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154 year old Pennsylvania church converted to a home & artist workshop studio

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Blog posts : "General"

Wee Small Hours of the Morning!

The sun isn't up yet, autumn is definitely here and our mind is turning to all the things we need to make sure we've done for winter.

With the cost of oil so high, we want to make sure we have enough wood cut, split, stacked, covered and ready to go in the biomass stove that has really saved us at …

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Gathering wood inside & out

Yesterday was one of the most productive days in our lives at The1870. 

Morton was sawing trees that had fallen sideways in a storm around the parking lot, Emma & Justin, our helpers staying with us, were splitting firewood outside for the coming cold months and I was in the studio packaging ord…

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All the time in the world

Changes are happening in our lives so fast at the moment it feels like time has sped up a bit.

Morton has retired at 55, we are getting projects done at an incredible rate of speed thanks to him being here and having two incredible helpers with us for the month of August from Workaway. 

Behin…

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Morton is retiring!

If we had a church bell, I would surely be ringing it to spread the news far and wide. After working non-stop, harder than anyone I’ve ever met and more than full time since he was 17, Morton is retiring early on July 25, 2022 at the age of 55.

My heart is so happy for him, he is a bit worried be…

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Pretty on the outside

Since the beginning of our journey here at the lovely old church we call home, we have known that getting the big roof done was going to be the most expensive project we’d be doing and one we couldn’t do ourselves. Any other things we did were done one the strictest economy, usually by ourselves and…

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Mystery Packages will help fund exploring our Mystery Room!

Ever since we bought this old church, we’ve known it’s had a secret or two we needed to explore. The bell tower is a mystery on it’s own, but at the very base of the bell tower, just behind the newer drywall wall in the studio kitchen, there’s an actual secret room we haven’t been able to enter yet.…

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The wall came down!

Yesterday we had planned what we were going to do on Morton’s day off, but our lovely old church had a different idea for us. We were going to head to a garden center, buy a yellow rose for my mom’s memory garden and a red rose for my mother-in-law’s memory garden, stake down the dropper hose on the…

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Rainy outside, cozy inside!

Today is a good day for a great day. I'm going to be making a crockpot of homemade soup, putting beeswax & orange oil on my parents rocking chairs I had gotten them for their 50th wedding anniversary back in 2000, then heading down the stairs in my office to go to the studio!

We're going to have …

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On a roll!

Look at me, posting again. Once neglected, now embracing a wee bit of time to tell you about what's been happening here.

Yesterday in the studio we had a lovely reporter and cameraman come in to do a story on our glass pulling. It was really fun and I'll share the link as soon as the segment airs…

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Expect wonderful things

Today I sit here with the light streaming through the windows, promising that spring, as the calendar says, is indeed here. My laptop is on my lap, I'm taking a break from working on the new website, The1870Studio.com to just check some links on this one, and I felt compelled to write another entry …

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Tradition of ignoring this diary continues!

Hello you wonderful person!

Priscilla here, and though I love to write, absolutely adore writing, I also get distracted by this big old baby of ours, The1870.

Today I’m going to not make a promise of writing more. It’s a tough thing, but I feel like I don’t want to neglect this diary, just nee…

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October 20, 2021 HOW did two years go by since I posted?!?

Obviously we’ve been busy! Time flies whether you’re restoring an old church or not, so you might as well enjoy each and every moment.

Since we utilize Facebook, I’m basically blogged out when it comes to posting on this diary, but I really do want to get better at it.

This year has been a w…

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2019 is off to a wonderful start!

Since we post so much on our Facebook pages for The1870 and The1870 Studio, I really neglect this blog.  It is my goal to do better this year.

Big news around here is that we have a wonderful Sedore biomass stove that has helped with high heating oil costs and hope to add another stove this year t…

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Heatwave

It's official! We've had to dust off the fans, try to keep out the humidity and are experiencing a heat wave in the church.

The temperature is at 76 inside, 90 plus outside, thanks to a very high ceiling that is insulated.  It would be amazing to have a huge fan in the bell tower to suck out the …

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Facebook is my diary!!!

Hey everyone!

Sorry for the lack of posts on this thing! I honestly forget about it because I put so many pictures, stories and words on our two Facebook pages!

I'll try to post on here more!

Priscilla

2018 is the year of the workshop!

What a wonderful start to 2018!

First, with a lot of help from my friends Mary & Mary, a lovely newspaper reporter named Sarah, my darling husband, Morton & the amazing people at Marabu paints, I set a world record marbling 684 greeting cards in just one hour on January 1, 2018! It was fun & exha…

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Every single day!

Frosty morning here today. So much has been happening that time has yet again slipped by so fast. 

The last few weeks have been very productive. We have no more holes in the big ceilings where lights should be, thanks to Morton, scaffolding and several great finds of antique lights. 

We acci…

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We can all DO more!

Hi everyone,

Just recently returned from an amazing two week trip to Arizona to spend some time with my grandchildren. The weather was lovely, the light was incredible for painting outside, and you know how they say you need to step back from things sometimes to really see them? That's just what …

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Workshops & learning!

What I love most about doing workshops at The1870 is getting to know the people who are coming out to learn something new. 

It is very rewarding to provide the supplies and instructions to see someone create something special that they feel good about and are proud of. It's hard to put in to wor…

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September is back to school time at the studio!

As the air gets a bit cooler and the sights, smells and sounds of September dance around us, I'm inviting you to come and discover our studio for yourself. 

Sonce starting our popular workshop program this year we've welcomed over a hundred visitors to various workshops, then stopped over the su…

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20 blog posts