Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Country Life = Spring Babies on the Farm


Say hello to our newest addition - Striker!
This was taken just a few hours after he was born, isn't he a cutie?


As is usually the case, by the time we found the new baby,
Mama already had everything under control.
Willow may be a first time mother, but she knows exactly what to do,
and so does Striker. Their God-given instincts take over.

Why the name Striker?
We just kept saying how striking he looks with that dark black hair
and white spots on his head and either side.
So Striker he is.


The rest of the goats are doing well too, this is Jessica and her baby.


And Carmelle with her twins.


I have actually lost track of how many mamas and babies there are!


And that isn't counting all the dairy goats and their babies!
Don't worry, the one on the stump isn't hurt, she's just playing.


After a bit, all the goats wandered back outside, 
where one of the babies greeted the sheep.


It's really hard to say which is sweeter...
baby goats or baby lambs.


Maybe what is sweeter is our great nephews.


Yep, it's definitely our great nephews.


Looks like our son Kevin who owns all these animals 
will have plenty of help taking care of all of them!

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Painting flowers


Barn wood makes a great backdrop for flowers.


I like how the colors pop against the wood.


But then again, just about anything makes a good backdrop for flowers!
Even an old breadboard.


Or a drawer from a dresser that has served it's time and is ready to retire.

After that long cold winter we had, it's so nice to see flowers!
Even if they are created with a paint brush.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Coffee pot vases

We bought a box of old coffee pots at an auction to play around with. Keep in mind, we tend to be "outside the box" thinkers.


And our outside the box thinking made us realize that 
after a pot is done brewing coffee....


it makes a great vase!


What do you think?



Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Perfect for the Flower Garden

This time of year, we are always on the lookout for old stuff that will look great in your flower beds, or will make unique planters.


No worries about this old plow blowing away!


These old waterers would make great planters!

The bowl shaped ones were mounted in the barn for dairy cows 
to be able to drink as they were being milked.

The tall one on the right used to be our chicken waterer. 
As you can see, it has earned it's retirement.

And let's not forget the old shortening cans on the left!
Wouldn't that red and white one be pretty with a fern in it?
Or hey! How about red geraniums?


Old buckets are perfect for flowers.


So is old kitchenware.


Old beds are the perfect backdrop in a flower garden.

Dig around your basement or barn or shed. Use your imagination.
You may come up with all kinds of fun garden decor without spending a dime!
Of course, if you have some extra dimes you'd like to spend, you are always more than welcome to spend them in my shop! 


Friday, May 9, 2014

Barbwire flowers

We had some old barbwire laying around, too old and rusty to bend. But fortunately, it was already curved into a shape that could be made into..........


Flowers!

The wood is the sides of a very large box we took apart. Tried to sell it as a box for awhile, but I think because of it's size, it never sold.

No problem, we are getting good at taking things apart!


These have actually both sold. One a couple weeks ago, and the other one today. I had already planned to post about them, so even though these 2 are gone, I decided to go ahead anyway. After all, you never know when we might run across some more curved barb wire, and decide to do this again.



Monday, May 5, 2014

The Chest of Drawers That Wasn't


When we saw this at an auction, we thought it was a chest of drawers. 


And then they opened it up!
How cool is that? 
It's a desk!


I had never seen a piece of furniture quite like it.
 We bought it, and now it can be yours for $165.

Auctions are such fun treasure hunts!

Sunday, May 4, 2014

Decorated chairs

Sometimes at an auction, you bid on something without getting a super good look at it. When a set of 6 chairs came up on the auction block, and the price was reasonable, I stuck my bid card up in the air and won the bid. When we were loading them, we saw why the price was reasonable. Two were in great shape, but the other 4 were a little more questionable.

Everything was good except the seats were just starting to come apart. All could still be used at this point, but somewhere down the road, those woven seats are going to let go. And I don't want to sell them that way, then be the one responsible when someone gets let down in a hurry in the middle of dinner!

So, the 2 good ones are being sold as chairs. But the other 4 have been remade into decorations.


The bear is wearing a vintage crocheted baby dress!


It's funny how a photo looks different that reality.
Here it looks like the bear is being swallowed up by the tiger lilies.
But in real life, he's holding his own.


Lot's going on in this photo!
This chair from the set got adorned with a doll and pip berries.
The happy, happy, happy chair is another trash to treasure project.
The feed sack is framed in an old window.
Love the old black magazine rack with a floral front.
And the New Idea sign is from an old piece of farm equipment.


Sigh.
Come on Google!
Give us the ability to rotate pictures!

If anyone knows how, please let me know.
I've researched it, and it seems to be a problem for everyone.

I have it rotated in my software on my computer,
but when I upload it to the blog, it goes back on it's side.

That has actually kept me from uploading several photos.
I'd start a post, then realize the only pictures I had would need rotated.
So much for that.

But since the first three were upright, I'll go ahead and show this one.

An angel, some ivy, a pillow, and roses gave this chair a new look.

I'll let you go now, so you can rub your neck after twisting it to see this one.



Thursday, May 1, 2014

Our Remodeled Storefront

Wow. It's been so long since I posted, I almost forgot my password! Simply a matter of getting out of the habit of posting. I promise, I going to try harder!

We recently did some remodeling on our storefront. I snapped this photo of George hosing down the sidewalk, after we had hosed down the brick.


Isn't it ugly?

Really, you can say it and not offend us. We have always hated the front, but didn't know what to do about it without spending a fortune. Maybe the brick wouldn't have been too bad by itself. Maybe the gray permastone wouldn't have been too bad by itself. But together?

Ugly. With a capital Ug.

I have wanted to paint it for a few years now, but George kept turning me down. His logic made sense. Once we start painting it, we will have to keep painting it. Paint tends to peel, especially it seems in the mortar joints. That's the voice of experience talking. It happens on our block basement walls at home.

But I started looking at pictures of paint that is done more in a white wash style. No heavy paint in the mortar joints. Just a light coat. That may work.

We decided to go for it.


We practiced on the side wall. See the part toward the middle back where you can see more of the red brick? That is the look we were going for. But somehow, when we did the front, it came out a bit heavier. Not to worry. Time (and weather) should take care of that problem for us.


But despite getting a little heavier than we wanted on the front, we love how it turned out!

I haven't gone across the street to get a full view yet, but I will soon. As you can see, we only went up so far. There is a little ledge above the permastone, and that was our stopping point. Why? Even with an extension ladder, that's as far as we can reach. It will have to be good enough.

The white brick helped tone down the permastone. We still don't care for it, but we can live with it now. We don't want to paint it, nor remove it, so it is what it is.


We found this old beadboard door, and used it just as we found it. The teal colored paint on it was already there. All we did was wash it off, and spray it with a sealer to keep if from weathering any more. I bought the letters at Michael's Craft Store a year or two ago. They worked perfectly on the old door. Love it when things work together!


The crowning touch is the two cow stanchions, one on each side. Chances are pretty good we are the only store around with cow stanchions on teal colored barn wood!

What did all this cost us? Not much!

We used one gallon of paint that cost us around $25. It goes a long way when you aren't putting it on heavy. The door for the sign was free, but we did pay around $95 for all the letters. The barn wood behind the stanchions was free, and the stanchions themselves were very minimal, from an estate sale.

So, the whole project was under $150. Not bad!

I read about how to whitewash, by thinning down the paint. Everything I read said it's a very messy procedure. We couldn't take a chance on that much of a mess on the city sidewalks, so instead of whitewashing, we used the dry brush technique. Worked like a charm.

We have more to do. The window above the white apartment door needs some work, and I'm going to hang a teal colored curtain in it. Same with the large windows in the apartment above, where we didn't paint. You can see them in the first picture. A few other odds and end will finish it up, and the next project will be the inside the display windows.

One of these days!


First Occasional Shop Weekend of the Year

Our first occasional shop opening started today, and runs through tomorrow. Why am I just now posting pics here on my blog? Because my lapt...