Vintage Home and Farm

While working on remodeling our downstairs bathroom, we removed a giant mirror that had covered the entire upper half of the wall over the sink and countertop. After setting the mirror down in another room of the house, we went back into the bathroom and discovered several old messages taped to the wall where the mirror had been. The tape around the messages had yellowed with age. Cobwebs and dust drooped over the surface of the wall. What are the messages about, we wondered, and why are they here? The first one appears to be of a political nature. It says, "Vote for Tricky Dicky [Tricky Dicky is crossed out], Crafty Richard, and Zorba the Veep!" Who is Zorba the Veep? We had to look them up. Apparently, this was the nickname given by Democrats to Spiro T. Agnew, who was the 39th Vice President of the United States. The second sign says, "Attencion por favor, Odoriferous material is deposited within these catacombous hollows." I guess we can all figure out what that...

Nine months ago, we offered to become foster parents for the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society. There weren't any foster opportunities then, but we stayed on their list in case they needed help. Then, in mid-July, we got the call. They had a momma cat and three kittens for us to foster. The momma was found in a barn when she was pregnant, and now that she had given birth, the kitties needed a foster family to take care of them. They would be with us for 8-10 weeks, and then the Humane Society takes it from there. It has been a great experience, of course, except I forgot how crazy kittens get when they are big enough to crawl out of their pen. They were only in their pen for about two weeks. Since then, it's been total wild chaos in The Corral, which is the room of the house that they are in. Luckily we have a big enough house that it's not too overwhelming. The kittens love to race like bandits around the room, climbing up the furniture, clawing, and chewing on everything. ...

It’s been a few years since this article was published, but we thought we’d bring it back out of the archives and share it again, for our followers who asked to see photos of knotty pine in some of our rooms!  ~~~~~ Our master bedroom features vintage knotty pine walls, which is a bit uncommon and can be a challenge when trying to figure out how to decorate the space. If you also have knotty pine walls in your master bedroom, you know all about this challenge first-hand.  It can help to see examples of how others have decorated their knotty pine master bedroom.  So, I thought I would share a few photos of our bedroom with you. In going about decorating the room, one of the most important issues I learned was that there needs to be a balance of light to offset the darkness of the wood walls.  This can be accomplished easily with a light-colored bedspread and white sheets. You may be tempted to buy new furnishings and bedding, but I found that I didn't need to....

It snowed on Christmas! How rare and beautiful to see so much snow over the long holiday weekend.  Below are a few photos from around the farm on Christmas Day, as well as the day after Christmas when even more snow fell. Late on Christmas Day, Reggie the miniature horse made a trip out to the end of the field wearing his holiday best. We were delighted to greet him and visit with Andrea that evening.  We also walked around the farm. My favorite Christmas tree is behind our house by the creek, as you can see above.  We also walked out to the community barn to see the animals there. Only a few inches had fallen by the end of the day, just enough to create some excitement in the neighborhood.  We could hear kids nearby, screaming with excitement, likely immersed in a snowball fight.  We left holiday treats for the barn animals: peanuts for Patch, apples and a carrot for Reggie, and kitty treats for Barney the barn cat. Otherwise, w e spent most of Christmas Day in...