Category: Farmlife

One of the things we most love about this rural lifestyle is being surrounded by nature- immersed completely in its beauty and its bounty. Due to recent events, though, we were also reminded how fickle and fragile nature can be. The other morning as we went to bring the chickens breakfast, we found the heavy, old floorboards in the barn above the coop had been torn up…. and down by the coop there was even more destruction. A bear had torn through the hardware cloth mesh window in the run door, peeled open the metal hinges and lock of the coop door, and killed six of our flock of eleven. Ginger, Frankie, Ruth, Georgie, Stevie, and Daisy- all torn apart. These are not just egg machines for us- they’re truly pets, so this was a traumatic shock and terribly heartbreaking. We think there may have been more loss if it weren’t for Jenny, who happened to be up with some random insomnia, slamming the barn door around midnight to shut off the barn light for better star viewing. In hindsight, she thought she heard something move through the woods, but who knows. After reporting the loss to Fish and Game (this was most likely the same “nuisance bear” that has also broken into two nearby homes, and attacked other nearby coops), we set about rebuilding and fortifying the coop, and adding some electric fence wire surrounding the coop and run. Working on the coop with the five remaining hens wandering around (two two-year-old layers and three chicks from this past spring), seemed so eerie and quiet- normally, the coop area is a noisy racket of clucks and squawks. The bear did return the following morning, but to our relief, was turned away by the jolt of the electric fencing- he just left us his profile on our game camera. We hope he stays away. Our intent is to do our best to protect our five remaining hens, and decide if we will add to the flock next spring. 

We’ve also experienced frustration and loss in the gardens due to critters- woodchucks, chipmunks, and deer. Jenny watched a chipmunk pull an entire stalk of barley into its little hole; we lost our entire crops of fennel and dill to woodchucks; and something had gotten into the orchard to eat the blueberries, boysenberries, and some raspberries. There’s also beetles, moths, and other insects trying to eat the leaves, stems, and fruit of shrubs and trees. It requires constant vigilance, and lots of attention to stay ahead of them all. And yet, even still, there are no guarantees- crops can be wiped out in a single hailstorm, insects can decimate swaths of the garden, frost can kill everything, or any number of other things. Another thing we’ve recently been dealing with has been the loss of all our ash trees to the Emerald Ash Borer- three were very large. Their loss will leave a big hole in our woods, but an opportunity for others to grow.

And yet, there is still treasure everywhere: beauty in the blossoms, in the crystal-clear blue skies, in the smell of a summer evening’s rain, in the glistening of fireflies, the croaks of bull frogs or the songs of a choir of birds. There is balance. We still love this life, and are so thankful for the opportunity to experience it.

Aside from the gardening and homesteading, the other part of this whole experience for us is the saving of this old farmhouse and farm. Earlier this spring we took some time to address the rotted floors in the barn- starting with the old tack room. The back wall opposes the ell workshop, and wasn’t insulated at all, leaving the ell a challenge to heat. This room’s floors were also in the worst condition- three layers of rotted wood deep, separated by literally inches of “organic matter” AKA un-mucked poop. When we moved here, we laid down some solid boards so that we could at least use the room for storage, but it seemed time to make it right. So after removing the old rotted wood (what was left of it), we found the reason for the “bouncy” floor- one of the timber joints had rotted away and was actually resting on a piece of electrical conduit! Once we cleaned everything up and patched all the structure, we laid in new 2″ thick hemlock floorboards. We also insulated the back wall, and covered it with old barn boards salvaged from a previous project, and treated them to some linseed oil. This room will be storage for our firewood tools and lawn equipment, and has the only workbench high enough to actually sit at (for now). 

Having that room solid gave us the momentum to tackle another room, so we moved on to the “auto shop” next door. 

We then decided to go ahead and take care of the next room down the side of the barn- this one being separated into two horse stalls, but we decided to open it up. This room had some large floorboards that were still solid from being covered, thankfully, so only half the room needed replacement.

There is still so much more to do around here- between the necessary restoration and the everyday labor surrounding homesteading, we keep plenty busy, but we absolutely love it, and have no regrets. We really love this house, and love learning more about its past- Daniel and Abigail’s lives, the time they lived here, and the times since. 

Thanks for stopping by- we enjoy the visits, and look forward to the next. Please feel free to share, and as always, be well and God bless!

While we’ve had a few frosty mornings so far this fall, this morning we received our first snowfall- a total of around 4″. Tennessee was sure happy to get out for his morning walk (snowball feet aside), but the chickens didn’t know what to make of it, so they’ve stayed under the barn today.

We’re feeling really good about what we were able to accomplish over the summer to not only preserve this old house for the next generation, but to make it more comfortable as well. We were able to fully complete our pre-winter to-do list: the house, barn, cars, and homestead, are all ready for winter. We’re really looking forward to hunkering down, and just enjoy living in this old home. We have plenty of firewood stacked up to help keep us warm, which brings me to our new stove.

Ever since we began thinking about embarking on this journey of living in and restoring an antique home, one of the things we found most appealing was living simply, intentionally, and as much like Daniel and Abigail (or at least our grandparents,) lived as we could. While we love cooking on the open hearth in the keeping room, it’s not practical for everyday. We thought about, and actually got our hands on, an antique wood cookstove for the kitchen to replace our modern gas stove. Our c.1912ish Glenwood wood cookstove is a beauty, but it has a very small firebox, as well as a somewhat unknown condition, plus our homeowner’s insurance company wasn’t too keen on the idea. We sat on it for a while to think about it, as it was a huge commitment to take out half the kitchen and replace it with a wood-burning appliance we weren’t sure was going to work for us. We had been interested in a modern wood cookstove after seeing one in use by one of the homesteaders we follow on YouTube, but just couldn’t decide. While talking to our HVAC guy (of all people), he pointed out that any wood cookstove would not be period correct anyway, so why not go for functionality (and UL certified!) I suppose since our house has climate control and plumbing, not to mention electricity, this made sense, so we ordered an Amish-built Kitchen Queen stove. It arrived by semi truck, and since we’re a farm in the middle of nowhere, he was able to back right up to the barn door, and lower it right inside. After we took it out of its crate, we lightened it as much as possible (it was about 700 pounds total), and Jenny and I used a heavy-duty appliance dolly to wheel it through the ell, and into our kitchen. Once hooked up to the chimney, we fired it up! Now it’s Toby’s (our cat) new favorite place. It’s a steep learning curve cooking with wood, but we’ll get there, and are enjoying learning its limitations and benefits. And it excels at one thing- heating the house! We can load the firebox, heat the kitchen to the upper 70’s, and the wood lasts 6-8 hours. We could make it last longer, but it would likely soot up the system. The heat carries through the house pretty well, so we’re hoping not to need our furnace much this winter. And just so you know, our first apple pie turned out amazing!

In order to make room for the wood stove, we had to move the antique workbench we had been using as an island over to the side wall by the windows. There was an old gas heat stove there, which we had disconnected when we re-sided the ell, so we took it out altogether, and refinished the floor underneath to match the rest of the kitchen.

One of the other things we’d been meaning to do this fall was to clean up and expand the orchard/food forest. We had cleared enough of the hillside behind the house to plant five apple and two pear trees last spring to compliment the antique pear and apple already there (as well as blueberry, strawberry, and raspberry shrubs). We had freed those old trees from the overgrown mass of vines and invasives that covered this hillside when we got here. Our excavator guy was able to dig up and remove stumps and boulders from the entire back hillside, and regrade the whole slope, so not only did we more than double our growable orchard area, but made it more manageable to mow and maintain. After he did a final grading and power-raking, we planted perennial rye, then covered it with straw for the winter.

We’re so blessed and grateful for the opportunity to live this lifestyle, and care for this old farmhouse. We hope that we bring it the honor and care it so deserves. As I was standing below the orchard this morning (about where the photo above was taken), watching the snow fall, I imagined Daniel standing at the bottom of the hill, looking up at his homestead- was he feeling ready for winter, or apprehensive that his preparations would fall short? He called this place home for 34 winters- 34 autumns of preparing for the next season. 34 winters of watching snowfalls, and seeing the beauty in the landscape around him. 34 winters of seeing the glow and warmth from the hearth inside, and knowing his bride Abigail was waiting inside to help him shake off the cold. We literally think about Daniel and Abigail every single day. We may be the only people for generations who have thought of them. But we do, and we feel so connected to them through this house and landscape. That’s why I touch every surface of this place as I move about the house and barn- Daniel did the same, so it’s the closest I can come to shaking his hand and thanking him for building this house that would become my home.

Thank you Daniel. It’s a fine home. ‘Tis a fine home.

Be well, and God bless!

Welcome back to the farm- it’s so good to see you! We’ve been keeping plenty busy since your last visit, but rather than just talk about each project we’ve been doing, we thought we’d also show you what a typical day looks like here.

Our days usually start as soon as it starts getting light, as our cat thinks it’s time to eat. After showing him the food already in his tray, we hit the power button on the coffee maker (we prepare the coffee the night before), then head to the back barn to let the chickens out of the coop for the day. We’ll often walk back through the garden and have a once-over to see what may need to be done that day. When the coffee is ready, we may go sit back in bed and talk about the upcoming day, or we may sit on the back porch if it’s nice out. Either way, the dog and cat are usually right beside us. After a cup (or three) of coffee, our hungry stomachs tell us it’s time for breakfast. Bacon, eggs, and toast, waffles with homemade maple syrup, fresh yogurt with granola and fresh fruit, salad, or last night’s leftovers- all are options, and all are tasty and satisfying.

After breakfast, we get the pup out for his morning walk. If the weather is nice, and we have time, we’ll hit one of the trails just down the road, or walk over to the brook across the road to see if we can spot some deer, moose, otter, or bobcat. Well, we hope not to see the latter, but any of the former are welcome sights. After a bit, we head back to the farm to get ready to start on the day’s projects, and the pup finds a comfy spot to snooze nearby.

After cleaning up dishes (we removed the dishwasher), we get ready to work. Depending on the project of the day, it may be getting on work pants and work boots, or shorts and a tee. One of our recent projects was rebuilding the garden side of the back barn addition. This facade had an old window opening but no window, some gaps in the old siding, some rot, and some very crooked framing from the barn heaving up and down every year. The upstairs window opening was cut out of the framing, but never reinforced, or even framed correctly, which left the cutoff ends of the studs and surrounding wall structure just flapping in the wind. The large window that was in the opening was a double-paned commercial window, but the seal had failed, and the inner faces of the panes were quite cloudy and etched. We had just installed a light over the door, as our electrician was here before we were ready to begin this project.

We demo’d (Jenny’s favorite part) the old siding, then we had to remove the sheathing planks off the lower story to reinstall them plumb (they were all pulled a little diagonally from the frost heaves). Once we had everything plumb, and the window opening re-sized and framed for the new-to-us, antique casement window donated by a friend (thanks again Beth and Swift!), we set about installing the new Alaskan Yellow Cedar shingles we picked up last winter from Uncle Hilde’s Lumber Outlet. If you’re in the market for shingles, hardwood flooring, or other building materials, give Mark a call- excellent service and fair pricing (www.unclehildes.com)

Once we got up to the large upstairs window, we had to address what to do with this opening. As much as we would have loved to install a more appropriate divided light window, we decided to just use what we had available. We dismantled the old commercial window, cleaned one of the tempered panes with vinegar to remove the etching and cloudiness, then built a frame to hold it in place. We then re-framed the opening to correct the structure of the wall, and added a proper sill. After installing our new window, we kept on going with the shingles. We’re happy with how it turned out, and the large window will sure be nice lighting for working in the wood shop.

Having found our groove with the shingles, we moved around front to tackle the street side of the ell. After having our excavation guy stop by with his skid steer to move the two-ton granite stoop away from the entry, we began demo. There was the usual rot in the sheathing, settled insulation, gaps and holes to fill and seal, but we also installed a new entry door, removed the vent from the old gas stove in the kitchen (which we’re taking out), and removed the four upper windows. These windows were unusable (they sat at floor level upstairs), very rotten (they were only held together by paint), broken, and they contributed to the bowing of this wall. We also had to reframe the window opening in the old loading dock inset, as the old window didn’t have a sill or any way to shed water. The old sash was too far gone to save, but Jenny found a salvageable one in our stash, and had it reglazed and ready to go in no time. Once we had all of the structure addressed, the rot repaired, all the gaps sealed up, and ice and water shield and builder’s paper tacked on, we installed the shingles. We also installed a new (old) doorbell, and a hand-painted (by Jenny) address sign. We also dressed it up with some window boxes!

Seeing the house and ell looking so sharp, we decided to go ahead and knock out rebuilding the front of the barn. We ran to our local sawmill to pick up some freshly milled hemlock shiplap in random widths, and went to work. There was a window added to the front of the barnat some point, but the sash was too far gone to repair, and we wanted the barn to look like a barn, so we took out the window altogether. This ell-side of the barn, while within the barn structure, is open to the ell on the inside, and is currently our workshop/tool storage area, so it’ll be nice to have the wall space on which to hang things anyway. With the window hole covered, and everything sealed up, the shiplap went on quickly. 

The old sliding barn door was an assembly of patches and broken rotted boards (a primary theme around here), which allowed it to flop and sway in the wind, and drag on the floor. Most of the boards, as well as the surrounding trim boards, were broken from the stress of the barn heaving, crushing the door. We began by pulling the old siding boards off the frame, so we could rebuild the frame using hemlock beams from the sawmill. We cut the patches and rot back to solid wood, then lap jointed in the new beams, making it a solid plane frame. We also moved and re-framed the window, as while it was in the center of the door, part of the door was hidden from view when closed, so the window was never in the visible center. We also decided to add a man door, so we could go in and out without opening the whole slider. Once the framing was complete, we took pieces of not-rotted old clapboard siding we hadmoved from the front of the barn, turned it over, cleaned it up with a bit of sanding, then installed it on the door frame vertically. After a few coats of boiled linseed oil/turpentine, it’s now a gorgeous, solid, traffic-stopping door! 

To complete the barn front, and the entire street view, we needed to address the old rotted window up in the gable. We knew it was in bad shape, but didn’t realize the extent of its rot: the sill was completely gone, allowing rain to pour directly onto the beam below. We’re so glad we took care of this before another winter! Once we removed the old window frame, Jenny rebuilt the sashes while I milled a new sill and rebuilt the frame. Once everything was re-installed and painted, we stood back to admire the view, and now we can’t stop staring at it!

There is also the normal maintenance and chores of a house with pets/livestock, so some days we mow, weed, manage the orchard and gardens, spend time with the chickens (coffee talks or browsing catalogs), or maintaining the vehicles…. but there are also days where we go for a car ride in one of our old cars, go for a hike somewhere, or just sit and read. But once the light starts changing, we finish up for the day, clean up, have some dinner, and enjoy a cocktail while talking about our day, planning for the next, or just enjoying the quiet sounds of nature, walking around the yard seeing what’s in bloom.

We feel so blessed to be living this life, and we thank God each day for this opportunity to love on this deserving old house, doing what we can to ensure it can live on for another 240 years. It’s not an easy life, but a simple one- our days are full of hard work and quiet reflection, plus we get to spend each day with each other! 

We’ll sign off for now- it’s Friday, so we need to run to the dump so we can get back and start our day. Thanks for stopping by, and we promise it won’t be so long before our next visit. Let us know if you have any questions, comments, and as always, feel free to share!

God bless!

Hello friends! It’s been so long since your last visit, but we’re so glad you could stop by in light of the current goings-on. We’ve been so busy here on the farm, so it’ll be nice to sit and chat a while- pull up a chair next to the fire!

So to address the current state of world affairs, the Covid lockdown really hasn’t affected us much at all here. We’re doing great, and staying healthy and fit. We live a simple, quiet life here, so outside of not going to church or seeing friends, it’s life as normal around here. Well, except that our daughter Allison is home from college a couple months sooner than expected. We picked her up to bring her home for spring break, during which time the college moved to online classes for the rest of the semester. We do enjoy having her home, and outside of having to share our very limited internet access, it hasn’t been a challenge at all. We enjoy spending this time with her, and having her around again. She does miss school and her friends though, but she’s kept busy with her job at Subway and her schoolwork. She even took on a new job at Target, so she’s doubling up! 

Allison is a bit like her mama, however, as one day I came in from the woodshop to find she had demo’d her stairs. The stairs to her attic suite were old (the treads were old but not original), broken, and had been covered by a second layer, which were then cracked. When you would step just right, the cracks would open and pinch your feet, and being broken, some were loose, and would shift. She took off all the old treads, and we cut and installed new ones using some old salvaged floorboards so she would have nice patina. She finished them with boiled linseed oil, and painted the risers a nice, crisp white, so now she has a beautiful “new” staircase!

Since Allison’s stairs looked so good now, I thought I’d restore the hardware on her door. The attic door features the last remaining original hand-forged thumb latch handle, but someone at some point had tried to pry it off, and the metal was torn. Since it was nailed on with forged nails (which were “clinched”, or bent over on the back side, locking them in place), I had to work it in place on the door. I was able to work it back flat, cleaned it of any paint, and oiled it to preserve it. Then I started working on the original forged hinges, which were covered with so many layers of paint, that the nail heads holding them in place were just lumps. I was able to strip them in place, then once cleaned to their original forged patina, a coating of oil was applied to preserve them.

Since your last visit, we’ve had “sugar season” here. This is when the maple trees are tapped, and syrup is boiled from the sap. We started small, tapping five trees, and boiling sap in an old lobster pot over a fireplace we made from concrete blocks we salvaged from the old chimney (which we removed last summer). It quickly became apparent that this was not going to work, as it took forever to boil the sap, and the sap buckets were filling faster than we could boil it. We stepped up our game, invested in an evaporator, and tapped more trees. The new evaporator was so efficient, that we needed lots of sap to even fire it up (30-40 gallons), so we picked up a couple of food-grade storage barrels we buried in the snow on the shady side of the barn, so we could save it up until we had enough to boil, which really only took a day or two. With eleven taps and the evaporator, we were able to make a bit over five gallons of beautiful maple syrup!

Once sugaring season wrapped up, we turned our attention to the upcoming gardening season. Homesteading, or growing as much of our own food as possible, was one of the large parts of why we wanted to live this lifestyle. Since the yard and area around the house was so torn up the past couple of years with all the structural and grading work, we were looking forward to getting some gardens started. We put in two beds next to the barn, and built three raised beds nearby. We filled the raised beds with soil we dug from under the barn during the structural renovation, which was rich with generations of manure from the barn. So rich, in fact, it was completely depleted of nitrogen, so we’ve been working on amending the soil before we plant. We also cleared some more of the hillside to plant an orchard- we planted six heritage apple trees, and two pears. We’d like to add some cherry, plum, and peach trees at some point. Like everything else around here, we’ve accepted that this will be a process, and may take a year or two before things are just right. 

As part of the whole homesteading/historical farmstead theme we’re building here, we wanted to start having some livestock. Thinking a cow would be a steep learning curve, we decided to start with chickens. We picked up some chicks (seven hens, with a rooster coming next week), and when they quickly outgrew the tub we were keeping them in, we built a brooder to house them until they’re big enough to go outside. We have a Light Brahma (Celeste), a Wyandotte (Beverly), a Rhode Island Red (Ginger), two Black Sex-Links (Lulu and Ruth), and two Barred Rocks (Josephine and Edna). They’re extremely friendly, love to sit in our laps, and even Tennessee wants to go out to see them constantly.

We also began building them a coop under the back barn, where they’ll have protection from rain, snow, wind, severe cold or heat, and all the neighborhood predators. The coop has a run (wire-fenced area) built on, so they will have room to be outside, but still be protected, and can get into the coop if they want. The coop has nesting boxes (with a door to collect eggs), roosting bars, windows for light and ventilation, and a large door on the end for cleaning. We even used some panes of tempered glass we picked up for free, along with some barn board scraps, to build some windows we can close up when it’s cold. Channeling our frugal inner Yankee, and Jenny’s tree-hugging, environmentalist hippie side, with the exception of the plywood coop floor and hardware cloth, everything used in its construction is recycled. The boards, screws, hinges, and latches are all recycled from previous purposes, or our stash of repurposed and found hardware parts. Not much goes to waste around here! You’ll even note that the drop-down ventilation door on the back of the coop can be seen in the earlier post about Allison’s stairs- it’s one of the broken tread boards! 

We will lock the girls into the coop at night, but will let them into the run during the day- we do plan on letting them out to free range when we’re outside and can keep an eye on them. We’ve planted the area between the stone walls with clover, buckwheat, and grass, so they’ll will have plenty to forage on. We’re hoping the hens will be ready to move to the coop in another week or two.

Every day brings something to do, whether it’s bucking and splitting logs stacked up from having some dead trees taken down, or taking the pup out for a hike on one of the many nearby trails. We really love our simple life here.

With spring in full-swing, even though we had a dusting of snow this morning, there’s life popping up all over the farm. One of our favorite things here is watching the cycle of nature- the crocus kicks things off, then the daffodils and bloodroot, then as the daffodils fade, the phlox are coming up. The trees and lilacs are leafing out- everywhere you look, it’s just beautiful.

We hope you enjoyed catching up as much as we did. We treasure your visits, and look forward to the next time. Feel free to share, comment, or let us know if you have any questions.

Take care, be well, and God Bless!