Rebecca still doesn't have her computer back...

so I'm in here again posting for her...I had this image I know she will enjoy once she gets back on...and hopefully she will be posting her latest finds...she had a wonderful day shopping...I can't wait to see what all she got...she phoned me on the way home and was so excited!

hopefully she will be back online sometime this weekend...but it seems like the geek doesn't understand the bond between a woman and her computer!

we have been spending our time together on the phone planning this year's barn openings...coming up with new concepts and ways to draw more people to the barn gatherings...she is also planning a local early spring show that she has been doing...it won't be long until she is selling, selling, selling again...
Tete from Beyond the Garden Gate

A day in a friend's yard...

I am posting for Ella Mae's today...her computer is down again and the geek hasn't returned it yet...she is going through withdrawal...so I thought I would sneak in here and let you know what's been going on...this is a photo of a vintage bike I found 2 years ago on the curb waiting for the trash man...I knocked on the door and asked if I could have it...they thought I was nuts...
this was taken last month, but we have about this much snow on the ground now...and with the wind on the prairie...it blows around a bit...

this is one thing Ella Mae's and Beyond the Garden Gate have in common...my bush is fairly new and not as big as hers...but they are both snow covered now...

I know we all miss Rebecca's posts...and hopefully she will be back on soon and bring us all up to date on what she's been up to...I know she has a shopping date with a friend tomorrow...always looking for hidden treasures...hope she finds something really wonderful on her day off...and she finds me a cheese dome...cheap...

this is Tete from Beyond the Garden Gate signing off...

Missing the Snow

I know I'm crazy-but I hate to see all the snow melt. It's nice to have it around for at least January!

The Rest of the Parlor

I got this couch thru an ad in the newspaper stating free Victorian couch, so I went to check it out . When I got there it was sitting in the driveway of a house that looked abandoned, but was not. IT HAD NO MATERIAL OR CUSHION-in other words it was just a frame of a couch. I almost didn't take it - but then I thought - it's free. Not realizing how much it would cost to recover it. I had to choose fabric the upholsterer had available- so I chose this. Looking back I would have liked something more historical. It sit very low to the ground and isn't very comfortable. I have yet to part with it due to the cost of re upholstery These are the by-fold doors that fold back a couple of different ways. My husband had them stashed away in a long closet upstairs and I drug them down -where they belonged! Over-all I'm pretty happy with they way it all turned out- now on to the bathroom-hopefully this summer!

Added area in Parlor

This area was added sometime after the house was built around 1850. We have pictures from prior to the end of the 19th century showing a smaller porch and a flat front to the house. When we had the wood floor redone, this are had to be replaced. We were able to save about 2/3rd of the original floor. The amish did an amazing job considering the planks were of many different widths. The area of the hearth was the exact size of new boards when we redid the fireplace, so we think a stove sat there at one time. This is another set of gentleman/lady's parlor chairs which I love. I also collect the needlepoint sayings above the window along with the gold jewerly caskets on the table.

Another corner of the Parlor

The parlor is an odd shaped room. It has 5 windows(that were shortened around 1982-several years before Eric and I were married and it probably wasn't as possible to find long energy replacement windows at that time that were very expensive). It also has 3 doorways - 1 single that leads to our den, 1 set of french doors that lead to our downstairs bedroom, and 1 very unusual large bi-fold door that leads into our entry way. Not to add in the fireplace- it leaves little room to arrange furniture. So I just add in little tables and chairs where I can and then fill them with antique victorian goodies. I go with the old victorian ways-more is more!

This is the wall where my ornate 1800's parlor organ will go (when my husband will let me bring it in). It is the perfect space for it. The picture on the wall is William Riley Zimmerman, the second generation to live in our 1850's farmhouse. The books on the table are the Zimmerman bible and an old photo album of the Zimmerman's. I bought the parlor organ last January- I hope he let's me bring it in one of these days!

A Corner of the Parlor

Here's the gentleman's parlor chair -the ladies chair is on the other side of the fireplace. I have yet to find a place for the mirror (that's why it's on the floor). The wallpaper is very close to antique wallpaper I found in a late 1800's doctor's home.

What's keeping Us Warm

We installed this soapstone wood stove a year ago and really love it. It's got some gothic details and a victorian cast iron frame. Bought this mantle at an antique store several years ago awaiting the remodel of the parlor. We had it stripped and re-stained along with all the doors in the downstairs. My husband stripped and stained all the woodwork in our parlor-it turned out beautiful. His Auntie Jo gave us the fretwork(it came from Eric's great-grandmother Claira Zimmerman Synder) for Christmas last year along with some other beautiful antiques. The hearth is from an old chalkboard from Lake Union schoolhouse where his grandma Olive taught school and his father, Max Coon, and his sisters went. It has some letters scratched in it under the stove.

The tiles are made from antique tile molds-5 fairies, 8 flowers and 8 basket weave patterns. I found a lady on ebay who makes them after looking at antique stores for years and only find one or two not chipped. The whole room turned out beautiful !

Br-r-r-r -Baby It's Cold Outside

I'm wearing fur this month to keep warm- faux fur of course!