~ Country Attitude~

A nice reminder to pause in our day, and enjoy it!
I don't personally know the family that put this sign up, but I love it!
You can't help but smile when you see it.

Slowly the country is warming up, and greening up.
Farmers have the wheel lines going.....
Fields are greening up and the meadow is coming alive again.

I love this new barn.
It's in a nearby country town, and when I saw the fence, I just had to snap a picture!
The front fence is constructed with poultry fencing... aka.. chicken wire.
The back fence is constructed with recycled tin roofing.
Here in the county, so many times, options are limited.
 We don't have any big box stores in which to buy supplies.
 We have to have a "can-do" attitude and nearly every project that gets done is a DIY project.

Another look at the back fence... tin roofing & simple lumber.
Very creative.
It's a good thing when recycling, and creativity creates such a thing of beauty.


Right now, we are in the process of planning fences for Mill Hill Meadow, and helping our youngest son build fences at his place: Dunravin.
We want to build a fence that has a casual country feel, has personality, and of course with materials that are available to us.
I am inspired when I see fences, like those above.
  They are creative, cost effective, and have such great curb appeal.

The fences at Dunravin will be a mix of posts, and wire panels.

Trees had to be cut down.
Limbs hauled to the landfill.

 Fence post holes dug, and fence posts set.
I did my part by raking up branches, and loading them on the truck and trailer.
I left the heavy lifting to the guys~~cutting up the tree trunks and loading them.

We have always worked together as a family to get projects done.
No matter what the project is, we know that with hard work and team work, we can accomplish great things together.
Putting in fences this summer, is just another one of those projects that we will do as a family.


 "If enough people think of a thing and work hard enough at it, I guess it's pretty nearly bound to happen, wind and weather permitting".
Laura I. Wilder

It's been hard work clearing the yard at Dunravin.
Previous owners had tried to train various vines up and over structures and trees with rebar.
You can see what a mess it has been to clear out the debris.  Rebar, old lights, limbs.. etc..
Lots of hard work.

Above is a picture of what remained after we had already hauled off an old shed, and about 3 truck loads of debris. For some reason, the previous owner had built these wood decks all over in the yard.
Of course they were rotten, poorly built, and taking up valuable space.

 The above is a shot of the same space after it was cleared out.
The wire panels will be used for a new fence, much in the same style as the fence that is around the barn {3rd picture from the top}.

Here at Mill Hill Meadow, we want to do a mix of wire panel fencing, and I would love to do a section of fencing with the tin roofing.
Our son has about 20 panels of the corrugated tin roofing at his place that we can recycle for our fence here.
Now, we just need to draw it all out, buy the materials and get to work building the fence.
The fence at Mill Hill Meadow, will be built after the fence at Dunravin is finished.

 Keeping with the "can - do" country attitude, I found a solution to the very small windows on either side of the French doors.
In our kitchen, we have French doors leading out to the patio.
On either side of those French doors, there is a small side window.  That window is only about 8 or 10 inches wide. Too narrow for blinds, and too awkward for drapes.

 ~~The solution, was to make a paste of cornstarch and water, cook it down and apply a section of lace.
I had the lace in my fabric stash, and simply measured and cut a piece to fit. "Painted" on the paste, smoothed out the lace and once everything dried, I have the perfect window covering for an the window.  We have the advantage of light coming through the window, and yet we have privacy.
Just a little country ingenuity!

~~Attitude of gratitude:
~I am so grateful that I was privileged to be raised by loving parents that taught me the value of hard work.
~I am grateful for a husband that is so willing to work with me on my idea, and goals. I absolutely love old stuff... old metal, bottles, furniture, etc..  My sweet husband always jumps right in with me and my ideas. He's not crazy about the galvanized fencing, but is more than willing to build it for me.
That's what I call love.  I am grateful for him.