Springtime!

It seemed like this winter was going to go on forever but this week everything seems to be coming to life again. God, I love this time of year.

Well, we've been here a year today! And we're still together, ha! Our real estate agent kept warning us how difficult this would be and that marriages sometimes don't make it through renovations.

It hasn't been luxury living by any stretch but it also hasn't been terrible, frozen pipes and $500 heating bills and all.  So, there's still a lot to be done and there probably always will be, but I think we're on our way to having the cool old house we always wanted.

Here are some photos I took this morning.

The chickens love to perch on this barrel.

Sugar snap peas sprouting, planted 2/1

This spinach made it through the winter.

Buds on the tree in front of the house.

Angry Bird

We thought our Rhode Island Red was so nice, but after we added the new chickens last summer, she showed her true nature. She's reeeallllly mean! She jumps on the tops of the younger birds and pecks at the back of their heads. They all look like they've lost chunks of feathers here and there from her. I don't think she actually hurts them, but we did see blood in the coop once. We've pretty much just let it be and resolved ourselves to watching the pecking order in action. The other chickens have learned to live with it, too, and for the most part and get out of her way when they can.

We're adding more garden space! I can't wait for Spring, I know the northeast has been hit way worse than NC but man, this has been one rotten winter.

Here are some new pots I've been working on. I've been obsessed with patterns lately.

A First for Us

A couple of weeks ago, our friends asked if we'd like to come over and help slaughter their chickens. We'd talked about this a lot and wanted to see the process in person so Aaron went over to help and learn.  I didn't expect it but he came home with a freshly killed chicken in a freezer bag. Thanks Eli and Carolyn!

I wanted to make a special meal from this chicken, so I simmered the whole bird for about 4-5 hours with some pot veggies. When the bird was tender I took about half of the meat and made a chicken pot pie. We ate it last night and it was delicious, great for a chilly night. I'm going to make soup from the remaining meat and broth. 

Here's a photo:

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 cups cooked chicken, chopped

• 1 cups chicken broth

• 1 purchased or homemade pie crust

• 1/4 cup butter

• 1 medium onion, chopped

• 1 large sliced celery stalk

• 3 carrots

• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour

• 1 cup half-and-half

• 1/2 cup frozen peas

• 1 egg, beaten

Preparation: In a large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, celery and carrots. Cook for about 3 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Stir in flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt (less if using salty broth) and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add the broth and milk; cook and stir until thickened and bubbling. Stir in chicken and peas; pour into a round casserole dish. Brush the edges of the casserole with beaten egg to help the pie crust adhere. Place pie crust over the mixture; cut to fit and crimp edges all around. Cut steam vents in top. If desired, re-roll and cut excess pastry into strips or decorative shapes and lay over the crust. Brush chicken pot pie with remaining beaten egg. Bake at 400° for 30 to 40 minutes, or until crust is browned.

The Last of the Fall Garden

This week I went out and gathered up what I could from what remains in the garden. We're supposed to get several nights in the 20's. There are still some carrots, beets and onions in the ground but they should do okay with the weather. We were surprised how big the carrots got so fast, I think it's because I planted them where the potatoes were so there was a lot of loose dirt for them to grow in. Here's a photo:

This week I'm catching up around the house. I've been so busy with getting ready for my Fall shows, everything else has taken a back seat. Yesterday I cleaned out the attic so that Aaron can put insulation up there this weekend. There's absolutely no insulation in this house and we feel like we've been wasting a bunch of money in heat that's going right through the ceiling. 

Fall Garden

This week we planted the fall vegetables in the new part of the garden. We put in lettuce, spinach, swiss chard, carrots, sugar snap peas, beets, onions and turnips. Some of them have already started sprouting, I can't wait for the lettuce.  It's been really cool in the mornings so it's much nicer to work out there before the day gets started. 

We also started harvesting the apples. It pretty much took all day yesterday to pick and wash the ones that were ripe. We're not sure what kind of apples they are, maybe golden delicious or pippin, they're greenish yellow, a little tart but not too tart. It doesn't really matter, they're pretty good! What a bonus, we didn't even know there was an apple tree here when we bought the place. 

The pears are starting to ripen too, I haven't had one that I thought was fully ripe yet, though. The lady that used to live here stopped by a couple of weeks ago and said the man who she bought the house from used to get his whoopings under that tree!

Here are some photos of outbuildings around Hurdle Mills... and some horses. There are so many cool old farm buildings around here. 

Strawberries and Carpel Tunnel

We dug up and brought these strawberry plants from the old house, they are full of red berries but they're not quite ripe yet. Mmmm. Oh and now you can see fruit on the cherry, apple and pear trees. I've been reading up on how to keep birds out of fruit trees. I think it would be cool if we actually got some fruit from them.

So Aaron had his appointments with the doctor last week and they confirmed that yes, it's carpal tunnel, no, he doesn't have nerve damage, but yes, he does need surgery. They say with the surgery he will be able to make a full recovery. So he's going to go ahead and do it as soon as school is over so he can use his hands pain-free again. It sucks but at least it can be fixed.

Last weekend we gave the deck away!! Yay! Thanks to Katya for setting that up. Now there's a big empty dirt area on that side of the house that's just screaming for some plants. I never quite started a garden from scratch before, it should be fun. I'd like to put plants in to attract hummingbirds and butterflies since this area is visible from the living room. And herbs. There's lots of room to work with and no hurry.

Last week I started the planning on the kiln. The concrete pad has been laid thanks to Aaron, the bricks have been ordered and new blowers are sitting in the living room ready. I just need to figure out how to replace them on the old burners. This time I'm making some adjustments to the design so the kiln lasts longer and I don't have to fire as often. Hopefully I'll get as good or better results from this one. I spent a bunch of time last week on the phone talking to the brick and burner guys, well worth it, because I had forgotten a bunch of stuff from last time.

Here's a couple more shots, Ted and the barn next door-

Let the sun shine in.

Our living room is no longer a cave! Yay. When we were considering buying this house the one big drawback was the total lack of natural light. Aaron came up with the idea of a big window on the south side of the living room and we're super happy with the results so far. We had the crew save the old windows when they replaced the windows in the rest of the house and then create a stationary window made up of 6 panes to make a picture window in the living room. It's not finished yet but it's making a huge difference in the feel of the house already.

The porch, roof and siding are almost done too. Our plan was to make the porch into a sunroom but we're not sure if we'll even get to that, it's pretty nice as a regular porch. We're having to readjust a little on what we're going to be able to do since Aaron was diagnosed with carpal tunnel last week. His hand has been bothering him for a while now and I think all the work he's been doing lately has aggravated it, like maybe tearing off the side of a house? Anyway, they're going to run tests to see how bad it is. We're just hoping he doesn't need surgery.

We're not sure what to do with the deck that used to be attached to that side of the house. Any ideas? Anyone need a deck?

I spent the weekend out in the garden weeding and edging the beds with the siding we took down from the addition. It worked really well, I think it'll keep the weeds down a little. Plants are going to go in this week.

The studio is set up... finally. I really like the set up so far. I think it needs a little more light though, but that's easy enough to deal with. I'm going to build myself a better wedging table but other than that it's done.

Here a couple of random shots, tulip poplar and happy dog.