Saturday, February 18, 2017

"Plan B" Designing Woes

Some of you may remember, that we built and designed our last home from the ground up, and that we owned our own home building company a little over a decade ago.  So designing house plans and implementing them, isn't exactly new to us.  But, in every new design project, there can always be smal hiccups along the way.  In every design job I've done, there's always a "Plan B", and let's be truthful, a Plan C, and D too! You always have to be prepared that your idea is either impossible for the home's engineering, or it's just too expensive to implement.   I've been dreaming about this home probably my whole life...well, at least design aspects of it! I now jokingly call it "The House that Pinterest Built"! Pinterest made it so much easier for me to research my ideas for the farmhouse and help the architect visualize my dream. There were many kinks along the way, but that's just part of the process. In the past with either interior design jobs or custom home building, I tried to prepare clients of mine, that Plan B doesn't mean the dream is squashed or ruined, it means it will be customized to them.  Now, I had to remind myself that too!  I had dreams of certain shaped windows, in certain rooms, until the individual windows either couldn't be customized for the space or their price came in exorbitantly high. So Plan B it is!  Then, there was the finish for the countertops...who knew that a honed finish, (i.e. Not shiny), would be that much higher than shiny??? It seems sometimes that everything is fighting against you.  So shiny it is!!

      

The Lingering Lane Through the Trees to the New Farmouse

  But, overall, I'm SO excited I can hardly stand it! Things that had to be changed, actually worked out for the better. Although, I'm still pouting a tad about the countertop finish...sigh! When your building a home from scratch, there are sometimes a lot of field changes. Luckily, everyone works really well together, and it it turning out to be beautiful! All of the surface selections have been made. Soon lighting will be the next adventure. I can't wait to share along the way, our dream coming to fruition. But, here are a few sneak peeks!  

Preston's Room ~ Oh What a View!

View of the Foyer

          
View of the New Farmhouse from the Crossing of the Spring creek
Here's to taking a deep breath in the months to come, feeling blessed for the opportunity to build our dream home, and thankful for being able to share our journey with family & friends along the way! Thank you for stopping by😘  Have a Great Weekend!  

Saturday, February 4, 2017

Thistle Hill Ranch Has BIG News!

A NEW Name for the Blog, and a New beginning for Thistle Hill Ranch.

 

So here's the BIG announcement!

We are Building our Dream Farmhouse!

 

Finally, we are on our way to building our dream farmhouse on our ranch. All the planning, the time spent finding the perfect spot on our land, and the long term plans for future buildings and dreams for our country life, are finally coming to fruition! 

We couldn't be happier! It's going to be a long year, and lots of decisions to make, but we couldn't be happier to make that journey, and share it with you!

Thank you for sticking with me, even when I gave up on blogging for a while. I had to take the time to get our plans in place, and make our dreams come true. I can't wait to share the dream with you! 

I'll be sharing the inspiration photos, and photos of the farmhouse taking shape. I hope you stop by to see the Thistle Hill Ranch dream coming alive

Have a Great Weekend and Thank You for Stopping By!

Tuesday, March 15, 2016

Spring Is Here at Thistle Hill Ranch!

I can't believe how fast Spring is coming upon us here in Texas. Well, if we're honest, Winter never came. That happens in Texas sometimes...no snow, no ice, NOTHING...suddenly, Spring is here!

I wish Spring lasted longer than the beginning of May, but I love Spring in Texas. We have breathtakingly beautiful wildflowers, green grass for miles, and temperatures that are to die for! I try to take every opportunity to be outside. Luckily now, living in the country, it's 10 times more enjoyable, and beautiful!

 

Sunsets really are better in the country...ok, maybe I'm biased...

And did I mention Spring Babies???

Meet Tinsel, our 1st baby girl born on the ranch!

Bailey, her proud momma, and daddy, Gunners Tinseltown, sure made a beautiful filly. We are in love!

We have 2 more babies on the way...I can't wait!

In the meantime, Spring has everyone on the ranch enjoying the fresh air, beautiful weather, and the lovely Spring blooms.

 

Hope you have beautiful weather too!


Saturday, January 9, 2016

Thistle Hill Ranch Jumping into 2016

2016 is HERE! I can't believe how fast this last year came and went. Our Christmas was so relaxing. We had such a wonderful time with family.

I hope your Holiday was wonderful too!

We had MORE rain, which brought our tiny creek to a roar, and pond fuller than ever. This picture below, is actually a dry creek bed for run off. It's nice when this is running, because I can hear it from the house.

The Christmas decor is down, house scrubbed and dusted. As much as I love decorating for the Holidays, it is definitely nice to get it all down and start fresh for the new year.

This sofa table was behind the sofa. I realized we need more room in the living room. I put this table where I had the make-shift desk on the right of the sofa. So, again...not a big change, but visually, it really made a lot room. The room looked so much bigger afterwards. I also moved the bookcase, to the left of the sofa. Subtle changes, but we really like the change...For Now, since I'm always rearranging. LOL!

These are the BEFORE pictures of the Living Room

For me, a clean house is the same as a clean mind. I need a clean an organized home, as much as I need an organized life...it calms me.

I know it's not realistic all the time; but, I really do try to stay on top of laundry, and housekeeping. This way, I free up time for the important things like homeschooling, organizing the books for the ranch, (all paperwork for the ranch, is done on a weekly basis), and any other activities for the boys or the ranch.

So with cleaning and organizing, comes redesign. It's never drastic, but I love giving the room a fresh look.

Our Dining Room / Homeschool Space

Our Entry Table

I rarely show my bedroom...I guess it's because it feels crammed.

But, here it is...

So much of our stuff is still in storage. I had the movers bring the furniture I thought would fit in the house, and what we needed for storage.

It ALL fits, and it's all needed, but, it feels crowded. Hopefully this situation will change this year...crossing fingers we can start building soon!

Did I mention how much more difficult the process of planning and prep is on your own land, not a Lot you just buy in the city? Oh well, it will all be worth it!

But, here's our master. What you can't see, is that we have a faux fireplace with a t.v. above it, in front of the bed. It really heats up the room, and makes it cozy.

Notice in the picture above, Bonnie and Darby, our 2 Westies, keeping watch out the window, looking at the ducks and geese at the pond.

Below, is what we see when we are in bed. Minus the ugly chain link fence, I love our view. It's definitely nice to wake up to.

I was surprised that this tiny house had a pretty big master bedroom. It really is nice to have the space for my desk, and sitting area.

After making the boys french toast and hot cocoa this morning, after their barn chores, I sat down to breakfast with Miss Scarlett.

The chargers are from one of our cedar trees that had died. I asked Glen to cut them for me, and I'm a lucky girl...he didn't even blink at me, and I had 12 beautiful rustic chargers from one of our trees. The egg on the table is our 1st duck egg, that one of the ducks abandoned. I love having it...so many 1st's out here...trying to capture them all!


Every New Year, I redo, renew, reuse, and then set my New Years Resolutions. But this year, I've adopted the idea of a New Year's Goal! This way, there is no guilt, no failure, just something to work towards.

I've had so many blessings in my life, that I can hardly feel like I need more. One of them was getting the help from my Pulmonologist and Allergy Specialist. I now have my dream life on a farm/ranch and have horses that I can ride, pet, and love on. Something that was always just a dream.

So, in saying my blessings, now to my New Year's Goal...

Stay positive, set goals, but understand they are goals...no deadline, no grade, no report card!

Just a GOAL!

Have Fun

&

Live You Best Life!

So here's to a fabulous, productive, and fun 2016!

Happy New Year!

And Here's to Many Happy Wishes for Fabulous New Year's Goals!

 

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Christmas 2015 at Thistle Hill Ranch

It's no secret I love decorating, and decorating for the holidays is one of my favorite things. Every year, I try to mix it up a little, it may be different colors, or putting decorations normally for the living room, this year in the kitchen. It makes it all feel new...at least to me! Ha!

With so many of my normal decorations in storage it makes it even more challenging. But, I always like a challenge. I had a lot of fun gathering greenery from the ranch and using it all over in Christmas arrangements.

Our entrance is very narrow, and not really an "entryway". So, luckily I had this narrow sofa table, that worked in this tiny space. Decorating it is always fairly easy, because not too much can go here between the lamps. So, I keep it simple. This year, I used an old galvanized bucket I found here at the ranch. It was fun to use something from the ranch in the decor. I'm learning so much history about this area, and this ranch. I love using things that are a reminder of our past.

I also keep the coffee table fairly simple since it is used so much. A little greenery, gold berries, and a leather christmas storage book, which is perfect for storing remotes.
A scarf for the pheasant.
Our grapevine reindeer, a few velvet presents, greenery in the antler bowl on top of a cedar charger, make an simple centerpiece. We homeschool here, so it has to be simple, because this table is used so often.
Even the piano, got a bit of Christmas Cheer. Frosty's hat, and Christmas music open in the antique children's music book.
This is by our back door, in the kitchen. It stores any extras of decor I have...storage is very limited in the house. I added one of my favorite things, the chapel that lights up, and sings carols.
 
Our kitchen table ready for morning coffees and breakfast.
The wreath above the table has the Thistle Hill Mansion, where we were married, hanging in the middle. When we came to see the ranch before we bought it, the hillside was covered in purple thistles, we thought it was a sign...Thistle Hill Ranch was born! This ornament means a lot to both of us.
 
The little quail dressed for the holidays!

Our living room doesn't have the best lighting. It's so difficult to get good pictures. Therefore, I'm posting a few pictures of the tree, and Santa.

I couldn't find my large owl topper, so I improvised with this little guy, that I luckily had already.

The writing desk in the living room got a few touches of the holiday spirit too.

Our living room mantel. I made these stockings a few years ago, luckily they are still holding up, HA! I put up our garland, & strung some lights in it. I didn't have a gold ribbon, so I used an old tie, that my husband won't miss, and then built around it with pinecones, greenery from the ranch, ornaments, and pheasant feathers.
Even Duckingham Palace got a wreath.
The front porch is very narrow, but, it still has enough room for decorations. Mr. Duncan gave me his approval.
Mr. Duncan's house got a little Christmas greenery too!

I couldn't resist putting decorations on the swing and outdoor bird houses.

 

I hope you all are having fun decorating or enjoying your decorations for the Holidays! I'm ready to take a deep breath and enjoy it too.

While writing this post, I get a text to come outside. I find this...my husband riding Preston's horse Bailey. She's pregnant with a foal, that's due this Spring. She is such a sweet girl. He took her on a walk around the ranch. A perfect way to end this post. I hope your weather is as nice as Texas weather is today...ENJOY!

 

Have a Great Week, & Happy Decorating!