One of my favorite "rooms"

Our back screen porch is one of my favorite rooms at the Green Grass House. It was here when we moved in and I like to picture fifty years of people enjoying a respite from the rain and summer sun, mosquitoes and Colorado winds in this cozy room. It got junked up early in the spring when we started on the basement remodel - what was supposed to be a few weeks of having boxes everywhere turned into months instead. The kids and I decided we needed it back and ended up with the perfect excuse when my cousins came into town from CA to visit. Nothing like a deadline to get you moving on clean up!

Horsey chairs! These are vintage, from my grandparent's long ago basement set up. The windows above them transom up to leave half of this wall screened and open for summer.

My folks' table and chairs - I grew up using these and love that we still get to enjoy family meals on them.

A lovely bench from my mom's friend Sally - I believe it came from her mother in law? Found the cheery bright red wool pillows at World Market at end of season last year - yay!

Sara's favorite spot out here - this big, squishy papasan chair is a great spot to curl up with a book! It was my brother's before it came our way - I just made a new cover for the big pillow my mom had already made for it.

Toy chest built by our neighbors and used by their kids for years before coming our way - full of outside games, blankets for chilly nights and hammocks.

My grandparents' wood burning stove - she cooked many meals on this for ranch hands, family and friends. We are going to pipe it in this fall and hope to keep the memories alive by baking in here ourselves. The cabinet next to it was here when we moved in, tucked back in the garage amidst the other random stuff. Check out the vintage apple press on top - hoping to put that to work this fall!!

My grandparents' tete-a-tete  - it was red wood once upon a time, we have had it for about 15 years now, through two moves and three sets of cushions.

Breakfast set from our first house, with the tiny kitchen and no room for a full table. Little water stand came from my friend Kristy - we just tiled the top a week ago. Funky hutch was built by David for our first apartment - the base and counter are sides from a butcher board style desk that was being thrown away. Our first microwave just about filled that space on the counter LOL!

Cabinets from my grandparents' kitchen remodel years ago. The corner was in the kitchen here, but we had to take it out to fit the bigger size of the '57 stove. Counter topped it two summers ago to make a lovely long buffet for parties here - we can fit all three chafing sets, or lots and lots of trays and platters. The cupboards have all the hand me down melamine that has come our way and lots of other outside entertaining goodies. Right now it is holding drying garlic.

Nearly everything in this room has come our way from someone else. In most cases, it was a treasured piece from someone's past that just didn't quite fit their lives anymore (my parents' table set, horsey chairs, neighbors' toy box) but were too loved to be given away.  In some cases, they are sweet curb dive finds or discarded things that we have chosen to make into something functional and fun.  In one case, it came back to us the long way - the wood burning stove went to one of my cousins' in-laws when the old farm was sold. They used it and enjoyed it for many years, before remodeling the screen porch they had it in. Before moving it, they contacted my cousin to see if she wanted it back.  She didn't, but bless her, she thought of us and our crazy little farmstead. A weekend drive to southeastern CO, a pleasant opportunity to reconnect with people we hadn't seen in years, a trailer and truck drive home to Lakewood and it was back in the family!

When I sit here in the quiet of a late evening or early morning I always feel like there are whispers of so many life moments floating through the air. When I work in this room, gathering the tools for a project, drying a harvest, shaking off shoes or peeling off gloves from the garden,  I feel like they are nodding in agreement that working is part of a full life. When my family is all together in here, listening to some vintage radio, reading or chatting, I feel like they just might be smiling in agreement that relaxation is part of life, too. When I have the pleasure of sharing this room with friends and family, enjoying a meal together or just chatting over a glass,  I feel like those whispers have to be agreeing that sharing our lives with others is one of the best parts of life.

The reminder above the door before you head out into the "real world".