Well, the holidays are over and we are officially entering into that time of year when keeping a positive outlook can be…challenging at best. Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, we have a tendency to do the whole pea soup fog thing from November til March. I don’t mind the incessant rain, but the fog really…
I know I just published a post on gifts you can feel good about, but can I be totally honest? Sometimes the holidays can be extremely stressful. And I don’t mean because of all the parties and celebrations. The holidays can be stressful because of…
It’s that magical time of year, when the Internet explodes with LOOK OVER HERE! and BUY THIS! and MAJOR SALE! Well, much as I hate to contribute to all that noise, I thought it might be helpful to share a few gift ideas. But instead…
Four years ago this week we signed papers on our 10-acre homestead in Oregon’s Willamette Valley. It was untouched, overgrown, unkempt and neglected. To everyone we knew, it seemed absolutely crazy. But to us, it was the realization of a dream. This place we named…
The kitchen. It’s my favorite room in any home. It’s the center of family life, where everyone knows they can come to find the most important things- Mom and food. Over the years I have had a wide variety of spaces to work with (check…
Unfitted kitchens– aka kitchens with little to no built-in cabinetry- have become all the rage on the Internet over the last few years. And for good reason. They’re cute! Cost effective. Easy to switch up. Character up the wazoo? But are they really all they’re…
Homesteading is a beautiful way of life, full of simple pleasures and tangible rewards. It takes us back to our roots and can be infinitely better for our health; reasons why so many people have gravitated towards this lifestyle. But in our modern era of…
When we bought our homestead in November 2020, it was the beginning of Winter, the landscaping was dormant and dead and we were entirely focused on getting the interior of our cottage to a livable state. And I use the term “livable” loosely. We lived…