A Wedding at the Farm!

Well it is a bit late, but we had a wedding at the farm!  Miles and Liz got married here in August 2015!  It was a beautiful, memorable, fun day!  We were so happy for the new couple!  Here are a few pics.

Pretty Farm Skies

The sky at the farm can be a beautiful sight.  Here are some pics that we have taken recently.  Enjoy!

Big Barn New Roof

Our second major project during the summer of 2014 was putting a new roof on the big barn.
Here is a before pic.  Notice how some tin is missing.  The other side of the barn roof was even worse.

So, the boys and David and even Grandpa Phil, tore tin off of the small barn to use on the big barn.  They then repaired and replaced the old tin on the back side of the big barn.  Doesn't it look great!

 The "finished" back side of the big barn roof.

This pic is out of order, but this is Dane and David doing the repair work.  

 The front side of the big barn roof was a different story.  The boys heaved large panels of metal roofing up the ladders to David, who then screwed it in place.  See David tethered in so he doesn't fall off!

 This was a hot, heavy, long process!

This pic makes me nervous!

 Here is the finished front side of the big barn roof.  Notice the skylights!  David put some clear plexiglass roof panels between some of the rafters to let sunlight into the barn loft.  It looks nice and bright up there...pics to come!

 The almost done roof with the new metal roofing.

The finished back roof with the repaired tin.

The Dining Room

 Here is the dining room before painting.  Lovely, huh?

 More before pics.

The plaster walls have been scraped, patched and sanded.  Ready for paint, right?  I found out NO the hard way!

Here is the dining room mid-project.  I had A LOT of trouble with the plaster walls peeling and cracking as I painted, so I had to stop painting and scrape, patch and sand again...twice!

I finally figured out that I had to put down a coat of oil based primer, then the paint would stick to that.  Too bad I didn't know that at the beginning!

Here is the dining room painted a nice mustard yellow.  I wasn't quite sure of the color, but the more I look at it the more I like it.

The finished dining room walls.  Now we just need to repair and clean the chandelier, refinish the floors, repair and paint the window frames...will it ever be done???

The "new" dining room.  So much nicer to enjoy a meal in!

Exterior Painting is Almost Done!

The back porch dining room window. 

Miles priming the north side of the house.

David and Miles painting in the sunset. 

The front porch is almost done.  Hope to get the ceiling and door painted soon.

The south side of house is pretty much done.  Well, not the window frames or shades, but the exterior is done.

Making Green Plum Jam

We thought this tree was a crab apple tree until the fruits kept growing bigger and bigger.  We tasted one of the mysterious fruits and it was delicious!  This tree is a Green Gauge Plum tree.  The plums are a beautiful yellow green color and taste tangy and sweet, perfect for homemade jam!

Picked plums for the jam.

Green plum jam reducing on the stove.  I know, it doesn't look green.  Green Gauge Plum jam can range in colors from brown to orange to pink!  I'll post pics of the finished jam soon.

Welcome!

Well here she is, just as we bought her in October 2011. Let's hope future pictures show our neglected old foursquare farmhouse a little freshened up!