Farm Views

We have decided to call our new place a farm. It isn't very big, but we do hope to get most of our food from it, so a farm it might someday be.
Here are some more photos of it.

You saw the house yesterday:

It needs painting, inside and out, and some boards repaired, and a new roof, but it is big enough for us and our studio (if we can get the basement dry!!) and it is shady and cool.

There is a small field off to the north:

That field goes to the fence, pretty close to the home on the other side.

And another bigger  pasture  in the back, that goes all the way to the trees, and about 20 feet into the woods to the west:

Altogether there is about 2.4 acres. The back pasture is about 1.8 acres. The side field is about .15 acre.

We would like to have a large garden, bees, chickens and rabbits, and maybe a cow.  I would love to have a pig, but they smell so bad, I'm sure the neighbors would complain, so I doubt I will do that.

According to all the self-sufficiency books, 2 acres is enough to raise most anything, but what the books forget is that a quarter acre is for the septic field, and really can't be used for much.  I think I may make mine a native flower garden for the bees.  It is sunny, and right by the driveway up front, so I need to make it look presentable.

The place is between Bellevue and Clyde Ohio, in a small unincorporated village called Colby.  The property has been empty for about 10 years, though it was mowed and looked in on by a neighbor, so it doesn't have an abandoned look.

Independence Day!

We got the truck unloaded yesterday evening, pretty late.  It seems fitting to move into this new place on Independence Day.
Today we spent finding and unpacking the stuff we need to live for a while.

The local fireworks are showing tonight, but I am too tired to go, so Snow took the others so I can hit the sack early.


I love the new place.

Even though it doesn't have water yet.
Or a water heater.

I need a shower, so that little lack-of-water problem seems really important.

The handyman we've hired says he will be able to  get the pump from the delivered water cistern up and running on Monday, but no one will fill the cistern until it is inspected. We found another cistern that collects rainwater. It is hidden under a huge old bush, but we noticed that most of the downspots are diverted to join behind that bush, and some clearing away showed us the cement lid of that hidden cistern.  We also think that cistern is the reason there was thigh-high clear water in the basement when we first saw the house.  It seems to overflow into the basement when it gets full.

BUT, if it is full, we might be able to use that for watering the garden or washing the car, eventually. And actually, with the Clyde Cancer Cluster pretty foremost in my mind, I think cleaning that cistern, repairing it, filtering that water and using it for drinking might be the best.

Until then, we are buying drinking water, and washing up in the sink.

Well, Happy Independence Day! I'm off to bed!!

Moving Day!

Finally! We have the truck packed, the gas and electric turned off in IL, and the electric scheduled to turn on in OH (there is no gas service).  Tomorrow we leave. I wonder if I will be able sleep tonight?

It is such a huge change for us. There will be five females - Me (age 48) my oldest daughter Snow (age 26) Middle daughter Jasmine, (23) Youngest daughter Gracie (19) and grandaughter Melody (4). And our goal is to become as self sufficient food-wise as possible on the not-quite-three-acres we have purchased in Northern Ohio. It will be so different from what my little 'urban farm' has been!

While it is too late this summer to start much of a garden, I would like to put in some tomato plants at least, and some greens. Melody is allergic to lettuce and I don't like it much so the greens will probably be some that we can cover with cold frames to last us into the fall and winter, like swiss chard, spinach and corn salad. When I am upset or worried, thinking about my future garden really is a comfort.
Crazy, eh?

West Elm Popup Shop!

While I am packing for the move, I'm also firing a bunch of things for the West Elm Pop up Shop this Saturday!
I'm not sure how much to bring, so I'm bringing as much as will fit in my car.
Yeah, it might be overkill.
 But what if twenty people decide they want to throw away all the mugs they own now and replace them with an eclectic mismatched set of twenty SecondChance mugs?
And a teapot?
It could happen, right?

I always tend to bring WAY too much merchandise to sales, and I always tell myself that next time I won't bring nearly as much, and each time I end up putting stuff in until the car is stuffed completely full.

But for this sale I am more looking forward to the people I will be meeting than the sales they might produce. I know some Etsy admin will be in the area, and I hope they will stop by and see the sale. The curator, Jessica Jones is another person I can't wait to meet. And of course I love to see other local Etsy sellers, and some of the best will be there on Saturday.

I can't wait!

Yelling Goats

I have no idea why, but this made me laugh like an idiot. 

Valentine's Day Printables From MyVintageWindow.com

http://www.myvintagewindow.com/

Lindsey's My Vintage Window Blog  is doing a series of printables for Valentine's Day.
Her blog is great fun to look through, she has some terrific ideas! I have browsed through her 'On a Dime Decor' section several times for inexpensive ideas.

I though you might like her blog too, and am happy to link you to her fun, DIY Valentines.
So far she has three days of them! One, Two, Three!

Thanks to Lindsey!

Winners!!

Thank you all so much for playing!
I've been wanting to get more feedback on my shops- I get paranoid about it.
So, this worked really well for that!
52 people left feedback in my shops from Jan. 1 through Feb. 1st.
Using Random.org, I assigned each one a number and had the random number generator pick one.
It picked number 29, which had been assigned to Alqt (bitten tongue).
So, she won a 20.00 mug!

Also, There were 21 entries on Regretsy forums, and 35 entries on the blog. I assigned each entry a number and let Random.org choose one.
It chose 56, and that number was assigned to Fluffy Pink Marshmallow Bunny! So she wins a 20.00 mug of her choice too.


If either of the winners want a specially made mug for them, they can choose that too.
I have some "I'm going to wrap this up" mugs in the works, and I'll make ones just for them if that is what they want.

Thank you all so much!
:D
Ant