Farmhouse

I love houses; mansions and cottages, historic homes and new homes, Tudors and Ranches. I am always looking whether it's online or out driving around. I especially love to look at older homes, those built before the 1940s, because of the architectual detail and charm that seemed to be standard on homes built back in the day. Of course, heaven on earth to me would be a farmhouse. I'm not sure I even care what style of home it is, just that it's out in the country. This one is for sale, but it's about an hour away from where we presently live. I love this big old stone house: I think this one is cute. I love the front porch with all the rocking chairs:
Another old stone farmhouse. It has a windmill on one side (you can kind of see it peeking out). A windmill would be icing on the cake!
Of course, I have a particular fondness for the American Four Square:

And the holy grail of farmhouses to me is this one; Francesca's house from Bridges of Madison County. Love it!

I'll probably never get my farmhouse. The Mr. likes newer homes and the convenience of living in town. He's a farmboy too, but I guess in his case, you could take the farm out of the boy.

Oh well, I can always look!

:) FF

My Fix

So we go out to eat tonight at our favorite local grill/bar/dive and on the way home we're on the ridge about a half mile from our home (subdivision) and the view is amazing. I mean, it is pastoral/could-be-a -painting lovely. That's because our subdivision is on the edge of town bordering farmland. So I say to The Mr. "let's drive out in the country and look at the corn". He says no. "But please, I want to look at the corn", I'm pleading now. In fact, I'm starting to sound like my grandma who always wanted to look at "her corn" about her rented farmland after she moved to town. He says, "I looked at corn all day. I don't want to look at it again". He builds grain handling systems, so I understand this logic. Still..... I want to look at some gosh dang corn. He tells me, "You'll have to wait for your fix. I'm tired."
No cornfields for me tonight. I should've married a farmer.

Cute Haircut Tuesday

I decided to post a little bit longer-style cute haircut today, since I'm trying to grow my hair out. For gosh sakes, how long does it take? I'm taking multi-vitamins, calcium and fish oil and have been forever and the only hair growing fast is the hair on my big toes. Sorry if that's TMI, but, what gives?

Anyway, back to the haircut......I think this would be a cute in-between-stage style. Love the bangs!
I recently went almost this blonde, thanks to a box of Feria. My hairdresser is going to love me next time I go in. ;)

Have a good Tuesday! FF

Manic Monday

It's Monday, and at our house this is what happens on Mondays: Laundry, and lots of it. And despite the fact that tonsilitis and pink eye is making the rounds at our house, the show must go on. And yes, even I have the dreaded pink eye. My 6yo told me, "Mommy, your face looks sick." Niiiice.
Actually, out of all the household chores, laundry is my favorite. People think I'm nuts, but I love sorting, washing and most of all folding. To me, it is cathartic, and that's why I do it on Monday. It beats scrubbing toilets. I do that on Wednesdays. :)

Hope your Monday is great (and healthy!) FF

Voyeur

One time on Oprah she said something to the effect that people like to see how other people live. I guess that's true, otherwise I probably wouldn't feel the need to watch Real Housewives of Orange County. Really though, I like to see what other people's homes look like.

Ever since I was a kid, I've loved to go for drives in the car right at that time of the evening where it's starting to get dark outside, and their lights are on in the house, but they haven't shut their blinds yet. And I have to run on my treadmill because when I run outside I find myself slowing down to check out people's landscaping, therefore not getting a good workout.

Of course, in this day and age, it's easy to be a voyeur. There's real estate listings online and blogs. I have an extensive file on my computer that is full of photos I've gotten (stolen?) from online of rooms I love. I may not necessarily want to decorate my home that way, but it still serves for inspiration.

Here's a few rooms I found that I love. I hope I'm not violating some copyright law by posting them, but it's just because I admire their beauty:

What an adorable laundry room, and it appears to be lint-free. How does she do that?

I love this Santa Fe-style home. That's my problem though; I love too many different decorating styles. That's a whole 'nother post.
I had been pondering what color to paint my kitchen, then I found this picture and she has the same finish on her cabinets as I do. I love this color! I think I'm going to use it!

This one's been on my computer for quite some time. I just think it's cool-looking. Another laundry room. Someday I'll have a grown-up laundry room just like this.
So you see, I'm not some crazy peeping Tom person. And let me tell you why: Years ago I saw a butt in a window as we were driving by, and not a cute one either. Ewwwwwww.

FF

Mmmmmm...wine....

I like wine. And I'm not one of those swirl it around in the glass, sniff it a couple times, then put it in your mouth and swish it around like you're going gargle kind of gals. And I'm fine with drinking cheap wine (except Boone's, sorry!). I don't care if it's Cabarnet, Merlot, Chardonnay, Pinot or Riesling. All that matters is that it tastes good to me. But here is my very, very favorite. Oh, how I love it: Chateau Ste Michelle Riesling. And it was on sale this week at the grocery store. It doesn't get much better than that. :)
FF

Cup & Saucer

My grandma was not a pack-rat, therefore she didn't have much cute shit sitting around her home. My mom says it's because she didn't save anything, but really I don't think she had much to save in the first place. She came from very humble beginnings and then lived through the Depression, so I suppose she just didn't spend money on "stuff", or cute shit.


She did collect bone china cups and saucers though. She had a china hutch that was filled with these on every shelf. Most of them were given to her as gifts.


My grandma passed way eleven years ago. My aunt got the china hutch, and I'm sure most of the collection. My mom got a few of the pieces as well.


Recently my mom, sister and I had a garage sale and my mom put this up for sale. What?!?! How could she?!?! So I, of course, latched right on to it beings as how I didn't have one from Grandma and I took it home and put it in my antique secretary desk with glass doors.

Here's a picture of it looking all vintage-y: But here's what it really looks like. Isn't it pretty? Yellow is my favorite color:
FF

Outhouse

I want an outhouse sooooo bad. And no, it's not because I would just love to have a spot to pee or poop where someone, i.e. a little person, didn't wander in every. single. time. Actually, I want one to use as a teeny-tiny potting shed. :) And not only do I have The Mister on board with this idea; he agreed to build me one. Yee-haw!
I found this one online and it's kinda cute:
Ooooh, I'm liking this one too. Would ya look at the weather vane?! I just noticed the sign. Smokey's Lounge. Does his wife make him go out here to smoke?! HA!!!!!!

Here's the spot where it's going to go. Yes, the swingset/fort/play area is leaving. I am positive there will be lots of crying and carryin' on when it does, but they don't even play on it. They play on the neighbor kids' because their's has a tunnel.
We're planning on some raised beds on either side for a small garden; some radishes, lettuce, asparagus, tomatoes. Also some zinnias and some marigolds, to honor The Mister's grandpa who recently passed and who happened to be an avid gardener who grew the most gorgeous zinnias every year. They were his favorite.

It's going to be my own little mini-farm and I can't wait. Now if I could just have chickens......

FF

Keep out!

He just forgot one small detail; his brother doesn't read yet: FF

Cute Haircut Tuesday

I want this haircut. It's supposedly Hilary Swank with her new short 'do for her role potraying Amelia Earhart in an upcoming movie. I'm not sure it's her. Doesn't really look like her profile, but anyway...cute hair! Unfortunately, I've committed to growing out my hair and the mister would freak if I went and cut it off. Someday though!

Crafty

I always say the crafty gene skipped me. My mom has it; she creates beautiful jewelry, knits beautiful scarves, has painted in the past. My dad has it; he can build just about anything out of metal or wood. My sister even has the craft gene; she makes notecards, is a great photographer, and can also make just about whatever.
I, on the other hand, have a lot of great ideas, just not the wherewithall to get them accomplished.
I also happened to marry a guy who is very creative and can build just about anything, fix anything, you name it. His line of work allows him more free time in the winter months in which he disappears into his workshop and creates all kinds of wonderful things out of beautiful pieces of wood.
A candleholder:
A free-form box with little drawers:
He uses this as his "jewelry box". He doesn't have much in it. He's not a goldchain/pinkie ring sorta guy:
This is one of my jewelry boxes. It has lots of things in it. I am a jewelry wearing gal, but not goldchains or pinky rings:
Another box with lots of cute little drawers:

This is one of my favorite pieces he has made; a nautilus shell box. I claimed this one before he even had it finished:

Another box. He was on a box-making kick this past winter:

He also makes bigger things out of wood. He made the bar in our basement, a gorgeous mission-style bookshelf that weighs a ton and a half, a shelf to hold his stereo-equipment, and numerous things he's given away or sold.

I'm a lucky girl!
FF

Roastin' Ears

And don't you dare call them Corn on the Cob. Any self-respecting person who has roots in the corn belt knows that these here are called "roastin' ears". I always think of a farm wife, not unlike my grandmas or the mister's grandma, loading a big roaster with ears of corn for the hired men, hungry from a morning's work from the field and ready to eat dinner, not lunch. Farmers don't eat lunch at noon or dinner in the evening. No, no, no. The noon meal is always dinner and the evening meal is supper.
Anyway, you can take the girl away from the farm, but....well, you know the rest:

FF

Just Wondering......

You know how J-Lo made it okay to have a big butt? Why can't some celebrity make it okay to have a muffin top?

Black Hills

The Mister and I were married for some time before we settled down and had our two little dudes. And we took advantage of it too. We were lucky enough to be able to travel to many different places in this beautiful country, but there is one place that holds a special place in our hearts. We've been there so many times that we can't say how many times we've been there. We went there as our first vacation together before we were married. We went back for our honeymoon. We were there when I was pregnant with our youngest. And countless times in between. The journey there is almost as beautiful as the destination; the desolate but lovely Sandhills, the craggy and ominous-looking Badlands, then finally off in the distance the dark silhouette of The Black Hills:



If you can be "homesick" for a vacation destination, then I am definitely suffering from it right now.
Have a great day! FF

Front Yard

You've seen a bit of my backyard. Would you like to see some of the front of our home now?
Greetings! When you come up to our front porch, you're greeted on one half by a hanging basket of lobelia. I love their color! I also have some pink and white impatiens and a little stone frog sitting next to them. Last year you never knew where that frog was going to show up because my youngest lil' dude loved to move him around. He seems to have gotten past that in favor of real ones now. We also have a couple of wicker chairs on the front porch. We used to sit in them a lot, but decided that it's a lot quieter to sit on the back deck in the evenings than the front porch where the 26 or so rugrats (including our own) are running all up and down the cul-de-sac.
We bought this great cauldron at a flea market near Springfield, Missouri several years ago. I decided to plant purple and white petunias in it this year. We get those big moths that look like hummingbirds out there in the evenings.
Clematis:
Impatiens:
Oh, I love these! Black-eyed Susans. They're in my front flowerbed and they were planted by the builder. I'm so glad he chose these!
These were also planted by the builder. They are the most lovely scarlet color:
Some more impatiens I planted in the front beds. They only look good in the evenings, I'm afraid, when the sun has moved around. I need to rethink what I plant here for annuals next year.

So that's a little glimpse of the front of our home. It's always changing, season by season. That's what I love about it!

FF

Junk Jaunt

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Cookbooks

I used to be a collector. When I first got married 20 years ago (and I got married young, by the way. I'm not that old!) I went through a cow phase. Then I achieved more sophisticated taste and I moved on to vintage glass swizzle sticks. I still have hundreds of them all packed up in shoe boxes. Then it was depression glass. I sold most of my pieces, save for the family pieces and ones I really loved. This was all BK (before kids). Once we started our family, I decided that I no longer had the time or inclination to acquire, and then dust, collectibles. And while I love "cute shit" as much as the next person, and I love looking at it when it's in other peoples' homes, I don't want it in mine to worry about getting broken, or cleaning it, or whatever. There is one thing I still collect though. I don't have to worry about keeping them clean, or whether the kids can break them or not. Cookbooks! Oh, do I love cookbooks. I can sit down and read a cookbook like it's a bodice-ripping novel.
Here's my collection on the middle shelf: It's right above my work station. This it where it happens; I pay bills here, surf the internet, browse my cookbooks. That's Pioneer Women's Calendar hanging on the wall to the left. That's where I track how many miles I ran on a certain day, swim lessons, MOPs stuff, etc.
Here's a close-up view. You can see I love Gooseberry Patch cookbooks. I also have a Giada DeLaurentiis and a Barefoot Contessa one in there, not to mention a few Rachael Ray:
This is my favorite cookbook. My cousin Kristen gave it to me for a bridal shower gift back in 1988. It's one of those blank ones that you add your own recipes to. She added a few of her favorites and over the years I've added my own. While I love to cook, but loathe baking, you'd better believe the Main Dishes and Vegetables sections are chalk full of recipes and the desserts and cookies sections are kinda bare:
It has to be a tried and true recipe that I make in my regular rotation in order to make it to this cookbook. For example, my friend Denise's recipe for Penne in Vodka Sauce. Love it!

I've got not one, but two, of what I call "Holy Grail" cookbooks. The first one is my Little House Cookbook. I bought it at Wall Drug Store in South Dakota. I've never made anything from it, but I love all things Laura Ingalls Wilder and let me tell you, it makes for some good reading:My most very favorite cookbooks in the whole entire world are those fund-raiser cookbooks, most particularly church cookbooks. I mean, where else are you going to find such great recipes with great sounding names like "Better than Robert Redford Dessert" or "Maid-Rites" (did you know that's what Iowans call Sloppy Joes?! Neither did I!). So when I found this little number, I knew I'd struck gold:
Yes, this is definitely the kind of collecting The Mister can get behind. I'll always believe the old adage that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. It's true.

FF