Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Everything Old Is New Again!


While the temperatures are warming up here in Tennessee the rain is unrelenting. The area that we have moved to gets over 5 FEET of rainfall a year.  Here on the top of this mountain rain is almost daily right now. Not the pouring rain and spring storms that you see in spring in Missouri. Here it is mostly the slow and soaking drizzle for hours on end and sometimes all day long. O Wise One and I have decided that the good people of  this part of  Tennessee should have webbed feet. But we have to hope that this rain continues once we get our garden planted. 

In the meantime O Wise One and I have rehung our old door. Over a century old this door has cranberry glass  and is truly exquisite. It has hung in my homes for the past 20 years or so and has made the trip to Tennessee beautifully. Not wanting to put it on an exterior doorway because of the cranberry glass we have decided to hang it on the bathroom doorway and I will sew a curtain to go over the glass on the inside of the room for privacy. O Wise One ripped down that perfectly good and shiny new vinyl clad piece of junk from Lowe's that came on the house and put up our century old bunged up door that I originally purchased out of a farmers shed for a whole 12 pack of beer over 2 decades ago. 


Right now O Wise One is making wide door frames and base blocks and a beautiful molding cap to go on top of the door frame to more closely match the period of the door.


Our mirror over the bathroom vanity is a century old solid tiger oak mirror off an old dresser long discarded. And beside it sconces with pull chains. Anyone else remember those. We will add wide base molding and a crown molding up top to finish this room off.


Lots of bars for safety in the bathroom as we strive to prepare this house to grow old in.


And trying to tuck additional storage in every nook and cranny that we can. In the small homes that is so important to be able to have a place for everything. Trying to stain and sand cabinets inside is a real pain though.

So even though it rains almost daily right now we still have lots do inside to keep us busy. For two people so used to planting it is hard to wait. O Wise One has 6 raised beds started but we have not planted anything yet. We wait and observe what the climate will do and try to figure out a strategy in this almost temperate rain forest environment. So different from our prairie gardens of old. It will take lots of composting and soil building over many years to compensate for the shallow soil that this mountainous area is known for. O Wise One has already found a local rabbit grower and started collecting bags of rabbit poop for soil amendments and our first order of business was three large wire composting rings for leaves. As we start to see seed potatoes and onion sets in the stores we wonder if we won't be skipping the early spring planting season while we prepare beds for later spring and summer crops. Right now we watch the locals and study the environment and plan how and where we will plant what as we make plans for our future crops. Luckily our freezer is still full and our pantry has lots of jars left to carry us over until that first harvest.

Until next time....

Blessings from The Holler


The Canned Quilter



25 comments:

  1. good morning-what a gorgeous door-I have never seen anything like it-so happy it made the trip safely. I think that is one of the hardest part-figuring out the growing season in a new enviroment-good luck to you-glad old wise one is still able to do things for you

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  2. I'm so happy you're back! Here's an idea from a former Tennessee girl turned Missourian, of all things. :-) In years where the rain seemed like it would never end, I have been known to simply place my seed on top of the soil and put a handful of topsoil on the seed. I bought the topsoil at the store. Crazy, I know, but the bagged soil was workable and wouldn't turn into clods. It worked!

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  3. We have a beefy grab bar in the shower, & I use it all the time. Just a thought.... I had extended family years ago that lived in Fentress Co. Tenn. Their soil sure didn't look very good, very sandy and dry, but their garden was the nearest thing to Eden I have ever seen.
    So glad you are back posting! Are you going to have rabbits and hens at the new place?

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    1. Eventually I hope to have both but just a smaller amount of livestock.

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  4. I've been wondering about you...glad all is well and hope to continue to learn much from you as you figure out the new strategies.

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  5. I added five rain barrels last year to catch the plentiful spring rains! They were a big help when the summer turned dry and we were trying to conserve our water (we're on a well.) Good luck with the raised beds! Love that door!!

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    1. How funny O Wise One and I were just looking at rain barrels this morning.

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  7. KatzcradulApril 8, 2015 at 11:16 AM

    Don't feel like the Lone Ranger. It's raining here too and will for the next few days. We're supposed to get some nasty weather this afternoon. "A's" clarinet teacher just called and moved her lesson from today to next week because she was worried about us being on the road this afternoon. I have about $200 worth of bulbs sitting on the floor by my desk that have been there 2 weeks. I need to get them in the ground...it's just too soggy. All of the fruit trees have been pruned and that feels like a small victory. Your door is beautiful.

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  8. (I hate is when it won't let you correct a mistake after you post. I found a misspelled word so I had to delete the entire message and try again. I should have been more careful to start with...my own fault.)

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  9. 5 feet or rain a year! Oh my... can't even imagine that! Must say that sounds so nice given we tend to count the rain drops here in Texas. But I will say we have had more rain this winter and spring than I can remember in a long long time!

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    1. From what I have heard Texas needs every drop of that rainfall right now.

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  10. Welcome back! I made Cinnamon Flop a couple of weeks ago (as an afternoon snack, at a quilt retreat actually) & thought about you.

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  11. Welcome home! So glad you are settling in so nicely and have your little cozy spots. From the sidebar photo- your house looks so lovely. That porch is swoon-worthy! I pray that the Lord bless you both in this new spot with happy memories, a more relaxed lifestyle and much happiness and health. Looking forward to keeping tabs on your progress now that you are back to blogging! I missed you!

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  12. PS. I ADORE that door. And want one. (or several.) ;-)

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  13. Our farm here in NY in the mountain foothills is on shale with little top soil, and we get lots of rain, cannot remember a drought for many years now but floods and flood watches are pretty common. In the fall my husband mows the leaves and uses the mower to blow them into the garden beds. We don't bother with composting bins, they just break down right in the beds. In early spring, next week in fact when it stops raining for a day, maybe, we will spread some manure and then cover that all up with old moldy hay, free from local farmers The very wet springs means no planting before June 1 or whatever is planted will rot. We still do onions and potatoes, just do them later than what you used to do. The raised beds work the best for this rainy weather so it's good you have a start on them, also so much better for our bad old backs. Be careful what kinds of tomatoes you plant as they will get blight quickly due to the rain and moisture, so look at the newer seeds with resistance to all kinds of stuff. I usually will do an heirloom type or 2 but the rest is resistant seeds so if the heirlooms fail we get something for our efforts. I suspect you will now have to deal with what we call Mud Season here, boot sucking mud, tractor eating mud and that's a time to be glad not to be doing animal farming! Good luck and also don't forget to connect with the local cooperative extension folks for good advice and workshops. And get good rain gear for fishing in the rain; they do bite good in the rain after all. We were just discussing getting out the gear and doing some trout fishing next week or so when the temps go above 40. We also spent the winter painting cabinets and me making new curtains and some dishcloths from your instructions, all those indoor things that we do while awaiting gardening time. I love your door, and what a deal for a 12 pack! Will you be getting some chickens this year? I have 3 pullets in our lovely clawfoot bathtub after swearing off chicks but you know how that goes!

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    1. Some great wisdom there and I do know how that goes. O Wise One and I have farmed for so long that we do not know how to farm. We have to keep reminding each other that we are scaling back!

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  14. You mentioned exploring the state.... north central Tennessee has a nice event coming up in 2+ weeks on April 25th. If you search Spring Plowing Festival Blevins Farm you will get the info, numbers, events etc. The primary event is the plowing (with mules, draft horses, & oxen) The Blevins farm is in the Big South Fork river & rec. area and is used for historical teaching events as I understand it. Will be my first time going. (First time since the BSFNRRA have owned it.)

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    1. Beth will have to check in to that as it sounds like our cup of tea and right in our area as well. Hope we to see you there.

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  15. A lovely door. Oh Wise One is making the frame just as lovely.
    Enjoy your new adventure!

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  16. I am so glad to see you back! I have so missed reading your blog every day. The door is absolutely lovely.

    - Teresa

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  17. It is so wonderful that you and DH are putting your stamp on the place! In no time Im sure you will have it all whipped into shape! It brightens my day to read that y'all are doing so well!

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  18. What an awesome door, just classic! Don't you wish you could send some of that rain to places like CA right now?

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  19. So glad to see you all settled in at your new place. Gorgeous door! Your new climate sounds like western Oregon, it's surprising how much that drizzle adds up to in a year. You'll be growing moss on your back pretty soon ;)

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