Christmas Dinning Room

The homestead dinning room is shinning for Christmas these days. The smell of balsam fir fills the room. Tarts melting in the tart warmer as light shows through the punched star design at the computer desk today.

Little pines a glow with lights in the crocks on the hoosier cabinet.

Simple pine sprigs with bells & pine cones added to my bowl rack. Candles a glow inside the mason jars on the candle shelves. The bowl rack & candle shelves were made by Firecrackerkid Primitives. There is a link in my side bar that will take you there. Oh so many nice well made wood items to purchase.

Candles lit & decked in pine sprigs & rings.

This is the display I was working on the other day. I like how it turned out. It looked good on top of my sewing machine box.

I found out that the wooden trencher is called an ol barn sink. It is staying on the dinning room table for Christmas. I put a real pineapple & a sprig of pine with bells & pineapple in it. I added my old black crow & a little mouse in the corner. The red apple adds a splash of color.

The living room will be next to spruce up for Christmas. As yet we still need the ol Christmas tree to grace our living room. We ordered one online & we are waiting for it to be delivered. Sam is asking a lot. When will it come? I can only say that it was confirmed it was loaded on a truck to be shipped. I have called to confirm we would be getting it for sure. It has been raining here off & on all day & it is a bit cold out there. We still have some hunting going on today. Chicken breasts are in the slow cooker for supper tonight. I must be going to come up with the rest of supper before hungry hunters get home.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Christmas Kitchen

It is looking a bit like Christmas in the homestead kitchen this week. Changing some things from room to room has helped to make a change & adding some of our Christmas decorations from Christmas pasts here & there. I like to attend after Christmas sales to pick up a few new decorations at amazing discounts. That is my after Christmas shopping spree for myself.

Rescued from the basement this little grapevine tree almost went to the auction last month. Glad I kept it now. These are the little mice I was making. I liked them on the tree so that is were they ended up at. The little creatures are not stirring about the kitchen as yet. We did have some very tiny baby mice about last week. They were tiny & cute but had to go. What have all our fur babies been up to here at the homestead I wondered. They must be getting fed way to good these days. Sleeping on the job I guess.

The little mice are among the fresh cedar branches I cut from the old cedar tree & added to give the grapevine tree some color for Christmas. They smell good to.

The entrance to the homestead kitchen got a new look this week. The gray granite ware wash basins were hung here & a home sweat home sign was hung. I borrowed the sign from the living room. I like it here to. Nothing new but is gives a whole new look to the kitchen entrance.

The nativity scene on top of the pie safe that shows what the Christmas season is all about. Jesus is the reason for the season!

Heavenly scented clementines & cloves I did added to the berry bucket on top of the pie safe.

The kitchen tree gets angels added for Christmas.

The canning rack & jars that were once Grams gets a little felt snowman & a balsam fir candle added to the center. The kitchen smells like a Christmas tree field these days. Reminds me of the days I helped Pap & Gram trim their Christmas trees. They had a Christmas tree farm on some of the land they gave me.

The arrow hanger gets a primitive angel hung on it for Christmas.

I have liked cows since early childhood so the old faithful country cow stays out for Christmas on top of the frig. He gets a pineapple tree with a white dove a top the tree.

My stove board that hides the Cinderella stove. Many balls I have missed cleaning it. LOL.

Next Christmas will come to the dinning room & then the living room last this year. We got our prelit Christmas tree out from the basement on Thanksgiving night as we always do. After it was put together we plugged it in & only the two rows of lights worked at the bottom of the tree. After two days of playing with it I gave up & it went back to the basement. We got seven good years out of it. I count that as good. New plans for this Christmas when it comes to the tree. We will see soon. The boys are out & about with their Dad in the woods hunting those white tail deer on this oh so cold day. I like the cozy warmth of the homestead so I went back to bed after they went on their adventure today. Will we have deer hanging when I wake up? I will wait & see. I hope you are all warm & cozy this cold day.
Blessings Til Next Time!

A Gift * Displays * Hunting *All At The Homestead Today

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with much yummy food to eat. From roasted turkey to pumpkin pies. All the yummy food was homemade & good I must say. I made all of it. Can you tell I am pretty proud of myself. I must give Our Heavenly Father the thanks for providing all the food & giving me the energy to do all this. What a wonderful blessing!

Last night I got a card in my post office box letting me know I had a package waiting for me to pick up. To late the door was closed. I went to the post office early today & picked up the package. Inside wrapped in pretty Christmas tissue paper was this charming Santa Clause. I am so grateful for this gift I have been blessed with & the sweet friend I have been blessed with who was so kind to send it to me. May God pour out blessing over flowing in your life. Thank you so much Lori my blog friend!

I had moved the black swan & old wooden tool box to Paps pine chest in front of the fireplace after Thanksgiving & added some pine sprigs to it. There was just the right size spot to add the santa clause. I love it.

My stove board got a new look for Christmas after Thanksgiving. I really liked it the way it was but I wanted a few changes for a winter look. I think the snowman & pine sprigs are just enough.

I am working on a display to put on top of my sewing machine box. Using what I have & adding some fruit I picked up at the store yesterday. I am having fun using fruit this year.

Clementines with cloves I did for my gray granite ware berry bucket in the kitchen. I love how they turned out & how yummy they smell. Thanks for your help Lori! You have opened up a whole new world of decorating with fruit for me this Christmas. Check out Loris beautiful displays at http://loritheblackcrow.blogspot.com I promise you will love them.

Sam is dressed in his hunting gear minus the orange items he will be wearing when he goes into the woods the first day of buck season. Today if he can put down his PSP & leave his little doggie he is going to do some target practice.

Sam & his Dad setting up a target for Sam to practice shooting at. This will be his first time shooting a hunting rifle. Sam passed his hunters safety course a bout a month ago & is excited to go hunting with his Dad & brother Lucas this year.

Oh boy Sam is about to shoot the gun for the first time. The sound of the first shot rang out & his little dog is trying to climb up on my lap. I ask Sam how did you do? I got three bulls eyes. His Dad confirmed. I was shocked. But I guess all the target practice with his BB gun paid off. We have many soda cans with holes in them.

This was the solution I came up with to keeping the big guy from digging up the newly sewed grass seed. A make do fence of such. It is working well.

Blessing Til Next Time!

Happy Thanksgiving

During this time of year there is so much to be thankful for. The colors of the season the beauty in the trees the freshness in the air & the crispness of an autumn breeze. But what is better than all of these is what God has given each & every one of us. As we count our blessings & name them one by one we will see just how many things we can give thanks for. The most precious of all he has given us is his Son Jesus our saviour. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Some Projects Started & Some Finished

I gathered some evergreen branches today & wired them together for the outhouse door. Sam & I will have to venture to the woods for some large pine cones to add. Some where I must have a red bow to tie on. I filled the bird feeder for the little birds that have came to eat. They sounded so sweet chirping as they ate. After many photos & not getting the birds in none of them I gave up. They would fly in & go to the back of the feeder to eat & then fly away. Silly little birds.

I got this recipe card holder at a church sale for only 50 cents. I planned on painting it & giving it as a Christmas gift. I had forgot about it but remembered after seeing something on another blog. One of the Tuesday Display Chains. The Peek - A - Boo Tuesday Posts. I hung it to see if it would work & it seemed to be perfect.

Off I went to get the power tools. Eight holes drilled to start & eight lines to cut.

Well two squares opened. One in the back & the other in the bottom. A little sanding done & it was ready to be painted.

All painted & I did remember to distress this piece. Oh I did do some distressing on the sewing machine cabinet to. It looks much better. So the use to be recipe box is now hiding something on my wall.

I can now hide that ugly but much needed thermostat. Thank you for helping me come up with this idea Lori at http://loritheblackcrow.blogspot.com Lori has a wonderful blog where she shares so many beautiful displays.

I will soon be adding these Christmas tart bags to my side bar.

I sewed up a pillow for the little dogs basket. I had this fabric left over from when I recovered the dining room chairs. The fabric had been stashed away for along time. I figured I should use it up. The little dog has been sound asleep since jumping into his basket. He must like the pillow.

In less than a hour after I planted grass seed & put straw down over the old pond area the big dog decided to make his bed in the straw & sun himself. He was happy & that was fine. Before he left he dug a hole. That was not so fine. Hubby had a little job to fix after he took the dog back to the barn. So now we wait to see if the grass will grow.

Blessings Til Next Time!

A Treated Myself Today

Today My daughter & I made a trip to the DMV to renew her drivers permit. It expires Thursday & we did not know you have to schedule your drivers test before you show up at the DMV. There was a back log of 4 weeks & we were told she would be lucky to get scheduled in January. Things have changed since I took my drivers test. Well you may guess I was not disappointed. But she was. I am not ready to set her free on the highways in a vehicle just yet. Just last week two of the kids friends were going to have their senior photos taken & were in a wreck. The beautiful young girl died & the young boy was flown to a hospital away from our area. He is doing much better & has returned home with his family. I feel for this young girls family & this young boy who cared deeply for her & misses her so. I spoke to his brother yesterday at the school & said he would be coming around soon to visit. He has been visiting our home since the family moved here this summer. There is so little for teens to do around here. I am hoping to get all my kids in a church youth group. I thought the best way to do that would be to invite their friends along. They are all so young & have so much of life ahead of them. But at any time anyone can leave this old world. It worries me that they could leave not knowing Jesus as there Lord & Savior. This has been a bit of a burden to me since the summer months. Many are considered heathens but are not & just need someone to open the door & lead them to Christ. I may not be the one but if I can just plant the seed I would be happy to see them grow in Christ while someone else waters my kids & all the neighbor kids & yours to. If you could remember this in your prayers & the young girls family & young boy. I am sure God will bless you back & I thank you from my heart. For some reason I felt a need to share this tonight. Well back to treating myself. I stopped by a prim shop on our drive to pick up some silicone bulbs for my window candles. No luck but oh I seen this wooden trencher type box. I had to have it. You can see it came home with me. I have been searching ebay off & on. Many I liked but way to pricey. this was a good deal or it would have stayed at the prim shop. I filled it with a old crock I had & used the prim items I had in the huge gray granite ware wash tub I had on the table. Everyone complained there was no room at the table & we had to move it so often. It was pretty but did take up way to much table space. The granite ware wash tub is now hanging in the homestead kitchen. I guess this will be my Christmas gift to my self. But a little early.

Blessings Til Next Time!

A Cozy Homestead Kitchen

When I got up today it was cold at the homestead. As I looked out the kitchen window I saw leaves & rain falling to the ground. I thought this would be a good day to do some baking. With the oven on it would warm the homestead kitchen & make it cozy. I have been wanting to try a recipe for a pumpkin roll. I have never made one before today. It was very simple. To think what I have been missing out on. The pumpkin all baked into a thin sponge like cake rolled & cooled. I mixed the filling & unrolled the cake to spread the filling on it & roll it back up. Of course I had to cut a piece & try it. It tasted so good. I mixed some bread dough & left it to raise. I decided to try rolls this time. I have never made these either. Rolls all placed on the baking sheets to raise & then bake to a golden color. They smelled so good baking in the oven. All this time the homestead kitchen was so nice & cozy warm. On to our diner. The kids are always hungry when they get off the bus after school. We had steaks & baked potatoes with a salad. We tryed the diner rolls smoothered in butter along with our meal. Everyone enjoyed our homemade healthy meal. The dishes were washed & put back in the plate rack. The kids are watching t.v. & I think I will do some catch up reading of all your wonderful blogs before I work on my little mice & do some reading. I finished the book The Joy Of Keeping A Root Cellar By Jennifer Megyesi. This book has so much information to share about preserving the harvest. I have been reading the book of Psalms in my Bible & verses in a book called Gods Promises for every need. I also started reading the book Rachels Garden. Another book about the Amish. The homestead is cooling off since the oven is no longer on. I believe it is time to start the electric fireplace for some extra warmth. The rain is pouring down outside & the sound of rain dancing on the tin roof is so soothing. This will be a good night to cuddle up early under the thick quilts & drift off to dream land.

Blessings Til Next Time!

Our Gift

Our gift made of wood. All stained.

Our gift made of wood before staining.

Weather has allowed time for staining the gift we received. It is made out of all wood. The door that was on it would not shut so the owner was kind enough to remove it & make us a new door. I am looking for a piece of rusty tin to put on the roof yet. Now I have a place to store the garden tools. There are two shelves inside. On the top shelf I have put plastic containers that hold bird food. I am so tickled about this outhouse garden shed. It is just the right size & can be moved if need be. I am still looking over the ads in our local papers for railroad ties that I can make garden boxes out of. So far I have not found any for free. Once in a while there are people who will give them away if you will remove them. The boys will remove them if we can find some. So I am not going to give up.

Blessings Til Next Time!

The New Fish Pond

The new fish pond is finally in. I am so glad. I pray we get to enjoy the fish pond for many years. I still would like a small waterfall but I think we will wait til spring to add it. I cant wait til spring so I can plant flowers around the pond & fill it with pond plants. This pond has to shelves in it. This will be so great for water lilies. Our little frog can sit on the lily pads and sing at the moon. It sure took a lot of digging to get the hole deep enough and large enough. Lucas sure got some larger muscles this summer. For the winter months we have cut some old PVC pipe & put it in the bottom of the pond for our little frog & fish to hide it. The weather has been pretty nice here so we have been sitting on the porch watching the fish swim & listening to the water. Sam has been filling inside the rocks with fine dirt that he has picked the rocks out of. Of course he has gotten a used but new to him PSP game for all his hard work. The fish seem to like their new water hole & that silly friendly frog likes to be talked to & sure likes to pose for photos. No camera in hand when I caught one of our furry kittens touching nose to nose with the little frog. I missed it. I wish the frog knew that the furry kitten more than likely finds him to be a tasty treat. The neighbors cat has been visiting the pond day & night both. I think he finds those fast swimming gold fish to be a tasty treat he may just have to have. I have been counting each day & so far the fish are all still where the belong. Sam & I are thinking we should put a bench in back of the pond so we can sit there next summer & enjoy the sights & sounds. I will love reading there to. I have started reading a new book called The Joy Of Keeping A Root Cellar. There are so many wonderful chapters about canning freezing drying smoking & preserving the harvest. So many pretty colorful photos to. I am reading & dreaming of my dream garden. Can you tell? I think I can here those veggies calling me now. What about?

Blessings Til Next Time!