Quick Wedding Pic and Random Stuff

Thanks to one of the “Fiddle Family” (Trish) for taking this pic as our couple arrived at the reception Saturday night. Love it!
(oh yes, you WILL see many more wedding pics in the weeks to come)

 

Also, some of our loyal blog followers have inquired as to what we’re using the “Shouse” for. We had decided some time ago that our old house was beyond fixing up (trust me on this one!). We will recycle as much as we can of the wood, doors, windows, etc.. but eventually it will be gone. The Shouse is our “transition time” abode until we can get a new house built where the old house now stands. (Location-wise, Shouse is just a few feet behind the old house). Then after the new house is built, the plan is for the shouse to become a craft retreat, canning shack, B&B for (invited.. lol) guests, family dinner place, occasional man cave, etc etc. Just know that the Blacksmith and I typically take a while to get things done so this new house thing will not happen overnight. Guarantee it :) Therefore we want to make the Shouse as comfy and cozy as possible. Hopefully the basic amenities such as kitchen and laundry will be finished in a few short weeks so we can move in before the really cold stuff hits!

Have a great weekend!!

Shouse Update–Cabinet Progress

Here is where we are today in our quest for a kitchen in the BarnCottage, aka Shouse. The Blacksmith is working on plumbing and other details today. We’ll measure for countertops within the next couple of days and order. I have cabinet trim pieces and some cabinet hardware to paint. Plus, a large pantry cabinet needs painting to match the Valspar Woodlawn Colonial Gray (the color choice for the cabinets). The additional boards you see will be concealed by barn wood at some point (soon, I hope). They were necessary to support the cabinets really well in this pole barn.

I’m a-lovin’ the colander light fixture over the sink.

Guess who I see now when I look out my new kitchen window? My girls! (This is Gracie.. Ruby was around the corner).

Hope you’re having a fabulous Hump Day! I’ll post more shouse updates and wedding pics as they become available ;)

Headin’ for a Weddin’

I won’t bore you with the “I’ve been so busy.” “Life has been so complicated.” Excuses, excuses.. In the weeks to come, I will make an honest effort at blogging more, and reading my buddies’ blogs as well.

I’ve really missed posting and reading. So here goes our biggest news….

This wonderful couple, our son the Fiddler and his beautiful Sweetheart will be married next month. We are excited… SO very excited and happy about all of this. The bonus is, they will soon be our new neighbors here on the Farm. Lots of work to do in the meantime, but it will all be worth it!! Love these two!!

Amongst other happenings and events this year, The Blacksmith and I have been working on fixing up the Cottage,(aka Shouse). We plan to move in this Fall. We had never gotten around to putting in a kitchen, bedroom, or finishing trim and a few other (okay, LOTS of) details. But, at long last, we WILL be moving there before the coldest winter winds hit (we hope!). My plan is to share pictures of the kitchen and other projects as they are complete. You can read all the previous “Barn Cottage” posts here.

And, of course.. there will be wedding pictures coming in the near future!

Hope all is well with each of you!

Till next time….

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." -Philippians 4:6-7

Our Black Friday Loot

I sent a list with Mr. W, aka the Blacksmith this morning on his way to work. He was able to fetch us some Black Friday deals. I stayed home ~ it was nice ;-) The Fiddler delivered all the items this afternoon.

Those of you who know us well won’t be surprised at all by the fact that everything below was purchased at Lowe’s. ( And, the pictures are all courtesy of Lowe’s)

A $99 Samsung over the range microwave (regularly $178). I’ve always wanted one that I could stash above the range, and this is the lowest price I’ve ever seen. This goes in the ‘house kitchen’ (not the Cottage). I am thrilled to free up counter space used by our old cheapie, and I’ll also have a vent/fan to take out the cooking “stuff” from the air. Years of a gunked up kitchen ~ not pretty.

Glueless Laminate Flooring for the Barn/Cottage. We tossed around several options for the flooring in the Cottage area, even leaving the floor as bare concrete with throw rugs. As the weather gets cooler, that didn’t seem like a good option. This was a deal at 58 cents a square foot, and everyone will have warm toes.

Also purchased was an area rug, about 5x8 foot, for the Cottage. It was $24.98, regularly $68.

Last but not least, a Big Ol’ Shop Vac for our Garage (the “Barn” portion of the Barn/Cottage). A steal at $29.99 (regular price $79)

At least in our area, these prices are good thru Monday while supplies last. I hope some of you were able to grab up some real deals today! Maybe even some Christmas shopping? That will be next on our list…

But first, very soon we’ll see how Mr. W survived his first Black Friday working in retail :)

Happy Shopping!

Stormy October Sunday

We started our Sunday with blue skies and sunshine, a rare treat for us this entire month. Then, storms began to blow in during mid-afternoon. We do not need any more rain for awhile, however the dark skies and Fall color made for a good combination. More Autumn pictures, anyone? I just can’t help myself… It will all be over with before we know it!

I love the view across the neighbor’s corn field. That blue tower in the 2nd photo  is our rural water supply, of course! It’s one landmark we use to direct new visitors to the farm.

While I’m posting pics, here is a quick Barn/Cottage update. The Fiddler has been busy the past couple of weekends, mudding the sheetrock. It looks like we’re on the final layer. Sanding to begin soon! Then our “Barnwood panels”  will be installed on the lower portion of the walls. It’s the faux stuff, but it actually looks pretty convincing.

Hope you’re enjoying a nice Sunday ~ wherever you may be!

Barn/Cottage Update

A quick recap: Back in April of this year, our long-awaited Barn Building Crew finally arrived and built our 30x50 foot “Barn/Cottage” in our backyard.  View all Barn/Cottage posts here, beginning with the barnraising!

Our Barn/Cottage is also described as a “Shouse” (shop/house combo – thank you, Patti, for teaching me that cool word!), or simply a living quarters at one end of the garage-workshop. This building will ultimately be where we move in to during the period that our old house is being torn down and (hopefully) new house is being built. The tear down/build up project is at least two years in the future. However, the Fiddler will stay there much of the time over the next couple of years. Mr. W worked long and hard on many of the finishing projects for the Barn/Cottage during the past few months. However, with farm and other projects taking priority during much of the Summer, we still had quite a lot to finish up the Cottage area before super cold weather hits.

Yesterday, we were fortunate to have some of the Fiddler’s friends to help out with drywall. I was fortunate to entertain one of the friend’s little five year old (adorable) girl for the day. We had to check out kittens about a bazillion times (but it was fun of course!). And pet donkeys & feed them baby carrots. And see the geese & feed them dandelion greens (their favorite). We scrapbooked & did crafts too.  A fun day for me! And hopefully for her!

Back to the Barn/Cottage: The drywall is completely installed. I managed to finish painting the bathroom with primer, then paint two walls of color. And we now have the double doors partially installed between the garage portion and the cottage. You can see our progress below, as well as some beautiful artwork one of the friends left for us (on the drywall). He and his twin brother are very talented artists.

First the Artwork. This fine drawing was penciled in a matter of just a couple of minutes. Such talent!

The new doors ~ still wrapped (for now) in plastic. Soon they’ll be primed and painted… or just sanded and varnished? The more I look at the pretty wood grain, the more I hate to cover it up.  See the insulation below the new drywall sheets? We’re putting barnwood panels there. One of the next steps!

On a whim, I chose this gray-blue color for the bathroom. I am very pleased with it. Light fixture ~ $20 Lowes; Sink & Vanity Combo ~ $88; Recessed Medicine Cabinet $12 Lowes (yes, $12!!). The faucet is Moen & was about $50. This bathroom was really very economical to do. 

I really wanted Barn Lights, and this was the closest I could get. Lowes had copper pendant lights. I sprayed them silver to coordinate with the tin ceiling.  These are scattered throughout the Cottage area.

 

Some more artwork  with painters tape compliments of Mr. W and accomplice…

Oh, and Toilet is by Jacuzzi and was less than $150 at Lowes.

Tub and Shower combo (not pictured yet) was about $315 with Moen faucet & shower parts running about $75 I think.

Next up -- a new tankless propane water heater, more painting, drywall taping & finishing, the barnwood panels, blown-in insulation to the ceiling, outlet & switch covers, trim trim & more trim, a closet, a built-in storage cabinet in the bathroom, and yes… more painting.  We’re getting there! Hopefully we’ll have faster progress now that we’re “down to the wire”, so I’ll try to post updates more often.

Hope your weekend was great!

Barn/Cottage Update & Homemade Treats

The Blacksmith and Fiddler accomplished a lot today on the Barn/Cottage! We now have a fully functional, flushing toilet. Additionally, bead board panels now surround the entire bathroom, and a door was installed thus making the privy area pretty much private now.

Here is a view of the manifold, which is where all the water originates  for the Barn/Cottage.

There are many more details yet to finish for the bathroom area – a door knob, water heater, ceiling, install sink & vanity, hook up water to the tub/shower, install trim, a permanent light fixture – just to name a few items. But a lot was accomplished!

Additionally, the Fiddler, almost singlehandedly framed up this wall that separates the Cottage from the Barn. This was his first framing lesson ~ well done! We have a French door that will be installed in this wall.

I spent the day catching up on laundry and other neverending chores. I also started painting the metal chairs for the porch. This morning I “churned” butter and baked whole wheat beer bread. I got this fabulous butter recipe from Evening Shade Morning Latte. You may view the recipe here, and be sure to check out her other great recipes.  Here are a few glimpses of my butter-making process. Yes, I cheated and used the KitchenAid mixer. It was SO easy! Here you can see it turning to butter, and separating from the buttermilk.

After about 13 minutes on medium-high, here is what I had.. draining the buttermilk here.

And into the crock it went.

I have to confess I tried this butter recipe the other day and I ended up with salty whipped cream. It never quite made it to the butter stage – guess I hurried it up a little too much! Homemade butter calls for homemade bread so I used one of my favorite quick recipes - Farmgirl Susan's Almost Too Easy Whole Wheat Beer Bread. My bread never turns out as pretty as Susan’s, but this recipe is always tasty.

All in all, a tasty duo, and a good treat for my carpenters and me! (Yikes, and another reason to start that diet Monday!)

Hope you’re enjoying the weekend!

The Daily Bovine and Equine Kaffeeklatsch

This is what I see every morning when I turn the donkeys out from their stall, and into their grazing pen.

Ruby & Gracie’s bovine friends come up for a chat…

Awwww…. sweet baby.

A meeting of the minds…

I always enjoy this part of the day. I also have a little preview of some progress made in the Barn/Cottage. In spite of many interruptions the past few weeks, there has been a fair amount of progress. We’ve had a lot of other things going on, including many visitors, a few road trips, fence-fixing, readying equipment for hay season, attempts at catching a wayward cat, and numerous projects.

The electrical wiring is complete, except for miscellaneous switches/outlets that will be installed later. This is what we have so far in the bathroom area… walls framed in, wiring, tub/shower shimmed and set, and a few other miscellaneous preps. Hopefully, there will be a toilet by the weekend. That would be nice, huh? And also it would be nice if the walls were covered before then :)

Off to search for boxes of nails for the nail gun. Where oh where can they be?

In the Trenches

Today we dug a 200 foot trench, laid sewer pipe, and covered it all up. Anyone who knows us personally will be surprised to hear that we actually rented a piece of equipment (just call us “frugal” please :)).  Mr. W is a fast, excellent hand-digger, however we decided this method was the best for his back. And what a handy gadget this trencher was. Within a couple of hours the entire trench was dug, and then returned to the equipment rental place.

The trencher beast…

…dug this nice trench…

 

…which pipe was laid in, and everything connected, then covered  up with the dirt piles. Here are the Long-Eared Girls checking out freshly covered trenches that ran through a portion of their pen.

A busy day, especially for Mr. W, but this is one more big thing checked off the “Barn/Cottage List”. Oh my gosh, I think we might actually be almost ready to install bathroom fixtures.  Yay!!

Hope your week is going well!

Barn/Cottage Update ~ We now have a modern convenience…

It’s called… Electricity!!! Thanks to Mr. W and his blacksmithing/retired electrical expert friend Melvin, we have 6 working lights and 3 double outlets. And even 3-way switches in my area of the barn for my convenience per Mr. W. Why, I feel just plain spoiled. Woo hoo!

We also were given this comfy, stinky, stained, 3-legged couch… but hey, it was FREE! And a 6x6 fixed the 3-legged problem for now. So now we have an official relaxation station inside the barn (just be sure to hold your nose).

Our county is also under a tornado watch tonight. I will drive Mr. W even crazier than usual tonight. Tornado watches and warnings make me twirl around in a circle, turn on every possible source of weather information, plot potential tornado survival scenarios, and babble incessantly. Boy, is he in for a fun evening! This is the only thing I do not love about living here in the great Midwest. Here’s a look at our current sky:

A tufted titmouse is grabbing some sunflower seeds before the storm sets in. I just love their big eyes and chattiness.

Off to batten down the hatches for the outside critters!!

Concrete, Herbs, Bloomers, and a Blacksmith Shop

Today was a busy day for both of us. We traveled to Macon, Missouri and purchased some “Euco Diamond Hard” Concrete Sealer for the inside and outside pads of the Barn/Cottage. Upon return, we cleaned the concrete, and then applied the sealer first with a sprayer, then brushed and rolled it out. Mr. W handled most of this task while I supervised, and also cleaned out my herb garden.

The herbs were being taken over by mint (tip: never plant mint in anything but a container). Lots of cleaning out was done, then I replaced the rocks and lights. I also planted some orange-scented thyme. So now I have: Sage, Oregano, Lemon Balm, Catnip, Chives and the new Thyme. I plan to add some annuals such as Rosemary, and also some more Pineapple Sage. This herb garden has been here for about 20 years. Some of the older plants have died out, and I do need to replace some.

Here’s the before, with rampant mint:

Here’s the after, and some potted hen and chicks, and mint in container added:

Ahhh, better! Not perfect, but much better. Here’s an interesting tidbit of history about this area of our old house (where the herb garden now is). Many years ago the previous occupants had the brilliant idea to remove several feet of this section of the house to…. make a chicken coop. Can you believe it?

Here is a little collage of a few things that are blooming here now ~
clockwise from top left: Chives (with wasp), Malva (mini hollyhock), White Columbine, Giant Allium.

Finally, I just took a trip out to the Blacksmith’s Shop for a quick photo tour.

The sign on entrance to the shop (Mr. W has more signage, some of which are not so politically correct):

Anvil – hammer and “Bick Iron”  --- these two items (NOT the anvil) were made by Mr. W:

Finally, a Treadle Hammer made with recycled materials, completely manufactured by Mr. W. I am told this piece of machinery also makes a killer beer can smasher:

Now, off to do evening chores, and cook supper…. and collapse! Hope your week is going great!