Old Chair Gets New Life

The first picture is of a sad old chair that my husband salvaged from a construction site he worked at about six years ago. We had it in our office for 3 years...it was not quite as dirty...but it wasn't pretty either. I got a new chair for the office about three years ago and this chair went out to the garage. It was there that it acquired the lovely patterns of grease, dirt and grime. Now that I have a little studio in my basement, Eddie thought I could use the chair. It is a very comfortable chair, but the look was a little less than inviting. I decided to cover it with some material that my mother-in-law sent me when she cleaned out some of her supplies. I think it looks great.

Bicycle Rack

This unique bicycle rack is just one of many throughout the small historic village of Schuylerville, NY. They are all painted in bright colors and make unique functional sculptures. They are made at the Bike and Board Shop on the main street of town. I just think they are a cute addition to a quaint old village.

Carousel House

This beautiful home is located in the small historic village of Stillwater, NY. The owners have used the unique design of the house to incorporate a carousel theme into the porch with painted wooden horses. It is very eye catching and beautiful. The top level of the home is hidden a bit behind the tree, but it caps off the carousel perfectly.

Antique Show

Today Eddie and I went to an Antique Show at the Washington County Fairgrounds. It was giant! All of the buildings at the fair were filled! We walked around for at least two hours. We loved many of the old furniture items. I loved the windows, and many other things. I have never been to a show this big. We will have to remember to go next year...and maybe put a little money aside to splurge on something. I wish we had a bigger and more antique home that we could furnish with antique show finds! It was a nice day though!

Window Wonderland

I have recently become very interested in collecting windows to reuse in creative ways. I have collected the ones I currently have by roadside finds. Although I have some great ones, I loved some of the many windows we saw at the antique show today. I did not buy any of them, but I wish I could have had all of them!

Salt and Pepper Shakers

I love these salt and pepper shakers that I inherited from my Grandmother. They originally belonged to my Great-Grandmother. They are two sided, showing a Before and After view of a married couple! I think they are so cute.

Campfire Cabin

We have been enjoying our backyard campfire area for several years. Eddie has wanted to put a lean-to type of a cover near the fire pit for a while. During the past couple of weeks he finally made his vision a reality. There is a concrete slab under it that was there from when this used to be an operating dairy farm. He made the furniture that is in it too! A piece of lattice will be added as a back wall when we get the chance. I will also now have a place to store all of my campfire cooking gear! This has been great since he made it. We can sit under it during the day and it provides a nice shady area to relax. It also makes a nice area to sit by the fire even if there is a light rain. We have enjoyed it many times already!

Green Bean Harvest 2009

This was our first harvest of our green beans this year. I was able to freeze 11 quart bags from this picking. I have a Foodsaver but I decided to try the new Ziploc vacuum seal freezer bags and they work great. The beans taste great and we are eating them with dinner often. I have also given some to my parents to enjoy. I am sure we will have this many at least one more time.

Chicken Coop and Chicken Tractor

The chicks that I posted about a couple of months ago have grown up. It turned out that 6 of the 25 chicks were actually roosters. Until today, all of the chickens shared the large coop as well as common land to free range. Since we planned to keep 12 chickens for the purpose of egg laying and the others for meat, the roosters will be the first to go. In order for us to eat them, they must be separated from the hens for one month because we feed them all medicated starter. We need to have the roosters free of the medicated food for at least a month to be sure the meat is clear of any medication. In order to get the roosters separate from the hens, Eddie built this portable coop, called a chicken tractor. It is 12 feet long by 5 feet wide. There is a hanging waterer, a roost and a place for food. It can be moved around the pasture so that they are still able to benefit from the natural bugs and plants the others have access to. Their feed will be non-medicated and in a little more than a month, Eddie will get to practice butchering a chicken. He has found several online sources to help learn how to do this. One site that he keeps returning to is this one: http://www.butcherachicken.blogspot.com/ It is very informative and he has links to many other blogs and sites that are helpful. For more pictures of chicken tractors, you can visit www.thecitychicken.com

Freecycle Windows

I recently discovered the website http://www.freecycle.org/ and joined my local group. On my very first day I scored these great windows. The person had found them on the side of the road herself several years ago and never used them. They are moving and needed to get rid of them. Great luck for me. On the same day, I also scored a complete set of kitchen cabinets, countertops and center island. These were from a woman who has cancer, lost her job and has to sell her house to move in with her daughter. A kitchen upgrade was done to get the house sale ready and her old cabinets are now in her way. Eddie and AJ are going to pick them up on Friday. We will use them in the garages and AJ's animal area. I suggest that you check out your local freecycle site. It is great for getting rid of and acquiring great things!

Sweet Inspirations Car Show

After leaving the Renaissance Festival we stumbled on this great car show and diner. We stopped in for a bite and the food was great. I had a fish fry sandwich, Eddie had a pulled pork sandwich and AJ had a burger with the works. Great Drive-in Diner food. After walking around and checking out all of the cars, we headed home. A very full day!

Sterling Renaissance Festival

We took AJ to the Sterling Renaissance Festival yesterday. This spring, when we asked him what he would like to do over the summer, his first answer was to find a Renaissance Festival to go to. I found this one from their website http://www.sterlingfestival.com/ and it looked great. It was about 3.5 hours away. We had a great day! The weather was perfect, about 70 degrees and sunny. The festival winds through paths in the cover of trees. There were amazing artisans, fun shows, delicious foods, interactive roaming actors and entertaining games. AJ spent $10 buying tomatoes to throw at a restrained rogue! Eddie earned a "woody" award for a bullseye axe throw and a "hammer" award for ringing the bell at the top of the tower. The quality of the artisans was great. Many of the visitors wore period clothing as well as the villagers. I took over 150 pictures and it was hard to choose just a few to put in this post!

The brochure stated the following:

"The year is 1585. You have entered the village of Warwick, England, a small country town not far from the bustling city of London. Step through the gates of beautiful Warwick and you will soon find yourself greeted by the town's jubilant citizens, who will warmly welcome you as one of their own. Villagers, both fair and foul have left their work and their worry to prepare this festival day in celebration of a rare visit from Queen Elizabeth and her court as she sojourns through the English countryside."

Great Roadside Find!

I was driving home from work and spotted this unique window leaning on a tree with a $5 sign on it! What a great deal! I am not quite sure yet how I will use it, but it is so cute. It is 64 inches tall by 16 inches wide.

Memory Box

I have been holding on to this cigar box since my son was born almost 15 years ago. It was a box of "It's a Boy" cigars that we passed out in celebration of his birth. It has been used to store several things over the years, the last of which was tubes of oil paint. I was inspired by Cathe Holden's project on her blog "Just Something I Made," to make this memory box to hold pictures and momentos from my son. I covered it with scrapbook paper and some duplicate photos that I had from when he was little. I used some upholstry tacks and string to make a latch for the top. It looks great sitting in my office and I have filled it with some of the things that were scattered about on the bookshelves collecting dust. He even thought it was cute!