Guest room

 

We have a small 4 bedroom house. When we first moved here we had a steel construction business. I did the book work so I had a separate office. So our room and the office were on the main floor. Now my husband works in the Bakkin and I don't have to do the books anymore so I turned the office into our guest room. Our guestroom used to be upstairs but it was hard for my mom to walk the steps so I moved it all down here. The room that used to be our guest room is now my craft (make) room. . . much funner than an office.

I have a lot of white, mostly white thru out the house so I like to add a whisper of color to each room. I decided to go with red in this room. I just love the old red and white quilt. I got it and another one at a flea market for 20 bucks. That's the best 2 for twenty deal I know of. I made the chenille shams from an old bedspread. I ordered the drapey pillow cases from a sweet shop on Etsy. (I didn't save the shop owner, my bad). I found the mattress ticking sheet at Good Will. I like the way it breaks up the white coverlette from the quilt. The old iron headboard doesn't quite fit the queen bed but it works. The blue dress and bonnet were mine when I was a little girl. My Gramma made them for me to wear in a centennial parade. I found the cupboard at The Market Place, one of my favorite antique malls. It was painted an ungodly barn red (not original) and someone did a horrible job trying to *distress* it. The night stand was part of an old desk, I just separated them and now I have 2 side tables. The lamp was my Grammas and my sister gave me the cute little clock when I was in the hospital several years ago. The antique sampler was a Christmas gift from a friend years ago.

This is a really small bedroom, there is barely room to walk around the bed and chair, but I put it there anyway. I just love the mirror. I love dark wood with white. The paint color on the walls is Antique White by Glidden. This window over looks the patio so I keep the curtain closed, to add more privacy I used a roller shade. The hardware was already there, I guess Gramma used them too at one time.

The little lidded red box was a flea market find, I use it to hide the unsightly internet modem. I just love the sweetie.

It's Sunday, football day. Hope you all have a relaxing Sunday. Thanks for stopping by. 

just in time. . . another quilt. . .

I went out and about yesterday. . .actually I was having withdrawls, I hadn't been junkin shopping for so long I needed a fix. I am a quilt horder, I just love the workmanship that goes into each one. I'd sure like to hear the stories they could tell. They can be pricey, but I justify the price if it is less than $100.00. A new and less than impressive king size quilt for our bed would be much more. I'm not one to go out and buy a Bed-in-a Bag. The nice thing about a collection is I can switch out the quilt and have a new refreshed look.

 



I tossed this  one on the back of the wicker chairs on the patio, handy now that the evenings are starting to cool off.



 

 

The metal cabinet in the background used to be government green and had glass doors kinda like a lawyers bookcase. I took the doors off and made a batch of what I call instant age. . . vinegar, salt and ammonia. I use it to keep my flower pots and garden tools within reach. .  .a can of bug spray close by is always handy too.

 

 

This is my go to spot in the mornings. A cup of coffee, the AM radio playing Tradio. What's that you ask. .  .it's a radio program they play Mon-Fri. People call in with stuff to buy, sell, trade (thus the name) or give away. Most of it is farmers looking for equipment, a lot of people selling tires and the such. But there are good things too. I just missed an old farm sink for 25 bucks, someone beat me to it. I did however get an awesome Hoosier cabinet for $100.00. The sweet old man described it as an *old pine cupboard*. . . I'll give the details of that later. .  .

 

 

This is babies breath from my garden. I love it, it's so dainty, smells good and lasts forever. The greenery is a Hoya, I have WAY too many Hoyas. And, the greenhouse flat is from a Greenhouse in MN, I found it at a picking I got to go on. I was at my fav nursery last summer and a truck with that name on it pulled up to unload fresh plants. . . so they're still doing business.

 

 

 

I have more to share so be sure to check back.

 

 

 

Have a cozy weekend

 

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.

 

 

 

 





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

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 ~