! I love cook books! 

To find out more about the Pioneer Woman go HERE!

P.S. So My love wasn't so happy that I put that picture of him on the blog yesterday...to late now :)

My Lover..

So I explained yesterday what we do on Sundays and remembered that I took this picture last Sunday...

This is my lover playing the wii. He moves all the furniture around so he has plenty of room. He also was telling me to not take his picture, but he was just too cute sitting there like a little kid! I had to do it!

I am married to the most wonderful man alive. I'm sure you think that you are married to the most wonderful man, but I'm sorry to tell you that you are wrong. I have him...all to my self! I thank the Lord everyday that he has blessed me with a wonderful husband. I can't imagine my life without him. We have so much fun together!

He is so cute...I love him so!

Speaking of cute....

Look at this chunky monkey! I could eat her up! This is my niece Quinn, she is 5 months old and so cute...

My brother and his wife dedicated Quinn to the Lord yesterday at church. I think it is awesome that they realize Quinn is a gift from God and they are trusting HIM to take care of her and use her for HIS glory and honor! It is also dedicating themselves to raise her the way the good Lord intended.

In the next few days I will show you some of my favorite garage sale finds from last summer! I can't wait for garage sale season to begin again!! Although I don't think my lover feels that way. Confession- some of my garage sale finds are still in his garage taking up space...sorry lover.

Love Sundays!

Happy Sunday to everyone! I love Sundays...we get up and go to church to worship my most wonderful Savior! Being with our church family is so refreshing after the long week. After church we usually go to my moms or my mother-in-laws for lunch or sometimes go out to eat with some friends. Then we come home and spend the day the way God intended..a day of rest! Much needed rest. I love to curl up on the couch with a book and read until my eyes get heavy. I am a Sunday napper. I love the restfulness of it. Sunday is the only day I don't feel guilty about laying around! When I was little we always came home from church and everyone would take a nap. I would be so bored being the only one awake. The house was small and so I had to be quiet as not to wake anyone else. My lover is not a napper. He has the energy of the energizer bunny! He just keeps going and going! He will usually be on the computer, playing the wii or piddle in his garage (when it is warm..it was 12 degrees today).  So, let me know what you do on Sundays! I would love to hear from you!

Cold...

I woke up this morning to a nice dusting of snow on everything. It makes everything so pretty. All though this old farm house is very cold. Most of the rooms have no insulation in the walls except for the ones that we have gutted and re-done. That's only two as of right now. We are currently working on the office (and have been for two years I think) but we either have the money and not the time or the time and not the money. Here is a picture of the office. This picture shows it with the sub floor in, it had a dirt floor to begin with. We think it was originally a shed or something that they attached to the house by building a room in between the kitchen and shed. That room is now a mud room. 

The door you see in this picture goes into the mudroom.

There is a vaulted ceiling, which I love and the wall with the door has the old siding on it!

That is my father-in-law in the picture. He built custom homes for 30 years.

There were no studs to nail drywall to so we (when I say we I mean my lover and my father-in-law) had to frame out the entire room with studs. We also added three large windows.

I love old houses! They have a character that new ones just don't have. They are also cold in the winter, hot in the summer, drafty, crooked, inhabited by mice, and a lot of hard work. But I love it!
Have a great day!

P.S - I call my husband Steve lover...because he is the love of my life! I have since we got married!

Figuring this out...

Good morning all- I'm trying to figure this whole blogging thing out. How to get my pictures in just right and how to navigate around blogger. It's coming together, slowly.
Well, now that the holidays are over i began taking all my Christmas decor down and put away. I love decorating for Christmas so when everything gets taken down the house looks so bare! At least that's what Steve thinks. Its a good time to clean the house really good and do a little organizing. We have live trees so there are needles everywhere! We also heat with a wood stove and that creates so much dust! So the next few days will be spent cleaning and putting things back together.
Here are some pictures from late January 2010.. I love snow and am hoping for more the next few weeks!!