Vintage Home and Farm

We've been gradually inspecting and replacing this old house's electrical outlets and light switches where needed. Below is an example of a kitchen outlet that needed to be replaced. We knew there was a problem because the lower plug sometimes didn't work. After turning off the power, removing the plate, and pulling it forward, we could see it was a fire hazard. It literally fell apart while Paul was removing it. The switch was actually broken in half, which was why the lower part didn't work right. Below are all the pieces after the outlet crumbled onto the counter. It still had the original price tag from a local plumbing and electrical store, Thurman Supply, where the former owners or their electrician purchased it for 49 cents. Since Thurman's opened in the 1970s, we are guessing this outlet was probably replaced in the mid-1970s or early 1980s. After dealing with this outlet, we're both a little worried and have since made it a goal to inspect the house...

One of the questions that I get asked from time to time is how we preserve our harvest.  When we first started preserving food, even before putting things in the freezer, we chose to can as much as possible.  We started off pressure canning, and then later on, I learned how to water bath can as well.  Today, our food preservation includes not only canning and freezing but also dehydrating and curing food. Above, you'll see some of our home-canned food and most of our teas and herbs stored in this hutch that was built by my father-in-law, Richard. We've got both herbs we foraged and those we've grown, dehydrated, and stored in glass jars in the upper part of the hutch. On the countertop, tomatoes are  ripening from our summer harvest. We've also got a tub of quinoa that we harvested and winnowed a while ago. And, of course, in the ceramic jar are bones for our dog, Mojo.  Finally, the wooden chicken holds medicines and supplements for the chickens, ducks, cats an...

This project was fairly simple and the stools with their new padded seat covers looked so nice that I thought I'd share a few photos.  Recently, we picked up a couple of old bar stools for dirt cheap at an online auction, for using in our kitchen. After cleaning up the stools, we decided to staple padded covers onto the seats.  I purchased the canvas fabric, called Watercolor Houses , from Jo-Ann Fabric.  My sister has added padded seat covers to chairs a number of times over the years and I've always thought they looked so nice (she has an amazing eye for color and design!). With her creative ideas to inspire me, I decided to give it a try.   For about $16 at Jo-Ann, I purchased two green foam seat covers.  I already had some white felt for laying between the foam and the fabric. (The white felt isn't really necessary; I just decided to use it to give the fabric a smoother look, since I already had it in my fabric drawer.) The only tools that were nee...