My First Garden at the Farm

OK... So, it has been a while since I posted anything from the farm. Well, we have accomplished a lot of things since my last posting. We started a garden and it is looking great. We demolished the back porch and rebuilt it (More on that in my next post). And, we cleared more land next to the house to give us a better view.

So let’s talk about the garden...

I had grand plans for a garden when we bought the property. And a grand plan usually equals lots of hard work. This is no exception. Trying to decide how much garden to plant was a challenge. We had to remove an old tree and its stump because it was located where I wanted to plant my corn.

I have never had a garden this big.  I had lots of things I wanted to try growing. So, I thought I would just try them all.

 I planted:  Green Beans, Lima beans, Speckled Butter Beans, Crowder Peas, Okra, Corn, Cabbage, Tomatoes, Potatoes and Cantaloupe.

Anyhow, I planted the garden and let
God do the rest.

I am linking up at:   Cozy Home Scenes: Your Cozy Home Party
Savvy Southern Style:   Wow Us Wednesday

Something Beautiful to Behold

I normally post something about the house we are working on. But, today I wanted to show some of the beauty  that surrounds the home. Every property has its good points and bad points. In the case of this property, the house is what was the problem. The land is something special. Like a storybook forest some areas are just too beautiful to explain. I hope the photos do it justice.

 I do not know what the little blue flowers are. But, they are everywhere.

The Addition

OK, it has been a month since my last post. Sorry for the delay but, we have been busy. The addition of the master bedroom and bath has been something I have been looking forward to for a long time.

Let the Light Shine In

It is amazing what a difference replacing the old windows has made. I know they would let in more light but... WOW.

 Anyhow, we found most of these windows and the doors at a local discount building supply company.  Hey, half off works for me.

A New Foundation.

Now that we have stabilized the old house. It is time to start on the new part of the house. We are adding a new Master Bedroom Suite, front porch and changing the roof-line a little. Remember, to this point we are doing the work our selves. So, this is going to take a while to finish.

We started laying the foundation for the master bedroom. I had never laid block or brick before, so I thought this would be fun. After learning how to mix the mortar we started were laying the first course of brick my dad called (hogging). This is where the brick are turned up on their sides. I thought " This is easy enough...  I can do this... No Problem..."  Wrong!!! Although the brick were easy to lay, the block were another story. They were heavy!! So I backed away from the trowel and let the men do the work. Yet again I am relegated to taking photos. 

Reaping the Benifits of a Simple Prayer

You may be wondering why we would work so hard to save this old Farmhouse.  Well let me tell you... When we first started removing the layers of paneling, we found a prayer written on the old fireplace wall. ( I would love to show you a photo of it but, I forgot to take one.) There were also notes left by the former owners. Kind of like a time capsule. It was nice to get to know a little about the former owners in this way. The one thing I can say about the family is that they loved God and loved each other. And the love that made this house a home is still keeping it safe today.

As we removed the slat wall-boards we discovered that in some areas, they were the only thing holding up the roof. Other areas were so damaged by termites and rot that the floor sagged in the center of the house like a old soup bowl. So, we had to install new supports and leveled the house.

In other areas, the electrical wiring was so damaged you could see burn marks on the wood near it from the arcing. It is a miracle no one was electrocuted because one of the wires connected to the breaker panel was actually partially embedded in the panel. This was causing even the water- pipes to have an electric charge. Now, that's a scary thought. All of the wiring is being removed and replaced. 

Those slat wall-boards hid a myriad of dangers that should have destroyed the home. Removing them was like removing a band-aid and discovering gangrene. In this case the gangrene was not terminal. It only needed to be removed.

As we worked our way around the house to the box we discovered that some of the walls were not properly supported. This made the removal of the second floor even more scary. What if we had removed the floor joists and the exterior walls buckle outward causing the whole thing to collapse. A good gust of wind could have caused the whole thing to collapse. Lots of things could have happened  that did not happen.

I am not telling you these things to complain about how the house was built or previously remodeled. I am not complaining about how it was maintained. It is my firm belief that the Prayer written on the fireplace wall has covered the house all these years and kept it safe for those who lived there.

The Prayer which was written on the wall included the following:
 Psalm 127 A song of ascents. Of Solomon. 1 Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain.

Update

It has been a while since I last posted. I will try to get better at posting weekly.

So, for the last month we have been very busy and house is beginning to take shape.

The two-story section which we called the "Box", (Because it is just a square box addition to the original house) has been one of the most worrisome part of the project.

To begin with, we wanted to remove the stairs and make them wider. Also, the second floor was actually two different levels. One level was much taller than the other. We had raise one side and lower the other to make it work.

We utilized my father's 50 plus years of experience in construction to make this happen. Actually, with out my father help this house would be a big pile of kindling at this point. Thanks Dad!! I can not forget to thank my husband and son for all their hard work.

Anyhow, below you will see the progression of this part of the renovation adventure.

We have not quite finished stabilizing the second floor but it is much better than it was to begin with.