Reminiscing...

I had a day off from my job training today so I tagged along with Jim to the other farm when he went to feed the heifers.  Settlement is next week, so we took what will likely be our last opportunity to walk through the apartment where we lived for nine months when we were first married.  We lived on the second floor of the farm house (our kitchen was inside that huge bay window), Jim's Grandma lived on the big side of the house, and another family lived directly below us.

Here's our trip down memory lane... 

We entered off the porch and headed upstairs...

Our little kitchen table was inside those windows.  This faces south and east, and was a beautiful warm sunny place for eating breakfast and keeping my African violets blooming!

The tile back splash and cupboards have since been painted, but the tile was a bright aqua blue and the cupboards were a natural wood twenty five years ago...

Sycamore trees really make a mess in the yard, but this beautiful landmark is huge, old, and such a familiar sight outside our kitchen windows...

Older and hopefully wiser...

Our pretty little bathroom with the huge linen closet...

Checking out the heifers in the barnyard from the bathroom window...

On the north east side of the house was our bedroom.  When we got married, the bedroom suit that we had ordered from an Amish carpenter, wasn't ready yet.  So, we put our mattress and box spring on the bedroom floor and borrowed a dresser from Grandma D.

The tobacco shed out the spare bedroom window...

We lived here during the fall, winter and early spring months, so we didn't spend much time on the balcony, but it was so warm and sunny today!

Here's Jim almost exactly twenty five years ago, with the balcony behind him, holding our very first milk check!

Jim will be feeding heifers here for a little bit yet and then we'll be bringing them home to our farm.  The gorgeous blue sky against the beautiful white barn and tile silo today was just begging to show off in a photo, so here you have it!

Thanks for coming along on our trip down memory lane!  More coming soon on our new jobs and how that's going!

The Hallway...A Winter Project, Finally Finished!

Two months ago, I posted about a winter project that we were tackling.  You can read it here...

Our hallway project is finally finished!  That's a good thing, because spring is finally here and it's time to be outside!

I can't say thank you enough to my friend Bonnie, who blessed me by helping with the elbow grease...gave much wisdom...and encouraged stick-to-it-ness...that made the project not only lovely, but fun!  My sister Mary also helped with the painting!

In the previous post, I had pictures of the mess that tearing off wallpaper makes, and the clean, bare walls.  Here are a few more pictures.  I used Benjamin Moore White Dove on the trim.  The banister took forever to paint!  Here it is, showing the contrast between the old and new...

I'm leaving the top rail stained dark.  It just needs to be cleaned up a little...

Before...

...and after on one of the bedroom doors..

Here are a few with the final coat of paint.  I used Benjamin Moore Cedar Key on the walls...

I really like this one, because you can see the trim, the walls and the dark rail all in one picture.  I like the contrast!

After the painting was done, we ripped out the old wool, gold carpet.  We entertained thoughts of not re-covering the steps, but that thought only lasted for a few fleeting moments!  The edges were sharp, the steps were cold, noisy, and didn't meet the wood work tightly.  Another generation can uncover them if they want!

Finally, the carpet went in!  There were a few little snafus, and the steps aren't yet completely finished, but you get the picture!  It's always a little hard to see true colors unless you're there in person, but once again, you get the idea!  The carpet color is called Mushroom.  We had considered using a carpet with more color, but Bonnie suggested that a more neutral color would make it easy to decorate in any way that I wanted, and change it around for a lot less than changing the carpet!  Wisdom...

And now for decorating...

I wanted a round mirror for the top of the steps outside of the bathroom, and I found one!  It just about jumped out and bit me, literally!  I hung it a little low, so think I might make a long narrow wooden sign and hang it above the mirror.  I had found the green metal table at Ross a few years ago...

This is my reading nook at the east end of the hallway.  We already had the lamp and the chair, and I found inexpensive sheer curtains at Target that blow in the breeze, just like I had hoped!  I found the table at Home Goods for a good price.  It had some damage on it that was significant enough to warrant a big markdown, but not enough to compromise it structurally!  I just turned that corner to the wall.

I've only used this nook a time or two, but I anticipate getting much reading done here in the future!

This woolen lap robe belonged to my Grandpa Herr, who would have used it in the 1920's or before.  I think the railing is a great place to hang it, adding color to the hallway, and finding a way to display a family treasure.  It gets no direct sunlight here, so it shouldn't fade!

This transom window was found in the attic.  I cleaned it up, sanded it a little, and will add some metal hooks to it.  Hanging it horizontally in the hallway at the bottom of the steps to the kitchen will give us a place to hang light coats, etc.  Old farm houses never have enough closets, so this will be a great addition, and will keep with the farm house decor...

You never know what you might find in the attic!  We have some old window frames that have some potential as well!

So there you have it...a long overdue winter project that is finally...(as soon as the rest of the carpet for the steps comes) finished!

Another Long Overdue Winter Project...

It seems like the list of projects that need to be done never ends.

Am I alone in this?

I think not!  Especially when you live in an old farm house, the list never ends...it just gets longer.

I love the character of our house...the two big porches (both of which need work), the large eat in kitchen (we're pretty good there for now), the big windows (we've replaced them a few at a time over the past 20+ years and only have a few more to go) and among other things, the loooooonnnng hallway that runs the length of the house upstairs, with stairs going down at either end.

Said hallway is the focus of this winter project.

First, some history.  We are the third generation to own and live in this farm house.  Over fifty-one years ago, before Jim's parents moved to the farm, his grandparents had the upstairs hallway wallpapered.  The wallpaper was good quality paper, and required little attention paid to it for many years.

The white pattern is actually a textured design that feels kinda like felt when you run your fingers over it.

Over the past few years the paper began to loosen in spots and fall off.  It got put on the back burner because no one other than family typically goes upstairs.   Out of sight of of mind.  Kind of.

This is the winter that we decided something needed to be done, so...

Looks kinda like a war zone, doesn't it?

Over two thirds of the paper pulled right off easily, with very little effort.  The remainder just needed a little encouragement.  I used a garden sprayer with a mixture of warm water and vinegar to make it damp, and in two days all of the paper was gone!  Another day took care of the ceiling paper...

This section was done a bunch of years ago with help from my sister and our kids...

The glue residue has been washed off, and this week I've started spackling.

After that, the twelve doors, two window frames and all the woodwork need to be sanded and prepped for painting!  Thankfully, I have a friend who will lend me her mad skilz and motivation!

Wish me luck, and motivation to keep going!!