Little School House On The Prairie

This past Friday we had to go to Kansas City.

Since my husbands surgery at the VA Hospital there last August (09) we have had to travel there approx. 6 times. It's a 3 hour drive one way.

The good part about the trip is that we have to travel an area that I love. For the most part Kansas is pretty flat but

this particular stretch of the highway passes through beautiful rolling hills.

Along our route is a beautiful old stone school house with two outhouses standing in long grass just off the highway. I have always wanted to stop and take

pictures but we always seem to be in a hurry on the way

to the appointment and on the way back we just want 

to get home. 

This time however...we stopped!

We had to sqeeze through this gate opening.

It was well worth the effort...it is a beautiful old

building.

Built in 1896

It has two out houses.

A girls and a boys.

Here is the first...

here is the second.

A few details of the first outhouse

The photos above and below are the second outhouse.

Such beautiful details.

It was certainly built to last for many years.

It was very obvious that the building is loved as the roofs

of all three buildings has been replaced with good materials.

It would be interesting to know it's history.

This old school is a bit fancier than the one we used

to see on the TV show 'Little House On The Prairie'

but I could picture Laura and Mary

being very happy going to school here.

Can't you?

Have a wonderful day.

Maura :)

Kansas State Fair

Every September we head over to the Kansas State Fair.

It's always a fun time.

Fun things to do and look at and of course

good food!

We tried a Pronto Pup and of course we couldn't

go to the Fair and not have a Funnel Cake.

My favorite thing to do though is walk through the equine area to check out the horses and watch the events.

Unfortunately my hubbys work schedule dictates

that we can only go in the afternoons.

There's not a lot that happens in the afternoon.

This year I was happy to see some of the girls working with their horses in the ring.

Oh there were some beautiful horses strutting their stuff!

There was a little girl there on this HUGE gorgeous horse that knew her stuff and had that horse going through

it's paces. Such concentration on her face!

It was a warm sunny day but dark clouds rolled in

and we did get a sprinkle but we

headed over to the Grand Stand and sat and

listened to a band play until it stopped raining.

We checked out the poultry and the bunnies.

There were some strange looking critters there.

A duck with Angel feathers!

If you were hoping for drumsticks on this bird you'd be disappointed!

A strange looking bird that looked like it came out of

a Tim Burton movie.

A ruffled chicken

And a chicken having a bad hair day.

See these BEAUTIFUL bronze feathers?

Well they belong to THIS fellow below...

Meet Tom Turkey

Grand Champion!

He has a face only a mother could love.

We had a great time and I'm already looking forward

to next year.

Did you visit your State Fair this summer?

I'm linking with Mary from Little Red House for

Mosaic Monday

I hope you'll stop by and visit Mary...you'll love her and her beautiful photography and while you're there please check out all the wonderful mosaics from fellow bloggers.

I know you'll have a good time.

Enjoy your week!

Maura :)

Down To Earth Granola

Lizzy likes Down To Earth Granola too!

I can't remember where I found this version of home-made

granola but I have been making

it for about 10 years now.

You can change it up and use what ever

dried fruit you like.

It calls for raisins but this time I added dried

cranberries too. I like it!

I also added about 1/4 cup of

milled flax seed this time for more fiber etc.

Mixing in the fruit after baking

Down To Earth Granola

15 min Prep time 40 min baking time

4 C Old Fashioned Oats

1 1/2 C sliced almonds or crushed pecans or other nut

1/2 C packed brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300'F

Mix these ingredients together in large bowl.

In small saucepan warm;

1/4 C veg. oil (I used olive oil)

1/4 C honey

When warm whisk in;

1 tsp Vanilla

Carefully pour liquid over oat mixture.

Stir gently until well mixed.

Spread on a 15X10X1" pan (jelly roll or rimmed cookie sheet).

Bake 40 minutes stirring carefully every 10 minutes.

When done place pan on rack and let cool completely.

Add  1 1/2 C raisins and/or dried cranberries.

Stir.

Store in self sealing plastic bag at room temperature for 1 week or 3 months in freezer.

Makes 9 cups     24 servings.

Lizzy is ready and waiting

Here comes Olly

Oliver loves his granola too

I hope you'll try this granola. It's also great on yogurt or just as a quick healthy snack.

Have a wonderful Sunday!

Maura :)

More Cottage Bathrooms

After bringing home my flea market dresser

last week I have been thinking a lot

about our bathroom.

I'm still not sure if I will use that dresser for

our vanity or use a smaller one that we have.

We're not ready to ready to do anything right

away as we're still working outside getting

ready for the people to come and take

down our large building.

Once that's done then we can start working on

the fun projects!

For now...I thought you'd like to see

some BEAUTIFUL cottage style bathrooms that

inspire me.

Enjoy!

Living Etc

I love the size of this bathroom and the

huge window.

Country Living

We have an old cast iron bathtub that I

would love to get re-enameled and

bring inside.

Country Living

I LOVE the ceiling in this room and

the vintage feel.

Again I love the ceiling in this room along with

the vintage mirrors and that huge custom made

vanity.

Love the tub surround.

See that door!

Country Living

Country Living

I love the way the area is divided with a half

wall and window.

Country Living

Wouldn't this be a wonderful bathroom to get up

to in the morning. How could you not

be in a good mood after spending

time in here!

Stacy Edwards Design

I like yellow.

After seeing these pictures again I'm thinking

maybe I need to find a different dresser to

use as a vanity as I'm REALLY liking the white.

That oak dresser we bought home is too nice to

paint. Back to the drawing board.

I hope you've enjoyed looking at these pictures as much as I have and that they gave you inspiration if you're

thinking of doing something different to your bathroom.

Any renovation or decorating plans in your near future?

Maura :)

Flea Market Find

This old dresser is what we couldn't bring home with us

on Sunday at the Flea Market.

It's a beauty with wonderful details and original hardware.

The mirror is beveled but needs to be re-silvered but the fellow who I bought it from and who restores antiques told me of a GREAT way to restore old mirrors without the huge expense of getting them re-silvered.

Here's a great tip for you!

Take the mirror off the back of the piece so that you only have the mirror its self.

Set it on something level and pour muriatic acid on the back and let it set for about 10-15 minutes then scrape off the old silver. You'll end up with a beveled piece of glass.

Take the glass into a glass shop and have them cut a mirror to fit the old glass. He said he takes his to

a discount glass place and only pays about $20.

Put the mirror behind the beveled glass and put it together and you have

a new beveled glass mirror that you can't tell it

wasn't newly silvered!

And it only cost you about $20.

The plan is to put this in the bathroom as the sink vanity and install a vintage looking above the counter bowl

and faucets.

If this piece looks a bit too large in there we'll just use

the dresser you can see in the first picture on the left and I'll use this in our bedroom.

You can never have too much storage

in an old house!

I hope you're having a wonderful day.

Maura :)