Open House: Entry and YARD

I’m participating in the Open House hosted by the 4 Moms, 35 Kids.  Throughout the month of August, they are giving a glimpse into their homes and how they manage things for their larger-than-average families.

Howdy!  Welcome to our place!  We’re so glad you stopped by to hang out with us for a while.

The first thing you would notice after turning into the first part of our driveway, is the canal on your left.  Many people slow down on their first time over.  The canal looks a little different than it did last year, where you might have seen this.

Canal by driveway

Then you make a turn from the main driveway into our driveway.

Our driveway

The front view of our house, at this particular moment unobscured by laundry on the line between the pine trees.  There are two towels and a raccoon skin on it right now.

Front of house

As you wonder where to park, you might look up at The Old Oak and find our children waiting to surprise you welcome you.  Our big blue van is in its regular parking spot – we do not have a garage or carport, yet.  We have a few picnic tables scattered here and there, and in the background you can see The Red Roof Inn – our garden/tool/motorcycle/bikes/rabbit cages shed.

Welcoming committee in The Old Oak

You would have heard Duke and Russet before you saw them.  Guaranteed.  During the day, when the children are not playing with them, they stay outside in the lovely Red Woof Inn with electric-wire-protected yard, for their safety.  These beagles have dug out more times than we care to remember, and we don’t want them to “disappear” because they were on someone else’s property “playing” with livestock.

The beagle patrol

On your way in the door the first thing you’d see is our hat and glove shelf.  This is actually a bookshelf tucked into a weird little opening by our front door, and it works for now.  Plans are in place to build a more permanent storage system.  Here is where you would get an extra pair of gloves if you planned to do any bug or reptile hunting with our children, or barn/fence projects with my husband.

Hat and glove shelf

We have the beginnings of a hat and boot storage system here, although I dream of built-in closed cabinets here for jackets, hats and boots.  To the bottom left you can see one of our two dog crates for when the beagles are inside at night.  (The boot on top is a whine-deterrent.)

Boot shelf in entryway

Since you’d probably ask for a tour of the YARD (right?) we might head off to the side of our house toward the barns.

Side of house

On your right you’d see the lovely pond landscaped by my parents.  We share the property with them, and this pond was dug to provide fill for their house, which is attached to ours.

The pretty pond

We would arrive at the gate to the barn area where the children’s critter barn is, and the chicken coop.  On the left is a huge guava tree where we pick pounds of the delicious fruit each year and turn it into jam.

Gateway to the barns

Let’s backtrack a bit and go back to the house – maybe we might want to take a look at the garden area, which right now is overtaken by ragweed.  The big gardening time in Florida starts in September, so we have time.  This part of the yard is where we play lots of running games, and shoot clay pigeons when we have our BBQ and Blast get-togethers.

The "field" looking toward garden

On the way over, our children would invite your children to one of their play areas – three oaks make a nice shady spot.

Shady play area

Perhaps we might get distracted and show you Tabitha’s hut – built from salvaged bits of this ‘n that.

One of the children's forts

This is Fort Resourceful – originally a goat barn, then turned into a fort by my children.  They dug an escape tunnel, and used to have it loaded with a 55 gallon drum full of pine cones – ready for fort wars with friends.  It’s empty now, in preparation for being pulled down and rebuilt, with modifications, elsewhere.

A goat barn turned fort

Okay now we are back to another view of the garden – the goats are up here right now, busy eating the ragweed.  There’s a variety of compost bins here, and feed cans behind the lean-to for the goats.

Garden and goats

Another view of the house as we continue walking.  You can see the screened in area behind the house, and next to that is my parents’ house.

Side view of house

Usually men ask to see Dave’s workshop, and that takes them through this path, which I think is the most beautiful spot on the property.  I simply cannot stop taking pictures of it.

The Path

On your left you would see the parts truck that we traded for a goat, and in the back is the nearly-completed solar lumber kiln.  Perhaps we’ll do the workshop tour another time.

Parts truck and solar lumber kiln

One of my children’s favorite spots is the “clay mines” out on the “back 40″ where they spend many happy hours playing.  We have a rule that there must always be 2 children together outside of the immediate area of the house.  Out here they have to have walkie-talkies, because they cannot hear me calling them from the house.  I’ve tried.

The clay mines

Out on the back part of the property we might invite you to fish here… whoa, this certainly has grown in since the last time we saw it!  That means the water management helicopter will probably be here soon to spray the vegetation.  We’ve caught lots of fish here, and even seen a few large alligators.

Canals in back, known as "The Corner"

Here’s the view from the highest spot on the back corner of our property.  We go here when we want to watch rocket and shuttle launches; and if there’s a hurricane, this is the only spot where we can feel the force of the wind well.

View of a lovely Florida day

On the way back to the house, the children will probably point out one of their many “tunnels” where they play.

Natural tunnel

Or we might stop by the back pond.  This is where the muck part of this Not Me Monday post took place.

The back pond

If we went in to the back door of the house, you’d see what used to be our mud room.  This used to be our main way in and out to the barns, and you can see that we actually are capable of organized mud room storage!  This is also in process, but we mainly store raincoats and cool weather jackets here.

The back mud room

If we decided to finally sit down, we might head out back to the screen porch – where the adults might chat while watching the children swim.  This pic is taken from my mom’s screen porch, looking across the pool.  If you’re lost by now – don’t worry, you’re in good company.  EVERYONE who comes here gets lost the first few times.

Screen porch and swimming pool

Most of the time – especially during the cool part of the year – this is where we end up.  This is where we host our bonfires and cookouts.  If you come at the right time, you might even get to see my husband perform his famous palmetto dance around the fire!

The Pit

We’ve sure enjoyed your visit!  You are welcome to come back anytime.  We mean that.

Lookout post from The Old Oak

C’mon inside – our kitchen and dining room tour is open…

Be sure to visit all of the 4 Moms, 35 Kids to see their homes:

• Smockity Frocks
• The Common Room
• Life in a Shoe
• Raising Olives