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.