Boho Graduation Party

I honestly cannot believe that my little girl has all grown up and ready for this great big world! Now exactly half of my children are leaving our nest and this Mama has mixed emotions about it all. There is something so amazing to see the child that you have loved, taught, healed, kissed, looked after, worried about, prayed for, cried over, fought with, obsessed about... (you get the idea), looking at you with her big brown eyes and declare that she is an adult. Um, excuse me?? And I just want to say THANK YOU to all of my friends and family for putting up with this crazy woman I became while wanting EVERYTHING to be perfect for her Graduation Party~ Breakfast in the Barn. 

We, and when I say "WE" I mean Daddy....my amazingly patient husband, finished this new little project on our farm just in time for the big day! Nothing like a huge deadline looming over us to get it finished. ( I highly recommend deadlines such as this :) 

THANKS DAD!!

When I planned our other daughter's grad party in 2012, we had it on our back deck/porch. Well, even though it was pretty, it was kind of crammed and this time around I wanted it more spread out. And this daughter has a little different style....so a Boho Party in our new barn was what needed to happen.

Now before you declare me a horrible photographer, in all of my craziness of the day, and because my REAL camera was being used to take pics with all of the guests and the graduate as they arrived, I took most of them with my cellphone, ugh, when will I learn??

We used vintage windows that I picked up at various antique stores and junkin sales. I see great things for these in the future! 

We showcased some of Sierra's favorite dreamcatchers that she has made and blankets, pillows, rugs, tapestries, and decor that are her signature Boho look. 

The guests signed a book called I Wish You More and got to leave their wishes for her.... I still haven't signed it myself, too emotional......

I have had these old sofas in our basement, loved on old relics, that I've hoarded. But now they had a reason to shine...and added to the eclectic vibe we wanted. 

I purchased these chairs and this table from World Market. Which will eventually be on our back porch. Ordered them online and I love them even more than I expected to!! 

This next seating arrangement was a way to hide a huge pile of barnwood that we have stored in this barn. So I made a long bench out of it with some quilts and pillows. Sierra's crate/storage chest that was a past 4H project was a great coffee table.  

I cannot tell you what a dream come true this was for us to give a party in this barn for our little girl High School Graduate. And as fun as it was to show these pictures to you all, guess what? I did not take ONE SINGLE PHOTO of the food table!!! Well, a lot of work went into it and I'm so mad that I don't have anything to show for it....we had donuts (20 dozen!), scrambled eggs, sausage links, bacon,  fruit, coffee, and orange juice. I guess it was all yummy....mother and hostess of the day didn't get one bite. HA! 

And to quote one of our favorite new songs by Tim McGraw....

"I know you have mountains to climb, but Always Stay Humble and Kind"

Sierra, you will do great things in this life, graduating is not the end, but a beautiful beginning! We could not be more proud of the athlete you are, the friend, sister, daughter you are, the performer/ singer you are, the Honor Student you became, and one of my best friends. Congratulations baby girl! 

Hey, maybe I just found what I should write in her guest book!? 

Daddy's Little Helper

While I was stuck inside...literally (see this post), the men in my life were outside working 

on our Fall 2012 To-Do List!

Nothing more precious to me than watching our baby be "Daddy's Little Helper".

Our barn is getting a concrete wash and dry bay. Will be so nice to have an area to tie the cows up (out of the mud). 

This is not the finished product....BaileyHusband will get it all pretty-fied....

....but I doubt these guys care...

One thing down...about 20 more to go on our To-Do list. Hope the weather holds out!

~Kim

For the Love of Home: a Renovated Barn and Farmhouse

I am so very excited to start this series For the Love of Home. And even more excited about the first home that I am going to showcase.....

circa 1918

No, that is not what the home looks like now....here it is now....

circa 2012

.....After many additions by previous owners, and the amazing renovation by the current owners, 

the Holtkamps!
This quirky farmhouse is full of old architectural details...and as I sat down with the lady of the house, it was fun to hear her stories of their renovation, as they tried to figure out how to make this house their home. 

I was so happy to finally meet this family, and am glad to now call them friends! For years we would just drive by and politely wave at each other...I watched from a distance as they renovated their home and barn....wishing I had enough guts to stop and introduce myself...and ask for a tour!!

This farmstead was built in {1863} by the Hilker family, and was a part of a larger acreage for the farming family. The original barn burnt to the ground and they reconstructed a second one...here is a photo of the barn in {1918}:

These pictures were given to the Holtkamps by a woman named Alma that was born and raised in the home. She stopped by one day to pay a visit to her childhood home and the present owners graciously gave her a tour of the newly renovated home. Later, she sent them a card to thank them for their generosity and for "making her day". She seemed very pleased with the work the Holtkamps had done and was happy to meet the young family and inserted original pictures of the home and barn for them to keep!

The Holtkamps originally purchased this homestead because of the barn and the settings around it. They lovingly restored the barn, and here it is now....

Their daughters came out to watch me take photos...cute as buttons in their jammies!

I think they have a future in modeling, don't you agree?

I love how, in the past, people would write on the front of their pictures, we have so many of my grandmother's that are similar. 

The "back porch" as seen in the older photo, has now become the Front Door.

As I walked around the property, you can clearly see their attention to detail and the hard work that this restoration took. The blood, sweat, tears, and most of all For the Love of Home shows through in the results. Someday, I would LOVE to show what they have done to the INSIDE of this beautiful home! The updates that they have added are with the intent for the next generation to enjoy.

I want to thank the Holtkamp family for letting me feature their home on my blog...and for my long awaited tour! This has been a dream of mine to write about, not just my own farm and home, but to see into the homes and lives of others and to share in the love we each have for our space we share with our families.

~Kim

p.s. If you, or someone you know, would like to be featured on For the Love of Home
please send me an email at Baileywife98@gmail.com 

A lesson in BARNS

Here is a somewhat short history lesson of barn styles... I have found that you are never too old to learn about new things, epecially something that is so dominant in our landscape and history.  

Most of you already know that I love all things barn! So proud of our own barn- which was a labor of love, and continues to be an awesome focal point of our farm.

I understand that these pictures are outdated.....and out-seasoned :) but i have yet to take an amazing picture of it in the summer...i promise to get on that soon!

If you have ever driven through the countryside of the midwest, you have probably seen some of the most beautiful barns America has to offer! I'm kind of a geek when it comes to barns and I ewww and awwww, as we drive, over barns like we are watching some spectacular circus act.

The design of barns, especially from "the olden days", is about the weather conditions in that particular area and the cultural background of the farmer. American farmers thought about functionality as well as beauty to show a sense of their identity to other farmers.

 

The style of the barns pictured above are called BANK BARNS.

These have 2 levels, typically lower level for livestock and the upper level was used for storage. These were built into a hill to allow the farmer easy access to both levels.

This is a Round Barn, like we already didn't know that! But here are some interesting facts about them....

they became popular as learning tools for farming colleges back in the 1880's thinking they were more efficient: less material used, cheaper and have self supporting roofs. Not very many of them around, which goes to show they didn't have all of it figured out back then!! 

Pictured above is a Tobacco Barn.  These are heavily ventilated with many vents to allow the air-flow to dry out the tobacco leaves after harvest. There are many styles of tobacco barns, but good to know when I see one with lots of holes in it I can sound smart and say, "must be drying their tobacco leaves"!............

..........Probably NOT what the above barn was intended for.......

Now for the most popular and simplest of them all: the English Barn

Usually small (30x40) with an A-frame roof. Ground floor, no basement, vertical boards on the wall usually left unpainted. And most commonly had a center isle with stalls for livestock on one side and feed kept on the other.

This beautiful red barn pictured above is a Dutch Barn. These are the oldest and rarest here in the US of A. These have center wagon doors and a broad gabled roof.

These usually have muliple doors and vents to allow winds to carry though, and the typical barn swallows and martins to come for a visit!

I just had to show 2 pictures of the next barn style: Crib Barn or as Baileyhusband calls them, Corn Cribs. These pictures are so stinkin beautiful....

The name comes from the one to six "cribs" built inside to house feed, livestock, or whatever else the farmer is needing stored. Smaller ones were strickly used for feed storage.

Last, but not least, is the Prairie Barn:

The Prairie Barns are large structures that were built for maximum storage and to sometime house large groups of cattle. They are wooden pieces of art that dot our landscape all over America. There is nothing I love more than to see the new generation of farmers, or farmer wanna-be's, fixing and restoring these beauties.

Through my research for this post, I have fallen even more in love with these structures!! I wonder if now, as we drive along, I can look at a particular barn and be able to point out the style it is?!

~Kim