3 secrets old farmhouse owners might never tell you
Yesterday Bill mumbled that he hates our old farmhouse. Yes, my husband used the words “hate” and “farmhouse” in the same sentence.
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History lessons from an old house
I love my new (old) door hung as a barn door
A 217-year-old homestead tends to have a ton of junk fascinating history stories laying around, so this month we gave new life to an old door we uncovered in our barn. We’re using the old door inside with barn door hardware. Of course. A lover of history, I adore giving something old a new purpose. Giving an Old Door New Life
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Making an Old Farmhouse Home
Would you like to increase your home’s value? In your own eyes? In the eyes of your children? Surprisingly, all that’s sometimes needed is a little distance… There’s a story I love to tell about the house with golden windows. (I’m not just a crazy chicken lady and homesteading homeschool mom; I’m also a professional storyteller, so I
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Wanna be a modern homesteader? You need to have THIS attitude.
I come from a history of family farming. Needless to say, with that history of family farming comes a beautiful history of family stories. Family stories that are often treasured memories and unforgettable heartbreak woven together. The tapestry often turns out to be beautiful, in the end, and for that I am grateful. This past week my daughters and I
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Don’t Miss this Autumn Jewel: the Harvest Moon
“Don’t tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Or so Anton Chekhov wrote. I’m reminded of the quote as I scratch “Harvest Moon” on a Sunday square of the calendar. As a writer, I wholeheartedly agree with the Russian author. As a teacher, I instruct my students to interrogate all of
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The Bitter Truths (and joys) of Owning an Old Farmhouse
You learn to acquiesce to some things, even embrace the bitter truths with contentment, when you know the joys of owning an old farmhouse.
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Industrious Stories from an Old Farmhouse
Problems abound when one chooses to live in a structure that was built over two centuries ago. Rotted foundations. Falling walls held up by a turnbuckle. The list goes on. Even so, I have many reasons I’d choose to live nowhere else. DISCLOSURE: This post contains affiliate links. I’m a person of stories. I take them
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History of the Lilac Bush
Before we moved to our New England farmhouse, which was built around 1800, I had never even considered the history of the lilac bush. Once I discovered the beautiful antique blooms in so many corners of our homestead, I was inquisitive to know if these fragrant trees had possibly been planted here long ago. DISCLOSURE: This
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Reaping a Harvest
Surely it had been bathed in the light of the Harvest Moon hundreds of times before–our little red cape that sits at the bend in the road. There where the lake greets the river in rolling melodies, spilling over the dam, the full moons of many Septembers have certainly rolled their bright lullabies over the humble clapboard walls
This old wide plank flooring was worth saving
Our old farmhouse had dilapidated wide plank flooring that was worth saving; those boards embody history you can feel in your toes. So one New England summer I was on a mission. It had been six long weeks. Three of research: internet, calls, emails. Three of sharpening and scraping: inch by inch, board by board. Read more–the
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