NEED TO WIN LOTTERY

     Some days I just have to shake my head at my husband!  A few nights ago we meandered around on our property here at the mill to enjoy the quite, peaceful sounds of summer.  Gazing at our renovated flour mill house as it was a sight with each window adorned by a single lit candle light, my husband turned to our other delapitated  structures amongst our property.

     I just knew what he was thinking!  Ross had his wheels turning (look out!).  He started talking about our pre civil war house on our property, just a short distance from our  mill house.  I am thinking to myself, I just know he's going to say it!  So I said it.....Don't even think about it Mr. Halverson!  We have not even finished the mill yet.  He said it.....Never say never!  It can be done.....we just start by doing this and that and the other thing.  I had to remind him that we do not have the budget for this very delapitated house.

     On this property besides this pre civil war house, there is also an old greenhouse.  The last person to ever live in that house, was born and raised there.  He never married nor had children.  He used this greenhouse to raise and sell geraniums.  I have in my plans someday to fix up this old greenhouse.  I called dibs on this structure when we purchased this property!  This gentleman who resided on this property was also a blacksmith.  Yes, this property also has an old blacksmith shop which is also delapitated.  My husband called dibs on that structure.

     In fact he has managed to clean out one side of the blacksmith shop.  This property is very unique and we are very blessed to own it.  Right now we are just dreamers and can only imagine and visualize all the possibilities in which to make these other buildings beautiful again.  This is where the need to win the lottery comes in to play, hahaha!

     We are on a very strict budget and now the only way these structures can come to be again is by winning the lottery.  So in the meantime, we dream, and dream big!  Here are some photos of the old house, greenhouse, and blacksmith shop.

This is the pre civil war homestead on our property not far from the mill house.  The siding on this house has asbestos on it and would cost a fortune to remove it.  Underneath is this beautiful, weathered white clapboard.

This is the blacksmith shop.  Half side is almost cleaned out, but oy vay ! look at the mess in the other side!

Remnants left inside of this blacksmith shop just as they were left from the previous owner.

Entrance to greenhouse.  My dog Cooper thinking I am going to open the door for him to go in and check it out before I enter.  He is our security dog, lol!  Love this old dutch door that upper can open alone.  Has a really cool outer garden area that would be beautiful to have a few chairs, table, benches or whatever.

Here is a view of the asbestos covered greenhouse.  Oh, the possibilities!

     Hope everyone is enjoying this Memorial weekend.  It is a time to remember all those who have served or are still serving our country.  I have 2 sons that are vets and am grateful everyday that they came back home safely.

     I can not believe what I woke up to this morning when I checked my phone.  I seen that my Intagram feed was very busy last night, I mean really busy!  I have over 1K new followers!  Yes, that is correct, not a typo!  I thought what on earth triggered this wave of attention all the sudden?  Well come to find out I was tagged in Marion aka Miss Mustard Seed's Instagram feed.  I for one could not believe that she took notice of little old me and our mill house project.  Miss Mustard Seed is like a celebrity!  I never miss one of her blog posts, ever!  She has to be one of the most talented women in this country!

     I am so humbled by all the exposure that has come forth during our renovation of this mill.  I am just so humbled by all the sweet, most genuine, thoughtful comments, just so humbled!  I just don't know how to tell you all how very thankful I am for all the support and kindness I have been receiving!!

     I am also getting quite a few requests for my cow print.  I am going to open up an Easy account the next chance I get.  I will post it on my IG and FB sites as well as here when it's ready.

     I do wish that I could reply directly to each comment on my blog.  I will have to see if that is possible.  I have been asked what paint I have used for my walls in this mill.  Since we are on a budget we did not go with the latest and greatest but instead tried a brand that is carried by Menards called Conco.  It is a very soft white called Antique white 300/3.  It works for me.

     Another question that was asked was how do we heat this old Mill.   We have in floor heating in the basement(family room), and the main floor.  Since we have an open atrium to the second floor where our bedroom is, the heat rises and has kept us pretty warm.  This past winter in our home, which was our first since moving here,  had a few bumps and hiccups but we made it through a long, cold winter.  We found quite a few areas that were drafty that we had to fix and such.

     So last but not least, I thought I would share with you what I was tinkering on this morning.  I have this old, tall wooden ladder that I placed leaning on a wall in our living area.  I then wanted to do something to it besides hanging quilts on it.  I had brainstormed a short while and then the lightbulb came on......gathered 3 baskets.....attached them to the ladder......added magazines, and now it is a functional, cool piece that fits perfectly in the space.  So it was pretty easy peazy as my grandson would say!

     Have a safe, relaxing weekend my friends!

I attached a screw to the ladder on each corner of the basket to secure.  The baskets were also placed so that the bottom backs had secure support using a rung of the ladder.  By doing so it kept the baskets from wanting to tip forward if something heavier was added in a basket.

What a difference paint can make

Happy Thursday!  Finally tackled a bedroom wall here in the mill house.  This wall took 2 days to paint.  The walls upstairs in this Master bedroom are almost 16 feet tall, the wooden shiplap walls are over 160 years old and soak up a lot of paint from being so dry.  It took 3 coats to cover the walls.  What keeps me going at this is the outcome of all our projects .  I am one that has a hard time waiting or dragging things on so I just keep on a going!  The first day I painted till my eyes could not focus anymore.  Do not advise doing this as my body ached the day after!  Anywhoo, just thought I would show you a before and after of part of our master bedroom.  I say part of because you would not believe how huge this space is up here.  Someday when I am finished I will make sure to show you the whole shooting match!  Take care my friends!

This is a before photo of the master bedroom in the mill house.  I started painting the trim on the left window and remembered that I needed to take a before photo.  I always like before and after photos.  I also added the mirror and 2 smaller pics a few days ago which is behind the bed and did not like that look at all!

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Here is the after photo.  Big difference wouldn't you say?  I love how bright and airy feeling it is now.  

Old wooden windmill added to Mill

     Well we finally have the old wooden windmill top hanging in the mill.  When we purchased our property several years back, we inherited the original wooden windmill that was used on this property years ago.  We always knew that we would find a use for it and we have.  It now is hanging on a huge wall in the atrium part of the mill on the second floor.

     I believe it is at least 6' tall.  It is huge!  So glad that my brother in law was willing to help give it a new home in our mill.  My husband used his handmade crane to lift it up.  I was so skeptical when my hubby Ross had told me of his idea to make a crane inside the mill for lifting furniture and such up to the second and also 3rd floor.  All I could think of was how hideous it is going to look inside the mill.

     He proved me wrong!  It looks like it belongs in the mill and blends in nicely.  The crane has also been such a back saver.  So many very heavy pieces of furniture, washer and dryer went up way of the crane.  It is not uncommon for Ross to invent such things.  He is such a clever man!

     After it was attached to the wall, my brother in law Perry had a spot light that he added to a beam to highlight and accent the wind mill at night.  Cant wait to see it when it gets darker!  Just love how it makes a statement in here.  A conversation piece indeed.

     Here are a few photos of the process of hanging the wind mill.  Can't wait till our next project, whatever that may be!

Here is the before photo of the wall the windmill will hang on.  Looking at it from the main floor up to the second floor area.

Now it is being lifted by the crane up to where it will hang.

Now this is where muscle is needed to lift up onto that peg looking thingy.

It's up!!!!

Wow!  Now this is what I'm talking about!  Sure makes a statement.

Here is a look from another angle.  Looking up from the main floor.

Here is my husband Ross.  This is the crane he built that I mentioned earlier.

French Doors made into room divider

     When we moved into our mill, I had no idea of how hard it would be to decorate with an open floor concept.  Having walls in a room is so much easier I think.  I just miss not having a few other walls to add a cupboard here, a few pictures there and so on.

     I feel that I have done a good job at furniture placement, but just needed an extra wall to add a buffet table or something into the dining area.  We had these 4 matching french doors which have plenty of glass windows to see through that I just love.  I proposed to my husband that we use them on the main floor to break up the space between dining room and sitting area.  He was totally all for it!  He trusts my judgement as he is not the decorator.

     One side of the french doors is painted black and the other side is wood.  Perfect!  The black side is facing the dining room.  Right now he has them standing upward by using L brackets but when he has a chance we are thinking of hanging them from the beams off the floor about 2 inches instead.  I can not get over how great they look!  Total transformation!  I love the fact that I can see into the sitting area or visa versa through the french doors.  They still let the light flow freely through the whole area.

     Now that the french doors are in place I need to find a great piece to have in front of the wall facing the dining room.  I am thinking some sort of buffet.    I would like it to be open at the bottom so that the piece of furniture will not obscure or block any light and also I do not want to see the back of a cupboard from the other side.  My husband and I found the perfect piece to go there, but needs some work.  Will show pics of what we have in mind later.  It's going to look great I do believe.  So here are a few photos of both sides of the french doors in place in the mill.

     I just get so excited when we can find things we already have and use them in the Mill.  Hope you like them too!

There is a small gap between the two sets of french doors that will be fixed if we plan to keep them on the floor instead of hanging them. 

Here is a view of the other side into the sitting area.

Update on our 160 year old flour mill renovation.

     Hi everyone.  I can not tell you how excited I am to share with you our progress on the mill.  We certainly have a ways to go but yet we have came such a long way.  We moved into the mill a week before Thanksgiving of last year.  Enjoying every minute living here.  Click on the link below to view images of what we have accomplished thus far.  More to come soon!


SHORT TOUR OF WHAT WE HAVE FINISHED INSIDE THE MILL