Guest Room Redo

It is amazing what a gallon or two of paint can do for a room! This guest room has never been painted since we moved in. It was still builder beige/pink until I finally got around yesterday to putting some much needed color on the walls. We have a lot of company coming this summer and I couldn't bear to put them in that sad, boring room! Now they have a bright, fresh place to call their own. I had seen a lot of cottage style rooms in magazines where the paint color had not been taken from some of the fabric used! I was very nervous to try something so different but it is only paint! I chose a cool green. Not red or blue or beige, the colors in all the fabric and accessories. I do believe it really "cottages" up the room! By the way, I made the bed runner a few years ago. It started out life as a table runner but now looks great on the end of the bed.

Here is my grandfather's old desk (my brother Matt didn't want it, can you believe it? Of course that was before we refinished it). It has great claw and ball feet and a drop leaf front. I love this piece!

This mirror above the bed is one of the first antiques I ever bought. It was $150 back in the 80's and I have carried it around to every house we have own since then. It is soooo heavy and old it just screams cottage to me! Now I feel ready for company!

New Mustang Blog

Ron has started a new blog documenting his 65 mustang restoration. Drop in once in a while to check out how it is going here. Become a follower if you want updates to appear on your dashboard page too! Finally a blog for the guys to get excited about!

Wild Mushrooms

When do you become true Ohioans? Is it when you have lived here a few years, or when you learn all the local pronunciations for towns (Lima is pronounced like the bean and Gambier is Gam-beer)? Is it when you can eat venison without thinking about Bambi? I have decided it is when you hike through the woods in the rain, looking for fungus....to EAT. Yesterday Ron and I became true Ohioans then. And we woke up this morning still breathing. Here are the results of the hunt.

Sauted in butter with a sprinkle of sea salt. Very "earthy" tasting. Diana

Funny Story

Yesterday, while I was downloading some pics for a blog post, I noticed these pictures of the angel food cake I had made the day before. Hmmm. I did not remember taking those pictures but there they were. What gives..... so I asked Ron, "Hey, I noticed there were pictures of the cake on the camera?" Apparently, before cutting into the cake and serving it, he wanted to be sure we had pictures in case I needed to blog about it.........hilarious! I think he thinks I blog about everything I do. So not the case. OK, well maybe it is true, but I can't help myself.....I can't let an opportunity to blog pass me by. Nor can I waste these pictures Ron took. So here is yet another post. Angel food cake......we have a lot of eggs to use up (a dozen or more a day from the girls) and angel food cake takes at least 13. We eat A LOT of angel food cake...... A LOT.

Strawberries from the store.

Don't you love how he made sure I had a picture of the served dessert too! Too funny.

Todays Harvest

There is so much to be grateful for in spring when you live in the country. Bulbs that pop up as soon as the snow melts. Baby calves walking on wobbly legs in the nearby pastures. Canadian geese finding their way back to the ponds. And, just in the last few days, the trees, bushes and perennials have begun to leaf out. I even was surprised by the sight of sudden blooms on the phlox in our flower beds, All reasons to look forward to sunny days, farmers' markets and mornings spent in the garden. While this day's harvest appears small, it is a promise of the bushels of produce that our garden will bless us with in summer. Yes, maybe winter is finally over.

Icy February

Oh how cold it has been this winter. Sub freezing temperatures and snow that has stayed on the ground since before Christmas. The last few days has brought sleet, more snow, and ice that caused wide spread power outages throughout the Midwest. Branches and wires, heavy with ice, break under the weight, putting thousands in the dark. Sidewalks and streets are solid sheets of ice. Walking outside is like ice skating without the skates! Looking out the windows of our cozy little house, we see ice coating every branch and berry. It looks so beautiful. Maybe it helps that we have a generator and no place we have to go. Just cuddle under a blanket, look at seed catalogs and wait for warmer weather. Just 47 more days and spring will be here.

Self Sufficient Breakfast

This morning's breakfast came completely from our land! Gathered yesterday, these eggs are really fresh and delicious. The girls aren't laying as much during the winter but I am grateful for the few we get each day.

The breakfast sausage is a mixture of venison and pork. Ron got this deer on his last time home during a snowstorm that made getting it to the butcher a real adventure.

The meat is very lean, even with the addition of a little pork. So I didn't feel so guilty having a nice helping! Our friends in Louisiana sent us some spices to mix in the sausage and was it ever good.