from our home to yours....

we wish you the happiest of holidays!

joan & dan& ella (who can be seen sitting at the front door!)

Let's Say Thanks!

I received this forward from my sister and thought it was a wonderful idea that I would like to share with you. It is free, and regardless of what your personal view of the war is, it is our responsibility to support the brave men and women who risk their lives every day for our freedom. I hope you will join me in sending our troops Christmas wishes.....

XEROX IS DOING SOMETHING COOL

If you go to this web site, www.LetsSayThanks.com you can pick
out a thank you card and Xerox will print it and it will be sent to a soldier that is currently serving in Iraq . You can't pick out who gets it, but it will go to a member of the armed services. It is FREE and it only takes a second. Wouldn't it be wonderful if our soldiers received a bunch of these? Whether you are for or against the war, our troops need to know we are behind them. This takes just seconds and it's a wonderful way to say thank you. Please take the time to pass it on for others to do. We can never say enough thank yous. Thanks for taking to time to support our military!

Winter is here!

We had our first real snowfall of the season this winter... 11.5 inches in the last 24 hours! This time last year we were having what is now referred to as the "ice storm of the century" here, so no complaints with lots of snow! We went for a long walk while it was snowing this morning, which is one of my favorite things to do! Ella loves the snow, and is so comical as she has to jump like a bunny to get through the yard!

When we lived in Texas we would plant the perfunctory pansies each and every winter, but in New England nothing will bloom through the winter. Instead you will see pots, urns, and window boxes filled with fresh cuttings from the bounty of the yard! I love this idea! I filled our front door antique urn with our fresh cuttings, and some purchased pomegranates! In these photos they are covered with a dusting of snow.




Janine from Tasmania, Australia this next photo is for you as in a previous comment you kindly asked Dan what he was going to do with Big Blue over the winter! Dan wanted me to tell you that Big Blue is plowing the drive!


The odd part is that the plow goes on the back of the tractor, so he has to drive backwards to plow the snow out of the way. Between you and me... we'll see how long this lasts before hiring the snow plowing out!!

Pearl Harbor Day

photo by Liz Condo

Growing up December 7th was always remembered and honored in our household, as my grandfather was a submarine-crew member in the Navy, stationed at Hickam Field when Pearl Harbor was attacked. Today the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper published my mother's remembrances of that day. Here is her story.




Several months ago I wrote a post showing a lamp that was my mother's as a child.
That story is here.


Pearl Harbor Day...
Such a sad, fateful day for our country. God bless the souls who perished.

My most important design element.....

clean windows!!

I think clean windows make a room sing!

We (and of course when I say 'we' I really mean Dan) have been busy for the last three weeks cleaning all the antique windows in the house. This is no easy feat. When we still lived in Dallas, and I would sit and fantasize about my "antique dream house in New England" and all the light it would have I failed to think that all that wonderful light comes from windows.... lots and lots of windows! Windows that need lots of cleaning!

My dream of an antique house with lots of light came true... the farmhouse has amazing light in the house all year long. In total (this includes the barn) the house has 45 windows and 4 sets of french doors! That's a lot of window cleaning!!

19 of the windows are the original 160 year old windows with gorgeous wavy glass. They have storm windows on the exterior, and it had been at least five years since any maintenance or window cleaning had taken place. Each antique window took Dan 3 1/2 hours to clean. The biggest part of the job was the scrapping of paint off of the panes; a fingertip-numbing job.

But, the good news is they all look gorgeous! It was as if we had removed a dark film off of each window, and the waviness of the glass increased ten fold!

I am one happy girl, as I fought long and hard to keep these original windows. Constantly hearing about how the new windows were so much more energy efficient, blah, blah, blah. Yeah, but do they have 160 year old wavy glass and character that you just can't buy?!

I'm a big fan of vinegar and water as a window cleaning product being that it's natural and green, but this job also called for the big-guns to come out and my go-to product is Invisible Glass.

Do you have any windows to clean?!!

Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was our first one here at the house, and it was very special!

I'll be right back!

A rare form of strep, a head cold, a pulled back muscle...... but the bad news is my laptop crashed- it was sitting on it's side on the floor, fell over and crashed! It's not a happy camper....so on that lovely note I bid you a brief adieu as I get well and get a new laptop...

until then I'll be snuggling with this lovebug!

Be well.

I'm Happy to report...

that all the pups are now in New Hampshire, and that their puppy-angels, Jenifer and Jenny, are safe and sound back home in Alabama!

We plan on making a trip to the shelter to check in on all the new little faces!

I thank each of you who made a donation to the rescue trip! Thank you so very much!

A huge hug to my sister, Susan, and brother-in-law, Doug, for their very generous donation.

You are all the best!

Please help these dogs...

SamJuna
Jojo
Betty
...plus a whole van full of others!

When we moved to New Hampshire we were shocked and surprised to learn that most of the animal shelters here are empty of stray or abandoned dogs. After asking questions and investigating we learned that this was due to New Hampshire's strict spay and neuter laws. While this is true, I think it has more to do with what is acceptable, and in this part of the country it is simply not acceptable to dump a dog, or let your dog run amuck and have liter after liter of puppies. We have lived here for almost two years now, and while we live in a very rural area we have never seen a single stray dog. What we do see is car after car with a dog or two, or three inside.... this is one dog loving state!

We found sweet Ella at the Dallas SPCA which, as of today, has 12 pages of adoptable dogs..... We once thought we would have to drive back to Dallas to get Ella a "sister," but we recently became aware of a shelter in Alabama with an amazing group of volunteers who drive vans of dogs from over-populated shelters in the South all the way to New Hampshire (and Maine) to find their forever homes! The Shelby Humane Society is a shelter who partners with humane societies across the country that are in need of animals to adopt. It's a win/win situation. I am so very awe-struck by the kind hearted individuals who take days out of their busy lives to drive these lucky, lucky dogs states away to find people who will love them. I think they are angels...

Jenifer Wallis & Jenny Miller are two of the angels that will embark on such a trip this Saturday, November 7th... Please click on their blog and read how these two adorable Alabama girls are going to rescue a van full of dogs and bring them to New Hampshire!

Please, please if you can- donate money to this very worthy cause, even $5 will add up and help these shelter dogs! (If you are another blogger please feel free to copy this post and spread the word!) There are three easy ways to donate on the site....

New Hampshire Bound

Stay tuned to their blog as they will also do posts along their journey!

Godspeed Jennifer & Jenny and the puppy-angels in your care.

fun finds and Matthew Mead too!

( iron industrial baskets - we think were used in some sort of manufacturing process - that will make fabulous candle holders on the the iron table below....)

This past Sunday Dan and I (and Ella!) did our usual weekend routine of driving 4o minutes west to eat some of the best pancakes in the world at a diner in a tiny, little town in southern New Hampshire! After breakfast, we always go to one of our favorite antique malls in the same town- lots of dealers, great prices, and constantly changing merchandise....

We were walking down an isle when we passed a man moving a piece of furniture and Dan asked him if he needed some help. I turned around and saw the man and thought "I know him!" Well, I didn't actually know him, but knew of him!! Turns out it was Matthew Mead! Matthew was the Style Editor at the dearly departed Country Home magazine. I remember seeing his photo in CH, and also on some segments he did for HGTV. I also recognized him from the photos in his new book that I had purchased (but forgot to mention to him) several months ago.

Matthew also has a Halloween magazine on the stands right now! Matthew was delightful to chat with and I was excited to hear about his new venture with Ki Nassasuer... a new magazine called Flea Market Style which will be out in Spring 2010! This blog is a behind the scenes look at the making of the magazine! Be sure to pop over and check out the magazine and Matthew's website!

Matthew, it was great fun to meet you!

Hope Oscar is feeling better...


We bought this 8 foot iron table for the barn room. It will be placed in front of the original barn door that will be mounted on one of the walls in the barn room as a large piece of art! The wood top will be replaced with a slab of limestone.

We've been looking for a large table for a while as the running joke is that I keep talking about all of the things I want to put on this one table! Like: my collection of antique Chinese blue & white ginger jars and vases/ my collection of antique French confit jars/ my huge clam shell- it measures 36 inches /and now the above candle holders! I think I'm going to need another table!!!

The day after I first spied the above table, we saw this table in Maine. Loved the stone top (this is where I got the idea to use limestone), but at $1200 I liked my table better at $105!! And 30%off never hurt any sale... don't you agree?!

no more snow...

Just beautiful Fall weather!

The high today is sunny and 65 degrees and tomorrow, sunny and 68!

Perfect for painting!

it's snowing!

It will be back in the 60's this coming week, but today is cold and snowing!

A perfect Sunday!

Hope you're having a wonderful weekend!

I've had blogger's block!

...sorry.

Even though things (i.e. house painting) have been happening around the house, I just couldn't get a post out. Time and time again I'd sit down to write, and nothing..... so I'll attempt it one more time!! Here we go!

We are having a gorgeous Fall! (this photo was taken last weekend about 25 minutes west of us towards the Vermont border.) The leaves to the north of us are at their peak- perfect timing for the holiday weekend. Ours, in southern New Hampshire, are still a week or two out. While New England Falls are renowned, what might not be known to those of you unfamiliar with the region is just how long they last! Fall here will literally last over two months. The peak is only a couple of weeks of that time, but from the time you first start to see leaves turning color to the time they are all off of the tree- over two months! Fall is indeed a spectacular time of year here!

Our sugar maples here at the house have just started to turn. You can see what they will look like HERE from my very first post almost one year ago!

The painter and his helper are working as hard, and as fast, as they can trying to get as much of the house painted before winter sets in. It seems every other day it rains, so we've been contending with that too. They have made good progress and I can not tell you how happy we are to have "our" colors on the house and to be done with the red barn! I have nothing against red barns, in fact find them charming, but it just didn't fit on our farmhouse. The farmhouse is simple and quiet and the barn seemed to SCREAM at you! So now the farmhouse is white and the barn is a fabulous gray that has hints of brown and green in it depending on the lighting. From what little of it you can see from the road, and from all over the property it "reads" gray. As my painter will attest, I have "gray" issues! Or rather "grays-that-read-blue" issues! So many times you will drive by a house and just know that the owner intended to have a gray house, but it instead it comes across as blue.




Several people have commented to me that they thought the farmhouse was already white, and it does look that way in the top blog photo, but it was really a pale, tired yellow. In these first two photos you can really see the yellow compared to all the white primer.
(old olive jar- one of about six we have! from Mark Sage/Love Train Antiques, Atlanta)

So exciting to see the house turn into a classic New England farmhouse! You can see my barn paint samples on the corner of the barn. The winner "Legendary Gray" is directly under the square window at the corner of the barn. See how the ones closer to the ground look blue?!

The white is a custom mixed color and was chosen to be a soft white, not a bright white.

The house is painted and the barn is stained. All paints and stains are California Paints, which ironically is made in Massachusetts!

The windows and trim on the barn will be white. The main house windows will have gloss black shutters. The ell will not have any shutters. The basement windows will be painted the color of the granite foundation to make them go away.

And, on a side note, remember the AWOL window from the barn window post that Marvin accidentally forgot to order? It was expected to take three weeks to get to us, and fabulous Pam at our Marvin store got it to us in ONE week! A window made and delivered in one week! We love Pam!! So, that side of the barn is being painted next. In fact, the wonderful painters are coming on Sunday!

This photo shows the leaves just starting to turn in the front meadow.

Posting in Pink In honor of my friend Mary....

I am posting in pink today as October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Mary of St. Mary's blog is a breast cancer survivor, and has an inspiring story.....the day she bought an antique church to turn into her home, she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

Mary says she saved the church, and the church saved her.

Mary is a funny, independent,and very strong woman.

(fyi- Mary is not a minister or pastor, her blog name is a play on words, as she bravely bought a church to renovate!)

She has been a dear friend and ardent supporter of mine, and I am so very grateful for the gift of her friendship. If you haven't already done so, be sure to visit Mary's blog (HERE)- she just got back from Africa!

"Posting in Pink" was brought to my attention by Mrs. Blandings and by Pigtown Designs. I have borrowed this link from Meg at Pigtown...

You can help a low-income woman get a breast cancer screening by clicking

HERE.



here's Ella this morning wearing pink today in honor of Miss Mary!

Barn Windows & French Doors!

MyOhMy! It's been a big couple of days here at the house!

Yesterday the barn windows finally arrived! We were told they would take 3-4 weeks, they took 6. And, the order was delivered sans one set of windows which somehow didn't get ordered.... the Marvin people took full responsibility for the oversight, but that still means I'm three weeks (at least) out on one window.....arrrhhh.

And.....drum-roll please, our magic painter has arrived to paint the exterior of the house. For the two plus years since we first laid eyes this house I had always said the first thing I would do after buying the house was to power wash the front porch..... I did not... so many things (like a six month renovation, winter, an ice storm, unpacking 200-plus boxes, etc.) got in the way. It just never happened, until yesterday!! I cried.
The magic painter works by himself (with occasional help from a worker-bee.) Yesterday the magic painter did the work of three men! He is the nicest person, and has a "no-problem" attitude to any request! Our house is covered with shingles, and he's power washing and hand-scraping as prep. The house is currently a light yellow with a red barn, and will become a classic white New England farmhouse with a grey barn.

Here are some photos of all the progress. Some are very scary and you might need to cover your eyes... I did!!



WooHoo! Window delivery!

This is the north side/the garage side of the the barn. The first cut out for one set of windows

Second cut out was cut open before we realized the missing set of windows...arrhhh, again.

I have loved two-over-two windows for years! (I have saved images of them from magazines and longed for the day I could have some of my own!)

Here's a better angle for perspective of the north side of the barn. The new shingles show where an old window and door was patched in.

The first french door was installed yesterday! So exciting! Again I cried.
Several years ago (fyi- we have only owned the house for 11 months now, but first found it over two years ago) when I first walked into the barn I started gesturing with my arms saying "there will be a french door here, and another one here, and windows here..." and to see it actually come true is a crazy, amazing feeling!

This mornings activities involved installing the second french door.
Note: there is a 1o foot drop under the opening for the second french door!! Eventually the existing stone wall (where the guys are standing) will be moved to the corner of the barn/garage wall, and there will be a gravel terrace off of the barn room/french doors (can you see me gesturing with my hands again?!) Maybe we should have done that first?!!
In this photo the guys are loading the french door onto Big Blue (the tractor) to transport over to the opening. See how you can barely see Big Blue 10' over the edge. This is where the scary started!


View from inside the barn room. Eventually there will be a stone fireplace between the two doors.... eventually!

The french doors being placed on the forks of the tractor.

Down she goes.

In this photo Dan is raising our two framers and the french door over and up to the opening...

They are now suspended 10' off the ground. Directions: UP/DOWN/STOP/NO are being yelled over the noise of the tractor! It was fun!

This is as close as Big Blue could reach the opening. Close, but not close enough...

This is where my heart skipped a beat, as the 350 lb. french door is being held up by one framer, while the other ran to get the magic painter for an extra set of hands. I offered to help at this point, but it appeared I wasn't needed! I think they realized what an important job I was already doing by taking the photos!;)

The framer on the outside and the two guys in had to manually lift the door the last 6-8". The inside guys only had the hinges to lift on.... I had to look away at this point!

Almost there....

And it's in!!!

French door being leveled and nailed into place. (sorry about the angle of the photo, I was a little shaky at this point!)

Ta-da!!

This photo shows the stone wall that will be moved to the far right edge of the barn/garage wall, and the drop they were working with. (As you will recall the two small windows above the french doors are in the master bedroom closet.)
Both doors in!!
Another perspective photo. The two windows to the left of the closet windows are the master bath, and then the rest of the east side of the second story (with the porch) is the master bedroom.
Let the painting-prep begin!!
The shingles being scraped.
That's a lot of ladders for one painter, don't you think?! One of the most thrilling parts of all of this paint prep is that my exterior windows are finally getting washed.... with the storm windows on we couldn't access the glass to wash it and I'm a clean window fanatic!

A big couple of days I tell ya!!

[You can click HERE to see the interior framing of the barn room, if interested!]