The Somerset Farmhouse

 As promised, the blog now has a new home address, this time with a newsletter subscription attached to it! I had goofed around with a couple sites, trying to find what worked.  Since I can't afford the paid subscriptions to keep a new website active, I went with Beehiiv, as they have a better plan for startup newsletter creators.   So here it is - the link to the new site: The Somerset Farmstead I had questions from some friends about any costs involved.  You're in luck: subscribing to the new site is free ! All you're doing is just putting your email in so updates can go directly to you.  While this original blog had some variety, I have some more ideas planned to make it a true farming lifestyle blog.  So please subscribe and recommend the new site to your friends and family who are into lifestyle blogging! I'd really appreciate it! See you there! ~Gigi  

As promised, I am back with another One Year Later post! Last time, I gave you all a brief walkthrough of the renovations that the farmhouse had undergone.  Each room presented its own challenges: carpet, wallpaper, flooring repairs, cracked ceilings , etc.  Every wall needed some spackling and a fresh coat of paint.  But what else needed a fresh revival was the acreage outside ! Out back used to be a kitchen garden that had become overtaken by grass.  Upon our arrival, I thought that flat bit of land was interesting and quickly found out it was indeed used for gardening.  Well, perfect setup to do our own thing, right? That's exactly what we did this year! Not only did we start experimenting growing our own produce, but we also fixed up the outside of the house, as you see snippets of in the collage below.  Sunflowers were planted out front, mom fixed up the exterior of the back porch, and we planted rows of zinnias (with the goal in mind of selling c...

  It's time to venture outside of housework a bit more and talk about most people's favorite topic: cats! I have always been a cat person - don't get me wrong, I love dogs too...and raccoons...and pretty much every animal on the planet! Ever since childhood, I wanted my own cat.  There was just something about felines in general that drew me to them.  My first kitty, Koshka, who passed on some years ago, got the ball rolling in terms of cat ownership.  Now, I take in and take care of every feline that needs me.  And they love me for it! Pictured in the email header is one of the cats that was on the farm when we arrived here.   Meet Phantom ! Phantom got his name from the pattern on his face, which resembled Phantom of the Opera .  He is a sweet boy who had a rough time with some serious injuries.  Drove him an hour and some to an emergency facility in Pittsburgh and spent an entire evening with him to make sure he would live.  Phantom h...