Our Life In The Pacific Northwest....

Spring color has finally arrived.... Good morning.... It's a chilly 33 degrees this morning. We have been having some chilly days and cold over night lows in the low 20's. We even woke to some snow on the ground a day or two ago. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the weather guesser is right and we hit a high of 69. I know my posts have been far and few between, but we are all doing well and as always thanks to you who message me to check in to make sure we are doing OK. Well we finally have some bloom color other then green lawns and pastures. Some of the tulips I planted last October have finally started to break. I've been waiting with bated breath for two weeks to see a pop of color and they are not disappointing. I will definitely be planting more in the Fall. The moving of our back lawn for my Rose Garden is moving along, albeit a little slower then my sometimes impatient personality likes.;) To remind you of my Win/Win idea I pitched to

The updating of our farmhouse continues. While the weather is cold and snowy I know now is the  time to push the interior projects. Once the weather allows all of our attention will go back outside. Anyway, in my last blog post I shared our new paint colors in our dining and living room areas. In the above pic you can see our new Chandelier and the new Bamboo Woven Roman Shades that the "Hubby" and I hung yesterday. We are very pleased with both additions. Here are some other angels of the rooms. Please ignore the two missing bulbs in a few of the pics, we are short two bulbs until  we get to town. Let me know what you think.  Lori

  Well its been a busy long couple of weeks of painting. We are finally done with the living,  dining,  kitchen, hall, entry and family room. We went with Sherwin Williams "Oyster Bay" and "Alabaster  White". After weeks of research, worrying about making a bad choice we decided on the look we  wanted.   I have to admit when the total at the  register at Sherwin Williams came up to $420.00 (that included a  coupon for 30% off) plus the  additional $150 in supplies and primer at the Home Depot I new  there was no going back. We chose the  Duration line in the Alabaster White because of its clean ability  with their flat paint. We went with their  Superior line in the Oyster Bay, also in flat.    We  used a flat  paint  hoping it would help  tone down the rough texture of our walls and it did just that.  We went ahead  and  primed all the walls because of the previous dark color.  My pics always look a little washed out due to

  I can't really remember what year Whisper came to our Farm. I do remember the phone call we got from a friend who took in abused horses and tried to find them new caring homes. She said, "I know you aren't looking for a horse at this time but, would we be interested in taking in a Palomino mare as a "pasture buddy" for our mare Belle"? After much discussion with the "Hubby" I called her back and said, Yes. Our "Wild Whisper" came to us with years of baggage. She had scars on her legs leading us to believe she'd had many bad experiences with fences and physical abuse. She shy's away from any kind of close affection by humans. On a good day she allows you to run a brush over her coat. Her trust is given sparingly, and very hard to earn. She does wait patiently for me every morning and offers a friendly nicker as I approach the barn. I like to think she knows she's loved.... I took this the other day of her stan

                            (This years ornament to commemorate the completion of our new barn)                                I love the Christmas season... The family traditions and rituals that we celebrated in Christmas's past live on in our celebrations of today. Now that our three oldest children/girls have homes and families of their own, some of our families traditions will evolve/grow and be carried on.                                          (Our 1st ornament bought 35 years ago)  In our home Christmas usually starts the weekend after Thanksgiving. The hubby brings in the ever growing boxes of decorations and sets up our tree in the stand. After that, the job of decorating falls to me and who ever is home to help. This year our son Nick was home from college and our daughter Ashley and boyfriend Matt were home for Thanksgiving so I had lots of help.                                       (One of my favs, Patriotic Santa)  One tradition I started

One of those old time honored chores, a trip to the wood shed.:( This shed is one of the most important structures on our farm. We cut on average 7-8 cords of wood every Fall for our winter heat. A HUGE money saver for us. Plus the trees we cut in the woods are dead or blown down trees which cuts down on dry brush. From here we store about a 1/2 cord in the garage for convenience which the "Hubby" usually keeps stocked. Unfortunately we went through quite a bit during the last cold snap so... I'm going to load a wheel barrow full for now, and when he gets home he can restock the garage.;) Life here is always about planning and prepping ahead... Have to give credit to the two guys... Cutting the wood is the first step, unloading and splitting goes a lot faster when you have a log splitter and a assistant.

   This is our eleventh winter on the farm.... Much of life here on our farm revolve around projects and scheduled routines. A life that the "Hubby" and I thrive on. When we bought our 20 acres it was a blank slate, just pasture land. We had so many ideas, always keeping in mind to plan wisely as we grow older and someday retire. We drew our dream layout of what our farm would look like in five years. Each year looking back at our design and checking off the projects we completed. The five year plan contained the house, decks and garage, done. The woodshed, done, 20 acres fenced and some cross fencing, done. The small lower barn and tack room, done, lower fruit orchard done, large fenced vegetable garden, done, landscaping surrounding the house, done and chicken house and runs, done. All projects were built and completed by the hubby and I with our son Nick to save money, other then the building of our home and garage.   The one item that wasn't completed in our five

A little of this, a little of that, and add some red pepper, scallions, sprouts and seasoning, you get one tasty Lo Mein for supper last night. It's as good as Take Out..... Cooking is one activity that I and the Hubby enjoy doing together. He is a awesome cook and loves trying new things. This recipe is one we fix quite regularly. It's even better if you open a nice bottle of wine to enjoy while prepping the recipe. ;) The chicken looks fantastic in the wok after marinating in the  Hoisin sauce 30 minutes. This delicious meal is simple to make and a nice change up from the usual meal planner.... We will add what ever we have in the fridge. This had red bell pepper, scallions,sprouts, shrimp and chicken breast. Enjoy.... Please feel free to share and comment. 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts 1 red pepper, finely sliced 8 oz bean sprouts 2 tablespoon oil 4 cloves garlic, minced 1 tablespoon fresh grated ginger 4 scallions, chopped &

                                                                                                              Nothing tastes better or looks more delicious then big juicy tomatoes. That is unless they look like this. This post offers a few tips on helping prevent splitting tomatoes in your garden. Why do Tomato Plants Split? Spitting is usually caused by the tomato plant absorbing water too quickly.  The inside expands from the water absorption but skin can’t stretch to accommodate the extra fluid.  So, the skin splits and heals up. This can be caused by several scenarios... You forget to water regularly and the soil gets to dry. When you do water, the plant absorbs the water quickly and the skins split. Or.... You  water regularly but on the hot dog days of summer the heat is taking its toll.  The heat sucks the moister out during the day and the plants dry out.  When you have time to water, the plants absorb the water to fast and you get splitting. Or.... Your ga