This is my blog on how we're making it, what we're up to, how I could afford my dream home at 30 years old and how Lodi and I are tackling all there is to do around here. We have two horses and a little dog named Annie who put up with our shenanigans.
My Mom once told me, "I think you just like making a mess!" And, honestly, I couldn't really argue with her. I'm always up to something - I'm ALWAYS figuring, working, thinking (even when I don't know it) on how to improve something around here. Its endless. Its great. I love it and, fortunately Lodi loves me, because I can't help it!
May 2023 – Yes Spring did actually Arrive
As per my last post you guys can see that spring did actually arrive here in May 2023. It didn’t come around nice though and I’m still crabby about it. The last day of April and first day of May we had 60mph north winds. I was so sick of there always being a big red exclamation point on my phone from my weather app. Here we were, finally into May and still with snow on the ground, but now we’re in extreme wildfire danger because of the wind?! I know the Midwesterner cliché is that we’re never happy with the weather but give me a break lol. Read the rest of the post »
April 2023 – Is that you Spring?
April 2023 I’m formally apologizing to everyone as it does appear that I jinxed us. At the end of February I proclaimed we had had a lovely mild winter and, no matter what happened after that, we had nothing to complain about! I was so so wrong. I’m sorry. March was horrendous and April started out with a whopping snow storm of over yet another foot of snow and it just kept snowing. It would tease us with a few nice days and then pummel us again. April gave us our SIXTH MONTH in a row with snow on the ground… Read the rest of the post »
March 2023 – So much snow…
We got hit by some SERIOUS snow throughout March 2023… So, I’m not going to go back on what I said in my last post lol. We still had a mild winter and I refuse to complain! (Though I fear I jinxed us by saying that in February…) With April here spring really is close at hand and I am SO looking forward to dirt and gardening and laying out on our deck. March just totally SUCKED weather-wise. It was FRIGID and we got at least three feet of snow. Unfortunately it meant for Lodi (now working nights at his new job) often coming home exhausted only to have to tackle plowing us out. Read the rest of the post »
February 2023 – A Lovely Gift from Lodi
I was relieved I didn’t have to write a blog post for January as its always been my tradition to devote that post to the previous year’s recap. I was relieved because I really just couldn’t talk anymore than I already had about last month when we lost my two year old nephew. February 2023, life, though never the same, does just keep going on – so ugly but the truth nonetheless. One thing we are all thankful for is that we have had an absolutely beautiful and mild winter. So lovely in fact that no matter what happens after this I don’t think you’ll be hearing any of us complaining. Read the rest of the post »
January 2023 – Recapping 2022, we got married!
January 2023, a recap of 2022. Last January started off with a real accomplishment for me though it took me so long to get there it was a little non celebratory I’ll admit lol. I set out to repaint this entire home back in early 2018 as it was badly smoke damaged from heating with wood here for a couple of years. Four years of painting, finishing, accomplishing and designing each space as though I was just starting over. And, with a whole bunch of help from Lodi, I did it! Read the rest of the post »
December 2022 – COVID and so so so so much snow
I’m not going to beat around the bush with this one as December 2022 pretty much just sucked for us lol. Xmas was still lovely of course and we had a great time with friends and family. But there was a couple of weeks there in the middle of December where it just felt like this month could not be gone soon enough! It began at my day job when we had a gal go out with COVID and then another gal went down with it and then a third gal headed for a long planned trip to Florida. And then I got COVID! There are only five of us lol. Read the rest of the post »
November 2022 – a Quiet and Snowy Month
November 2022 was a quiet month for us here at Grandma’s house. Winter settled in with several inches of snow so Lodi got to use our new snow plow and snow blower. I was determined this year to keep the deck cleared of snow by even constantly shoveling if I had to and I’ve basically already lost that battle. With it getting dark at 5pm, the drastic change to sudden winter, and the holidays coming up I’ve been feeling pretty unmotivated to get much of anything done around the house… besides make soup maybe lol. I guess that’s pretty typical of this time of the year. Read the rest of the post »
October 2022 – Snow Flurries and Turning on the Heat
October 2022. October may be our most bipolar month here in Minnesota. The first couple of weeks we saw highs in the 70s and then BAM. Goodbye warm weather, find something else to wish for. I’ve become pretty notorious for not decorating for the holidays (and being a bit of a Grinch…) however when Lodi asked if we could carve pumpkins I really couldn’t say no and I even picked up some other decorations to surprise him with. I mentioned to my dad that we were pumpkin carving this year and he asked, “Did we ever do that?” If we did I have no memory of it… clearly this is why I am the way I am when it comes to the holidays. Read the rest of the post »
September 2022 – a Mighty Fine Shindig!
September 2022 – PHEW! Well we had a wonderful reception out here the first weekend of September with nearly 100 of our friends and family joining us to celebrate our getting married in June. It was a BIG weekend, starting Friday with the last of our company not leaving until Sunday evening. Several of my moms cousins came, folks that spent a lot of time at this old farm during their child hoods. To say that there were a few tears shed over the barn is an understatement but it was so awesome to hear stories about this place and my grandparents from years back. Read the rest of the post »
August 2022 – Planning a Mighty Fine Shindig!
August 2022 – damn this month that never lasts long enough for me. August has always been my favorite time to live here in northern Minnesota. Its a month that can almost always be counted on to be beautiful weather-wise. There’s a coolness in the air that takes the edge off the heat and colder evenings make it prime time for bon fires. I sure do hope we get a long fall to make up for a misery of a spring but, regardless, this has been one beautiful summer. Read the rest of the post »
July 2022 – Summer Blooms, Bounty & Dreams
July 2022 here in Minnesota was just perfect. I can’t describe it any other way honestly it is the weather example of why we’re willing to put up with -40 degree temps in the winter. Ideally though, of course, we do kind of hope to be able to hop out of here to skip the worst of the winter months someday but that’s a long time off! Meanwhile I feel like this summer is really trying to make up for last year’s summer though we did have a cold, late spring. Minnesota is forgiven in my book though as July and June 2022 were absolutely gorgeous. Read the rest of the post »
June 2022 – OMG where do I even start!? We got married!
June 2022 will forever remain for me the month that is a blur I think lol. Everything happened so fast that after we got back from our honeymoon I told Lodi that our wedding felt like it happened yesterday but also a year ago! What an amazing trip! Starting all the way back in early June (what feels like a LONG time ago lol) our weather finally made a lovely turn toward summer and, guess what? We got our squirrel back already! He was delivered in his own squirrel box and, no kidding, he remembered us 🙂 Read the rest of the post »
May 2022 – a little room mate for a couple days…
May 2022 – Lodi and I don’t go out a lot. (We’re frugal people and happily stay in most of the time.) So, the fact that we went out on a TUESDAY (a work night of all things!), was practically unheard of. There was a very good (heartbreaking) reason we went out that night though… That day, 17 years before, Lodi had lost his best friend when they were in the army (in action) together. We always go to a local VFW post and toast to his friend’s honor. Because of this we didn’t get home until nearly 8:30 that night… If we had not gone out we never would have known about the little guy on our front porch, looking for help. Read the rest of the post »
April 2022 – Some Seriously Horrible Weather
I really wish I had anything good to say about April 2022 here in northern Minnesota lol. I said in late March (when we had a lovely warm up) that mother nature could throw anything at me and I wouldn’t mind at that point because we were so close to spring… I WAS SO VERY WRONG. We got nearly two feet of snow over the first couple of weeks of April. I got my car stuck in our yard… TWICE (that has NEVER Happened) we had snow on the ground for nearly six months this year… Read the rest of the post »
March 2022 – Spring Hit us like a Freight Train!
In March 2022, all in just a few days, our temperature went from a record breaking -25 to almost 50! And, in true Minnesota fashion, we all went from complaining about the insane cold to freaking out and complaining that our basements are gonna flood lol. You just can’t please us. Regardless though the warm up was much much much appreciated. I don’t know how many posts I saw on Facebook mentioning how much better people FEEL just seeing warmer temps. Read the rest of the post »
February 2022 – Progress on the Second Floor and Wedding Plans!
February 2022 – Whelp Lodi and I are officially both a year older. My bday just went by and his was the end of January. 40 for Lodi and 36 for me and wow do I have a lot of white hair lol The last couple of months we’ve been getting our wedding plans organized. Its going to be a small ceremony this spring with just a few of our closest friends and our dog Annie, of course. In late summer we’re planning on throwing a big shindig / reception here at the farm for all of our friends, extended family, coworkers etc. Read the rest of the post »
January 2022 – Looking back, a 2021 Recap
January 2022 – A Recap of 2021. Last year was a record breaking year for MN and for all bad reasons… Lodi and I had huge plans here for the spring / summer but, before that, we got several things complete inside the house too. This recap always makes me feel at least a little better about the last year. Generally when I write this post I’m almost always feeling like: We didn’t get enough done. Its a sickness. Its just how I am lol. If I feel like I fall short of my goals anywhere I tend to feel like that’s true everywhere. Though we did accomplish the majority of what we set out to do in 2021 it sure did feel like pulling teeth a lot of the time! Read the rest of the post »
December 2021 – Finally getting to work on our Master!
December 2021, I finally got to tackle our second floor! There was a lot that needed to get done around here since Lodi moved in so you guys know the master went on my back burner years ago. Not anymore though! I’m thrilled to say that earlier this month we got the entire master bedroom painted out and *drumroll please* for the first time ever, the master officially even has a door. It really is about the little things… Though perhaps a door on your bedroom is not so little a thing!? The other half of the floor (closet and bathroom) still needs to be painted out and tackled but one room at a time. Here are some sneak peeks – I can’t wait to show you guys all of it when its done! Read the rest of the post »
November 2021 – Finally the Last Trip to Menards
November 2021 so I unintentionally lied to you guys in my last blog post. I tend to write my posts a bit ahead of time and there is absolutely NO LOGICAL REASON for the garage addition to have NOT been completed when the last post came out… And its not all of our fault! Yes, NOW, it is finally totally completed at the writing of this blog post but, realistically, it never should have taken this long. November 2021, between back orders in shipping materials, horrible weather and a bizarre amount of little irritating issues we kept running into… the garage addition (literally just a little glorified lean-to) became this bizarre headache in our lives… I’m sure you guys are probably even sick of me talking about it at this point! Read the rest of the post »
October 2021 – Glorious Weather and Tackling our Fall Check List!
October 2021 shame on me for enjoying such an absolutely glorious fall and not getting many pictures of it lol. I am an embarrassment to bloggers everywhere! Seriously though I wonder if other bloggers get tired of recording absolutely everything? Honestly I don’t know how they manage it unless they blog full time. I think of those hard core Instagram “celebrities” where its almost daily posting and it gives me anxiety just considering it. October 2021 was absolutely stunning as far as weather was concerned and though we did get quite a bit of work done we also made sure we enjoyed it at least a little bit! Read the rest of the post »
September 2021 – Summer burn out, totally ready for quieter days
Well it wasn’t quite September 2021 when the temperature dropped and it started raining here but I didn’t have time to add it to the end of my August 2021 post. Us locals were all like, “Um so… not that we’re complaining (we’re really not) but, do we HAVE to get all the rain we’ve been missing for three months in a week? It just seems a little extreme… totally not complaining but… WOW.” And suddenly summer was just over. But I don’t think anything the weather could have done would have either surprised us, made us happy or even ticked us off at that point… Read the rest of the post »
August 2021 – Annie Becoming a Farmer’s Dog & August Photo Gallery
August 2021 – I have to start this post out with a disclaimer. Everything I am about to say about The Farmer’s dog food is legit – they literally don’t even have an affiliate program for me to make money from. However, for those many folks I know who follow us who have their own doggos, I just have to tell you about what’s been going on with Annie. After Lodi’s 2012 discharge Annie was assigned to him as his service dog from the Wounded Warrior program. So, to say that she means a lot to him, is an understatement! Read the rest of the post »
July 2021 – Concerts, Total Craziness and Taking a Break!
Well our July 2021 started off almost like a “normal” July before Covid meaning: We did way too much over the 3 day, July 4th weekend and totally exhausted ourselves. It was REALLY hot and sunny and crazy humid. We went to two concerts and had a big family get together at our place. It was A LOT. Deciding last minute to have a party out here meant Lodi and I were scrambling all day to prepare for it and then running to try to enjoy a concert and then working again all the next day before the next concert in some pretty impressive summer heat! It does mean we had our new lower deck and fire pit complete WAY ahead of schedule though I’m not convinced how much we stressed ourselves out was totally worth all we got done… Read the rest of the post »
June 2021 – So so so much manual labor… in 90 degree heat!
June 2021 – When we said “come hell or high water” we didn’t know we were making a choice! *laughs while sobbing* May 27th and 28th we had to cover our garden because it froze hard two nights in a row. And then seven days later (Friday June 2nd) we hit a heat record of 100 degrees. (Lodi and I also got our second Covid vaccines that Friday morning.) Unfortunately for us we had chosen that specific weekend, several weeks before, to tackle our yard with the rental of a bob cat, a concrete saw and a ground leveler. Read the rest of the post »
May 2021 – Yard Work, Kitchen Organizing and Vegan Dinners!
May 2021 we had such an odd year this year when it came to the weather. We broke record highs in January and March and then saw a chilly rainy April and a cold early start to May. For us Minnesotans an actual “spring” is kind of a weird thing. Usually it seems like we go from 20 to 90 every year in about a week. But I’d certainly still take a couple months of cold and rainy over what we would have normally had which could be very cold and snowy. It did feel like we were endlessly going back for “just” five more bags of pellets for the stove though and I know I wasn’t the only one getting beyond restless for nice weather. Read the rest of the post »
April 2021 – A Spring Walk About, Gearing up for Summer
April 2021 – This month brought us grief and joy in large quantities this year. April 13th Lodi proposed to me and, of course, I said yes! We are absolutely just annoyingly happy lol no set date yet but it won’t be until next year. Not two days later I got the call we all dread. Lodi got home before me and my Mom’s little mare (Jazzy) was unable to get up and had been struggling for at least a couple of hours. She had a sky high temp and our vet gave her antibiotics to fight the tick disease he suspected. We made her as comfortable as we could and waited for the shots to kick in. Read the rest of the post »
March 2021 – Spring Temps Makes me Ready to Garden!
Unlike the old saying of March coming in like a lion and leaving like a lamb this year we saw spectacularly warm weather almost the entire month of March 2021. I think all of us Minnesotans were holding our breath waiting for one last hit of real winter before spring. Its happened so many times before in March that the fact that we didn’t get two feet of snow felt quite odd. (Though we did get a few inches and April has dumped some serious snow on us…) As always though, if its warmer than it should be, I have no complaints. Except for that two week serious cold snap in February we had an incredibly warm and mild winter. Read the rest of the post »
February 2021 – Two Birthdays and One Serious Cold Snap
February 2021 and January. We had a truly beautiful first half of winter – we literally set records with how warm it was! By the time mid January came around we all agreed that no matter what the weather was like for the last half of winter: we had been spoiled and had nothing to complain about. Remarkably it was still cold enough for ice fishing and we still even had enough snow for snowmobiling. So, everyone was close to happy, and I doubt that’s ever happened before. To be fair though, with Covid and all we went through last year, it sure felt deserved. Lodi and I have our birthdays in the first two months of the year and man how that sucks after the holidays. Read the rest of the post »
2020 Recap – Major Plan Changes, One Very Difficult Year for Everyone
Writing this 2020 recap I had to keep stopping myself from bringing up everything we already know that we all lived through (and are still living through…) A plague, Australia on fire, quarantine, the tiger king… (Carol Baskin definitely killed her husband) $1200 subsidy checks… all in the first couple of months… where would I even stop if I started recounting everything? And my brain pretty much just stopped recounting stuff after April because there were JUST TOO MANY MAJOR HISTORICAL EVENTS AT THAT POINT. Read the rest of the post »
December 2020 – Starting with Manual Labor Because This is Us!
December 2020, my second Xmas with Lodi. My coworkers know me so well that when I got to work Monday November 30th after our four day holiday weekend I wasn’t first asked how my Thanksgiving went instead I was asked, “What did you do on the house this weekend?” I have no shame lol they all know that with four days off I absolutely could not help myself! Lodi and I divided and conquered rather unintentionally over that last weekend in November. On Thursday we had a small gathering with family, we drank, ate and were totally merry and did NOT work at all. Friday, however, it was GO TIME! Read the rest of the post »
November 2020 – Gifts to be Grateful for, a Less Stressful Holiday Season
We managed to complete most of the BIG projects by the end of October which was a gift for me of a much less stressful November 2020. No one is going to believe it but I am actually not a huge fan of renovation. I love the finished product. I love improving this home. But this last spring, summer and fall reminded me how I do enjoy smaller projects a lot more. (Projects that don’t have us barely able to get out of bed in the morning and working 14 hours straight because its snowing and there’s a giant hole in the side of the house…) Read the rest of the post »
October 2020 – Our Fall Photo Gallery
October 2020 – This time of the year in Minnesota can either be Heaven on earth or a great big ball of suck. (Usually it takes turns being both which is exactly what it did this year.) We’ve had snow storms throughout October some years and have also seen highs in the 80s other years. This year it was cool but a pretty much lovely month minus the snow storm we got hit by at the end of it! We had many of those perfect, shiny, fall days where the sunshine feels like liquid silver and the shadows are long and dark and the trees get to take their time turning in for the winter… And then a foot of snow landed on us… I have some catching up to do as I didn’t recap on all of the projects we completed throughout September in my last post. Read the rest of the post »
September 2020 – Leaving the Emerald City
September 2020 started off quite tragically for all of us here in north country Minnesota. It FROZE two nights in a row. I know we weren’t the only ones hit by the deep freeze but wow did that come on hard and fast. Fortunately we did return to “normal” temps but, of course, summer was just over after that. The constant joke I saw on Facebook was, “The temperature went from 90 to 50 like it saw a state trooper!” And it REALLY did. I’ve seen that meme just about every year on Facebook that I can remember but it has never been more accurate than THIS year. I guess it is 2020 so nobody is exactly surprised… maybe a little disappointed though! Read the rest of the post »
Barn Photo Gallery – Beauty is in the eye of the Beholder
My old barn did not quite make it through our winter of 2018-2019 – its back fell in. (As most of you know, we were heart broken. This is where my aunt and mom grew up. This was my grandparents’ dairy barn.) It was built in 1929 and it was already many years too late to save the roof/hay mow when I came along and purchased my Grandparents’ farm in 2015. Living up on the Hubbard prairie in northern Minnesota I am very familiar with the suddenly empty space of a barn that was finally removed after it had fallen. (SO MANY.) Read the rest of the post »
August 2020 – Actually getting in reach of ALL of our summer goals!
August 2020 went by far too quickly for my liking which is always true. I’m a total summer person and August is my favorite month. I promised myself last month that I would kick my ass in gear and get some things done this month and, lo and behold, I actually did! Lodi started us off by taking it upon himself to do something that’s been on my list for the last two years. Remember that pile of dirt I had dropped off so I could use it to hand shovel in a very dangerous dried up well out in the barn? Also remember I didn’t use all of it so its just been a sitting eye sore ever since? Not anymore! Read the rest of the post »
July 2020 – starting with a heat wave that totally BROKE me
July 2020. Every. Single. Year. I panic right now. Whether its because we hit the longest day of the year in late June. Or that the year is suddenly HALF over or its because I just got a flier in the mail about purchasing pellets for this winter. OR, the fact that we just put up the hay for the horses also FOR THIS WINTER. Every. Single. Year. I panic about everything that isn’t done yet that needs to be done before the snow flies. As if, suddenly, two days passed June, the count down begins. I lose my damn mind. Read the rest of the post »
June 2020 – Gardens, for the Love of Dirt and the Spring Photo Gallery!
2020 Gardens – June blog post. One of my favorite moments of every year is when I open the windows in the master bedroom and know I probably won’t have to close them again for several months. After closed doors, no fresh air, cooped up and freezing outside its absolute Heaven to me. Fortunately Lodi is a lot like me and opens all our doors if he gets home before I do. I hate air conditioning. This house stays really cool most of the time but this June pushed us to our limit! Read the rest of the post »
May 2020 – Flowers to be Planted, Spring is Here, Life Goes On
May 2020 was a far less freaky month for me than April was – I guess I “adapted” to the pace of quarantine. Disinfecting my entire day job became thoughtless habit, avoiding people at the store became second nature (not that it wasn’t already for this introvert…) and emotionally freaking out about the craziness became impossible to keep up. Saying we “got used” to living in a world in the midst of a global pandemic sounds insane but bills still needed to be paid. Gardens still needed to be planted. Life still deserved to be lived. Life does always, somehow, keep going on. Read the rest of the post »
2020 Summer To Do List and Plans for Next Fall and Winter too
At the end of 2019 I tackled my Winter to do list and completed a total overhaul of my living room and a makeover for my guest bedroom too. (More about the bedroom coming soon!) Those two spaces were my two biggest items so I’m happy with what I completed – but its time to start thinking about summer already! Which means its time to make some new lists and put a couple of things on the back burner for next winter. Read the rest of the post »
April 2020, Finding Silver Linings and Ways to Keep our Sanity
I rewrote my last blog post about a thousand times because of Covid-19 changing our lives by the minute. I really regret that now because I deleted a lot of what had been going on with us before everything went to hell. These little updates I put out once a month have become a bit of a journal for me that I’ve really liked to have. So I’m going to start writing in more past tense about the whole month – so this was our month of April 2020 at Grandma’s House. Read the rest of the post »
Almost Spring 2020 – Uncertain times
Almost Spring 2020 – So, as most of you know, I generally have projects/posts complete and scheduled for publication a couple of months ahead of time. I don’t mean for you guys to not see what I’m working on as its happening but deadlines kill me. It is what is. However, this doesn’t totally ring true of my personal updates/blog posts like this one. Generally I write these a couple of weeks (maybe a month) before they come out here. (That’s about as close to a deadline as my anxiety will let me get.) However… Read the rest of the post »
Birthday in the Icy Tundra and Getting Through a Frightening Diagnosis
Lodi and I both have terrible birthday dates for where we live in north country. His late January birthday and my late February birthday means that NO ONE (including us) wants to do a damned thing because its either a blizzard going on outside OR, maybe even worse, dangerously cold out. My family has always done all they can to rally for me and throw something resembling a party but, this year, I accepted defeat. For both birthdays we kept it low key then everyone returned to their respective hibernating. Read the rest of the post »
2019 Recap – The Year that Broke My Barn and I Found My Heart
2019 Recap, starting with a record-breakingly-awful winter that went way beyond driving us all out of our minds. When I wrote my first blog post in January of 2019 I was feeling pretty good actually! My pellet stove was keeping up, I had a warm and wonderful home, and, at least compared to the winter before it, things were going just fine in my life. I bought myself some ridiculously awesome jammie pants and, for the first time EVER, stayed in them and did nothing. I know, it sounds silly, but I’m usually dressed and in my shoes within 15 minutes of getting out of bed. A conversation at a family gathering enlightened me that its genetic. Read the rest of the post »
Dreaming of Gardening! A few of my Favorite Xmas Gifts!
A few of my Favorite gifts I received this Christmas! It probably won’t surprise anyone to hear that my Amazon wishlist is pretty much full of VERY practical items. My cousin was like, “You’re no fun, add something fun!” BUT I LOVE PRACTICAL AND USEFUL. Still though the majority of it might be practical but its many things that I won’t buy for myself because they still feel like something I don’t ABSOLUTELY NEED. (Miss frugal here, its a sickness…) Which means, every Xmas, I feel utterly and totally spoiled! Here are a few of my favorite gifts from this years holiday! Read the rest of the post »
Happy Thankful Holidays and the 2019 Winter Photo Gallery
Happy Bird Day, Xmas and New Year from my little spot here in Grandma’s House! Weather report is short and brutal. We saw record breaking lows at the end of October/early November and, honestly, though it did “warm” up to average temps – it just kind of set the tone. Winter started then on the weekend after Thanksgiving and dumped our entire state with everyone seeing AT LEAST 8 inches of snow and nobody was happy about it. Speaking of Bird Day I just realized I didn’t wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving last month! I hope you had a wonderful day and, of course, had something to be thankful for. Read the rest of the post »
Winter To Do List 2019-2020 : Let’s try this again!
I didn’t “quite” complete everything on last years winter to do list but, to be fair, I didn’t really think I was going to LOL – it was A LOT. I did get ALL but one thing done on that list though! I completed My Workshop, My Laundry Room, My Entryway/Dining Room AND My Kitchen! Moving on now to the rest of my home this winter! Read the rest of the post »
November: Chilling on my Couch in the Kitchen and a Pumpkin Party!
November hit us hard with serious near record breaking cold temperatures. It was a touch disheartening… I’m still enjoying the fact that its NOT summer though as with finally completing my summer to do list this chick was wore out! So I’m still enjoying my house and my whole world narrowing down to walls again as I spent every possible second this summer outside working. Give me a month and I know my tune will be totally different and I will be quite DONE with winter! Read the rest of the post »
Life Changes, Happy Beginnings & the 2019 Fall Photo Gallery
Life Changes and the 2019 Fall photo gallery of my little farm. Its been nearly two years since I threw my ex husband out. I have celebrated being single and have happily remained that way ever since. I think many of us know what its like to come to that realization: being alone is a far better reality then surviving in a loveless marriage. I’ve been a third wheel for a LONG time (both now and for years before my marriage), I’ve never had any trouble buying my own drinks, dancing with myself and getting my own self safely home. Read the rest of the post »
The Last Harvest – Pickles, Pellets, Hay and Cooler Days
The last harvest. September for us Minnesotans is about winding down and truly preparing ourselves for winter. Most of my family and friends think I hate winter. But that’s not exactly the case, I just really LOVE summer! And after shoveling snow for six months last winter I can honestly say that I did not look forward to September this year at all. Nor did I look forward to filling my closets with pellets for my stove. Or filling my horse shed with hay. Or harvesting the last of my garden. Read the rest of the post »
Updating my Horse Shed – The Dog Days of Summer Winding Down
Updating my horse shed with plywood, a solar light and shelf and my tiger lily photo gallery! With August sliding away I am thinking along with the rest of my fellow Minnesotans: Where the heck did summer go?! August has always been my favorite month of the year. Maybe because I was born in February I am cold blooded – I wish I could take a heat lamp everywhere with me like I’m an iguana. There is literally nothing I hate more on this planet than air conditioning and, considering we shoveled snow for 6 months this last winter, I think my feelings are quite reasonable. Read the rest of the post »
Summer Planning for Winter and My GLORIOUS Peonies and Gardens!
2019 Summer Updates – one happily tired girl reporting in! We have landed in the time of year now when all of us Minnesotans have to start thinking about winter… in JULY! Its a travesty! When I got the letter reminding me that it was time to buy pellets for my stove I just wanted to sit on the ground and throw a tantrum. Not long after that I got the call from my hay guy letting me know he would be dropping off my horses winter hay soon. There was no denying it at that point but that doesn’t mean I have to be happy about it! Read the rest of the post »
2019 Spring Gallery – My June Farm, my lawn actually went to seed! lol
2019 Spring Photo Gallery. So I kinda spaced out the mowing situation at my place this spring. Mostly I just don’t care but, also… I really just don’t care. I did kinda want my dandelions to do their thing for the bumbles and also wanted to see how well the clover I planted last year came in this year. Fortunately I do not live near town and my neighbors also don’t care lol… or, at least they don’t care enough to complain. Gotta love country folk we really just ignore our neighbors doing their thing in the hopes that they’ll also ignore us doing our thing lol. Read the rest of the post »
Moving the Stock Tank to a Safe Place in the Back of my Garage
In May of 2015 we had electricity run from my main power pole to the barn because there was a water hydrant out there (dug many decades ago) hooked up all the way underground to my water in my basement. We brought the horses home in June of that same year and, initially, that’s simply where they hung out, that’s where I fed them, where I put up their red fence corral, where I stored their hay and where their water tank was. We cleaned out the old lean-to off the back of the barn for their shelter too. Sadly though, as many of you already know, this last record breakingly awful winter was too much for my old barn (and thousands of others) which means it is truly no longer safe. Read the rest of the post »
Spring updates and, of course, I have a Summer to do list!
Summer is actually on its way! OMG for real I think most of us Minnesotans began to give up hope that spring would ever get here! But, thank the universe, it has arrived and of course I have a list lol! Now, unlike My Winter To-Do-List my summer to-do-list I actually might finish THIS summer. I never really thought that I would get through my ENTIRE winter to-do-list this last winter, but this horrible winter did mean I was trapped inside for nearly five months so I did get through a lot of it! Read the rest of the post »
2018 Recap of yard work, completed rooms & a new home for my horses!
2018 Recap! I was freaking out last week about a couple of things I need to get done ASAP now that spring is finally here. When I get stressed I get snippy and very vocal with lots and lots of words generally through messenger. Fortunately I have people who put up with me and know that, in less then 30 seconds, I will be apologizing. How I deal with things is to tackle whatever is in front of me and basically forget anything that’s finished by placing it behind me forever. But, from time to time, I remind my family (and they remind me) just HOW MUCH we have done and just how incredibly far we’ve all come. Read the rest of the post »
I am so very sorry to say that my old barn had a couple very bad nights
I am going to start this post out with the exact same thing I told my Mom that morning this week when I called her, “I’m fine, don’t panic! But… I think something… happened to the barn.” We talked for a minute. I told her I did not want to approach whatever it was alone and she said she’d be over soon. If I EVER call my family they know that it is a life or death situation. I DO NOT answer calls nor do I call anyone. Truly, I almost just messaged her but I didn’t want to miss her before she left for work. Read the rest of the post »
My Birthday Present to Myself: A Stay-cation to Work on My House!
For the first time in the nine years I’ve been at my day job I took more than four days off in a ROW. I took the 21st-26th off over my 33rd birthday in late February. Everyone asked me, “Where are you going?” Because, during February in Minnesota, if you take that much time off, you are almost certainly going somewhere South. Even my family was like, “We’ll feed the horses and fill the pellet stove! It would be so great for you to get away!” Read the rest of the post »
The Coldest Spot in the Nation – My Backyard!
Well, it was officially announced on Thursday morning that my spot was the coldest in the entire nation. Yay. No, that’s not something we want to be known for. Five miles off my back deck (as the crow flies) is my little home town and at the airport they officially registered -42 real temp and somewhere around a -65 degree windchill. Its enough to turn a grown woman like me into a pouty toddler whose hungry and needs a nap. “Really!?” That’s so cold its impossible to really comprehend! Read the rest of the post »
Winter photo gallery – Learning the importance of doing NOTHING
This year winter really slammed us here in northern Minnesota. Officially, as of right now, we’ve had snow for over THREE months as we saw our first snow at the end of September. Right before new years we got hit with 16 inches of snow in less than 48 hours and then on new years day I woke up to a temperature of -24 degrees and a -45 degree windchill at 8am. Read the rest of the post »
Harman Pellet Stove Review – The Work, The Cost & The Upkeep
My new Harman Pellet Stove. First I have to start this post with a disclaimer. After living with a wood stove for three years and hauling wood 300 feet from my shed to the house alone last winter I am about as biased as they come. Is having a pellet stove as easy as adjusting the thermostat to a furnace? Absolutely not. Is having a pellet stove a cake walk compared to what I was doing? Absolutely! Read the rest of the post »
My Winter To-Do-List… OMG winter might not be long enough!
My Winter To-Do-List just keeps getting longer lol. There is so much I’m planning to do in my home and I am SO excited to get started! The first one is the glaring one that has been staring at me ALL summer. I really need to finally tackle my workshop and get it complete. I spent literally this entire summer looking for that one tool I could never find. Read the rest of the post »
My Farm Fall Photo Gallery and that I made it to November!
Fall Photo Gallery. My farm falling into autumn and just the fact that I made it to November of 2018! I learned a lot of things over the last twelve months of my life. #1: If you want a job done right and on time tell a woman she can’t do it. #2: Its ok to be totally unreasonable and sometimes it is absolutely necessary. And #3: I also learned that the people who truly love us already forgive us for doing whatever it is we need to do to heal. Read the rest of the post »
Filling my Pit of Doom with Dirt… Just call me PACK MULE
Have I mentioned that I’m starting to feel like a Pack Mule? Maybe thirty or forty times already? Ok, that’s what I thought because apparently I AM A PACK MULE and my new middle name is MANUAL LABOR. So its not like I didn’t see this job coming before winter… its more like I just pretended it wasn’t on the way because… Giant pile of dirt is my nightmare. Read the rest of the post »
Operation BLISSFULLY HAPPY: My (updated) 1, 2 and 10 year plans!
When I wrote the first Operation BLISSFULLY HAPPY: plans post back in March I was SO excited to finally have control of my finances again. But, like with everything, the true extent of my freedom had not totally sunk in yet. I had just ended a relationship and was still finding my footing as a single gal. Well, I have officially found my footing lol Read the rest of the post »
My greener, healthier lifestyle & products that made my summer awesome!
I think a lot of people understand what its like to be the only person in a relationship (or family) who is health, frugal or eco conscious. It can be a HUGE struggle! Whether its to save money, do things that are greener for the environment or, just plain, trying to live a healthier life. Here are a few of the things that I’ve been doing this summer and a couple products that made my life awesome! Read the rest of the post »
My horses moved into their new shed and I finally fixed my garage!
My horses are moved in and I also got my garage fixed finally! I had four things on my list that I HAD to get finished before winter and I officially have three of them checked off. Early this spring I got my horses’ water tank moved into the barn and wrapped in insulation, I have a new way to heat my home and I now just hauled my leftover hay bales down from the barn and covered my septic line that ran under my deck. Read the rest of the post »
Pellet Stove: A Final decision on how I’m going to heat my home (I am SO Excited!!)
Why a pellet stove turned out to be the answer to all of my worries. Well, it happened, we are well past the halfway point of summer and everyone I know (including my chipmunks, birds and especially myself) are flying into a panic screaming, “WINTER IS COMING!!!!” I still have one heckuva long list to complete by the time the snow flies but one of the only things that HAD to be done is in the works! Read the rest of the post »
Cleaning up my yard and doing some serious closet organization
Cleaning up my house and yard. Reaching full on adult hood because a huge empty closet totally made me thrilled! OMG I was beginning to think I would never get here lol! Last update I posted I had only one last pile of crap my ex left for me around my old “tack shack” which is now my new wood shed. Well, I finally got it all hauled off and thrown away! Ugh my poor back is SO sore, why is it that everything I do turns me into a pack mule?! Read the rest of the post »
Learning to pace myself & enjoying the two days we had of spring
I was so excited to get pictures of all of my lilacs and apple trees blooming but then I blinked and BOOM, spring was over. It was like we went from -20 degrees to 90 in less then a month… Oh wait – I think we actually did that! Our trees and bushes literally bloomed, pollinated over night and dropped it all the next day. Everyone I know who has ever had an allergy said this was the WORST spring they’ve ever experienced! Read the rest of the post »
My poor foot! Doggo sitting for my best friend and my Happy Horses!
So I hurt my foot. Well it does seem to happen no matter what I do and no matter how careful I am. As my best friend Rachie always says in shock at me, “You kicked your own ass!” SO TRUE! I am VERY good at beating myself up. To be fair to myself though it was a really warm day and we were only pounding in fence posts so it wasn’t that dumb of a choice to wear tennis shoes instead of boots. Read the rest of the post »
2018: Tackling my spring to-do list, a happy heart and very sore feet!
Back in early March I wrote a post called Operation: BLISSFULLY HAPPY that detailed my plans over the next 1, 2 and 10 years. I’ve also been updating and tackling my to-do list for my entire home as I go here with the weather causing changes and adjustments. When spring FINALLY arrived I hit the ground running and put myself to work starting with my wood shed! Read the rest of the post »
Black and White. Old photos, my farm, my home, my heart.
Old photos of my farm. The history here may be the best thing about living on my grandparents’ old farm. My mom’s cousin came and visited us and always our conversations turn to olden times and the old photos come out. Knowing so many people loved this place over the years and being able to hear their stories adds so much to my life here. We put together a family reunion a few years back and meeting family I had never met before was really cool but the neatest part was picking up their old family photo albums and seeing old photos of my farm! Knowing people I had not even ever met were sharing memories of this place from years upon years ago was absolutely incredible. Read the rest of the post »
Spring is finally here: This weekend at Grandma’s House!
As most of you have probably figured out already patience is NOT one of my strong suits – when I want to do something I do it right NOW and with spring finally here I have literally had to grab hold of myself and remind me that: “There are NO deadlines! Stop freaking out!!” Of course that kind of pep talk only goes so far and I am literally sitting on my hands at my day job because being behind a desk just FEELS SO WRONG! Because, finally, after that endless ridiculous winter, spring is here! Read the rest of the post »
Bad things come in threes and spring has FINALLY arrived!
Well that was one hell of a winter! I wrote a post awhile back called When it Rains it Pours and I really can’t begin to describe it better then that. This winter attacked me and I attacked it in every way possible. Things I wanted to save up for forced me to deal with them RIGHT NOW. I haven’t mentioned any of this yet simply because I was so fed up I didn’t want to talk about it! Read the rest of the post »
New site design! Storyhardt Farm est. 12/15/17 Welcome to Grandma’s House!
With the commencing of my Operation BLISSFULLY HAPPY a lot has changed here in my little farmhouse and ALL of it has been toward becoming, you guessed it, BLISSFULLY HAPPY! Storyhardt Farm became my farm’s new name with a new sign to go with it so it only seemed right to give my blog a facelift too! I hope you guys like it and I hope it works better for everyone now, makes it easier to get around and, most importantly, I hope it gets you to what you’re looking for faster than ever! *breaks a figurative champagne bottle on the side of her monitor* I christen you: Storyhardt Farm! Read the rest of the post »
Operation BLISSFULLY HAPPY: My 1, 2 and 10 year plans!
Now commencing operation: BLISSFULLY HAPPY! The last blow my ex dealt me was when he was forced to write down his income in the divorce papers. After telling me for our entire relationship that he was barely getting by it turns out he had more money in his account that December then I had made in the ENTIRE previous year. I had been paying for everything I could which was all but one of our household bills and truly believed that we were barely staying afloat. He called me then, when he was filling out the divorce papers, because he was really worried a judge would try to give me some of his money. If there was ever an example of the kind of person I never want to be in my life: It was him on that day. Read the rest of the post »
When it rains it pours . . . or, because its winter, it snows!
When it rains it pours… I am a firm believer that if it can go wrong it probably will which all adds up to a pleasantly surprised attitude when things actually go right and a roll-up-the-sleeves-to-fix-it attitude when things go wrong. So, when things started going right here at Grandma’s House it didn’t really make any sense to me… especially considering how I just got a divorce and so December 2017 was one of the hardest months of my life. Read the rest of the post »
Finding my new footing and keeping up with the wood stove
With temperatures plummeting into the negatives I am learning how to keep up with my wood stove in my new reality after a divorce. I saw a meme on Facebook the other day, it asked: “If you could have anything in 2018 what would it be?” My immediate answer was: PEACE. A million dollars would be great too lol but my heart is still just utterly and completely exhausted. In the last month I’ve devoured over 30 books on my kindle and there is no hope of that slowing down any time soon, thank goodness my family purchased me several more books for Christmas! Read the rest of the post »
Finally seeing an end to 2017 – Getting through hard times
Finally seeing an end. Behind the scenes here at Grandma’s house things have been very hard. As a writer I’ve thought about writing my memoirs, starting back when I was a kid and working my way forward but before I can ever start I always hit something that I’m just not ready to write about. And I understand in that moment that I may NEVER be ready to write about it. Things have been getting worse here for months but until the final day happened, and I got some distance, I knew I wouldn’t be able to talk about it here on the blog for awhile. Read the rest of the post »