We have chicks!

6 of them.

and Blynn loves holding them.
Rusty likes the idea of holding them, but he does not like the idea of rough little chicken feet touching his hands.

You are also getting your first glimpse of Blynn's missing 2 bottom teeth.

She lost them within 12 hours of one another.

Her slight lisp has increased with those two teeth missing.

Cast Iron

I love this cookbook and this tv show. Every recipe I've tried in it has been fabulous and our style of meal. And, my kids spontaneously tell me mulitple times "thank you for cooking this meal" or "I really like that rice momma". The author of the book is a firm believer that vegetable lovers aren't created but made, which I couldn't agree with more. And she loves cooking in cast iron. I have always been afraid of it because of the law that you can't clean it with water or soap or the cast iron police will come and arrest you, but she explains all about taking care of it in her book and on her show. I got a 14" skillet for Christmas and I love it. Bonus: it also puts iron in your food.

She shows you how to revive an old yard sale or neglected pan with oil and salt. So that was the kids and my activity for tonight. I know, we have a lot of fun here.

And, look, it's like an ice skating rink. Free 8" cast iron pan courtesy of the barn.

I find all sorts of treasures out there.

Barn wood shelf

That shelf above the hooks is an old piece of wood, but not from a barn. It was from one of these trailers.



I saw that Ramone was painting them and replacing some of them. And I wanted to have one before it got painted. I'm pretty sure Ramone thinks I'm crazy for wanting to keep everything and not wanting a fresh coat of paint on it.




So here it is, with the gnarled side closest so everyone can see it.

We just added some L brackets from Home Depot to them, and voila. And by we, I mean Todd.

Some of the little things that make it great

Some of the things that are my favorite things about the breezeway:

painting the closet doors white and painting the hardware black. I wish all the hardware in my house was black.

bringing new life back to this gumball machine, painting the base (which my Grandpa made) black, and having my kids get gum from the same machine that I got gum from




I love these collections of paintings, my favorite is the bottom left one that I just got for free. I like them raw and not in a frame. I also love the 'M',

Which is really two old measuring sticks mounted in the shape of an 'M'.

This desk door....

and all of it's multiple coats of different colored, chipped paint

....use to be on this barn where that white door is.

Breezeway Wish List

Could I show you some things I'd like to put into this room if money was not an issue? Get ready!

I would love to put a round rug in the mudroom section of the room. I feel like it needs to be round.

Remember that I want this chair in the corner by the desk....

.....I would love for it to have an ikat pillow on it. I love ikat. I don't have any explanation for why.

But what about this... an ikat chair.

I would also love some sort of metal in here, either in a metal stool or chair.

And I feel like every room needs a clock like this.

I found them!

I have a feeling I don't need to label which one is the 'before' and which one is the 'after'.

I probably have 3 to 4 more posts in me just about this room.

The Breezeway

Todd and I have been working on this breezeway for awhile. It was basically a non-room since we've been here as it was ugly and a catchall for everything. It is now our mudroom/office/craft room/quiet space/sunroom. I know I have some before pictures somewhere, but I'm not feeling that efficient at this moment.

I've always wanted to have a ladder to hang my projects on. The desk is an old red door from off one of the barns. We topped it with glass and the legs are a filing cabinet and individual adjustable legs from ikea.

Here's my collection of floral paintings found at garage sales and various places.

I would really like to put this chair...

...in this corner.

Actually, there are a lot of things I still need to do in here, but this isn't HGTV and it is not going to happen in a 48 hour time period.

And there you have it. My new favorite room in the house.

Sewing again

Look what I made today! Scrabble pillows. I haven't been sewing for awhile because my sewing machine is old and has arthritis; and, sadly enough, this project was my sewing machines last project. It has officially bit the dust.
So, I wanted this project to be totally free and IT WAS! I used materials that I had around here and viola: scrabble pillows. I should post a beautiful tutorial with pictures and everything, but that probably won't happen. And if you don't know what 1 4 3 stands for, ask someone younger than you.