My Bluebirds on the Ground Report

    Hello and happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans!  

    I just wanted to share that Annabel kindly invited me to write a guest post on her blog, The Bluebirds are Nesting on the Farm.  She has readers from all over the world, and some have been giving reports of what is going on in their area, as well as preparedness measures they have been taking to stay ahead.  I feel so honored to be able to contribute!  I hope you'll visit her blog and look around.  It is such a wonderful source of homemaking and preparedness encouragement, and I really think Annabel has the ability to turn everything she touches into something beautiful!  

    My post is here.

    I have also added a subscription service to my blog on the sidebar (it can only be seen when viewing "web version") should you like to receive an email alert when I publish a post.  Otherwise, you can follow along through Blogger (also on the sidebar), or you can simply bookmark my blog and visit whenever you like.  All of these options are free for those who want to follow along.  I do appreciate all of my readers and your lovely comments, so thank you!

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

    We've been busy, busy around here! Colton has been on vacation again, as he agreed to trade vacation slots with a co-worker who needed his autumn slot.  It really couldn't have come at a better time, though.  Colton has finished up his school job, so this vacation is a true vacation!

    Well, sort of.  This is the state of my laundry room and two adjoining rooms at the moment:

    Oh, yes.  It's renovation time!  Fun, but also stressful.  It's not stressful for Colton (thankfully I married a level-headed man who doesn't get bent out of shape over paint colors), just me.  I'm so indecisive when it comes to choosing colors and that sort of thing.  I nearly went crazy before I decided to paint the living room white, so you can imagine what starting from scratch is doing to me!  

    Do you remember that part in Pride and Prejudice (1995 film) where Maria is frantically rearranging her trunk for fear that she packed her clothes in a way displeasing to Lady Catherine?  Elizabeth comes in and reassures her, "Maria, this is your trunk. These are your gowns.  You may arrange them in any way you wish.  Lady Catherine will never know."  Well, that's what I keep telling myself about decorating.  This is my house and I can paint it and decorate it in any way I wish.  Lady Catherine will never know.  

    So that is what we've been up to lately.  Colton has been in demo mode and I have been in planning mode.  Rest assured, we do have a basic, foundational plan for the rooms or we wouldn't have ripped the walls off.  I just don't have all the little details sorted out yet.  Progress will be slow, but that's how I prefer it.  It gives me plenty of time to make decisions.

    Oh, and in case you're wondering about my raised beds, they are built, but not filled yet.  Hence, no updates.  Yesterday was 115° and it's not cooling down, so outdoor projects are once again on hold!

    What has everyone else been up to?

I'm Back!

    Hello, readers!  I am happy to be back here writing again.  We had a lovely time during Colton's vacation.  We didn't accomplish everything we set out to, as we had quite a bit of rain that hindered our outdoor projects, but that was a blessing too.  We live in a drought-prone area, so rain is always welcome!  And it meant more time inside to slow down and simply be together.

    As for what we did get done, I am very happy about it!  First, we painted our living room, dining room, and loft, which are all open to each other.  We started out with wood paneling- the kind that was ever so popular in the 70s when our home was built- and now we have white walls!  With our high ceilings, this was no small feat.  It took four coats of paint on top of the primer coat, but we got it done, and the transformation is immense.  I will admit that the paneling had a cozy element to it, but day after day for years, it can start to feel like a cave that closes in, at least for me.  Now it feels so much bigger and brighter; I don't think a day goes by in which we don't comment on how much more we like it.  (I still need to get my curtains and pictures hung back up!)

    Outside, Colton was able to get a little more work done on the raised beds.  I will save the progress photos for a Part 2 of this project.  As with all projects, we hit a few snags, but we are closer to getting them finished.

    During his time off, we also took a fun day trip.  The kids stayed with my parents while Colton and I drove to Round Top!  Now if you don't know, Round Top, Texas is home to one of the biggest antique fairs in America.  Twice a year for about two weeks each, vendors come from all over the world to set up their wares along 11 miles (according to the website) of Texas highway.  The spring show happened to be during Colton's vacation slot, so we decided to go!

    It was a lot of fun- and a lot of walking, which is why we didn't take the kids.  The forecast had predicted rain, but we took a chance and it ended up only being cloudy.  It was miles of tents like this:

    Inside one of the tents:

    The vendors sell everything from antiques and collector items to handmade items, yard and garden art, and outright junk. Some people sold things like rolls of rusty barbed wire and old cable spools, and there was even a huge tent set up with nothing but tables and tables of deer antlers (deer shed their antlers yearly- they don't have to be killed for them).  Colton and I joked several times that we could make a fortune off of ranch "junk" if we set up a tent.

    One lady had a tent full of her homemade potpourri, along with various containers to hold it.  It was beautiful and smelled wonderful. 

    There were several vendors that sold things out of old houses, like hardware and architectural elements:

    We skipped the big show barns, as those charge admission.  That is where all of the high dollar pieces are, like the European antiques.  The famous designers frequent those barns.  We didn't bother- there was plenty to look at for much less.  Prices varied from the garage sale/thrift store range to the typical antique dealer range.  I also found several pieces that were priced significantly less than they typically would be at an antique store, and I took advantage!

    We saw tons of vintage chandeliers.  They were beautiful, and some were huge like this one:

    It is hard to tell the size of it from my photo, but it was massive.  It was hanging, but I'd venture to say it was nearly as tall as me.  The prices, though!  I kept telling Colton how my Craigslist find was a steal.  What I paid for my chandelier didn't even come close to what these vendors were charging, not even by a long shot.  So I was very pleased about that.

    I wish I had taken more photos, but I was trying to be discreet about it.  When we went 10 years ago, there were several vendors with signs up that said "No Photos".  However, that was before social media was a big deal- I imagine they might welcome the advertising nowadays.  Still, I didn't want to cause any issues, so I kept the pics to a minimum.  A Google search will give you tons of photos if you want to see more.

    Here is what I ended up buying:

    The first thing is a long, antique chicken feeder, which I plan to use as a centerpiece on my dining table.  I can decorate seasonally with it by adding candles, pumpkins, pinecones, moss, etc. to it.  It will also fit nicely on top of the piano or mantle, so I have many options.

    Second is an antique sewing machine drawer, which I plan to mount on the wall as a shelf.  

    Next is a booklet of sheet music.  I have a project in mind for this that I have wanted to do for years.  If it works out, I will share.  Otherwise, I can always use it for papercrafting!

    Lastly, underneath my finds, is a European grain sack.  It is folded in half for the photo, so it is very long.  My plan for this is to make two throw pillow covers out of it.

    As you can see, I have a plan (and backup plans) for everything I bought.  As we shopped, I kept my budget and my home in mind.  About an hour into shopping is when I found my first purchase, and I had to laugh when Colton expressed his surprise that I hadn't found more to buy in that time.  But places like Round Top are not just for shopping, they are for getting ideas.  And I was very aware of the way ordinary things were being marketed and displayed to make them attractive.  I will talk a little about that in my next Thrifty Thursday post.  Until then, I'd love to hear from you!  What have you been up to during my time away?

Our First Project of 2023: Part 1

     As you may have guessed from my posting on Thursday, the boys and I are feeling much better.  Thank you so much for your prayers!  It is so nice to be able to get back to the things we enjoy.  The weather has been beautiful, especially in the mornings and evenings, so we are turning our thoughts towards outdoor projects.  Colton has some vacation time this month from both of his jobs, so we are going to try and make the most of it!  Working on projects together is fun for us, so it's a win/win.  I'm sure we'll have some downtime, too, though.  Maybe.

    For our first project, we are tackling this little spot:

    This is in the garden to the side of my garden shed.  Behind it through the screen door, is the chicken run.  (The metal building is the coop.)  Initially, the chicken run fence started at the front of the shed, but since our chickens free range anyway and we wanted more garden space, we moved the fence to the back end of the shed last year.

    It created this little nook, which has actually turned out to be more awkward than anything.  I thought about planting herbs and flowers around the perimeter and adding a picnic table or seating area in the middle, but it never happened.  About all that has ever grown here is stinging nettle.  In reality, I am not very good at a cottage-style garden layout, as much as I absolutely love the way it looks.  My mind operates better with orderly rows.  And living where we do, I always have snakes on my mind when the weather heats up.  Lots of bushy plants on the ground are perfect hiding spots.  

    So what to do?  Can you guess?

Maybe another photo will help...

    Colton is building me raised beds!  I'm really excited about this project.  As crazy as the last year (two, really) has been, I haven't been able to have a garden like I normally do.  I've missed it so much.  I think this will be much easier for me to manage for the time being. Eventually, I might give the boys their own little section of the beds to grow things in.  In any case, I think this is a good use of the space.

    So far, we (when I say we, I actually mean Colton) have leveled the area, put down black plastic, and built the frames for the beds.  We already had the dirt for leveling from another project we did last year.  We also already had the black plastic.  Someone at work gave Colton a huge roll, and we just set it aside for "just in case".  We always seem to have projects, so we gladly accept free materials when offered!  We did buy the lumber, but the price is surprisingly coming down, which is nice.  

    Stay tuned for progress reports!

During My Absence ~ Some Life Updates

    Last year was a difficult year for many reasons.  I was glad I had taken a blogging break before so many trials had transpired, as there was no way I could have written about them or through them with a clear mind.  It would have been so gloomy, I don't think you'd want to read about them anyway!  I have shared a bit since then, but I thought I would take a little time to update you further on our current situation.  I suppose it is every blogger's dilemma when it comes to deciding how much of our personal lives we share online, but I think this update will be helpful in understanding some of my future writings. 

    As some of you may remember, we had been living with and taking care of Colton's grandfather in his house for about 6 years.  Sadly in the last couple of years, his health declined to the point that we can no longer provide the level of care that he needs at home.  After a bad fall last March, he went into the nursing home.  There are still a lot of fresh emotions around this for all of us.

    When Colton and I moved in- almost seven years ago now- we had sold nearly all of our things, including our house.  We brought only what furniture we could fit into our bedroom, plus a special piece or two.  Some of my décor and house things are still up in the attic, but I have since whittled that down, too, in order to make room for baby gear and hand-me-down clothes for the boys.  (When we moved in, we thought we couldn't have children.  After six years of infertility, I was pregnant within three months of our move.  Talk about a surprise!)  For the years that Colton's grandpa was with us, we happily focused on outside projects and, except for some necessary rearranging to accommodate the merging of two households, we largely left the inside of the house alone out of respect.  Now it feels like we are starting over from scratch in terms of setting up house.  We have gone from basically two bedrooms and a loft to an entire house that is much bigger than our last.

    The future of my blog is going to reflect this in several ways.  In addition to the outdoor projects that have always been on our list, we are adding some home projects, as well.  You may also see me doing more shopping than is usual for me.  I'm sharing these things because I don't want you to think I am contradicting my own frugal advice!  Twelve years of saving and living a frugal lifestyle, as well as recently becoming debt-free (whoo hoo!), are what make these projects possible.   So now that I have that disclaimer out of the way, I'd love it if you would continue with me on my journey as we endeavor to be good stewards of what we have been given.  I appreciate you being here- this blog has been a blessing to me and I hope it is to you, too.

A Big Week

  We had a big week here at the cottage.  We were able to get a major project done that had been on our to-do list for 3 years!  Each time we thought we'd be able to do it, it was pushed back for one reason or another.  Surprisingly, at least to me, it didn't take very long and went without a hitch.

 We finally moved the propane tank out of our garden!  Besides making the garden look better (because I care about that sort of thing, remember?), this frees up a good amount of space for us to plant more vegetables. It's also one less thing to weed and till around and one less hiding place for snakes. Oh, and the propane man won't have to come into our garden to fill up the tank.  

 Much better, don't you think?  Of course, moving it was the simple part.  We still had to run the gas line to its new location and hook it back up again.  Thankfully, my dad was here with his trencher to help Colton.

  By about 3:00 that afternoon, they had the trench dug, the line run, and everything all hooked up again.

  Since my dad was here with his trencher, he and Colton also dug the lines to run water and electricity to the garden shed and chicken coop.  This is also huge!   

Trenches to run propane out of the garden and water to the shed and coop

  We are just a few steps away from not having to haul 10 gallons of water to the chickens each time they are running low.  My arms are happy.

A trench to run electricity from the house to the shed

  Colton is hoping to get everything hooked up in the next few days.  Once that is done, all the lines will be buried and I can get back to planting a garden.  

  I'd like to give a special thanks to my dad for all of his help.  He saved us a lot of time, money, and labor.  I'm glad he was a part of helping us create this important part of our life, and we appreciate everything he did to make this happen!