After the seed companies sold out of seeds last year, we made sure to order early and our seeds are here! Despite ordering the first week of January, the onions and broccoli I wanted were sold out. To get everything I wanted I had to order from 4 different companies, but I did get everything on my list, including onions and potatoes. This year we’re again expanding the garden with the goals of trying to use intercropping to utilize our space, better store and preserve our harvest, get a strong fall garden planted, and continuing with the no-dig method. (Oh, and there’s a baby due end of March and I’m already battling some early labor signs at 28 weeks.) Needless to say, we’ll see how this all goes. At this point I feel like we understand being flexible and letting go of things when they are unrealistic. How much can one really control in growing or a garden or when having a baby?! Gardens, like babies, have unexpected variables that can turn even the best made plans pointless, but I will enjoy the distraction of garden planning as I’m stuck laying low for the next few months. The challenge really comes when baby arrives. While I’m down for a few weeks, can the boys in the house keep the baby plants alive? Only time will tell. Thankfully the two Dannys are both a little more schedule oriented and can keep up on a task list. Benjy was still “weeding” my sprouts last time we grew something, so we’ll see how many plants survive. Like a super classy person, I trash picked some lights to expand our indoor growing area. Now we’ve got the extra growing space I needed, and I can expand my crazy plant lady status. I learned so many lessons last year attempting to grow from seed, like how all those little potted cells lead to bigger potted plant that need even more room. I also learned about how germination typically requires heat over light, with a few exceptions, and a cold basement can really cause problems. Hardening off wasn’t as difficult as I imagined and most of our plants not only survived but grew better and produced more than any store bought plant. The homesteaders said use seeds, the hobby gardeners said don’t waste your time. I guess we officially fall into the homesteader category because I’m completely sold on starting from seed. For the size of garden we have it’s the best economical option, my plants were healthier, and I could get the exact varieties I wanted for plant health, climate needs, and flavor. Boy is there a difference in flavor among varieties! We already know our garlic harvest for 2021 is a complete bust. I ordered from a different but reliable source this year and nothing sprouted except the three cloves I seed saved. This is a huge frustration but the company kindly refunded my money without any question. Although we won’t have a garlic harvest, now there’s extra space for more veggies and I can always buy garlic from the farmers market. I also learned my lesson about ordering seed. My last purchase of garlic was from a little Ohio farm and was wonderful, but I couldn’t remember the name and I was too lazy to try to figure it out. I’ll make sure to take the time come fall to locate the farm and place my order with them for next year. I can’t wait to be back in a jungle of green, with the warm sun on my back again. We saved some seeds from last year and had some seeds left over from our previous purchase, so not all of these are new, but here is a list of the varieties were planting this year: Amaranth - Love lies a bleeding from Bakers Creek. This is mostly for the flowers, but the leaves can be used like spinach so we’re hoping it will be a successful multipurpose and plant, as I didn’t really take advantage of growing salad greens last year. Basil - Cinnamon, Genovese, Cardinal from Bakers Creek. We make a lot of Thai basil in the summer and the cinnamon was my favorite for it. The Genovese is for pizzas, pesto, and carpese salads, and the plants provide insect control and spicy smelling flowers for the house, so I can never have enough. We’re trying the cardinal this year mostly because of its blooms, but I will work it’s way into plenty of dishes as well. Beans - Kabouli Black Garbanzo, Painted Lady Runner, Cherokee Trail of Tears from Bakers Creek. The garbanzo are the only new variety we’re trying, hopefully for some homemade hummus. Bok Choy - Baby Milk from Bakers Creek We love bok choy and it may be one of our top favorite vegetables. We use it weekly, so hopefully we can have some success growing it. Broccoli - Purple sprouting broccoli from Migardener. This is a new variety for us. It’s supposed to produce more side sprouts and is to be a little easier to grow. Brussel Sprouts - Long Island improved from Bakers Creek. These were left over from last year. We didn’t get any sprouts last year, but I believe it was error on my part so we’re trying again. Cabbage - Red Kablois from Bakers Creek. We grew this last year and had seeds left over. It is a beautiful variety and was pretty hardy. Carrots - Longue Rouge Sang, Kuroda, Amarillo We are still trying to find the right variety for us so we’re trying a few. Cilantro - Slow bolt. We have this variety from so many different sources because cilantro is the one thing I always need more of. Soups, eggs, slaw, salsa, and chimichurri, almost all our meals include a bit of cilantro. I’ll grow this in any shady spot and sprinkled among the cool weather crops. It doesn’t do well in our heat but loves being tucked in the shade of larger plants. Corn - Striped Japonica, Glass Gem, Stowells Evergreen The first two are decorative. I lined the patio with the Japonica and loved it’s beautiful leaves. The boys must grow their glass get every year and the Stowells was a great sweet corn for us last year, super tall and productive so we’re using it again. Cucumbers - Chicago Pickling, Sour Gherkin, Tokyo Green from Bakers Creek. The first two we grew last year and I greatly preferred the Chicago pickling over other varieties friends grew. We did struggle with them dying out in the strong heat, so we’re trying the Tokyo green as a back up and hoping to succession plant the others to make up for any loss throughout the season. Ground Cherry - Aunt Molly’s from Bakers Creek We’re yet to have success with this, but we still have a few seed left over. I think it would be a hit for the boys if we can get some to grow. Lettuce - Bronze Beauty from Bakers Creek. This is a new plant for us. Usually we eat cabbage over lettuce but it’s nice to have salad greens available. Onions - Yellow of Parma and Ruby Red from Seed Savers. We use at least an onion a day. The goal is to to grow as many as possible so we can store up a years supply. I’m hoping to intercrop the onions to get the most of our growing space, but we’ll see if it affects the growth at all. Oregano - Wild Zatar from Bakers Creek I really was shocked at the difference of flavor with my home grown oregano. The flavor was so much richer and I was bummed out when our supply ran out in December. I realized we needed much more so I had fresh and dried available. This is a new variety but I’m hoping it does just as well as what I’ve grown before. Peas - Carouby De Maussane from Bakers Creek We had leftovers from last year despite growing a spring and fall crop so we’re using them again. Peppers - Nadapeno and Etuida from Bakers Creek. Nadapeno is a spice free jalapeño we’re trying for the first time, and we’re giving the etuidas another chance. We had no germination last year but I failed to used heat, so user error. Potatoes - We couldn’t get potatoes last year so I ordered early! They’ll all arrive closer to their plant date. Since I feel like growing potatoes is foreign to me, I opted to buy small amounts of a few varieties to see what our family likes best. Pumpkin - Rouge Vif D’Etampes Beautiful Cinderella red pumpkins because it’s not a garden without a few pumpkins growing. Spinach - Strawberry spinach from Bakers Creek. This is a repeat from last year. Thyme - Wild Thyme from Bakers Creek. I love thyme but I’ve never started it from seed. Usually I pick some up from our local nursery, but for the amount I want it would save money if I can grow from seed. This is a creeping variety that I hopes spreads all over. Tomatillo - Amarylla from Bakers Creek This is a new plant in the garden, but we enjoy tomatillo salsa and soup so hopefully they do well! Tomatoes - German Pink, Sunrise Bumblebee, San Marzano Lungo No.2, Hungarian heart from Bakers Creek. The first two are repeats from last year. I loved the flavor of the German pink. The second two are trials with the San Marzano being highly recommended for paste. Vining Plants - Birdhouse gourd, Jack be little pumpkin, Blue butterfly pea, Lemon Drop watermelon, Wilson’s Sweet watermelon from Bakers Creek. Along with our cucumbers, we have other vining plants we’ll be growing on our arches over our main path. Most are for fun and to help provide shade to the cooler weather for plants. Flowers: Balsalm - Peppermint Stick from Bakers Creek Cockscomb - Indiana Giant Cosmos - Candyfloss Red Nasturtium - Alaska Red Shades, cherry rose jewel, tall trailing mix. We had such a problem with cabbage moths that I’m desperate to save our brassicas. I read herbs and nasturtiums planted throughout are the trick so I ordered several varieties. We have only used nasturtiums as flowers in the house but I hope to branch out and use them in the kitchen this year as well. I ordered the Bloody Mary variety last year and loved it but it wasn’t offered this year. Unfortunately I didn’t save seeds, but now I understand the importance and that there isn’t always a guarantee the seeds will be available. Poppy - Hens and Chickens, strawberry fields, Falling in Love. I’m yet to have success with poppies but I love them so much. Hopefully this will be the year. Marigold - Bambino, Linnaeus Burning Embers, Kilimanjaro White. I used to hate marigolds. The smelly, stubby plants left me not impressed, but then I grew some from seed to repel pests and couldn’t believe the difference. Tall, 2-3 foot plants covered with large bright pom poms of yellow completely changed my opinion. Now I must have tall marigolds in my garden and I can’t believe all the varieties available, compared to the puny little orange and yellow plants at the store. I’m save my own seed but also purchased some new varieties. I really am excited for the white ones! Hyssop - Korean from Bakers Creek. My mom had hyssop last year and the bees loved it. The blooms lasted all season and I’m always looking for more herbal and medical plants to add to the garden. Chamomile - German I have a little chamomile plant that comes back each year but I’d love more to use for teas and herbal remedies. I’m hoping to have this dancing all through the gardens. Borage Another medicinal plant I’m going to try. We had a packet of seeds so why not try it. Dahlia - Giant Hybrid Mix from Johnnys Seeds Ive never tried dahlia seeds but I’m hoping to get some beautiful flowers this way for a cheaper price. Morning Glory - Flying Saucers Morning glories have been my favorite ever since I was a little girl, and this variety claims to make very large blooms. What I grew last year didn’t bloom until days before our first frost so I’m hoping this gets growing faster. Snapdragon - Tall Deluxe Mix from Bakers Creek I’ve grown these the last three years and love them! They’re such powerhouses blooming through frosts and summer heat. I still have some that are yet to die despite the snow, and may just overwinter. The bees just love them and I love decorating the house with the blooms. I don’t bother staking them either. The curves of the blooms give an added whimsy and I’m not selling these so I let them grow as they please. The vision in my mind for the gardens always has me pushing my limits, but growing from seed has been the answer to how to better affordably get all I want. I’d love to see the house side of the property filled with winding garden paths and places to hide away and feel like you are in another place. I’d love to have blueberry, raspberry, and cranberry bushes scattered throughout, arches of flowering vines, and climbing roses hugging the house.
Certain areas I have the vision for, it’s just the know how and budget to pull it off. Other areas slightly baffle me with what to do with them, but all of it I want to be for everyone’s enjoyment. I want flowers and plants for the birds and bees and butterflies. I want places for the boys to play and explore and snack. I don’t want my garden to be mom’s untouchable place where extreme perfection and unrealistic expectations destroy the joy of it for all other living things. It should be a source of joy for me and my family, a blessing to the critters that visit, and a reminder of all the beautiful things God has given us. So if a new baby means the garden ends up overgrown with weeds and providing more mud pies than berry pies, that’s ok too, as long as it was a source of joy. For this reason the garden paths have been widened, for toy vehicles to drive down, extra plants will be planted to make up for the crushed ones that will inevitably happen, and toxic plants have no place here, no matter how beautiful they may be, at least until we’re out of the snacking toddler stage.
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The new gravel has been wonderful and made everything look so much better. We used part of the pile for the new chicken coop path and for the veggie garden and the rest was for the driveway and garage. Unfortunately not all of the garage was able to be filled, but part of the inside was bare dirt so it was nice to be able to get that part covered. Little Danny and Elmer loved playing in the gravel pile every day but they weren't making much of a dent in actually spreading it out. I was worried Danny was going to be really upset when we finally spread out his "grabel," but when our friend showed up with his skid steer to do the work, Danny couldn't have been more excited. What we expected to take hours of work was done in a matter of minutes, and little Danny is still talking about it. He regularly calls Josiah on his toy phone, requesting the skidsteer to come back. He now drives his own little dump truck around the driveway and doesn't seem to be bothered at all that his rock mountain is gone. Our garage was just a dirt mess, especially under the workbench, and the barn cats had been caught using the loose dirt as a litterbox (barf). We fixed their little cookies and gave them a nice layer of gravel so now they can go back out in the field. The kittens seem to enjoy playing with Danny's dump truck as well, and now just see the area is a new playground, which is much better. The driveway puddles are gone and now you can tell where the driveway ends and the yard starts, instead of it all just oozing together. Little Danny's vehicles sometimes get stuck in the gravel, but he's gotten pretty good at figuring out how to get them out. Currently the mission is to stop all the weeds from poking through and ruining the new look. It is a constant battle, but things still look so much better. People have told us how unfortunate it is for us to have a gravel drive, but we actually like it. Everything needs maintenance at some point and while we deal with weeds we don't have to worry about cracks or sealing it. What we like the best is the noise it makes when someone pulls up. No one can sneak a car in the gate with us not knowing because the crunch of gravel gives it away. Even at night if a car turns around at the barn or gate I notice the sound. You could say its our cheap redneck gate alarm.
Every winter we have a horrible mud pit out to the coop and always say we HAVE to do something about it. Once summer comes and the grass begins to grow, we forget all about that mud that was sucking to our boots each cold morning. Then, winter comes back and we again have muddy chicken and dog footprints everywhere, and were leap frogging between all the semi-dry spots to get to the coop. The chickens had clumps of mud clinging to their feet (not the best thing for them) and little Danny even lost a boot once, so this isn't just a little mud were talking about. This year we had enough and finally decided it was time to do something about it. I always wanted a cute stepping stone path out there, but it was never in the budget. The few stones I did have were actually now sinking so deep into the mud that they'd soon be disappearring if we weren't careful. Danny wanted to put some gravel out there and I finally agreed. We needed gravel this year for the veggie garden, driveway, and garage so he said this was the year to do it. For his spring break project, Danny scheduled a gravel delivery and we had 15 tons dumped on the driveway one afternoon. Little Danny was thrilled, and so was Elmer. Using left over fence posts we had, Danny created a frame to hold the gravel in place, securing them by driving some 10 in long hex bolts into the ground along their edges. Then the Dannys then filled the inside of the frame with gravel, creating a nice dry path all along the front of the coop and goat shed. Little Danny loved helping shovel the gravel and help take loads over to the coop. He got out his own little garden hoe and followed his dad like a little shadow repeating, "I help my dad," over and over again. The coop looks so much better and we now have clean chicken feet and clean boots. Harvey really seems to enjoy the gravel too and has been laying down in it as his new spot to relax. If we like it, we may extend the gravel path to the house so we have a nice mud-free patch to walk on the entire way out there, but we wanted to try living with it for a bit at first to see if we wanted to do more. Even if we don't extend the path, it looks so much better and now we don't have to wait for the grass to grow back to get some relief from the mud. We still have the little stones left to make a path with and the gravel now blocks the holes under the coop where the cats (and weasels) liked to hide.
Sometimes husbands just know best. Halloween was always one of those things I was excited for as a kid. I loved dressing up in costumes, getting glow sticks, and carving pumpkins. We had a lot of friends growing up who didn't participate in it and everyone was always surprised my family did. My parents were known to be more conservative on a lot of issues, but we were the Christian family that did participate in Halloween. My parents felt there was a way we could have fun without welcoming all the death and creepiness in our home, and when do you ever have so many neighbors knocking on your door and out and about socializing. As kids we had conversations with friends about why we couldn't be certain things, giving us the opportunity to share our faith. We've taken the same approach with baby and he's following the same rules about how to celebrate. 1. No gross, death, or evil promoting costumes. It's pretty much open game on costumes as long as it doesn't fall in the above categories. This means no witches, demons, goblins, etc. in our home. My child is extra sensitive to the the creepy stuff, and I was the same way, so I definitely feel for him. Personally, I wish others would take into account the children that are more sensitive to scary things and save those outfits for times other than trick-or-treat. 2. You have to actually dress up for it to count. A soccer jersey over jeans doesn't make the cut. My mom always encouraged us to have fun and not allow insecurity to make our lives boring and I'm so thankful she did. You've got to know how to have fun in life and not be a drip about everything. There are plenty of ways to make cheap costumes that are still creative and fun. Most of the time, kids don't do anything because they're lazy and/or want to be cool. Let's face it, my kids are going to be homeschooled, so they better give up on being cool now and just learn to have fun. So as you can imagine, when baby refused to dress up this year I was bummed. Originally he said he wanted to be a moo moo cow like last year, but once he saw the udders it was all over. I was no way letting him get away with the OSU jersey over pants, no matter how easy it was so if he was participating this year he had to be something. Danny didn't quite get it, but I said if we start that now what is he going to do when he's 10. My brother was always particular about dressing up and every year managed to find something he liked, so I was willing to work with baby on his costume. I suggested a chicken, chipmunk, skunk, trash man, fisherman, horse, and several other things. After getting all rejections, finally in frustration I said, "Well what do you want to be?!," not expecting any suggestions. Well, Mr. Independent looked right at me and quickly responded, "Hay, fluffy hay." I didn't believe he'd do it but Danny said why not give it a try. He got a pampers box, painted it yellow, and used a rope and baling wire to hold some loose hay around the box, and attached his suspenders to it, costing a whole $4. Much to my surprise, that little stinker wore it proudly, especially when he discovered he got treats. At first he wasn't getting the concept because we kept saying candy, but once we called them treats he was all on board. (Amazing what a word swap and do!) He did trunk or treat until he got scared of the other costumes and wanted to go home. On Halloween he rode in the wagon while my dad pulled him right up to the door. He'd then hop out, put on his costume, say "Treats Please," and climb back in, telling my dad to "back up.". We made it to five houses and then turned around, but he got some Snickers and a tub of blue Playdoh so he was happy. Passing out candy at home made for some great sharing practice anyway. He still seemed to enjoy helping my dad make cappuccinos for everyone over getting candy, but I'm fine with that. Despite not getting another year of him as a cute animal, I love that he came up with his costume idea all on his own. And he was definitely the cutest hay bale I've ever seen.
While it's had taken us a while to get around to writing a post, we greatly enjoyed our new patio this summer and it has been such a wonderful upgrade to the house. Our old deck had been falling apart since we purchased the house, but we never wanted to invest much in maintenance because we always hoped to just put in a patio. It would be low maintenance and baby couldn't fall off, so we just planned on putting one on our house someday and getting rid of the rickety old deck. Well someday came sooner than planned thankfully, because we were a little blind to how bad the deck really was. Here was the state of the old deck: Our deck was small, and a nasty brown color. I had woven chicken wire along to keep baby from falling through, since the gaps in the rails were so wide, half of them broken. Harvey used the steps as a surface to dive from, taking out anyone or anything below, making it kind of a safety hazard for everyone. I was convinced our mosquito problem was because of the plastic under the deck that held water every time it rained. My mom said it was quite the eyesore, (I think she said one of the trashiest decks she'd seen) but I didn't realize how bad it was until we ripped it off. She was right. Baby fell off the deck on Easter and my mom told us it was time for a patio even if she had to do the work herself. She called someone the next day to give us a quote. Before we knew it we had a crew out ripping our deck off. The house already looked better with a dirt patch behind. It's amazing how sometimes you just can see what is so obvious. The work provided some much needed distraction and entertainment for everyone, and Danny set up camp with his chair in the mudroom to watch all the machines and tools they brought along. The dogs had no problem hopping up into the house, so we still used the back door until they poured the concrete. We found out we had and 8 in slope from where the patio would start at the house to the back end, which apparently is a lot. After a bit of disagreement with the crew we settled to do a gradual slope of 2 inches instead of the 5 inches they were suggesting. Our decision meant we would have a huge drop off on the back corner, but Danny came up with a great idea for dealing with the issue. After Danny made them come back and change it to what we wanted, the crew admitted we made the right choice, they just weren't going to say so with the manager around. No one wants to feel like they are sliding off their patio. They cleared the spot, leveled it, set the frame and poured the cement. Originally we asked for a nice curve on the one end, which I used the garden hose to show exactly what I meant. I came outside to find this. Obviously they weren't getting the idea at all and I decided if they couldn't see the difference between what I did and what they did, it was better to stick with a rectangle and not challenge them beyond what they were used to. In adding the patio we lost our garden and had to move it to the side yard. We also lost the dirty windows from Harvey standing up and scratching the entire glass with his muddy paws. (See picture below) I couldn't wait to no longer have a muddy sheepdog swimming against my windows and scratching the screens all up. While the cement was wet, all the critters weren't allowed out so I had angry chickens locked in the coop, dogs in the house, and two cats locked in the dog cage in the garage losing their minds. I happened to look out the window after they poured and smoothed the patio and saw huge craters in the fresh cement. I ran to the other window and saw only one cat in the cage. Miss Polly, who had unknown, hidden kittens at the time, managed to finally squeeze through the holes in the cage, and run right through their work. The workers pointed me in the right direction and I found her with red up to her belly. I failed to wash her in the tub, quickly deciding I rather have a red cat than scratches all over me and put her back under the coop where she just HAD to be. It at least provided some entertainment for baby and the dogs later. They finished stamping, and then came back to cut it and pour the steps. The guy who did the stamping wasn't happy with the turn out. Due to the shade from the tree, it dried unevenly making the stamping very difficult, but we actually like the depth variation. A real brick patio would settle and not be a perfect slab so it seems more authentic. Everything drains away from the house without puddling so we're happy. Danny had the amazing idea to build raised beds around the high parts with a railroad tie in the middle for a step. He quickly constructed them got them in place and I filled them with herbs, strawberries, and morning glories. Eventually we will have a boxwood hedge on the ones side and our grill sits on the wood cover Danny made to go over our well. Day or night the patio has been a great place to relax. Danny's table fits wonderfully and there's plenty of room for people to sit. The string lights were just the final touch and are so pretty to look at every night. We added tiki torches to the gardens and plan to add an additional railroad tie on the edge going to the chicken coop to give a more finished look. Baby loves coloring on it with chalk and taking summer baths in the shade. I've begun going out there to workout in the morning and Harvey can no longer stand and scratch our entire window and screens to come in. The patio was such an improvement on the house and has been a space the entire family has enjoyed, goats and dogs included.
Our Very First Look when we visited the housemove in and lightened floorsNew Wood StoveFirst ChristmasFinished Project
Oh my this may be my most favorite project we've done yet. I love when you vision actually works out just how you want! I never was a huge fan of our fireplace, which was a shame, because a real wood burning fireplace was a must have on our list when we bought the house. The brick and mantel just looked cheap and it didn't have that old home feel, but it was a working fireplace so we figured someday we could fix it up to our liking. The mortar was grey and didn't come to the edge of the bricks, which meant spiders and dust filled the gaps. The mantel was just a white board with nails poking out and a 2x4 covering up a hole in the drywall. I love red brick with white mortar, and our brick, although cheap looking was the right color. Originally I thought it was one of those fake brick sheet things, but when Danny took the mantel down I found out the mantel was actually made of real bricks, and the top row was completely loose! I had this idea to try to re-mortar the brick and just simply cover up the old, gray mortar. I knew I wanted it white and messy, the cleanest acceptable look was the butter joint look, but I also loved the german smear look. I decided to take the risk and if it didn't turn out I'd just paint the mortar and brick all white. This project kind of became my baby. I knew exactly the look I wanted, researched it to death, and made sure I really had made my decision, and then told Danny I wanted to do it. I couldn't find anywhere online where someone just grouted over for cosmetic reasons, so I went out on a limb and decided to just try it. I pulled up my favorite blog post I found of a fireplace with a similar look, ordered my mortar, brush, piping bag, and trowel from Lowe's and set to work. I had to reset the entire top row since it was loose, crossing my fingers in hopes that I could figure out how to set brick. Halfway through the project, I ran out of mortar, being that the gaps in the bricks were much deeper than I thought. But, it was looking good. Unfortunately, the next morning all the mortar had cracked. Almost every spot I had spread the mortar had cracking all through. While it didn't look horrible, it wasn't what I wanted and I felt it looked very DIY. Of course in my frustration, I forgot to snap a fail photo. The day I worked became very humid so for the second round I waited for some cool days of low humidity in the forecast. I filled all the cracks from the first round of mortar and then finished up the areas where I had run out. The cooler weather did the trick and now the mortar was strong and smooth. Of the new areas I filled, there was some mild cracking, but I went back in and just lightly covered the cracks with more mortar and that did the trick. All in all, it took 4 different days for mortaring, had I had enough I could have done it in 3. The vertical bricks had to be done in layers because the mortar would gloop if I filled it too much. I wasn't sure how I felt until I saw it finished, but I love it! I thought I'd go back and brush some mortar on the face of the bricks, but I tested the view for a few days and decided it was perfect. The mortaring was my project, but the the mantel was Danny's, so he took over getting the beam installed. The old beam was a Christmas gift from my parents and was exactly what we wanted. Danny had to trim down the edges a bit using his chainsaw which made me nervous, but he did a great job. He secured it with some structural wood screws and I went back in and filled the gaps between the beam and brick with our leftover mortar, which of course I ran out. When it's in the budget, we'll purchase a third tub of mortar to finish it off. It's one of those things that we only really notice, but it is just that final step to make it look perfectly complete. My mom suggested finishing it off by doing shiplap up to the ceiling to unify the fireplace and wall. We decided we liked that idea. Danny cut some pine boards to size, nailed them up, and whitewashed them all in a day. I honestly can't believe it is the same fireplace! I just love how it turned out and we can't wait to get some fires roaring in the fireplace! The picture will be hung, but we didn't have the right anchors and I was too excited to wait to share.
Archived From CHICKENS CHALKBOARDS // MARCH 22, 2016We are still loving our nursery and baby Danny is enthralled with our DIY wallpaper. I never considered how he might love gazing at it, but they say babies like contrast so it makes sense. He seems to have a thing for polka dots, so he's got the right room. Of course I still want to tweak things here and there, but I figured I'd better share it, because who knows when I will really call it complete. The room is so happy, bright, and youthful. These pictures just make me smile. The changing table is one of my all time favorites. It was being sold at a local garden store as a potting table and my mom had the great idea to use it as a changing table. It reminds me of the old wagon we had as kids and is perfect for our nursery. I mean, can you get any cuter than that?! I used some pails that I ordered to store q-tips, and a cute sweater looking bowl stores lotions and diaper cream. In the tray beneath are disposable and cloth diapers, wipes, and trash bags. Everyone told me I'd want a much bigger trash can for dirty diapers but this compost pail has been just fine. I wasn't into the idea of a huge pail with diaper sausages fermenting for weeks. We used a bigger one for the newborn weeks, but he was in our room in the bassinet so we still didn't need one for the nursery. Danny replaced the shelves in the bookshelf, since the other ones were warped, and I got some navy baskets to store things. Eventually, I'd like to add a pipe bar (like our pantry) to hang shirts, but the shelf is doing fine for now. Thanks to dear friends I had plenty of cute things to decorate the shelves with. The blocks and frames were the perfect addition (Thanks Sarah). Yeah, he has a shoe collection Of course living on a farm means you need some classic farm toys. I love this book my grandma found. The baskets store puzzles, extra linens, toys, and whatever else needs stored. The white built in still has the original warped board on top which is quite heavy to open so thats where old baby clothes are being stored so I don't have to worry about smooshed baby fingers someday trying to get toys in and out. The red storage bench will hold frequently used toys someday that he can easily access and have safe fingers. Since my tailbone is still bothering me, the original rocker for the nursery was too uncomfortable for me to sit in so it has been moved downstairs where it can get broken in. The plan was to eventually move it back up when I could use it but my grandma recently found this wonderful white rocker, so we will probably leave things how they are. (Danny enjoys using the rocker downstairs) The crib is another favorite of mine, the one we all used as babies when I was a kid. It took quite a bit of elbow grease to buff the brass and get all the dust out of the details, but I love it. I originally thought I was going to have to do blue polka dot sheets but Land of Nod just happened to be selling blueberry crib sheets in their Farmers Market collection, which really made the look. Aren't those blueberry sheets adorable?! And of course that baby too! I hung the mobile, which baby Danny loves, and it looks so cute. Unfortunately, I didn't hang it so it can turn but he doesn't seem to mind. The original canopy my mom had didnt make it through 25 years and 3 kids and was thrown out a long time ago, so I had to make my own. I can't sew a stitch so I had to make due with some scissors, ribbon, and hemming tape. The canopy is actually a twin bed dust ruffle that I cut down to size and is similar to the one I remember my mom having when we were kids. It turned out okay but this is where I keep wanting to tweak things. I want to add some big blue fabric bows to the top of the canopy and maybe do some gathers in the center so it doesn't hang so flat in the middle. Of course my dresser is perfect and I love how I see it when I come up the stairs. It is one of those pieces that I can honestly say I am really proud of my work. It looks amazing! I meant to order blue gingham curtains this winter and completely forgot, so that is still on the list to be done before next winter. I'd love to someday have a cushion for the built in bench. Ideally, I'd like it to look like a Hudson Bay blanket, but Ill have to figure out how to DIY a cheaper version because I know that is not in the budget. The nursery has a great view of the field behind us and is perfect for watching thunderstorms. In the morning you can hear the chickens clucking and demanding to be let out, and late at night you can hear the chirping of the tree frogs. I can't wait to open up those windows and let nugget enjoy the country sounds, and I can see myself snuggling up in there someday. If it wasn't for my walk-in closet I might make the little babe trade rooms with me. Check out those chubby legs! Despite the frustrations along the way, I love how the nursery turned out, and looking at where we began really reminds me how far it has come! Here's some Before and Afters:
by Chickens Chalkboards // September 14, 2015When at out apartment Danny and I had three dressers, but when we moved we found our bedroom was too small for any of them and since we have a walk-in closet we could kind of go without. However, the two additional bedrooms in our home don't have closets, so knowing we were going to eventually need those dressers down the line they have sat neglected, waiting to be cleaned out and refinished. I decided to give the baby Danny's old dresser because the size was nice, my old one has an annoying drawer that sticks, and I hated the finish on his so I felt I wouldn't ruin it. It had been in the garage being used as a kitty climber by the cats for the past year and definitely needed some help. The dresser was already a navy blue, but it looked as if it only had one or two coats of cheap paint. The color was thin, uneven, and the dresser itself still had that rough unfinished wood feel. Since I was using a lot of navy in the nursery I decided to try using the dresser to my advantage and milk paint over the blue, hoping the paint would chip a bit, revealing the navy underneath in spots. I was a bit worried the paint would stick and not chip, since the dresser had no finish, so I took the time to rub beeswax where I knew I wanted it to chip, focusing on the edges, around the knobs and spots on the top and bottom where it would make sense to see wear and tear. I then covered it in several coats of Miss Mustard Seeds Milk Paint in Linen, really trying hard to make sure I applied it smoothly without bubbles, crumbles, or unevenness in the color. When using the paint I have come to learn that I cannot seem to be able to use the very last part in the bottom because the color is always a bit yellower. I try to keep stirring it, but after having to repaint the top two drawers due to a coloration difference, I find it is easier for me to just throw out the last little bit. (Also not painting at night would have probably helped me catch the color difference sooner). Once the paint dried I finely sanded everything to get a smooth finish and remove any small bubbles or crumbs and then began to try to get it to chip. Thank goodness I decided to use the wax, because I had to sand it just as hard to get down to the blue paint as I did to get to the bare wood on the highchair. Although I put the wax in various spots, the only place I could sand down to the blue was the edges. Had I not used the wax I probably would have gone straight down to the wood. The paint stuck even better than I expected, refusing to come off in any other spots, but I did get a bit of a crackle look when you see it up close. The final step to the project was using pictures from the book Blueberries for Sal to help tie the dresser in to our nursery theme. I disassembled a 1 cent book I purchased on amazon and began trying to piece the pictures on without it looking like a hodgepodge mess. I knew the look I wanted but Im limited with my ability to visualize things and was really was struggling getting it. Thankfully my mom can picture just about anything and everything and helped tie my favorite pictures in using the landscape pages so it had a nice flow. What I couldnt figure out with several days work, she got it all figured out in about an hour and it looked great. Once I got the look I liked I cut out the illustrations and used Mod Podge to attach them to the drawers. Ive always struggled with getting that nice, smooth, bubble-free, wrinkle-free look when using Mod Podge and after several frustrating attempts to remove the bubbles and get a smooth finish, I found nothing worked better than a credit card. Once the pieces were glued down I gave each drawer 3-4 top coats to seal it so the pictures now have a nice glossy protective coat from the wear and tear of a baby. For now I attached the same knobs, although I still cant find two because I hid them from Otis who kept stealing them, but I think I would rather have them navy so they blend in, drawing the eye more to the illustrations. Once I find the final two Ill eventually get to painting them, but for now it still looks cute and is functional. Even with the brown knobs, I love how it turned out. It is perfect for the nursery and I never could find anything like it in a store.
It feels good to be able to check things off our to-do list, no matter how small, and I can finally say that Baby Kelley’s mobile is finished and ready for the nursery. When I decided on having a Blueberries for Sal themed nursery, I knew that meant I would have to DIY a lot to pull it off, since most people have never heard of the book, much less designed a nursery after it. Last fall I saw these cute felted black bear ornaments at the Country Living Fair and snatched three of them up for “someday.” I made the ring using some wire we had, wrapped it in white yarn, and added a white, grosgrain ruffle. The blueberries came off of Etsy and I attached them and the bears with fishing line. I toyed around with the idea of adding a pail, which is very true to the book, and Danny and my mom both thought it would be the perfect finishing touch. After a few different ideas, I decided to hang one in the center and hot glued the leftover blueberries inside. As always, I have to give Danny credit for helping me with the math part. He stepped in during my frustration, helping me figure out how to evenly space everything, and he will be helping again when it comes to hanging it, so it balances correctly in the crib. I must say I’d really be pretty helpless without him. I love it and can’t wait to have it hanging above the crib and out of Harvey’s reach.
The curious little guy really wants to eat the blueberries and enjoyed the multiple times blueberries went rolling across the floor while I was working. I think he is preparing me more than anything for the baby. |
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