you can't take the country out of the girl

i've been living in a small ohio town for a little over two years now.  in feb. 2010 m and i finally were able to get a place of our own.  not everything we wanted but nice and affordable.  but my point in this post is this that i finally feel i've turned our home and primarily my kitchen into what i wanted it to be while still integrating m's whimsical nature as well.  you see, he is the one primarily responsible for what has become a chicken theme.  i was just going for that homey, country feel. it took me awhile (until recently, actually) to find the perfect and affordable pieces: the primitive writing table, the antique sideboard, etc.  in the meantime, over the course of the past two years, we have somehow managed to accumulate a large quantity of chicken decor.  but, it works!

welcome to my humble abode.

i love this old writing table.  the drawer gives me a handy place to stash my journal, grocery ads and lists.

clem. he's a cocky old bird.

about everything in our home is secondhand/previously loved.  nothing new here. even my curtains, the baskets, etc. are thrift store finds.  it's just a small kitchen, but i love that it's an eat-in kitchen rather than a galley kitchen with a separate dining area. someday, before we are too old, we hope to be in a more spacious apt. or home with a place for a small garden. but we are here for now and have made it work.

i can't homestead like i used to due to apt. living and the fact that both m and i having physical limitations, but i still do my best to keep my life simple, sacred & sustainable and i can make it feel like country.

bluebells

Yesterday I took a walk down by the creek that runs behind our home. I remembered from our living her a number of years before, that there were always bluebells along the creek banks in early Spring. Sure enough, there was a carpet of lovely blue on green to contrast with the leftover drabs of winter. Coop cut a path from the back yard down to the creek in hopes that the ducks will find it easier to get there and be more inclined to do so. Not sure about the ducks, but it works for me!

Today we priced fencing for the garden and to protect the fruit trees from the deer. (While in town at the local equity I found a pair of good leather work gloves that should serve me well for a long time.) Managed to find what we were looking for, more of a netting than a fence, for $20 for a 7' by 110' roll. Should serve the purpose as it won't be permanent, just something to put up until fall, then we can roll it up until the next year. Right now we just have a dwarf apple and pear, but will be planting more soon. Last year when we moved back here they were loaded with fruit...at least until the deer realized they were there. By the time they got done, there was one pear left. The only reason it was left hanging is that it was high at the top where the deer couldn't reach.