I know why there aren’t many farm blogs out there. Farmers are too busy!

Above is a photo of some berries on a tree in our front yard. I’ve yet to identify the tree. I thought maybe a hawthorne but I’m not so sure. The birds love this tree in the winter.

This is the wall cabinet I painted recently. We hung it in our dining room and I’m storing boxes of tea inside it.

I’m recording what I did here not because you are so interested but so I can reference it in the future.

I applied 2 coats of Annie Sloan Old White on the outside and 1 coat inside. Then I did a Coco wash to the outside and a coat of Duck Egg. The coat of Duck Egg was very rough and uneven – thick here and thin there. Then I sanded with 400 grit paper on the edges, trim and hardware. Then I used Annie Sloan’s 2 step Craqueleur finish. At first I thought maybe I’d put it on too thin because I wasn’t getting much cracking and then I realized I really liked the subtle cracking. I finished with a coat of dark wax (the crackle doesn’t show up until the dark wax is applied). Do not cut the dark wax with the clear like I usually do. You want the full strength dark wax to show up the crackle. Then apply a coat of clear wax. It will pick up some of the dark wax so don’t fret if the dark wax looks to dark initially. The coat of clear wax will remove some of it.

I’m in love with this latch.

I got this cabinet off craigslist a few years ago. I’m so happy to have finally have it painted and in use. I’m having trouble adding an old photo of it. It appears to me to be a fairly old cabinet that was redone with a honey oak finish that was so popular in the 1980’s and 90’s.

The makings of a beef stew. The parsnip is from our garden.

I almost forgot to mention I helped with chicken processing at the farm where my daughter works. Two very sweet young people – Kelly and Gabe – were wonderful teachers and very patient with me. I had a chance to do every step – the kill, dunking the bird in hot water to loosen the feathers, pluck (with the help of an electric plucker and we also had to do some by hand) and eviscerate. I really felt like a farmer today. While I was a little nervous in my stomach as I walked to the killing cone holding the roosters upside down by their feet, I really felt nonplussed by the rest of it and I felt good about being part of the food production process instead of just a consumer.