Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Monticello No. 1...

so it looks as if monticello is going to take a couple posts...

there was just SO much...

it is strange...

when i would look at photos of booths at monticello i always knew EXACTLY what i would grab without a doubt...

in truth i wandered around like a lost lamb...

it is very surreal...

i didn't know where to begin...

what i would choose...

what would come home to the prairie with me...

the girls there are absolutely fabulous...so,so kind, sweet and beautiful...

*thank you* dear girls for taking good care of me and for the dr. pepper that helped sustain me on my 3 hour shopping spree... :0)

so are you ready for part one of monticello?!?

the following is just a small sample of what they have to offer...

this was just some amazing goods that caught my eye the first trip around the wonderful store...


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please don't mind the travel hair, tired eyes, and bulging truck stop food stomach going on in the photo above okay??.... please...

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regret number one...

large barn vent passed by...


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the lovely, talented, oh so sweet natalie of sparrow and her chunky charms...

*love* them!!


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sue with bella shabby and her uber fabulous industrial, farm goods...

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regret number 2 and 3...

windmill...{i know shoot me now...}

barn vents...{it's okay if you think i'm a complete idiot...cause i am...i know...}

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more of sue's goods...

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sue's other booth in the main part...

can you tell how much i *adored* her things???...

regret number 4...

{not pictured because it makes me sick to even think about it...}

a vintage pink, wire laundry basket...

sigh...

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oodles of vintage suitcases..

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regret number 5...

vintage RED dress form...

i'm not even going to tell you how much...

she was gorgeous!!..

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this girl had some MAJOR talent....

can anyone tell who's booth these photos are from??!? i never did find out...

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a little bit from auntie joy...

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worthy goods girls and their booth...

regret number 6...

french wooden baby crib...

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can you believe the talent and all the breath taking goodness going on at monticello?!?

i'm already planning to return in the spring...

do you think it is too soon to ask the husband to drive back up?!? ;0)

more to come tomorrow...

and a special guest here on the prairie later this week...

cannot wait!!! eeee!!!





Monday, September 27, 2010

Speechless...

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i don't even know where to begin...

we made it home last night from our 2000 mile 4 day trip...

completely exhausted, but utterly inspired...

i am working on a complete post of monticello and barnhouse...

as of right now i have no words to describe my experience there...

i need a couple more days to let the magic settle and take root so i can maybe give you a glimpse of it...

you have also given my little prairie family much to think and debate about with all the amazing, vintage-inspired, uber fabulous names...

i hope i can regroup and find my wits soon...

i think i lost them somewhere in the onion fields of ontario...




Thursday, September 23, 2010

Traveling Prairie Girl Celebrates...


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i'm off girls to meet two boys, a queen, a fancy farmgirl {hopefully} and a shabby bella...just to name a few...

i cannot tell you how excited this prairie girl is...

another dream of mine finally coming true...

the finds are going to be absolutely amazing and i feel like celebrating don't you?!?

so...

i think it is about time that this little lady had a name...




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she has been my pride and joy, she has made my shops what they are today and added a little something different to this simple blog of mine...

so girls let's give HER something to be proud of!

simply leave a little comment for her letting her know what fabulous, unique, vintage-inspired, romantic prairie name you would give her...

once i get back from the barn i will put your suggestions to the toughest critics...

3 opinionated, out-spoken, rowdy, prairie kids and one down to earth, wanting to name everything sam {including all three children, horses, dogs, cattle what-not} cowboy husband... :0)

my darling cow and i look forward to seeing what you all come up with...

winner will receive a box full of faded, chippy, rusted, white, goodness {is that incentive enough?!?} from this prairie girl's trip to the great northwest

good luck and i'll see you back here on the prairie monday!!




Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Harvest Hutch...

it's time girls...

time that i put away the flip flops and face that fall has arrived...

usually i'm the first to bring out ALL...and i mean ALL the fall decor i could get my prairie hands upon...

night raids of wheat fields and pumpkin patches were always top priority {i kidd neighbors, seriously...that wasn't me you shot at with a 12 gauge in the middle of the night last fall...really...}

but this year i find myself...hhhmm...i don't really know....i find myself somewhat lackadaisical in my harvest decorating...

so today since i didn't have a million other things to do, like packing for a four day weekend vacation without wild prairie children {cannot wait to share!!! eeeee!!!!}

i decided to add a little harvest to the hutch, and join a little party while i'm at it...

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nothing too extreme...

just a little quack grass tucked into some fabulous vintage sap buckets...

the burnt orange of my copper measures takes the place of pumpkins...


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i will probably add a little bit more...

maybe some of those wonderful white pumpkins, and some green gourds...


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but no wheat or bright orange pumpkins this fall...sigh...

i know...but really if you had to extract buckshot from your backside you might be a little hesitant too... ;0)


i'm joining my first linking party over at jen's place...stop by to see everyones uber fabulous hutches, and cabinets...


Friday, September 17, 2010

Indian Summer...

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everything in the shop has been marked down to make room for some new farm finds coming within the next couple weeks...



Thursday, September 16, 2010

Metal Musings...

sometimes i wonder if i will ever get over my industrial, metal fascination?!?

and receiving this magazine in my mail box doesn't really help much...

and then packing around the magazine like a fourth child everywhere i go can't be good either...

sigh...

but this keeps calling my name...


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oh to be able to cook in such a kitchen...*divine*...

maybe i would step out of my comfort zone of "cooking" hot dogs and macaroni and cheese...


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you know i do have a good reason why that bookcase with a ladder should make an appearance in my kitchen...

it is called...

5'2" vertically challenged...


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did i tell you i went to an estate sale where they had an authentic barn pulley exactly like the one above?!?...

{well minus the lights of course}...

i know...

some kind of weird reasoning made me shake my head no to paying more than $40.00?!?

i guess i would much rather pay $500.00 for a reproduction?!?

i can only blame it on...

well something...

there is simply no reasoning as to what i was thinking...

sigh...


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and i do have a couple tractor seats that the husband could try and make look like that fabulous stool...

but really...

i mean look at that base...

maybe i should have become a metal smith...

i did take a welding class in high school once...

my box did hold water too...

so maybe right??!! ;0)

did i just hear someone say...like hell?!?

oh that was me...sorry...

sigh...



Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Daylight...

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one chore the kids look forward to all summer long is trailing our pasture cows out to daylight...

it is one of the first trailings of the long fall season...

this year they wondered which horse they could pack...

they needed a stove, a tent, and some jerky?!?!...

evidently the grown-ups weren't invited on this cattle drive...

needless to say it didn't happen...

at least i could blame it on being a school night and not my fear of turning them loose by themselves out under the prairie stars...


Saturday, September 11, 2010

Short Life...

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today i tried to explain...

to young children why i was crying while remembering...

too many lost their lives nine years ago...

too many short lives...

{please click on the playlist...it is a haunting song}


Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Prairie Feature: The Fancy Farmgirl...

i am so excited to feature one of my absolute favorite farmgirls here on the prairie today...

tiffany {the fancy farmgirl} has been a constant source of inspiration for me...

her photography and her art are simply stunning...

i'm still on the hunt for a vintage prom dress so i too can be a fancy farmgirl... :0)

so without further ado may i introduce a fancy farmgirl to you...


I am so happy to be a guest here on the prairie today, and when Kristin and I spoke about it, I knew I should share something about the farm. Right now chickens are all the rage, and I want to show you the "pretty" about chickens, but I also want to talk about the real deal. How to raise them, what you need, and promote responsible chicken ownership.

Please don't go out and buy some chickens just so you can have a pretty coop! :) Unfortunately, I have seen that happen a lot lately!

It's all about the chickens. Yep, that's right, around here, if you are a chicken, you are automatically at the top of the pecking order. Yes, we love the donkeys, horses and dogs. BUT the HENS, they've got it made!

Next week, my friend Heidi of the blog "Birds of a Feather " http://hkwdesign.blogspot.com is holding a fun blog party called "Show me Your Coop". It is not too late to sign up for and participate in the party, and today here on Kristin's lovely blog , I am going to give you a sneak peek of my coop!! But be sure to join the party on the 15th of September to see my whole coop and everyone else’s!!
Ready ??


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I own thirty chickens. Almost all of them are cochins, but I do also have silkies, frizzles, arauncanas and easter eggers. (For those of you who are not familiar with easter eggers, they are chickens who will lay either pink, blue or green eggs. Pastel eggs???? Yes, it is that cool!!!) All of my chickens with the exception of the araucanas and easter eggers have feathered feet, which I personally love. Chicken feet are ugly by nature, and by having their feet covered in pretty fluffy feathers is much nicer.

This is my favorite chicken, Liberty. We thought he was a hen when he was a baby, and he turned out to be a rooster. Normally I don’t keep roosters, because sometimes they can be mean, and also because if you do, your eggs will be fertilized. Now this does not bother me, but for some people this is a bother. What that means is when you collect your eggs and eat them, you may notice a small red “dot” in the white of the egg next to the yolk. This is actually the rooster’s fertilization and if left to nest upon, the eggs will grow chicks. If you don’t want to eat fertilized eggs, don’t have a rooster! (of course, it really is no different from a regular egg, so there is no harm in eating them this way of course…)

Liberty is a bantam cochin. This means he is much smaller than a regular chicken, and if he were a hen (as we originally thought) then he would lay much smaller eggs. Cochin is a breed of chicken known for it’s fluffy feathers and usually fluffy feet. Liberty certainly meets that criteria. Every time he bends over, his butt is so fluffy I just can’t stand it!


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So here’s a little background on what you need to raise your own chickens. First of all, I free range my chickens. They have over an acre to run around in, and free access in and out of their coop. I have trained them to lay their eggs in the coop. Chickens are very easily trainable, and one way to train them to lay in the coop is to put fake eggs in the nest boxes. You don’t need a nest box per chicken, in fact they will always share unless someone is setting on eggs. A good general rule, is one nest box per 3-4 hens.

Chickens also need roost. This is in their nature, and they will be much happier if you provide this for them. They can fly up to the roost, or if you are like me, and clip your chickens wing, (sounds inhumane, but I will explain more in a minute) then you need to provide some way for them to get to the roost if it is up high if they cannot fly. I use a vintage ladder, which allows them to get to the roost, but also to use as a roost!


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Wing clipping. I do it. It does not hurt, it is equivalent to you or me getting a haircut. I do it because I have dogs who like to eat chicken dinner and I don’t want my beloved chickens to fly over the fence. To clip a chicken’s wing, you only need trim one wing. This throws them off balance, thus not being able to fly. You pull out their wing straight and carefully cut only the last ¼ of the wing tip feathers. Clipping a chicken’s wing also makes it much more accessible to predators, therefore I recommend that they always have a safe place to be locked up, especially at night!

Chickens are by nature very stinky, and poop a lot. If you cannot free range your chickens, and must keep them cooped at all times, you will need to clean the coop on a daily basis depending upon how many chickens you have. It will get VERY messy, VERY quickly! Even my coop, where they only spend the night, needs to be cleaned bi-weekly or more. It is only this clean because of course I wanted to show it off all pretty! The coop also needs lots of ventilation. Chickens can die very easily and are susceptible to many diseases. Ok, now having told you all of this info, I want to tell you that having chickens is one of the most rewarding and fun experiences you can have. Having your own fresh eggs is amazing, and chickens make great pets. All of mine are very friendly, come when called and will eat out of your lap. And how can you resist this?


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Here’s a fun and interesting chicken tip :
Not getting any eggs in the winter? Chickens need light to lay eggs. Leave a light on in your coop 24/7 in the winter to trick the chickens into thinking they need to lay!!

Here are a few more sneak peeks at my coop, and thank you Kristin for having me as a guest today! Feel free to leave a comment here or email me with any chicken questions at tiffanykirchnerdixon@yahoo.com and be sure to join me on my blog www.thefancyfarmgirl.com on the 15th of September for the coop tour!!

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Xoxo, Tiffany
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tiffany girl...i really don't know how to *thank you* enough for doing such an amazing post...

i cannot wait to see the rest of the coop!!

right now you have me wishing i was an egg laying hen just so i could snuggle up under that fabulous chandie!! ;0)

oh..did you happen to notice the cow picture hanging in her coop?!?!

sigh...

i think i need to move a coop renovation to the top of the husband's ever growing list! ;0)

i hope you all enjoyed having tiffany here on the prairie and remember if you also have a coop you'd like to show off join heidi's "show me your coop" party by the 15th of september!!

prairie hugs,

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