The B Farm

I've been wanting to do a gallery wall for a long time. However, I was struggling with what I'd put on ours. Then this winter while removing Christmas decor, inspiration finally struke. Here's what I'm starting with - this is the entryway at the city house. It needs some love.  I've had   the silver cross and the large "B" with the frame around it for a long time. And of course the photos of my kids. I like the black frames. I feel like they ground the space. And I like the silver cross. But I'm tired of the antique gold color of the "B". What I'd like to do is add more silver and perhaps white to the mix along with some rustic touches. These tin letters my friend gave me for Christmas will be used here, you can count on it!  Then I want to add in more family pictures (Megan and Dylan, me and Bruce for starters), some elements like Scrabble letters, bees (we're starting a hive at the farm this Spring), and w

Hello sweet friends! Some of you might just remember that last year around this time a group of Texas bloggers began to put on their thinking caps on how to create a Bloggers Art/ Craft Retreat . Well, the retreat was a huge success and we had such an inspiring, creative, successful and educational experience that we are preparing for our second year! We are also implementing creative ideas to make it even more fantastic than the year before.  The Brighten organizing team is delighted to announce our upcoming Brighten Workshop. Brighten is a creative DIY blogging workshop where confidence grows and long lasting friendships are formed. We  harmoniously gather together to educate, communicate, create, inspire, and at the same time brighten the lives of each other and our readers.  Our workshop session this

Today I'm sharing the progress on the Tin Roof Art Studio and tomorrow I will be sharing some exciting news about a fun event! So read on then come on back tomorrow! We just about have the exterior done in spite of the weather. It wasn't very cooperative - it  rained most of the week at the B Farm. Here is where we were a couple of weekends ago: As you can see, most of the exterior sheathing was up but then Bruce had to head back to the city to work. I stayed hoping to paint and work in the yard. But it rained almost everyday! It was too damp to do much of anything. Raindrops hung from plants and spiderwebs while puddles reflected the nearby trees.  The Sometimes Pond filled up with about two feet of water as well which made the dogs happy - they like to swim and splash! Things were soggy, chilly, and foggy. It really kept me from getting as much done as I hoped. But I did get the trim primed and painted. And I picked out the paint for t

Hi Friends! I just have some random things I want to discuss with you today. Maybe get your thoughts and ideas. Definitely share what's going on. Here's a view of our driveway from about half way up looking down toward the road: This is one of the areas I want to make pretty for the wedding! It needs a lot of work. A zoomed in view of the flowerbed that needs to be cleaned out: There's landscape timbers at the top that probably need to be replaced, I need to dig out all the weeds, and then plant flowers. But whatever I plant needs to be deer proof and butterfly friendly would be a big plus. I have several lantanas that need to be moved so they will probably be planted along here for starters. I open to suggestions but they need to be tough. And I'd love to have a low fence too - maybe split rail?  And when I turn around, the top of the driveway. The house is to the right: There's a small strip of woods on the right where I spent a long time raki

Hurray! Hurray!! HURRAY!!! Last week was amazing! Not only did we spend the whole week at the farm, but our son Jay came up and stayed with us for 5 days, Bruce's brother and mom came up for a couple of days, and wait for it... Tin Roof Studio got her windows and door installed!!  It was Bruce who thought the barn bay with the concrete floor would make a great art studio.   It was Bruce who strongly encouraged me to think about it. And it is Bruce who is making it all happen! (Go Bruce!) In the beginning this is what it looked like And this past week, Tin Roof Studio really begin to look like a real studio. On Monday, Bruce and Jay got busy getting the wall ready for the first window - framing the wall, cutting the hole and dry-fitting the window.  I have to admit it was a little scary to watch the tin being cut but it went perfectly Tuesday, they placed the window.Yippee!  One window down, two to go.   On Wednesday we went to the same salvag