i could so live there

yesterday we braved the cold and spent sometime outdoors exploring the historic johnson farm outside hendersonville, nc. generally the grounds are only open during the week, but luckily they were having their christmas festival this weekend so we decided to check it out. i am all about historic farms and living history museums. one of my favorite places is the shaker village of pleasant hill in kentucky. ray's parents, ray, and i ate at the restaurant one thanksgiving and it was fabulous. we also at one time had reservations to spend a few days at the village during another thanksgiving holiday. i was SO excited to be sleeping there at the village and spending time taking pictures and walking around the grounds. unfortunately we had to cancel at the last minute due to some personal biz. anyway, here are some pictures from the johnson farm and the farm house constructed in 1880.

SANTA!!!!

these chicks were rockin the recorders.

waiting to go in the farm house circa 1880.

back side view.

side view.

sweet light fixture.

another lady rockin it out.

nothin like a deer head.

dinning room.

ray heading into the kitchen.

the upstairs, and only, bathroom.
love it!!!!!!!

that's what we need here. two full size beds in the same room.
one for me and moo. the other for ray and mr. keebs.

check out the cool house shoes.
not to mention the fabulous wide plank wood floors.
so rustic and charming.

kissies under the mistletoe.

view from the boarding house front porch.
get me a hammock and a good cup of coffee and i would be in heaven.

donkey wants another carrot.

which one is the ass??

ray checking out the decorated trees.
the farm is part of the school system and each tree had a different theme done by the students.

now i know your thinking, where's the kitchen. well the kitchen was so awesome that i think it deserves it's own post that i will put up very soon. maybe we can revisit a super cool kitchen from my past and check out kitchens that i envy as well. maybe i should do a photo series on kitchens. my kitchen tastes generally go in one of two directions. super funky fun 50's retro or little house on the prairie style. but we'll come back to that later.

for lunch we stopped in at hannah flanagan's pub in downtown hendersonville. this place never seems to disappoint us. i had the guinness irish stew served with brown bread and butter. the stew was super tasty and very warming which was a good way to beat the cold outside. it also gave me and idea for for a good way to use the deer meat in the freezer. so on tuesday i will be making my own deer stew. it also inspired my to try to make my own brown bread today. ray's mom sent me a recipe for an irish soda bread at one time, but i couldn't find it today so i looked on the internet for a bit and decided to give the recipe from the chez beeper bebe blog a try, with minimal changes. first off, i didn't have all the whole wheat flour needed so i substituted in some organic whole wheat pastry flour, and instead of 2 tsp. of brown sugar, i went for 2 tbsp of the good dark brown variety.

here goes.

as you can see, i didn't even get a picture taken before slicing off the end to try it with butter.
yummy!!!!!
ok this picture is making me laugh. the brown bread has gone matix!!!