Projects, Oh my!

 The summer is coming to a end......AHHHHHHH!!!! It has gone soo fast! I just can't believe that in a little over a week I will be back in the classroom. Kinda makes me sickly (this was my first hint that I need a career change....farming anyone?!?).

As the countdown begins, there are several things on my summer to do list that were/are stressing me out, as they weren't finished and its almost over. So, this past week I have gotten on my big girl pants and got some stuff done.

I decided to paint my bedroom because I have hated the color since we moved in. Here are the before pictures!
Very dark hunter green color. Now, I'm a green girl, but this color was terrible.

You can't really grasp in this picture how dark this room was.

And here are the after!

I am pretty pleased with the results! The color was called wood smoke. Depending on the light, it looks green, brown, or grey. All pretty neutral but I like it! And the trim was painted swan white which really pops and looks more modern. The ceiling is a tint lighter than the walls to add height and give the illusion of more space.

In addition to the paint, I decided to cover the light outlet and the lamp shade in the bedroom with some leftover fabric (that I love!) from the curtains I made a while back.

Here are those pics.

Next on the list is to paint that awful dated furniture. I think I may paint it the swan white color, but I am still deciding. Input anyone?

Kole had his first sleepover with his BFF! It was fun and a little stressful. They didn't (wouldn't) go to sleep until 1am ( I had to get stern). This is the morning, and as you can see, we are having funnel cakes!! Koles friend wasn't so sure about them at first, but after one bite he was hooked. His mom said that he has been asking for them at home now!! Glad I can be an advocate of healthy eating...lol

Lastly, Nana took kole school shopping and here are a few pictures of the loot.

All this school stuff is a little depressing.....=(

I'm not ready to go back. It has been an awesome summer. These last few days I have left are being packed with activities, appointments, visits, and projects that I haven't accomplished yet.

Hopefully, one of these will be to paint the exterior of the house!!! Ill have some before and after photos when that happens.

Until then, I'm off to enjoy my last few days of freedom!!!!!!

Howdy Ho!!!

 

                                I have been bad to my blog again. It's a wonder you people still check=).
I really thouht that I would blog all summer long about everything that we were doing. But this has not happened. I could make excuses all day long, but the truth is: It's summer. I sleep in. I have no schedule. And I am lazy.

Ok, so maybe I'm not THAT lazy. I do keep up with the garden, chickens, child, house, meals, activities, etc. But I have made the choice on several occasions to sit on the porch with one of my favorite magazines instead of sitting in front of my computer updating my blog.

I am truely sorry! Most of you keep up with us on Facebook, but I know that it is nice to read a more insightful entry in a blog than puruse someone's photo albums on the facey space.

To make up for my bad behavior, I will post a series of summer photos with descriptions about what was going on. WAY different from what I normally do.......right? =)

And we begin in no particular order............

We were all sitting around the dinner table after gorging ourselves on mommas delicious marinated chicken and venison. I believe Zach H. was the first to take the bandana napkins momma uses with this table cloth and put it to its actual and practical use. On his head.

So we decided to make a game out of it. I was cowgirl Brown and my hubby was a hobo (he first was a bandit, but then changed his mind). Which is hilarious because he works for a non-profit organization that helps homeless people and HATES the word hobo, or anything that romanticizes the fact that people live in terrible places (like a cave for instance) and often go hungry. Grandmomi often says they LIKE to "ride the rails". Needless to say, Z and G$ are usually debating something or another long after the rest of us leave the table.

Speaking of G$ (that is what we call grandmomi, as she is either slipping a twenty in our pockets or telling us to eat something), she decided to be a hippy in this picture.
Momma wore her bandana like a babushka, very sweet and innocent=).
Zach H.'s friend Matt was a middle eastern man......I think?

Ah, Mom and Dad. Goofy kids. I think dad was trying to be Lady GaGa, or Madonna.

Here is Dad and Mom's awesome garden! This was a week and a half ago, so its even bigger now. Dad says its the peat moss he mixed in when he planted. I am definately going to try that next year with our garden!

We got an awesome visit with TT and baby River. I am so in love with this boy. He is a gerber baby!! So cute. And loves to snuggle with his Aunt Meg. I miss him so much!! Mom found a pair of his socks in her car after they left and I'll admit, we sniffed them for a while=).

He is such a pleasant baby. It is so easy to make him smile and giggle.

Kole was all about Baby River. Kole loved to sit beside him on a blanket and try to make him smile and laugh. It was super sweet watching him being protective and interested in his little cousin.

I made dad this apron for father's day! I found Real Tree camo printed fabric and embroidered his intials on the front (thought it is hard to see....come on, its CAMO!!). And yes, he was wearing shorts=).

On a sad note, my favorite kitty of our three has cancer. We have known for a month or so now and it has been a steady decline since. This is Momma. Named this because she was the street cat by Z's old house that kept having litters. Our other two cats are her babies. As I type, Momma is laying in a box by the side door with water and food and a homemade litter box, although she has stopped eating, drinking, and using the litter box as of Friday. Her back legs have basically stopped working, but she is trying her best to follow Z around the house by dragging herself. She is so exhausted after just a few minutes of this that she lays down to rest. I think she knows that he saved her from the streets all those years ago and just wants to be near him as her life slips away. We fortunately know two really great vets, and though it is Sunday, they will be helping us today at 3 to end her pain. I am crying a little bit now. I've never had to make the decision that will end a beloved pets life until now, and let me tell you, its not easy.

She has been such a great cat, never caused ANY grief (unlike our other two), and was always ready to love and be loved on.

She will be greatly missed in our family.

Ok enough of sad stuff. Sniffle.

Here are our "girls".

Still laying like machines! We love the fresh eggs. They are fun to watch!

I really want to get a couple more and will hopefully be doing so before summer is out.

We also want to build a new, bigger coop in our back lot. The ground on this run is just dirt and dust, so they need a little more green to play around in. We will keep this coop as our winter coop as it will be easier to get to in the winter and will keep them warmer.

Plums!! This plum tree has done really well this year. Z is a big fan, and as they rippen, he plucks them off and eats them off the tree=)

You may want to click on this picture to see it's full effect. This day, Kole and I invited his BFF (his words not mine) for a day by the river. Our friends own this little woodsy patch by the river called sandy beach that is beautiful. There is a little stream that runs into the river and when you walk up it for a bit, you come to the train tunnel. The boys had so much fun looking for "treasures" and animals. I was on the look out for snakes.

Tomorrow, we are headed out for a week filled with all things good at Lost River State Park. We got a cabin there this year, and I just can't wait. Icecream following softball each evening, lazy days spent on the cabin porch reading, swimming at the pool, hiking, horse riding, and family time.

Thanks for continuing to read my blog! I'll try to be better. But most likely will not be=)



Craft Show and Concert

Time for an update! We have been SUPER busy here at Brown Acre lately. It is a rainy day and I have tons to do, so I figured why not procrastinate and blog a little....=)

The past two weekends have been a blur of activity. I had my first craft show!! It went so well, and now I can't stop thinking about when I can do another. People really responded to my things!! I was super nervous beforehand, but once I got there, got set up, and started visiting and meeting people, my nerves calmed down and I had such a good time.
I guess the reason I was nervous was because I put so much thought, time, and energy into coming up with cool ideas, picking out awesomely beautiful fabrics, and shutting myself in the basement letting the creative juices flow. I didn't know if anyone else would like anything I had. I knew I loved every piece, but who knows what the world would think (or Fairmont atleast=).
I got such great responses from people that I was simply blown away. People said I had an "eye" for color, targeted my market, and had well made, trendy things. WOW!!! Like I said, I had no idea it would go so well, but I am glad it did. What a good feeling to know that what you love, others love as well. What you spend hours on, people want to buy. I felt validated. I felt engergized. I felt more creativity wanting to seep out. LOVED IT!!!!
Sorry, this sounds a little like bragging, and I really am not trying to be "that" person. It was a good weekend, so I want to share it!! Here are some pictures.......

Aprons! My own reversible pattern. I combine complimentary fabrics for a fantastic fashion statement while stirring a pot of butter beans.

Shot of the table. I made some totes as a "filler" item. People liked them though because they were also reversible and eco-friendly shopping bags=)

Long shot of the tables I had. Owls, hairflair, totes, aprons, earrings.

Button Earrrings! These were a hit. I need a better way to display them though. I think next time I will elevate them on some kind of diaply piece.

Hair Flair. This was also a big seller. The craft show was in one of my junior high schools where I teach, so lots of the young girls were into these funky statement pieces.

Angled shot of hair flair.

 Owls!!! People loved these as well. I made one for KB a couple years ago for christmas, and decided to make a bunch for the youngsters at the craft show. The next day, Mom found a picture in a pottery barn (I think) catalog with very similar ones!! They stole my idea!! LOL

Then there was Kole. He was so good. He and Zach came half way through the show and helped out. The iPhone is Kole's go to for boredom. He ended up going home with GDaddy to play. They had a good time splashing in the creek=).

The following weekend I sang for a tsunami relief concert at the Fairmont Baptist Temple with some very talented bluegrass musicians. Our band name that we all decided on was Common Ground (since it is so overused, and kinda generic...lol). But when we got up to sing, our friend Joe (banjo player and best man at our wedding) announced we changed our name to "Megan Brown and the Dial Tones" (one of the guitarist's last name was Dial). So silly.

Here are a few shots from that. I have video, but I can't bring myself to post it here. The quality is grainy, you can't here the musicians well, and I cring at hearing myself sing. Anyone else do that? I notice every little mistake or weirdness in my own voice. I also hate hearing myself on the answering machine. But thats another story......

We have begun spring planting! Onions, garlic, lettuce, spinach, and carrots are in the garden. Potatoes will be next. I have four flats of tomato plants under the grow light in the basement (looks like I'm growing something else, if you know what I mean.....). We have had some REALLY beautiful days here in WV. I am so thankful for sunshine and warm weather. My mood instantly improves when I can get outside and get dirty=).

My tulips are blooming like crazy, the tree in the front yard has pink buds...it will probably bust out this week. The birds are chirping. The breeze is warm. Hello Spring. I have missed you!

Spring Break has officially started!! I have plans of spring cleaning, sewing, playing with Kole, reading, sleeping in, shopping, valley worlds of fun, and possibly a movie afternoon.

I sooooo needed this break.



Hopefully, I will post again soon. Back to the basement for some sewing/crafting=).

Update=)

Well, I haven't done a family update in a while, so here goes.

Kole-man is growing like a weed!! He is a silly sweet boy and is really doing well this year in 1st grade. We are so proud of him!! He made straight "A's" for the semester, and his behavior has improved greatly from a year ago in school. Mom and Dad LOVE this! We get GOOD notes home now! Here is a silly picture to entertain you:

Kole is doing to do a fun new program at FSU in a few weeks called "African Adventure". He gets to go after school and do crafts and sing songs and do experiements!! It is through the science program, and he is soooo into it. I'm sure that this will only last a few more years (meaning his enthusiasum for learning) so we are going with it for now!!

This child needs to be in sports! Unfortunally, his mother is always missing the sign ups for football each summer. Hopefully this year, we will figure it out=). We were going to try wrestling this year, but we decided to give Kole another year before going down that road. So, no sports at the moment, although I wish there were SOMETHING active for him to be involved in. For now, its just kinect games (which I might add make a person sweat!!!!)

Kole has some red ear slider turtles that we keep in his room. We don't "play" with them because they carry germs, but they are really fun to watch. We recently got a new set up for them called the Turtle Tub. It is massive. But really neat! They even have an area for basking and (gulp) egg laying. I don't know what I'll do if we have baby turtles, but it could happen, as I have found out (through some research) that one is a boy and the other is a girl. We may be shipping baby turtles to everyone in the family.

We are in the process of re-doing his room, piece by piece. It's gonna take a bit to get it done, but once it is, I will feel so much better! An unorganized room drives me mentally insane. We need storage in his room as well. Any ideas? He needs one big dresser (as it is he has three small ones....ugh). We looked at a neat "cubby hole" bookcase from Ikea, and we might go with that, but I am afraid its going to be costly to get enough storage for him.

Onto my next boy, Hubby Zach. He is doing well! Z is much happier now that he has a new job (and so is his family!). He now has soooo much more flexibility in his work. He can stay home if he wants to, or go to the office if the house is driving him nuts. The organization is called "WV Coalition to End Homelessness". He likes being able to focus on the one area of homelessness instead of being pulled in several different directions, like he was in his old job. He actually ENJOYS his job. He likes doing it. He works late because it is interesting to him. So weird. I mean, I like teaching, but when I walk out the doors on the weekend, I am done till Monday morning. Now, if I farmed or crafted for a living, I probably wouldnt stop working either=)!!!!!

Zach is still trying to be "Primal" as well. Eating primally basically means eating like a cave man. It works for him, and I am sure it would work for me as well, but I love bread. And other carby things. Alot. So I only do primal on occasion.

This is the cookbook. Our favorite recipe is Primal Enchiladas. SOOOOO Delicious!

We went on a wintery hike through the woods, recently,  in DEEP snow. That was a cardio work out for sure! Here are a few pics from that.

It was soooo cold and snowy!! These two pictures are of one of our favortite places. 27 Falls (I think it's 27...maybe its 21.....I dunno, but we love it!) You have to hike quite a bit to get to it. We were out there for a good while too.

So this was probably way illegal, but we were pretending to be survivor man. We wanted to see it we could make a fire with wet stuff. We got some some smoke, no fire. We would never survive the wilderness in the winter.

Its a family affiar!

Kole was "SOOO TIRED!!" and his legs hurt, so daddy zach carried him for a short while. This child is over 70lbs. I'm not sure how he didn't throw out his back.

Now what you've all been waiting for.....an update on ME!!! Haha, j/k.

(Edited- due to recent happenings in the news....lol)

On a sadder note, I was pregnant for a little while and now I'm not=(. I was supposed to be 12 wks. and a day, on the day I miscarried. I know people don't normally blog about things like this, but I felt like putting it out there. I always like to give the pink elephant some attention before letting him loose.

We had been trying for a long while and so we were very excited when we finally got pregnant. Nervous, but excited too. We told Kole right away, and he then told his teacher, the bus driver, his 20 closest friends, and the neighbors all about the baby!! So, we had to tell lots of people about the misscarriage, which totally sucks, especially because you usually have to tell them pretty soon after it happens (to avoid embarrasment on their part) and it is still a tender subject at that point. But bless his heart, he was just so excited too! So we were super bummed for a while. There are still sad moments, but as a family we are healing well from the tragedy, and have grown closer because of it.

All that being said, I know God has a plan. He is in control and I trust Him. End of story. Without that, I think it would have been more difficult to move past the hurt than it has been.

So anyways, onto another subject. I have been crafting alot! On the side of this page, you will see some new things I posted on etsy, but I have made many other things that I'm not selling=). I am currently working on a project for my nephew, River. He will be here soon!! I don't want to give away the surprise, but its gonna be great. I have also made several aprons (and need to make several more). I have been giving these away to my friends, but I figure they will be my walking advertisements!!

I wear button earrings almost every day. I love them!! They are on my site as well.

I promise that I will post some crafty pictures soon.

So all is well with the Brown's. Just pluggin along. Ready for spring and warm breezes. I need to play in dirt. We need sunshine and fresh air. And its coming!! Can't wait!

I have a dream.....

I know its a little after MLK day but that title of this post completely describes the day dreams I have been having lately (as in the past year or so). After read through my Murray's Hatchery catalog (for chickens and other fowl), I decided to put these ideas into a post to make it known to the world, or just those of you who still check my blog, what I would love to do with my life.

I want to farm. There, I said it. I want a large piece of land to play on and live off of. I want to be able to provide my family with organic foods and homemade things, as well as sell these to the people in our area that are moving towards a more Eco friendly lifestyle.

Do I really think we could survive, financially, with this dream? Its a possibility. It could totally fail and leave us poor and searching for jobs working for "the man" again. Or, it could be a huge success that would feature us in country living and inspire thousands all over the world. Ok, so maybe that it wishful thinking, but hey, it could happen, right?!?

I would start small, with things that we are already doing but on a larger scale. First, we would need land. Preferably land that was already being used as a farm, with barns and such. We would need equipment. Mucho dinero, yes. An investment, yes. A little scary, yes.

I would then purchase at least 50 chickens, of different breeds, but mainly just good egg layers. Here are the types I want most:

 

This is a crested polish chicken. They are so cool looking!!!

These are a smaller breed, known as sebright bantams. They are so pretty and cute! Small eggs though.

This is a feather footed friend. I love the interesting feet and colors of this one.

This is a white leghorn chicken. We currently have one, and they are amazing layers!! White eggs.

This is a Rhode Island Red chicken variety. We also have one of these. BIG brown eggs, really consistent layer!

Now these are cool. Ameraucana (Araucana) chickens lay tinted eggs. Kind like pastel Easter eggs! Any kind would do.

This is a Dominique breed. Early American, featured at Williamsburg. Really pretty breed.

This is a light Sussex chicken. Really good egg layer as well.

This is a speckled Sussex. Good egg layer and really pretty!

This is a Buff Orphington chicken. I like the coloring in these. Pretty Blondes.

So there are many others that I am looking into: Black Star, Red Star (both commercially made for egg production), Cuckoo Maran, Plymouth Rock, Barred Rock, and any Sex-linked chicken (also made for good egg production, usually a combination of a couple breeds).

When I have all the chickens I want, I would start selling farm fresh eggs at the farmers market, to neighbors, and others in the community. Not a huge money maker but I believe that this project would pay for itself in the end, while providing my family and relatives with free fresh eggs. Plus, the variety of eggs we would get as well as their freshness would be a draw for customers who are used to the white walmart eggs. We could also sell and use the meat, although I would have to hire someone to butcher as I tend to get attached to my girls.

Here's another thought: There are people in this community that would love to raise interesting chickens in their small backyards. It is a new movement, check out The City Chicken, if ya don't believe me. We could raise chicks and sell those, as well as pullets (in between chick and chicken sized, kinda like teenagers=).

So there is the chicken plan.

Next, I would focus on the garden. We have one now, but if we were really gonna do this, we would need to increase it's size to provide not only for us but the farmers market as well (or hopefully a larger customer, like a hospital?).

Zach and I came across a really cool website about Spin Gardening. The basic concept is to rotate high demand, high yielding crops for the maximum profit in smaller plots of land. Things like salad greens, micro greens, green onions, etc, as well as corn, tomatoes, squash, cucumbers, and potatoes. I would also want to try out some veggies that are not easily found at our farmers market like:



This cauliflower, named Romanesco.

Rainbow carrots!!

Eggplant



Micro greens

These are just to name a few. I will continue to brainstorm and research what would do well in this area=).

Off seasons have the possibility to be difficult to make money at a farmers market, but I was thinking homemade breads and canned goods.....?

Another thought for items at the farmers market.......FRESH FLOWERS!! I got this idea when we were at the market at Williamsburg. There were vendors who sold beautiful flowers of all different kinds, along with their veggie goods. Marketed right (in tin inexpensive watering cans), these could be a huge hit. There is nothing like that at our local farmers market.

So on this land I would also need an area for an orchard. On our current property (right around an acre, hence the name, "Brown Acre", that we use when speaking of our yard), I have several fruit trees that I have planted since moving here. The oldest one was planted three years ago this month. It is growing but no fruit yet. I currently have a granny smith apple tree, red delicious apple tree, Winesap apple tree (good for apple butter), a pear tree, a peach tree, and a plum tree. None of these are old enough to put on fruit, but I am looking forward to the day they do!! Maybe this is the year=). This past fall, we discover a paw paw tree on our property. They are fairly common in this area and have fruit that tastes like a mix between a banana and a pear. Its small, but produced fruit that tasted good! This year I will probably plant an apricot tree.

If we got land and had a farm, I would totally increase the size of the orchard and include many different types of each variety. Not only could we sell these as fresh fruit, but we could also can them for pie making, etc. I like this idea.

After we got started with the above mentioned plans, which I realize are HUGE, I would want to include some livestock on our property. I'm thinking goats or sheep. Can't decide yet. Goats would be beneficial for their milk, not only to drink (?!?) but also for making goat milk soap. This would be another thing I could provide for my family, and sell at a farmers market. Sheep would be cool and interesting, because I have a good friend, Melissa Irons, who not only is my friend, but also my husbands best friends wife, and neighbor (she literally lives right down the road), who is very into knitting. She just got a spinning wheel this past Christmas and we could use the sheep wool to make our own yarn!!! How could would that be?!? She knows all about dyeing the wool as well. This could be a huge hit in our area as well, because we have the "in" with knitting groups and shops.

My last idea of the day is to continue with the homemade items that I already have on my etsy shop, just expanding a bit. I could sell aprons at a farmers market, and even a few crafty type stores that are in our area. I am also really digging my button earrings. I think those would go over well in the shops around here.

I got an embroidery machine for Christmas from my awesome hubby. I am still learning that basics of embroidery, but I have made two new aprons, one for myself, and one for Zach, with embroidery on the front (his name, and a big M for me). I have a couple other projects lined up as well. Maybe I will post some pictures of these at some point.

I know these are big ideas and we would have to start small. But we have already started some of them, and I can continue to dream! Farm life isn't easy, I am aware. I think I would really love this lifestyle, and wouldn't mind that hard work, because I would be happy doing what I love.

I don't know if these dreams will ever really happen, but just writing this post is exciting! I'm putting my thoughts down on paper (or screen), and just that feels good.

I am sure more ideas will continue to flow through my daydreams, and I will write about those as they do.

For now though, this has been a VERY long blog, so thanks for reading!!!



Help With Blog Design

Ok, So I am super frustrated with my blog design. I can not get the template the way I want it. Blogger now has this new thing (or new to me), the design tab. I, at first, used this and didn't like the results. So I tried to get rid of it. It wont go away. So I then went to a blog template site and tried to use one of those, but the design from blogger kept overriding the template I had chosen from the other site.

Grr.

Does anyone know how to fix this? What are good websites to find templates? How do I get my Banner to display what I want it to? I've seen several other peoples blogs and their banners, and they are able to make them larger with a photo or other decor. I want this too! But I can't figure it out.

So if you have some tips for me, please let me know=)