new wood floors

Even though our fall farm work isn't done (we haven't even started seeding yet—waiting for rain), I've been getting the itch to start some house projects again. On a whim Mom and I decided to stop at a flooring store the other day. I've been dying to ditch the old blue carpet in the girl's bedrooms and my mom has been dreaming of new wood floors for her living room. And of course, I'm always keeping an eye out for wood for my own living room floors, though I wasn't sure we would get around to tackling that this year.

Nevertheless, it was the latter that presented itself. Right inside the door of the flooring store was an in-stock (less than a 1/3 of retail price) deal on some solid, 8" wide plank solid wood that we both loved. The wood is a rustic hickory. I like things clean and modern and I love very dark wood floors, but I also wanted a floor that wouldn't show every little scratch and spec of dust. This color seemed just right. 

We brought home a sample and it passed my dad's scrutiny (the ultimate test). My mom ruled it out for her house though because the planks felt too wide for her smaller space, but it looked great in our living room against the fireplace. On top of that, we recently received insurance payments for the hail damage on our roof and gutters. The guys opted to do those repairs themselves, so we have that money to spend on flooring instead and, well, the deal was just too good to pass up.

So, its a bit surreal and I'm quite giddy to be getting new living room floors soon!

Over 900 square feet arrived at the store this afternoon and is ready for us to pick up. It is enough for our living room, den, and master bedroom. It will likely sit around for quite a while before we have time to lay it. It will be even longer before we can move a couple of walls in our master area and lay that section of flooring—maybe even another full year—but we wanted to purchase the flooring all in one batch so it would match. 

Before we can lay the floor we need to strip the wallpaper, scrape the popcorn cielings, retexture the ceilings, and paint. I plan to save a section of the old wool floral carpet and have it bound into an area rug to use in one of the girl's rooms. (It has sentimental value, and it's in great shape for being over 40 years old!)

The white wood sample (above right) was an option I was considering for the girl's bedrooms, though I am still looking for a less expensive alternative.

I've had my heart set on white wood floors in those bedrooms (I would of course put down nice area rugs for softness). Eva's room is north facing and a little short on light, and I know white floors would brighten the space so much. My ideal option is prefinished white-stained oak. However, for cost effectiveness I would settle for unfinished oak and stain it myself. Even less expensive would be unfinished pine, painted white. (White stained pine would probably yellow too much). I like this option but my dad does not. Tom just thinks we should do carpet, but I want a light color. Light carpet is not a good idea at my house. I've even considered Pergo laminate floors.

What would you do?

On another note, I've been considering what to do with our living room fireplace. The rock on the fireplace surround is absolutely staying. It's a huge fireplace, and we really love the green and rust colors of the slate. It is called "Montana Picture Rock" and was quarried from the nearby Rocky Mountains. Some of the rocks have leaf fossil prints in them. 

It is the actual fireplace portion I'm concerned about. Our long term plan has been to have gas inserts installed. However, it is double-sided, so insert(s) would be spendy. Lately I have been reconsidering. We don't need the fireplace for heat (unless the power goes out). We mainly want it for ambiance. It currently has gas log inside, but we haven't been able to use it because the propane valve (outside the fireplace) has a leak. That needs to be fixed anyway, so I'm thinking we should get that working and just use the gas log, leaving the current doors in place.

While I don't hate the brass trimmed doors, they certainly aren't pristine. Nor are they modern. I think brass is starting to come back into trend, though. My question is, should I paint the brass parts black? Or leave them?

mechanics

Today I was feeling like I had nothing interesting to post about. It has just been ordinary daily life around here. But then I remembered that most people have no idea what "ordinary daily life" is on the farm, especially in between seeding and harvesting. And I remembered my pledge to write more about the everyday moments.

Since school started our weekly routine has included soccer practice twice a week and games every weekend. This last Saturday Tom was unable to come to the games with us because he had someone coming to pick up hay. (Speaking of hay, we are sharing a little more about that part of our operation over on His Tales today.) 

I pulled up to the soccer field, parked, and was getting ready to get out of the car when a policeman knocked on my window. 

"Did you know you had a brake light out?"

"Good to know!", I said. Well, I did already know that, actually. We had discovered it a while ago and tried to replace the bulb, but realized it was a wiring issue and not an easy fix. I was operating on 2 other functioning brake lights and didn't think too much about it. 

I thought he was just being courteous and letting me know, but how naive of me. He then said "Can I see your license and registration?" I knew I was going to be there for awhile and became shamefully aware of the fact that he was parked conspicuously behind me in the parking lot while everyone walked by to the fields. Woot.

I sent Sarah off to her game and then waited for an eternity while the cop issued me a warning and told me I had 3 days to get it fixed.  

This morning we prepared to call our local mechanic, but Tom decided first to pull the car into the shop to see if he could figure out the problem on his own. Now this is where those of you who know my husband will perk up and say "that doesn't sound like Tom!"  Tom isn't naturally mechanically inclined. He is usually the type of person who would rather focus on what he knows and pay someone else to take care of the rest. But on the farm, time, money, and convenience factor into the equation and in this case paying $x to fix the car wasn't very enticing.

And you know what? He fixed it! I don't tell you this to embarrass him or make a big deal out of a (perhaps simple to some of you) brake light wiring issue. The point is, being a mechanic often doesn't mean knowing everything about cars. Or trucks. Or tractors. It's having the courage, patience and tenacity to dig in and figure out what you don't know. The knowledge and experience comes over a long time of doing this very thing. In any case, I was proud of my husband this morning, and proud that over the last 2 years on the farm he has had a number of successes like this.

The next day we were driving home and stopped to pick up and move a truck. I was driving ahead of Tom when I looked in the rear view mirror and saw that I had a headlight out too. Its a good thing the cop pulled me over in the daylight or he would have had a hay day with me.

My poor car—the "ranch limo"—we have put over 30,000 miles on it in the last year. I am hopeful that we will have it payed off before we have to trade it, but at this rate we might hit the 200,000 mile mark first! I have had to have 2 flats repaired in the last month, and on my most recent visit to the tire shop they told me my barely-a-year-old tires are looking awfully gravel chewed and will need replaced soon. Country life is just rough on cars. You'll see in the photo above that it is muddy and bug splattered. I do wash my car occasionally, but the shine lasts no longer than one trip back down my gravel driveway. What should I get next? A Mercedes? Ha ha. Luxury cars will not be for me. 

See the shop my car is parked in? We are hoping to spend some time giving it a major organizational overhall. Believe me, it will be no small job. I wouldn't dare show you any before pictures before we have some really nice after photos to redeem ourselves. We also have a new giant shop door to install so the guys will have a second mechanic bay. In the meantime, I'm just trying to get our garage cleaned out and under control. Baby steps, now. Baby steps.

I hope you've enjoyed this installment of everyday life on the farm. Riveting entertainment to be sure! 

Colter Wayne

I recently had the privilege of practicing my photo "skillz" (ha) on my newest, most adorable neighbor. This is Colter Wayne, my cousin's new baby boy. And boy is is he irresistible. All these new baby boys might be making me want my own little boy a teensy weensy bit . . .  Nah, just kidding. I'm quite happy to give them lots of cuddles and then hand them back to their mommies.

There is no doubt this little guy is going to be raised all country, is there? :)

lounge chair update

Remember this guy?

Sorry, no after pictures in this post.

Since I posted about this nearly 2 months ago it has mostly sat untouched. But not entirely. I managed to disassemble it:

I have the wood pieces laid out in the garage. They are stripped and partially sanded, almost ready for staining.

Mom and I separated the cording from the upholstery pieces and laid them out to be cut.

We have the pieces cut for the ottoman and will make sure the vinyl we have is going to work before cutting the rest. Hopefully, now that harvest is behind us, we can dust this project off and make some more progress.

Abby's quilt

Along with her horse events, Abby completed another 4-H project to enter in the fair. She had purchased some fabric for a 4-H class when at the last minute it was cancelled. So instead we found a tutorial online and completed it at home.

This process, called "faux chenille" was really fun. In brief, you sew narrow rows on the bias through 4 layers of fabric, 3 of those layers being flannel. You then cut through the flannel layers in each stitched channel. After the quilt is washed, those cut rows of flannel fray and create the fake chenille.

This was Abby's first time on a sewing machine, and it was a good way to practice threading and using the presser foot evenly. It was also a great lesson of persistence and patience because it was quite repetitive at certain stages.

But it was all worthwhile when we wandered through the 4-H building and discovered she had won best-in-show in the sewing class. You can see the back side of the quilt and the frayed rows of chenille below.

I helped her cut and sew the bias tape binding from some fabric instead of purchasing bias tape, which added an extra element of difficulty. Sewing the binding on evenly is the part that challenged her the most. I would recommend buying pre made bias tape for a beginner.

Or even if you aren't a beginner. I thought the process was so much fun that I decided to buy some fabric and make one for my new nephew Brandon. His nursery is Winnie the Pooh.

I found a denim bias tape to use for the binding and it was much easier to sew evenly.

Overall we found this project to be really fun and relatively quick and easy. Here is a link again to the tutorial we used if you would like to try this for yourself!

4-H

The weekend before school started was our county fair. Abby participated by showing her horse for 4-H.

No, we don't have horses here on the farm, but Tom's family has enough to go around. Abby was able to participate in this level of 4-H because she was able to spend a few weekends this summer on Tom's parent's ranch helping with the horses, feeding, cleaning stalls, and riding.

With Tom being tied up with harvest and me knowing nothing about horses, Aunt Tawnya and Nanna stepped in to save the day. They brought the horse up to the fairgrounds and stayed with Abby during the fair.

This is Double-Dot. He was Tom's horse when he rode in high school.

Tawnya gives Abby some last minute pointers before the show.

Abby did very well, placing first in her Novice Horsemanship class.

This is her friend Madison, who competed in her same classes. Cuties.

Abby with her cousins, and their newest "cousin" Chesterfeild.

Relaxed and relieved after the events are through. Isn't she a pretty girl?

Two pretty girls. I love this picture of them together.

And I love these boys.

They look just like brothers and sisters.

This little munchkin was along for the day also. Just not old enough to perch on the fence with her cousins.

And for good measure, one more funny picture that must be saved for future blackmailing. Recently lost teeth make Sarah look like she is sporting fangs. Paired with a wide-mouthed crazy smile, and crossed eyes its a great look.

My new favorite flowers

Last spring, Sarah's Kindergarten class made Mother's Days cards and included a packet of seeds. I threw those seeds in a pot along with some other class plantings and didn't think much about it.

I was pleasantly surprised when these Zinnea seeds bloomed, and I've dubbed them my new favorite flower.

1. They grow really tall—over a foot—and fill a pot nicely.

2. The blooms are large, artistic, and stunning.

3. The colors are bright and happy.

4. And very best of all (maybe because I planted them from seed in late spring?) they bloomed in August, when the grass and fields and other blooms are turning brown.

I will definitely be looking for Zinnea seeds every year!

Meeting Brandon

Would anyone like to meet my new nephew?

Introducing Brandon Wil, cutest cowboy in the west.

His sweet Momma had a shower in her home town and we got to join in. Brandon was already a month old when I got to see him for the first time. 

It's hard to think about how much he will have changed before we see him again. We are already seeing some stinkin' cute smiles show up on Facebook since we've last seen him.

Thank goodness for cyberspace, right? We would miss out on so much without it.

Harvest happenings

Before harvest time fades too far from our memory I thought I'd share a few more moments from this year. 

This is what dinner in the field looks like these days:

A simple production. Mom says "Where did everyone go? Doesn't anyone want to relax and enjoy their dinner awhile?" No, everyone is off for one last ride on the combines.

It isn't the easiest thing to drive with a kid on your lap. Especially one that defiantly says "I do it" and takes over the steering. Grandpa is very patient.

And this straight edge on the field wasn't so straight after Eva finished with it.

Beautiful Montana sunsets:

One night we had a storm roll in so we went out around midnight to move vehicles off the field (so they wouldn't get left in the mud.) Tom pulled out ahead of me with a loaded truck and I could see grain pouring out the back. He made it up onto the road a ways before I could get his attention to stop the truck. By then there was a pretty good trail of wheat behind him, and more piling up on the road behind the truck. For some reason the back door (which is is usually never used) had come unlatched. The weight of the load prevented us from closing it, so left the truck in the road, ran back to the house for a crowbar, then back to the truck to pry the door closed. (Good thing it was a remote country road in the middle of the night). By then the rain was pouring hard. The photo below shows Dad and Tom saving the last of what they could after already shoveling a substantial pile back into the truck.

Harvesting canola:

Early that same rainy night we had strong winds that shattered many of the canola pods before we could get them cut. So many weather events that can wreck havoc on our success. First lack of snow, then hail, then wind. Sometimes the odds are hard to beat.

The night of the storm we happened to have some great old friends for company—this sweet Minnesota family stopping on their way through. (Hard to believe we are on the way to anywhere, seems like the end of the earth sometimes, but we are on the way to Canada!) We treated them with a true campout... due to the power outage that resulted from the winds. We told them Montana is still so remote we don't even have electricity up here. Ha.

The blackout didn't prevent us from taking a few combine rides, though, which suited this big boy in front just fine. 

A few days later we had more company, my brothers and their families, including my very new nephew, Brandon. (That is material for another post). With Ash to help dad in the field, we took advantage and headed out Saturday evening to Holter Lake to join Tom's family in celebrating Papa's birthday number 6-0. The girls were able to spend a few extra days camping there, but Tom and I were just lucky to sneak away for one quick overnight stay. 

Nothing like eating cake in the dark around a campfire.

Except maybe getting up the next morning to go fishing.

The fish knew it was Papa's birthday too and bit his line 5 times, completely ignoring everyone else in the boat with a rod. Birthday luck.

The best part was that the kids did the dirty job of cleaning the fish.

Sometimes it feels like we miss out on a good portion of summer when we spend well over a month of it harvesting. But it just makes us appreciate the priviliages we do have all the more. 

summer's end

Hello friends! Sorry to be such a stranger. I'm sad and relieved at the same time to find ourselves at the end of our summer. The start of school puts an abrupt end to our summer schedule but it also launches us into routine and normalcy.

The girls are happy to be going back also. Its a long summer for these country girls when you don't get to see your friends everyday.

Sarah is starting first grade and Abby is in 4th. Both are excited about their new teachers.

Does anyone else's house look like this after school shopping?

The first day of school was also our 15th Anniversary. We got married 3 days before my parents celebrated their 25th. That means they are celebrating their 40th this year! I wish I had a picture of Tom's parents together also because they too celebrated their 40th this summer.

Since our anniversary fell on the first day of school and the last day of harvest, we didn't celebrate until the following day. Mom offered to babysit and Tom and I escaped to town for a little shopping, movie, and dinner.

There should be lots of posts coming your way as I catch up with our busy August happenings. Back soon!

Thoughts on being a stay-at-home mom

I recently had a friend make the decision to leave her lucrative career to stay at home with her kids. She was excited about the change but nervous at the same time. Nervous about how she was going to fill her time, stay motivated, and most of all, fulfilled. She asked me if I had any advice. 

I'm no expert, but I have now lived on both sides of the fence. And I'm here to dispel the notion that staying at home is the easy choice. I know for some women the choice isn't really a choice at all. Some are forced to work to pay the bills. Others stay home because it doesn't make any financial sense to work after they pay the daycare bill for "x number of" kids. For me, the choice was easy to start with. When I graduated college I planned to work at least until my loans were paid off. It just made sense. When Abby came along three years later, however, I didn't have those loans paid off and we had car payments and a house payment. We were adjusted to a certain way of life that we liked. My career had already accelerated by that point, and I contributed to at least half of our household income. So I kept working. While I definitely had moments where I wished I could spend more time with my kids, most of the time I didn't feel like it was a huge sacrifice to be a working mom. I felt like my kids benefited from being around other people, educational opportunities at daycare, and most of all, structure.

There were other benefits to working full time. There was a distinct definition between work and home. When we weren't at work, our time was all ours and we could spend it how we wanted to. We could afford to take family vacations. At some point we hired a housekeeper to come every other week, frequent enough because we weren't home much to mess the house up. We hired other things done also; our car repairs, building our house, landscaping our yard. We had a small yard to care for, and if we didn't have time to do that we could usually find a neighbor boy to mow the lawn. You get the picture. I also had help from Tom. Because we both worked full time, we shared the housework. Tom was mostly in charge of the laundry and he cooked, cleaned, and payed the bills.  

My decision to stay at home was attached to our decision to move to the farm. By the time I pay for gas to get to town and childcare, and work at one of the low-paying jobs a small community offers, it isn't very practical for me to work. Plus, I'm more valuable at home. Keeping the household going takes time, and Tom can't help. He doesn't get off at 5 (or 6 or 7) like he used to. We have fallen into more traditional gender roles here on the farm just by necessity.

The truth is, the idea of staying at home was a big part of the allure of this lifestyle and the decision to move to the farm. I knew what I was getting myself into, but I didn't know, if you know what I mean. I am definitely much more busy with all things domestic than I expected to be. 

In theory, we have the same amount of laundry as before. We have the same amount of space (roughly) as before. Okay, our lawn is gigantic now. The house is a little bigger. But the housework load seems like it should be about the same, right? Well, instead of cooking dinner every night, we cook (and clean up after) 3 meals a day. There is no fast food down the street. I do all the yard work. My house gets messy 3 times faster because we are IN it all day long. Every time I go to the grocery store, I spend 2 hours in the car. I spend another hour in the car on school days delivering and collecting the kids from the bus. Another hour if I have to get them to town for activities. And this business of keeping three kids busy and out of trouble all day is a full time job in itself. Especially with a toddler. You know what I'm saying.

In this new life of ours, we now have more time than money. We do more things ourselves. For example, our remodeling projects are almost all DIY. Another example—I need a baby gifts for my new niece and nephew. Before I could afford a really nice gift—like a stroller or name brand baby shoes for instance. Now I can't spend that much, so I am making a handmade gift in an effort to make it more special and meaningful. At the moment I am stressing about getting this gift made, dinner cooked tonight, my house cleaned for guests, and keeping my toddler entertained on top of it all. This job comes with a different kind of stress—one that is self-imposed but real none-the-less; pressure to be a good mom and be everything to everyone. I want to cook yummy and healthy meals. Have a clean, organized, and well-decorated home. Raise good kids. Lose this baby weight already. Be smart. Well informed. Be involved in the farm. The list goes on.

Then there is the quesiton of fullfillment. Before it was easy. Work, get paycheck. Work harder, get raise. Buy clothes. Buy stuff for house. Work some more. Buy more. (Ha.) But the work was attached to a tangible (key word) reward, and I felt like I was accomplishing something. Now, I don't contribute directly to the family income. Much of my work is never finished. I clean the house and do the dishes, just to do it all over again. I'm not saying it isn't worthwhile or rewarding, but the reward is much less tangible.

I know time makes you forget. I know I am forgetting the stress and overwhelming fatigue of our old schedule. It wasn't easy. Tom traveled a lot, for one. My lucrative career was such because I was in management, which added to the stress and emotional strain of my job. That stress was hard to cope with sometimes. A lot of times. Money doesn't buy happiness. It buys lots of stuff. That we don't need.

I suppose there are a few out there that get to stay at home with their kids and can still afford the housekeeper, nanny, or (heaven help me) cook. They exist in a different reality than mine. But somehow I'm pretty sure that instead of stressing about how to pay the car repair bill and getting dinner on the table, they are stressing about how to pay the pool boy and private school tuition and how they are going to manage to squeeze in that Botox appointment before the soccer game. What I'm trying to say is this: Our means dictate our priorities. And we are all pretty good at maxxing ourselves out.

So what's my point?

I'm happy. This lifestyle isn't always easy, but its what I want. The grass might look greener on the other side sometimes, but I truly believe we are happiest if we can bloom where we are planted. With change comes challenge, but I will work at perfecting this life until I get it right. That is just my nature. Instead of fighting for that next promotion I will fight for happy kids, a clean house, and efficiency.

Today I read a blog post about how to make the laundry chore easier by foregoing much of the sorting (what? really?) and just doing a little bit every day. It's strikes me as funny that I get jazzed about reading blogs about housework and organizing. It used to be we learned everything we knew about domestic things from our moms. Now there is no end to the inspiration and help we can get from moms of all walks of life. It occurred to me though; in the time it took me to read that blog about laundry efficiency I could have folded a whole basket of laundry. Ha. (As much as I feel guilty about my blog reading habit, I do value and appreciate the connection it gives me to life outside the farm. Its that adult interaction I miss by not working outside the home. The key is moderation, right?)

Recently I discovered our online library where I can download both e-books and audio books. I've enjoyed how listening to a story while doing housework really makes the mundane chores much more enticing. After I finish a book, though, I am usually happy to work in silence for awhile so that I am more in tune with what is going on around me and using my brain to meditate and think. (Think up ideas like this blog post. :) I just had to quit what I was doing so I could write this all down while it was in my head.)

So, what are your tips for staying motivated through the mundane? I'm all ears and I need all the help I can get!

(About these photos: I feel like I do a pretty good job of documenting major life events on camera. But sometimes I feel like I miss out on the best photo opportunities when I don't pick up my camera at home and capture what happens on any old boring day. I love to follow everyone's 365 photo projects for this reason. It forces you to take a photo every day. I'm not sure if I have the discipline for that, but maybe I should try? Here's to capturing the everyday!)

harvest time

I'm breaking the silence of an intended blog hiatus—unintended but unsurprising. Harvest has been in full swing for the past couple of weeks, which launches us into coping mode. Coping and keeping up with the busy days. If you are one who visits the blog simply for house projects and updates, well, there just isn't much (any) of that happening right now. Come back in a month or two. In the meantime, here is a smattering of goings-on around the farm.

Furrows and Fourwheelers

Last week started out with an event that took the wind out of our sails a bit. My cousin Rob, our main hired hand and harvest help the past several years, was injured badly in a four-wheeler accident and put out of commission for the rest of the season. Not to discount the severity of a broken shoulder and pelvis, but we are thankful it wasn't worse. It happened like this:

We finished up our harvest dinner and the guys headed back out to work. Rob's cousin, visiting from out of state, drove her uncle's four-wheeler over from the neighboring farm where they were having their own harvest dinner. Rob hopped on to show her around the farm before heading back to work. They were riding through a field, not on the usual path. They came over a hill, hit a rock pile, and were launched from the four-wheeler, narrowly missing some very large rocks. I was the first one they reached by cell phone (luckily they had service!) and hopped in the car to get them. We loaded them up and took them into the hospital to inspect the damage. His cousin suffered a concussion and broken thumb. The accident raises lots of concerns about farm liability and the wisdom of having four-wheelers on the farm. Even in this case. Not our four-wheeler, but on our farm. Not our guest, but our employee. Tom and I owned four-wheelers for recreating (always with helmets). Since Eva's arrival we no longer use them that way, but they are quite handy for moving easily around the farm between machinery. The trouble is, the guys quickly get out of the helmet habit. Kids who visit want to ride them for fun. Where do we draw the line? 

Needless to say, we are shorthanded now. I'm willing to pitch in if I need to, but as it happens we've had several visitors lately that have provided temporary help. God provides!

cotton ball clouds

Putting our farmhouse table through it's paces. On this night we had 17 to feed. Out came the paper plates on this occasion!Zinnias we planted from seed (a gift for Mother's Day from Sarah) are in full bloom. I love the bright colors!After dinner swing sessionSean cleans the combine windows. The Raineys are becoming annual harvest guests and we wish we could keep them longer. They know that visiting during harvest means work and they are so great about pitching in and helping out. Having friends like this around makes the work fun.

Beautiful Holly. I love this girl.Working into the sunset—and well beyond.

Unplugging a plugged-up header in the dark.We always take Sundays off, even during Harvest. So after church we decided to take the long way home through the mountains. We first hiked down to Lost Lake. (It truly is lost, an unmarked local attraction.)
Sweet IsabelIts a green a slimy lake. Not very inviting.The rock formations are the main attraction.We were in our Sunday clothes. Odd attire for a hike.

Up in the cooler air of the High wood Mountains for a picnic by the creek

Hugs goodbye.

I'll be back in a week or three. Happy Harvest everyone!

Feng Shui Friday—kitchen organization

To find out how you can join the Feng Shui Friday challenge, click here.

Happy Friday to you all. Today I have a little kitchen organizing tip to share. You know that drawer that holds all of your containers for leftovers? We all have one. My mom's cupboard is full of containers in a million different shapes and sizes. I used to give her a hard time about saving old cool whip and butter dishes. No offense, Mom :) Does you Mom/Grandma do this?

As for me, I can't stand the mish-mash, so I buy Gladware or Ziplock containers in uniform sizes that stack neatly. I also have a set of glass dishes for leftovers that need reheated. These nest nicely together. Still, the drawer would drive me nuts because of the various sizes of lids floating around. This is how I fixed the problem:

 

I used two inexpensive tension rods to hold my lids in place! These are only a few dollars a piece—and effective!

While we are on the subject of kitchen organization, I thought I would share a little bit more about the organization in my new kitchen. I realize not everyone has the benefit of designing their kitchen from scratch, and most of us must make the most of what we have. But since I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to create what I wanted, I put a LOT of thought into the storage and organization.

I designed my kitchen around "zones"; prep, baking, cooking, cleaning, etc. I weighed this even more heavily than the infamous work triangle. Then, before coming up with a cabinet plan, I listed every item in my kitchen according to which zone it should be stored in, and what kind of storage it would be best suited to.

What I ended up with was lots and lots of drawers:

Do you have any idea how great drawers are? My old kitchen (in Utah) had mostly cupboards in the lower half. When I moved here to the farm, this kitchen (even before) had lots of drawers. Eureka! I didn't know what I was missing before! No more crouching with my buried in the back of a cabinet to find what I need. If you ever design a kitchen, plan on putting in as many drawers as possible. Trust me.

Choosing wall ovens and a separate cooktop allowed me to locate two wide, deep drawers beneath the cooktop for storing my pots and pans. I absolutely love this.

I even keep my glass and metal bakeware in deep drawers. I do have a corner lazy susan cabinet, and this is where I store my taller items like my stock pot, slow cooker, and blender. Besides the sink cabinets, this is my only lower cabinet.

I utilized these great containers from Ikea to corral kid dishes and sippy cups. They keep moisture off the bottom of the drawers (plastic never seems to dry completely in the dishwasher). Storing the kid dishes in a drawer keeps them at their reach. The drawers are tall enough to store stacks of cups and bowls and sippy cups standing up.

The top drawers of course are much shallower, but wide, making them ideal for my utinsels. 

I was determined to keep as much off the counter as possible, so I purchased this in-drawer knife block. You can often buy these sorts of inserts directly from the cabinet companies, but they also charge up the wazoo for them, so I bought this after-market online for much less. This drawer is right next to my prep sink and super handy. I'm not a fan of pull-out wooden cutting boards. They seem unsanitary... just me?

Another after-market insert I purchased was a spice rack that we trimmed to fit this drawer perfectly. I already had the spice jars that I used in a rack in an upper cupboard previously. Isn't this pretty? The uniformity makes my heart sing! I do love those narrow vertical pull out spice racks, but in the end I didn't want to chop up the long run of drawers. 

Other organization trends I passed on:

A pull-out trash drawer. When I brought up this cabinet option to Tom he said "sounds like an expensive trash can to me". We opted for a stainless lidded trash can instead. I do think locating one next to my prep sink would have been awesome, but in the end I couldn't sacrifice the storage needed for other things.

Vertical cookie sheet/pan storage. These are pretty slick as well, but I have a small drawer below my double ovens that does the trick.

Still one of my favorite organization solutions in the kitchen is the backsplash behind the cooktop:

You can usually buy these to match your cooktop exactly from the range manufacturers, but we purchased ours (on sale) from Pottery Barn for less than half the price. The shelf holds oil cruets, salt, and pepper for easy access. I also LOVE the hook rail that keeps two sets of measuring cups and spoons within easy reach. I could stack them up for a cleaner look, but I love being able to grab just the size I need without having to disturb the rest of the stack. The backsplash is easy to wipe and is magnetic. It came with some cute clothespin clips that I use to hold the recipe I am working on.

I hope you found some useful suggestions for your own kitchen. Working in an organized kitchen is a pleasure—it even makes unloading the dishwasher fun. I'm not kidding! Where I'm not doing so well:

The pantry! But great news—we brought home my new pantry cabinet today! I am already working hard on ideas to make this rather small pantry space function like a dream. Hopefully I'll be back to share my progress soon.

Do you have any fabulous organization ideas of your own to share? What kitchen organization utilities do you feel are most worth splurging on? Is the pull-out trash we opted out of your favorite thing ever? Do tell.

Farm in Bloom

About two weeks ago the beauty on the farm was in its full glory, and I knew I needed to get out with my camera and capture it. Good thing I did too, because now the heat wave the rest of the country has been experiencing has caught up with us and the land is ripening quickly toward harvest. The golden wheat brings its own beauty, but I can't help but mourn the loss of the green leaves and gorgeous blooms.

I'll post a smattering of photos for you to see, all of which are straight out of the camera. I resisted the urge to tweak and morph them or I would never get them posted.

From the hill behind our house, the landscape is a checkerboard of yellow. Oil seed crops are the prettiest in bloom.

In the photo above you can see a stripe of green in a feild of summer fallow (resting land). It looks like we missed a spot with the weed spray, but really it is a stip of planted cover crop—corn, soybeans, radishes, and other vegetables mixed together. 

Up close it doesn't look like much, but the plants are young at this point. The intent is not to harvest, but to simply benefit from the nutrients these plants provide the soil. This strip is an experiment for us. We will see if next year's crop (winter wheat) shows greater yield in this spot.

When we piled into the old farm truck to take pictures, all the girls piled in with us:

And we didn't leave behind the mosquito repellent. They are terrible out in the fields. I've been using the little clip-ons for Eva. They help—sort of.

These girls hopped in too. Mia won't usually ride in the back of the truck, but we were dog sitting her friend Miley, and she wasn't to be left behind if Miley was going. Its good for her to have a friend!

Speaking of dogs, here is the hole ours is digging in our front yard. Grrr. 

It's a cavern. And I'm going to have to figure something out because she is starting more holes.

Back to the fields:

This is mustard. And, oh! Look closer!

A cottontail is frozen hoping I won't see him. These little fellas are everywhere in our farmyard.

I mentioned before that this is the first time we have grown mustard. Time will tell if it proves to be a good crop for us. We have yet to get through harvest with it. But so far I'm impressed with its resilience. Hard to believe it looked like this only a short time ago, after our hail storm:

And now it looks like this:

It's hard to say how much that hail will have affected our yield. If anyone is curious, our winter wheat adjusted between 30–60% loss. Our plants were younger and faired better than others.

These are peas.

We found a random pink blossom on one. A different variety mixed in, perhaps?

Spring wheat, before it started heading out:

Our spring wheat is suffering from the hot, dry weather. It also sustained some damage from another later hail storm, but its hard to tell if it will be substantial enough for an adjustment.

This is Canola:

This crop goes from barely growing to 2 feet tall overnight, I swear. 

 

Glowing winter wheat:

And a glowing sky. Every night here in the big sky country is a gorgeous display of God's grace.

I turned around and snapped a photo of the house in the glowing light.

Right now I look at our house and see a lot of work—trim that needs painting, a deck needing rebuilt, a hail-damaged roof and rain gutters... But I also see so much we've accomplished: landscaping, a swing set, tomatoes blooming on the deck, and new doors installed. Maybe this fall we will tackle a few more outdoor projects. 

Someone recently made an innocent comment in passing to my mom: "So the seeding is done—now you just sit around and wait for harvest, right?" Though I'm sure it wasn't meant that way, it did make us chuckle and realize that most people have no idea what goes on between the seeding and harvesting. I can tell you the guys have been putting in very long, steady days. I wish I was better at documenting the goings-on from day to day. 

Lately they have been haying. A thankless job, really, when it is hot and dry especially. The hay crop isn't good—too many weeds and not enough moisture, but it has to be cut anyway. It is a multi-stage job. First they cut the hay, then bale it, then pick the bales up and stack them. Then it has to be marketed and sold and reloaded on to trucks. Our hay equipment is old and breaks down way too often, but we don't want to invest a lot of money into it since this isn't our main cash crop. So the guys deal with break-downs and no air conditioning. The thermometer reads 109 degrees at the moment (no doubt radiating off the brick house in the hot afternoon sun). They get up at the crack of dawn to beat the heat, but they don't come in and take a break in the peak of the afternoon sun like they should. They break for dinner and go back out to work the evening away. And this is before harvest. 

Before haying was spraying. (Our land is no-till to keep the organic matter in the soil and keep the dirt from blowing into the next county, which means the weeds are killed by chemical instead of plowing.) Every inch of ground is covered at least once—usually more.

War is declared on gophers—dropping poison in their holes and shooting them. They are prolific, and they damage the crops substantially. To some it seems like a hobby—this shooting gophers—but it is a job that is hard to take time to do when so much else is needing done. 

Rocks are picked out of the fields (a never-ending battle). Every pass over the field surfaces more rocks, and they are hard on equipment. Combines and swathers aren't made to pick up rocks. The biggest ones have to be removed—either by hand or by tractor. Where do they go? Into rock piles like this:

There are piles like this everywhere on the farm. Yep, that's where we get our big landscaping rocks!

Of course there is always equipment maintenance and property maintenance too. But there is one project in particular my dad worked on this spring that I wanted to share with you. 

You know the EPA (yes that one—the Environmental Protection Agency that got a bunch of new funding from the Obama stimulus plan and hired about 5000 new people)? Well those people like to cause trouble for farmers. I know they mean well, but sometimes it feels like they don't consider how their regulations can complicate lives of small businesses like us. Recently they implemented a new regulation that all tanks, chemicals, etc. had to have secondary containment. This way, if one tank leaked, the secondary containment would prevent the substance from seeping into the ground water. The secondary containment must be able to hold the same volume of liquid. So, for example, you can store containers of chemical in a plastic tub on a shelf. No big deal. But how exactly do you contain an entire 1000+ gallon fuel tank? Or two of them?

You can't drive a tractor to town every time you need to fill it up, so we store fuel on the farm—both unleaded and diesel. The tanks used to be buried under ground, but regulations a few years ago required they be above ground (in case of leaks). Now those tanks must have secondary containment. There are costly options you can purchase, but my dad decided to build one out of steel.

This is what it looks like, welded, painted, and installed: 

I believe it only had to be big enough to hold the contents of one tank (since both wouldn't likely leak at the same time).  But it is huge. I think our Yukon XL might even fit inside. We joked that we should fill it up with water and use it as a swimming pool for the summer before we installed the tanks. Now in this heat wave it doesn't sound like a joke.

Soon I will be posting about harvest. Is there anything else you would like to see? 

Pinterest challenge—Union Jack Pillow

I've had this image on my Pinterest boards for a long time, labeled "This image just grabs me".

Source: DesignSponge

Why does it grab me? Because of the dark leather chair and black & white photos contrasted against the rough brick. But mostly because of the graphic punch of that Union Jack Pillow. I'm not sure when I started wanting to own a Union Jack Pillow... from this image or way before, but I've had my eye out for one for a long time. 

Not long ago I ran across a pillow on Haute Look that was made from felt. I loved it, but I passed it up because of the $50 price tag. Actually, I debated over it for 3 days, and just when I finally decided to go for it, I realized it was too late. Then I lived with regret. Until I decided I could make one.

Here is my version:

Above is the view I see into our office when I'm in bed.

I decided if I was going to make it I could take some liberties with the color. 

It took me a full afternoon to complete the project, but after seeing the result I wouldn't have cared if it took me a week of afternoons. I'm in love with my new pillow. I had $24 into the supplies: $7 for the down pillow insert (Ikea), $12 for the pillow cover (also Ikea) and $5 for the felt.

To make it, I first made a template with paper and then used those pieces as a pattern to cut the felt. The gray pieces were all the same size. It definitely took some time and careful measuring to do this part of the project correctly. 

To applique the felt to the pillow, I used scotch tape to hold it in place because I figured it would hold flatter than pins. I sewed right over the scotch tape and removed it afterwards. If I had it to do over again, I would try an iron-on adhesive to attach the pieces before sewing.

Another thing I would do diffferently—I wouldn't use a pre-made pillow cover. I really liked the fabric (a loose weave linen) or I wouldn't have gone this route. The pillow cover wasn't the proper size and needed to be trimmed down on one side. I left the other 3 sides in tact, but in hindsight it would have been easier to sew onto a flat piece of fabric and sew the back on the pillow later. As it was, it worked okay but was challenging working into the corners. I machine sewed half of the final side, inserted the pillow form, and then stitched the rest closed by hand.

You might remember this isn't my first project with the British flag. I can't explain my attraction. It's less the iconography and more the geometric graphic punch. And trend, I confess. You see it everywhere. When searching for a pillow to guide me in my project, I found this one:

From Nordstrom, no less. ($58). So my taste isn't too far off of mainstream. The trend will pass, I'm sure, just as the once popular Americana has faded somewhat. I should pay tribute to my own Old Glory in a modern way. I sense a new Pinterest board coming on...

I had this project planned anyway, but I finished it off in time to participate in the Pinterest Challenge. Click through to see more inspiring projects!

Abby's bulletin boards

I've posted before about Abby's creativity, and it hasn't slowed down at all. Many of her project ideas come from the American Girl Doll magazine we subscribe to. I highly recommend this magazine. It is usually full of ideas that my girls can tackle without much supervision. Most of the projects are initiated and completed by Abby on her own. For this project she asked me to buy her some cork squares, and I obliged without much of an idea of what she had in mind.

This is what she came up with . . .

. . . all with some simple cork squares, painter's tape, and acrylic paint we had on hand. Didn't they turn out great?

master bedroom potential

Sharing a few photos of our Master Suite today. Such as it is. 

This project is slated at the bottom of the list—mostly because people don't get invited in. We can shut the door. But not a day goes by that I don't dream about what I can do in this space. Besides the obvious cosmetic changes, knocking down a few walls to accommodate a larger bathroom and closet is tops on the agenda.

A fireplace would be lovely—this room doesn't heat as well in the winter. A double-sided one—right between the bedroom and bathroom. No?

And relocating the bedroom entry is non-negotiable. Right now it opens up right to the front door. If we forget to shut the door and have an unannounced visitor it would be quite embarrassing to get busted sleeping in.

The tiny shower and vanity and obvious lack of storage will test my design abilities. (The bathroom photos were taken before my Grandpa moved out. I promise we don't own that arsenal of prescriptions.)

Here is a simple sketch of a floor plan idea, though nothing is set in stone. That bathroom space is quite awkward! I'm not sure how to create the space I desire without borrowing from the current office space (and adjoining dark room). The plan also includes a possible powder room off the front door. Convenient for harvest help and hand washing before meals.

What would you do? Move this up on the priority list or save it for later—after the more public spaces are finished?

lounge chair

I pulled this relic out of our storage room the other day and gave it a good dusting off. Isn't it a gem?

Actually, it is in such rough shape that it was tucked into the back corner of the storage room and left behind and forgotten about. But I've been secretly planning to get my hands on it for years. For you design-y friends of mine, no, it is unfortunately not an authentic Eames lounge chair. It is a Plycraft copy. But even the vintage Plycraft furniture still has quite a bit of value. 

Paying someone to restore this would cost quite a bit, and could exceed the resale value of this chair. But it has sentimental value to me (it belonged to my grandparents) and it is darn comfortable, so I am going to attempt the restoration myself.

Trouble is, it needs new upholstery. 

Since I have zero experience in that department, I'm going to enlist the help of my mom. Especially when it comes to the piping around the edge. Mom has some white vinyl that she is willing to donate to the cause. Not that I have anything against the existing color, but I do think it would look sharp in white.

The wood needs to be refinished also, which will be a delicate process since the veneer is quite thin.

Wish me luck! I'm not making any promises on the time frame, but I'll keep you posted.

staircase art

I recently tackled a project that cost me nothing other than a bit of time.

In my college Photography 101 class I did a project that involved shooting (and developing) a series of photos. I did my project on "Old Montana" and had fun shooting relics and landmark buildings as we drove across the state on a road trip.

The photos aren't anything to brag about, but they are meaningful to us and worthy at least of the cheap frames I bought for them a long time ago.

To make the collage a little more interesting, I added a couple of quotes that related to the "old Montana" theme. The letters came from an interesting novelty item I thrifted awhile ago. It is a box of letters used for old-time movie titling, complete with adhesive and a black felt background. The box sits on my craft room shelf, and even though I thought it had artistic merit on its own, I thought it would be fun to actually do something with the letters.

I tacked the letters up with glue dots, so they can be easily changed if I tire of the phases.

I'm happy with how my little vignette turned out!

a trip to Utah

Life is full these days, and it isn't slowing down any time soon. I had to force myself to sit a few minutes and take time for an update. We just returned from a fun visit to Utah. Now we have a day of catch up for laundry and a bit of house cleaning before packing up for several days of spiritual inspiration. In fact, posting will probably be a bit sporadic for a couple more weeks, and then hopefully I'll be able to resume my normal posting schedule (whatever that is).

I thought I'd share a few highlights of our Utah trip. We hadn't been back for more than a year so we had a long agenda of shopping and visiting plans. It was difficult to get everything done and see everyone we wanted to in just a few short days (between two LONG days on the road), but we did a respectable job. In the end we did less painting the town with our credit card and more catching up with friends. Which was just fine.

We stayed with our ex-next-door neighbors (love you guys!) and shamefully didn't take any photos of them. Our time with them was fantastic and it was a blast to fall right back in to our old patterns—hanging out outside while the kids played and playing Settlers of Catan. We even took time to play at the park and visit a few others in the neighborhood. Speaking of our old neighborhood, I had to sneak a couple of photos of our old house:

The new owners get to enjoy the fruits of all my planting labors. Everything has gone crazy.

Perhaps just the motivation I needed to patiently tend to my new garden and dream of the day it matures like this. I mean, how about those lilies? They're huge!

Something we don't miss so much:

Incessant road construction and traffic.

I popped by my old office for lunch and a visit with old coworkers. Tom did the same the next day while I checked off a big item on our shopping agenda—Ikea. They were under construction :( and out of stock on a lot of items (grrr) but I still left with a much lighter wallet. I'm sure you'll see some of my purchases in future posts.

We spent a fun-filled day with friends downtown, shopping and attending the Chalk Art Festival at the Gateway. The kids were so happy to see their old friends.

Sure loved meeting this beauty of a baby also:

The chalk art was fun to see:

From the Gateway we rode the tracks to the new City Creek development, across from Temple Square. Tom worked on that job when we were there, so it was fun for him to see the finished project. It was a bit depressing to see how many stores had pulled out of other shopping areas to go there. (Even my beloved Anthropologie that I so looked forward to stopping at was closed at Gateway and not yet reopened at City Creek. That saved me some money, I guess.) I hope places like Trolley Square and Gateway don't die because of this development—however nice it is. It was a shopper's paradise, but it was hard to do much real shopping with lots of kids in tow.

We ended with a bit of time at Riverton (church) Convention. We certainly could have profited from spending more of our time time there but enjoyed the time we did have, and the people we saw.

And then one final visit on our last night:

A reunion of two-year-olds and their mamas. The perfect way to cap off the trip. 

For those faces we regretted to miss, we hope to see you next time. For those we did see, thanks for the great time. And a huge thanks especially to our gracious hosts. Miss you already!