The Homestead Archives | Page 25 of 30 |

Our Home Transformation – Our Dream: Part I

July 21, 2009 By Laura 7 Comments

Anyone love Extreme Home Makeover?? Seeing home renovations start to finish? Yes?? Well that’s what you’re going to get in these posts. The only difference is, we have to pay for ours! LOL.

We mentioned that we would be having a lot to share in this section of ‘Homestead – Home & Gardens’. Gardening is something very new to us this year, but I like to think we started off with a bang. I haven’t shared much of that yet, although I will be soon now, because that began a front yard transformation. But the backdrop of that, is our house, which also was majorly transformed. So I just didn’t want to put the cart before the horse, so to speak. One reason being, for those of you that will continue to follow us in the coming years (please?), it will be so fun for you to have watched our homestead grow and change SO much, from the beginning! (Well, if you like that sort of thing.) Because there has been such an amazing transformation in the years past already, but there is still so much more ahead. But also, I just like to do things in order. I have a real, serious, order thing.

One thing you may, or may not, have realized about us by now, is that we are very visual people. Some people are really smart. Book-smart. Number-smart. Build-and-run-a-corporation-smart. Change-the-world-smart. But none of that is us, we don’t think. We’re just artists really. What we DO do, is DREAM and CREATE the little things we would like to have. We SEE them in our head. We talk them out together as a team. And then we CREATE them to reality.

Our home, though admittedly one of our bigger dreams, was one of those creations. Now usually, we make everything with our OWN 4 hands. But this time we needed quite a bit of HELP.

But let me give you a little history first, to add interest to the story:

Once upon a time, in 1995, we bought this little 2 bedroom ‘beach house’, just a walk from a private seashore. We had dreams for what we wanted in our first house: a fireplace, floor kitchen cabinets, a loft and cathedral ceilings in the living room. We drove around with some hot-shot annoying young realtor, and looked at one dump after another. We found this one on our own. We were looking in a newspaper, we drove to it, peeked in all of the windows, and drove to the nearest pay phone to call the realtor listed. (No cell phones then I guess. Gosh…I can’t fathom that now.) He came with a key. This little house had all of the things we wanted! When I first walked in the front (side? lol….weird!) door, I swore the light of Heaven was streaming in through the skylights onto the floor, and I knew THIS was the house, and what I wanted, before I even saw the rest! And there was my loft! With a rustic ladder that climbed led to it! It was shocking for anyone to walk inside, because the outside was very, very deceiving. It also had a 11 ft unfinished basement.

Side Note: Now this photo below was not taken until 2006 or so…..not in 1995 when we bought it. At the time of purchase, it had no shutters. We bought some beautiful berry colored shutters, which as you can see faded quickly to a horrid washed out pink. So I just want to tell you: Don’t get berry colored shutters!! In fact….anything in the red family is going to fade in an ugly way, faster than any other color. But all in all, we loved out little home by the sea. As the years went by, we thought maybe at some point we would add a sun room on the side of the house there on the deck (because the chimney was beginning to crumble after owning the house for 10 years, anyway), but…..we loved our little home just as it was.

Front – from road view
–

Side
_

Soon enough, we had a baby daughter in that 2nd (TINY) bedroom, and the unfinished basement was finished on one side (by Michael) to be my photography studio. We were hopeful for another baby, and decided we would ‘make-do’ somehow when God sent another blessing to our family. We could worry about any blessings He had planned for us after that (in terms of room in the house), later, when the time came. We figured, let’s just have #2 first, and we’ll be quite fine for awhile until, God-willing, #3.

But when we discovered we were expecting again, a few years there-after we discovered we had #2, #3 and #4 on the way! Triplets! Triplets? 3? Whoa. Almost immediately, I ended up on full and complete bed rest for the duration (for concerns that started so soon). That ended up being 6 months, in-my-bed. (All of which time I just prayed, ate and drank. )

Now here is something to make you laugh; we went into a bit of a panic, still being in shock with the realization that we had 3 babies on the way, and just thinking about the little house we lived in. There was no time to buy another house and move, and we didn’t want to move anyway! So we started planning to just hurry up and have our home reconstructed before the babies were born! HA! It was so very unrealistic and impossible to accomplish such a thing in that time frame, and especially under those circumstance. We decided we had to wait until AFTER the babies were born. ANOTHER LAUGH. Because of course, once the babies were born, we didn’t have time to even make a phone call to a construction company! We were too dang busy feeding, changing, burping, bouncing, bathing babies! It was a never-ending schedule. Even once that slowed down as they grew….we had play yards, high chairs, toys, bouncy seats, car seats, you name it….all over the house. But as those little blessings grew, and we were able to catch a wink of sleep enough to be able to THINK straight now and then, we began to DREAM again. We talked a lot about our ‘dream house’ for our family, working with what we already had. (Which we loved. But it was just too dang small now.) We talked, and talked some more, brainstorming, planning, and soon we could SEE all it in our head very clearly.

But as you all know, Michael plans everything on paper:

Come along for the journey, as we show you how went from this beach house/cottage, to our farmhouse-style dream come true.
Do you think you all will enjoy this?? Let us know!

To Be Continued…………….. Here, PART II

Save

How to Build a Wood Stove Bench – Part III – Finished

July 8, 2009 By Laura 1 Comment

For those of you who have been following our blog for awhile, you’ll know how this post is a little late coming. The project was done quite awhile ago – we just didn’t get to posting the last part of the project. Not sure if anyone has literally been following this project to build a bench of their own anyway. If so….we’re sorry!!

For the rest of you, who may be new to our blog here, or missed these project posts before, we can catch you up with links, and a brief explanation: We were using a silly footstool at our wood stove over the winter, to sit upon as we loaded wood into the stove, or poked the fire some. Eventually, I had mentioned that I thought Michael should build us a real rustic bench enough times, that he got to sketching.

Here are Parts I and II of this project:

How to Build a Wood Stove Bench – Part I

How to Build a Wood Stove Bench – Part II

So, where were we? Oh yes. Michael had completed building the bench, and it just needed to be sanded some, primed, and painted. (And I prefer….sanded a little again, for that older look.)

The primer we used was a mixed color that, actually, was not quite the color we were going for. I wanted a medium brown that had some gray in it. But it came out looking more like…..medium gray-brown with some purple in it?

It was a Sunday when we had gotten this primer. Michael had them mix it up at the little local hardware store. By the time we popped open the can, the store was closed. We had gotten the primer that day, for our unfinished farm table we had gotten for the sun room. I was eager to do the project that day, so we used the primer anyway, and it turned out to be fine.

Like the bench, we were painting the table white anyway, in the end. The reason the primer color mattered any, was because I like to sand the corners and edges of the piece of furniture, to give it a worn old look. Most times we sand right down to the wood anyway, but in parts the primer does show. But it is so subtle, you couldn’t pinpoint the color.

So, after a quick sanding of the bench, Michael got to priming. It wasn’t important to us to have it super smooth, so if it would be to you, you’d want to put more time into that, until it is as smooth as you’d like it all over. We pretty much got right to priming.

Once it was primed all over, and the primer had dried, he filled in the screw holes some with filler, and got to painting it white.

I helped, with a brush of my own, in between taking photos. : )

Once it was painted all over, dried, and got a second coat dry, Michael sanded the edges and corners some, to make the bench look older and worn, as I had told him I wanted.

And when he was all done, I did it again. : ) He just wasn’t aggressive enough for me. I wanted it OLDER and MORE WORN than he had accomplished. But ….it’s a preference thing.

That’s better!! We did the same with our farmer’s table in the same room, so they kind of go together.

So now, the bench was finally done, just in time for……………SPRING?? lol

But, we did have a few very cold and rainy days and nights in early spring, that we got a cozy fire going.

So much better than the footstool….don’t you think?? That thing was barely accommodating to the backside of myself.

Remember, you may not need a wood stove bench, but a bench like this can be used in any room of the house. For taking off and putting on shoes in a mudroom. By a window for some light reading. In the bathroom for putting down your fresh clothes and towels. Or outdoors under a tree, on your deck, or by an outdoor fire pit! I’m sure if you’re needing a rustic bench, you know the perfect spot for it at your home.

We hope you enjoyed this home project, however sporadic. Sometimes, we’re just pleased with ourselves, that we finished a project, even if it did take longer than we had originally planned!

Save

A Garden Visitor – A Busy Bee

July 5, 2009 By Laura 1 Comment

The other afternoon, Little {O} and I were working around the gardens, pulling weeds and pinching off dried bits of flower parts, when we noticed we weren’t alone. There was a bumble bee, working right along beside us. It was amazing watching him work, seemingly oblivious to our presence. So graceful, as he floated around. It was but moment, before I couldn’t take it anymore. I asked {O} to keep an eye on him, while I ran into get my camera.

He was all over the place, as was my exposure, as he went from light flower to dark, and back again….I could hardly keep up with my settings, and I didn’t have a macro lens either. So…technically far from the best shots they could have been, but it sure was fun taking them!

These are the moments, when I’m just so fascinated with the brilliant details of God’s beautiful work.
We thought we’d just share the moment with you, and we hope you enjoyed it, too.

Save

We Picked Our 1st Garden Strawberry!

June 29, 2009 By Laura Leave a Comment

Back on June 11, {O} came running in the house all excited, because Daddy had let her pick the first garden strawberry.

It’s was a BEAUTY, don’t you think? Thank goodness it was a good size berry, because every one of us were so excited, we had to split it 6 ways! My bit was just a tad bitter, I think. It was kind of hard to tell because it was so small.

There were a few other of the June-bearing berries here and there, that were almost ready for picking, too.

Some were in earlier stages than other, but they still looked like they were going to be good ones!

Only a few days later, many that were green had already really ripened up nicely. Things were looking rather promising!

Although now and then, we find one like this, and it just doesn’t seem quite right. They sure make us laugh though! Perhaps as we become more educated gardeners, we’ll learn just went wrong with berries like these. Gosh…I almost feel sorry for it, the more I look at it. But God doesn’t make mistakes. Right? Maybe it’s sole purpose is for us gardeners to find the gift of chuckles among the leaves and vines. It sure works for me!

All of the kids have enjoyed the excitement of building garden beds, and watching things grow and develop. But it’s evident that {O} really feels the joy and passion inside that I do, with this new experience of gardening.

You know….I was just about to say that I wish I discovered the joy of growing produce in your own gardens as young as {O}, when I was suddenly flooded with a few childhood garden memories of my own. In fact, I’ll have to dig up and share with you all, a little something I just remembered I have stored away, that I think you all may appreciate. If for nothing else, because it’ll give you a little gardening chuckle.

I did love gardens when I was little, come to think of it. So maybe it’s not a new passion after all, but just a forgotten one, that has been…..hibernating. I’m sure glad it’s decided to come out, and fill me with daily joy.

Save

Strawberry Fields. FOREVER!

June 8, 2009 By Laura 3 Comments

Our family has gotten into some major gardening this year, and you’ll be seeing a whole lot of it coming up this summer.
Our first project was a strawberry bed.

We LOVE strawberries! Just fresh picked and washed. In our cereal. As strawberry shortcake. Chocolate covered strawberries. : ) If our crop is plentiful enough, I may even make some jam!

In early May, Michael built the bed, and we filled it with some ordered and delivered loam, because our yard/land is pretty sandy. Then we planted 2 kinds of strawberries. Junebearing, and Everbearing. I discovered while planting that we didn’t get a tag for the Everbearing plants. I was irked with that, not only because I would have liked to know which variety of Everbearing we got, but also because I wanted to photograph that tag too. lol Anyway, once all was planted, the bed as a whole looked somewhat on the pathetic side, but I was hopeful they all just needed to get acclimated to their new home. Don’t look at the ground around it for now. We’ve got BIG plans for all of that too.

Here’s a shot of a newly planted Everbearing. When I came across it in my shots, I had to include it because, you have no idea how much time I spent trying to figure out what the original orientation of the photo was that I shot it at. I did 2 full rotation, 90 degrees at a time, trying to figure it out. lol. If you think it looks wrong now, you should see the other ways. I was getting dizzy. I must have shot it at a weird angle.

This is the tiny beginning blooms of this Everbearing plant.

That first day that we had gotten this garden all planted, a vacationer staying in the beach house next door, asked me how we planned to keep the birds, squirrels and other pesky creatures out of the strawberry garden. I told him I wasn’t sure, but that I shouldn’t have to worry about it for awhile, because they didn’t even have berries yet. He just looked kept looking at me, and didn’t respond to that, which I determined as rather odd. Made me glad, in the moment, that he wasn’t a real neighbor. Know what I’m saying?

Well, the next morning we discovered a squirrel romping around in our bed!! The strawberry bed I mean. Not the one we were sleeping in. lol. (Thank goodness.) Not only was he/she (whatever…who cares) trampling all over the place, but it had already bitten off several of the long stems to the Junebering plants! Turns out Mr. Funny-Looks that was next door, is from Vermont, and has acres of all kinds of gardens. Or something.

Well….I saw Michael do that tight-lips thing he does, when he is super aggravated. I think it took him all of 2 hours to sketch out a battle plan, (remember…he sketches everything out first) go to Home Depot for some supplies, and build THIS baby…….

I was DULY impressed, as I often am with his designing and building abilities, and his facial expression had definitely moved onto one that spoke more of, “Take THAT squirrels.” And then one of the kids suggested we get up early the next morning, sit in the window and wait for the squirrels to come, and laugh at them. (I don’t know WHERE they learned such gloating-type attitudes!? lol) (OK, I might know where, but I’m not telling you.)

So that all was back in May. Yesterday in the late afternoon, I went out and did some garden weeding. The cover just lifts right off very easily, if you’re not 4 legged gray-furred creature, with a long bushy tail. I thought I’d take some more photos while I was at it.

Just LOOK at all of the flowers on these Everbearing plants!!

I just learned that we should pluck these first flowers off, to give the roots more time to get established before the plant starts producing fruit. So I’ll do that today. I had been told, when we bought them, that the Everbearing plants, which tend to give a good 3 crops per season of the bigger, juicier strawberries, can take 2-3 years to really produce a good crop. But my mother-in-law disagrees with that and says we’ll get plenty this year. So I guess we’ll see what happens. Since the Junebearing only put out one good crop for 2-3 weeks ( around June, I’m guessing, lol), I wasn’t planning on a whole lot, collectively, THIS year. I hope my mother in law is right, this time. lol

But over at the Junebearing plantings, we’ve got berries growing all over the place!! Check it out!

As new gardeners, the initial discovery of strawberries growing had us screaming, and making the neighbor’s dog start barking. We were rather excited.

Sometime the next day, I saw a squirrel nearby, and before I could stop myself, I yelled in his little rodent face,

“WE WIN!!”.

Now what does that tell you?

Save

“WE WIN!!”.

Amazon Affiliates