The Wheel & Anvil

Time for Part 2 of the lesson! It took me a bit longer to get to this simply because I have been absorbed in the project. We left off at getting the warp onto the back sectional beam of the loom and ready to start threading. When the warp is wound onto the beam, the […]

I loved science in high school. Let me clarify — chemistry (thanks to Mrs. Green) and A&P were my favorites. While working on my latest project and thinking of sharing it, I thought maybe I would present it like this: the anatomy of cloth and the physiology of weaving. So anytime you look at a […]

Using blacksmith skills to create a piece of functional art to spin fiber.

The time has arrived. The house is finished (minus a few touch-ups and, well, I’ll get to the rest) and moving time has arrived. Before we decorated the house with chaos, I took some pictures to give you the before’s and after’s. I will say that this extent of a remodel is not for the […]

Our contractor said that we needed a handrail to the front door to pass inspection and I thought this would be a good opportunity to for me to utilize what I have learned so far on this blacksmithing journey. I am still fairly new to blacksmithing, so this is not a perfect project, but I […]

Give me an inch of progress and I’ll just be grateful! It’s been a few potatoes since the last post (can you tell I have leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes on my mind?), but there’s been quite a bit of progress! Not much to write about; instead, I’ll let the pictures tell most of the story. […]

Today I’m going to take a different turn in the blog posts. We have had quite a few folks ask us why we moved “way out to Ashford”? And the simple answer is the location, but that doesn’t really cover it. I’d say 50% of “location” refers to the beauty of the area, having land, […]

I know, I know. It’s been awhile. A whole month! In my mind, when I list out the things that have happened lately, well, it doesn’t seem like a very long list. But it isn’t the number of things that matters, it’s that they were big jobs that were some of the most important. To […]

Worst news first. Yes, those were the contractor’s words to me today. That’s just code for “there’s no good news, just bad and worse”. But I won’t start you on the worst news first. You just know it’s coming… First, the sill plate and all the rotted framing in the front of the house is […]

For those who are following our journey, I know it’s been awhile since I posted. There have been several times I’ve thought, “I really need to make an update!” But in an appreciation for your time, I didn’t want to post a bunch of gibberish just to say, “Look! There’s an update!” The changes are […]

Update 12/15/2020: It was brought to our attention that the previous link to the basics on playing hammerschlagen was no longer available, so I found a new one. It isn’t quite as entertaining as the last, but it does the job. It’s been a few interesting weeks around here! Progress is a bit slower on […]

It’s been a gloriously lazy week at the homestead. For me, at least! We finally finished packing and moving our household goods from Olympia and have them with us. Not that we can access it very easily in the packed container, but we could if we had the need and desire to rummage through it […]

Have I mentioned the need for flexibility while rehabbing? If I haven’t, I’ll mention it now; if I have, let me re-iterate, you must be flexible! The demo work is continuing. We had nearly a week of not being able to move past the front door for photos because of all the debris. Nearly every […]

Moving is the pits. And boy have we had too many moves! Fourteen years of marriage and fourteen moves, if we count the temporary move to Vegas (one month in a short-term rental) and when we moved into the RV for 8 months while transferring from Illinois back to Washington. And here we are doing […]

Some people are drawn to new construction homes. They like having everything new and don’t have to think about who’s dirty feet have walked over the carpet before their own (I’m speaking directly to my brother right now). But some people gravitate to old homes and love to think about the lives previously lived within […]

Have you ever gone on vacation and thought, “I wish I could live here full-time?” We have. In 2009, military life brought us to the Pacific Northwest. After living in a desert location for so long, we reveled in the beauty and lushness of northwestern Washington. The trees fill you with awe and wonder, and […]