The Old Farmhouse

I must first thank all of you who have sent such lovely emails checking up on me. I had no idea when Heather first talked me into blogging what a nice group of women are out there. It is such a supportive community and a great way to make friends with similar interests.

Next I would like to thank The Kitten's Mother for the blogging award. It was a great surprise and did, in fact, raise my spirits as was intended. She has a lovely blog, is from England and so creative. Best of all she is a cat lover and fosters kittens! Please check out her blog, I know you will enjoy it. It is listed on the right so click away!

Since I haven't been doing much but sofa warming, I haven't much to talk about. Since it is the 125th year this house has been sitting here, I thought I'd tell a bit about the people who first built the house.



According to the mill stone by the back of the house, it was built in 1883 by William H. Glenn. The History of Washtenaw County describes the family as follows: .... William H. was born on the old homestead, and received his education largely at home. Sept. 30,1850, he was joined in marriage to Mathilda J. Watts, of Lyndon tp., and immediately settled on a portion of the family farm lying south of his brother's, where he still resides. In addition to farming he has lately engaged in the Fire and Life Insurance business, which has proven very remunerative to him. He inherits characteristic energy and enterprise of his father, along with the noble and refined traits of his mother, which have aided him considerably in his way through life. He is connected with the Grange interest, and with his wife, is a member of the North Lake Church. Six children, 5 daughters and 1 son have been sent to bless this alliance.....

The picture of the house above was taken in the 20's. The property changed hands in 1918 and consisted of approximately 40 acres. In 1943 it passed to the children of this owner and was broken up and sold off in various amounts at various times. In 1946 the house changed hands and was sold to Cyrillus Nagle.





When the Nagle's purchased the house it had no electricity or plumbing! They pretty much made the improvements that were in the house at the time we purchased it.

The Glenn family is buried in the North Lake Cemetery as are several of their children.



Having an old house is like having a dog. It requires a lot of attention but gives you an instant connection with other people who like them. You always have something to complain about!

Happy Valentines Day!

Roses are red,
Tulips are pink,
When it comes to poetry,
I really stink!

I hope you all have a perfect Valentine's Day! And may Spring be just around the corner!

Stephanie

Thanks for the Kind Thoughts!

Thank you to the many of you who sent such nice get well wishes! There are so many nice folks out in blogland. I am playing catch-up and will be visiting everyone soon. I managed to pass the stone and in the doctor's efforts to push one out, they shook another loose! Fortunately, the second one doesn't hurt and is working its way out. I go in next week for the pulverising of the one that remains that is too big. Don't know much about the procedure and don't want to! I'll find out the gorey details when I get there! Meanwhile, I'm feeling great again. I've been reading, baking and quilting! So let me show you what I've been doing aside from staying out of the snow storms.

I realize that you are a busy bunch but please take some time and read these books. The first is a facinating look at the food we eat. The author follows several meals from the corn in the field and the cows in the feedlots to the table, the mushrooms in the forest, and the hunter's contribution to the table. It is excellent, sometimes painful but a must read.
The second book In defense of Food is about what kinds of food make sense to eat, the dangers of the Western diet and what we can do about it. Much shorter that the first but packed with excellent information and suggestions.


I found this book recommended on several other blogs- Gardens By The Lake and Breadbasket Case. I had to give it a try and love it! For busy people who want to bake and not be tied to babysitting dough this is the answer. Not only does the book contain excellent bread and sweet roll recipes but also had recipes for things to eat with particular breads and what to do with some of the leftovers! The secret is that you mix- without kneading- four or more loaves at a time and store the dough in the refrigerator. When you want you take some out, let it sit (usually 40 minutes) then bake it off. Here I deviated from their suggestion of the pan with hot water for the steam in the oven and I substituted the Cook's Illustraited technique of baking it in the cast iron Dutch oven- perfect! The dough can be stored for more than a week so you have plenty of time to use it up! The one recipe I have tried came out crusty and good!

So here's the update on the quilt.

It's together and I've started on the quilting part. I am really happy with the backing I used because the colors are perfect for the top and it's a little jazzy!



Looks like this one will take me through the winter.

I hope you're all keeping warm. I have been dreaming of Italian Cypress and Olive trees!