What you might need to know

Some background

My mom noted she did not like the name of the blog.  Of course she has misunderstood where the name came from [my horses name is Yousolong] and that it speaks to my not getting my first house until I was over 40... it took SO LONG.  Oh and our builder flaked, in more ways than one, so it took SO LONG to build, and it will take SO LONG to finish.  The name has nothing to do with saying goodbye or loss, it's just a play on words/names, a way to memorialize my horse.

I meant to write a New Years blog nearer to the actual New Years eve/day.... but the 'Outlaw', as I call her, was here and between feeling like a bad hostess for working on my hutch much of the time she was here and not really being prepared for guests [they never did tell me when they were coming, who was staying here or how long they were staying until the day they came, so I adopted the 'Poor planning on your part will not constitute an emergency on mine' motto and just let D handle most of it- which meant ordering out pizza and beds not being made and did the things I intended to do, wanted to do]...  Anyway I felt badly enough with all that that I never did sit down and write my New Years blog that I had started in my head.

What you might need to know
Basically my intention this year for SoLongFarm Blog [SLF] is for SLF to be more about 'the farm' and to include my actual life, thoughts, etc.

In that vein I also want the blog to be more 'authentic' which has become such a cliche word to use, but I can not think of another, so there it is.  That is not to say it has not been honest, but there are times I screw up things with my Late Bloomers Furniture [LBF] and bite my tongue about it.  I think now though that my mistakes and blog are better used in their entirety- that is to say we can all learn from my mistakes.  Why would I withhold that from you all?

Yes, in many ways I feel that revealing that I am not the paint whiz some are or not the decorating diva others are could hurt my desire for SLF to help LBF to gain interest and thus sales... but in the end I am what I am as Popeye says and feel out of touch with the 'Martha Stewart, I can do it all while dying of the flu' types.  I hope no one takes that the wrong way, cause it certainly is not meant as a 'slam', other than maybe at myself.  The thing is I envy those people, I would love to be like them, but the reality is I am not, and it is not in me to pretend either.

So hang with me because it might get messy, it might not always be pretty and I may have days I blog about how incredibly hard it is to be the mother of 1, wife, animal welfare advocate, entrepreneur, owner of a retired older horse,  and daughter/advocate for a man who has prostate cancer that is most likely progressing or spreading [or both], and dementia and who is my father... but kinda' isn't.  Did I mention that in addition to some days being messy, it might get downright confusing?  Hey, I've lived it and some days I forget who's on first!

To get back to the SLF being about more 'reality', the final 'What you need to know' tidbit:

We [sister, brother, and I] put our 80 year old father in a home last spring.  In cleaning out his barn I found a treasure I was sure had gone up in flames 38 years ago, my grandmothers diary.  It is from 1937, Grandma Cecile Azuba was 34, living on a dairy farm in upstate NY with Grandfather Harry John, my father Harry James, and Aunt Joyce Evron.  She cooked, well into 1970's, on a wood fired stove and was a multi-tasker before the phrase was born.

Also in the barn I found a cache of photos, like these:

See the girl wrapped in the blanket with the young man?  That is my Aunt Joyce and her soon to be husband Ralph.

This is my Great Grandfather Devolson, and 2 horses dad identified, but I have lost the copy with their names on it... one I think was Jip.

I am going to add her diary entries to the blog for you all to enjoy, and for my family to easily access.  Hitting several birds with one stone, you see?  So without further ado, playing catch up, here are Grandma Ceciles entries from Jan 1-4th, 1937:

On the Personal Memoranda page it states:
Cecile A Cardner
born Nov., 13th 1903
weight 100
height 5'2"
shoe size 4 1/2
[Grandma was tiny like me.... or I am tiny like her]


Friday January 1
Nice day no snow at all.  Harry found twin calves in the barn both died.  Rena, Bertina, Ethel, Jimmy, Joyce, and I went skating over on the pond.  Bertina is staying all night with us.  Ethel went home with Rena to stay all night.  Harry plowed today.  Percy's were over to Roberts.


Saturday January 2
Harry and Marcellus went to Ithaca and Binghamton.  It stormed quite hard the ground was white.  Rena, Bertina, Franklyn, Joyce, James, Ethel, and I went skating, fell down a few times.  We all went over to Roberts in the after noon.


Sunday January 3
The snow is nearly gone this morning.  Went over to Roberts in after noon. Aunt Ella feeling better.  Aunt Pearl, Frederick, and Beverly came after Ethel in evening they stayed a little while.


Monday January 4
Eva, Momma, and I went to Cortland.  Eva and I attended the clothing meeting at the Home Bureau office and made pressing pads.  Did some shopping and so on.  Momma visited Aunt Etta Jones.  I changed my slippers.  Bertie Bean is better so he is home.  It was real cold.  School began this morning after Christmas vacation.


What you might need to know
My Grandmother was a real farmers wife who did all her own needle work, including sewing, needlepoint, hand hooked rugs, knitting and crocheting and apparently teaching these skills at the Grange and Home Bureau.  She kept her own house, helped in the barn, and was very involved with her family and town happenings.  Robert is her brother who lived just down the road past her mothers house, also just down the road and hill.  Rena was her cousin and shared her interest in sewing.  Cortland is about 30+ miles away, as the crow flies, from the farm [which still stands to this day] and Ithaca is further.  The travel they did, in 1937, and the dead of winter is just incredible to me.  To think I have central air, set at above 60*, and a modern car, and tend to not venture out in this weather instead huddling with my hands wrapped around a steaming mug.... I'm ashamed.

Skating is something my father taught my sister and I, taking us both on his snowmobile onto the same pond my Grandmother writes about them skating on in 1937.  My first memory of skating is probably from when I was 4, so I have now been skating 40 years and am enjoying teaching my son on the pond in the woods near our house.

Finally, moving back to Late Bloomers business... here is the hutch I worked on over the Christmas week:

Before and during

Now

It is painted in what I thought was Beluga, that I painted the chairs with, that turns out to be called 'Deep Space'.   My new favorite dark color.

Left to do:

- Finish out the upper doors, minus that lovely [COUGH] yellow glass... I am considering using that radiator metal I've wanted to use on something for so long.... or maybe a stenciled panel... not sure

- I plan to wallpaper the bottom like I did the China Cabinet, then add back on those doors, minus the center one.  I think I'll try leaving the center one off and using baskets or something else there.

- I am making a small 'lift' for the hutch top, not because the coffee maker does not fit under there [IT DOES!!!!], but because I need to be able to pass those power cords [plural because the toaster is moving here too] through the back.  Moving these two appliances here will move traffic out of my kitchen, AND free up some counter space I grudgingly allowed them to occupy for now.  I am so excited to get that done!

So, belatedly,....  Happy New Years my friends!

A virgin no more

I have never ever reupholstered anything, and I'm not sure this counts as 'reupholstering' in every sense, but still I am very proud.

I bought these Sat. in a frenzy that sets in when you realize 'Every relative we have is descending upon us for the Holidays' and you have 2 chairs in your kitchen.

We chose them for the price, $40 for all 4, for the quantity, and for the fact that it appeared the seats could easily be removed and reupholstered.

Here they are so far:

I removed the plastic that was covering the seats and then just put this fabric, a remnant I had from my valances I made in the kitchen, over the fabric that was already there.  LOVE the result!

I'm debating tackling the folding chairs we also snapped up... perhaps covering those seats in the complimentary Rooster upholstery fabric remnant I have.

And yes, next I am sanding the already reupholstered chairs and painting them [black]... but I killed the sander yesterday [OY!] so I am off to Home Depot first to see if it can be fixed, or cheaply replaced.   I also killed the iron.  Apparently it was not a good day for electronic devices in this house, and I kept my paws off the sewing machine for obvious reasons.  Does HD sell irons?  Cheap?

See the theme here [cheap]?

Alas a horse rescue friend is injured, so I have offered to go over and help her with her horses today... so HD and the chairs will have to wait 'til after that. S'all good.

Update:

The Sander?  Dead.  Sheared off the sander head.  

HD dudes advice, 'Don't press so hard.  Let the sander do the work'.

Easy for him to say.

I bought a quart of Behr [with primer] in  Beluga Deep Space and I love it!  It was a bit too blue on the brush, but dries a fantastic black.  What do you think?

Must dash to get the other 3 painted, the seats reattached and the house put together for the pilgrimage of Outlaws due to arrive... who knows when.  Apparently it is a secret when they will arrive, where they want to stay, and who exactly is coming.  My new mantra:

Poor planning on their part will not become a crisis on mine....

Poor planning on their part will not become a crisis on mine....

Poor planning on their part will not become a crisis on mine....

I so envy all those bloggers who so serenely and peacefully glide into the Holidays... I expect this to all come together with a resounding thud here.  *sigh*

Saturday Score

So today the husband, child and I headed out to see what Habitat for Humanity Restore had in store for us.
Oh the treasures!
They had the desk with hutch top I want... but it was too pricey for our budget.
They had a replacement kitchen hutch, but it wasn't juuuust right, so I passed.  They had several other furniture items, that were really lovely, but not right for where ever I meant to put them.

What we did find were 4 nice chairs to go with the pedestal table we bought last month.  With company coming for the holidays, and now even more company I had no idea about... we needed chairs.
We had 2, rickety, ugly chairs and the banquette... now we have these 4 chairs and the banquette.

These will get sanded, stained dark like the table, and in that box in the center I want to stencil an acorn/oak leaf stencil.  I have fabric left over from the valances that I can recover the seats with and they will be lovely!  All 4 chairs were $40!  And hubby sat on them to see if they were sturdy enough so they're solid.

I also was looking for an old window to make my sister an Xmas present.  She had seen an item at a craft show where someone took a window and somehow floated pictures in the panes to make it like a frame.
I scored this gem for that project:

Let's hope those security thingamabobs are not too hard to get off.

H4H wanted $5 for it.

I also picked up a cute hunt scene folding table for $5.  Then I found some simple wooden shelf brackets that were $1 each to put shelves in my laundry room, and an acorn shaped finial for $1.

Then we headed over to this thrift shop I had heard of, driven passed, wondered about but been too afraid to venture in solo.

WHAT A FIND!!!

First thing I spotted as we walked up was another metal doll crib like the other one I bought to make into a dog bed.  I was certain the guy would want too much.

He only wanted $10!!

Then inside I spotted these folding chairs.  Again we're pathetically short on chairs for the masses it appears are headed to our house for the holidays... so these will be awesome!

Cute right?  Again, $10!  TOTAL!

And finally, I spotted this... I have wanted one for my master bath for ages to go with the Asian/bird theme in there.  Too often they are way too pricey for me to snap up.  When he mentioned $5 I thought I would fall over.

It will go over the corner of my tub area after a good cleaning and light paint job

It's hard to see in this picture but the towel bars are bamboo look, and the walls around the tub are stenciled in a green/green meandering vine pattern.  I have some other verdigris, bird items in there as well [hooks, magazine rack, etc] so this bird cage will just finish her off.

I also found a cute shelf to place between the mirrors over the vanity... it was just too large of a blank space.  This will finish it off nicely with the bird plate I picked up last year at Pier 1.  Shelf was $5

I could have bought a million things in that shop.... so, still scared to venture in there alone, but now in a good way!

Hope you had a great Saturday... and now I'd better get busy!!

Ta Da!!

Ok, so nothing here is ever, truly done... but here it is

I am getting sick of black paint... between this and the 2 file cabinets that just don't seem to want to take paint... I'm almost over it.

Dog beds

The twin beds

The '4 Poster'

And the fabric just came!!!

It is not as pink as it looks in the pic, and the white is more ecru/antique white like the bed and the red is cranberry.

Here are a few others I am working on, I have 2 of these metal cribs to redo:

And these are the wooden file cabinets I'll put in my family room as end tables once repainted.

I sanded them yesterday

Yes, Progress!!

So, I got the China Cabinet top in the house, positioned, and I think it looks fabulous!

Yes there is a middle door to be put back on, but I really could not wait to share!

As a reminder, here's the 'before'

Remember the mirrored back?

And I also picked up my new projects today... 3 armoires

They have a rod, but the also have holes all the way up to position the 3 shelves that came with.

No idea really how I will redo these yet.  First they need a good sand, some holes filled, and some Kilz to hide the knots.  By the time I have all that done, I will have come up with some finish theme.

Suggestions welcome.

Progress? Sort of

The twin and the four poster dog beds have 2 coats of paint on them.
The fabric for the mattresses and duvets, visions of which have been dancing in my head for weeks now, is ordered [had to order, they did not have anything at my local Joanne] and on it's way.

The twin white beds are being done with red/cream mattress ticking mattresses, topped with a coordinating red/cream toile duvets [though there will be more to them than just toile].
The metal bed I have not touched yet as I am still trying to find the pinstriping tape, but the material for that one is ordered too, a darling lamb and blue fabric since I intend to keep some of the original blue on it and the one lamb.
The black 4 poster is the last one needing material.  I'm torn between doing the red/cream toile/ticking on it as well, or a black/cream ticking/toile [cliche?], or something completely different.
Thoughts?

Today I head out to pick up a big load of furniture.  There are a few pieces I'll sell, and a couple pieces for me that I have been searching for forever.  Once those 2 items I am keeping are here and painted, I can clear out the Family room, put in the carpet, and rearrange everything Juuuust so.

There's also a hutch nearby that could serve to replace the one I sold from my kitchen  and have regretted ever since...  spending that much more $$ though scares me a little [there's a reason I go into this venture in the first place, I'm a cheapskate!]  I'm thinking I'll play waiting game for the price to come down.
What's meant to be will be, right?  I spent quite some time the other day on Craigslist with a notebook, and a map looking at the plethora of hutches out there... I fell in love about a dozen times.  I need a bigger house!  Alas, most of them were too far away to make it feasible to snap them up.

In between all that I've been making dog sleeping bags [Xmas gifts] and stockings for our dogs, and one for my dad in the home.  The house is somewhat decorated, I made one of the wreaths I wanted to make,  menus for when my family and then the Outlaws come to visit are planned in my head, and MOST of my Xmas shopping is done!  That is the real relief right there.  My kid made out very well between Goodwill and the Toys R Us Star Wars Lego sale [there IS a God!].
If I could go back in time and invent Legos...... *sigh*
Why are those plastic connecting blocks SO expensive?

For want of about 2 dozen nails the China Cabinet would be done.  I really should finish her up when I get done writing here, so it can go out into the garage, get it put together, photographed, and sold.  A local business owner with lots of traffic offered for me to post a flier at her shop of whatever item I am selling.  That is an awesome offer I should jump on, and getting the China Cabinet nailed shut, literally, would be the perfect first item to advertise there.

My mom gave us the best gift this year, 6 month membership at the YMCA!  We went last night and hubby and I, in all our flabby-ness, worked out while my son played in their 'Kids Cave' where he gets to play with a Wii without me shelling out $$ for one!  Then we 3 went for a swim during family swim time!  After a month of working out at the Y, I'll be in better shape for skating on our pond when it finally freezes, and hopefully by spring I'll be ready to bike [so I need to save up for that Mountain  bike I want].

Finally, there is a lovely rescue horse who needs her beauty shots done so we can advertise her and find her true home.  This poor girls is just a gem... if I could take her I would snap her up.  I know it seems like I say that about each one, but truly there are about 4 I really mean it about... each one a potential 'heart horse' who I simply met at the wrong time.  While that is sometimes depressing to think about [all those lovely horses I can not have] it is also heartening that when I am ready for the next one, I'm fairly certain one will come along.  The best I can do now is take lovely pictures of her so her home can be found.  I'm trying to find time in the weekend for that as well.

Now, where did I put that hammer?