Chickenhouse/Studio

In the January/February 2009 issue of Country Home magazine, I wrote a column about the transformation of one of our farm outbuildings into a studio. Our former chicken house measures 16 x 32 feet and was home to our hens for 10 years. Then we got an idea about reclaiming an outbuilding when we were on a family trip to Sweden. My kids stayed in a little garden shed with bunk beds--and were totally smitten with the idea. And so was I.

So we came home and started looking at our outbuildings in a whole new light. Out went the chickens (they got a new chicken house). And then we (and I mean our friend/contractor Randy) scooped out the building (an obvious and necessary first step), laid white pine flooring, put up drywall and built a brick divider so the space is bisected into two rooms. We use the space as a photo studio and office.

And we're probably the only farm in the country with two phone lines in their chicken house.

Star Trails at the Farm

My son Graham, who is a photography student at Brooks Institute, took this photo on our farm in January. It's our windmill (a restored Woodmanse) with star trails swirling around it. He was outside in the bitter cold after midnight for 40 minutes in order to get this shot (he didn't want to leave the camera and tripod set up and alone in the farm yard because he thought the horses would come over in curiosity and knock it over.)

My new digs

It was sad news indeed, but the cancellation of Country Home magazine (with my column as well as my blog on the countryhome.com site) means that I've moved to new publishing locations. I'll be blogging here about country life, gardening and pets. And I'll be still be writing for a variety of home and gardening magazines. I'll post current articles (and their locations) if you're interested in taking a look. Thanks Karen