Vintage Home and Farm

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...

Decorating a gingerbread house at Christmas time has become a tradition in our home.  Normally we buy a kit with the gingerbread shapes already baked and ready for assembly.  This year, for the first time, we decided to make the entire gingerbread house from scratch! We were inspired by a book we came across in the library, A Year of Gingerbread Houses by Kristine Samuell. It wasn't nearly as difficult as we thought it might be to do the entire thing ourselves. The three main difficulties in making a gingerbread house from scratch are: 1) Finding inspiration for the design of the house; 2) Being patient enough to wait for the house to finish baking; and 3) Using caution when assembling the house, by allowing adequate drying time for each phase of assembly. As for the first challenge, our daughter Elizabeth provided the inspiration for the house.  We decided to create the design on the computer, using Microsoft Word to insert shapes (squares and triangles) to create the f...

Patch the Donkey There was finally a break in the rain today and so we headed outside to visit with the farm animals. As we entered the community barn, we noticed how festive it looks with red ribbons hanging along each stall. Our neighbors have been busy decorating. Each of the animals in the barn has a Christmas stocking as well.  Mocha the Horse Mocha is always eager for attention. She's a rambunctious horse and so we handle her with care. Before long, we were also greeted by Barney the Barn Cat, who hopped down from a bale of hay to come over and greet us. Loud meowing and purring are hard to ignore and so Barney was thoroughly petted before we headed back outside. Barney the Barn Cat We walked out to the end of the field to take in the shiny foil decorations hanging on the fence posts all along the horse field.  The decorations are a tradition for our neighborhood.  Before we left the barn, we were fortunate that Andrea stopped by to get Reggie dressed up for his hol...

We're sending the warmest and happiest holiday wishes your way this Christmas!  Despite the unusually wet and dreary weather of the past few days (we've had an "atmospheric river" pass over this side of Washington), we are keeping warm and staying in good spirits thanks to both the wood fires burning in our hearths and our family and friends who have warmed our hearts with their love and good cheer.  We are reminded of the special meaning of Christmas and know that we are truly blessed. As is our tradition, our Christmas tree is decorated with all the handmade and gifted ornaments we've collected over the years. It's a family Christmas tree with no other theme except treasures that have special meaning to each of us. As I write this, dinner is cooking in the oven and we are kicking back and relaxing after spending the day traveling to visit family.  My daughter is drawing next to the tree and my husband is reading. This year we decorated with min...