Well, I couldn't stay away from hunting. After much searching, and actually giving up on finding my next hunter, I had sold a lot of my kit, and then I happened upon Maestro. He was introduced to me by his owners Judy and Karen. He needed a new owner who would hunt him and love him like the gentleman he is. I picked him up this past Monday, and he is fitting in very well. His real name ought to be Cool Hand Luke, he is laid back, but doesn't' take much from the alpha, Derby. I hope to have and hunt him for a long time to come. Welcome to LFF, Maestro!

In the meantime, Cappuccino's original owner wants him home and that works perfectly for me. So tomorrow he will be picked up and taken back to Monticello, FL. He has been a jewel and will be just the perfect pony to teach the children whom Cathy Taber will teach with him! Thank you, Cap for being my summer riding partner.

This is our newest foster, Lemondrop!! She is a terrier mixed with who-knows-what? She is adorable and can be adopted through Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue and searching for "Adelaide". We love her and she is Miss Personality!

Maury County Historical Society Preservation Award September 16, 2012

Today Andy and I were honored with receiving the Maury County Historical Society Preservation Award for Residential dwellings. The plaque is beautiful and will be hung on the house. It weighs a ton! very beautiful. Thank you, Kathie Fuston for nominating our home for this honor and to Greg Martin for presenting us with the award.

The Soybean Field and the Road to Our Home September 2, 2012

The soybean field shown in the first photo has done well in spite of the drought. They are starting to yellow which is expected at this time of the year as the beans grow and develop. The second photo is the road on which we live that leads to our house. I like the trees over the road, the fencing and the fields. A nice way to travel.

Winner of the 2012 Maury County Preservation Award for Residential Structures

Maury County has always had a strong sense of history, and historical preservation has been a big part of that history. Our home has been honored by winning the 2012 Maury County Preservation Award in the Residential category. The awards ceremony was held on September 16 where the pictured bronze plaque was given to us. Thank you Kathie Fuston and the Maury County Historical Society for this award.

Andy and I fostered two puppies who were, believe it or not, litter mates for Snooty Giggles Dog Rescue. We had so much fun with them, and here are their photos with their new owners. Quail, now Sugar, was adopted by Carla Chamberlain and Quilt, the black and tan, now Stella was adopted by the McIntyre family and is shown with her new "siblings". It was a joy to foster these precious little female pups. And goodness knows we have the room!!:)

Rural Living at Laughing Fox Farm in Middle Tennessee: Completed Summer Kitchen, Restored Pieces and Decorating

Rural Living at Laughing Fox Farm in Middle Tennessee: Completed Summer Kitchen, Restored Pieces and Decorating

Completed Summer Kitchen, Restored Pieces and Decorating

The Summer Kitchen is complete! The photo at the top is how we hide the air conditioner inside a biscuit box. With the top and doors closed, it is completely hidden. We use the biscuit box as a bedside table. It was originally painted a sort of dark green color, the top was warped and unprotected with a sharpening tool bolted to it. We removed the tool that was mounted to a board, painted it and hung it on the wall as decoration. Then I cleaned up the box, and painted it a sort of burgundy color. The construction crew adapted it to accommodate the a/c, placed the water drain pipe through the wall to the outside (hardly detectable and it waters the flowers) and air duct under the floor. It works very well. The next photo is the restored washing machine. David Travis did this and it looks great! Next is the wall with the restored cauldron paddles, and scoops that I adapted to be sconces with flameless candles in them. The "candles" are remote controlled and look just like flame candles without the fire risk! Then...The Summer Kitchen from the chimney end and the front. just perfect! Thanks to the David Travis crew for making this possible and to Andy Tate for making it financially possible!!!!

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Foundation Rock June 2012

When the house was "updated" in the 1940's and a kitchen, bath, closet, and hall were added, the foundation was constructed of cinder block. When facing the front of the house the cinder block went from the left side of the front of the house, around the south side of the house,to the rear of the house to the cement walkway out of the back door. So just last week we had the cinder block covered with square cut TN limestone and it looks great. It matches the stable's stone. The stone came from Pennington Stone, and the Travises laid it. It has made a world of difference. Next project? a stone patio! (Andy is yet to learn of this:))

Derby Pie

Announcing! Derby Pie!! I had noticed that Cappuccino was acting lonely even though he had Theodore and Roosevelt, the burros for companions. Every time we would go riding he would head for the nearby horses down the lane. So I contacted the Equine Rescue group in Lexington, KY and their director, Karen kindly returned my call. We talked for quite a while, but determined that they did not currently have an appropriate horse for me, but she invited me to come visit. About two hours later, Karen called me back and said that she never did this sort of thing, but at just that moment a lady called who could afford the horse that she had, but that her daughter needed something a bit more bold to show, and wanted to give her's away. She had a 10 year old TB. Karen gave me her phone number, I called her and the 10 year old was not going to work. When I explained to Starr Kramer, the owner what I was looking for, she said that she had a 17 year old TB that they had retired from showing and couldn't imagine that anyone would want him. We talked a while and he sounded perfect, so I drove the Lexington two days later, and brought Derby Pie home. He seems so pleasant, stood very well for the farrier, loaded like a star, and gets along famously with Cappy AND the burros. So thank you Karen at Equine Rescue in Lexington and the Kramer family for giving Derby a new home, me a new horse and Cappy a new friend!!!

The Completed Summer Kitchen June 2012

The Summer Kitchen is, except for some minor details, complete! Here are some photos showing the outside, the back porch, the hanging beds that I designed, the fireplace and a shot of the fireplace with some of the tools that we found in the summer kitchen that I painted and Jason Travis hung on the wall. Andy has named the cabin "Aunt Clarice's Cabin". He made the project possible, so it ought to be named, "Uncle Andy and Aunt Clarice's Cabin.:)

Yes, Pigs do Fly at Laughing Fox Farm

The flying pig at LFF

Hearth Cement Video Summer Kitchen

This is a video of the cement being poured and David and Jason smoothing it as it comes into the area for the summer kitchen's hearth.

Summer Kitchen Fireplace and Beds May 27, 2012

This is a photo of the fireplace and hearth in the summer kitchen, the hanging beds that I designed and Jason made, and a close-up of one of the beds.

These are photos that I took today of the outside of the summer kitchen with the flower boxes.

Cappuccino

In all of the hurry and involvement with the summer kitchen, I have not officially welcomed Cappuccino, my new horse, to Laughing Fox Farm. He is a dear, so easy going, which is a relief. So without further adieu, drum roll, please..."Cappuccino"!!!

I am so behind in posting photos of the summer kitchen's progress, and there is a good reason: I am behind on taking current photos. The work has continued so quickly. The stone work is outstanding! The David Travis Stonemasons and Restorationists have made so many good suggestions and we have implemented almost all of them. So here is a photo of the outside of the summer kitchen without the flower boxes

General Comments about the Travis'es and The Gate"

The restoration on the summer kitchen is almost complete. The stone work is phenomenal. The David Travis Stonemasons and Restorationists are the best. They are professional, take re-purposing to an art form, arrive on time, do what you ask, have excellent suggestions and are all around good guys. Jason Travis, David's nephew has done the bulk of the work with David's guidance. The other workmen have been Robert, JoeJoe, Jimmy, Gentry, and Ray. Jason humbly told me that they do work for the Belle Meade Plantation, so if they are working there, they are very good. The Travis family have been stonemasons for many generations and it shows. David enjoys making iron gates from re-purposed things. He has made me a doozy to go between the backyard and our horse pasture. I will post a photo. I laied out the design, and he used only items found here on the farm or actually in the summer kitchen. He found most of the things himself, and, of course, I had to add Nancy's horse shoes:). Here is a photo of that gate.

It will be installed sometime this week or maybe the next week.

Making Progress

The chinking is complete, and the ladder to the loft has been installed. AND it took four men to do it but, they managed to get the scalding trough into the loft. It is very big! That is it in the photo with the big black plastic bag suspended in the air (actually covering the light fixture).

More Treasures

I'm stumped. What are these???

The Summer Kitchen - Plow and Sewing Machine

While tromping through one of our pastures with our contractor, David Travis, looking for things for a gate I'm having made and things for the summer kitchen, look what we found! I researched both (research might be a stretch, but did find info on the Internet), and learned that the plow is called a "Single Sulky Plow" and could have been pulled by either a mule or a tractor. It is probably from the early 20th century. David pulled it up with a Bobcat and we will probably put it at the opening of our upper hay field. The sewing machine still had a legible plaque on it and it is a Singer. It says, "Singer Manufacturing Company" which dates the machine from sometime after 1865, again could be late 19th or early 20th century. It was a treadle machine, meaning that it was connected with a belt to a floor pedal that was pressed by the seamstress which in turn moved the needle up and down. Tooooo much fun these things we are finding!!!!

Cappuccino

Announcing: Cappuccino!! The newest equine addition at LFF. He has been lent in perpetuity from Cathy Taber who sold me Lucy. Unfortunately, Lucy did not work out and is back with Cathy. So we now have sweet Cappuccino. He was bought for Cathy's step daughter a number of years ago, was for the last eight years lent to her friend in Atlanta for her grandchildren to ride, and now I have him. He is so sweet, about 17 years old, maybe a Quarter Horse cross, and just my size at 14.2hh! Welcome Captain Chino! (as Andy calls him)

Peonies and Roses

I love spring here!

Totem Pole

I do not know what possessed me, but this totem pole spoke to me. It was made by Jacob Travis, the brother to the contractor, David Travis who is restoring the summer kitchen. It is about 8 feet tall, eagle on the top, then a bear (or a mouse, not sure which), a bagger, a fox mask and finally decoration. The wing span of the Thunderbird is about four feet. It is very cool and is now on the far front hill of our farm. The pole to the right is a stabilizer, and will be removed when the totem pole is securely in place.

Drain Board

This is a board that we found during the restoration of the summer kitchen. It appears to be a drain board of some sort. A friend of mine told me that it was used to salt newly butchered hams. It is about 2 1/2 feet tall, about 1 1/12" thick and about 20" wide, solid piece of wood.

Summer Kitchen

Work is going great on the summer kitchen. Here is the latest exterior photo with the roof painted Sherwin Williams' Hunter Green.

Summer Kitchen Chimney Coming Down Video March 23, 2012

This is the video of the chimney coming down.

Summer Kitchen What is This?

In the storage space on the boards sitting on the ceiling rafters, Jason Travis found this item. I have no idea what it is. If you do, let me know. I will also post it to Facebook. Addendum: My friend, Lynne Thompson found a photo of one of these. It is a washing machine. We are having it restored!

Summer Kitchen a Week Later

A week after the restoration started we have made it this far: The floor boards have been jacked up and stabilized, all of the clapboard is off, the chimney is down, the interior and exterior have been pressure washed to remove the remaining paint, the upstairs storage space has been emptied, next entry will show what we found there (a prize to whomever correctly identifies the item), the walls have been as squared as much as possible, squaring has started on the front door, and general pick-up around the site. We have decided to move the boards that were sitting on the ceiling rafters to the far left end of the kitchen to make a loft of sorts that will be accessed via a ladder attached to the wall through a hole in the boards. The boards were not nailed to the rafters, so I think they were added as some later point for storage and moving them will be easy. I am still trying to decide what to do with the roof. The David Travis crew have been great, show up on time, do a great day's work and seem to enjoy talking about the project.