Patina General

Junk in the Pots!

Once May 15 hits here in Minnesota, we are supposedly safe to plant, and I've been doing just that!  Of course, at this early stage my pots are not all full and beautiful, and definitely not picture-worthy.  I even pinch all the flowers off, so they'll work on their roots for awhile.  So I thought I'd show some past years' big full pots of flowers to inspire you to add some junk into your pots!  I love the beauty of flowers and foliage, but add a little galvanized, some rust, and some chippy paint, and I'm in a happy place!

Last year I wanted to use my birdcage collection, instead of just letting them look pretty and bare-naked on the deck table.  But I didn't want birds occupying them...

Bright colored flowers peeking through the bars were so much more pretty!  And of course, they not only looked good in perfectly seasoned terra cotta, but much junkier in vintage galvanized buckets...right side up, and upside down!

 

Dead-heading proved to be a little difficult, but I learned to just open that little door and reach my scissors right in!  

Vintage cemetary fencing is so much happier elevating lively flowers next to the garage...

I always add flags to all my pots Memorial Weekend and Fourth of July weekend. Sometimes I'm so happy with how festive they are, I just leave them in for that whole time!  This heavy gauge, extra tall fencing is hard to come by.  I'm hoping Mr. Fix-it will have time to make a couple more of these before next occasional.  They're made perfectly for a plastic planting pot with a lip to set in.

And don't let those old chippy chair legs or spindles go to the burn pile!  Grab a small clay pot, a couple of washers and your drill.  They look just lovely tucked into any pot of flowers!  Add a citronella candle for nightime festivity and function, or let the water collect and see the butterflies and dragonflies enjoying a drink!

I can't wait till all my junky pots look nice and full again!  I'm feeding them faithfully!  Oh, glorious garden season, I'm so glad the winter is finally over and the colorful beauty of creation is unfolding!

 

 

Goodbye to the Horses

As a young girl, growing up in the city, I longed to own a horse.  My favorite books were about horses...Flicka...The Wild Horses of Chinotique Island...Black Beauty.  I took Horsemanship at summer camp, and felt pretty good about my skills after one week!  I loved their strength, their beauty and grace, and their big brown eyes.  When we went to the Minnesota State Fair I always wanted to stay at the horse barns and equestrian area longer than my family.

Along with the deep ravine and wooded area on our property, the horses across the street "had me at hello" when we first looked at our home. The country girl inside me still had that horse envy. I'd gotten over wanting one for myself...I've got three kids to care for!  But being able to have horses across the street...this fufilled the dream!

I remember coming home one afternoon that first April...kids in tow, unloading groceries, when we noticed a horse in the front pasture, right next to the road.  There was a freshly born pony right next to the fence.  The mother still exhibited her afterbirth and was very protective.  From our deck, we got the pleasure of seeing that pony's first wobbly steps.  I remember being so thankful that my kids could have this "country" experience, and felt truly blessed that my horse love was finally being fufilled!

Over the last ten years I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing these beautiful animals frolicking in the pasture, their cold breath misting the winter air, and their tails slapping flies in the summer.  I even love smelling them, when the evening wind changes and comes from the east.  Many days I would push a stroller across the street or take a small hand in mine and go watch the horses, passing them handfuls of grass. In the last year, Big boy has gotten to be a farm hand and learned how to muck out stalls.  This city-turned-country girl loves seeing her kids exposed to farm life!

Life changes, seasons pass, and our neighbor has decided to move South to escape the winter (imagine that?).

The trailer's hooked up, and the horses are heading to their new home.

I'm feeling a little misty about the whole thing.  The acreage will more than likely be split up into several homesites.  Unless there's someone out there that wants a small hobby farm that's been organic...but they'd have to have horses!  Until it's decided, I'll be looking at an empty pasture, and will once again have that horse-longing that's been deep inside since my childhood.

How Sweet It Is!

Nooo, I'm not talking about the weather here in Minnesota!  The White Witch from Narnia has us under her wintry spell, and we're all pretty depressed and crabby about it.  Ever watched Groundhog Day?  Yep, that's what the weather reports have been like...freezing rain, snow, sleet...the only upside I can see to this weather compared to our 80 degee March weather we had last year is...

Big, bulging, blue bags of sap!  The sap is runnin!  We've got plenty of beautiful, mature Maple trees in our yard and have enjoyed their fall colors and their leaves in big piles for many years, but 2 years ago Mr. Fix-it had a "live off the land" moment and decided he was going to tap the trees!  He scoured the internet for information and picked up supplies.  We had gotten a couple buckets full of taps and bag holders from someone moving that knew I was always open to more "junk"!

 

The trees got tapped, the blue bags appeared and the whole family got to taste the sweet contents of our beautiful Maple trees!

It's been an education for all of us.  The kids have learned how to empty the bags into containers, and have realized how much patience it takes when there's a 40 gallon to 1 ratio...liquid gold!  

Mr. Fix-it has manufactured his burning technique and still wants to make improvements...ever the engineer!

The air is filled with a sugary sweet smell, similar to how the cotton candy machine smelled like when I worked the school carnival.  After tending the sap all day, it's taken inside for the final boil before it's syrup.  With the vent hood running like crazy, it gets to the final boiling point and is then filtered through a fabric cone into pint size jars.

 

My kitchen and my cooktop get a work out, but oh, what a final result!

The first batch was light gold, the second batch almost reddish in tone.  Mr. Fix-it sent a bunch of sap home with a co-worker that likes to boil, but doesn't have trees.  The bags are still filling, because the weather isn't changing...and the trees have two years worth of sap in them because last year it got nice too fast!  Guess this stinkin' weather is good for something!

After a breakfast of pancakes and syrup, we'll be out emptying more bags and boiling down more sap (and hopefully getting some PG projects done while checking the thermometer)!  I just love that I'm living a Laura Ingall's Wilder kind of life!

Hang in there Minnesotans...spring has to come...doesn't it?

Birding

When we first moved into this house and the kids were little we got this excellent, pocket-sized birding book.  It's written by Stan Tekiela, a Victoria, MN native.  The homeowners before us were birdwatchers, and they encouraged us that a great variety of birds could be enjoyed with our wooded property.  Through the years, we've looked up many birds with the handy color-coated pages.

I've dog-eared the pages of the birds we've seen through the years, and written the date and sometimes even the time of day that we saw them.  It's been interesting to see which types of birds we see at different times of the year.  The description of the birds are very helpful, since oftentimes the males and females look quiet different.  It's also interesting to see their characteristics, for instance if they eat from feeders or off the ground.  

The last couple of weeks the birds have seemed as mixed up with the weather as the rest of us Minnesotans!  We've had dark-eyed junco parties out on our deck everyday, with as many as a dozen of them scavenging for seeds!  Usually by now the winter-hardy juncos have moved on, but it's still winter...right?

We love to see the busy chickadees and the regal Cardinal and his wife all winter.  It's live entertainment to see them perch on my rakes, birdhouses, and even the sewing machine bases for my table.

Come summer, we will enjoy the goldfinches as they change to bright yellow, the

red-winged blackbirds, and possibly the beautiful blue Indigo bunting, and maybe a bright orange Baltimore Oriole. Besides a regular feeder, we have a niger thistle mesh bag and a suet cake feeder.  Through the years, I've also snapped a couple pictures of some more unusual sightings and poppped them in the book.  A red-tailed hawk sat on the deck fence for 20 minutes one lunch hour, waiting for a smaller bird to eat.  I luckily didn't have to experience the attack...he flew off.  The kids and I were laying in the hammock one day and looked straight up into the eyes of a very still little screech owl.  He stayed in place long enough for me to run to the house and get the camera!

I'm looking forward to warm summer evenings with the mourning doves calling and the sound of a low, haunting whoo, whoo of an owl out my window.

Now you'll be able to understand why the birds continue on inside my house, on everything from lamps, to pillows to dishes, to frames...

Anyone else out there love watching and enjoying the birds?  Have you noticed them singing for spring?  What's your favorite bird to see at your house?

Happpy Easter!

I was hoping I could have made this post early this Easter morning, but of course that didn't happen!  Happy late-night Easter, or morning after Easter!  Either way, the joy of the resurrection and the empty tomb is still fresh in my mind...and the dirty dishes are still waiting!  As I perused over my photos for this post, and photos from the last couple of weeks, I got tired all over again!  I thought March was supposed to be kind of a sleeper-not so for me!

My last month has been filled with college visit days, enjoying seeing Happy Girl and Mr. Freckles as Cinderella and her footman, wallpapering my bedroom (finally ;), and helping a good family friend and aunt get her house staged to sell and settled in her new home!  Oh, and of course a little work for PG, too!  Despite all this, I managed to spring decorate my own home and host Easter for my family and parents!  Needless to say, blogging has not been at the forefront of my mind, and this never-ending winter has not been an inspiration, either!  So, before you see all the goodies we have in store for April occasional this week, I thought I'd share my Easter/Spring home with you!

This is my second spring with this new wall of cupboards.  Last year, I decorated each shelf with a color-pink, green, yellow, aqua.  Because of my extreme sickness of our long winter, I wanted a riot of color this year...all together!  Just like a jubilant spring song...all the bright spring colors with birds, ducks, chicks, birdhouses, eggs, flowers, moss!  It's a symphony of spring, and it's kept me hopeful the last couple of weeks!  You can't see them very well in this photo, but I have an oval platter/egg shape theme going on here.  There's 1-3 on each shelf!  I think I found something I can beat Cheryl on for our "up to the challenge" category.  She will be so excited! More on this later...

My other theme that developed as I was going was this "all in a line" theme??  I've got antique glass easter baskets that came from an old friend (yes, Viv) lined up on my windowsill, vintage easter bunnies from an aunt across my leaded glass window, tart molds and nests lined up, above, and freshly grown grass lined up everywhere!

Pink-flowered flowering branches popped up everywhere too!  I've got vintage ones from a childhood neighbor in my bay window, along with that sweet, classic picture of the little girl looking up at a robin.  I recently found 2 great, weathered baskets for either side of my big-screen TV (yeah), and filled them with pink and white flowering branches.  Costco even had some fresh pink flowering branches to create my Easter tree! (My branch cutting day just didn't happen this year :(

My Easter table was a riot of color, too!  Found an old bolt of green and white fabric that I used as a tablecloth (anything to get out of ironing a tablecloth), used my Flora Dora by Royal Doulton wedding china, rhubarb-colored thumbprint goblets, and fresh grass and grocery store flowers in the middle.  I also used vintage linen towels as placemats, because I need to use some of my trove of linens!

Mr. Fix-it just loves the tradition of sitting down at the dining room table for dinner.  Guess I married an old-fashioned guy...probably good for the line of business I'm in!  I serve the food in the new-fashioned buffet way, though.  Even as a kid, I hated passing those heavy dishes ( and my cousin used to use the opportunity to put her unwanted food on my plate). I like my guests being able to help themselves to seconds, or not, whenever they want.

Easter food is my favorite!  You can take Thanksgiving's turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatos and have them at your house.  I love ham, cheesy potatos, peapods, a green salad, and pop-overs with maple butter...Yum!  And we topped it off with Serena Thompson's (Farm Chicks) Lemon Poppyseed Bundt Cake! I, of course, doubled the amount of glaze on the top and added some toasted almonds for garnish. Pure heaven...and I'm full!  Lots of leftovers, too!

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter celebration with family and friends, and got to celebrate the risen Lord at your place of worship!

Hawaiian Haystack

Winter is getting looong! I'm sick of snow, sick of my winter wardrobe, and sick of winter food!  I need some spring, and I'm unfortunately not heading to a warmer climate for a vacation, like some of you are!  O.K...maybe this year I'm feeling a little jealous!  I actually like being at home when everyone else in town is gone, and the weather is melting and the birds are singing...but this year that may not be so.  As a result of my not wanting to make another pot of winter soup, I decided to make my family one of our favorites!  I usually make this recipe for Happy Girl's birthday in February...when we need some summer hopefullness!

This recipe came out of the Free Church cookbook.  It's been around for years & probably has many variations.  You can tell by my dog-eared, splattered cookbook, that I've made it a lot!  I love making either Raisen Bran muffins or Blueberry muffins to go with it.  The pickier eaters can have all their items separate.  I like it all...and my mound usually gets bigger than I can eat!  Buffet meals like this recipe are my favorite for parties!

 

 

Hawaiian Haystack

 

Chicken gravy:

2 cups cooked, cubed chicken

2 10 oz. cans cream of chicken soup (if you want to be healthier, use the healthy request)

1 cup chicken broth

 

Toppings:

Chow Mein noodles

Chopped celery

Chopped green onion

Chopped green pepper and/or red & yellow peppers

Chopped tomatoes

Bite size pineapple chunks- fresh or canned tidbits

Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Shredded Coconut

Slivered almonds

Sunflower Seeds

Soy Sauce 

Your favorite cooked rice

 

Directions:

Combine soup, broth and cooked chicken in a stockpot on medium heat until warm.  To serve, we usually have rice first, then gravy, then cheese and the rest of the toppings.  I usually make a double recipe for a big family party, or to have leftovers.  I love serving all the toppings in my vintage refrigerator dishes, because I can simply put their lids on and pop in the frig for leftover night!

 

Don't you love seeing all that color?  Hope this spring-y recipe helps you get though this long winter!

 

 

 

Winter Blues

As I've been out and about lately I've heard so many people say they are ready for spring.  I get it, to some people, Minnesota winters can seem long.  I enjoy being outside washing windows, scrubbing and painting furniture for the store, playing in the dirt planting flowers, the smell of the fresh cut lawn as much as anyone.  I also know that once spring comes my desire to be outside will hamper my projects inside.

It's this time of year that I see the calendar getting ready to flip to March and realize I have so many things I haven't accomplished that I said I would do this winter.

• clean the pantry
• clean closets
• edit the entire house of things we no longer need
• a few sewing projects
• get the ironing caught up
• paint the basement
• get my body ready for short sleeves and capris

and the list goes on.....

I enjoy all the seasons we get to experience in Minnesota, even winter.  So if you suffer from the Winter Blues, make a to do list (and check off a few items), spend some time on Pinterest dreaming of projects you'd like to tackle before Spring arrives.

 

I find myself guilty of always looking ahead instead of enjoying what's right in front of me today.  So if you are like me, take the time to enjoy today, even if it's cold and snowy.  Make a batch of chili, enjoy a cup of hot chocolate, soon enough spring will arrive.

Valentine's Decor

A couple years ago, I told you how my Valentine's tree came into being.  It's still a part of my after Christmas decorating routine.  I take my winter garden decorations off my kitchen tree, and transform it to Valentine's finery.  The glow helps the dark, dreary winter nights seem cozier.  My "big" kids are less-than-mesmerized by it, explaining to their friends..."yeah, my mom does a Valentine's tree." I was encouraged the other night when my four year old neighbor girl was mesmerized by it, and didn't want to leave the cozy seat next to it.  Ah, childlike wonder!!

Valentine's season also gives me a chance to enjoy my pink depression glass, my ruby red glasses and my collection of vintage postcards with roses!

I've got my mended hearts bunting hanging in the kitchen, my vintage button pillows on the bed, and pink wool blankets on the couch.  It's time...get out your Valentine's decor!  If you've got younger kids, get out the craft supplies and make some decorations for a Valentine tree!  Felt, glitter, ribbon, paper chains...the scrapbook paper that's in the stores these days is inspiration alone!  I think it would be great to have your kids get their Bibles out and look up all the verses that have to do with Love!  Make it a learning experience, and teach about all the different kinds of love.  Here are some close ups of my tree decor to get your creative juices flowing:

Yep, that's the same ribbon candy from Christmas.  Added a red and white polka dot ribbon to it, for it's Valentine's outfit!

Make Valentine's season in your home a time to appreciate and love those around you, and bask in God's great unconditional and sacrificial love!

Resolutions, or One Word?

It's about that time in January when all the well-made resolutions have fallen by the wayside.  Making new habits is really difficult!  That's why last year I resonated with the idea of picking out one word to focus on, rather than trying to defeat myself with resolutions.  Each new year holds it's own challenges.  By choosing one word, prayerfully and conscientiously, you can still have a goal...a reminder of what your focus is for the coming year.  

Last year my word was...

We were going into our second year of owning the store.  The first year bugs had been ironed out, we were getting into a rhythm.  Now, we needed to maintain and keep on growing.  Last January, I had the opportunity to be in a test group with Prevention magazine, working out with suspension straps, led by Chris Freytag.  I needed to workout 4 times a week. I was also in Community Bible study, with 5 days of homework.  Add all this up, and include 3 busy kids, a dog and a household to run, and you can see why I chose this word!  I come from a family of Norman Rockwell-type expectations. Let's just say we have a lot of "ideas".  When we're getting a little out-of-control in our idealistic visions, we say to ourselves, "you gotta cut your losses and move on"!  The word "Balance" is my version of this saying.  I've always got more ideas, but balance keeps me in check.

This year?  Totally different, although balance will still need to happen!

Pursue is an active word.  It means to seek a goal, to follow in order to chase, or overtake. Life is short, and is flying by!  I want to make sure I am making the most of each moment I've been given, and part of this means pursuing in different areas:

I want to pursue opportunites.  Cheryl and I have been doing this business for 15 years!  We have slowly, steadily moved forward with each new step.  God has provided for us all along the way.  Both of us are always thinking of new ideas, and we have a couple thoughts that have been a festerin' for quite a few years.  We are both reading Dave Ramsey's new book, EntreLeadership which is excellent, and totally gets us pumped up.  This year I want to pursue some of those "what if's"?, and see where the road will lead!

I want to pursue relationships.  I can definitely be a Martha instead of a Mary when it comes to my task-oriented self.  But the truth is, there's always more work to be done, and it's not an eternal pursuit.  Relationships take time.  Relationships take work.  I want to spend more intentional time getting to know people on a deeper level.  This means purposeful lunch and coffee dates with friends and family.  I also want to pursue peace in my existing relationships.  Peace does not mean quietness, or stuffing the emotions. Instead, it's making wise choices to calmly work through issues.  Cheryl and I have enjoyed the ministry of Proverbs 31, and it's founder Lysa Terkeurst.  I love getting their devotionals sent to my phone & getting to read them whenever.  I'm looking forward to Lysa's book Unglued, and the everyday wisdom she professes in such a humorous way.

The last area I want to pursue is Health!  So far, this is the area I think I need the most motivation in right now!  I think I need to pray for myself..."please, Lord...make me want to exercise!"  I know I can do it...I've done it.  And I feel so much better when I'm working out a couple times a week!  I also need to get out my calendar and make doctor's appointments...not just for my kids, but for me!  Putting the laundry and dishes, and the computer ahead of this is not healthy!  Guess it goes back to last year's word...Balance.

1 and 2 Timothy had the word "pursue" in a couple verses:

1 Timothy 6:11

"But you, (wo)man of God, flee from all this (the love of money) and pursue rightousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness."

2 Timothy 2:22

"Flee evil desires of youth, and pursue rightousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those that call upon the Lord with a pure heart."

Do you have a word for the year?  What are you pursuing?  Hope this gets you thinkin'!

Happy New Year!

Thanks for a wonderful 2012!

 Happy New Year!

 We look forward to finding new treasures in 2013, creating new inspiration from the old, and telling you all about it!

We'll be open this coming Thursday-Sunday for January Occasional, and our Winter Sale!  Stay tuned for some sneak peaks, later today!