When the nights get longer in the fall, there is more time to spend dreaming. It's the perfect time of year to pile extra blankets on the bed, get out those warm flannel sheets, and prepare for our winter slumbering. A tradition I enjoy in my house is sewing dream pillows for everyone in the family to slip inside their pillowcase, filled with fragrant herbs to promote restful sleep and peaceful ...
Home is Where the Hearth is
Old-Fashioned Farmhouse Decor: Confessions of a Crazy Doily Lady
Call me old-fashioned, but I really feel like doilies are a commonplace household item that ought not have gone by the wayside. I'm sure many of us have inherited them at some point, maybe ones that our Grandmothers or Great-Grandmothers made by hand. Perhaps some of us can remember seeing them sitting under vases of fresh cut flowers when visiting elderly relatives. If you have ever pulled ...
DIY Spring Willow Wreath
The beginning of March is a fine time to begin thinking Spring. Around this time, I always like to pack away my winter decor and get out the birds nests, vases of fresh daffodils and budding twigs, and of course, pussy willows. I've made my own evergreen wreaths for the holidays the last few years, and decided to branch out this Spring with a pussy willow wreath for the front door. I went for ...
Make Your Own Glassware Garden Art
Sometimes you just need to look at an old object in a new way, and sometimes you just need a reason to go thrift shopping. I'm always looking for ways to spruce up my garden in the winter when there isn't much to be doing with seeds, vegetables and flowers. My winter gardening skills are still a work in progress, and we haven't had time to build that recycled window greenhouse yet. There is always ...
Fairy House Follies
If gardening isn't fun, then you are doing something wrong. While this may not always be true, like those times that hard work out in the garden is more rewarding and good for you than it is fun, I still do my best. I subscribe to the "play as hard as you work" philosophy in life, and lately I have been taking advantage of any fair winter day that comes along and "working" on building fairy houses ...
Finding Buried Treasure
One of the things I love most about this homestead is all of the buried treasure. That's right, buried treasure. Not quite the pirate kind, but it still makes me feel rich. The previous occupant left us a lot of amazing things behind, and it seems like we are constantly digging up and uncovering more finds. Even the chickens are unearthing all manner of things in their daily scratching around. The ...
Finding Our Family Tree
Going out and finding the right tree is one of my favorite parts of the holidays. It has been a family tradition of mine forever, beginning with trips to the Lazy J Tree Farm and taking on many variations over the years including other tree farms, Forest Service permits, and even a tiny fir tree gifted in the Christmas spirit from a kind old man at a tree lot the first winter I was a single parent ...
Equinox
With the official turning of the seasons toward fall, there is much to enjoy and be thankful for around here. The woodshed is filling up with the last of my firewood I cut and split last year, and a load of wood we had delivered. It is mostly thanks to my hard working mountain man, working diligently to get all our seasoned wood protected from the torrential fall rain in spare hours here ...
Home is Where the Hearth Is
Having made the personal decision some years ago that life without a woodstove would be cold, dull and unacceptable, I always strive to make sure one is involved in my living situation. My experience has been that a woodstove is the center of a home most months out of the year, providing heat, cheery light through the dark months, a place to dry clothes on racks, the perfect spot for ...
May Snow!
With the potatoes and onions finally planted and the raised bed moved and ready for the few starts I got going back at the old place, I was feeling very ready for gardening season to get rolling. The days have been hot and sunny with temperatures up in the 70's, and Summer has been on my mind. I even started getting a few comments out and about on the great farmer's tan I've got going on. So, it ...