for the love of a house

technical difficulties...

2013-04-27T11:21:00.000-04:00

Please pardon my absence.

The laptop I use to download photos needs a new hard drive. I was hoping to have it repaired by now, but the computer gods had other thoughts on the matter. Please use this as a friendly reminder to go and back up all your photos before its too late;)

Hope (!) to see you soon...

kitchen drawers- part II

2013-04-09T12:31:00.000-04:00

I wrote my first "kitchen drawer" post (here) after my niece, Jenny, said she would like to be visiting the farmhouse, having a glass of wine and looking in my kitchen drawers! I figured if Jenny wanted to look inside the drawers then some of you probably did too! Since the kitchen is all drawers it seemed best to break up these posts. Having recently received her first piece of All-Clad, Jenny asked me how I cared for my cookware , and with that in mind I decided to show the "range" side of the kitchen next which houses my "collection" of All-Clad to show Jenny... and you!

I keep several All-Clad pots on the stainless shelf above the range, and the rest are kept in the drawers. Oh, and to answer her question I use my favorite Bar Keepers Friend to clean the All-Clad.

This is also Ella's favorite side of the kitchen- you can see her food and water bowls, and her "cookies" in the jar on the counter. (And, might I add, that when we had lunch with Bunny Williams and John Rosselli here that I noticed that her dogs have that very same wicker bone-shaped mat! :)

The view looking towards the kitchen dining area.

The top drawer on the far left side holds my Le Creuset dutch ovens and Le Creuset Bouillabaisse pot. I love Le Creuset and highly recommend the investment over the imitators. (I gave Jenny a large white dutch several years ago and she loves it too!) I adore the ovals (they don't cook any better I just think they're pretty;) and bought the black 5 quart dutch first. While it's great for some recipes it isn't large enough for others, so I then bought the larger jade 6.75 qt dutch. My suggestion, if you are looking to buy one, is to buy a larger size since you can make both large and small recipes in it and you only have to buy one! I have found the 6.75 to be perfect, but if you have a really large family I would go with the 8 or 9 quart. I purchased all my Le Creuset from their outlet stores where you can find some great deals on seconds. I placed the heavy pots on a top drawer so that I don't have to bend over to get them out.

I used clear plastic, non-adhesive drawer liners from Ikea in all the drawers.

Below is my cast iron drawer. The skillets on the left were inherited from my grandmother and the Le Creuset skillet is a favorite for fish. And, every good southern girl has an iron cornbread stick pan, yes?!

Next up we start with the All-Clad. I have the "stainless" All-Clad. I've noticed over the years that All-Clad will add/delete lines from their collections, but the stainless seems to be their "classic" and is always available. They state on their website that it is their "most popular" line. It is the line that you see Martha and Ina using on their shows.

The kitchen is where you start to see my ~~hoarder~~ "collecting" gene come out! :) My logic is if one pan is good, then three is better! And, they're just so pretty you can't buy just one! While I'm a ~~hoarder~~ buyer of good cookware I'm also frugal... my initial set of All-Clad was purchased at Bed, Bath & Beyond back when you could use their 20% off coupons (unfortunately, they quickly wised up and exempted All-Clad from the coupons) and since then all other pieces were purchased from either TJMaxx or Cookware & More -which sells "seconds", but, I honestly have never been able to find the flaw on the pieces I purchased from them. They sell All-Clad at 32% off the listed price and then twice a year (March and October-ish) they have a 20% off their already great prices! Get on their email list to get sale date notifications. (Note: even now if you buy 4 pieces, or more, you get the 20% off! They also have great customer service which is always a plus!) I wrote about them here.

Below that drawer are my wooden salad bowls- I love wooden bowls! The smallest one is a vintage Hawaiian piece and was my grandmother's and the largest one (okay, I have two;) is 17-1/2"! A Bonjour coffee press, a Chantal jade tea kettle and the Michael Graves teapot, which was a gift from a friend some 30 years ago, fill the deep drawer.

The top drawer to the left of the range is my miscellaneous drawer. It holds a Salter scale (which i love btw) and my margarita straws from Ikea! I find that cutting off the bottom 2" from the straws makes them the perfect straw for margaritas in my favorite Marta glass from CB2. And, apparently we eat a lot of corn on the cob with all those corn handle holders! :)

All-Clad skillets!

All-Clad steamers.

This top drawer to the right of the range holds tongs, spatulas, pot holders, a timer and a digital thermometer. The red silicone pot handle holder is actually used as a warning -I place it on the handle to the oven door so that I don't reach in and grab a HOT skillet handle, and trust me I have! The little piece of foil is to wrap the Le Creuset lid handles when the oven is above 500 degrees (I think that is the temperature it needs to be wrapped?) The blue wires in the back are Wolf temperature probes that measure the internal temperature of foods while cooking.

The shallow little woven baskets that I use for organization in many of the drawers I found at Walmart (for around $5.) To those that inquired about them; you'll find them in the "bath" hardware section (think towel rings). I just purchased several a couple of weeks ago, so they still carry them.

Several crepe pans and All-Clad Teflon skillets. I only use the Teflon on occasion- mainly for eggs. Have I told you my crepe pan story? For years Dan "waxed poetic" about how his grandmother made him crepes. He made it sound like every time he saw her she was making crepes for him. And after visiting France and watching him get so happy having a crepe from a street vendor I came home and took a "crepe class" at Sur la Table in Dallas to learn to make his beloved grandmothers' crepes. It was only after I took the class and while making the first batch for him that he mentioned that she had only actually made them for him once... ONCE! ha!

The baking drawer!

More baking! This drawer just makes me happy! My favorite popover and Madeleine pans. The scalloped white porcelain baking dish is a favorite from HomeGoods- it's the perfect size for so many things and is just so pretty! The antique English white ironstone leaf inside it is my spoon rest that I grab when I need one on the stove. I have Slipat, but honestly I've never been a big fan- you?

The All-Clad big boys! 15" skillet and saute pan with smaller lidded saute. This is also Dan's BBQ essentials drawer with the extra long tongs, lighter and the remote BBQ thermometer.

More baking...

And, this final drawer is deep enough to hold files of recipes (this isn't my only recipe filing system- I also have several large notebook binders of recipes that I keep with my cookbooks.) You can see that my current obsession is finding and saving "shrimp and grits" recipes. I haven't actually made any of the recipes yet, so if you have a fabulous recipe please email it to me!

This drawer also holds my Reynolds Handi-Vac vacuum sealer. I love this little device! It does an amazing job of sealing meats for freezing without the cost or storage requirement of the large and pricier versions.

So, that's this side of the kitchen!

The next and last "kitchen drawers" post will be the sink side. Told you- there are lots of drawers for Jenny to look inside!

merci beaucoup

2013-04-04T14:31:00.000-04:00

Thank you to

for including us in their "Our Ultimate Kitchens"

here

photo by Michael Partenio

Marble...

2013-03-28T08:34:00.000-04:00

I receive a lot of emails asking about my marble... a lot. So, I thought it might be a good idea to talk about it in a post. Please note, that this is only my personal experience with marble.

Per Wikipedia... "Marble is a non-foliated metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite. Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however, stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone."
What that means to you and me is that marble is a porous stone.

Being a product of nature, no two slabs are alike and depending on the type of marble and where it was quarried marbles will stain, etch, chip and scratch differently . Due to the natural conductivity of marble it remains cool to the touch and is a favorite surface for bakers to roll pastry or pizza dough.

My marble on the island is Bianco Venatino. I chose it for its bold veining and the movement that the veining provided as a design element to the kitchen. The marble island is my primary prep space and gets a lot of use.

To answer the repeat question I get- Yes, I love my marble. Love.

I wanted marble for years prior to installing it in the kitchen. I first fell in love with the stone on our trips to France. Walking into patisseries and restaurants and seeing marble floors and counters that had been there for a hundred years or more was such a beautiful sight. I loved the worn patina that years of use had given the surface.
But, before I put a marble island in the kitchen I did my homework. I researched and read everything I could- the good, the bad and the ugly and I knew what to expect when living with the stone. As with most things in life- knowledge is power, so I was also ready for the 15 times every single salesperson at different stone yards asked me if I was familiar with marble's properties?/did I know it would stain?/granite would be much safer/was I sure that I wanted marble?, etc... .
All of those questions are standard "industry prose" and you need to educate yourself and then stick to your guns if you want marble in your kitchen. I would bet a paycheck that all the people who try to talk you out of marble don't actually own and live with the stone.

Honed vs. Polished.
I have honed. I feel honed marble has a certain je ne sais qua that is difficult to describe. I also felt the soft patina of honed marble was more in keeping with my 150 year old farmhouse as opposed to polished (shiny) marble. Polished marble is definitely starting a come-back, but know that it "etches" 100 times worse than honed and I personally would never use it in a kitchen, or even a bathroom for that matter as many toiletries will also cause etching.

When my marble island was installed it was sealed by the company that installed it. I have not chemically sealed it since. My personal experience has been that once sealed, marble does not stain. I have discovered red wine drips/raspberry jam/marinara sauce, etc... left for hours/overnight and have no red stain at all on the marble.
What marble does do, with abandon, is "etch".
Since marble is a calcium based stone when anything acidic comes in contact with it a chemical reaction will occurs and the stone will "etch." An etch is a dulled (appearing as a light, matte gray) area on the surface of the marble that can not be wiped off. It doesn't matter what sealer you use, you will get etching spots from anything acidic: lemon/lime/orange juice, various fruits and vegetables, i.e. tomatoes (salsa is a big culprit for etched rings for us ;), coffee, wines- red or white, vinegar or any product that contain the smallest amount of vinegar, etc... . And, it doesn't matter how careful, or neat and tidy you are in the kitchen, you WILL get etching- no ifs, ands or buts about it!
I can't tell you how many times I've heard people tell me that they had no idea what caused that etched ring on their marble. It's always a mystery! It is simply a property of marble, so you either need to be okay with that or pick another counter material. The first six months are the worst as you notice (and angst over) each and every little tiny (and large) etch spot or ring. Then it all softens, blurs and becomes muted and you get what is affectionately called "patina"! I knew my marble would not stay perfect and that is exactly why I chose it. I have a house full of antiques and I personally value the wear and tear, and "signs of life"- the patina that a surface such as marble can provide to a space. My experience with etching is that I have found that the etching tends to fade over time; so an etch that was there six months ago is no longer there. I can't explain that aspect of the stone, but I like that it seems to forget etches from the past with the passage of time. A "design" urban-legend has it that Meg Ryan poured lemon juice all over her marble the very day it was installed in her kitchen to etch the whole thing in advance.
If you, or your spouse/partner, want a "perfect" surface then you might what to rethink marble. You must either accept that along with the beauty and durability of marble comes etching (think rose/thorn;), or you'll make yourself and your family a nervous wreck. Having a surface in your house, especially a utilitarian kitchen surface, that you are terrified of using for fear of harming is like having a beautiful sofa that no one can sit on.
It is important to say that the etching (rings /spots) are really only seen at an eye-level angle or perhaps in just the right light. You don't walk into the kitchen and immediately see the etching- you really have to look for it to notice it. I would also like to add that the bold veining and the abundance of veining in my particular marble really helps to camouflage the etching. Also, I have no chips, but do have small surface scratches, but again- you really have to look for them to see them.

Here are some photos of examples of "etching" on my marble island. The first three photos were all taken several days ago, at the same time. Our kitchen gets lots of light all day since we have windows on the east and west walls and is very bright. Having said that, notice how I really had to darken the first two photos and take the photos at eye level for you to even see the etching. (I wish I knew how to put those cute little pointer arrows on a photo;) You can see a round ring in the middle of the photo about six inches from the edge.

Slightly different angle shows the large ring (what was that from??!), two large triangular etches below that and several "dots" etchings. Same surface, but see how the light and the angle cause you to see it more than the other?

Again... same day/time, but from a standing view above which is how you normally "see" the marble in its natural (bright) light. Notice how you don't see or notice a single one of the etch rings or dots in the photos above!

This photo was taken probably six months before the above photo. Notice how the etching rings and dots that were on the marble then are no longer visible on the photo of the island now (above).

If you decide to install marble I would research and find the very best sealer on the market ( I do not know the name of the brand of sealer that was used on my island.) Many people re-seal their marble every six months to a year. Again, the sealer is to prevent staining, not the etching. I have chosen not to chemically re-seal my marble because I haven't had any issues with staining and I want it to develop a used and loved patina. If the etching is getting to me (like it did in the above photo ;) I use my favorite Bar Keepers Friend to eliminate or reduce them. I mix the powder with water to make a paste. I use a damp sponge to apply the paste to the etching, rubbing in a circular motion. I then let the mixture sit on the etch for 10-15 minutes, and then wipe clean several times using clean water and buff to dry.
( Note: Do this at your own risk. This is NOT an ordained etch removal that any stone fabricator would tell you; it is simply what I have found works for me.)

I have read that hundreds of years ago, before the invention of commercial sealers, that the Italians and French would seal marble with olive oil.

I have heard of so many stories of people who were talked out of marble by a salesperson. That's unfortunate, but in my opinion, that was their own mistake. In building/renovating you must have a very clear vision of what you want your space to" feel" and "look" like because at every single turn some salesperson/contractor/carpenter/painter/plumber/etc... will try to talk you into their version.
Research. There are so many fabulous products available now that you really have to do your homework. Know the maintenance and upkeep and decide if any product is something that you want to live with. Know the pros and the cons, if any, of every single thing you put into your home. Know what you want and don't let anyone dissuade you from your vision. Period.

The most compelling thing I can say to you if you are trying to decide whether to use marble in your kitchen is to remind you that it has been used in France for centuries, and the French are the quintessential experts on all things good in design and in the art of living well!

Again... please note, that this is purely my opinion based on my experience only.
I would love to hear of your experience with owning marble counter tops- love/hate?,
were you talked out of it by someone?,
did anyone try?,
do you have any sealers or products that you absolutely love for marble?!

It was Muffin's birthday!

2013-03-24T12:08:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we attended our friend Muffin's 31st birthday party! Muffin is a horse. She lives down the road from us in a red barn with other horses and a henny named Pierre.

You might remember reading about her birthday party from last year here.

Last year's invitation was a simple shout-out the car window as Muffin's owner drove by, but his year was more formal and Ella received a written invitation! It even had an RSVP!!

Being the proper southern girl that she is (Dallas SPCA) Ella decided to write her répondez s'il vous plaît instead of phone her reply!

( I Ella thought that Muffin's 7 year-old 'human' sister might like to receive a note from Ella ;)

Ella likes to call Muffin "Muffins" cuz when you're talking about muffins more is always better, yes?!

Ella's gifts wrapped for the party! The white box is for Muffin and the box of carrots are for all our barn friends.

Muffin the birthday girl!

Lookin' good at 31! That's her son, Gibson, in the stall next to her, he's only 21!

"Happy Birthday to Muffin!"

Just like last year, Ella thought the party was really for her and wiggled and waggled her way through the crowd!

Ella's whole body wiggles when she's happy and she was very happy to meet a new tiny friend!

Muffin getting a carrot from her human sister.

This is Pierre, the hinny. He was saying "More carrots, please." Seriously, he was very vocal in his desire for more carrots!

Unlike last year's party where we had an early spring and temperatures were in the 80's, this year we had snow on the ground and temps in the 30's! This is our good friend Scruffy, he's a rescue too! Ella wore her cupcake collar for the special occasion.

So, what did Ella get Muffin for her birthday? You might have noticed someone very special was missing from the barn...

Thoroughgood, the sweet old goat, went on to greener pastures this past year :( so we had a photo taken of him from last year's party framed to hang in the barn so that he is always remembered... smiling.

A delightful time was had by all and Ella was exhausted after being the belle of the party! She needs to rest up though, as she was invited to a (human;) wedding this June! It's tough being Ella;)

::post script::

My sincere apologies, but I have had to turn on word verification for comments since my spam comments are out of control. I used to just delete the five or so I got per day, but now I get 30 to 40. Entire websites are devoted to send spammers to blogs that do not require word verification, so until the spammers settle down I will have the verification box on comments. Sorry for the hassle.

a new kitchen skirt for spring

2013-03-21T14:38:00.001-04:00

I've added a jaunty new sink skirt in anticipation of spring! Two days ago a late winter snowstorm brought us an additional 13-inches of snow; this was on top of the 10-inches or so that was still on the ground from the last snowfall. Spring seems very far away at the moment, but I know it will be here before we know it!

The citron chevron fabric works well in the kitchen with my collection of antique rugs and vintage & antique green yellowware in the glass-front cabinets.

You can see all of our snow out the window!

Vintage hotel-silver champagne buckets flank the sink and hold white Kalanchoes. This champagne bucket is from the Hotel Tuller in Detroit.

This hotel-silver bucket with the engraved "N" is from the Newhouse Hotel in Salt Lake City.

a little more "use your good stuff"...

2013-03-09T14:04:00.001-05:00

A quick follow-up to my "use your good stuff" post... I wanted to share a few more stories with you.

Several of you commented that you use your wedding sterling as your everyday flatware. I love that and wanted to share the idea with those who perhaps didn't read the comments from the last post. My everyday flatware is also sterling, though not my wedding sterling which is "Joan of Arc" that I inherited from my grandmother because of the "Joan" part;) We found our everyday sterling flatware at an antique shop in Salina, Kansas (I liked the scale of the purchased sterling better than my wedding flatware) and have added to it over the years as we would find it at antique shops and shows. Though all the same sterling pattern, many pieces are different- some are plain and some are monogrammed with different initials that came from separate purchases- I love the mix of the different initials all together at one setting. I initially got the idea to use sterling as my everyday flatware from "my much older sister ;)" Susan. She was the first person I ever heard of (this was about 30 + years ago) who started to use her wedding sterling flatware as her everyday flatware. I loved the idea, and another bonus of using the good stuff is that using sterling actually keeps it from needing to be polished! The oils from handling keeps it shining! So, the more you use it the prettier it is, and the little scratches from everyday use creates a beautiful, loved patina!
If you don't have wedding sterling flatware look for patterns you like at antique shops. Sterling is so affordable right now that you can find some great deals out there, and as I mentioned it looks wonderful all mixed together- doesn't even have to be the same pattern. It's a purchase that will last your lifetime and one that you can then pass down.

As a young girl I always knew that my grandmother's sterling flatware would one day be mine and I have always loved the simplicity of the pattern. I would have chosen it myself. Perhaps that is where my mother came up with the idea to give my niece, Jenny, her sterling flatware as gifts when she was a little girl growing up. I wanted to share the idea with you which I think is a wonderful one:
When Jenny was a little girl my mother knew that she would receive all her gift-wants/desires for Christmas and her birthday from her parents and friends, and wanted to give her gifts that would last and mean something special for longer than a month or two;), so at the young age of 10 her mother, my much older;) middle sister, took Jenny to the china department of a store and over the course of a few visits Jenny picked out a sterling pattern that she liked. Every Christmas and birthday my mother would send Jenny a piece of her sterling flatware instead of p.j.'s or a stuffed animal! A special gift that would last forever! To this day, Jenny (as I did my own) loves the pattern that she picked out as a child and now has a full service. I think it is such a great idea and makes such a special gift that I wanted to share the idea with all you mothers/aunts/grandmothers out there!

And, lastly a funny story that brings home my ardent stance of "use your good stuff"....

It was the first Christmas in our first home and we were invited to our next door neighbors house for a Christmas party. Our neighbors were older and had a huge collection of Waterford crystal- so much so that they had even built a special room onto the house to showcase and display their large collection. This was not a casual outdoor BBQ, or a large party, or one where children were invited, but a lovely, formal small party of neighbors, and yet even with their huge collection of Waterford crystal sitting on display in the next room they served their guests wine in RED PLASTIC CUPS!! Nothing says "you're welcome here" at a formal party like a red plastic cup!!
Again... use the good stuff! :)

happy weekend to you!
xxojoan

use your good stuff...

2013-03-06T10:54:00.001-05:00

We were young, really young (well, I was actually younger since Dan is 7 years older than me;) and poor.... really poor.
It was our first Christmas together and while I didn't expect anything expensive I certainly didn't expect the Christmas gifts that Dan gave me that year...

a sweater stone and an umbrella.

You did read the part about it being our "first" Christmas together, yes?!!
Now, to his defense- Dan had been listening to me as I really did need an umbrella and a sweater stone (that was back in the day when yuppie pullover sweaters were all the rage)... I just didn't necessarily want them as Christmas gifts ;) ! I pretended to be delighted, but I secretly had hoped for something a little more "special."

The next Christmas Dan redeemed himself when he surprised me with a gorgeous Baccarat crystal vase for Christmas- an extravagant gift that we could ill afford at the time, but one that I loved! It was the late 1980's and we were piece-mealing the remaining of our wedding Waterford Araglin crystal (do brides still get crystal glassware and sterling flatware these days?) and Baccarat Harmonie tumblers. It is a beautiful vase and has a way of catching the light just so.
For years I used the vase only for display. I viewed it as a "work of art" and would keep in on the coffee table in the living room and admire it always, but never use it.

By this point in our marriage we had moved to Dallas and were frequent shoppers at estate sales. We found some wonderful, amazing, fabulous finds in those early years- back before everyone and their best friend was into antiquing. We would often come home with a great find and say
"Look at that... it has never, ever been used."
It always made me a bit sad- that the person had saved the piece for some special occasion that
never came.

I can still remember the night I was sitting in the living room and I looked at the Baccarat vase and thought -
" ohmygawd.......... someone is going to pick up this vase at MY estate sale and say....
'This vase was never, ever used.' "

In that split second I decided I would use and enjoy the vase instead of just looking at it.
The next day I purchased some white roses, and the vase has now been used for many years. There are the obvious scratches from wear that immediately devalues the piece from a collectors point of view, but it feels much more comforting to know that at MY estate sale someone will pick up this vase and think....
"Wow, she must have really loved this piece!"

Life is short ....Use your good stuff !

(And, no- you can not get on a sign-up list for MY estate sale! Oh sure,... like you weren't thinking that :)

making candles pretty!

2013-02-27T13:13:00.000-05:00

I love having lots of candles around.

From votive to large multi-wick candles there's just nothing like candlelight that makes a room feel special at night. I like my candles to be pretty even when not in use.

When I place a brand new candle they just always look too new because, well- they are! I hated that, so I came up with a way to give them instant patina (see photo above) and wanted to share it with you.

I use a small propane torch and a striker to start.

BUT, THIS IS DANGEROUS!!! Use at your own risk. If you're not checked out on how to use one I suggest you use...

this Kingsford flexible lighter or a chef's torch- both which have an extra long (i.e. hot) flame.

I place a large piece of wax paper under the candle to catch any drips. Then just slowly apply heat to the top outer edge to cause it to melt which creates drips and softens the look of the new candle. You use the size of the flame and the distance of the flame from the candle to control the amount and size of the drips. You can see in this photo how important it is to use the wax paper!

Continue slowly heating and dripping until...

...you get to your happy place!

Make sure the candle is cool before handling and then be careful when picking it up that you don't put your fingers on the drips as they can break off easily, so try to handle the candle from the bottom.

And, there you have it- a pretty new candle with patina!

If you missed the story about the blue baluster you can read about it HERE.

polishing hotel silver...

2013-02-23T13:41:00.001-05:00

It's polish the hotel silver day! Try as I might to like tarnished silver, I just can't quite get there. ;) There's just something about the old silver-soldered hotel silver all polished up that I adore- I love the contrast of the used, abused, old silver with a fresh, shiny surface. This is just the hotel silver that sits out around the house- it tends to need more polishing, but it's really not too bad of a job as I only polish about once every 6-8 months. The pieces in the cabinets don't oxidize as often and only need polishing once every year and a half or so.

Where's Alfred and Jimmy when I need them?!

I like to use silver cream to polish the hotel silver. Wright's is my brand of choice, but apparently this is what the grocery store had the last time I purchased. I use the sponge that comes with the polish cream and lightly go over the pieces. I then wash them in dish soap and they're ready for use.

It's actually a rather pleasant chore as I like reading the hotel names and wondering about what life was like during their glory days!

Question: When watching Downton Abbey how many times do you say "I want a staff...." ?!

Me, I average about 4 times per episode!!!

So.... what are you doing today?!

baluster lamps

2013-02-18T10:12:00.001-05:00

I have found that there are certain shapes that just make me happy.

Round is one and I incorporate many "round" shapes into my designs (think fishing floats ;) and another is the baluster. Wood, metal, stone, glass, or concrete... there is just something about the curvy shape that I find beautiful and classic. Besides the fact that the shape makes me happy I like the repetition throughout the house.

When I did the post on the ivory escutcheons that Dan made for the antique chest of drawers in the guest room (here) I was asked about the baluster lamp that sits on the chest...

The lamp is made from an antique green glazed-terracotta baluster from Singapore.

(I see this term misused often, so for the record- a baluster is a single, individual upright support in a rail whereas a balustrade is multiples of balusters topped by a rail. This is not a balustrade lamp as I see them called, but a "baluster" lamp. Pheww... I feel so much better now! :)

We purchased all of our balusters from a wholesale importer in Seattle (for those of you about to ask for the business name, he has since retired, sorry.) He would travel the world and bring back the most wonderful treasures. We first found him while living in Portland, Oregon and even after moving to Dallas we would fly up to shop his warehouse. We would carefully pack and carry the balusters (two per person per trip) in our carry-on luggage to protect them and check our clothes. (Just like carry-on now, yes?!!)

Since they were all handmade, no two antique balusters are alike- they each have their own personality and color combinations and I love them all!

Unless you have inherited an antique and have the good fortune to have a family photograph that includes the item, you rarely know where an antique actually came from. So, when I was presented with photographs of the building that was being taken down where the balusters were from I was ecstatic! We sold many of these baluster lamps in my business (Dan would make them into lamps) and I always included a copy of the photo so that the new buyer would also know the origin of these little gems.

Above the street light in this photograph you can see the rooftop balustrade made up of the glazed terracotta balusters.

Here is a closeup of what they looked like in the railing during demolition. I'm so grateful that they were saved.

You might have noticed that I used them a lot around the house!

As a candle holder in the master bath...

As a lamp in the living room...

As a candle holder in the kitchen (love all the oxblood red in this one)...

And, on the terrace table...

And then there is the beautiful, unusual much-coveted blue baluster; much coveted by me!

The blue baluster has its own story.... I spied it early on at our importer's warehouse and I asked how much it was- I was told it wasn't for sale. Don't you hate that?! He only had one blue baluster in all the years we bought from him . It became a running joke that every time I was writing my check for all my new treasures I would ask the importer if he was ready to sell it yet. And, for a good three years the answer was always no. Then, one day- totally out of the blue, as I hadn't even asked, he asked me if I still wanted it and sold it to me! I think I shed a tear or two and I'm sure I looked just like

THIS on the plane ride home!!!

And, just in case you're not totally convinced of my love for the baluster ;) here are a few more!

This iron baluster on Dan's bedside table was found at the Scott Show in Atlanta. In Dallas it sat outside (under the eaves) on our patio. This table was also found at said importer's warehouse! It too comes with a good story (here)!

This wooden baluster with its original painted patina from an old estate in Highland Park in Dallas is in the South guest room...

And, its cousin is on the bedside table in the North guest room!

This vintage concrete baluster serves as a table base for a copper tray in the master bedroom.

Told ya... I love them everywhere!

kitchen drawers

2013-02-12T10:28:00.000-05:00

It's another beautiful "snow day" here in New Hampshire and that means I'm in the kitchen!

Awhile back my sweet, beautiful niece, Jenny, told me that she liked to imagine she was visiting us at the farmhouse and we were sitting in the kitchen having a glass of wine, talking about cooking and...

looking in my kitchen drawers!!!

I figure if Jenny wants to look inside my kitchen drawers, then there are probably some of you who want to too!

[By the way.... If you live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and are thinking of putting in a swimming pool Jenny and her husband build pools- both residential and commercial gunite swimming pools. They offer new construction, remodels, replasters, pool maintenance and consultation. If you're in the area and the market, drop me a note and I'll send you their info!]

We got around 24-inches of snow during the blizzard last weekend! We went from having no snow on the ground to 24"!

Years ago, well before we even thought of moving, I came across a kitchen that used all drawers instead of lower-cabinets. I thought the idea was brilliant and functional and saved the magazine article for inspiration (remember the old days when you had to literally tear something out of a magazine instead of "pinning" it?!!! ;) When designing this kitchen I incorporated all-drawers (well, almost "all") into the plan. I couldn't be more happy with them and highly recommend them if you are designing or renovating a kitchen.

Since I have a lot of drawers I think it is best to break this topic up into a couple of posts. I'll start with the island drawers.

The marble top island is where most of the food prep takes place, so items inside these drawers are geared towards ease and convenience in cooking. The island measures a little over 3 x 7 feet. To keep from having to continually run around to get something in a drawer on the other side I have strategically placed duplicate items in drawers on both sides of the island. It's a simple thing, but one that makes cooking more enjoyable.

The following are the drawers directly across from the sink.
I love to open a kitchen drawer and find "pretty"! These little woven baskets ($5 each from Walmart) are the perfect holders for utensils.
One of my favorite kitchen tips is in the lower right hand corner- individual measuring spoons. I bought several sets of measuring spoons, took them off the ring they come on and can now pull the right sized individual spoon out for whatever I need instead of having to fold the spoons I'm not using back and then wash them all when I've only used one! When making a recipe I pull the appropriate spoon for an ingredient in a recipe and the ingredient itself and set them side by side. Do you mise en plas?!

Next down is my "savory" herb and spice drawer. The white polymer tiered-shelf drawer organizer
was cut to fit the drawer.

Below it are baking spices and ingredients, plus bulk bags purchased from Penzeys- I love Penzeys!

Flanking the ends of the other side of the island is the wine refrigerator and a cabinet for large items like my sheet pans, wire racks, cutting boards etc. The refrigerator and the cabinet left a very small space to be accessed from this side. I had the cabinet maker make shallow drawers so as not to waste any space. I keep my papers and plastic wrap in one....

and measuring cups in another.

Below the measuring cups I store Ziploc and paper bags.

The following drawers are on the range side of the island. As I mentioned, I store an extra set of measuring cups, spoons, scissors and a timer on this side so I don't have to keep running around the island to find items. This drawer is right next to the wine refrigerator (right side of photograph) and is the wine opening station!

Love this drawer as it holds all things baking! Oh, and my immersion hand blender- if you don't have one you need one, trust me! It's a kitchen favorite this time of year when making soups.

This drawer is another favorite, holding my Cuisinart food processor, KitchenAid 9-speed hand mixer, and my chef's torch for making Dan's favorite crème brûlée!

I know it's not a "drawer," but I thought "Jenny" would want to see where I keep my sheet pans and cutting boards! :)

Hope you liked the Jenny-inspired post!

everything has a story: ivory escutcheons

2013-02-03T16:02:00.000-05:00

When I showed the South guest bedroom I mentioned that there was a story having to do with the antique chest-of-drawers that would convince you (if you weren't already;) of Dan's talent as a craftsman!

When we found this antique English chest-of-drawers in Dallas many years ago it had a big "HOLD" tag on it. It was also missing one knob, an ivory escutcheon and another knob was badly broken and not usable. (For those not familiar with the term, an "escutcheon" is a protective or ornamental plate or flange- as around a keyhole.)

I loved the chest, the price was right and I didn't concern myself at the time at how we (i.e. Dan ;) would remedy the missing knobs and escutcheon. I was more concerned with the big, ole "HOLD" tag that meant I couldn't buy it! It was on hold until the next day at 5 p.m. So, the following day we arrived at the antique shop at 4:45 and waited! 5 o'clock came and went and we asked the staff to call the person to see if they were going to take it. The person decided against it because the width didn't fit their space and we snapped it up!

Replacing the missing knobs turned out to be fairly easy. As is often the case on antique chests, the hardware has been replaced over the hundred plus years of its life to what was the latest "style"- yes, they even had trends back then! For example, when this chest was initially made it was designed to have brass pulls. It later became fashionable for chests to have "wooden" knobs, so the brass pulls were removed, the holes plugged/patched and new holes for the wooden knobs were drilled. It is rather rare to find an antique chest that didn't go through this type of modification over the course of its lifetime.
When we bought the chest there was a wooden knob in the top center drawer. In this photograph you can even see the indentation from the knob around the ivory escutcheon. It took a while to figure out that the reason this knob wasn't in line with the other two top drawer knobs (which can also be seen in this photograph) was because originally this drawer didn't have a pull of any kind and was only opened using a key. When we removed the knob in the center top drawer we found the hole that outlined where the original ivory escutcheon had been, but the escutcheon was gone. They had used that hole to place the wooden knob which is why it didn't line up with the other two drawers. So, now we needed to replace not one, but two escutcheons. We removed this knob with the intention of leaving the center drawer accessible only via a key as it had been originally designed, and used the knob as the replacement for the one that was broken. We then went to our go-to place for miscellaneous antique parts in Dallas: Uncommon Market and found a replacement for the missing knob.

In this close-up photograph you can see where the holes for the original brass pulls were patched- probably 100 years ago! The other telltale sign that the knobs weren't original is how they overlap the ivory escutcheon- it would never have been designed that way.

Replacing the ivory escutcheons proved to be more difficult. For the next month, or so, we discussed all the possibilities of what we could use to replace the missing escutcheons. We had several antique ivory billiard balls that we had found in France, but if you've ever priced them they can range, on average, from $95-$195 each, so no one was going to cut up an antique billiard ball!

About this time our next door neighbor who had just retired and was preparing his home to sell called and said he was cleaning out his garage and asked Dan if he would like some boxes of old tools that had belonged to his father. Well, of course Dan would like some old tools!

The boxes contained years of accumulated random odds and ends, some wonderful tools AND,

(now, hold on to your hat ;)

as luck would have it.....

half of an antique ivory billiard ball!

I can hear you saying "Get out"!! No, you get out!!!! :):)

Our neighbor had no idea why his father would have had an antique billiard ball, but you can imagine our surprise and delight upon finding it! Something like a needle in a haystack, only better!

Then began the process for Dan to try to figure out how in the world do you get a paper thin escutcheon out of a round ivory ball?!

Since each escutcheon was initially hand cut, no two of the shield shapes were alike. Dan started by tracing the shield outline from the holes in the drawers on paper (those are the two paper samples on the left) and then transferring the pattern onto a piece of cut ivory (the two cut ivory samples are on the right). But, that all makes it sound too easy- this is not an episode of "This Old House" where everything is perfect the very first time!! First he had to figure out "how to cut" the ivory...

Keeping in mind that he only had so much material to work with, (i.e. only a partial billiard ball) there was no room for error. Dan quickly found out that because the ivory was so brittle the cut couldn't be too thin or it would break the second he started working on it. Just when he thought he'd have a perfect piece a chip would break off and he would have to start over . After several failed attempts he realized to prevent breakage he needed to cut the slices thicker than what would fit flush in their respective drawer holes. He made the initial slices using a coping saw (that's for all you men out there reading;) and then used a Dremel drill with a sanding attachment and a utility knife to gingerly shape the shield design. Next, he turned a belt sander upside down and held the escutcheon down with his finger to get the shield down to the proper thickness so it would fit flush on the drawer front. The last step was cutting out the keyhole in the now paper-thin center of the ivory piece. Using the Dremel drill and making many small drills he eventually made the opening into the shape of a keyhole.

The finished product, though this was one of the culls that didn't quite make the cut!

After gluing the new escutcheons in place they were just a little too white, so I lightly oiled them in Old English (Dark) to age them and they were perfect! So much so, in fact, that to this day neither Dan, nor I, can tell you which one (other than the top drawer) is the one he made!

(To read other "everything has a story" posts click HERE)

for the love of beauty

2013-01-26T15:16:00.000-05:00

I have moved for college... moved for work... and moved across the country for love, but

five years ago today I moved for beauty.

I was born a Texan and raised a Texan, but I truly believe that I was supposed to come live in
New England.
I feel that my heart came home by moving here.

My late father gave me my love of nature through our summers of vacationing in Colorado, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, Oregon, and his deep love for the Tetons in Wyoming.

Dan loves nature and the mountains as I do and during the years we lived in Dallas we would make numerous trips to Colorado each year to get our fix. It wasn't until one day in Dallas while Dan and I were driving near the edge of the city and I spotted a beautiful tree-lined green field of about 7 acres (an unusual sight in the metroplex of Dallas) that I had an epiphany- I needed to move. The overwhelming intense reaction I had at seeing that little tiny plot of undisturbed land made me realize that I needed, not just wanted, to live in and around natural beauty.

Everyone is different- for some living in the city is beauty and feeds their creative soul; but for me, I realized in that moment that I needed to live surrounded by nature as much as I needed food and water. I didn't always feel that way. When I was younger the thought of living in the country made me uncomfortable and had no appeal. But with age came clarity on what my heart now desired.

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.”

-John Muir-

As I've mentioned before, not many a day goes by that one of us doesn't say...

"Look where we get to live!"
We both feel very blessed to have landed in such a beautiful, special place not having any real experience with New England and not knowing a soul here. I've had people tell me it was such a brave thing to do, but for us it wasn't so much bravery as necessity.

I always start to get emotional when I have the thought of "what if".... what if we hadn't thrown caution to the wind and followed our hearts, leaving family and good friends behind and moved to New Hampshire.... what if?

The mere thought makes me sad and can bring me to tears. I think I would have never found that part of my heart that knows peace.

... and I would never have met you.

Thank you for being on this journey with us.

On this 5th anniversary of the day we arrived in New Hampshire I thought I would share the world around us. They are but a few of the reasons why we moved for the love of beauty...

"The clearest way into the Universe is through a forest wilderness."
-John Muir-

"The mountains are calling and I must go."
-John Muir-

"Our peace shall stand as firm as rocky mountains."
-Shakespeare-

"Beauty awakens the soul to act."
-Dante Alighieri-

"Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy."
-Anne Frank-

"In every man's heart there is a secret nerve that answers to the vibrations of beauty."
-Christopher Morley-

If you would like to read my post on "how we got here" click here!

Living in New England: Signs

2013-01-23T12:37:00.000-05:00

There are many aspects of life here that are so unique from other parts of the country, and I want to share those things with my family, and perhaps with you- if you have never been here. I do a collection of posts called : "Living in New England" that highlight quintessential New England sights, events, situations, and experiences.

I know of many people who have lived here in New England their entire lives and perhaps don't realize that some of the events and sights that I will describe don't happen elsewhere in the country. Or, maybe you are originally from New England, but have moved away... I hope these posts will bring back some fond memories for you.
In any event, I wish to share New England with you through the eyes of this Southerner!

We have lived in various cities in the South and the Pacific Northwest and have traveled (via road trips) many times across the country, yet it wasn't until we moved to New England that we have come across the following signs:

What's the most unusual thing about this sign is its age. In most places this sign would have been replaced decades ago when it first began to rust!

The following signs are commonly seen in small towns. I think they are a nice way to remind drivers to slow down and take precaution. There is also a "deaf person" sign, but I couldn't find one to photograph for this post. A person applies with their town to get a sign posted on the road close to their house.

A what?!

A jughandle! Per Wikipedia a jughandle is a type of ramp or slip road that changes the way traffic turns left at an at-grade intersection. Got that?! But, once you see one you see why the name is so perfect for the type of turn! More info here.

Many shops are "seasonal" only open in the late spring or summer when the tourist arrive. Coming from the land of 24/7/365 this is an unusual sight!

Patriotism is very strong here in New England, as you might expect, and veterans are honored. Love this!

After growing up in Texas where air conditioning is a given everywhere these signs advertising a.c. always make me smile!

Dunkin' Donuts!

I realize these aren't just in New England anymore, but they are such a staple here I couldn't leave them out. You can hardly throw a rock here without hitting one! Think Starbucks, but with donuts!

I remember our first winter here thinking "what's a frost heave?!" After driving over your first one you immediately get why there are signs posted for them- they can be quite jarring to both you and your car's alignment. For those of you who have never seen this sign, a frost heave is a large rise, or bump in the pavement that makes driving certain roads a nightmare! They result from ice forming beneath the surface of soil during freezing conditions. They appear in the winter then recede in the spring. More info here.

This sign is at our favorite (and only as they are difficult to come by in New England :) BBQ restaurant Goodie Cole's in Brentwood, New Hampshire. The owners are from Texas (Dallas) and we are very happy to drive the distance (they are not close to us) to get our BBQ fix on!

To read other "Living in New England" posts visit here!)

thank you...

2013-01-21T14:09:00.000-05:00

for such a lovely welcome back!!

I am overwhelmed and very touched by all your wonderful calling cards and comments.

A big thank you to all the "quiet ones" for making your presence known!

xxojoan

are you still here?!

2013-01-17T13:42:00.000-05:00

Welcome back then!!!

I'm so happy to see you! I hope you had a wonderful holiday and are enjoying the beginning of a very happy new year. I had a relaxing break and am refreshed and ready to continue our conversation!

We've been having very unusual winter weather here in New Hampshire- on Sunday we were covered in snow here at the farmhouse, and then Monday morning we woke up to the snow being completely melted and had highs in the lower 50's that day. Yesterday it snowed again! Crazy, I tell ya! Between you and me... Dan and I are both very happy to see the snow! We love living with four seasons, and it is just so beautiful and peaceful, and quiet!

It's cold outside...

so, come on in and sit with me by the fire and lets chat!

I thought this would be a good time to show you the winter mantle. We have five mantels in the house, but this is the only one that I change each season.

The antique French gilt mirror is a staple on the living room mantel and it shares the stage with a pair of 17th century gilt and gesso church alter candlesticks that we found at the Paris flea market (I borrowed them from the dining room, so you might recall having seen them there) along with a favorite oil painting (circa 1922), an antique Santos, an antique Chinese wicker-wrapped earthenware ginger jar, an antique Chinese blue and white dish and an orchid in an antique Russian brass jardiniere along with a trio of mercury glass candle holders from Pottery Barn.

I also wanted to show you the antique grisaille watercolor that you have not seen before. It is just barely an antique as it is signed and dated 1912! (In the truest definition, an antique must be at least 100 years old and a vintage item must be at least 50 years old.) I purchased the antique gilt frame with its wonderful antique wavy glass several years ago. It is not a frame that can be cut down since the corners are finished and covered in the same gilt decoration as on the frame (as opposed to having straight, diagonal-cut corners) so I knew the odds were slim that I would find a perfect fit, but I loved the frame so bought it anyway! Luckily the watercolor was larger and had a lot of blank paper, so I was able to cut the watercolor down to make it fit the frame and "married" the two.

I love how subtle the watercolor is and how it mimics the antique oil painting of the same genre of ships in a harbor that hangs above it next to the sofa.

Since I missed my tradition at Christmas of having you leave your calling card I thought I would leave the tray out for the New Year, and ask you to please let me know if you're still here!!

For those of you who are new.... the antique brass tray (it was originally silver-plated, but the plate has worn off over the years down to the brass base metal) is engraved:

from
Mary and Nannie
Christmas
1881

As I've written in the past...

Over the years I have spent hours wondering who was MA?, who were Mary and Nannie?, what was their Christmas like the year this beautiful tray was given as a gift?, where did they live?, and on and on... .

Just as I wonder about these three people whose names are engraved on an antique tray that has a presence in my home, I also wonder about you, who also have a presence here.

Some of you I know, as you leave me dear comments or send me emails.... but others of you remain a mystery. On my site meter I get visits from places that are near and dear to us, and places that are far away and magical. Dan and I always talk about and wonder who all of you are!

As was the custom in the period of this Victorian tray, people would leave their printed "calling cards" in trays at the homes they visited.
Dan and I are hoping that you will let us know that you are still here and will drop your "calling card" in the tray and let us know that you stopped by to visit! We would love to hear from each and every one of you- those who regularly visit and leave comments, and those of you who usually come and go quietly!!

So happy to be back!

xxojoan

Four years ago today...

2012-10-20T15:20:00.000-04:00

...I wrote my very first blog post.

Four years.

How did that happen?!!

I want to take this day to thank each and every one of you for being here to share our journey with us.
I am profoundly grateful for your interest and support in our house and our lives. I am especially grateful to those of you who take the time to leave comments for us- you have absolutely no idea how much your comments motivate me!

Four years ago I could never have imagined that I would come to know so many like-minded "house people" from across the globe. The world feels that much smaller because we all share the same
love of home.

Dan and I greatly appreciate the house-love you give to us.
Thank you so much.

~~~~~~

At four years, this feels like the right time to take a short intermission and unplug for a while. I have more to say and more to share, so I promise to be back soon...
but, until then I will leave you with these fall "around" the house photographs!

That is our house in the middle of this photograph!

xxojoan

this and that, and OH- we found my GATE!!!

2012-10-19T12:54:00.003-04:00

So...yesterday we had a large fertilizer spreader delivered to the house. Since we moved in we've been paying a lot of money each year to have the property fertilized and treated by a small local company. When Dan realized that the cost of the spreader could be paid for in what we normally pay for just two of the five yearly applications, he bit the bullet and bought a spreader for Big Blue. (For the husbands, whom I am told read the blog ;), it is a Land Pride FSP700. It is a 563-lb. capacity broadcast spreader that runs off of the PTO from Big Blue.)

We purchased the spreader from the same local company where we bought Big Blue. The nice salesman delivered the spreader in his company pick-up truck on a pallet. As he and Dan were unloading the spreader he showed Dan this huge wasp nest...

Just that very morning as he was driving along it fell into his truck! Dan asked what he was going to do with it and he shrugged, not knowing. Sweet-husband Dan told him that I collect nests and the man then kindly handed this gem to Dan for me! I came home from a walk with Ella to find this on the dining room table! Upon close inspection it had a couple of "live" occupants, so it is outside until I am sure they are gone. This is the first one I own that is completely intact, so I am thrilled! You might recall me coveting this one from last year here.

And, speaking of going on walks with Ella... this is not her pumpkin costume for Halloween (I do not condone dressing up dogs ;) though I do call her "Pum-kin" when she's wearing it , and it is not Ella dressed as a "school crossing guard" which is what Dan thinks she looks like, but is instead how she is attired for safety on our walks in the fall. We are surrounded by trails and turkeys and hunters with bows and guns, and since we walk often in the woods it is always good to be safe. To watch her run at full speed is like watching a pumpkin being shot from a cannon!

I just ordered, and received, some additional note cards from the very talented Patricia of pve designs. I love having personal "house" stationery and if you would like your own house as art I highly recommend contacting Patricia!

And last, but not least.... we found the gate for the vegetable garden! While out antiquing two days ago we ran across a fabulous table that would be perfect as a work table in the loft. I was a few steps ahead of Dan and at the very second he was saying... "Now, if we could just find your gate," my eyes landed on a gate and I gasped! It was tucked into a booth and after pulling it out I realized that it was the exact "vision" of what I had initially wanted- it was tall (64") and had an arched top. It was priced a little over budget at $275, so we made an offer of $200 and the dealer countered with $225, which we accepted. After further examination we came to the conclusion that my "gate" wasn't a gate at all- instead was an antique iron window frame that had been cut out of it's original iron frame work. Since we love to repurpose things this only made it more perfect! Luckily we live down the street from a man who does welding and he'll be able to attach the iron hardware so it can be used as a gate; and let me just say- if you don't have a welder down the street I suggest you put your house on the market immediately and move a street where you have one!!! :) I had no idea how much we would use a welder and it is so nice to have him close by!

Have a fun Friday.... Ella is!

(photo taken yesterday as it is raining and foggy and fabulous today!)

Fall from the inside out

2012-10-17T09:20:00.001-04:00

Fall is here in New Hampshire! The maples that line the drive are turning yellow to orange, and we still have a lot of green on the trees. I thought it would be a fun perspective to show you what fall looks like from inside the farmhouse and from the vantage of the porches out. It's the time of year when you walk by a window and casually look out and literally gasp as the color is so brilliant and beautiful!

This is fall at the farmhouse...

from the master bedroom upstairs porch-

from the upstairs south guest bedroom.

the spot of bright green on the tree in the right pane above the old limb cut is a little fern that comes back every year. it is so sweet to see the fern growing so high up in the tree.

from the master bath:

from the upstairs porch towards a neighboring hillside:

from the front porch steps looking straight out, across our neighbor's property to the hill beyond:

from the front porch looking up:

from the front porch to the west.

you can see we still have a lot of green leaves on the trees:

from the front porch to the adirondacks:

from the living room.

I love how the fence looks through the antique wavy glass of the original windows:

from the entry through the front door.

it was extremely windy when I was taking this photograph and I love how the leaves are captured mid-air blowing across the gravel drive! :

from the reading room

again, you can see the wavy glass in the top panes:

from the master bedroom looking south:

and, from the master bedroom looking east:

pumpkins around the house

2012-10-12T17:12:00.000-04:00

happy weekend!

birthday presents

2012-09-23T13:33:00.002-04:00

As I've mentioned before Dan and I were married on my birthday in July. Early on he started the tradition where he "made" my birthday presents. While thinking about writing about this year's present I realized I never showed you last year's...

stones under the back porch!

The granite support pillars were already existing, but it was just open space between them. When we purchased the house there were old huge Montauk daisies (3-feet tall by 4-feet wide huge!) in front of the porch which hid the open/ugly crawl space. I transplanted the daisies to a garden along the front drive last year. I felt the house needed the weight of stones under the two-story porch for scale, not to mention I thought it would be a beautiful addition and finishing detail to the house as a whole. The original vision is to have grass up to the stones. We have had to leave this area for last as it served as access for trucks to unload materials when we were renovating the barn. This spring and summer other projects have taken priority and we are just now working to start to lay sod in this area (you'll see a tiny bit of some in the last photo). This area is a very symbolic project for us as it means we are finishing up the house renovation and don't need the area for work trucks!

Isn't it beautiful?! Dan did a wonderful job dry-stacking the stones (which are all from our property by the way.)

For the side of the porch we used pieces of antique hand-cut granite foundation that were removed from the barn during renovation. These two pieces were originally one huge stone that had to be divided in two to make them maneuverable to work into the tight space. It was an exciting day the day we realized that this last large piece of stone would just fit under this side of the porch.

But...
before we can lay sod this year's birthday present needs to be completed.

A small herb/vegetable garden!

Granite edging will define the space as demo'd in this photo, and will be slightly raised to keep the gravel that will surround the raised beds in and the perimeter grass out! There will be a black picket fence to enclose the area that will sit on top of the granite edging. The garden will be accessed through an antique iron gate - more on that in a moment.

This year's birthday present begins with the scraping/leveling of the area.

My wood director's chair;)

The gravel you see under the kitchen windows is a french drain that we had put in our first summer in the house. I painted all the basement (cellar) windows gray to blend into their surrounding granite. Painting them white, as is often done, would highlight them and draw your eye. I wanted your eye to go to the house, not to the basement windows!

Thick weed blocker is a great base for the gravel.

Boards for the raised beds being measured out.

It's a small area, but (hopefully;) the perfect size for the two of us. It is also easily accessed from the kitchen mud room which is the black door up the granite steps.

Here is where we are at today!

The first load of gravel has been laid. (Dan drove Big Blue to the quarry which about 20 minutes by tractor;) from the house!) Old whiskey barrel rings hold down some weed block to keep the weeds from growing (I had a nice crop of them growing before I devised this method;)

Before Dan can build the picket fence I need to find my gate. I want an antique iron gate. I think the iron is a needed element with all the wood on the back of the house and it will give the little garden importance. The problem is I can't find one! I've been looking since last summer and haven't found "the one" yet. So, if you live in New England or just beyond ( New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, eastern New York) would you do me a big favor and if you happen to be out and about and see an antique iron garden gate will you send me a picture with info?!!! We love a good road trip, so we'll drive for a gate!!

The photo below shows an antique iron antique garden gate that I found that I think would be almost perfect- it is a little wide for the space (42-inches) and is $425.... not in my budget. I don't want to spend more than $200. I love the arch top to this gate... sigh.

I'm looking for an antique iron gate that ideally measures between 36-38 inches width and 36-50ish inches height with a price tag max of $200! So, if you can help a girl out I would really appreciate it! :) xx

fortheloveofahouse@comcast.net

garden essentials

2012-09-17T10:25:00.002-04:00

Fall has arrived here in New England, and it is a beautiful time to be out working in the yard. Copious amounts of sod are being laid by the head groundskeeper (Dan;) with still more to do. I keep reminding him that he's only making lots more work for himself (i.e. mowing) but it doesn't seem to deter his desire to have more grass. Fall is the perfect time to plant grass and trees, and this week we are hoping to get two new sugar maples to replace ones missing from the row of antique maples that line the road.
Remember: It is never too late to plant a new tree!!

After spending so much time in the yard this past summer I realized that I have a very specific group of basic items that I always have with me while out working. Here are my garden essentials and some of my favorite garden things!

garden book:
A gift from a dear friend when we moved from Dallas. She knew I would want to have a new book for my new yard here. I'm not very diligent about keeping it current during the season, but for me fall is the perfect time to write down all my notes of projects we accomplished, plants I liked/didn't like, suggestions for next year's pots or beds, etc. I always think I will remember next year, but once spring comes the previous season is but a sweet memory.

garden gloves:

I l.o.v.e. these West County Gloves. My gloves are their "work" gloves. I have never owned a better garden glove- ever. Besides being an amazingly durable (I've been putting them to the test for the last three years) and comfortable glove they also remind me of a very special memory. I purchased the gloves at Bunny William's house the first time I met her (here)- not to be confused with the time we went to her house for lunch (here) !! :):)

flip flops:

I grew up wearing flip flops in the summer (back then we called them "thongs";) and can not imagine gardening without them! There is always at least one pair at every door! My perfect weather to garden includes shorts, a hoodie and flip flops!

hat- straw or baseball,

and my sweet garden-helper " Ella":

(In this photo Ella has been out in the yard "helping" me for several hours and is now headed up to get on our bed, or "Mama's bed" as we call it. It is her favorite place to nap.:)

coil hose:

Last year was my first year to use a coil hose and I've been hooked ever since! As opposed to my yard in Dallas where I could water my entire back yard from one hose long hose (attached to an automatic hose wind box which is the best money you can spend if you live where it is hot. Nothing is worse than having to hand-crank a 100 foot hose in 100 degree temperatures, trust me!) here my garden beds are in different locations and have different hose bibs/spigot (depending on what part of the country you are from;). Instead of lugging around a huge hose these little coil hoses let me water each bed and then neatly hide the hose out of sight. Love that!

mat:

Actually this was my late father's mat. My mother made it for him to use when he did his sit-ups. It makes me happy to have it in the garden with me and use it while planting/weeding.

apple basket:

I've always used old baskets for weeding in the yard. They are much easier to come by here in New Hampshire with all of the u-pick apple orchards!

French tote:

Purchased in L'Isle-sur-la-Sorgue many years ago, it had seen better days and sat tucked away in my closet until one day when I realized that even with its worn handles it would be the perfect holder to carry all my garden things to my job site! Several pairs of different sized clippers, gloves, stainless weeder, kleenex, hand-shovel, camera, phone, etc. fill the tote.

stainless steel weeder:

I once had a cheap one that was metal. It broke. This stainless steel version with the reinforcement bar lets me dig up small trees with ease!

This was my favorite plant find of the season!

I have loved this Mexican Giant Hyssop "Acapulco Orange." This is the only perennial in my yard that bloomed the entire summer. Its coral blooms made my gardener's heart very happy, and then to top it off it smells great- the foliage has a lovely citrusy fragrance.

So, what are your garden essentials?!

antique cobblestones at the entrance

2012-09-06T12:15:00.003-04:00

So, lest you think we've just been sitting around on the porches all day eating bon-bons ;), I thought I would show you what we've been up to... our latest project! If you follow me on Instagram (which I'm loving btw, you will have seen some of these photos. I try to post once a day on sightings/happenings around the house, or places we travel to. If you don't have a smart phone you can still see the current photos at the bottom of the blog. If you would like to follow you can find us at "for the love of a house".)

This is our entrance from the street that I showed you most recently. You can see the "brides" (Endless Summer Blushing Bride Hydrangeas) planted behind the granite curbing. You can also see how the edge to the gravel drive has lost its shape after being driven on and plowed over! Although I didn't love how it looked it has never really been an issue since we had yet to landscape this part of the property. But, knowing that we are working our way down from the farmhouse I wanted to address this issue. It was decided that an antique cobblestone border would be the perfect (and period) solution to keep the gravel in the driveway!

Ella helped us pick out the antique cobblestones... couldn't have done it without her!

I love working with stone and was Dan's hod carrier on this project which was a two-person-on-deck-at-all-times project! Minute changes in the angle of a single stone changes the entire curvature of the line, so working the line required constant tweaking and decisions to be made... and re-made, over and over!

Dan and Big Blue bringing the cobbles to the job site.

I drew the curve on the dirt and Dan dug the design first with a pickaxe and then a shovel making a channel for the stones to sit in. He then put down a base of granite dust (also referred to as stone dust) which is granite crushed to a very fine consistency and is used for setting stones. It allows for water to easily pass through and once wet it helps to lock the stones in place. New cobblestones have a more consistent size, but antique cobbles can vary greatly, so the granite dust allows you to add or subtract the base to get all the stones to the same height. At the street the stones are flush with the road, but as you come up towards the stone beehives it has a small lip to contain the gravel.

New fill dirt added behind the edge which will eventually (hopefully in the next week) be planted with grass. This south side of the project was a breeze! From start to finish it took only 4 hours; the north side was a bit trickier!

One side completed, one to go!

For scale it is 16 feet between the beehives.

This side proved to be more difficult and took two days to get right! Day two we even worked in the rain to complete the project before Dan had to leave town! On this side of the drive Dan had to first use the pickaxe to remove asphalt left over from a previous driveway on the property- you can see the pile on the left. Then, trying to get the curve to match the installed south side was a big challenge. Dan found the center of the drive and used mathematical measurements, but that wasn't working. Eyeballing it wasn't working either. I decided to draw the start of the completed curve on some thick bubble wrap, cut it out and flip it as a pattern for this side (this was the day it was raining, so regular paper wouldn't have worked;) That got the ball rolling and the rest of the project went pretty smoothly after that.

Stone beehives as command central!

So, once again...

before

after!

Once the grass is put down you really won't even notice the cobbles, but it's a subtle improvement and a detail that looks like it could have been installed a hundred years ago.

And, for the record... apparently the "house angels" like Dan more than me as my Endless Summer Blushing Bride (white) Hydrangeas are turning blue! I wanted this bed to bloom white and Dan was partial to blue. The gardener (me;) chose white! I do admit that this icy blue is a gorgeous color, so don't tell the house angels, but I'm happy too!

This is the "runaway bride" hidden in a little clearing in the trees several feet down from the other "brides". When the brides get all droopy and cranking needing water we call them bridezillas!

summer porches

2012-09-02T10:16:00.001-04:00

As we ease from summer into fall over this long, relaxing holiday weekend I thought it would be a good time to show our favorite places to relax... the porches. The farmhouse has three porches and we use them all! I've show the porches before individually, but they vary slightly from year to year, so I thought you might like to see all three together.

the upstairs porch

Accessed from french doors in the master bedroom the upstairs porch is a favorite for morning coffee, cocktails in the evening and quite moments right before going to bed.

the front porch
The front porch is a wonderful place for cocktails in the evening (we've even been known to don down coats and gloves and even sit here in the middle of winter!) It's a intimate spot that gets wonderful afternoon/evening light. We also use it often during the day for breaks from working in the yard.

the back porch

We use this porch mainly for summer lunches and dinners, and also for access to the kitchen .

Hope you are having a wonderful holiday weekend.

Happy Labor Day!