It's Always Autumn in England
The rambling thoughts of an adult TCK, now living on a hobby farm in Central IN
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This is the front bedroom in our house. When we bought it 3 years ago, it was a Spiderman room. We painted it neutral and used it as a guest room the last few years. It is now going to be the babies bedroom when she gets here. You can see the three steps of progress! We still need to put in the finishing touches, which will start taking place next weekend when my mom comes up and sews the blinds and some bedding for the room.
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Chica is one of the two cats Evan and I got a few months after we got married. We were on the waiting list at a local cat shelter for any new kittens that came in, but there was a long line ahead of us. However, just a few days later, we got a call from the director of the shelter, telling us that a family with a recent litter of kittens was needing to get rid of them. Since the family was keeping them at home, and was just using the shelter to get word out, they called us and let us skip the line of people waiting :) I knew I wanted a female cat, and maybe two.
The family told the shelter that the kittens were 7 weeks old, litter trained and weaned.
When we got to the house, the family told us that they were going on holiday/vacation and needed to find homes for them within a week. I took one look at them and knew they were not 7 weeks old, so I asked how old they were and they said, they will be 6 weeks on Saturday - this was mid-week - so they were about 5 1/2 weeks old. They also didn’t know which ones were boys or girls, so I took a look at them all, found the girls and took two of them. They were so small, they could sit in the palm of our hands and I remember when we got them home, I was afraid I would step on them, because they were just so tiny.
Chica and Chaucer have been our faithful pets ever since and moved with us from Northampton to Bradford in England and now to the States.
Chica is my one cat that I can actually get a good picture of, because she will look at me and then sit still when I call her name.
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Each morning, Evan and I wake up and our first job is to head outside and take care of the horses. This morning we were just a few minutes later than we usually are, and when we walked outside everything was just glowing from the sunrise.
There had been a heavy frost overnight, and with a slight haze, the sky was almost pink. By the time I could grab my camera the sun was a little higher in the sky, but I think you will get a taste of the beauty from this morning.
I don’t like the cold, but sunrises like this make the early mornings in the cold, just a little more cheerful! I’m thankful God shares his creativity with us!
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All the wainscoting is in, including new trim in the closet.The dresser has temporarily moved from the hallway into the room while we wait for the flooring to arrive.
Ceiling fan is up and the cedar chest in this picture belonged to my great-grandmother and I recently inherited it from my aunt.
We also put new trim around the window, with matching window ledge.
We are waiting on the wood flooring to arrive and once that gets here, we should have it down in one weekend. Then we can FINALLY move in the crib and dresser to stay!
My mom is making a blind and the bedding for the crib and I can’t wait to get it all in the room!
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I have a pair of small shelves in sitting in a closet for the last 3 years. Evan has tried to throw them away multiple times, but I would move them to another room or closet until he noticed them again. I knew at some point, I would use them.
Now that we are setting up the room for the baby, I decided they would be the perfect shelves to put above the changing table for items we use regularly. Or possibly above the crib for some cute decorations.
Well, the shelves were by no means perfect, they were wood with an old lace trim around the front and sides of the shelf that neither Evan or I liked - I think the lace was the primary reason Evan wanted to throw them away. However, I could tell it had simply been hot-glued on there and I knew I could remove it and paint them and make them look like new shelves.
Unfortunately, I did not take any before pictures, but I did take a couple after most of the lace was off, but some of the glue still remains.
I’ve also got two pictures of the shelves with the first coat of white paint. I just used the same Bright White paint that we used for the wainscoting and trim work in the room. Once I get them finished and hanging on the walls, I will post again!
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A friend at work keeps asking to see progress pictures of the nursery, so here they are Tania!! I have better pictures on my camera, but this is just a quick update from my phone.
If you want to see the before, it’s in a post of it’s own HERE
The wainscotting frame is up
The first top rail goes up - sorry about the shadows
Close up of the top rail and you can see the frame of the wainscoting - we still need to put in the inside trim work
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Since I discovered Pinterest, I have pinned some great crafts, and decorating ideas. After seeing many pins that were realistic for me to achieve, I decided I needed to make/create some of these ideas before pinning new ones…so I did!
Here are some of my attempts at creating ideas I saw on Pinterest.Christmas Center Piece
vs. 
Source: bonbonrosegirls.com via Autumn on Pinterest
Jewellery Organizer
vs.
Source: shelterness.com via Autumn on Pinterest
Christmas Wrapping
I had two or three from Pinterest that I liked:
PLUS 
and I got This:
Source: blogs.babble.com via Autumn on Pinterest
Source: olderandwisor.blogspot.com via Autumn on Pinterest
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Saturday, as we headed outside to muck out the horse stalls and do our weekly outdoor chores, I checked the temperature and was thankful that it was around 20*F. I NEVER thought I would look at that temperature and be grateful! However, after 2 days of 11* with -16*F windchill, and 20-30 mile an hour winds, 20* was looking pretty good!
The only way to survive these kinds of freezing temperatures and winds is with the right winter gear. It makes working outside for multiple hours at least bearable. Here is what I rely on:
Lower Body:
Insulated Carhartt Bib Overall. I actually bought men’s rather than women’s and I can still wear them while pregnant, though I cannot do up the buttons on the side any more!
Upper Body:
My North Face Coat. We both bought a North Face winter coats on a visit to America around Thanksgiving 2 years after we got married. We got a great deal on them, in the sales. So, this means I have had this coat for 6 years, but it is still going strong. (This isn’t my exact coat, but I have a fleece liner with a wind/rain proof outer-shell, similar to this example.)
Feet:
Bata Mickey Mouse Boots. These are army surplus boots and I wear them with a thin pair socks and have been out for 8 hours and my feet DO NOT get cold.
Hands:
Ironclad Cold Condition, WaterProof gloves. I can clean out water buckets, work in snow or rain and submerse my hands in water and they stay dry. The only downside is once you take them off, they need to dry out before you wear them again, because your hands help keep them warm, so once the body heat is gone, they get cold very quickly. However, they also dry out very quickly so they are ready to use again when you need them.
For another example of how having the right equipment makes life easier, check out our Highland Heights Farm blog
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My last post was some of our goals for 2012. I also love taking time to look back at everything we did over the last year. Sometimes, it’s hard to forget how far we have come. You can’t live in the past, but it’s always good to take a glance in the rear-view mirror!
January
I made a trip to India for work, where we spent a week in New Delhi and a week in southern India. We kept a blog for this trip, and you can read some of the highlights of that trip on the E91 GO Blog.
As I recall, there was lots of snow in Indiana and when I returned from India, we were snowed in for about 4 days! It was a nice way to recover from the trip.
February
Not long after my trip to India, I made a trip to Liberia in West Africa. Having been to Kenya I thought I was prepared for this trip. But, Liberia was so different on many levels. It was an amazing trip, and again we kept a blog that can be read here
March
In March, Evan and I made a weekend trip to southern Indiana and stayed at West Baden resort.
The view from our room overlooking the lobby
Our RoomApril
Like any month, April had it’s ups and downs. My great Uncle Bob passed away and we also got our new dog Zoe.
May - June
May was a busy month, including meeting with a family to begin boarding their horses. Our goal was to have our pastures fenced in by July 1st. As you may recall, we didn’t actually finish till October. But, May was the beginning of spending many months working outside on fencing. Everything else was put on hold for us.
Our stalls also were looking good by the end of June.
July
I traveled again this month to Show Low, AZ and had a great week. I also moved my blog from blogsome to tumblr this month. My brother, David got engaged to Amanda!
He also cut his leg at our house while working on fence posts, requiring several surgeries within a week. Then, my Father-in-Law Bill had open heart surgery. If that was not enough, we moved our two horses, Bracket and Hawk to my aunt and uncles farm. Needless to say I spent a lot of time in the hospital, and visiting my horses and not much else. Thankfully, both David and Bill made full recoveries.
August
Our good friend, Jo, visited us in August and we were able to take her to the Indiana State Fair!
This was again an up and down month, when my dear friend, Susie, lost a child very close to her and my step-dad’s father died.
At the end of August, we found out I was expecting. We didn’t announce it until several weeks later, but we were both pretty excited!September
We put the first wire up on our fences this month!
Evan also had to run to the minute clinic to get medicine for his annual bout with poison ivy. Thankfully, this year it was just his arms and not on his face, right next to his eye, like last year.
I also had my first ultrasound
October
This month, I celebrated my 30th birthday with friends and family with a 1920’s themed murder mystery party.
My boss and friend, Gary Rowe also passed away on 23rd October after a 6.5 year battle with a rare form of cancer. I am so privileged to have worked very closely with him for 3.5 years.
We were also able to bring our horses home!
I had a second ultrasound at 12 weeks.
November
We had our 3rd Annual Bonfire Night Party with lots of friends and family. I think each year we improve this party, so it’s always lots of fun! This was also just a month of adjusting at work to being on my own and not having Gary as a part of my team. We had a wedding shower for Amanda over Thanksgiving weekend. Evan and I actually spent Thanksgiving Day with his parents, for the first time since moving here.
We also got some new furniture and rearranged our whole downstairs.December
We started working on the babies bedroom and had a 3-d ultrasound.
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2012 is going to bring more changes in our life. I thought I would take some time to write down some things we would like to accomplish in the 365 days of 2012. These goals are in groups of related tasks. Hopefully, all of these goals continue to help us in making our life with horses easier, and to make our farm more efficient. I’d love to say we are on course for being self-sufficient, but we are far from that and horses will rarely, if ever help us in that task - they are just fun! (ok, they are a lot of work too, but they are a hobby or for pleasure, not for making the farm earn money - at least at this point.)
Preparing for the new baby - by May 2012
- Celebrate Evan’s 30th Birthday
- Finish training Zoe - she is fine during the day, but we still usually wake up to one nice “gift” each morning. We kennel her during the day, so I hate to kennel her at night too…but if that’s what it takes, we will.
- Reorganize the laundry room, including purchasing a stackable washer/dryer. I would love front loaders, but that will depend on cost and how much $$ we have to use on the laundry room, once the nursery is finished.
- Finish decorating and preparing the new babies room
Outside Goals
- Dig Water lines to the 2 barns
- String 2 electric lines on fencing
- Once lines are up, hook up electric charger
- Cut off all the fence poles to an even height
- Fix the electric in the barn, and add lighting over each stall
- 3 new windows in the barn
- Gravel Driveway, or at least grade the driveway to get rid of pot-holes
Inside Goals
- Build built-in bookshelves in our bedroom
- Hang curtains/window treatments in our bedroom
- Re-Carpet our bedroom
