My Yellow Farmhouse

Happy Sunday

And it's a sunny day here - actually that's been more the norm than cold, snow and dark days.  We were down in Minneapolis yesterday where it was doing some heavy snow flurries - was nice to see.  Who'd think living in Minnesota I'd be hungry for snow. 

We absolutely LOVE living on the lake, have I said that before, lol, and watching it during every season.  Today it's busy out there - every fish house in our bay has people in it (can't see them all)  - even Mr. Farmhouse is fishing.  Plus the neighbors have company over and there's a game of hockey going on, girls figure skating - (a few are missing in this picture) - even the dogs are running around out there.  It's so much fun to watch the activity

I've been working on knitting up a infinity scarf that I got the pattern from on this blog

it's a simple knit and purl, now this is something that I can handle and have been really enjoying the process. I love the color of the yarn and the feel of it.  Ms. Cami seems bored with it, lol.  Actually she's watching the 2 dogs out on the lake running around.

Thought I would show you  my new sewing tote that a sweet friend made for me - I've been putting it to good use and keeping it by my stitching chair so I can just pick up something and get to sewing.  I've been working on only keeping the current project and threads in it so it doesn't fill up, you know what I mean, lol  - so far so good :).  I'm hoping she will make some up for me to sell on my selling blog.  Maybe with your encouragement she will :).

Well now I have a great recipe for you to try

great before picture - but guess what - no finished yummy to show you - I think I deleted the picture because I can't find it anywhere.  But this is a yummy Banana Bread recipe given to me by my sweet friend Libster.

Bananan Bread

• 1 1/2 cup sugar
• 3 tbsp margarine - I used butter
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 eggs
• 3 ripe banana's mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp soda
• 1/2 bag chocolate chips
• cream sugar and butter.  Add mashed banana's and the rest of the ingredients and mix. Pour into your sprayed pan.  Depending on your size of pan you can get one big thick load of banana bread or 2 smaller loafs - I've done both.  Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  If it's a thick loaf it will take longer - just keep checking it with a cake tester.   Yummmmmmmm - thanks Libster.

Well time to get going and make dinner so when Mr. Farmhouse comes in from fishing we can eat.  Tonight meatloaf and mashed potatoes -  another yummmmmm.

Until Next Time

Just A Quick Pop In

I will be back tomorrow with another post - but I wanted to share with you a new blog out there for you to visit.  Back in early December I shared a wonderful prim house with you that I was able to tour.  She graciously let me take pics and I know you all loved it.  So pop on over to Michelle's blog and say howdy please and welcome her to blogging.  I think her blog is going to be full of inspiration and fun.

primitivesbymichelle.blogspot.com

Welcome Michelle - I know I'm glad you jumped into the blogging pool :).

Until Next Time

Another DIfferent Look

Well as you can see I've been playing around trying to fix the look of the blog - am I done - no lol, but it's good enough for now.

Last post I talked about my word for 2012.  The word I picked is  - JOURNEY - which means a passage or progress from one point to another.  I've learned a lot in the last year or so - lessons that have stuck with me and taught me some important life lessons.  There are changes that I want to make for me - some need tweaking, some need a major overhaul, lol.  But all positive and good.  I'm blessed to have a wonderful super supportive husband and kids.  I have an  extended family that's the best in everyway.  I'm also blessed to have some really wonderful friends who add so much to my life.  I'm blessed in many many ways - life is good.  So my journey in 2012 is a change to enhance an already full and blessed life - I don't want to waste  a minute :).  Some changes I will post and share with you and some I won't.  Change is always a hard thing and I think the older we get the harder it is.  But we all know that anything worth having is worth working for.  So I will concentrate on the positive and move forward.  What's your word for 2012.

Let's move on to some quilty fun - yesterday we had our monthly get together of the Bent Needles - an applique group with no rules, lol.  Ms. Jolene was our host with her side kick Ms. Faye helping with the lunch.  I realized when I was taking pictures that I never shared the pics from out last get together in December.  So your in for a visual treat :).

From our December meeting which Ms. Judy hosted :) up first is Ms. Gail

Gails absolutly  beautiful applique project from a class she took and FINISHED, lol - hmmm don't ask her classmates if they finished theirs - I'm just sayin, lol

Jolene's applique block

Jean's little mittens that she was working on

Ms Faye had a couple of quilts that were heading out as gifts - how cute are they

we all loved this work in progress

see those little dolly dresses and the cute wooden hanger for the clothes to hang on - Ms. Jean has been making those darling hangers and the clothes for American Girl dolls - to precious :)

of course there was a darling miniture in the grouping - she loves her mini's

 

Ms. Dawn was prolific in her show and tell as well

A Prairie Woman's Sewing Circle project she put her own spin on it with ric rac around the outside

Now some show and tell from yesterday - first up Ms. Gail and she is listening intently to someone sharing a pearl of wisdom I'm sure, lol

Ms. Dawn's completed blocks so far from Primitive Gatherings summer BOW last summer - how pretty are they

Ms. Linda who was joining us for the day showed us a couple of projects using Cherrywood Fabrics which she helps run - these are beautifully hand dyed fabrics in graduating color tones with the look of suede

Linda and Judy are both working on Buggy Barn's Folk Art Album

Ms. Linda is also working on her Kim Diehl project

Ms. Paulette was busy knitting on a beautiful infinity scarf

Ms. Nancy was also joining us for the day and brought a darling quilt she was dropping off for a special wee one on her way home

and finally Ms. Jolene who was showing us her finished quilt.  She was involved with 5 other quilters around the United States in making round robin quilts.  These quilts are headed over to Ireland in the next week where they will be apart of a exibition involving a total of 7 different countries.  She just needs to add the binding on hers.  She did the center block and the rest was done by the other quilters in the US.  I wish you could see the machine quilting on this - it was beautiful.  Jolene is heading over to Ireland early summer to view this exhibition - should be fun.  Hope I got that all right Jolene

Well for me I worked on the same block from my applique project - I NEED to make progress on this baby.

Now it's time to head up to the nest and do a little work - have a great weekend.  Will it ever snow?  I would like a little of that white stuff :).

Until Next Time

 

Well Now

Isn't this change just lovely, lol.  Something happened to my blog header today - I don't know what as I hadn't touched a thing.  Anywho I went to this design while I try to figure out what to do.   I could use some names of some good blog designers - the one I used seems to have gone out of business.  If you know of someone could you email me their email address so I can get my blog looking the way I want.  I've thought about heading over to blogger and starting up over there - but then I would lose my archives - grrrrrr.  Any help on a good designer would be mighty appreciated :).

I also wanted to let you know that on the upper left of the sidebar is a link to my selling blog that I've had for the last few months.  It's called The Primitive Thread and I update it every Wednesday 8:00 central time and each Wednesday it's a new kit with a limited supply.  Check it out if your interested.

I took these pictures on Christmas Eve just a few minutes apart - look how the color changed

It looks almost eerie.

I'm trying to put the house back together after getting all the holiday decorations put away.  I've decided to skip putting out the snowman this year - it just seems weird without really any snow outside.  So I'm going to work on refreshing the areas around the house that I think need a new look.  Doesn't it always seem like the house is empty when all the holiday pretties are tucked away for another year?

Well that's all I got for right now.  Friday is the applique group Bent Needles get together - I should have some good show and tell from there :).  Next time I will tell you about my word for the year and the meaning behind it.

Until Next Time

Journey

Happy New Year Everyone - it's crazy to think we are already starting a brand new year isn't it - 2011 went by so quickly for us here at the Farmhouse and something tells me for you as well.  I hope your holidays were wonderful, spent with family and friends with lots of memories to hold precious.

We celebrated Christmas a week early this year for a reason.  My sweet DIL is a Christmas Eve baby.  For the last few years she has said that when she turns 30 it will be somewhere warm.  Well this was the year for that milestone birthday and they found a home down in Marathon Florida which is about 45 miles from Key West.  So they invited anyone who wanted to come to come on down.  The youngest Farmhouse boy couldn't take the time off so we stuck around to celebrate Christmas with him and then boarded a plane on the 27th and headed down to join up with them and her parents, sister and her hubby.  Not a bad house hey -  Great job Emily on picking such a beautiful home

The empty lot across the street is for sale so without a house there we had some wonderful sunsets to watch

My view while having coffeee out the back of the house was wonderful as well

Mr. Farmhouse did some lap swimming to burn off the calories we consumed, lol

The married ones rented a boat so we spent quite a bit of time enjoying the water - S#1 was a great driver of the boat

and let his Dad take the wheel a few times :)

We could not have asked for better weather to enjoy the water

and take the boat to a wonderful outdoor place to eat

where they had their fished cooked that they caught on a fishing charter the day before - I had a chicken quesadilla lol

we had to toast of course their fishing bounty

A fun picture of the back of a house on the ocean side decorated for Christmas - the front of the house was decorated twice as much

The back of the house the kids rented is on a canal so we could dock the boat there when not in use - I like how the back of the house looks like a southern plantation as we approached our dock

our bedroom was on the third floor so we had a great view of the canal

the house next door to us had a picture perfect little spot for their pool and at night the lights around the area make it look so pretty

Our time down there was to fast, but we enjoyed the time we were there.  Yesterday it was time to head home for us with the married ones and her parents heading home today.  One of the fun things Mr. Farmhouse and I did was rent a sweet little mustang convertible - red of course, lol - to really enjoy the beautiful weather. That was really fun :)

traveling from and to the airport we traveled over several bridges - this one is the seven mile bridge - WOW it seemed to go on forever

After a very long day of pretty uneventful traveling (yes it can happen when things go as planned - thank goodness lol) we arrived home very late last night to a wonderful few inches of snow on the ground and a very rude awakening of cold weather, lol.

Thank you married ones for asking us along

we had such a wonderful time with you and the others.  Mr. Farmhouse and I are so proud of the amazing adults you have become.  Plus your a lot of fun to hang out with :).

So now it's time to put away the holiday decorations and clean up the house.  It's also time to think about how I want to make this year 2012 really count in a positive way.  It will be a year of change for me and I've picked a word to help define this year for me.  Maybe you'll want to join along by picking your own word.

Until Next Time

 

 

A BLESSED AND MERRY CHRISTMAS

FROM

OUR FARMHOUSE TO YOURS

A Few Little Spots

from around the house.  It's funny when starting the process of decorating I was going to keep it simple simple simple - and I did, compared to years past, lol.  But I'm liking the look and love everything that I used - well almost.  There are a few pieces that I used that might go in the sale next spring - like them but not in love with them.  That's the new requirement for what I keep.  Time to thin thin thin out - and I promised Mr. Farmhouse next spring I would have a sale - otherwise he has other ideas on where it will go, lol.

Let's go to the sunroom first  -  this is kept very simple this year

one of my new hooked rugs this year that I just purchased from Rhonda

the piece above the bench in the mudroom on the last post was bought from her as well - LOVE IT :).  The quilt is like that on the back of the couch because this is one of Ms. Cami's favorite places to lay and check out the backyard, lol.

the bathroom on the main floor

don't ya love this old world Santa hooked rug - got that one from plumcreek - LOVE IT

the little Santa and Mrs Claus were salt and pepper shakers that belonged to my Grandma - I treasure them :)

Notice the cute little mat underneath

bought this on one of my road trips - isn't it cute - wool and stars together, does it get any better than that, lol.

Ms. Cami got a new little sweater for winter

and loved how snuggly warm it made her feel.  She was laying on the newest grandpups Christmas present - making sure he knew who was there first, lol.

Ms. Faye had the woolies over the other day for our December get together - thank you Faye for a great day.  Here's a few little inspirations from her house :)

How clever is this idea

Cute quilt

I'm pretty sure I have the pattern for this little guy - need to dig that one out

I also have the patterns for these sweet wool pictures - how come I haven't made them - I do believe I even have kits - gasp, lol, no excuse

This was from Caroline's the other night - LOVE IT

Well that's it folks - I'm all out of inspiration.  Hope you picked up a few ideas from the various homes I shared with you.  Mr. Farmhouse is getting a fire going in the fireplace and I think I feel a holiday movie night is going to happen. 

Until Next Time

Back Again With More Inspiration

Hey Everyone - so glad you enjoyed the tour through Michelle's house.  She did leave a comment and she enjoyed your wonderful comments regarding her house.  The next open house is scheduled for the first weekend in December 2012.  Several of you have asked for info - the best way is to email her directly at rcc2@q.com.  She is a sweetheart -  thank you again Michelle for opening up your home. 

We had a get together at one of the peeps houses the other night and she had her table set so cute for us.

Now will move on to another house of a wonderful friend.  I've had her pictures on here before back in December 2009 if you want to go back into the archives to view them (hope this link works).  Just like Michelle's house from the last post this husband and wife team also made everything in their home - what talents both of these couples have. I'm lucky to have several pieces of each of their works in my home.  It's these types of homes I could tour again and again and always see something new.  Here's some good ones for this year. 

Will start in the basement where they have a great bar and large screen for movie watching

don't ya love the tile in this bathroom

who'd a thought - sled in the house, lol

coming up to the main level - how cute is this bathroom door

then your keeping room right off the kitchen

don't you love this ladder hanging from the ceiling

part of the kitchen

one of my favorite parts of the kitchen is the pantry - LOVE IT

There wasn't a time to take pics of the kitchen because there were people in it - but I did get a picture of what she had on her island - ignore the bottles we were there at the end of the tour when people were hanging around to visit like us :).  How cute is this grouping

what a great dining room

Then we move upstairs and see the new addition this year - the shelving in the stairway - how cool

Love this cabinet in the bathroom

you wouldn't mind doing laundry in this room would you?

master bedroom

new master bath

love this cabinet

love this aged beadboard

So that's it for this house, remember if you want to see the kitchen to this home, click on the link above to take you there - hopefully, lol. 

Thought I would share the back mudroom of my house - you will recognize the settle bench that used to be in the front entry - love it back here even tho I wasn't sure at first

I think I found the perfect pieces to go around the hooked rug - will see if they work

Well that's it for now - I'll be back tomorrow to finish up showing you my decorating.

Until Next Time

A Little Inspiration

Well how goes the battle out there - is everyone getting things crossed off their lists and do you feel like your getting a handle on the "what needs" to be done.  Well sit back for a little brain break with something warm and yummy to drink and enjoy a little holiday decorating inspiration.

A few weeks back one of the peeps and I jumped into the White Rocket (my suburban) and took off for a town about and hour and a half away to visit a wonderful store full of goodies for the home and a primlishes saltbox home tour.  I didn't get any pictures of the store but don't worry I will go back again and be better about it.  I found a few gifts and a couple of things for my house which I'll share when I finish up showing you my house.  After visiting the store we had a little trouble finding the house because it was dark by then - but when we did it was so worth it.  The saltbox was all lit on the front with candles in every window - and white outdoor lights - really really pretty.  This couple has a small store in the back of the house where they sell some of their goods - but mostly they do wholesale to shops all around the U.S.  So let's get going and take the tour - I don't think any words are needed :)

Dining Room

Kitchen

Keeping Room with the Kitchen - hard to get a great picture

LOVED this room

That long alphabet picture is a hooked rug - she is a quilter, rug hooker and makes amazing wool pictures

One of the bedrooms upstairs - the other bedroom pictures really didn't turn out - sorry about that

So that's it for this house - very pretty and full, full of inspiration.  I'll be back tomorrow with another beautiful house full of lots of inspiration.

Until Next Time

 

Finally

So sorry to take so long to get back to you - it's been pretty busy around here since I last visited you.  The Farmhouse family just celebrated our Christmas together this weekend and we had a wonderful time - but that meant I needed to be ready to go this past Friday and I made it :) but everything else took a backseat.

Let's get to our winner first for the Santa.  It was so much fun to read everyone's comments about their favorite treats and how many of them are tied to family traditions or memories.  Tilly bars and Grandma's Sugar cookies are traditions in our family - a must every year.  Anywho I asked Mr. Farmhouse to pick a number and he picked the #5 which is Kathie.  If you recall in the last post the neighbor and Bob were deciding whether to put out their fish houses or not and they decided not yet.  The #5 comes in because last year he put the house out on the 5th of December.  Mr. Farmhouse always has a reason for his numbers lol.  So Kathie I will get your Santa out tomorrow :).

One of our family traditions is attending a Minnesota Wild hockey game each year.  So we celebrated our Christmas together on Friday night and then headed down to Mpls on Saturday for the game and an overnight.   The family:

The married ones

the unmarried ones - but they might as well be married, lol

Mr. Farmhouse and I

We even squeezed in a side trip on Saturday to my nephew and his beautiful wifes house to drop off the extended families gifts. They treated us to a deeeeelish lunch before we hit the road again.  It was a busy but memorable weekend full of family fun and great laughs.  So now the family Christmas is over and we will have a quiet one this weekend. 

I have a couple of fun get togethers this week with the peeps, the woolies and wooly women of Alex - so I will have fun show and tell to share.  Plus I will be posting all the holiday decorating pics I have this week.  It will be good to see the woolies - our last get together never happened due to the hostess house being full of the flu - we all were happy to stay away lol.

Until Next Time