Several days ago my husband and I were discussing my blog, specifically my facebook and social media content, and my husbands biggest suggestion for moving forward was becoming more "specialized". He commented that my content was all over the place, from homeschooling, or gardening, home renovations, to recipes, and that I should think more specifically about my target market.  Who am I blogging to.  What types of followers do I want to have.  

This has gotten me thinking and I am moving forward with some changes.  There are many well established bloggers out there who really do blog their lifestyle and everything in between, but that's not me, so what are the things I really want to focus my efforts on?  

After reviewing some of my most popular posts on facebook and Instagram I have decided that I want to focus this blog on making a hospitable home and cooking good food.  These two things are the core of what I want to be about and go hand in hand.  Household renovations will be part of that content.  Home decorating with be a part.  Making a few handmade projects for around the home can be a nice added touch.   Everyone loves good food.  Tasty recipes, fresh food from the garden, making something yummy.  That is also part of hospitality.  

You see, I don't believe hospitality is just for guests.  Hospitality is how others feel cared for in your home, including your own family.  Having and organized, clean, well managed home creates a space for all to enjoy.  Every. Day. and also guests from time to time. 

Creating a beautiful home in and out, that's peaceful and welcoming....and happens to have great food.  That's what Knoll 22 is going to be about.  A country, rural acreage, homesteading atmosphere may be the backdrop, and pop in now and then, but my main focus will be on the home for now.  

​We'll see what the future holds.

​June 28, 2020
 
There are moments in life where everything seems to come to a halt.  Things that seemed so important, suddenly fade into the background.  I’ve had several of these moments in my lifetime.  I remember the day we took our first foster care placement, just a few weeks before Christmas.  Suddenly, all the decorating and planning for the holiday which had been forefront in my mind, was pushed back as caring for two small children who had been removed from their parents for the first time became a much more important goal.
 
My father in law died yesterday. In an instant, plans for our big 4thof July family camping trip were canceled, and the family trip out west which he, and his wife, and his girls had left on just the day before was no more. 
 
My husband and I were awoken Saturday morning to a phone call from my mother in law, her voice was a panic, and the message was short.  Dave had had a heart attack, and she was asking us to pray and contact other family members.   As my husband hung up the phone, I was in disbelief.  That certainly was never the call I expected to receive.  The realization that my husband was about to become fatherless was a moment I never had imagined.
 
What seemed like only a few minutes later, she called again, informing us the ambulance crew was doing CPR and taking him to the hospital, but had informed her it was “very serious”.  At the end of the call she repeated those words.  I’ve had enough emergency response training, to assume what was going on.  As she and the girls followed the ambulance to the hospital, I knew without a miracle, what news was waiting for them when they arrived.
 
Until this year, death has for the most part availed me.  Besides the passing of a few extended family members, I have had little contact with loosing family. My final great-grandmother, who passed when I was in college, was the closest I had been to person who has left this life.  Although the was a dear woman and I have many memories or her that I will cherish as long as I life, we lived our lives, for the most part, separated by half a continent.  
 
Earlier this year, I sat at the dining room table in my parents’ home as my dad took the call from his older brother.  I could hear Walt on the line, “Dad’s gone”.  Unlike yesterday, we had been waiting for that call.  I had traveled 6 hours home with my oldest earlier that day to see him after receiving news he was being put on hospice.  Yesterday, I witnessed that same call, expected yet unexpected, as I heard my husband say, “At least we know where he is”.  
 
Two calls in just 6 short months, and with the COVID-19 pandemic and everything else in our world, what a very quick 6 months it has been.  But God’s timing is perfect.  My grandpa went before all the shutdowns, and I am so thankful we were able to be together. So, so, thankful.  As restrictions are easing up, we are now able to be together once again.  As I prayed yesterday morning, I could hardly even request a miracle, it almost felt wrong, because I had such peace in my heart that this was the time.  This was part of a greater plan, from a God who loves us, who loves Dave, and who has everything in this chaotic world perfectly under control. So I mainly prayed prayers of surrender. Of course, I asked God to keep him with us, but I knew in my heart that wasn’t going to be the outcome.
 
I never imagined my children would lose their first grandpa the same year I did.  I never imagined my mom would lose her father in law just 5 months before me.  I never imagined that my mother in law would become a widow only two years after her mother. The generational gap has seemingly melted.  
 
It seems so unfair that I was given 31 years with my grandpa, with both of them, and my grandmothers too.  Yet my daughter was given just 3.  Three short years which she will likely never remember.  Will she even remember him?  She’ll never really “know” the humble man with love in his eyes, who led our family with a gentle quiet strength.  To me that is the greatest tragedy of yesterday. Not that he is gone, because I believe with all my heart he is with Jesus and reunited with his family who has gone on before, and Grandpa Bob who we lost two years ago to the week, and we will all be reunited again someday, praise God, but the tragedy of those in our family who will never know him.  The hardest things for my heart to handle are the thoughts of those like my little niece, who was due yesterday, who will never meet her grandpa.  It brings me to tears every time. Every. Time.
 
I’ve always considered myself blessed to have all my grandparents and even so many of my great-grandmothers well into my life.  I know I was.  It’s a gift so many will never receive.
 
I will always be thankful for the years I knew Dave.  That I was part of his life, and he was part of mine for a whole decade. May God give us strength of the days ahead without him.
 
Sometimes songs have a way of reaching our hearts.  I can think back on key moments in my life and many times a song goes with them.
 
As I drove through Minneapolis on the way to see my grandfather on his death bed, I heard the song “Almost Home” by Mercy Me on the radio for the very first time.  Not only was I physically almost home, with a little over an hour left on my drive, but that day my grandpa was almost home with only hours left in this life.
 
A few days ago, the song “Well Done” by The Afters came on the car stereo, once again as I was driving, and it spoke to my heart.  With all the pain in this life, with all the hurt in our nation, with all the death in our world, the hope and peace of every believer is knowing that one day we will be home and the one who is faithful and true, who loves us more than life itself will look at us and say “well done, good and faithful servant”.  What greater joy?  Just minutes before we got that final call yesterday this song came into my head again.  I know my father in law ran the race set before him, and I, and our family, along with the Lord himself applaud his life and say “well done”!

,This past winter, an inebriated driver plowed into our garage, leaving the front of our garage exposed and totaling our van inside.  Consequently, they also mowed over a section of my raspberry patch which is along the south wall of the garage.  

We had to wait until spring to begin repairs, since a section of the concrete foundation needed replaced.  In the past week, our contractor has finally been able to begin putting things back together, and today that are working to install the new wall and garage door.  

However, since the wall was already damaged we decided to add an exterior door to the side of the garage to allow easier access from the yard.  Unfortunately, that meant some of my raspberries needed to be moved.  

After cleaning up some of the broken glass shards from the crash, I set about moving my shoots to a new location.  I am so impressed with how quickly these heirloom raspberries grew and spread in just one season.  Some of the canes were 4-5 feet long and nearly every one had set down roots to start another plant.

Everything is moved now, and I gave them a nice meal of epsom salt and water to reduce transplant shock, especially since everything has sprouted.  

I'm very excited about watching my raspberry patch spread in the coming years, and having my garage functioning again. :)
​

The day we moved into our house was certainly one to remember.  Deep snows and heavy rains caused flooding around the region, but it happened to hit our house on that same day.

Not only was the yard covered, but thankfully only the backyard, We also quickly found out that our well was flooded.  Apparently, our well did not have a cap so the flood water was quite literally just running straight down the pipe and into our water system.  I discovered this when I turned on the faucet and it ran brown.  So bottle water it was for a while until that was repaired.  

My husband made several attempts at redirecting the water by shoveling trenches and waterways through our yard to the drainage ditch.  The slope and grading of our yard was something we knew would need addressed when we bought the place, and thankfully there was enough of a hump in the backyard before the house that water did not make it that far.

Despite the surprises we did not get any water into our basement and for that we are very thankful!

With water in some places a foot deep our rubber boots certainly were a necessity right from the start.

Over the 4th of July weekend, there was an unfortunate accident, that took the life of our cat Midnight.  He was a great cat, and I'm sad that we only had such a short time with him. He really was great for the kids and a nice fit to our acreage.  He had become good friends with the neighbor's cat (they even said so), and had finally gotten the hang of catching mice, birds, and baby rabbits.

Here are a few photos to remember our first Knoll 22 feline.

Goodbye Midnight.

A couple of weeks ago two families from our church posted that they were looking for new homes for their farm cats and kittens.  Last week, I took the kids over to one of the families acreage to look at their cats.  They had quite a selection of cats, but of course we really liked the two that were "not available".  One was a sweet female who is expecting (and we really only wanted one cat) and the other was her sister, who just had 2 kittens a week or so prior.  I liked the momma cats...they both had sweet personalities, and the kids liked the baby kittens....of course.  We went home, thought about it. The family said we could have either of them, but if we took the momma we also had to take the kittens.  I think you can guess how this ends....  The next day we became triple cat owners :)

The momma's name was Zinnia, "Zin" for short, but my kids kept forgetting so they just call her "Liz" instead.  Sometimes she's Zin other times she's Liz.  We still have to get that figured out :). 

​Welcome and hello little kitties.

This past week marked a big step in the process toward completing our basement renovation.

Several weeks ago I scheduled our carpet installation, but there were still a few things we needed to get done BEFORE the carpet came.

The few days before we were scrambling a bit as I tried to get the third coat on the wainscoting, and a last minute conversation send my husband to the hardware store for supplies to build a closet.

The basement blueprint  is currently half unfinished storage space & laundry, and half "finished" living space, which is comprised of a family room, guest bedroom, and a bathroom.  However, to make it a legal bedroom we needed to add a closet and and egress window.  I was convinced the best time to add the closet would be before the carpet was installed, so my hard working husband finished framing it up the night before carpet was scheduled to come.  Doesn't it look nice?  

Now we are 2 steps closer to having a finished space.

The ceilings are currently open, and we'll keep them that way at least until the upstairs renovation is complete to allow easy access to wiring and plumbing.  A drop ceiling would make the most sense to finish it off, but personally I am not a fan....so we'll see what happens. That's a long way off anyhow.

To give you a taste of where we have come in the past 4 months here are a few before and after shots of the basement rooms we are renovating.

Family Room/Playroom

Guest Bedroom

Flash back with me just a few months, to the day we purchased Knoll 22....

We just bought ourselves a dream home in the country.  Ok, it's not our dream HOME, but to be in the country, that has been our dream for nearly 7 years.  

The land itself, is essentially sight unseen.  The winter snow and sub zero temperatures during most of our initial visits and inspection meant we didn’t do much exploring outside.  What’s out there?  A small shed I can see, and some over grown arborvitaes.  Other than that, we don’t really know.

The house however, we do know.  It’s a characterless, ranch built in the 1970’s, and apparently not much as been done to it since.  Flat panel doors. A gold and green bathroom.

And what’s this?  A glittery popcorn ceiling?

The original blue, red, and orange carpets still grace the rooms with their matted pathways, and oh so strong dog smell.  Yes!  The whole house smells like dog.  That has got to go!

Dust and dinge fill every room. Every light switch. Every socket.  

The exterior siding is rotting, along with the window frames, but on the bright side it does have a brand new roof and septic system!

So, this is where we start.  A marker to the wonderful improvements we are going to make. The the character and charm we hope to add.  A beginning tribute to the life we plan to make here.  

Renovation starts today!  Day one! Sign those papers and then it’s demolition! The baseboards, the carpet, window coverings, and that atrocious master bath…it’s all going. Good riddance!  Goodbye!

In three weeks, with a lot of hope, paint, and hard work, Lord willing, this house will be livable (because let's be honest...it's currently not!) and our first phase of renovation will be complete.  We will be ready to move in.  

Here we are, back in the present and just a few months later.  Boy have we had our share of surprises since then.  I can't wait to share them with you over time, but for now we have moved in and are settling into our new home.  Sometimes it's even hard for us to believe how for we have come in such a short time.

It'll take another year, or two or more to finish the rest of the projects, including adding refinishing the basement that we "unfinished" in the demo, adding a laundry room and master suite, redoing the kitchen, and adding a mudroom and office.  Not to mention the outside projects...a deck, a porch, a shed?

Really though, is a house ever completely "finished"? No.

Won’t you join us on the journey? 

Look what the cat dragged in!

For many this is just a figure of speech, but for us, today at least, I literally mean…LOOK WHAT THE CAT DRAGGED IN!

We added our cat, Midnight, to the family around the same time we purchased our new home.  He was a stray wandering around the sandbox, and with no collar or microchip, he soon become ours.  

It also became quickly apparent that he had previously lived a house cat lifestyle.  Not only did his litter training give him away, he also maked constant sneaky attempts to get into the house.  Every. Chance. He. Got.  So, theres that, and the persistent meowing at the door every morning.

Since we live on an acreage now, we are in need of a farm cat more than a house cat, because I’m sure the surrounding fields are filled with mice that would love to invade our "barn" and devour our chicken food, bird seed, and whatever else they can get their little paws on. So poor Midnight has had to adapt to the rugged outdoors, starting first in the garage and eventually being demoted to the “barn” with the rest of the animals.  I really don’t think he appreciates it, but he’s stuck around, so I guess the attention of the kids has won him over.

Just a few days ago, my husband brought our camper out of winter storage.  Living in town, our lot did not allow much space for keeping a camper, but thankfully we have a cousin who was willing to lend us some shed space.

Despite great efforts to prevent mice, the little sneakers still make themselves at home over the cold months.  Hoping to do some damage control, we stuck the cat in there the first night once we got the camper home. This should have ben an ideal scenario for everyone, after all, he LOVES being indoors, and this was his chance, but there wasn’t a body count to show for it the next morning.  Farm cat fail!
​
Jacob went to work chasing the mice out and assessing the damage.  He threw a nest of babies into the yard for the cat.  At first Midnight didn’t seem to know what to do with them, and drug one back toward the shed for a little playtime.  Eventually, he figured out it was for eating, I assume, and the rest of the litter soon followed.

So here I am, out in the yard with the kids, and we come across the cat, playing joyfully, throwing a clearly dead baby rabbit into the air like a rag doll, and removing it’s fir one mouthful at a time.  It was actually quite fascinating.  Iv’e never seen a cat pull fir like that. The kids watched him for a while, learning about the realities of life like champs, and he eventually sat down to eat it.

Welcome to the Knoll 22 family, Midnight!  You’re a proper farm cat now!

Earlier this year, my husband and I were finally able to achieve our dream of owning an acreage. Both of us had grown up in the country, and wanted the same for our children.  The country is a great place to raise a family.

A mid-1970’s fixer upper on nearly 6 acres came up for sale, and at a price tag that was a steal, especially in our area, we made an offer.  They accepted it.  

Almost immediately, I began to mull around ideas for naming our new homestead.  Every good acreage deserves a name, right? Think of the iconic Green Gables or Magnolia Farm..  The search was on.

I played around with combinations of our names, the creek which runs just across the road, and other alliterations and puns.  If there's one thing you learn about me from this post, it's that I love alliterations and puns!  To help me decide wether an idea was a good fit, I pictured each name in bold metal letters standing stately above our driveway to welcome guests.  Because, every proper farm has an iconic driveway arbor or arch, doesn’t it? Perhaps not, but its a dream of mine, so any good name has to look good on a sign. That was qualification number one, and then there's my never ending knack of coming up with crazy business ideas.  If I could make a business out of pitching business ideas...I'd be a millionaire.  I think through some new business plan nearly monthly. Seriously! Whatever name I chose also had to look good on letter head, and be versatile for whatever array of business ideas I might throw at it.  

Finally, after much deliberation, I decided that we should put our address up there above our driveway. Just a house number and street name.  Name it what it already is. That seemed logical for a driveway arch, plus nothing else seemed to fit or stick.   Somewhat defeated, I decided to drop the idea, stop wasting my mental brain power, and settle for something that would allow me to move on to more important things.  Important things like moving, remodeling our house, selling our old house by owner, and taking care of the kids.  You know, more pressing things than a future dream driveway arch.

Then it came to me.

First, our property is essentially the back half of a rolling hill.  It slopes in two directions, both north and west.  It is, by definition, a knoll.  I had been playing around with the idea of knoll in several of my ideas (think more alliterations), but most seemed too simple, or honestly, too corny. Secondly, we live along county road K22.  You can see where I’m going right?  Isn't it so perfectly ironic that knoll starts with ‘K’, and so does our road?  Yes, yes it is!!  And so…Knoll 22 was born.