Sunny Days and Rocky Borders

Daffodils and purple wildflowers make a springy combination.

Drizzle, drizzle, drip-drop, down-pour, and bright sunny days... This describes spring thus far up here in the North.  We had several weeks of rain in April and then patches of warm sunny days including days with 80* temperatures.  The kids and I were ready to dig in on those sunny days and our first project was the landing flower bed.

This bed was filled with weeds and spots of flowers.  The kids and I tore out the weeds and saved what plants we could.  We ripped out the decayed logs that used to be a retaining wall and made a stone ledge.  We hunted for smooth flat rocks and brought them to this site.  Our property is filled with rocks so we decided to put them to good use.

Frittilaria imperialis "William Rex" (Crown Imperial Lilly)

Here is a fun surprise - fritilleria!  I thought that these bushy stalks would produce lilies, but these orange, bell-shaped flowers emerged instead, and it turns out that this flower is related to the lily.  These beauties are in the landing flower bed and I transplanted lavender, daylillies, peonies, phlox, hollyhock, tulips, and daffodils into this bed as well.  I keep finding new flowers throughout our property to transplant.  Yesterday I found for-get-me-nots and creeping phlox - yahoo!

The grand plan is to de-weed all the flower beds and transplant the flowers that I keep discovering into the fresh beds.

patio flower bed

Here is another example of a spruced up bed.  This flower bed is next to our back patio.  We yanked, dug up, and clipped the grass, suckers, and random rocks and terraced this sloped patch of dirt with large and medium rocks.  Again, I dug up recognizable plants from around the property and planted them in this flower bed.

Although it seems like we have barely made a dent in our wilderness, we have begun the process of subduing it.  We have trimmed back a lot of the scrub brush and found evidence of retaining walls with bulbs and perennials randomly dispersed among the weeds and bracken.  I think that Vic and Olga loved this place, but sadly were unable to keep it up.  Although Olga and I do not share similar interior decorating taste, I think that our common bond is gardening.  Hooray for daffodils, rocks, and fritillaria!

Phase One Phase Out

I am pleased to announce that our major Phase One remodel projects have been tackled and we have painted, sawed, sanded, drilled, scrubbed, and nailed our way to victory.

Here's our spiffy new bathroom!

✔️ Wood Paneling painted or removed
✔️ Chandeliers updated and clicking fan replaced
✔️ Master bedroom painted and open closet installed
✔️ Kitchen painted and backsplash wall paper removed and stenciled.
✔️ Bathroom renovated - new walls, floor, tile, tub, sink, toilet, fixtures, and trim

Corey took a ten day vacation and completed quite a few Phase One projects.  It is invigorating to draw lines through so many jobs on our list.  He made a big push since spring has arrived - Phase Two is upon us whether we are ready or not.

Phase Two activities will mostly focus on outdoor developments.  The most pressing matter at hand is  building a chicken coop since the hens are growing, stinking up the garage, and needing more space.  Corey drew up some coop plans last weekend and bought supplies yesterday, so Phase Two has begun.

I found this mirror on Craigslist.  It was a medicine cabinet.
I am still considering painting the shelf black.  Any
suggestions?

As spring and summer progress we will also be starting a garden, revamping our grey water basin, establishing a new bee hive, landscaping, breeding dogs, and hopefully building a permanent outdoor shower.  I did promise the girls that we would spruce up their bedroom this summer too.

The Phase Two docket is full, but in the midst of all our outdoor enterprises we are looking forward to little league baseball games and forest exploration through hiking and canoeing.

This curtain was woven by Greta, Corey's Mom.  The pattern is called Huck Lace and she made it with tea bag strings!  I love it and it looks just perfect with my pretty bathroom.

This is a photo of my kitchen.  I am thrilled with how clean the gray wall turned out.  It is actually really dark wood paneling that I had to cover with four coats of primer.  We lived with the primer until last month.  I finished painting the trim while Corey was home from work.  The shelf is an old drawer that Corey and the boys found in the garden shed.  I jazzed it up with a painting technique that I learned from a furniture painting class that I took a few weeks ago.  We picked up the table at a garage sale right before we moved from our rental house.  I think I paid $10 for it.  It works great for storing easily accessed pantry items.  I just love re-purposing old junk!

I sanded this drawer to clean it up a bit, then brushed liming wax on it.
The last step was to dry-brush a robin's egg chalk paint on top. 

Expectations of Spring

These pansies were under all the snow.

The snow is melting, the temperatures are rising, and hopeful expectations are burbling, yet not quite ready to surface, but anticipating the perfect moment.  The day when the soil breaks open with the help of a shovel and tiny seeds or a green leafy seedling is gingerly placed in the new crevice designed to house a plant.

Some narcissus are emerging next to the garage.

As you can see we do have some botanical activity to be excited about.  On warm days, after my walk with Willa, I will explore my property, looking for signs of life.  I study the various sprouts of green emerging from the brown dirt trying to identify what miracle of  spring beauty I have to look forward to.  So far I see oriental poppies, narcissus, peonies, crocus, and iris.


I found my old seeds from 2016 and decided to start my vegetable garden now.  My planting schedule is not much different than when I lived in Southern Idaho.  As you can see peppers, cabbage, lettuce, and basil are beginning to grow - yeah!  I will start tomatoes next week.

These sprouts sit in front of my balcony door.

Corey bought the book, The Year-Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour for my birthday.  I am gleaning a lot of information about using cold frames and poly-tunnels to extend the growing season, and even harvest during the winter months.

This is the our garden plot.  It is about 25'x25', and it needs alot of attention.

 Speaking of my birthday, I have to share this beautiful coconut cake that Lillia made for me.  She used a gluten free flour blend from Namaste to make the batter, and it turned extremely dense.  When I made Corey a German chocolate cake last month for his birthday (he turned forty-three) I used the same flour, and it was dense but more like a brownie.  Lillia ended up baking four cake rounds because the first two rounds shrunk so much after cooling.  Lillia presented  me with a four-layer coconut cake frosted in a coconut-flavored butter cream frosting for my forty-second birthday- yum, what a special treat!

I tried to get Lillia to be in the picture with me, but she decided to take the photo instead.

I asked Corey if he liked being 42, and he said that it was great because he was able to move to Northern Idaho, and because he found another Irish Terrier.  I have decided that I will also enjoy being 42 because I will get to make my new house in Northern Idaho a home.  I am looking forward to my first spring at Haefen.

Winter Projects

Greetings!
Although I did not post anything during the month of February there has been a lot of activity filling our days.  Most of it has been ho-hum, such as math and phonics lessons, taking the garbage out, washing dishes, keeping the fire in the wood stove ablaze, and shoveling the sidewalks.

We did have some branches freeze and break off this winter

We have also been busy making plans for spring.  All the snow melted off in February and we enjoyed some warm weather, but towards the end of the month another storm blew through and it's gift of another foot of snow is just starting to melt off now.

Greta, Corey's Mom came for a visit during the last week of February. There was a count down for her arrival. We did some exploring while she was here and found a copious and reasonably priced pottery shop in Spirit Lake and an eclectic home decor/gift shop as well.  Since we were unable to go to Sandpoint because of a snowstorm we decided to check out a recommended pizza restaurant in Hauser.  It was awesome; they cook the pizza in a brick oven, and since we sat at the bar we were able to watch the whole process.  We plan to return as the weather warms up to enjoy the outdoor dining patio right across from the lake.  We were also able to spend some time in Spokane as well.  We finally made it to Natural Grocers so that Greta and I could buy some herbal coffee that is amazing!  Even Corey, the coffee connoisseur appreciated the flavor.  He said that it like a weak, but good quality coffee.

Our home school co-op is in full swing and the kids are back in the rhythm of Monday Morning Madness.  They seem to like their classes and are able to engage in subject matter that I do not have time to explore with them.  I am teaching from a book called Geography Through Art  that is going well.  I really appreciate the kids in my class and am pleased with their creativity.

We ended up having two Mondays in a row off from co-op so I was inspired to paint.  I decided to tackle the kitchen wall and back splash.  As you can see below, the back splash was covered with wallpaper - not ugly, but outdated and starting to peel.  Esther and Lillia removed the wallpaper this summer while I painted the dining room.  Underneath the melon-colored flower motif was dirty-pink painted particle board.  We lived with the particle board, but it was starting to wear on me this winter.  It just made the kitchen look dreary.

Before picture.

Current state of the back splash - the new microwave really helps!

I primed the back splash after Corey used Spackle to smooth out the gaps and grooves, then I painted the back splash Valspar's Forest Moss.  Corey thinks it is dark grey, Greta thought it more of a brown, and I think it is green so let's just say it is brownish, greenish, grey.  I painted the one wall in the kitchen a light grey (Valspar -Secluded Beach) and used the leftover paint to apply this star tile stencil that I found online.  It took a while to get the hang of stenciling.  The key is to use hardly any paint!  I really like the ease of stenciling, when you get tired just recap the paint, wash out the brush, and continue when you feel like it.  Also, if you mess up, just paint over and start again - no problem!

bathroom sneak peak

I know that I said that I would not show pictures of our one and only bathroom until it was finished, but Corey is in the process of installing the wood trim, and he is almost done.  I just had to post a sneak peak.  The trim around the doorway has not been added yet, but I just love how the sink and light fixture look together along with the oblong mirror.

Check out my post, Phase One Bathroom Remodel if you can't remember how this space used to look.  I just revisited that post, and I feel assured that there a no more weeds growing between my walls!

Several weeks ago our shipment of chicks arrived.  Unfortunately the weather temperatures dropped below 10 degrees, and the baby chickens were in transit for three days - eek!  A bad combination that led to what felt like a chicken death camp!  For forty-eight hours after they arrived the kids and I worked hard at saving the weak, little buggers.  We would bring the downtrodden and droopy chicks inside and feed them sugar water with eye-droppers and let them rest by the wood stove.  We ended up losing eleven chicks out of the twenty-six, some of which the kids had especially picked out themselves.  Fortunately we did receive a credit from the hatchery, but losing so many was very disheartening.

Eleanor with Agnes and Asa with Poppy

Corey and the kids went down to our local feed store and found some more chicks to replace some of the breeds we had lost.  They are all very healthy and active.  Their breed feathers are starting to show and it is fun watching their different personalities emerge.  The kids have even named a few: Agnes (Eleanor's Leghorn), Poppy (the silver-laced Polish), Mayonnaise (Asa's Whiting Blue) and Cleopatra and Hatsepsut (the Ameraucanas).  Corey has decided to name his rooster Frank.  Right now they are in the garage, but when it warms up we will put them outside.

Which one is the puppy?

Speaking of healthy, Clive is now bigger than Willa.  He is seven months old and is much thicker than Willa.  He is super sweet and has been easier to train than Willa was.  He is also quite rambunctious.  I have started to take Clive on my walks with Willa.  I have to hold their leashes in separate hands otherwise Clive just wants to jump and chew on Willa.  He loves being outside and  doesn't seem to mind water, so maybe he will be Corey's canoe dog.  I guess we will find out this summer 😎

Last Look at 2017

The year 2018 has opened and January is underway.  I was remembering as I walked Willa this morning that last year at this time we were preparing to sell our home and wondering where we would end up.  I kept thinking, "Next year at this time I will be somewhere else, and I don't know where."  Well here we are, we have been living up North for almost eight months!

Here are a few photos that we took through the month of December:

a lot of sledding has been going on

Just another day on the slope

Our wood stove has been keeping the house toasty warm.  In fact on sunny days, I will open my balcony door to cool off a bit.

Corey collected these pallets from a customer on his route and made a deck with them.

Lillia is hiding under Asa's elbow, just in case you were wondering

Here are the graham cracker houses that the kids made.  A family from our co-op joined us in the royal icing/candy extravaganza.  This is the cleaned up snap shot.  Our dining room table was sticky for a few days after this event.

This is what remained after about a week.

These lights have been great at night to light up our sidewalk

We had a lot of snow right around Incarnation Day and it is still with us.

Clive is growing fast, and urinating in the house less!  2018 is already looking bright and quite white.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Christmas and Incarnation

Our Advent Blocks

The big day is almost here and we can’t slow down the Advent clock.  How’s that checklist coming along?

• Lights strung (yes)
• Nativity displayed (yes)
• Baking complete (almost)
• Presents wrapped (no!)
• Menu planned (yes)
• Food and ingredients bought (yes)
• Christmas Music playing (yes)
• Cards sent (yes)
• Gingerbread houses made (yes)

Hmmm what would happen if I answered “no” to every item on my list?  What if I don’t do anything on my list?  Will Christmas still come?  Imagine December 25th with no gifts, no lights, no delectable sweets, no stockings, no music, no pageants... would it still be Christmas?

It all depends on what we define as “Christmas”.  I think that most Christians would agree that we celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th, but over the years we have tacked on many traditions to commemorate this sacred event - cards, candies, trees, lights, presents, pageants, and a chubby man in a red suit (wait, where did he come from?).

It seems as though there are two separate celebrations going on; one where materialism and sentimentalism greatly influence the hustle and bustle of this time of year, and the other is an attempt to recognize Jesus as Mary's miraculous child.  Corey and I have tried to bridge the gap of this dichotomy we call "Christmas", but every year, after a thoughtful evaluation we have found the conundrum of Christmas to be unresolved.  How do we make Christmas meaningful and communicate to people that we are engaging in something different, set a part, holy?

We have come to the realization that "Christmas" can be whatever people in our secular society deem it to be, but in an effort to secure this high feast day, this remembrance of God becoming a helpless baby so that we who are slaves to sin can be set free to serve Him, we have decided to call the 25th Incarnation Day.  You don’t need cards, candies, presents, lights and trees to celebrate the Incarnation of The Son of God.  What you do need is time to reflect on this supernatural truth, time to read, think, sing, and share with your children, your spouse, and loved ones. 

I am not advocating that Christians promptly collect all their Christmas doo-dads and throw them in the dumpster, however we should be careful that Christmas does not keep us from reveling in The Incarnation.  By drinking deeply of Christ’s condescension and the Father’s love there should be an outpouring of joy and gratitude, and The Spirit may move you to give gifts, make tasty treats to share, string up colorful lights, decorate an evergreen, sing carols, or ring a bell at a grocery store.  None of these things are bad, and none of them are necessary.

What I am advocating is that we do what we do all unto the glory of God, the Most High.  Choose your Christmas traditions and activities wisely, relish the Incarnation, and enjoy! 

                          

Instead of just wishing you a Merry Christmas, I wish you an Incarnation Celebration brimming with hope, reverence, and laughter.

Just a Little Bit of Christmas

The Thanksgiving dishes have been washed, dried, and put away or just tossed in the trash and the sound of the Advent calendar clock is tick, tick, stocking, oops I mean tocking!  I don't know when it started, but I get stressed out this time of year.  I can even remember not sleeping for the whole Advent season one year.  I think I was pregnant but I can't remember with whom!

What presents shall we buy?  Will we get a tree this year?  Will I actually bake for the neighbors this year?  How many lights will I put up outside?  How about that family photo?  EEEkkk!

When we came back from our Thanksgiving trip from the desert I had Isaac take down all two of our Christmas decor boxes from the attic in the garage.  I did get rid of a lot of "stuff" before we moved.  Last Christmas I purged the non-essentials before I put the boxes back in the garage.  When I opened the boxes I felt overwhelmed.  What am I going to do with all of this?

You see, at our last home I had a set place for everything, but now there are not set places, no traditions.  So I did what any rational woman would do, I got out even more boxes.  I brought in the rest of the framed art and photographs and decided that they should be hung first and then I could handle the Christmas bric-a-brac.

It took about a week of trial and error and some major grumpiness on my part, but pictures did get hung.  I managed to hang most of them myself, even though Corey is the official picture hanger.  He is just so good at it, and I really don't like to take the time to do it right.  But I decided to grow up, and do it myself and, yes, I did pound some nails in the wrong places but that is O.K. because Corey filled them :)

Front door entry way

It was actually nice to see all our "wall art" with fresh eyes and to make different combinations with objects from our old house and new things that we have picked up or made since living here.  The wooden board above the entry way shelf was salvaged by me from one of Corey's demolition projects on our property.  I hot-glued different varieties of pine cones that the kids found or that I picked up on my walks with Willa.  The holes in the wood board where already there so it seemed appropriate that it should be hung somewhere.

pine cone plaque

As you can see, I did finally put up some Christmas trappings.  I decided not to find a place for everything, so I asked Corey and the kids what they really wanted to have up.  Asa mentioned the "three men with beards star" that Greta gave me years and years ago.  He wanted to make sure it had a place.  There was also some major interest about the Advent blocks so the kids and I settled on placing them on top of the piano.  Eleanor mentioned the nativity set and we decided to arrange baby Jesus and his entourage on the book shelf in the dining room.  

Last but not least we settled on a place for the stockings.  They are actually quite special.  I started making them about 14 years ago.  I made the first three for Corey, Esther, and I.  I made up a pattern, chose and cut out different colors of felt and ribbons, and sewed each stocking together.  Then I decided on a theme for each one except Corey's.  He chose the Star of Bethlehem.  I have enjoyed coming up with a new stocking for each new member of our family.  When I was making Asa's stocking I new it would be the last, but it also meant that we as a family were entering a new stage and that was exciting.