~ New~ Harvest Homestead ~

  'New' to me, but certainly not 'new' beans.
These are Fremont Beans.
These are heirloom beans that date back to the Fremont people.
They are a 'new to me' bean that is from a local 'new to me' company: https://heirloomsandmore.com/

Near our new town, there is a great farm that grows wonderful beans, and produce, and herbs, etc. 

They are sold at a farmers market, which is where I bought the beans in bulk.

I made 'refried' beans with these beans and made them in the Instant Pot.
I added onion, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and a little cilantro. Once they were cooked tender, I blended them with the stick blender and seasoned them to taste with sea salt and pepper.

We had company for dinner Sat. and we served these beans along with chicken street tacos and they were a huge hit!

I'm so happy to have found this great farm and have linked the website above.

New views.

The picture below is overlooking our new backyard.
We are on just over a half an acre. 

About half of the backyard is grass (newly hydro~seeded)

and the other half of the backyard will be a potager style garden. 

My sweet husband has the tiller out and is working the soil.

Our house is located in a newer subdivision that was built on an old farm.

In fact, the folks that owned the farm live just a hop and skip away, and they are very happy and proud to have developed this subdivision.

 One of my favorite things about our new house is the nightly sunset shows. 
Every night, we have the most spectacular sunsets.

 We placed our wood swing on the patio, and it has become our new nightly routine to swing and watch the sunset.

New name for our home: Harvest Homestead

 New:
 ~We've planted 6 new trees. 
~My sweet husband has continued to place the privacy slats into the fence.
~ We have a 'new' clothesline. A friend was moving and offered to let us have their clothesline. It's now installed and I just need to give it a new coat of paint and new line, then it will be perfect.
~New this week: I pulled my car into the garage... hee hee.. finally after weeks of putting things away and emptying boxes out of the garage, I was able to make room for my car... Yay!

Wishing you all a happy week. 
I hope you are all enjoying the last weeks of summer.

Scary~~not scary???

 When you were a kid, was there a house in your neighborhood that was old, and a bit scary looking? 
We had one in our neighborhood, and we never, ever went to that house to trick or treat!

 Looking back now, I imagine that some of those old scary houses were houses that these days I most decidedly would not think were scary. 
Rather, great old houses that needed fixing up!

 On my walk yesterday morning, I noticed several 'scary' looking houses that need some love, and some other houses that once may have been 'scary'  looking, but are getting some much-needed attention and renovation.

 Scary house? Or not a scary house?
Not scary, in my book.

 Not scary...

 Old, old wire fence...not scary.
Weeds... a bit scary.

 Lastly, this house...admittedly, a bit scary.
Nope... I wouldn't trick or treat at this house!
Although, the renovator and old house lover in me can see a ton of potential in this old house. 
Hopefully, someday there will be a person that loves this old house and takes it from scary to not scary.

                             Wishing you all a not scary Halloween!  

~ All around the cottage ~

 All around the cottage, it's been blooms, birds and building fences.
All good things ~ all things that make my heart smile.

The hostas are thriving this summer. They were all gifts to me, from a gardening friend in Spring City.

Daisies and yellow buttercup, all abloom.
How I love the cheerful, sunny yellow buttercups.

We've had quite a few visitors to the bird feeder.
That little guy that the arrow is pointing to, we only saw once.  Does anyone know what kind of bird he is? His chest was such a dark rusty color, contrasting with the very blue of his head. I'd love to know what he is called.

Cute robin sitting on the shepherds hook.
My sweet husband just took down the feeder this past weekend. Now that the meadow is green and growing again, it will be good for the birds to forage for bugs. When it turns cold again, we'll put the feeder back out.

Not everyone thinks magpies are cute, but I kind~a do. I don't mind sharing a bit of bird seed with the magpies and the black birds.

 We've had storm, after storm. Rain showers almost daily.
You can see the mountain tops cloaked in a rainy mist.
I really can't explain why Mr. Farmer insists on running the wheel lines 24-7?! {the farm to the East of us}
Around Mill Hill Meadow, we've shut off the sprinkler system. The Lord has provided enough rain to water our lawns and gardens.

One thing that the rain has sort~a helped out with, is the ground has been softened and it makes digging fence posts much easier.
My sweet husband has gotten a big section of the fencing done.
It's turning out awesome, and the fence will be a perfect backdrop for future plant, shrubs, flowers, and herbs. I would like to grow some Virginia creeper along a few sections of fence as well.

 Something the rainy weather didn't help out with; the painting of the garden shed.
However, in between storms, the garden shed finally got done.
It turned out so cute!
Don't you just love that old Maytag?! Yep~~ that's the 1939 beaut. that my sweet husband rescued from the landfill. Poor thing.. it was destined to be smashed and left to rust. 
Happy to have it here at Mill Hill Meadow now!

 I could not love the sweet 1940's style shutters any more!!
My sweet husband built them for the garden shed.
Not a necessary feature, but one I simply adore, and I am so over the moon with how darling they are.
Simply darling.

~ Attitude of gratitude:
~ I am feeling thankful for everyday sweet and tender mercies.
A smile, a kind word, sunshine {when it's not raining} flowers blooming, a sit on the front porch.
Quiet reflective prayer, and thanksgiving for all my blessings.
~Grateful for Mill Hill Meadow.  This month marks 13 months since we moved here.
At the homestead, I was completely over ~whelmed. With all the property and outbuildings, there was never a spare minute. Lists, lists, and more lists, and demands on our time.
Here at Mill Hill Meadow, I am once again enjoying sweet summer time. I'm enjoying reading, and baking, taking long walks daily, crafting, decorating, organizing and keeping home.
Most of all, I am grateful to be happy.

                                ~~ A little summer~time wreath I made for the garden shed.~~

~ 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.

Rusty.......the good and the bad.

 Old homestead.
Look what caught my eye...
the rusty wire loop fence.

 I have long been a huge fan of the old wire loop fencing.
You can still buy it.
But it is tremendously expensive.
Much more that chain link, wood, or vinyl fencing.
Most of the old wire loop fencing that I've seen, has been a pretty standard pattern.

 This was the first time that I had ever seen this pattern of wire loop fencing.
I love the little wire looped circle at the top, and the way the finer gauge wire is woven between the sections.

 This is the pattern of wire loop fencing that is more commonly seen.
This roll of wire loop fencing is in the back of 'big green'.
We picked it up at the landfill.
For free.
With permission of course.
Rusty yes.... but the good kind of rust.

 An entire roll of wonderfully rusty wire loop fencing.
Just perfect.
I'm hoping that there is enough to go all the way around my garden boxes.
I'm wanting to have a beautiful potager's garden, with this gorgeous wire loop fencing around it.

 Bad rust.
A 'before' picture of one of our three corrals.
Far too rusty for corrals.

Brooke working on getting the corrals painted.
A pair of rubber disposable gloves, then a pair of cotton jersey work gloves over the top.
Dip palms of hands into five gallon bucket of paint.
Incredibly fast and effective painting of metal pole corrals!!
My thanks to my step father in law for this tip.
He has worked at the church farm for many, many years, and let us know that this is the way they do out at the church farm.

 Naturally, Rowdy supervised the project.
He managed to stay out of the way , and not get any paint on him.

Done.
The corrals look brand new!
Bad rust ... taken care of.

Attitude of gratitude:
~I'm grateful that we have had safety with us as we have had to travel up and down the
freeway several times this week.  Six hours or more of being on the freeway.
Safe and sound travel.
~I'm grateful that we were able to pick up our new trailer and A.T.V.'s without incident.
~I'm grateful that the good guys over at Gunnison Implements were able to give us 50% off
of motor cycle helmets for the whole family.