4 moms, 35 kids (you’ll see the link on my sidebar) are hosting a “preview our homes” link-up and I thought it would be fun to join them! I’ll admit that I didn’t do any much picking up before I took these pictures, but I’m sure that you’re able to see that! :0)
Welcome to my home!
Standing at the end of our driveway, turn left and this is what you’ll see.
This is looking strait ahead….. and this is looking to the right, down the street.
As you can see, we live smack dab in the middle of town. Granted, Crandon has a population of less than 2,000, but to this country girl, it’s still too much. However, this is where God has us and I’m learning to be content. One day at a time. Actually, it’s not so bad when I don’t think of it.
Turn around and ta-da!! This is my house! (please disregard the mangled looking lawn. Getting your driveway plowed each winter would have your lawn looking like this too. ) This house was built in 1909. No, it was never a “farm house” for it has always been smack dab in the middle of town.
Here is closer look at our porch. Did you notice the toy on the roof? Yeah, kids live here.
This tree is old. I hate this tree. It’s ugly and scraggly, but unless God decides to answer my prayer and take it down the “old fashioned” way, I’m afraid my year is stuck with this tree. I have planted various plants under it, in an attempt to make it looks somewhat nice. And as you can see, other plants are there purely on their own. I’m don’t really get into weeding, okay? Besides, I figure that the more green stuff there is on the bottom of the tree, the more likely I someone else won’t notice how ugly the top is.
You can faintly see where the sidewalk to the porch used to be. And my small attempt at flowers. I wanted more flower boxes this year, it just didn’t happen. Perhaps next year. And those hostas? They came with the house and I have separated them both into 6 different parts, planting them around the front yard (under the ugly tree, in the line there in front of the porch). Even after that much hacking, they still come back to be large plants that won’t die. Now that’s my kind of plant!
Our family vehicle: “the big black beast”.
This is the children’s play yard. Notice the sand box right by the front door. No, I’m not crazy. Not totally, anyway. I wanted it there on purpose so I can keep an eye on the children. And the swing set Adam built them last fall, I believe, when the number of children, and their individual sizes, outgrew the metal ones you can buy at the store. That things isn’t going anywhere! And they love it, with the tire swings and all. There actually is supposed to be another swing, one of those tires swings that you can sit on the side of and go in circles (spin, spin, spin until you throw up kind-of swing). But the doo-hicky that attached it to the cross bar at the top broke, and it has yet to be replaced. Never mind that it was last fall. Adam is very busy.
This is the “garage”, although no car has ever been in it. We use it for storage. Even though I rearranged things and cleaned it up a bit last week, this is the closest I’m taking you. Your welcome.
This is our back door, that leads into our wash room. And this is the compost bin that Adam made from left over logs. You can also see the door leading into our commercial kitchen, or to what I lovingly call “Daddy’s kitchen”. You can see the siding is still not been replaced since we enlarged the doorway. You can see the pieces of cement that we broke up upon taking out the sidewalk leading to the front porch and the one that was still in front of our house. We put them together like a large puzzle. In July. It was going to be a patio. Yeah, that didn’t happen.
Our backyard. Yes, in northern Wisconsin, the grass is that green. No, we don’t own a sprinkler. We have the raised beds for our garden, there in the back.
These squash plants have taken over! In the picture on the left, there are Butternut squash (my favorite!) and acorn squash. In the picture on the right, there are Zucchini, Yellow squash and I think another Butternut.
We are trying our hand at corn this year. I’m thinking it should be taller than this by now, but we’ll see. And there is one of my Mother’s Day apple trees that I received 3 years ago. We weren’t sure if either one of them were going to survive. A month after we planted them, the caterpillars came and feasted on most of all the leaves. Then, the first winter, someone came and cut/tore off many of their branches. But with a lot of worm castings (worm poop) as fertilizer, they came back. And we even have apples this year! We have a Honeycrisp and a Glala. But don’t ask we which one is which. All I know is there apples!
Here, on the left, is another box with broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce and spinach. Here is our second apple tree.
This box hold our herb garden and a few sunflowers. You can’t see the Spearmint in the close up, but you can in the farther back picture. (Yes I know I spelled “Spearmint” wrong in the picture. I love spell check!)
Here is the 6th of our raised box garden and in it we have yet another Butternut squash (did I mention that Butternut is my favorite?), 1 red pepper plant that is being over shadowed by said squash plant, 2 Chile pepper plants that were planted for fun, not for a expected harvest, a few wee little corn plants, 2 very small, not growing well cantaloupe, and 2 tomato plants that are on there way to being bushes! Hence the wee corn plants and cantaloupe.
Last, but not least, is our 7th box with some more corn plants and….yep! Squash! But this time it’s Acorn. Mixed in the the flowers is a rhubarb plant that desperately needs to be divided. Next to that is another squash plant. In the picture on the right is the corner look at our 8th, but unused box and the lilac tree.
Here is the side of our house where I don’t mow the lawn. It doesn’t get much sun, so there is no need.
If you were to enter our house, you would have 3 options. First, and the least used, is into our commercial kitchen:
Second, and used a bit more than the commercial kitchen door but not as much as the front door, is the back door (Yes, those are the children’s clothes hanging there in the washroom. But the will be explained later):
And, the front door, where you never know by whom, or how, you will be greeted.
Next Thursday, a look into our house! Stay tuned!
( Go and see Connie @ SmockityFrocks, Kim @ Life in a Shoe, the Headmistress @ The Common Room, and Kimberly @ Raising Olives. They are the brave ladies who started the whole 4 moms, 35 kids thing!)