The painting helps the rooms seem bigger. I used Kansas Grain, a Benjamin Moore color. The bedroom looked a bit bare, but restful.
Life changes after turning 80!
8 months ago
Monday, June 23, 2008
Finished Rooms
The painting helps the rooms seem bigger. I used Kansas Grain, a Benjamin Moore color. The bedroom looked a bit bare, but restful.
More Stripping
Stripping the bedroom walls revealed old wallboard, not today's usual sheetrock.
The scars, lines and gaps between moldings and wall don’t show in the photos, but they are there. This is an old house, 1849, so I have to let that new house appearance go. It reminds me of going to the plastic surgeon as an over 50 year old and hearing about all the options available to fix up an older face: lifts, tucks, injections and creams. If I started with the eyelids, I know I would then want to work on the sagging jaw line. It would never stop. Gravity would always win. I am no longer 29. I bought the creams and makeup to fill the cracks and cover the lines just like a good Benjamin Moore pearl luster paint. So like accepting my aging face, I will just accept that this is an old house, charming and etched with character. Low lighting and distance help.
Monday, June 16, 2008
June 12, 2008 Antique Dealer?
Setting up the Antique Booth at Stonehouse Antiques in Chester
Ian and I drove the Pensky truck over to the antique center and unloaded a few items to begin our antique sales. I had always wanted to open an antique booth. It seemed a good way to unload our extra furniture along with providing a place to put it. Within the first day, pillows and a footstool sold. Now, we want the big stuff to sell to help pay the hefty $200/month rent. After a week, we are nearly halfway there!
June 11, 2008 A Date with John Deere
A date with John Deere. The tractor came on a huge truck early Wednesday morning. Ian could not have been more thrilled with his new toy. George, the salesman and our tractor tutor spent time with each of us explaining the engine and the operation. We’ll wait until winter to learn about snowplowing. I’ll leave that up to Ian.
All went well until later in the day when Ian was mowing the upper meadow. I returned from town to find Ian nowhere in sight, but the large green John Deere was up the hill, tethered to a tree, nose pointing into the pond. Boards were wedged under the back tires. I found Ian sitting on the front porch with a glass of water in hand. “Oh, my gosh, what happened?” I asked. He replied, “I can’t get it out; the tires just spin. Will you get on and try backing it out while I stand in front and put a wedge under the front?”
I had visions of running over my husband, killing him or maiming him for life and having to play nursemaid for our retirement years. Would I go to trial? This was way too much responsibility. My heart was pounding and my hands shaking. I prayed out loud, “Jesus, help us solve this problem. Help!” I strapped on the seat belt, gritted my teeth and started the engine. I gently pressed the reverse pedal. The tires spun. Nothing else moved. It did not slide forward into Ian. I got off and said I would try the neighbor men, the ones who had towed me up the hill. It would be another neighborhood bonding experience—flatlanders from Wisconsin bailed out by the locals.
I got inside and the phone was dead. This was not going well. I grabbed my cell phone and the phone numbers and headed out to hike up the hill where I could get a signal. As I passed the hillside, I heard the tractor engine. Oh, no, he won’t give up! As I looked up, I was surprised to see Ian backing up the tractor. “What did you do?” I yelled. “It wasn’t in four wheel drive!” he yelled. Dare I say it was an answer to prayer? We celebrated the rest of the day!
June 7, 2008 Cheese Seminar in Ashfield, MA
Cheesemaking in Ashfield, MA
It was fun to return to Ashfield, a perfect small New England town set back in time. Back in 1976, Ian and I had led an Episcopal Vacation Bible School in the Congregational church.
This day was spent with 38 men and women from all over the country and all walks of life—an ob-gyn, a lawyer, hobby farmers with their own goat herds, mother-daughter duos, cooks, and the curious, like me. We made mozzarella, a farmhouse cheddar, and other soft cheeses. The classroom was set in an addition to the large, sprawling Victorian house set on the main street. The New England Cheesemaking Company has grown since Barbara Kingsolver mentioned it in her book, Animal, Vegetable and Miracle. That’s what started my journey into cheesemaking and eating local. I am not a hard-core localvore, but I love Farmers Markets.
June 4, 2008 Arrival
It’s Wednesday night and I head up the hill to the house. The trailer behind the Honda Element is loaded with teak garden furniture and a large flat limestone rock from Wisconsin. Yes, bringing a rock to Vermont is like bringing coals to Newcastle, but this one is large and flat and will accommodate the fire pit on the front terrace.
I stepped on the gas to go up the hill and came to a halt as the tires spun into the sandy surface. I was stuck. Ten and a half hours of trouble free driving, and here I was, 500 yards from the house, stymied!
I pulled the emergency brake on, turned on the flashers and locked the doors with Barney the yellow lab oblivious, quietly lying in the back. Thank the Lord that Shannon was home down at the base of the hill. She called her husband and left a cell phone message, and then she called up the road to Dan who has a large truck and the know-how to get me out of this predicament. Dan tried a few tricks, but to no avail. We were ready to off-load the furniture and try again when Shannon’s husband Pete came up the hill. He thought to tow the Element with chains and Dan’s big truck. It worked and my car and trailer traveled into my drive, right in front of the garage. I thanked everyone and headed inside to get settled and call Ian to tell him I had arrived safely. It was now 9:30 and dark, but clear and starry.
I unloaded a few things, including the dog, had a drink and then collapsed into bed ready to sleep and greet the next morning.
Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning up the house, visiting Stone House antiques to set up a booth, and gardening. The gardens had stayed clear of weeds thanks to May’s mulching time over Mother’s Day weekend. The new plants had survived and grown some. Lupins were in bloom and oriental poppies were ready to burst open. Is that why we call them poppies?
I stepped on the gas to go up the hill and came to a halt as the tires spun into the sandy surface. I was stuck. Ten and a half hours of trouble free driving, and here I was, 500 yards from the house, stymied!
I pulled the emergency brake on, turned on the flashers and locked the doors with Barney the yellow lab oblivious, quietly lying in the back. Thank the Lord that Shannon was home down at the base of the hill. She called her husband and left a cell phone message, and then she called up the road to Dan who has a large truck and the know-how to get me out of this predicament. Dan tried a few tricks, but to no avail. We were ready to off-load the furniture and try again when Shannon’s husband Pete came up the hill. He thought to tow the Element with chains and Dan’s big truck. It worked and my car and trailer traveled into my drive, right in front of the garage. I thanked everyone and headed inside to get settled and call Ian to tell him I had arrived safely. It was now 9:30 and dark, but clear and starry.
I unloaded a few things, including the dog, had a drink and then collapsed into bed ready to sleep and greet the next morning.
Thursday and Friday were spent cleaning up the house, visiting Stone House antiques to set up a booth, and gardening. The gardens had stayed clear of weeds thanks to May’s mulching time over Mother’s Day weekend. The new plants had survived and grown some. Lupins were in bloom and oriental poppies were ready to burst open. Is that why we call them poppies?
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
