Promise, I just want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the most amazing and thoughtful 'sorry box' you sent my way in replacement of the 'broken teapot'. Thank you so very much for everything you sent. I am just overwhelmed with your generosity and kindness. I absolutely just love everything you sent....everything is perfect and arrived in perfect condition. Thank you so much! ((hugs!)) This really means a lot Promise, thank you. Included in this wonderful box of gifts..... * A very beautiful and sweet card * A super cute snowman tin filled with all kinds of goodies... * bath and body works hand sanitizer vanilla bean and holder * blistek medicated lip ointment * chapstick classic cherry * Jergens healing hands handcream * A variety of seeds including.... tomato white cherry, anise hyssop, old fashioned poppies, lumina white pumpkin, squash winter hubbard blue, winter squash queesland blue...so excited to try all of these as they were all on my 'wish' list =) * 2 beautiful Christmas hand towels * Vanilla Chai Black Tea - this looks soooo good.... * kleenex to go packs * beautiful silver angel ornaments (they will look beautiful on my pink and silver tree here soon) * a package of Lindt Milk Chocolate Truffles...oh yum! * a very creative sheet of name labels with snowflakes! Perfect, just in time for the holidays! I am just in awe that you went out of your way to do this for me, it is very much appreciated, and I thank you so very much. Your garden friend, Jayeanne

I was glad to see this question. I am getting ready to move into a 1890 cross gable Folk Victorian (and I would consider it a farmhouse.) I live in a city in the very southwest of Calif. (almost to the border) In the late 1800s,, early 1900s, ten acre lots were sold to gentlemen farmers from the east and midwest to plant lemon groves. The agreement included that they had to live there and build a house that was worth at least $2,000, which was a lot in those days. Some have been destroyed, but the city is sprinkled with quite a few large, fancy, Queen Anne Victorians, many that are restored perfectly. They are called Orchard Houses, of course because they were built by the owners of the orchards . This house is an Orchard house, but not as big and fancy as others. I can get more info about it at our Historical Society Museum, but I have not gotten over there yet. Maybe they skimped on the $2,000 or maybe there was more to it before. Maybe it had a guest house, or horse stables. I know nothing about old houses but my family is all in Minnesota and this looks somewhat like the farmhouses and rural, in town houses that my aunts and uncles lived in. I had to search pictures and articles to determine that it is probably a Folk Victorian, but I think I am pretty close. I say "move in" because I will be renting it from my brother in law who has had it for 37 years, but it is a rental and he built 2 apartments behind it. He doesn't know much about it and hasn't had a lot of interest it it, other than to keep it rented, even though the Heritage Society has been out to see him a number of times. My brother in law spent his youth in rural Minnesota, so this is just a house to him. I have always liked the house. It is definitely "folk" and doesn't have any fancy Queen Anne style trim etc... It fact I thought it was a craftsman, until I found out when it was built. It is structurally very sound, but is sort of unkempt looking. I am a retired teacher, single and don't have experience in this, but he is happy that I want to make it look as close to how it was originally (but not for much money LOL!!) Just to have it clean and really well kept up will make him happy. The block has a couple more old houses, one Queen Anne Victorian that is not kept up at all. Otherwise it is a hodgepodge of 50s and 60s. This is the one very visible old home, so the neighbors are sort of hinting that they don't like it being such a mess. I especially want to get the bushes cut down in front of the enclosed porch so I can open the windows and use it for that. I saw the house 35 years ago, and now have only been able to do a quick walkthrough. The Craftsman question interested me because I have quite a bit of Craftsman style furniture that I already own, and I felt that it would match the farmhouse feel that this house has. Of course I am just talking about furniture, interior decorations, etc..., no permanent changes. Overall though, I don't think my brother haschanged much (except in the kitchen.) I believe he has maintained original moldings, possibly even lights and he hasn't done any dumb stuff like take out the built ins or put big modern closets. The bedrooms still have the tiny little closets (with the original doors) where you can hang a few things and I think tenants have made closet type spaces by putting rods and curtains at the corners of the gables, so that did not change anything structurally and can look cool with the right kind of material. He is a contractor and does most work himself, and if something can be fixed or maintained as is, that means he doesn't have to spend money, so the house is lucky in that respect. It has a basement with an inside door and an outside cellar door (so I will be prepared for tornadoes), and it has a mudroom, because in Southern California I need a place to put my parka and snow boots (we don't even have rain LOL) and those steep gables will keep the snow from collecting so my roof won't collapse. They built what they knew when they got here!! I think the combination Victorian Farmhouse/Craftsman will work because it has a farmhouse feel and we are only talking about furnishings, I do have one final question though, and I hope this picture comes through. It is odd looking because this house is flat in the front. It has an enclosed porch that is flush with the outside wall, a very small porch for the front door, otherwise, there is no other porch with posts and a covering like Victorian's (and usually farmhouses) seem to have. It looks like something is missing. Maybe something was removed over the years. Or is there a way that a larger porch could be added to make the front look more interesting, and to have a place to sit outside, but still in character with the style of the house? I might be able to talk my brother into it because he could build it himself. I am excited about the enclosed porch because those windows have hinges and open completely out but have not been opened in years. I suggested that it would be really nice if he could take down those dumb apartments, but he wouldn't go for that!! Lol!!

Antique silver (remind me to share pics of the lawyers cabinets I am trying to fill with silver lol) I never thought about those knifes the way you did. They came down day one because we have a small child...and because they were dull as butter knives lol That back porch is original to the structure and will be a much needed mud room (probably more for me than the kid and dog). Rococo, thank you for the cabinet recommendations. I'll be sure to talk with crown point. It's nice to hear from someone who has seen them. As well as the peacock cabs, which I've researched to death. I do like their people. Customer service is job one there as far as ive seen. Holly that scrap will be saved and unfortunately after trying to find a replacement I have found that its just not possible. You will be happy though to hear that in the servants dining room (right off the kitchen where we eat most meals) I did find a nos linoleum carpet for the floor in turquoise, pink, gold and blue. That china cabinet you are picturing (and the one in the current nook) will be restored with appropriate drawers and a turquoise paint job inside its white exterior to house my white ware collection (ok I have one piece but I have a couple of years to work on it). That large piece will be put in the servant's dining room which wil be done in similar colors to the "carpet". Very soft and sweet, 1930s and 40s feel under the alabaster light fixture and white tin painted ceiling that remain from the days it was built. We will also have a butlers pantry between the kitchen and the main dinng room for the china and silver and stuff one feels one must horde if they have a Victorian :). As to the gardens....I couldn't get the current pics to load. All viable plants and bulbs were saved and relocated around the property. Now when you walk between the gardeners cottage and the main house you do so through a sea of hyacInths which progress through the season to a taller sea of iris complimented by fall hydrengea and roses that bloom through the summer. Not a bulb went to waste. The bad thing about the pic you were charmed by is that the wind knocked the late summer blooming iris down with the first wind far before their blooms were spent. Their new location protects them from that sea "breeze" (monsoon) and allows them to last through the season. I've replaced them in that old location with paniculata hydrengeas which seem to like a good beating from the wind and don't mind the harsh sun in that location. They are all happy :). On a side gardening note....we found mr James diary and he particularly loved hydrangea and peonies so the current gardens are filled with over 60 different varieties of hydrangas and around 30 peony types. He isn't haunting me so I think he likes them lol

Thank you all for the comments and to Joyce wadler of the NY Times for showing interest in our lives. A few corrections thoughÂNo tarp is on the actual man cave, the chickens had nothing to do with my restauranthttp://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/garden/24cottage.html?hpw, It was a baby buff orpington chick Joyce was shown, and I was a home improvements contractor for the first 3 years in KerhonksonÂnot trying to start anything, but rather having a business that was needed to save us money on the home we just bought. Over 5 years, we put in $40k or more and endless hours of labor. We purchased a wood lot and stone quarry to provide wall stone and much needed firewood for the house too. We have made all the breaks we got. Nothing came easy for either of us except our love for each other and the ability to show personal support in each others endeavors. For all of you...never ever give up or tell yourself " I couldn't do that". If another human being can, most likely so can you. Visit myShabbystreamaidestudio.blogspot.com Actualmancave.com Thank you Todd aka Cavedweller@actualmancave.com http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/24/garden/24cottage.html?hpw