I’m not sure how long it’s been since the last post. I have no idea what day it is. I haven’t read the news in almost a month. Facebook has become a thing of the past. I don’t commute to a job, but I’m working harder than I’ve worked in a long, long time. We’re still slowly unpacking and sorting as we work on projects, but every day we see a bit of progress. The house seems to smile as we work. We really love this house, this place. It’s such a simple life, but it isn’t an easy one. Most days end with groans, aches, and sore muscles, but are accompanied by feelings of accomplishment and satisfaction. And we wouldn’t change a thing.
There’s been a lot of action at the farm this week. Our new friend Sturdy brought over his…, well, I’m not sure what to call his machine, but it eats trees (up to 4″ in diameter) and shrubs. We know from talking to folks familiar with the history of this house that it was a working farm up until a few years ago, and the land was cleared, for the most part. Since the goats and other animals are gone, no one is keeping the forest at bay, and the forest wants to take over. When we first moved in and started working in the yard, we were careful to keep all the lilies, the ferns, the maple and oak trees, all the wildflowers everywhere, but we quickly realized that these things, while beautiful, are trying to take over the world. They want to be EVERYWHERE. We started by clearing out the plants taking over the rock walls, then some of the plants in the yard, more of the plants in the yard, some trees in bad places, and moved on to clearing out the hillside, which is where Sturdy and his machine come in. Have you ever seen the scene in the movie “Avatar” where the bad guys come in with their machines and mow down the forest? That is what this machine is like. The results, however, are amazing. We now have views through to the pasture down the hillside, and the boulders that dot our property are once again exposed for us to enjoy. Once our arborist friend John can get in and raise the canopy of some of the more mature trees, and remove some dead and dying ones, it’ll be even better. Sturdy will be back in a week or so to take out some stumps around the property. Then we can get in and clear out the old sap lines and vines out back, and build a dog-walking trail around the rock walls that surround and cross our property. Then we’ll start building the landscape back up.
Tennessee has settled into country life as quickly and easily as we have. He has many favorite places to nap depending on the weather: the driveway, the front yard, or the hearth inside if it’s hot out (provided I’ve vacuumed it out). He also spends a lot of time hunting the ground hogs that have burrows among the rock walls, and visiting his friends nearby: Bella, Gaucho, and Buddy.
Last weekend, our town had its summer festival (Old Home Days), so we went over to browse the art fair, pick up some local maple syrup, and enjoy some fair food. Our town, Harrisville, essentially sits on top of Harrisville Pond, which was used to run the woolen mills that built the town. It’s a beautiful setting for a fair, and it seemed most of the town was there. The library had a book sale ($1 for a shopping bag full), and there was a kids parade and boat race on the pond.
For the fourth, since Allie was back in MN visiting friends, Jenny and I took the day off. We loaded up the pup for a drive to explore the area around us, and we discovered some treasures, such as Witt Hill Rd in Jaffrey, which allowed incredible views of Mount Monadnock. We also drove up the road to the Hancock Inn/Fox Tavern for a light dinner date, which is one of our favorite places in the area.
We’re continuing to clean, paint, and organize the ell workshop, and it’s really coming together- nice, bright, climate-controlled workspace. We’ll soon add a large work table in the center for sewing and clean assembly work. The empty shelf along the wall will act as our pantry until we remodel the kitchen. Now we have a clean workshop to begin tackling some of the larger projects, such as reglazing the window sashes and stripping the old millwork. Below are some before and after pictures of the new paint and trim work, which brightened it up a bit.
One thing we’ve learned living this lifestyle is that there are cycles to everything. We’re watching the cycles of nature right before our eyes. There is always some wildflower in bloom, some bird singing a sing we’ve never heard, black flies, then yellow flies, etc. There’s an ebb and flow to everything around us. And we’re listening and noticing… One of the things we’ve noticed is that we have some kind of dinosaur plant in our front yard, with pretty yellow flowers… it looks like some kind of yucca?
We’re having the time of our lives, and we really love living here and taking care of this house. Thanks for coming along on our adventure, and leave us a note if you have any questions or comments. We’re not on Facebook much anymore, but you can sometimes find us on Instagram (linked to this page) or here on ours.
Until next time….
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