July 11, 2013

Dovetail Homestead 100 years old

Good Morning to you !
 
Dovetail homestead is the homestead where my dad was born and raised. His grandparents migrated to America from Norway. I did spend a lot of time there as a child. It just didn't seem like that big of a deal to me then. The homestead is still being farmed by my dads cousin and his grown son and grandchildren.
 
I'm so glad they chose to plant their roots deep there. They recently had a celebration honoring the past family, my Grandparents as well as my dad and his siblings and cousins. I was so humbled to walk on the very dirt my Great Grandparents also walked on.
 
The following pictures weren't taken by me (dead camera battery) but I thought I would share them anyway.
 
 
This is the one room schoolhouse my gramma attended as a child and later taught her children, their cousins, and the neighboring kids. The story goes there were 5 kids in her class when she was a child and 9 in my dads class.
 
 
 
 
 


 
 
The inside is so cool. It's still as it was when the last class attended it. There are a few desks, the coolest benches, blackboard, wood stove and even a coatrack complete with schoolhouse hooks. There is a small closet like area where the school marm stayed during the week because it was 30 plus miles to the nearest town.
 
 
This is the playground. I just love the feel of this photo. I can just hear the kids screetching on the merry-go round. I love that the swings are still in tact. At one point they were swaying in the breeze.
 


 


 
This is the sheep shelter. After my visit to the old homestead I have a new passion for sheep. That was the livelihood for my Great Grandparents and still so today.
 

 
 
The wood was taken from the surrounding land to make it.
 
My Gramma was born in January 1903. The closest town with a hospital was 52 miles away. So Great Gramma stayed in town due to the time of year and lack of transportation. Great Grampa walked those 52 miles to see her after she was born. It took him 3 days. He spent a few hours with his wife and new baby girl then walked back to tend to the big brothers still at home.
 
Before my Gramma died her niece sat down with her and got documentation of her life as a small child, as a farmers wife with 6 children and a school teacher. I have a copy as well as the recorded cassette tape. I will cherish it forever.
 
It's nice to know the roots of our family tree are firmly planted in Dovetail Montana.
 
 
 
 



July 10, 2013

Flowers after the storm

We had a monster storm whip thru here last night. Lots of rain, high winds, and hail. Most of the flowers fared well, but some were hit pretty hard. I cut some and dressed up a mason jar filled with zinnias, snow on the mountain, astilbe, and cranesbill geranium. I have several small arrangements scattered about both inside and out.




 
These are in the guestroom. My mom and her sister are coming for a visit today. I thought they would enjoy a little splash of color.
 
Once again, I was only able to make 2 of the photos X-large. Any advise on how to correct this?
 
 
 
Happy Wednesday

Flowers after the storm

We had a monster storm whip thru here last night. Lots of rain, high winds, and hail. Most of the flowers fared well, but some were hit pretty hard. I cut some and dressed up a mason jar filled with zinnias, snow on the mountain, astilbe, and cranesbill geranium. I have several small arrangements scattered about both inside and out.




 
These are in the guestroom. My mom and her sister are coming for a visit today. I thought they would enjoy a little splash of color.
 
Once again, I was only able to make 2 of the photos X-large. Any advise on how to correct this?
 
 
 
Happy Wednesday

July 9, 2013

Linen sofa and ticking chair

For the past year I was using canvas drop cloths to hide my ugly mico-fiber chocolate brown double reclining sofa. With 3 dogs and a hubby that comes home very dirty it just wasn't practical. The only time it looked good was when it came out of the drier. I searched for an easy care upholstery that looked like linen, since the real thing is so expensive. I found one. I just love it.






I recently refinished the hardwoods and painted the walls a nice cottage linen by Glidden. I was afraid the new sofa would blend in to the wall color to much, but I quite like the look of the 2 different colors of *linen*. I'm so glad I didn't have to re-paint the walls. I made the tall white cupboard at the end of the sofa. I made a door for it but decided to take it off  and use it to display my antique quilts, iron collection and old books. The yellow room in the distance is soon to be repainted. Its the front porch/entrance. We took the door off and since we never use it to come and go I use it for plants and the dogs dishes.


Here's the matching chair. I just love the stripes. They remind me of ticking fabric. I had a 1940's rocker before. And as charming as it was, it scratched my floors so bad and it wasn't really comfortable. This one is perfect !

 
 
 

 
Never mind the 500 pound refrigerator in the background of the last photo. New appliances are next on the list. I'm looking for a reproduction 1940's one. Not easy to find, and very spendy.
 
For some reason I can't make ALL of my photos X-large. Hmmmmm. One more thing to figure out in blog land.
 
I have more pictures (lots) to share. This is the first of many to come. . .
 
 

Once upon a time. . .

I have been thinking about starting a blog for over  year now. First I was going to wait until I got my new DSLR camera. That happened, no blog. Then I was going to wait until I got the floors refinished. That came and went, no blog. Then I decided I wasn't going to do one at all, so I sat on that decision for a long time. Now I changed my mind completely and decided to do it. Yes, I am about 5 years behind, oh well. . . I'm just going to do it.
 
I'm not good at progress photos, so I'm not going to have that kind of blog. I don't like putting all my *junk* out there so it's not going to be a *dear diary* blog. I do love to cook and entertain, but I'm not going to include that stuff in my blog. It's just going to be *Real * Simple * Style.
 
That suits me perfectly.
 
If you're reading this, Welcome. You can start this journey with me. I hope you like it, I so want to show off my home and passion for collecting primitives, antiques and all things old.
 
Stay Happy ~