Landscaping -- The Firepit

Landscaping took almost all summer. Like everything else, it was a bigger project than it appeared to be in the beginning. We met with a couple of landscapers before we chose one to go with.

Anyway, it began with the firepit.

Before - with only the very large stones we had put in when we had our retaining walls done

The completed firepit

The church youth group enjoying the finished firepit.

A New Friend, Huckleberry, Comes Home to the Farm

In January, we said goodbye to our much loved beagle, Buddy, so by March, we were ready to start thinking about a new dog for the farm. One Saturday morning Rebekah was scheduled to be on a float in an Easter parade, so while we waited for the parade to start, Emily and I went in to the local pet rescue shop. I should have known it would be impossible to get out empty handed. We immediately fell in love with a very quiet, sad looking fellow whose name was Newton. His foster family was there and they told us stories of what a great dog he was and how much they would like to have kept him but they already had 5 dogs. We called my husband and started the paperwork. It took over an hour -- and I had to run out in the middle of it to watch the parade and wave at Rebekah! But we came home with a new friend  --  and we changed his name to Huckleberry.

Huckleberry and Bryan

Huck is half lab and the other half they weren't sure about but thought perhaps Bull Mastiff. Some people have speculated boxer. He was born January 22 so he is currently six months old. He has grown ALOT.

[Thank you, Kelly G., for these two photos.]

Huckleberry loves to play in the pond . . . 

 

Play with chew toys . . .

Run through the grass. . .

Hang with dad . . .

Play in the sprinklers and swim in the creek.

He also loves to go for long runs/walks through the pasture with us.

Hiding under the deck with the shoe he stole from Emily!

Of course, he also does his share of typical puppy things  --  ie: chew things up  -- but all in all he is a very good dog. He is active but quiet. He seldom barks  -  even when we had six raccoons on the deck eating his dog food!

He currently weighs around 50 pounds. And the vet thinks he may top out around 80. At any rate, you are bound to see and hear more about Huck!

Finishing up the Basement

We worked a long time getting the basement painted and cleaned up. It looks so much better. I can't say it is really done because there isn't much furniture in it, but it is so nice to have it clean and painted.

Getting some pool games in

My basement spa bathroom

Looking into the 'movie room'

Missouri Can't Quite Shake Winter

We've had a couple of nice days lately. Warmer weather makes me very anxious for spring. We had a landscaper come out and talk with us about landscaping as well and that made spring seem so close. But the forecast is for wintry weather all this week in spite of March Madness. I realize I was too busy to post the winter photos so here is winter on Robinhood Lane.

One day Bryan and I went for a rideto the back of the acreage and checked out the winter wonderland. 

We saw lots of animal tracks and it was a beautiful scene. We did get stuck! Bryan got the tractor out and pulled us out.

In a more recent event, we discovered that not having a dog makes the geese come up closer to the house. 

It can be annoying to have goose poop on your sidewalk. 

But then the coyotes started coming up closer because they were after the geese!

We have had them come up really close twice now - both times around 10:00 am.

So, sadly for this coyote, it was his last attempt to catch a goose.

Living in My Beautiful Kitchen

It is hard to pick a favorite place, but my kitchen is definitely a great space. It is sunny and bright and spacious. I like the deep windowsill and the farmhouse sink. Great for washing those big pots.

Here you can see the two colors of granite counters.

I love cooking in this kitchen. It has taken me some time to decide how best to organize it,

 but that is a good problem to have!

It has been a few years since I cooked with gas, but I like it and am glad to get back to it.

The motawi tiles on the backsplash I showed close up on a previous post.

The white tiles are subway tiles and there is a green glass accent tile.

This picture shows my island and the great light fixtures!

 My old cookstove has it's own special place, next to the door to the pantry.

And on the other side is the butler's pantry, the breakfast nook and the door to my office.

This is the pantry.

So come on over for lunch!

Moving Into A New Home

Well, the weeks have flown by and we have been very busy unpacking and settling in. We also have very poor internet. Slow and very limited gigabytes. Ahh, life in paradise  --  other wise known as the boonies. [so loading pictures like these can be tedious and use up precious GB]

Leaving the old house . . .

 - a mess in the new.

We celebrated our first holiday in the new house! Thanksgiving! My sister and her daughters were our first guests. Then on to Christmas decorating - which was fun - and then we had a quiet Christmas.

Now the Christmas decorations are down and we are starting to settle in to a routine. We had to say goodbye to our dog, Buddy, so we've had our first burial on the property in January.

We are painting the basement - another slow project - but it will look great when it is done.

So my plan is to try to get some good photos of each room to show how it looks now. The walls are pretty bare. It is difficult to commit to hanging things on brand new walls!

I will say that I wake up every morning feeling so happy to be here! I know this is only my temporary home, but whether I live here a short time or a long time, I am so blessed. I do hope that I get lots of opportunities for hospitality so if you need a place to stay or want to come by for coffee -- you are always welcome here! AND hopefully I get to throw lots of parties. I think this could be a great party house - so please let me know any ideas you have for great parties!