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Bluestem Gables

Gardening with vegetables and native prairie plants

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Dear Old House Reno

water halfway up windows in window wells of old house remodel. Frog in water.

80 Year Old House Remodel – 7

October 11, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated our old house remodel. It seems like there have been a lot of little things going on, but in there, a few bigger things have been accomplished as well. The evenings have been getting shorter and with it, ...

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bubble glass vial and teaspoon with painted flower background

80 Year Old House Remodel – 8 Trades & Treasures

wonderberries in a small bowl on a place mat with a plant on weathered wood

Wonderberry: Is this Success or Failure?

mug of iced coffee and potted flowers

Homemade Iced Coffee Concentrate

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floor plan for our old house remodel

80 Year Old House Remodel – 6

August 23, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

Working on the roof, finding more old stuff, is all in a day’s work at our 80 year old house remodel. And I finally reveal the floor plan for the renovation and thoughts behind the design process, here on the blog. We are getting very close to ...

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green oat stalks laying on a log

How to Grow and Dry Milky Oat Tops

Entryway ripped off by truck and lying on the ground of old house remodel

80 Year Old House Remodel – 2

chokecherry BBQ sauce in a jar with a spoon and snake plant on a place mat on butcher block counter

Chokecherry/Chokeberry BBQ Sauce

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crane raising the roof trusses over the addition of the old house remodel

80 Year Old House Remodel – 5

August 3, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

This edition of our 80 year old house remodel is full of big machinery. The basement is backfilled and our trusses are raised. High. Check out the video on that! We start with backfilling The Hole with a rented skid steer. That is a relief – one ...

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comparing flooring and stained baseboards, dark teal wall with snake plant

80 Year Old House Remodel 12 – Projects

excavator begins digging the basement for our old house remodel

Old House Remodel – 3: Dig a Hole

paint swatches for old house remodel on pine with deep red and gold fabric

Old House Remodel 9 – Colour!

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from below, looking through the floor joists to the trees and sky

Old House Remodel 4 – The Basement Gets a Roof

July 13, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

In the fourth installment of our 80 year old house remodel, the new basement gets a roof. Things start to go wrong as framing begins. As we continue our old house remodel and addition, things continue to be built in the upward direction. The ...

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sliced montreal market melon on a wooden cutting board

Grow Montreal Market Melons

jar of hulless pumpkin seeds on placemat on weathered boards with greenery

Hulless Pumpkin Seeds

homemade pizza with golden crust and golden cheese

Homemade Pizza Crust

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excavator begins digging the basement for our old house remodel

Old House Remodel – 3: Dig a Hole

June 24, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

In this edition of our Dear Old House Remodel, excavation begins and rain continues. I prepare a giant steel beam for the basement, and concrete work commences. May 16: Once upon a time a giant hole appeared in my yard. That’s about how fast ...

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potato salad in wooden bowl on place mats with whole potatoes and potted plant on butcher block

Homemade Potato Salad

green kitchen drawers with copper pulls

80 Year Old House Remodel #14 Kitchen

Johnny Cake Cornbread stacked on a wooden cutting board

Johnny Cake Cornbread and Freezer Corn

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Entryway ripped off by truck and lying on the ground of old house remodel

80 Year Old House Remodel – 2

June 17, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

Work has begun on our 80 year old house remodel! Join us as we start with demolition! Our entryway is doomed! It’s a bit, ok, incredibly surreal that work has started on our old house remodel. It is May, and we begin with the entryway vestibule. ...

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yellow door with wood looking concrete pavers and a dwarf snake plant

80 Year Old House Remodel 10 – Epoxy Floor

staining wood trim with brush

80 Year Old House Remodel 11: Finishing Trim

three jars of dry beans

Grow Your Own Dry Beans

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front view of old house

80 Year Old House Remodel – 1

June 17, 2024 by Erika Leave a Comment

Welcome to our old house remodel. We moved to our home on 80 acres in Manitoba in 2006. We absolutely love our property, but we always intended to do something about the house. Then life happened: kids, job changes, mind changes! But now we are ...

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beet soup in bowl with slice of bread

Beet Soup and Growing My Favourite Beets

four large leeks on wooden cutting board on grass

Grow Your Own Leeks

80 Year Old House Reno 17: Installing Siding

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Welcome! I'm Erika, I live on eighty acres in the northern prairies of southern Manitoba with my husband and four kids. Here, we enjoy the outdoors and try to be more self sufficient as we try new things in the garden and learn about our land and the world around us.

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Featured Posts

Ground cherries and grond cherries in husks in a bowl on a place mat on weathered wood with a plant

Ground Cherry: Tropical Taste in Zone 3

wonderberries in a small bowl on a place mat with a plant on weathered wood

Wonderberry: Is this Success or Failure?

Summer squash in a basket on a place mat on a stump with a wildflower bouquet

Summer Squash Success

garlic stalks pulled from the garden, on the lawn

Part 2: How to Grow your own Garlic

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WELCOME

I'm Erika, I live on eighty acres in the northern prairies of southern Manitoba with my husband and four kids. Here, we enjoy the outdoors and try to be more self sufficient as we try new things in the garden and learn about our land and the world around us.

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