Everyday

A Picnic In The Country With Our Bell Tent

May 2, 2018 by Abby Jo 1 Comment

A picnic in the country with our Canvas Bell Tent. This Spring my husband and I started looking for a tent trailer with a budget of fifteen hundred dollars that we had saved up for this purpose. Our family wanted to get out of town on the weekends to forage, fish, swim, and relax.

Why We Bought a Canvas Bell Tent from Europe-Forgotten Way Farms

And thus began our search…

We looked at many tent trailers in this price range, they all had some issue (torn canvas, dirty, rotted floor) and to be honest, Daniel and I didn’t want another project. I was thoroughly discouraged with no prospect of finding one that would work for our family when my husband said, “Why don’t we buy a Canvas Bell Tent?” We have looked longingly at Canvas Bell Tents in the past and always thought it a dream to buy one.

Why We Bought a Canvas Bell Tent from Europe-Forgotten Way Farms-Love this post so romantic and inspiring!

Well, we got looking at the Canvas Bell Tent in the large size (Sibley 500 Pro). It looked like it would fit our family and was hundreds of dollars less than what we were looking at in a tent trailer, plus way more romantic! I say that’s win-win in my book. This is the Canvas Tent we bought from Canvas Camp.

Picnicking, a Canvas Bell Tent, and the lush, beautiful outdoors of the Pacific Northwest!

This was our first outing with our lovely Canvas Bell Tent, sent all the way from Belgium. And you know what, I love it!

Why We Bought a Canvas Bell Tent for Our Homestead-Forgotten Way Farms

Yes, I bring flowers and finery when out in the woods. And I set up outdoor bathing areas on my homestead too, I am that kind of girl!

We have been so busy tearing up our lawn and putting in new permaculture beds, filming a wedding, and building some new outdoor additions. We love to stay busy, but we are craving the woods now that we live in town. We plan on many more outings this year, and I hope to forage for lots of herbs, and food this Summer and Fall.

A Picnic with old quilts, good food and the beautiful outdoors!

These Canvas Bell Tents are so sturdy, and it took Daniel and the boys ten minutes to put it up. I think if we all helped we could have it up in five minutes.

Awww, I love bringing flowers when I go camping too! Kindred Spirits <3

It’s hard to tell, but this Canvas Bell Tent is huge inside! It’s a circle shape with about 210 sq.ft. of room.

Why We Bought a Canvas Bell Tent from Europe and How We Picnic in the Country with it.

This beautiful little piece of paradise is the homestead of some sweet new friends. They were so gracious to let us camp out in their wooded pasture with two ponds. We had a tea party in the afternoon with them, and it was all so nice.

Even an all day Picnic has tea time! LOVE that old quilt too.

We didn’t want to leave; it was such a wonderful day of rest and fun.

Update: It’s been three years now owning our Canvas Bell Tent and we still love it my list below will tell you why!

Why we bought a Canvas Bell Tent and how we use it on our homestead:

We bought it to save money on camping trips, but this tent has become so much more…
We use it for extra guests, when we run out of room in the house, everyone wants to sleep in it (think Out of Africa, and romantic glamping).
We use it to go camping.

It was our second room when we were camping and trailersteading (“aka homesteading with a camping trailer”) with our kids a year ago. My four oldest children opted to live in the tent for six months and loved it, so much so that my daughter camps in the tent as much as she can throughout the year!
It is often our home base for when we go out into the woods to forage for food.
And I still drag it out when I go on day trips and picnics because I love this tent!

– Abby Jo

Sharing a link to this great facebook group Free Camping life!

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Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas

March 26, 2018 by Abby Jo 2 Comments

A couple of years ago we bought a 5th wheel that needed a makeover and a good deep clean. We had plans to make it into a cozy, and comfortable living space for our large family, while we saved money and looked around for our new homestead. That’s how we came up with our top ten cheap DIY RV remodel ideas.

This DIY remodel had to tick specific boxes for us, including being quick and easy, fairly cheap, and nice looking to boot. While this sounded like a lot even to us, we were determined to makeover this fifth wheel with $350 dollar budget and with these Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas you can too!

One beautiful spring day, Hubby brought our fifth wheel home and parked it in front of the shop for easy access to the tools and supplies needed to remodel this baby. I went in pencil and pad of paper ready to figure out what we could do to make this a functional living space for eight people and on the cheap. I don’t need a lot, but I do need to love my surroundings, and that’s easiest when they’re nice and cozy.

Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas

Without further ado, here are the Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas for a makeover on the cheap. I can truly say that this is a perfect way to DIY your cozy makeover on a budget!

Rip it out

Rip all the nasty carpet, blinds, trim, anything that looks ugly/dated in a bad way. This will change the whole look and then you will have a clean palette to start transforming your RV into a thing of beauty.

Cleaning

Give it a good deep clean. Scrub the walls and anything you are planning to paint over. When do you think was the last time it had a serious scrubbing? It helps with the painting too, you always want a clean surface to paint on

Paint

Paint your space. In a small area like this white is my favorite color but anything light or bright will do. Save those dark colors that you love for trim or accent pieces. Also, we painted right over the wallpaper! And it turned out great.

New flooring

Install new flooring (this is the most expensive part of the remodel). But the WOW factor that comes from having a laminate wood floor is impressive. Be creative and bold with your choices, it can really make the room pop!

Chalkboard

Use chalkboard paint on the fridge. It takes that dated looking fridge and gives it new life. Plus, it doubles as a handy place for your grocery list or a place for the kiddos to be artistic.

Curtains

Put up real curtains and place the rods as close as you can to the ceiling. It creates an optical illusion that makes your ceiling look higher, a plus in a small space! Going with light colors always helps keep your small space looking open and fresh.

Take it out and Replace it

Take out any ugly pre-built furniture and look for your own dual-purpose pieces that will give character while being useful. For example, a leather bench that I placed under a window. Being against a wall it became a couch, and the biggest plus was that the seat lifted up and had storage underneath. Any extra storage room is a plus!

Kitchen Island

Add an island to the kitchen if you have space. 5th wheels or recreational vehicles, in general, RV’s don’t have much kitchen workspace, and that is something I had to have to keep my family well fed.

Change the Hardware

Change that dated hardware! To save money, we just spray painted the old brass hardware with high gloss black paint, and they looked great. My daughter got in on the action and had a blast helping her Dad out.

Own it

Own it. What are the little things that make your house a home? Incorporate those things into your new space. I added a rustic coat rack and basket bench by the door making it cozy and functional, a sort of boot room on the tiny. Add those touches that make it feel like your own personal space.

We used leftover paint that we had from another project, which helped to cut costs. However, we still ended up having to buy a couple of gallons of paint. We spent $350 total for our remodel/makeover, and we loved the results!

My only regret…

My only regret is not having taken more pictures of us living in it. However, one morning I did film a little bit of our outdoor setup. I hope you enjoy the video.

Check it out…

Check out our Youtube channel for more ideas, tutorials, and inspiration! And please, subscribe if you want fresh ideas and more tutorials sent your way.

I hope that whether you want to fix up/remodel your RV, that these Top Ten Cheap DIY RV Remodel Ideas will inspire you and point you in the right direction. For more ideas and tips on making cozy spaces, click here!

Have you ever lived in a tiny space, and how did you make it livable?

Onward Homestead!

-Abby Jo

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Intentional Living & a Digital Curfew

March 8, 2018 by Abby Jo 4 Comments

Intentional Living & Digital Curfew

I have been thinking about a lot of things lately. When you nurse a hungry little girl all the time, you get time to think. Sometimes, life gets busy but you know, we still have to decide if it’s going to own us or we own it. Insert “Intentional Living”.

Intentional living…

So what is intentional living in the first place? Intentional living is really about making the day to day decisions to live life to the fullest, the life you want. Yep, little choices you make every day, become the CHANGE in your life, helping you to live the life you want.

Something that’s important to me is to spend time with my family. Time with fewer distractions.

I have a friend who every evening at seven, shuts down all the digital devices and internet down. They have cozy family time with no distractions.

Isn’t that brilliant?

Things are always vying for our attention, all day long. I love the idea of making our evenings a little refuge of rest from our everyday work. There is a need to balance daylight and darkness; it’s an old way.

What we learned from living off-grid…

We learned about balancing the daylight and darkness when we lived off-grid for five years. When it got dark, we slowed down, lit the lamps and tucked in for an evening of fellowship, games, reading, and food. It was just us as a family, with the whole evening before us.

It makes sense to me. How many times have I went to check emails, scan Facebook, and find myself going to bed after an hour in front of the screen, and of course I had planned on doing it real quick! It isn’t a restful practice to stare at a screen before bed.

(My daughter, Jo, loves to hold her baby sister when she gets home from work).

This year I keep feeling the importance of living life intentionally, which takes discipline to make the day to day decisions you want for your life. Dang, sometimes easier said than done, right?

I have a big list of areas in my life that I want to live intentionally in but for now, I plan on slowing down at night, going to bed earlier, and enjoying peaceful evenings with my family.

Let the evening come, put a curfew on digital devices, internet, or whatever distracts you.

Prepare yourself for an evening of rest and repose. You will sleep better for it.

Three Tips on intentional living…

Little choices you make every day, become the CHANGE in your life.

Quite the noise in your life, make time to rest, read, write, laugh, and play.

Balance the daylight and darkness by setting a curfew on digital devices.

What do you do daily to live intentionally?

Onward Homestead,

Abby Jo

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Mug Collections & Hot Drinks

January 12, 2018 by Abby Jo Leave a Comment

Mug Collections & Hot Drinks

I have something of a mug collection; they are my one weakness.

So many mugs, so many delicious, hot drinks.

After some sledding, snowshoeing, skiing, (or cold outdoor activity in general!)

Pick one of these delicious hot drinks, and enjoy the warmth it brings.

Hot Drinks:

A Mug of Hot Cocoa

Ahh, hot cocoa, an enduring classic and for a good reason too.

Nothing quite hits the spot like a homemade mug of steaming, hot cocoa.

I love a cup of hot cocoa that’s not too sweet, with a pinch of salt and made with strong dark cocoa powder.

My Hot Cocoa recipe is a pinch of this and a few spoonfuls of that.

Just add a little bit at a time, keeping in mind that you can put things in but never take them out.

For one mugful:

1 1/2 C. Milk,

1 Tbs. Cocoa Powder,

2 tsp. Sugar, and a pinch of salt.

Combine in a small saucepan and whisk over medium heat until steamy, 3-4 minutes.

Watch out for too high a heat, as milk will easily scorch.

A Hot Lemon Toddy

Sometimes after a long day playing in the snow (or just this time of year),

your throat can get a ticklish scratch, and nothing feels more soothing than a Hot Lemon and Honey Toddy.

I believe a medicinal Hot Toddy contains alcohol, but this recipe only contains fresh lemon juice, honey, and hot water.

For a touch of spice, you can add a cinnamon stick.

To make:

Squeeze a fresh lemon into a mug, add a spoonful of honey and top with hot water.

Sometimes, if I want some caffeine, I’ll add a teabag of Earl Grey tea and turn it into a hot Arnold Palmer!

A Hot Cup of Tea

I grew up drinking hot tea with cream and sugar at breakfast. When I was offered a cup of tea without either, I was shocked.

Did people drink tea without cream and sugar? They might as well just have a cup of hot water!

However, I do sip a cup of herbal tea now and again without cream or sugar.

But for a truly comforting cup of black tea, I require cream and a tad of sugar.

To make:

Follow the brewing instructions on your tea box.

While the tea is steeping in the pot, add sugar to your taste in the mug and half &half or cream.

Experiment here, everyone’s taste differs as to cream and sugar portions.

As long as you’re enjoying your cup of tea, you must be doing it right.

Pour the steeped tea into your mug and stir until the sugar is dissolved.

(If you want to make more of a teatime of it, whip up a quick batch of these delicious scones!)

Now, grab a seat by the fire in your coziest armchair and enjoy a brief respite from the world.

A Mug of Affogato

And last but not least, a lovely mug of affogato is perhaps the most decadent of these hot drinks,

but after a light meal, nothing could be more delicious.

To Make:

While you can make Espresso shots, I often simply make a french press of dark coffee and pour it over scoops of ice-cream in a mug.

Yes, it’s that easy. I love a Vanilla Ice-Cream with this, but you can experiment with different flavors to your heart’s content!

I hope you stay warm this season with lots of hot drinks, sweaters, cozy armchairs, and books.

Be Adventuresome

-Jo

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Homesteads of the Past and Present

January 7, 2018 by Abby Jo Leave a Comment

Homesteads of the Past and Present

We’ve had a long-standing joke in our family that there’s gypsy blood in there somewhere.

But seriously, the land has called to us, and we’ve answered that call, many times.

My parents, as a freshly married couple from Oregon, traveled back East in search of land.

It was only on their return back that they found what they were looking for, in Northern Idaho.

Beautiful land, trees, and mountains. And Idaho became their home.

As a family, we’ve lived many places and I like to think that we’ve left our mark on them,

but perhaps it’s the other way around.

This post is in honor of those little homesteads and properties where we had room to grow and learn.

Sometimes people have to grow apart in order to grow together.

It was here that we grew together and learned together as a family.

This homestead is where it started, for you as readers and for us.

Five unexplored acres feel like a lot when you’re a kid. We had a blast playing outdoors, building forts, cooking over fires,

reading aloud in the rain, trying to dig a pool (it turned into a muddy slip a sliding affair).

Dad and Mom started a business, worked very hard, learned a lot, and fell in love with growing food.

After nearly six years it was time to move on. A house in town was quite a change.

But the yard became a permaculture jungle, the back patio a cozy space filled with color, a fire pit, and horse trough for soaking in, and we lived.

In the winter we walked to the library, summer we played soccer at the skate park and we all bought cruisers to ride around town.

It was odd to live on a street, odd that anyone could drive by and see a glimpse of your life.

After two years of it, we moved into a fifth wheel and onto my grandparent’s property. That summer I slept every night in a canvas tent,

brushed my teeth out at a rustic outdoor vanity that dad built, and I fell in love with the sound of rain on canvas.

We made a garden in the woods, washed our dishes outdoors, I discovered that English muffins are astonishingly easy to make on a griddle outdoors, and learned that the smaller space you live in, the more time you spend outdoors.

After seven months and a week we heard of a property. Twenty beautiful acres and we moved in before Christmas.

And now, this is our new homestead, our new beginning.

Be Adventuresome

-Jo

P.S.

We recently joined again with the lovely couple behind A Happy Home Media and had a wonderful time catching up with them during a podcast interview.

They wanted to learn of our most recent adventures, which included camping, outdoor living, buying a new homestead and our dreams for it in the years to come. Learn what will be happening next, over here at A Happy Home Media!

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New Homestead New Dreams

April 21, 2017 by Abby Jo 9 Comments

New Homestead New Dreams

We have been on a crazy sort of journey for the last year. That in a very roundabout way brought us home to our land, a New Homestead and New Dreams.

This December, Daniel and I purchased our long desired dream of twenty acres with a house and outbuildings.

Wait, let me pinch myself.

Yes, we have our property! Ready for all our homesteading and permaculture plans to be fulfilled.

Hard work and sweat, here we come.

I have a year’s worth of things to tell you all! I took pictures all the way through this crazy adventure of a year, and plan on sharing it.

Last spring, Daniel and I decided to rent our investment home in town, remodel a fifth wheel (customized to fit our family’s needs) and move to my parent’s land to save money, and speed up the process of buying our next homestead.

Off we went on a spring and summer of adventure. We sure had a lark, setting up camp and outdoor living areas. We made homemade pizzas on the grill!

We made a beautiful permaculture forest garden in my parent’s woods and even mastered cooking pizza on the Barbecue. It was a summer of camping, swimming, gardening, projects and small road trips. All while we lived frugally and saved money.

It was a season of memories, the best kind.

We lived without the internet for the last year and lived to tell the tale. Even cell phone use was sketchy on my parent’s property.

Living tiny (AKA The fifth wheel) has it’s up and downs, most of the time I liked it. I love the freedom it brought us. Spring, summer, and even fall were great because we spent so much time outside, on the other hand, I was a little nervous about the up and coming winter. I thought, “I hope we don’t get cabin fever!”

New Homestead New Dreams

Our plan was to live 1-2 years in the fifth wheel, or so we thought. It was a cold December day, and we had just winterized our tiny little home on wheels when a friend told me about twenty acres with a house. I told Daniel about the property but was not that excited about looking at it. I just did not think our homestead would just plop into our lap like that.

However, Daniel thought we should just take a look at it. I’m so glad we did! It was the right price, location and had so much potential.

It still seems like a dream.

All winter long we have been making plans and sketching designs for the house, gardens, and outbuildings. We want to do everything at once of course, so we must break down our ideas into bite-size pieces, putting priorities into place.

There is still snow on the ground, and all I can think about is baby ducks, gardens and painting rooms in the house. There is much to be done on this new property. We could let it overwhelm us, but Daniel and I both agreed that we are going to have fun fixing this place up, and enjoy the journey. Dream big and live in the now.

So, I leave you…… Dreaming of gardens, ducks and the sun on my back.

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Catching Up, and Happy New Year!

December 31, 2015 by Abby Jo 2 Comments

What have you all been up to? Busy, I am sure 🙂

The Holidays are lots of fun with a big family like ours,
we really try to focus on enjoying each other, and the lovely season.

Every year I seem to get better at just letting go, keeping things simple. This Christmas was the best, we enjoyed great fellowship with family, friends, and had lots of good food!

I made a ton of rolls! I’ll have to share the recipe, it’s awesome. I get requests for these all the time.

Our dear friends gave us a prime rib as a gift, and believe it or not… I have never cooked a prime rib! After I checked in with Pioneer Women (thru her cookbook…hehe) I cooked that pretty piece of meat. I then realized that when someone gives you a Prime Rib, they LOVE you! It was the best thing ever, and I nailed the medium rare cook that we like 🙂

Pies, yes we made pies! Three to be exact. You should try our Pumpkin Honey Cream Pie

It’s neat to see your kids starting to cook all sorts of things as they get older, and it really helps out during the Holidays!

My middle daughter is becoming our little artist and changes the scenes on our huge six-foot chalkboard all the time.

My geranium is living, and looking quite healthy. This is the first time I’ve overwintered a geranium. I’m getting the itch to start plants soon, but I shall be patient and wait.

The long winter is upon us, and now it’s time to dream and plan. I actually like this time of year. I like all the seasons as I get older, I feel it’s important not to rush things, but enjoy each season and time for they all have a purpose. Winter time is full of reflection, resting, and planning for the new year.

We didn’t take a family photo this year. So, I made a collage of sorts. We wish you all a Happy New Year from our Homestead to yours!

– Abby Jo

Christmas Tree Hunting Video

December 1, 2015 by Abby Jo Leave a Comment

It’s that time of year again! Thought I would repost this video. We will be releasing some new videos in time for the Holidays, keep a watch out 🙂

I don’t know about you, but I have to have a real tree every year. That smell and those lights bring me back to the farmhouse I was raised in, and those early years that are always so dear to my heart.

Thanksgiving Bounty

November 25, 2015 by Abby Jo Leave a Comment

Everywhere you look in my house right now, it seems to be stuffed with food in all the crannies and nooks, a lot of it from our garden. It makes me feel like a squirrel and so blessed to have good nutritious food. I just wanted to show you what it looks like the day before Thanksgiving at our house, in all, it’s domestic glory.

You know my favorite pictures online are pictures of pantries and root cellars, does that say anything about me?

Kneading bread and smelling all the delicious smells around me, make my tummy a little rumbly!

Two pumpkin pies in the oven, or should I call them Blue Hubbard pies?

My sweet girl, cooking with my daughter is half the fun 🙂

First real snow yesterday, and the little man’s first time playing in the snow! He was so happy to go sledding, that look below kills me. So stinking cute. Sorry, momma heart speaking.

We cooked all day, and we are having scrambled eggs and sourdough english muffins for dinner, enough said! Just keeping it real 😉

Did anyone cook all day today? Or do you do all your cooking on the day of?

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving!

– Abby Jo

Filling the Larder

November 14, 2015 by Abby Jo Leave a Comment

Three hundred pounds of apples makes for some wonderful apple sauce, dried apples, and pie! This is just some pictures of my big apple canning day that we did in October.