Guest post: Introducing Sarah In Illinois

Posted on August 21, 2015 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

I’m pleased to introduce Sarah, also known as Sarah In Illinois. Sarah is a long time reader and commenter on the blog. Over the years we’ve exchanged a few emails and gotten to know each other a bit. It seemed like Sarah and I were living similar lives in a lot of ways, so I asked her if she’d like to share some of her story here. Sarah doesn’t have a blog of her own, so I’m happy to turn mine over to her today.

Hi! My name is Sarah, and I am so excited to stop in and share with you. You may have seen me leave comments here as “Sarah In Illinois.” When Julia asked me if I was interested in an occasional guest post, I was flattered and honored. I hope my contribution to this site will be interesting to read!

I really enjoy reading everyday life/farm living blogs and I think it stems from having pen pals when I was in elementary school. I loved to read how everyday things were done differently in other countries or even in other areas of the US, and I view blogs as a modern version of a pen pal.

Steve and I

A little about myself: I am in my late 30s. I have always lived near small towns in rural Illinois. In fact the population of my current town is less than 1,200. I am engaged to my boyfriend of over 6 years, Steve. Steve sells seed, farms for another person and more recently he started farming for us.

He has 14 year old twins that are often with us, and our pets include a German Shepherd, a Chocolate Lab, a barn cat and 3 hermit crabs! Both of our sets of parents and my brother live less than 15 miles from us and his siblings and our extended families live not much further away than that!

Completely peaceful rural living!

I attended college and received a bachelor’s degree in construction management and a minor in architectural design. I chose that area of study because I love old houses, but I never went to work in that field. My parents owned the automotive parts store where I worked growing up, and when they sold it I continued to work for the current owner. So my love of old homes is really just a hobby, at least for now.

Until a couple years ago I lived alone in a huge old farm house. There was never a shortage of projects there and with my dad’s help I learned so much about home renovations hands on. After 10 years, I began to realize that the house was really too large for me both physically and financially. And it was about that time Steve and I decided we were ready to move in together, so I said goodbye to my farm house and moved in with Steve.

Our current house is smaller, but of course there is a long list of projects we want to accomplish there too! Steve and I have tackled projects together with nothing more than a quick look on YouTube and a run to the home improvement store. We have replaced windows, tiled floors, built walls, textured walls (often called knock down) and our next project, that we plan to do all on our own, is a two room addition!

Knock down is so, so messy!

When I am not at work or working on home projects, I like to bowl in a league, read self-help and dystopian fiction, watch TV with Steve (thank goodness for DVR!), paint with acrylics, feed and watch hummingbirds, and run. This year I decided to try to make healthier decisions and so I started training and ran my first 5K in July!

My first 5k!

I plan to share some of our projects in the house, in the yard and in the garden in future posts. Like Julia and Matt, we love our pets like family members so I am sure they will make an appearance occasionally.

I hope you enjoy my posts and if you have any questions or suggestions, you can email me at tharpsarah77@hotmail.com. You can also follow me on Instagram: sarah_in_illinois.

Thanks so much, Sarah! I had pen pals growing up too, but it’s been awhile. And I don’t think I ever had a pen pal in Illinois. It’s great to learn about your life there. Country living, DIY home reno, pets, running, living close to family, dystopian fiction… I feel like we could be the same person (except for the hermit crabs, of course)!

Guest post: Flying high

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This week Matt and I are taking a little holiday. While we’re relaxing, I have some great guest posts lined up for the blog.

Often it’s the little things that make a home. You all know how happy Matt and I are to finally have a flag pole at the farm. There was the satisfaction when we finally installed the pole. Then there was the history lesson on Flag Day. And of course the maple leaf on Canada Day.

Well, Diane at West Lake Musings shares our appreciation for flags. In fact, she and her husband Warren recently made a new addition to their country property, and she generously agreed to share it here today with all of you.

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Happiness is infectious. When you love someone and you see them grinning and having fun, you catch the feeling too. Those good vibes just fly across the room and seep into your heart. That’s what has been happening around here this month. My husband feels good and consequently I do too. The reason for all of this good cheer was Warren’s current project. He has been on a quest and totally absorbed in getting a flag made up for the property.

Our new flag is not just any old flag. Oh, you don’t know Warren well do you? No, Warren’s new flag is a custom designed unique-only-to us flag. It will fly high and mark his territory.

It is exactly one year since Warren had a personal design created and 30 custom baseball caps manufactured with that logo on the brow.

Ordering a personal flag using that same design was just the natural progression.

I personally find Warren really endearing when he is caught up in the excitement of a project. God love him. He is cute. He has been running around all month. First he had to go back to the hat manufacturer and ask them to email the flag people a copy of his design. Then there were colour swatches to select and proofs to approve. There was a choice of fabrics to select. Did we want the flag in satin, nylon, polyester, duraknit or duramax? Do we want the grommets on the right or the left side? We decided on a 3′ x 5′ size flag and an 18 foot tall aluminum flagpole. For Warren it was all very important stuff.

The flag manufacturer has been great and very patient. Flags Unlimited are located several hundred miles away yet they were able to manufacture and deliver our new flag within a day and a half from placing our final order. Oh, and the flag pole was delivered too. It came in five sections, each four feet long, neatly packed in a cardboard box. How cool is that?

Armed with a neon spray can and measuring tape we then went looking for the perfect location for our new flag pole. It couldn’t be too close to the trees and we had some over head wires to contend with. Some areas of our property are rather sheltered and don’t get much wind. The last deciding factor was that we wanted to see the flag from the house and whenever we walked out the back door.

The final stage in the project was the installation of the flag pole. It was a real team effort. Out came the wheelbarrow, the shovels, a tarp, gravel and concrete. The instructions called for a 16 inches x 48 inches hole. Two inches of gravel was placed into the bottom of the hole and then the whole thing was filled with concrete. “Quick get the level!” We don’t want a crooked pole.

Today the project was completed. Not since the marines raised the flag during the battle for Iwo Jima has there been this much anticipation. The pole is firmly in place and the beautiful new flag is snapping in the wind. Magnificent. We love it. For the man who has everything it makes a truly unique stand-out symbol of his territory.

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Isn’t that a great commemoration of their new life in the country? I love the idea of a custom made flag for the farm. Diane’s and Warren’s love of their new home is obvious. Thanks, Diane for sharing your story today.

One of my favourite parts of blogging is finding kindred spirits. In the case of Diane–who was actually the one that found me–our transformation into country living has followed a very similar path (almost to the month)!

Breeze over to West Lake Musings to check out more of her and Warren’s adventures.

Guest post: Landscaping revamp

Posted on August 12, 2013 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This week Matt and I are taking a little holiday. While we’re relaxing, I have some great guest posts lined up for the blog.

Landscaping a large property is a challenging prospect that takes a special kind of person. It usually starts with “what a beautiful vista. I can’t believe this is all mine.” But then it often becomes a question of “where do I stop cutting the grass?” Other times it’s “how do I keep my arms and legs going to move all of these bushes/dirt/plants/logs/rocks?”

Danica from Country Chic Renovator and her husband Branko have their own slice of paradise: 49 stunning country acres. Of course, like our acres, theirs are a wee bit wild in spots. Fortunately, Danica also has a hard work ethic–just what she needs to domesticate at least part of her property. I’m pleased to welcome her to the blog today to share some of her progress with you.

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Hi Guys! Danica here from Country Chic Renovator. Julia and I have so much in common especially when it comes to landscaping and renovating our homes.

We have several projects on the go at our “Forever Home” and the one thing we have been working really hard on is the landscaping at the front of the house. The previous owners planted small bushes and never maintained them so over the years the bushes just kept on growing to a point where they were dead underneath and everything that was overgrown on top was alive.

Initially we had hoped we could save a few of them and just trim them down but once we stared cutting the overgrown areas we realized we would have to remove everything.

Here is a preview of how it had looked when we first purchased the place

After many ~~hours~~ days, we finally saw some real progress. The next step would be to create a new landscape layout and a new deck. We need a sitting area where we can set a large outdoor table and umbrella so when we have guests over we can sit outside in the summer. We are thinking of creating a lower deck level by adding stairs to the right of balcony and removing the wrap around. For the landscaping we would like use the large boulder stones in some way. Once we level off the hills we will start on a landscape plan…

So much has changed on this home already including installing new windows, doors, and now the landscaping and removal of the bushes!

Hope you enjoyed my guest blogging for Julia while she is relaxing on her vacation! Feel free to visit my blog for further updates our “Forever Home”.

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Thanks so much, Danica! Head over to Country Chic Renovator to see more examples of Danica’s and Branko’s work. They are what I call hardcore DIYers. Be sure to check out the complete renovation of their first home (including massive addition and complete interior reconfiguration) that they did by themselves last winter.

Now that they’re onto their forever home, I’m excited to see their progress (and perhaps a little jealous that Danica is going to have my dream master bathroom a few years before I do).