Vintage Home and Farm

It's getting closer to New Year's Eve, and so one of my tasks is to begin putting together time capsule ideas. As promised in an earlier blog , the time capsule will be placed behind a secret door, hidden deep inside a closet of our old farmhouse.  We still have no idea what's behind that tiny door. I quiver with childish delight thinking about what could be hidden in there. And, if there is nothing really cool lurking behind the tiny door, we'll be placing a time capsule there for future homeowners (or our grand kids) to find some day. Which brings me to a really import part of our planning: The Time Capsule Ideas List. I'm basing this list on what I wish I could have found left behind by prior homeowners, here in the house, as a new homeowner wondering about the history of this old place. Who lived here before us? What were they like? What was their daily life like here on this farm?  What did they do, and what did they produce using the land?  What was ...

There was a knock and a whinny at my door late this morning.  When I opened it, I was delighted to see one of my neighbors with her sweet miniature horse, Reggie.  She said he was visiting his neighbors to say "Merry Ho Ho!"  He was very excited when I came outside, and he tossed his head happily and whinnied again. Oh, how I love our friendly neighbors, and living in the country! Fortunately I had just baked some homemade granola and packaged a bunch for the holidays. It was a wonderful surprise to find them at my door, to visit for a few minutes and then send them on their way with a homemade treat. Here is the recipe for the granola, which originally came from Bon Apetite but I've altered it slightly. Vanilla Almond Granola Ingredients 4 cups old-fashioned oats 1 cup sliced almonds 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/3 cup canola oil 1/4 cup honey 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar ...

Rather than visions of sugarplums, we've got kitchen islands, bathroom remodels, and tractors with all the implements dancing in our heads.  We're anxiously awaiting Santa to deliver on the close of sale on our previous home. The closing date has been pushed out a couple of times, but it looks like Santa will make it in time for Christmas. The next steps on the remodel of this old house are dependent upon funds from closing on the previous house, so that we can let go of some bills and invest the equity in the new home. But, no worries, the waiting has given us a bit more time to contemplate what would work best in the next stages of the remodel. Meanwhile, we decorated the inside of the old house for Christmas. My living room somewhat resembles a log cabin at Christmas. It's time to curl up by the fire with cookies, cocoa and a good book, while we wait for Santa Claus. Our family wishes yours a very happy Christmas, and many blessings in the new year.

There isn't an overhead stove vent in our vintage kitchen, and installing one would require remodeling that we don't want to undertake, but that's okay -- the other option that we went with was to install a downdraft vent for a downdraft stove. As we went about deciding this, we also learned that Kitchenaid and Jenn Air are pretty much the only two stove manufacturers that make downdraft stoves.  All that boils down to me being one of the luckiest cooks around, with a very fancy Kitchenaid stove! I couldn't be more delighted! We installed the stove ourselves. It took two days. We decided to put the stove in the middle of the kitchen floor, where we will soon build an island around it.  Day one of stove installation involved the wiring, as we needed to put a plug in the middle of the floor. Day two was focused on the downdraft vent pipe and putting the stove into place. One factor that made the stove installation a little easier was that there was no exi...

At the risk of being called a Chicken Whisperer, I will admit that I enjoy taking chickens for a walk.  It all started when I noticed one day, a few weeks back, that our three girls follow me around the property when I let them out of their pen.  I like to walk around in the late afternoon and inspect things, or I might be out doing a chore.  As I transition from one area of the property to the next, I noticed that my three hens would soon come along, pecking the ground, but following just the same. So, I decided to see if I could actually take chickens for a walk. Meet my three hens. Amy, above left, is a Rhode Island Red. Henrietta is an Orpington. And trailing behind is Miss Prissy Fuzzy Bottom, a Wyandotte. Prissy has a crooked toe but she walks just fine. These girls were city chickens who moved to the country with us. So, here we go. They've left their pen, and sure enough, they're tagging along. It's a pleasant way to spend a half-hour, slowly ci...

After cleaning up the first five mid century vases I found in the cellar on the old metal bookshelf, I decided to go down and look around a bit more. It's kinda spooky down there with all the dust and cobwebs, but after poking around a bit, I did discover a few more treasures.  Three more mid century items are now added to this new photo. So, after looking at the bottoms for markings and doing a bit of research, here is what we have.  In the back row, left to right: Mid Century Royal Haeger Rectangular Brown Vase with Green Drip Mid Century Shawnee Rocket Vase, Pink Matte with Gold Drizzle on exterior, shiny white interior Not sure what this one is; it has no markings. Roseville USA 747-10 Brown Pinecone Vase. This one would have had lot of value, but unfortunately it has multiple chips in the base and top edge. Even with the chips, though, the vase has a lot of charm. It may still be somewhat valuable. No idea what this one is, but it has markings on the bottom a...

We've been planning to move a couple of metal shelving racks (the sturdy kind that Costco carries) from the cellar over into the laundry room.  This morning I went down into the cellar and thought I'd see if I could move them on my own. They were too heavy, but in the process of puttering around in the cellar, I noticed that there are several nice-sized pieces of plywood that would be great for helping to weatherize my chicken coop. So I moved a piece away from where it rested -- it was leaning against a 1950's style metal bookshelf -- and out of the corner of my eye I noticed something red on the bottom shelf.  I was a bit startled at first because it looked like a red glass bong.  I squatted down, brushed the cobwebs out of the way, and saw that there were several other objects on the shelf next to it.  Looks like I found some mid-century modern planters and vases! Of course I grabbed them all and rushed up to the kitchen so I could get a closer look.  Th...