“Baby, It’s Cold Outside”…but We Are Burning Wood Right

It has been a warm fall so far and we were able to put off the first fire of the season…until today. The chill this morning was too much to bear, so we cranked up the wood stove.

Our farmhouse was built in 1890. It doesn’t have central heating, unless you count the wood stove. And since our house is only 1,293 square feet, the wood stove works.

It Takes More Than a Fire

As much as we enjoy the wood heat (best heat ever!!), however, it’s not without its concerns. Wood smoke contributes to air pollution, so we burn as responsibly as we can…starting with waiting as long as we can to start using the wood stove.

And we burn clean wood.

And we make sure our fire is burning cleanly. The photo with no smoke is our chimney. You could see the heat, but no smoke, this morning. The other photo is our neighbor’s chimney. It smokes like that every single day. Some days the smoke is so thick it blankets the valley. It’s frustrating.

Our fire doesn’t burn clean all the time. Sometimes I’ll start the fire or stoke it, then walk outside to do a chore or walk the dogs or something, and I will see the chimney smoking. When that happens, I head straight back into the house to deal with the fire until I know it is a clean burn.

(You can see videos of the smoke in my TikTok video on the subject.)

Wood Heat Warms You Twice

There’s a saying: “Wood heat warms you twice.” Spend enough time stacking wood and getting it from point A to point B and you’ll realize it warms you many times over…with sweat.

The wood stove puts out wonderful heat, but it does take work. Obviously we have to stack the wood, cut the kindling, stock the porch and maintain the bricks and gasket of the wood stove. We have the chimney sweep check it every three years.

And it makes a bit of a mess. Now that we are burning again, I will be sweeping up dirt and little pieces of wood that get tracked in, despite all my efforts. Plus it seems to lead to more dust in the house, and we have smoke damage from those rare occasions when we have a down draft and I don’t catch it in time.

Still, it’s cold outside, and our little wood stove warms our little farmhouse without too much effort.

And we do it in the best way we can, to keep the air as clean as we can. Because we care.

And that’s enough for now…

October 11, 2024 0

Living the Dream…Literally

I was asked recently, “Did you ever dream you’d be living like this?” And I was able to say, “Heck yeah” with proof.

And this is the proof: a list of what kind of house I wanted someday, written when I was about 15 years old. In case you can’t read my childish handwriting, it says…

My house…
-in the country, far from anything, surrounded by rolling hills
-fruit trees, many and old
-a large prosperous garden
-a porch facing west with a squeaking porch swing
-a characteristic old farmhouse
-pastures with a stream and clover
-a big old barn to be remoded (sic)
-a bedroom window facing east for me to be woken by the rising sun

I wrote this list 45 years ago and forgot all about it. I found it recently while cleaning out some boxes of momentos. I was shocked to see that something I’d dreamed of so long ago was now my reality!

That’s a detailed list and that’s how clear I was on my ultimate goal. I let life sidetrack me for a few decades, but I’m getting there at last and with an incredible life partner by my side.

I hope if you have a dream that you’re making your own detailed list to help it someday come true.

May 22, 2024 0

No, This Renovation WAS a Nightmare

When we say our farmhouse renovation was a nightmare, people tend to respond with comments like, “Oh, yes, I remember how challenging our kitchen remodel was.”

People. When we say our renovation was a nightmare, we are not exaggerating. In fact, we are understating it. It was a NIGHTMARE. And totally unexpected. And costly. A contractor projected 6 weeks. The project was so huge that we had to do most of the work after the contractor did his part…and it took TWO YEARS.

*The 1890 farmhouse on the day the farm became ours. It doesn’t LOOK like a nightmare!!*

When we got the place, we were utterly clueless what lie ahead to renovate this 1890 farmhouse. Granted we essentially got the house for free–it was the acreage we paid for–but it was a much bigger project than expected. Much! The contractor who told us 6 weeks was full of B.S.

It was horrible and all consuming. People would ask me, “Would you do this again for a million dollars?” And I’d say “No way!”

To get a sense of just how bad the farmhouse renovation was, here are three videos that should make your jaw drop. (The quality of the videos sucks, but it was 2012 and we didn’t know any better.)

The first is our first walk through after we took possession. We are making jokes about the state of the farmhouse, but we had no idea how awful it was. The farmhouse was not rundown but falling down. Literally.

The next two videos are quick progress updates that were shared on social media at the time. Watch these and weep. And never complain about your kitchen remodel again.

“Our first time at the farmhouse” — A walkthrough the day we got the keys, so you can compare where we started:

“Here Goes Everything” — 7 minutes that will blow your mind as you see how extensive this was:

“Where’d All the Walls Go?” — A 3-minute clip showing old walls gone and framing going up, a.k.a. progress at last:

May 18, 2024 0

Reminding Myself Where We Started…and How Nice It Is Now

our farmhouse living room with Christmas tree

I love Advent and Christmas. I love the buildup of Advent. I love the Christmas season. And I love how are living room seems perfectly suited for this time of year.

I was taking this picture of the farmhouse living room and it struck me how far we’ve come. The renovation sort of ended a few years ago, although we still have projects to do in the house as part of that renovation…but let’s not talk about that.

This was our living room from the outside during the renovation…when the walls literally came tumbling down.

east living room wall during renovation of farmhouse — This is the east wall in the living room during the renovation. Nice, huh?

After the south wall fell off the house — Here’s our living room. Really airy, don’t you think? After the wall came tumbling down and Bob pushed the pieces the rest of the way off, this is what we had at the end of the day: Nothing. This living room wall was completely open to the outside. Did I mention starlings nested in the house during all of this? No? Well, they did. And I can’t stand starlings on a good day!

Let’s talk about how years ago when I was active on Facebook and I would post photos of the renovation and people would ask for “After” photos and I didn’t offer any for all kinds of reasons and now I look at our charming little farmhouse living room all decked out for Christmas and I think “yes, now this is an after picture!”

Our farmhouse is small–tiny really. It’s 1,293 square feet, to be exact. But it’s laid out well. We have two bedrooms, one bathroom, an office, a mudroom, a living room, a dining room and a kitchen. Yes, the front door opens straight into the dining room, but does one really need an entry way? I think not. (Not that I wouldn’t mind having an entry way, mind you…)

Plenty of people would balk at the idea of living in such a small house. We only have two closets, after all. But it’s not that hard once you realize you simply can’t have much stuff…and that’s a good thing!

We do struggle with clutter and with two dogs and three indoor-only cats, we struggle with pet hair and dirt. On the other hand, I only have the 1,293 square feet to keep clean, so maybe all those animals in a tiny farmhouse is easier to manage than in a huge house?

As I type this, it’s January 2nd. We have three more days of Christmas, and then the tree and decorations and lights will be put away on January 6 (Epiphany). Until then, I hope to spend as much time as possible in our adorable farmhouse living room.

And then? Even after the Christmas decor is tucked away until next year, I’ll still enjoy sitting in our tiny farmhouse living room in our tiny farmhouse project while I think about how far we’ve come.

January 2, 2023 0

Before and After Photos: Patching a Chimney Hole in the Kitchen Ceiling With a Piece of Antique Tin

Our very old farmhouse was built in pieces, and the kitchen (and therefore wood stove) got moved as the house got added on to. That means we had not one but two chimney holes in ceilings to deal with. We’ve yet to deal with the one in our daughter’s bedroom, but the kitchen ceiling we did tackle.

That photo above is what we had left AFTER we pulled down the old chimney, pulled the sheet rock off the walls, and stripped all the paper and nails off of the ceiling. You can see some flashing that was around the old chimney, and the brown tarp was part of our effort to keep water out, since the roof also had a hole in it once the chimney came down. The good news was, it was easy for the electricians to run the wiring at least!

Below are some photos of the hole today. Here’s what we did: We found a piece of antique ceiling tin (actually, a friend found a piece of antique ceiling tin) that was painted pink and cream. I spent hours and hours and hours (and hours!) trying to sand and strip all of the paint off, because my original vision was for a piece of shiny tin, not painted tin. When I finally got it to the state you see it in now, I said, “Forget it! We’re going with the antique-y look!”

The idea was to put a piece of tin over the hole so the kitchen table could be centered under it and it would look like it was supposed to be there.

First, we had to tackle the wall. We pulled planks off of a wall upstairs and used those to make a “new” plank wall out of old boards. When we ran out, we pulled apart an old sheep feeder in the barn and used that for the rest of the planks. The planks got primed and caulked and painted. (And you’ll see we need to caulk and paint again. Heating our house with a wood stove has meant a lot of the caulking needs to be redone, both in this wall and in the four ceilings we restored. Sigh…)

We got the ceiling all scraped, sanded, caulked and painted (see really good before and after pictures of the kitchen ceiling). Then a friend got this tin up (while my husband was deployed) and put trim around it. I painted and caulked. Then we put the kitchen table under it, centered just right, and voila! You’d never know there was a chimney there nor a huge hole!!

Although it’s not a very clear photo, you can see the detail in the tin a little better in this photo above.

We are far from done with this renovation, but it’s good for me to look at these before and after photos to remind myself how far we’ve come! And now as our Pacific Northwet spring begins to finally warm up and dry out, it has been really nice to turn our attention to starting a small farm at last, since that’s why we bought this place in the first place. Then this winter, we’ll get back to the renovating and get this old farmhouse ever closer to DONE.

June 3, 2014 0

Another Shocking Before and After Photo: a Corner of the Master Bedroom

Just a quick post to show the progress in our room from the before that we were sleeping in when we moved into the unfinished house in April:

See the missing floorboards? And that dark wall, that is the outside siding. Yes, we could hear the frogs and river as if the window was wide open because there was no insulation!

Today? Today we are MUCH farther along. We still have a long ways to go–the trim isn’t done and what is installed is yet to be painted, we need a new access door covering the crawl space to the attic, the closet has no doors, and so on and so on…but I like sleeping in the room like this so much better than the room like that! Shoot: I just realized I didn’t show the new floor in this after photo, sorry!

You don’t want to know how many nights I slept on the sofa and air mattress while getting the room to this point. But it was worth it…

And the farmhouse renovation continues!!

October 7, 2013 2

Shocking Before and Afters! 2 Photos to Remind Myself How Far We’ve Come

This farmhouse renovation has been and continues to be so all consuming that I sometimes lose sight of how much has been accomplished. Emma chastised me Sunday after church when we pulled up outside the house and I just sighed and my shoulders slumped as I thought of all the work left to do. She got a little irritated and asked why I couldn’t see all that work that has gotten done instead.

With that in mind, I stumbled across this before picture, of the plank wall in the kitchen and I was truly shocked to see where we started. OK, and that’s not even where we started! This is after all the demolition and pulling out the old chimney and pulling off the crappy sheetrock. So I’d say this would be a halfway point.

I took another picture just now from the same angle (and positioned the dog in the same place) to show just how striking the contrast is and yes, just how far we’ve come!

This is a picture from January 2013, on the day Emma and I started nailing planks salvaged from elsewhere to the wall, to cover up the patchwork of damaged original walls and the channel where the chimney used to fit.

This is a picture from this morning, 8 1/2 months later, with the plank wall done and pictures and plates hung, new floors, trim work, furniture…and the dog.

OK, I live here and I am still shocked at the difference! I promise to try and stop looking at what is yet to do so often and to sometimes take a look and smile at what has been done. OK, Emma?

Soon enough we will be done with the farmhouse and can turn our attention to starting a small farm at last. 🙂

September 24, 2013 6

Stairs and Upstairs: The “Sort of Before” Photos…

Ever since we got the key to the farmhouse back on December 30, 2011, I have been bad about before photos because we wouldn’t realize just how “before” things would have to be, and all the layers we’d have to pull off and repairs we’d have to do. This week we are paying someone to do the mudding and taping upstairs, and to hang some ceiling sheetrock. Then I will be back to painting. So I thought it would be a good chance to get some before photos finally, even though these pictures are after a whole lot of work, meaning they aren’t really before we started photos, but they are before the drywall guy photos at least. 🙂

August 24, 2013 0

Connecting to the Past: Finding Treasures at Our Small Farmhouse

Renovating a 133-year-old falling down farmhouse has certainly had its trials and tribulations…but also its treasures.

One of those treasures is this grocery receipt from April 21, 1929. I think it says Bennetts as the “sold to” name, and we have a very big, very old school in our town named R.E. Bennett. Wouldn’t that be cool if our farm-that-was had some impressive connections? Things on the list that we can make out include coffee, nutmeg, allspice, tomatoes, bread, butter, bacon…and several other things we can’t make out. Prices are all in the cents, like 10, 12, and 60 cents.

I think this receipt is such a big deal because I feel so much affinity for the moms and wives who have lived here before me, cooking and washing dishes and raising children and tending chickens. They all shopped too! They made grocery lists and paid over hard earned money and budgeted and planned meals. They did what I do. But for me, it’s powered by electricity and modern conveniences like an electric range (although our range is from the 1940s!). For many of the women before me, it was kerosene lamps and a woodstove and water pumped from a well. When I feel like this whole farmhouse renovation is maybe more than I can do, I remind myself of what those women did…and under what conditions. Heck even just getting to town to buy groceries would have been an adventure, since downtown is 15 miles away and this road of ours would have been a dirt one!

Here’s another stash of treasures found last week by a contractor reaching behind a tongue-and-groove wall:

$farmhouse find old bottles and math book$

It’s a collection of bottles, one of which still has rose petals in it! Plus a math book from 1920, and possibly a berry box. And some trash. Why this stuff was in the walls is beyond me, but we’ll get those bottles scrubbed up and make some kind of neat display with them…when the farmhouse is done of course.

We have found other treasures too, out in the barn. We have a literal treasure trove of antique tools that we’ll get around to someday.

I like the treasures. I like the real, tangible connection to the past that they offer. Other hands held those bottles and studied from that book. These artifacts, they are reminders that babies were born here, children were raised, couples loved, parents aged…our house has 133 years of life and history; it’s older any of its inhabitants could ever be. And we’re determined to rebuild it and make it sound for another century of living and loving, cooking and caring…and maybe we’ll manage to leave behind some treasures too.

June 11, 2013 0

Farmhouse Update: Kitchen Ceiling Before and After Photos, and a Lovely Kitchen Window!

Some big news in the kitchen…the ceiling is done and the window is in, YES!

Here’s what the ceiling did look like:

The kitchen ceiling had been papered over and all that had to scraped off and the hundreds of nails pulled out, then the burned wood had to be sanded away. THEN the caulking and painting could start!

And here’s what it looks like now:

The tongue and groove kitchen ceiling, caulked, primed (twice) and painted (twice) and oh so pretty!!

Big difference, eh? And here’s what I looked like after sanding off the soot from the fire damage of years gone by:

That's me covered in soot after sanding the kitchen ceiling and Bob covered in dust after sanding the sheetrock. Lovely couple!! — That’s me covered in soot after sanding the kitchen ceiling and Bob covered in dust after sanding the sheetrock. Lovely couple!!

Not only is the ceiling done, but the window is in, woohoo!!! In a matter of weeks (I hope I hope I hope!!!) there will be a kitchen sink in front of that lovely window. 🙂 Thank you, Bob, for making the window a priority!!

Oh, the lovely kitchen window is in, oh, I love it!

January 31, 2013 5

Farm Foto of the Day: A Faucet!

This is the faucet for our clawfoot tub which should be plumbed soon. We are getting closer to having a bathroom in the farmhouse!

Bob is working on the farmhouse this morning while I am in town working on making money. I’d rather be doing what he’s doing, but he is sweet enough to keep me up to date on his progress. Here’s a photo that’s a very big deal! We don’t have the bathtub plumbed yet, but he installed the faucet today!

Plus I should say we had a productive weekend. We got the water heater installed (now just await the electrician to hook it up). We got some sheetrock hung on the ceiling upstairs. (Very tall ceilings are wonderful…until you have to hang sheetrock on them!) We got a coat of paint on the kitchen ceiling (only one more to go and that ceiling is DONE). We hung the planks we had left on the kitchen wall (now to figure out how to make “old” planks to match what we have). Oh, and I backed my truck into my husband’s car, breaking the tail light and putting a nice dent into his trunk. That was so decidedly not fun. Or productive. At all. 🙁

On top of all that, we kept the animals watered despite 20 degree temperatures, and thawed out frozen pipes on the trailer we’re staying in. We kept busy for sure!

But it’s that farm foto of a faucet that’s making my heart pitter patter right now.

We are getting closer and closer to our real goal, being able to start a farm!!

January 14, 2013 2