Monthly Archives

December 2017

In Adventures/ Blogging/ Clear Day Farm/ Country Life

Looking Back at 2017

We are reaching the end of another year!  2017 is drawing to a close and we’re staring down 2018!  It’s been such an amazing year for us here at Farm Fresh Style and Clear Day Farm! Join me as we look back!

Let’s start by looking back at the most popular blog posts of 2017!

6. Less Than, More Than  Comparison is a tough thing, and so prominent these days

5. End of an Era  When your parents sell your childhood home/farm

4. One Room Challenge – Week 6   I redid the studio over 6 weeks and it turned out pretty fabulous

3. Crazy About Barn Quilts  The coolest thing in the country

2. Tears at A&W   When you’re crying in a fast food joint over the love of strangers

And the top post of 2017 proves you guys love Sheree Fitch and her wildly wonderful dreams as much as I do!

1. Mabel Murple’s Book Shoppe & Dreamery A tour of the best tourist location on the East Coast

The other big thing that I’ve been doing more of is working with brands on the blog.  It’s been fun to reach out to companies and brands that are a good fit for Farm Fresh.  I would never have been brave enough to do any of that without the support of the ECM Media crew.  They have been encouraging and supportive and I can’t even believe the positivity of all the members.  I’ve had the pleasure of working with brands like Canadian Tire and their Premier Paint line {which you can read about HERE }, Kings Landing in New Brunswick { you can read those HERE and HERE } and my new partnership with Phillips & Chestnut, which I’m really excited about! { Those posts are HERE and HERE }  I have some fun things happening in 2018 in the partnership department, too, which you’ll have to be a little patient for!

I love the community over on Instagram and my following there has slowly been growing.  I enjoy the interaction that happens there and the awesome people that you end up connecting with.  I’ve been very fortunate to have a met some of these Instagram friends in real life and they are just as wonderful in real life.  Here’s a look at my Best Nine posts on Instagram:

I love how it pretty much sums up what our country life looks like.  We live in a stunning part of Canada and I love showing it off to my Ins{ta-friends!  {You can follow me on Instagram HERE }

Life here at our farm involved getting a pony { which you can read about HERE } and a new cat over the course of 2017.  They are both great additions to life here and we’re super thankful for Casey K because shortly after we got her, we ended up having to put sweet Cuddles down.  Our little crazy cat lady was pretty upset.  He may have only sort of been our cat but we sure loved him.  { You can read what I mean HERE }

We also had the outside of the house painted!  I was so excited to finally have that job done!!  We had a great crew do the repairs and the painting, I’m so happy with their workmanship!  It has certainly freshened up the place!!  You can read about that transformation HERE – pretty great, eh?

I look forward to continuing to share our country life here with all of you throughout 2018!  I love hearing from you, whether it’s through comments on Facebook, comments on the blog or over on Instagram, so please drop me a line – it means so much!

Here’s to a great 2017 and an even better 2018!

To be continued,

Lori

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

December 31, 2017 By
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9 In Blogging

Solo Work Party 2.0

Well, the time of year has rolled around again to the season of work parties.  As a blogger, that can get pretty lonely.  But with awesome blogging friends, it wasn’t quite so bad. Here’s how this year’s party went down!

I dressed up in my finest paint clothes and headed out to the studio.  I had packed a little snack, too, so I carefully carried my plate. I also took out the Secret Santa gift I had bought myself and a little surprise for our new studio cat.  I was ready to party!  { Want to see how I partied last year?  Click HERE }

I walk through the door, turn up the heat and greet Casey K, our pretty new kitten who spends some time in the studio when she isn’t running around like a fool outside.  She expects to be fed so I feed her and give her a few cat treats – Merry Christmas, Casey!  I’d love to get a festive hat on her, but decide not to pick that fight today, I’m still annoyed she destroyed my vintage school map.

It’s pretty quiet.  Too quiet.  Party music, I need some tunes!  I crank up the country songs, sing loudly and dance around a little like I’m on stage.  It’s always short-lived…enough of that foolishness.

Doesn’t the studio look festive with it’s stockings and new lintel?  I hope Santa fills all the stockings for me!

Snacks – must be time for snacks!  I sit down in the comfy chair with my plate of treats and quietly eat it. I grabbed these macaroons after I tried some at Blogjam, but I have to say these weren’t nearly as good! Maybe I could use a cup of coffee to go with that….so back to the house I go to put some coffee on.  Of course, while I’m there I do a few chores, switch laundry, do some meal prep, water a few plants.  When the coffee is brewed, back out I go, warm mug in my hand.

I putter around, doing a little tidying and working on a few last minute gifts.  Why do I always leave everything to the last minute?  I work better under pressure but still…this is ridiculous!!  Painting signs? Now? Ugh!

Maybe I’ll open my gift.  I already got a Secret Santa gift from our blogging crew – will the gift I got myself be better?  It’s hard to top my mug from  My Home Apparel and a necklace from Beck & Boosh that Sara and Brent from Dashboard Living sent my way. Hmmmm – a book by Sheree Fitch!!! Yay!!  I love a good book and we all know how much I love Sheree herself!  I’ll just start reading a little bit here….

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{ goes in house for a coffee refill }

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{ Casey hops on lap for a snuggle and starts purring }

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Oh – wait – you guys are still here?  Sorry!!  I got completely drawn into this book!

Here – you guys check out the links at the bottom of this blog of my blogging friends parties and I’ll just sit here and read!!

Oh, and Merry Christmas!!!

To be continued,

Lori

 

 

 

 


December 22, 2017 By
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In Decorating/ Make Something/ Makeover

Lintel Coat Rack

Can one have too much storage?  Too many places to hang a coat? Too many hooks around the house? I thought not.

There is nothing worse than not having a hook for coat or bag when you need one.  I feel like I’m always looking for more way to incorporate more hooks in our house so that I’m not finding things laying on the floor.  So, today we’re partnering with Phillips & Chestnut again on a great project for around the house to help solve the storage issue with a great piece of salvage….a lintel. { You can read my first parntered post HERE }

Have you heard of a lintel?  Not to be confused with a lentil, that’s something completely different and I’m not much into showcasing recipes here.  According to Google, the source of all knowledge, a lintel is a horizontal support of timber, stone, concrete or steel across the top of a door or window.  They are sometimes also referred to as a Boston Header. So, once upon a time, this hung across the window or doorway of an old home.  And now?  Wellllll, it’s getting a makeover and a slight re-purpose so that it not only looks good, but has a function in our home.

I love the detail on this one, it has some great mouldings.  I did have to do a few little repairs, gluing a broken piece of trim back in place.  But it was an easy fix and being able to keep the gorgeous trim was a must.

I painted the lintel with a coat Miss Mustard Milk Paint.  My only prep work was a quick scuff sand, I’m pretty low on prep work.  Then I painted two quick coats of the mixed milk paint.  Now, I can’t tell you what the colour is, it’s a mix of Farmhouse White and Schloss, you know, use up the last bits of what you’ve already got mixed. 😉

After the two coats were dry, I gave it a light sand with 220 grit sandpaper.  I didn’t even bother sealing it.  It isn’t going to get hard use where I want to hang it { which is still up for debate… } and I love the raw paint finish.  I added some beautiful hand-forged hooks from R+R Handmade, a local blacksmith and artist couple whose work I greatly admire.  I love how simple they are!  And honestly, I had bought other hooks, but because of the depth of the moulding along the top, the hooks weren’t going to work.  So, Plan B was put into motion and I’m glad that Plan A didn’t work, I love this look and am so happy with the finished product.

With Christmas closing in on us, I styled it with a few stockings.  This is the perfect place to hang your stockings if you don’t have a fireplace in your home!  How sweet is this?  I’m loving this little vignette in my studio!  I almost hate to take it down and bring the stockings into the house for Santa to fill.

Here’s a close up of one of the handmade hooks by Ruben – I love the curl!

Sweet, eh?  I’m really pleased with how it turned out!  I love taking something old and forgotten and making it into something pretty and useful!  Repurposing or upcycling is so fun!  And a sweet place to hang stockings – even better!

Think if I find some more stockings for the house, Santa will fill them ALL?

To be continued,

Lori

PS I recieved free product for this blog post from Phillips and Chestnut, but my take on it all is just that 😉

December 18, 2017 By
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In Faith

3rd Sunday of Advent

Today the candle of Joy was lit.  It’s the 3rd Sunday of Advent and Christmas is creeping closer.  Are you frantic or are you joyful?

Hard to believe that Christmas is just over a week away.  The pace gets crazier, the list doesn’t get any shorter and do we stop to soak in the joy?

Today, singing carols tucked in among my church family, there was Joy.  Singing about the upcoming celebration of the birth of Emmanuel brought Joy.  The familiar songs, the laughter and greetings, yes, there was Joy there.  But there was sorrow today, too, as we shared in the ugly diagnosis of one of our members.

We also attended our community Christmas Potluck tonight, too.  It’s a yearly event and one we look forward to each year.  And tonight, we shared in the joy of a new arrival in our community, Sweet Izzy, born on Tuesday.

See, when we align ourselves with others, whether a church community or a local community, you silently agree to share in the joys and sorrows.  An extra hug for the new widow, the promise of a visit to hold the newest member, the shed tears over the fear of cancer.  That’s the thing – those are all things we share together, whether it is our burden, our joy, or that of our neighbour, we share it.

Sharing comes easily to some, and some it is harder.  I’m a sharer, but I’ll guess you knew that.  That is one of the things this blog has allowed me to do, is to share with you.  And I hope you see my light.  I hope that through all of these posts about this, that and the other thing, that I somehow bring a little bit of sparkle to your day.  That’s my goal.  But know that the light you might see, it isn’t my light.  It is the light of knowing I am loved, that I have Hope and that I have Joy.  This is the light that will shine on Christmas morning from a manger in a lowly stable.  It is the hard-earned light that shone from a lowly wooden cross.  It is the light of a heart anchored to the one who holds us through life’s storms.

Through the Joy I found today, there were tears shed in sorrow and tears shed in Joy.  When my girls ask me why I was crying, it’s hard to explain in hushed tones in the pew why the tears roll down my cheeks.  Some in Joy and some in sorrow, that’s the way of life, right?

To be continued,

Lori

December 17, 2017 By
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