"Love is the bridge between you and everything." ~Rumi I have come to love and appreciate the Goodpasture Bridge as a local landmark and still-standing part of McKenzie River history. Built in 1938, the bridge is named for a local pioneer, Benjamin Franklin Goodpasture, who purchased the land to plant the hazelnut orchards that are still being farmed here today. The parcel included a ferry ...
Home is Where the Hearth is
DIY Garden Flags
I have always enjoyed hanging flags out in my garden, and it was time for some new ones after the Tibetan prayer flags we put up around the garden fence for housewarming finally disintegrated this winter. I discovered Pinterest not too long ago, and got some great ideas looking through garden art pins to make my own flags out of old ratty fabric and quilt scraps. I have to be honest that I am not ...
Spring Housekeeping
I've been working on some spring housekeeping and updates around here, and am pleased to announce a few new additions to the site. You may have noticed the new banner with my photo of the Three Sisters taken near our home, and some new links underneath it where I added an "About" page, a link to my Mountain Hearth Handcrafts Etsy store, an updated reading list, a farmhouse recipes page and a ...
Upcycled Throw Pillow Project and Some Thoughts on Re-Purposed Art
There is a lot of fun to be had in re-purposing something old into something new. I may not be a great seamstress, but I have enough basic sewing skills to act upon my creative ideas when I see just the right something. I found this quilted calico appliqued wall hanging stretched on a hoop at a second hand store, and immediately re-imagined it as a homestead-themed throw pillow. It was so easy ...
Where we Love
"Where we love is home- home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. ...
DIY Vintage Valentine Decorations
With Valentine's Day coming up, I had a little creative fun with decorating for the holiday. Not a lot is happening in the garden in February, so it's an excellent time for craft projects and cheery indoor festivity to enjoy after a rainy day pruning fruit trees or mulching blueberry bushes. I kept my eye out over the year for interesting vintage Valentine odds and ends, and had some good finds to ...
Snowdrops in the Fairy Garden
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Cornucopia
November is a time of finishing up the last of the harvest, taking stock of what we have grown, storing away the fruits of our labors for the year ahead, appreciating what is abundant in our lives and spending time with family and friends. I have been enjoying seeing a full root cellar with baskets of potatoes, onions, pumpkins, and squash; braids of garlic hanging from the ceiling; jars of canned ...
Little Sadie and The Sundance Kitten
This past week we were happy to welcome two new members of our homestead. Meet Little Sadie and The Sundance Kitten. They are a rowdy pair of dilute calico sisters who take their job of house mouse patrol very seriously. A shelter had adopted them out as small kittens to an elderly couple, but when the husband recently passed they went back to the shelter and were in need of a new home. Since ...
To Heat a Home
If you have ever contemplated what goes in to heating a home, you may have thought about your electric company or natural gas company and wondered about the resources the energy came from. You may have thought about things like wind, water, oil or coal. For those of us who have a woodstove, however, we know exactly what goes in to heating a home. We can measure it out in cords, months of ...