Just a Day at the Farm.....

On our vacation (previously mentioned), we went to all the big cities back east, like Washington DC and NYC, but nothing rivaled going back to our family farm in Reva, VA.

I remember visiting my grandparents here, the home that was once the post office for the small, rural Virginia town, and the house where my grandfather and all his siblings were born in the 1920s.

My great grandparents lived here until there deaths in the 80s, and then my grandparents moved down here, from DC, to live the rest of their lives here, as well.

My grandmother had a huge garden that she tended, and let us pick vegetables and wash them in the hose spigot, to our heart's content!

I was struck by how nothing changes, yet everything is deteriorating. I have keen memories of sitting/gliding on these metal chairs, out in the yard, as a child....the colors are so great.

This is the big, huge tree in the front yard, looking out towards the cattle pasture, where the big, green, wooden tree swing hung. The swing is gone now, but this tree has lasted more than a century.

This pretty little green, ceramic flower is "back in" now, and has hung here on the front porch, for as long as I can remember. My dad said that he thinks it belonged to his grandmother.

This is the door knob on the old shed....

Base of the door at the old shed. I thought these colors were starting to come together, design-wise, too, since I'm a nerd, and even on a farm, I'm thinking about decorating my house, back home....more on that.

How cool is this? This is my grandfathers birth certificate. It used to be a little postcard type thing, not a full sheet of paper, like they use now.

This was my grandfather's dog tag, from WWII, being held by my brother. I think this is a beautiful shot. His hand holding history. Cool.

So, now to the design part. When I started linking all these pics together, I really noticed the beautiful possibilities. I had been lamenting about my dining room, here.

So, my BIG plan, right now, to fill these walls, here:

is to do some good ol' editing of these farm pics, and blow them up, frame them, and use them on this wall. The browns, creams, whites, and greens will be a great look (reminder, I was going to do some kind of botanicals) AND they will have some good meaning behind them. I love to have really meaningful things used in design...its what makes a house a home.

What are you brewing on, right now, to mix family memories with design?!