Category: House Restoration

Hello there, and welcome back to the farm! It’s been a relatively quiet time here the past several weeks, but we’ve been keeping busy ticking off some smaller projects, such as cleaning, organizing, planning, etc. Once the warm weather hits, we’ll be back to working long days re-siding the ell and front of the barn, so we’re trying to enjoy these slower-paced days.

One thing we’ve recently spent some time on was cleaning out the old root cellar under our kitchen. It appears that there has always been a structure built off the back of the house, and looks to have always been two stories- a summer kitchen above ground with a root cellar below. Before we talk about our root cellar renovations, let’s take a step back and talk about the evolution of our house, as near as we can tell.

Our house is a typical late-18th/early-19th century Cape Cod design, as seen in this image from Thomas Hubka’s book “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn”-

With the center chimney and all its fireplaces in use, this thermal mass was used to keep the house “warmish” in the winter. On the flip side, the early residents wouldn’t have wanted to light a large hearth fire to cook in the summer, so there was often a “summer kitchen” built off the back of the house, or connected by a small shed roof. You can see this in the image above- note the structure built off the “kitchen”. This seems to be where the original summer kitchen would have been on our home, and is now where our modern kitchen is located. Behind the back wall of our kitchen (opposite the house common wall) there are remnants of an old fireplace, and while most of the firebox has been dismantled, the flue was turned into just a chimney- which we use for our exhaust fan. We did line the chimney, and cap it, so that when we move our antique wood-burning cookstove into the kitchen this summer, the stove will hook right up and the smoke will go up the chimney. 

Back in the early 20th century, around 1916 we think, the ell was built to link the house to the barn, and also enclose the old hand-dug well. This may have been when the old summer kitchen’s hearth was modified, and the structure of this old kitchen was incorporated into the new ell structure. Since our home is built into a slope- the driveway side (the left side of image “C” above) of the root cellar is below grade, while the other side (the right side of image “C” above) is open to the back yard. There also appears to be remnants of a doorway next to the old hearth base in the basement, next to the root cellar, that would have led outside to the well. The walls of the root cellar are stacked stone/boulder, and need a bit of mortar repair and patching, which we’ll be doing shortly. The root cellar ceiling still had some old lath and plaster remaining- it was split lath (pre-1850), and lime plaster, but it was in bad shape. The lath was attached to some framing that was installed some time after the original build, as it was suspended below the original beams and structure of the floor above, which is basically trees (with the bark) that were notched to fit into the sill beams.

We began by pulling up the plastic moisture barrier (the floor is dirt), then we removed the boulders and rocks sticking up from the floor- using a pickax and rake to level it as much as possible. We pulled down what was left of the old lath and plaster (leaving a small section preserved), and cleaned the ceiling structure of nails, extra wires, lines, or plumbing. The main water/sewer drain for the house does go through this room- there isn’t anything we can really do about that but work around it. We noticed a few old large iron hooks in the ceiling, but we think they were either added later, or moved when the plaster ceiling was added. These hooks, historically, would have been aligned longitudinally so that a long rod could be hung from them, from which meats and herbs could be hung to dry. The hooks in our root cellar are orientated ninety degrees off (they face the same way), and they’re installed into the later ceiling structure rather than the original.

Once we got everything cleaned up and the floor raked level, we laid the plastic moisture barrier back down. We may need to take up some of the plastic to keep the humidity high enough to preserve root veggies, but we’ll see. We will need to cover the window that shines into the cellar (behind you in the first picture below), so the sun won’t be shining in there. We’ll build some shelves and benches along the brick and stone wall for storage, and add some lighting. It’s going to be a great place for a cellar though- keeps around 40 degrees in there!

For the pantry in our back mudroom, we built a shelf unit to fit on the table we built to hold the old microwave, which we removed when we remodeled the kitchen. When this old guy finally gives up, we’ll pick up a newer, smaller model, and maybe add another shelf. For lumber to make the shelf unit, we used some salvaged floorboards from our hearth room restoration. There’s truly nothing like re-utilizing antique boards to create something new and useful. We also picked up a curio we found on Craigslist to use as a pantry for canned and dry goods. We couldn’t pass up the price- it was free provided we carry it out of the house it was in!

One of our favorite things about living in an historic house is embracing the life that Daniel and Abigail experienced here, albeit with plumbing and climate control. We’ve found that this truly feeds our souls. Outside of things like making our own laundry detergent, washing dishes by hand (we left a dishwasher out of our kitchen remodel), weaving our own napkins and wash towels, or living by oil lamp and wood heat, we’ve tried making our own beeswax candles, cooking dinner for friends on the hearth, and this year we hope to grow as much of our own food as possible. 

We’ve also used this quiet time to work on patching the upper walls in the hearth room. When we took down the dropped ceiling last year, there were a lot of gaps and holes in the wall planks that needed to be patched. Most of the holes were from electrical systems, insulation, and plumbing being installed, removed, or altered. There was also a lot of rodent damage to the old planks, as the drop ceiling gave them a cozy home for many years. We patched the wood plank walls with salvaged ones, but one of the wall sections is later sheet rock over lath, so we picked up some free leftover pieces of sheet rock from a nearby remodeling project- again, Craigslist is a wonderful resource! Once complete, Jenny will be painting a new mural in the style of Jonathan Poor- a muralist from this area. Jonathan was a student and nephew to Moses Eaton Jr’s friend Rufus Porter. It’s feasible they all walked through this house at some point after Moses purchased the homestead from Daniel’s estate. The current mural was painted in the early 2000’s, and unfortunately sustained some damage during the structural restoration.

While Jenny loves using the old loom, setting up the warp (the longitudinal threads) has been such a hassle, so I built a warping board for her to wind the warp onto. This measures the threads (the pegs are exactly 36″ apart), and winding them onto the pegs creates a cross-over, which keeps them in order when you string them onto the loom. While Jenny weaves, I putter about in the workshop, cleaning and organizing tools.

It’s time to get the pup out for an afternoon walk, so we’ll leave you with some pretty pictures. For those not familiar, the air in northern New England is exceptionally clear, so when the moon is full, it’s very much like daytime. Here are a few illustrative shots, as well as some photos from a recent ice storm. Yeah, it’s really pretty here.

Thanks for stopping by! We love seeing you all, and treasure your visits. Let us know if you have any questions, and feel free to share.

Take care, and God Bless!

Welcome back to the farm! We’re so glad you arrived safely, as the weather outside leaves much to be desired. Have a seat by the fire, and we’ll catch up!

With winter now firmly established in this part of New England, any further outside projects are all on hold until spring. We checked off what we wanted to check off, however, so we feel good about our progress. The siding of the house is complete- gaps filled, weather barrier and new clapboards installed, windows and doors are weatherstripped, and non-winter items are all put away. Now we can hopefully begin attacking this pile of books we’ve accumulated.

Speaking of weatherstripping windows, it seems hard to imagine that they were still loose sashes after almost 240 years. Actually, we’re pretty sure the current windows aren’t original, but they are very old, and most panes are the old wavy, dimpled glass. In looking at the windows, the first floor sashes match the attic sashes, and we know that the attic dormers were added around 1916 during an earlier renovation. We also know that the window frames were changed at some point, as there were signs of older, larger/taller window frames when we removed the old clapboards. Most likely, the windows were replaced with new old sashes and the frames altered during the early 20th century renovation. We did however, experience lots of cold air pouring around the sashes last winter, so we definitely wanted to tighten them up. So once the siding was complete, we began weatherstripping. 

We began by removing the stop trim that holds the lower sash in place, taking out the lower sash to clean up the sides of any excess paint. We cut and installed spring brass strips along the sides of the frame, where the lower sash slides up and down. Then we added strips of felt along the meeting rail between the upper and lower sash, and a strip of D-shaped silicone along the bottom of the lower sash, to seal along the sill. Then re-install the lower sash and stop rails. We had already caulked and sealed the upper sash when we re-trimmed the exterior, as the upper sash is fixed. Once complete, the windows are tight as a drum!

With our daughter and her boyfriend coming home for Thanksgiving, we decided to try to tackle removing the wallpaper from the borning room, which is a small bedroom just off the hearth room, that we use as a guest bedroom. The two outside walls have older wallpaper over plaster, while the two interior walls still have their original shiplap paneling. We just cleaned the shiplap, then brushed on a mixture of boiled linseed oil/turpentine, and the wood just popped beautifully! It was so thirsty, it drank it up as quickly as we brushed it on! We will never get tired of brushing BLO on thirsty wood- it’s truly one of the most satisfying things ever. Once the many layers of wallpaper were removed from the plaster wall, we primed and painted. At some point, we’ll strip the wall that has the window, and we’ll likely re-plaster, as most of the plaster in the house is cracked and failing. For now, this room can be useful once again as a guest bedroom/office.

Something else we’ve been having fun with is our new flag collection. A while back we stopped at a moving sale, and one of the things we picked up was an umbrella vase full of flags appropriate for an 18th century home. 

We’ve since been changing them out every once in a while, and we’re not the only ones enjoying them- our neighbors and local townsfolk are noticing as well. The collection includes: the Flag of New England, the Whiskey Rebellion Flag, the New Hampshire State Flag, the Betsy Ross Flag, as well as a current US Flag. We will soon add the Gadsden Flag (Don’t Tread on Me), the Liberty Tree Flag (An Appeal to Heaven), the Bennington flag, the Green Mountain Boys flag, and some others.

Remember the antique loom we picked up for Jenny? We’ve since found out it was likely a factory loom for making linens, and dates to within 10-15 years from the turn of the 20th century. Jenny got it all cleaned up, adjusted, and has made her first dish towel! Having just two treddles (foot pedals connected to the shafts), it’s limited to weaving solids, stripes, or plaids, which is fine for us. It’s just so cool that this old loom is still loved and used by someone. While Jenny was weaving, she was thinking about the people that used to use it- what they were thinking about while weaving, what hymns they were humming… it’s one of the things we love about this lifestyle!

Since you were last, we’ve also finished up the grading under the back barn. Our timber framer came to make some final adjustments and take out the cribbing that held up the back shed during the foundation work. Then Mike’s team stopped by and graded it out and cleaned up. We’re thinking this area between the rock walls, when covered over with chicken wire, will make a great run for chickens, and we can build a coop for them under the back barn. Regardless, it’s tremendous peace-of-mind having the barn back on its own feet before the ground freezes. No more worrying about frost heaving or water issues!

With winter now here for good- we just received about two feet of snow over the past few days- we’re going to take a break with the big projects. There are always things to do here, however, but we’re warm and dry, and we have quite a pile of books to read. We’ll leave you with some photos of this most recent snowstorm, as well as how we’ve decorated the house for Christmas-

Thanks for stopping by! Until next time, take care, and God bless!

Hi there, and welcome back to the farm- pour a cup and we’ll get you updated as to what we’ve been up to.

Any project here starts innocently enough, with the simple goal of fixing something that appears small and minor, but quickly becomes an open can of worms. EVERYthing is a can of worms here! We find concealed rot, a past patch that should be improved upon, or something that we should just make right- at least in the “restored to 1782, but with climate control and indoor plumbing” vibe we’re going for. We feel like every project takes two or three times as long as we expect, but in the end, we feel good about taking care of everything that needs to be addressed, so we shouldn’t need to worry about anything but maintenance the rest of our lives. It’s been a lot of work, but we’re learning new skills, and improving on so many of these new skills, that with every can of worms that gets opened, we are getting more and more confident in getting them taken care of.

Since you were last here, we finished up the siding on the west gable end, and have moved around to the back. The gable was a challenge due to the height, but fortunately, was structurally sound, and needed little in repairs. Since the old clapboards (100ish years old) and trim (older yet) were nailed directly to the sheathing, there wasn’t a lot to the actual demo, which has become Jenny’s favorite part. Once we had the sheathing clean of old clapboards and nails, we filled the gaps with expanding foam insulation, caulked and flashed where needed, ice and water shield along the bottom three feet, then tar paper (builder’s felt) the rest of the way up, then new pre-primed hemlock clapboards. We used the same random reveal as we did on the north wall. This is not only more appropriate, as the original builders just “eyeballed it”, but it also hides how out of plumb the house is, and how uneven the windows are. We also made ourselves a “roof ladder”, so we could take care of replacing the trim, caulking, and painting the dormers.

There are so many stories to be found around this old house- one example is the variability in glass color in the windows.

Once we finished up the gable side, we moved around to the screen porch, where we were going to just replace the lower two clapboards where we removed the rotted deck stairs. Another can of worms was opened, and we ended up needing to cut out a lot of rot, and patch and replace just about everything along the lower wall, and re-frame the windows. At least it’s all sealed up, flashed, caulked, and painted- Jenny say’s it’s like Fort Knox around here!

One of our neighbors is renovating their timber frame barn, which had an old wood-fired stove that needed a new home, and we had just the place for it- our ell workshop! It’s a beauty, and it cleaned up to like-new! Can’t wait to fire it up! We just need to install a chimney, get a metal pad to set it on, and line the wall behind it with some old rusty tin we saved from the old barn roof. 

This past week, we received another visit from our friend Temple, who had spent a lot of time at this house while growing up- he knows so much about the local area and our house- we really treasure our time with him. He lived in his family’s home (four generations) in the town just north of us up until 10 years ago, but has moved to Kentucky. He was close friends with one of the former owners of our house- they used to fish together, and Temple helped take care of this house when the owners got older. This time, Temple showed us the old Parker homestead up the road (which is now just a cellar hole in the woods), and took us to explore some land he had owned nearby. Between this house and the Parker homestead would have sat John and Jesse Warren’s farm, two of Daniel and Abigail’s sons. The “upper Warren” house” has long disappeared, which later was the site of Schoolhouse No. 10, which has also disappeared. 

Across the street from our farm is a 35,000 acre wildlife sanctuary (that’s roughly 55 square miles!)A nearby parcel that Temple had sold before he moved away, has since been added to the sanctuary, so he showed us the waterfall he had fallen into while fishing in the middle of winter! He managed to somehow make it to our farmhouse, where the owners helped him into a warm shower- clothes and all- until he thawed. He also showed us some incredible rock outcroppings, and a very large, but unfortunately since fallen, old oak that was roughly 4-5 feet in diameter. He told us a story about some brothers who lived here back in the mid-20th century (one of which became his best friend.) While walking to school (with their rifles, as they were going to go hunting after school) one of them shot a bobcat in the head. Since they were still near home, he walked back and tossed it on the kitchen table to clean when he got home. While his mother was working in another room, she hear a ruckus all of the sudden, and realized that the bobcat was very much alive (the bullet had just grazed him, knocking him out), and was now trapped in the kitchen, and was running around trying to get out! Our time with Temple always goes by so quickly, and we try so hard to remember all the stories! Such as the giant pile of boulders (a couple of stories high) up the road near the summit of Mount Skatutakee- back in the late 19th century, they were putting a rail line around the side of the mountain, and one of the workers, Mr. Hogan, was tamping dynamite into drilled holes, but when he packed a charge with an iron rod, it detonated, killing Mr. Hogan. The pile of boulder debris is called “Hogan’s Ledge”. Temple knows the names of all the old farms around, even the ones that no longer exist. He’s truly a treasure!

We really do love this house, and living here in this part of New England! This area is so beautiful, full of hiking trails, small scenic roads, lots of farm-to-table restaurants and farmstands, there is so much to explore yet! We also enjoy stopping off at local barn sales, as you never know what you’ll find- like a “Ralph Nader for President” bumper sticker for the Corvair, or a box of antique drill bits and braces. We can’t wait to wrap up the big to-do list on our house, so we can spend more time exploring!

Well, that’s it for now. Our local historical society is having their big annual fundraiser today- a beerfest at an 18th century tavern! Thanks for stopping by- we cherish your visits here. Take care, and until next time…

As always, feel free to share or leave us a comment below! God bless!

Since you last stopped by the farm, we’ve celebrated our one year “reno-versary”. It’s hard to even remember what it was like when our little caravan arrived after our 40+ hour cross-country adventure, but we do remember being so excited to begin restoring and loving this house. We dug in right away- unpacking, cleaning, sorting, and setting up a work area in the ell workshop. One of the other things we took care of right away was the finishing of the screen porch, so that we’d have a place to escape and relax. Since then, we’ve touched pretty much every surface in this house and barn. It’s really starting to look as it would have when Daniel and Abigail finished up the original building back in 1790- except with plumbing, electricity, and climate control 🙂

One of the projects we recently completed was the installation of a split rail fence along the driveway side. Being on a corner lot at an intersection where cell service is spotty at best, many people miss their turn, or are just lost, and use our circular drive as a turn-around. We don’t mind so much, except for the folks that drive around our cars parked in our own drive, and drive on the grass, or over the top of our septic tank! We considered how to go about keeping people from doing this- signs, fences, posts, etc, and finally settled on a fence along the road, with a post and chain blocking off the other entrance. We found a local fence contractor who would sell us the posts and rails (Western Red Cedar), and would also rent us his rock drill, just in case- this is the Granite State after all. We needed 14 posts, which meant 14 holes- and we hit granite 3 of the first 4 holes we dug. We were able to dig out the boulders for most, or move the post slightly to avoid them. We did end up needing to drill into one stone, and set a pipe into the hole. Then we drilled a hole up into the post to slide over the pipe which we set in the rock, and now it’s, well, solid as a rock! For the post in the driveway, we sunk a pipe into the driveway, and inserted a threaded rod into the post, so if we need to use the full drive, we can just lift the post out, and have nothing sticking up to drive over. We’re very happy with the result- it defines the yard, makes it look like a home, and politely keeps folks from driving across the yard without having a “Get off my lawn!” sign, lol.

Another project we’ve begun was the long-awaited re-siding of the house. The old siding was rotted, broken, and leaking not only water, but wind, cold, and bugs. The clapboards were nailed directly to the sheathing- no wind or water barrier at all. Most of the siding was nailed with later, cut nails, so it could easily have been a hundred years old or more. Removing the old clapboards on the south wall along the hearth room revealed some rot in the lower sheathing. Removing the rotted lower sheathing revealed some rot in the sill. We had our timber framer stop by to look at it, as he’s working nearby, but he thought it was OK to keep. Now that we had exposed the wall cavities, this was also our opportunity to add some insulation where we could, as even though the house had blown-in cellulose insulation added at some point, it had settled in places, especially under the windows. When the cellulose insulation was installed, they also installed it right on top of the original insulation, which was mostly corn cobs. People often talk about opening the walls of an antique home to find all kinds of treasures- all we found was urine, rodent carcasses and an old dress sock-

After cleaning out the wall cavities of as much as we could, we installed new mineral wool insulation (mice won’t burrow through it), then installed a rubber membrane over the sill, and extended it under the ground covering the granite foundation. This will prevent further rot due to snow and rain splash soaking up under the sheathing. Once we patched the sheathing, we sprayed expanding foam insulation into all the gaps and holes, then installed ice and water shield on the lower three feet, builder’s felt (tar paper) on the upper, and new trim boards along the vertical sides. Once we had the trim boards in place, we could begin nailing in the new pre-primed hemlock clapboards, which Jenny had already painted with one coat. We used a “random” reveal, as originally, they would have just eyeballed the reveal, plus it looks far better than having a uniform clapboard. Using a random reveal also hides how uneven, out-of-plumb, and out-of-true the house is. The old clapboards had reveals ranging from 3-1/2″ to 4-1/4″, so we settled on 3-1/2″, 3-3/4″, and 4 inches. We made wood blocks to use as spacers, then as we installed the new clapboards, we randomly grabbed one spacer or the other. Once we had all the clapboards installed, windows repaired, flashed and re-trimmed, we caulked the joints, then finished up with a final coat of paint.

Moving around the corner to the gable end was much the same process, except that the original sheathing was in fantastic shape! We couldn’t believe the size of the sheathing boards- one was a full 25″ wide! We also found the reason the borning room window was always cold- the only thing between us and outside was the clapboard and the interior wall board! We did have to replace one window sill (so far) due to rot, and unfortunately, since everything on this house was hand-made, you can’t just run out and pick up a new one- you have to make it yourself. We (very fortunately) have a small supply of 2″ thick hemlock boards in our barn, so we milled a new sill, and moved on to start installing the new siding on the gable end. 

It was such a cool experience working on saving the home of an actual Patriot such as Daniel on July 4th- the full weight of which was very humbling, and was easily the coolest Independence Day we’ve ever had.

One of our latest Craigslist finds is this old workbench- made in the early 20th century by the G.R. Hand Screw Company- it makes a perfect kitchen island! We just lightly sanded the top, cleaned it, repaired the leg bottoms as they were split from wet floors, and applied food-safe butcher block wax.

Since it is now fully summer, the spring flowers have faded, and the summer blooms are in full glory- lilies, foxglove, a random peony (one of the most beautiful we’ve ever seen), and many others are bringing color to the farm. The last image below is a shrub on the corner of the house that was in bloom when we arrived last year, and when it bloomed this year we were determined to figure out what it was- it is called a Beauty Bush. And it is very appropriately named.

We’ve also been taking our old cars out for drives in the evenings, or taking the pup out for hikes- it’s just so beautiful here, and there’s still so much to explore. There are so many cute little towns, pubs, and glorious roads- the closest interstate is about an hour away!

So a year into this adventure, we have no regrets. At the end of each day, we’re exhausted and bruised, our fingers are smashed, and we’re having the time of our lives. We just cannot imagine doing anything else. 

Thanks for coming along! Let us know if you have any questions, or would like more information about anything we’re doing here. And as always, feel free to share. Until next time- take care!

Yes, we have a driveway again. Not just a place to park a car, but a smooth, graded, water-draining, driveway. And it’s a beautiful thing!

In our last post, we left off with the barn structure getting finished off (for now), but we were waiting for the excavating crew to return to finish the stone work, water run-off, and drainage. When they came back, they went right to work re-grading the yard (adding about 30 cubic yards of soil to fill the voids from having all the stumps removed last year, and to help water run away from the house), lowering the driveway, and seeding. They used crushed granite gravel for the driveway, so it’s gray/blue to match the other stone around the house. They also replaced the original cut granite threshold into the barn. This is the Granite State after all- it’s literally everywhere, even the curbs in town are cut pieces of granite.

A side benefit of the barn foundation project was the building of a road/driveway alongside and down behind the barn to provide access underneath for the machinery. Since they were building the road, we decided to keep it. Then as the barn foundation project progressed, our excavator Mike figured out we could have a garage underneath the barn, so the driveway actually leads to our new garage!! They created a double-rock wall under the barn, so the rocks that make up the barn foundation are behind the wall that defines the driveway. You can see it takes a lot of room to stage all the boulders they need to stack the walls- then they can flip through them with the bucket to pick out just the right one. When they finished re-stacking the boulder foundation, they graded the road down the side of the barn, and created a small parking area beyond. In the corner of the parking area, seeing all the cairns around our property (which we build to remember our son Bobby), they built us a HUGE nine-foot-tall cairn tucked into the woods. So now every time we drive down the side of the barn, we’ll see a larger-than-life cairn to remember our larger-than-life boy. 

The area between the side drive and the main barn door is where we had a large propane tank buried, so the guys filled that in and lined it with boulders to create a small flower area. We dug out a bunch of lilies and irises from the front (where they would be destroyed by the grading anyway), and planted them into this new area. We’ll also move the phlox over that is currently around our mailbox post, as we’ll be moving that closer to our new brick walk in front. We’ll soon begin tearing off the old siding on the house, adding insulation, making any repairs, then installing new hemlock clapboard siding. Once we’re finished with the house, and we still have time before winter, we’ll do the same for the driveway-side of the ell (shown below), changing to horizontal clapboard to match the house. We’ll then remove the clapboard from the front of the barn, and install new white pine (left natural) vertical shiplap siding to match the rest of the barn. The gable will remain cedar shingles, but we will replace them at that time.

Now that we have the garage roughed-in, we’ll eventually have a concrete slab poured (we already installed drainage under the floor), then build walls on both sides to close it in, along with installing some windows in the back wall. In the first photo below, we will build the wall just on the back (right) side of the posts, then on the back of the posts on the other side (second photo below), so the posts will be visible in the garage. We’ll add double doors on the right for access to the storage area, which will be kept compacted gravel. The storage area will be for our “collection” of lumber, off-season yard equipment, bikes, etc. At the back of the storage area is access to the ell basement (dead center of the first picture), right next to the well, so we’re going to build a door to fit there so we can go in and out- it’s currently a piece of plywood held in place with some screws. This garage will be my car-building shop, as I can’t weld or grind metal up in the main level of the barn due to the wood floors. Being rather smallish (it’s roughly 15 feet by 30 feet), a small electric heater may be all I need to keep it comfortable come winter. 

While all of that was going on, Jenny and I began to address some issues with the trim around some windows. Back a couple of decades ago, there was a “revolutionary” product introduced to the market that would replace real wood for use as trim and moulding. Well, nothing replaces real wood, folks. This paperboard product actually absorbs water and holds it, swelling unnaturally. We ended up re-trimming most of the windows on the back of the ell- we LOVE that we can just walk into our barn, pull a board from our stash of lumber, and cut it to fit! After installing the new trim, we decided to start changing the color over to the eventual color of the entire house- “Warm Onyx”. It’s a super-dark chocolate brown, and is very appropriate for the mid-to-late 18th century. You see a lot of it around Salem, and Boston, MA (where the Warrens moved here from) and other well-preserved towns here in New England. The lower window we made to hinge for ventilation in the ell basement, should we ever do anything with that space, other than stand and look at the well 🙂 We also began painting the back side of the kitchen wall, which is in the ell. We’ll begin re-siding the house as soon as our new scaffolding gets here, then paint the new siding the same color.

It’s definitely spring/early summer here on the farm, and Mother Nature is rewarding us for clearing all the invasives and overgrowth, with displays of color everywhere you look! Every day we notice something else in bloom. Right now it’s: Iris, Buttercup, Dame’s Rocket, Pansies, Forget-me-not, Solomon’s Seal, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, Columbine, and a few others we haven’t looked up yet.

It’s been a crazy few weeks here on the farm- the excavators have left for a couple of weeks now, to take care of some other clients, but will return soon to re-stack the boulder wall on the south side (to the left in the photo below) of the barn that extends beyond, which has already partially collapsed. They’ll be installing drainage behind this wall as well, so we’ll be able to get rid of the white pipes that currently lay across our yard to exhaust the gutter downspouts, to beyond the collapsed wall. We also look forward to the woodchucks moving on, as with all the stone they’ll add behind the rock wall for drainage, it will be impossible for the varmints to dig around back there. Hopefully, they’ll leave and not bother our garden, which will be on the yard area just above the wall. But then, we’re not sure what Tennessee will do with all his free time, as he won’t have to sit there and wait for them to poke their heads over the wall.

Thanks for stopping by- we’re going to get back to checking projects off of our way-too-long list that we want to accomplish before winter. The days just keep ticking by! But, it’s what we’re here for, and we’re having a blast! Stop by anytime- we’ll keep the coffee warm for you. In the meantime, leave us a message/comment below. Until next time…

There is so much to catch up on, as it’s been very busy here on the farm, that this will be a two-part update. When you last stopped by, we had put together a new front storm door, and we were waiting for the contractors to come back to finish up the barn. Then we got distracted with other projects, and our front storm door languished on the sawhorses in the ell, but we did get around to hanging it- more about that in a bit…

We often find ourselves planning to work on a specific project, but get pulled into something else by necessity, such as the side door which started seeping water when it rained. We did a quick repair by replacing and then caulking the rotted decorative trim around the recessed panels, but we really needed a storm door. Since we now have confidence in building shiplap doors, we took some barn scraps and built one for the side door. Of course, that led to other repairs, as we needed to replace the rotted trim around the floating transom window above the door first. Step one (first image) was to remove all the old rotted trim. Step two is to cut new trim, including a sash/overhang to keep rain from dripping behind the storm door, then prime and paint. Step three is set the door into the opening, using shims to keep it centered and square in the opening. “Square” is a relative term in an antique home, as nothing is square, and if you try to make it perfect, you’ll go crazy. So you just eyeball it best you can. With the door shimmed in place, we can install the hinges, then the handle. We wanted to use the same thumb latch-style handles as in the rest of the house, which would be appropriate for the late 18th century, but they’re hard to come by, and the few we’ve found, we’re saving to use inside as we restore the interior doors. We found this set at Home Depot- made for a garden gate, but it works great!

Loving how the side door looked, we went ahead and hung the front storm door we built from leftover boards from the hearth room. We used the same process, but used period hardware – strap hinges hung on pintles, and an antique thumb latch handle. We also went ahead and painted the trim around the front door with the same “Warm Onyx” that we’ll be using on the entire exterior of the house when we re-side later this summer. It really makes the door “pop”!

As you can see from the pics above, we also finished up the front sidewalk. There were stacks of antique bricks squirreled everywhere around here, so we gathered up enough to complete the walk, then began laying on the crushed stone dust base we laid last fall. Being handmade antique bricks, we quickly found out how much variability there is from one to the next, so you can’t just screed the base and begin laying bricks- each must be fit by hand. It ended up taking about five full days, but we couldn’t be happier with the results.

Another thing that came up the priority list was replacing the shingles on the back side of the house. For some reason, this side was never replaced with the rest of the house and ell a few years ago, and the old shingles kept breaking and blowing off in storms. Once the old shingles were removed, we found the reason for why the back side was so wavy- rotted sheathing boards and poorly installed patches. Our contractor cut out the bad boards, replaced the insulation beneath, laid new sheathing and waterproof/ice shield, then installed new architectural (layered) shingles to match the rest of the house.

The timber framers came back to finish up replacing the siding on the south side. When the old siding was removed, not only did we get a really good look at the timber frame, but all the marriage marks on each piece of the frame. Back when this barn was first built in the late 18th century, each joint was hand-scribed and cut to fit its location. This was often done on the ground, then pulled apart, and pinned in place once assembled on site. To mark each component, the builders used their chisels to mark Roman numerals into each part. We could also see how the barn was originally built as an English drive-through barn, but was converted to a bank barn when it was moved in 1858. They also installed the gable window (hinged so we can open it from the inside) and flashed above the back barn roof.

On one of the boards we pulled off, we found the original builder had scribed some hand notations- we think to mark a location within the barn. These notes were carved almost 240 years ago!

The timber framers also finished the structure under the back barn, which was full of “beams” made from layers of 2 x 8’s sistered (nailed) together, and old footings that were just poured into forms on the ground. Because the soil under the back barn was so rich with “organic matter” from centuries of animal waste being dumped down there, it would hold enough water to cause up to 20″ of heaving when it would freeze. This caused so much damage to the back barn that all the other timber framers and contractors we talked to recommended taking the addition off altogether. Only John felt it could be saved, and we’re thankful he was able to do so! Once the sistered beams were removed (after jacking the weight off using temporary beams placed on either side, our excavator dug out four feet of very wet, heavy clay soil so that precast piers could be placed. Once back-filled, John was able to slide in a new 8 x 8 beam (into the notch you see in the sixth picture below), then place posts on the new piers to support the beams. Being below frost line, and due to the shape of these piers, frost cannot heave them, so the back barn’s support is now as solid as the barn itself. You can see in the last image how wet this soil is back here- the reason we’re installing such a robust drainage system, and why we almost lost this old barn.

While the timber framers were working on the siding and structure, Jenny and I were working on cleaning the loft and lower back barn areas, patching the floors, replacing rotted joists, and figuring out how to configure the barn best for our lives here. There is still a lot of work to do, but at least as far as the back barn goes, we will need to take up all FIVE layers of rotted floorboards at some point, and lay down new floorboards- that’ll be a project once the under barn grading is finished, so we can move our hoard of lumber back under there, having room to work. The first image below is the barn loft, which will just be storage. The second image is in the lower back barn, adjacent to the new garage bay we’re putting in under the barn, and will be a tool room. The area to the left in that pic, and in the last four images will be the potting shed area, as the back yard is right through that door you see, and we’ll have our garden there as soon as all the excavation is finished, and drainage installed.

Well, that’s a good chunk of what’s been going on here since your last visit. We’ll put together another post within the next week or so (hopefully!) catching you up to present-day. Until then, leave us a comment if you have any questions, and feel free to share this post with your friends. Thanks for following along! Take care!

We discovered that there once was a well in the basement of the ell, but learned it had been filled in. During the first months we lived here, we had it in the back of our minds to dig it out and restore it, but other things quickly took priority. We didn’t know how old it was, how deep it was, or if there was even water in it. We just had a rough idea where it was- a pile of rocks in the corner of the basement, where the ell abuts the barn.

When Mike’s crew was digging for the concrete wall under the barn this past fall, they hit quite a stream of water pouring from the ground in that corner, and based on the flow, we assumed it was possibly a spring-fed well. One day we shone a flashlight through the rocks where we thought the well was, and saw water reflecting back. Then last week while I was building a platform for the furnace (more on that later), Jenny pulled a couple of stones from the pile, and exposed the well in its entirety. It was NOT filled in, but merely capped with rocks and bricks wedged together. It was also certainly hand dug, deep, and full of water. She dropped a weight (an old wrench) tied to a string, and it went down about ten feet once it hit water, which at that time, was about three feet below the surface. We could see it was lined with the same stone size, color, and type as the walls in the basement, so we’re assuming it was dug around the time the house was built. There was no mortar or waterproof lining of any kind, and no pipes or anything leading into it, so it was not a cistern (not all that uncommon), but was actually a hand-dug well.

Mike had offered to dig out the well when they were here late last year, so after letting him know what we found, he and a couple of his guys (Nick and Bailey) came over this week to see about clearing it out. After pulling off the top stones, and exposing the well clearly, we could see some timbers laying across the well, so they dropped a sump pump to clear the water out. The water being pumped out was clear as the water from our tap, and we measured a full ten foot depth, with the well dropping a full fourteen feet from the surface. Once all the water was pumped out, Mike drew the short straw, and climbed down to clean out the debris that had fallen in over the years. We pulled up quite a pile of timbers, which may have been the old cover or some bracing, as they were old, and very waterlogged, but didn’t stink, which was surprising! 

Once cleaned out, Nick and Bailey re-stacked the stones above ground level, and installed an overflow pipe that we can connect to the barn’s drainage system, so in the event the well fills in wet seasons, it won’t flood into the basement, or wash out the barn foundation anymore. Come spring, we’ll also build a cover for the well, and install a pump so we can use the water for the under-barn garage, as well as gardening.

This past week, we also took care of something that had been driving us nuts all winter- the vibrating floor. Most of our heating/cooling is handled by an air-to-air heat pump, which works at temps above 25 degrees, and doubles as a central air conditioner in the summer. For colder temps, we have a propane furnace back-up, which is located in the basement under our bedroom, and was suspended from the beams that hold up the floor. When the furnace would run, it would cause a vibration in the floor that had such bass-thumping that about made you nauseous. This past week, we grabbed some concrete piers and pressure treated lumber, and built a support structure to suspend the furnace from the floor, so no more vibrations!

Note the gray box hanging on the right side of the duct work in the photo above- that’s our new steam humidifier. Being an antique home, with no form of wind or weather barrier behind the siding, it’s bone dry in here in the winter. Most days, we saw low-to-mid 20 percent humidity levels, where “comfort range” is typically between 40-50% in the winter. A typical humidifier can’t evaporate enough water to make a difference in this environment, so we went with steam, which can put up to 30+ gallons a day into the air. We also found out our thermostat was not able to adequately handle the complexity of our heat system, so we had to upgrade the thermostat as well. 

We also had our new kitchen counters installed (thanks Dylan!), but due to a cutting error, they are now cutting a new set of a different stone, and will install them next week. The photo at the bottom right is the new stone. We’re just so happy to have a functioning sink again- no more washing dishes in the bathtub! We’ll update in the next blog post.

We’ve begun patching the hearth room paneling from where the false ceiling was located, and where wiring has been installed and modified over the years. Note that we didn’t paint over the remaining outline of the original cupboard that was placed against the wall (to the right in the “after” photo below). This would have been an imposing piece of furniture, as it is ten feet tall! We can see marks from shelving in the paneling of the wall, and it appears to end roughly 3 feet from the floor, so the shelves/cupboard must have sat on top of a cabinet or sideboard. Here is the before and after:

There are also countless little things we take care of day-to-day, as there will always be something that needs to be fixed, tweaked, maintained, or tinkered with. We keep pretty busy, but it’s rewarding work, and we’re starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel for the major stuff. With the addition of the humidifier, we’ve had to push off the installation of our hearth room floor, but we’re monitoring the moisture levels of the wood, and hope to start installing this coming Friday. It will hopefully take two days to install, then we’ll sand any rough edges, and apply a finish- likely the same boiled linseed oil/turpentine we used for the kitchen floor.

We’re still taking moments out to explore our new home, and the surrounding nature. There are so many trails within just a few miles, that we still have many to check out. We love the boulders in the area around our house- many are the size of small houses, and are rather imposing when you come upon them in the woods.

Hope you all are well, and thanks for stopping by the farm. Be well, and God bless!

More on that a bit later….

To catch you up on the barn restoration: everyone has packed up and gone home for the winter, but will be back in spring to finish up this first phase of saving and restoring the barn. Phase One was to address the foundation and major structure, and install drainage to take care of the main issue, which is water. The next phase will take care of further structural issues, such as the snapped studs and bowing beams under the back barn addition, and the flooring, siding, and upper structure in the main barn. Now that the barn has been leveled out for the most part, past repairs, patches, and fixes can be cleaned up or removed altogether.

Mike’s team finished up the poured concrete wall under the barn, backfilled, and finished up the drainage. While installing the outlet of the drainage system, they only came across a couple of “nuggets” that were in the way.

They also dug out the footings under the first two posts inside the lower opening (to the right in the lower right photo above), as the grade is being lowered here to allow us to drive into the lower barn. They installed new lower piers and posts, which John and Seth were able to brace. Come spring, when they finish up lowering the grade under the barn, we’ll put up partition walls, closing off the “garage” from the under-barn storage area. If you look at the lower-left photo below, you’ll get an idea of what the garage will look like once we put up the partition walls. We hope to use the old sliding door to access the space to the right, towards the front of the barn, where we can keep the mower, snowblower, wheelbarrow, etc. We’ll also build some racking to hold some of the lumber we’ve collected during all this renovation (we save pretty much everything).

Before John and Seth left for the winter, they finished the structure under the main barn so that we could bring our old cars home and tuck them in for the season. In doing so, they discovered yet one more rotted sill beam, which they replaced. This one was under the old chicken coop, so this gave us the chance to clean out the old bedding material, leftover eggs (long dehydrated), and whatever else was carefully hidden under the wood shavings, like the big hole in the floor. Thank God no one was hurt. Once the sill was replaced, they were able to install siding to seal off the lower level.

With the barn level, and the foundation and floor structure solid, we were able to bring our old cars home, and have room for our other car inside as well. Eventually, we’ll have room for all the vehicles to be inside.

Once Jenny and I exposed the beams and ceiling in the hearth room, we had an electrician (Todd) come by to re-route needed wiring, remove unnecessary and redundant wiring, and add some wiring for wall sconces and a couple of outlets. In adding an outlet, it was revealed what Daniel and Abigail used for insulation in the walls: corn cobs! Interestingly, the corn cobs were about half the size of the ones we’re used to today. Todd was able to move or eliminate everything above the hearth room, so once we patch and build up a small soffit on the wall by the staircase, there will be no visible wiring in the hearth room ceiling! We also uncovered signs that there used to be a cupboard along the birthing room wall that went all the way to the ceiling, so it was roughly ten feet tall. It was installed before the room was painted, so maybe Daniel and Abigail installed it, or maybe it was built into the wall when the house was built? We’re definitely going to preserve the outline of it when we finish painting the room.

Now, about the title of this post- we are well underway with a full kitchen renovation. The old kitchen, while functional for the most part, wasn’t our style, had too many appliances, and the sink and counter were in front of the windows, covering almost half the window and blocking a lot of light and views. Since we first saw this home, we imagined sitting at a small table enjoying breakfast and coffee in front of the windows while watching the sun come up. We were going to hold off on the renovation for a while, while focusing on other projects, but in draining pasta while making lunch for the construction crews working on the barn one day, our sink cracked in half, so we took it as a sign the house wanted a new kitchen.

Here is what we started with:

We began by taking out the fridge, electric range, and dishwasher, removing the wall shelving and microwave, and taking out the pink concrete counter tops. We also stripped the paneled wall between the kitchen, which is actually in the ell, and the house:

We stripped and stained the paneled wall, and painted the back wall, then we took up some of the floorboards where the new cabinets were going, so we could patch where the old plumbing and heat duct was. We also painted the back wall where the windows are.

Then we had the floors sanded, after which Jenny and I applied two coats of boiled linseed oil/turpentine. This is likely what Daniel and Abigail would have used, so it’s appropriate, plus once a year we can just give it a good scrub and apply another coat to freshen it up.

Once the floor was dry, we were able to bring the stove and fridge back in, paint the cabinets, install the hardware, and install the soapstone farmer’s sink. Tomorrow, the countertop folks will be out to measure, so they can cut the granite remnant we picked up. After that, we’ll just need the plumber to come move the water lines and drain, and we’ll have a fully-functioning kitchen again! No more cooking on the hearth. Well, not really, we love cooking on the hearth! But no more washing our dishes in the bathroom!

Now that you’re all caught up in the goings on here at the farm, let us know if you have any questions. We’re looking forward to wrapping up these last couple of projects we’re working on, so we can take some time off to enjoy some fires in the hearth, and some books that have piled up on the table. Thanks for following along on our adventure, and God bless!

This is what a money pit looks like- literally. Zoom in for the full effect!

This hole is roughly four feet deeper than the bottom of the lowest part of the back barn. The forms you see wrapped in tarps will be the footings that will hold the new foundation wall that spans the width of the barn, separates the lower level of the main barn from the lower level under the back barn (roughly 5 feet difference), and keeps the barn from sliding down the hill. This wall will be the most important piece of saving this old barn for future generations. We decided to use poured concrete due to the difficulty in getting machinery under the back barn to stack stone, cost, and no one will ever see it anyway. It will also provide structure for the most critical piece of drainage in this entire project: funneling away the underground stream that comes from the spring under our ell. 

This all began last week when John and Seth (our timber framers) dismantled the wall separating the barn basement to the lower level of the back barn. In doing so, a lot more rot and old patches were uncovered. The intent was to install temporary 6″ x 8″ beams that would carry the load of the entire center of the barn, which would allow digging across the entire width of the barn. You can see in the first image below, the immense weight these beams are carrying. We were saying prayers for the safety of the crew the entire time they were under there.

While dismantling the siding for access to install the beams, this little treasure was exposed- this is called a “scarf joint”, and is used for joining two beams longitudinally. 

Once the barn was adequately supported, Mike’s team (excavation, foundation and boulders) began digging out above the wall so that they could get the baby excavator under the barn to dig the depth for the footings. 

The new wall will sit just under the ends of the beams you see in the last image above, and after the drainage is installed and the pit is backfilled, this area from the new lower wall forward to the two (nearest) posts shown in the second from the last image above, will be leveled off. We’ll (eventually) pour a concrete pad, and this area will be our underbars “garage” where we can jack up and work on cars, weld, grind, and anything else we can’t do on the wood plank floor in the barn upstairs. We’ll eventually put up partition walls on both sides, build an 8-9′ wide sliding door for entry, and install a couple of windows on the south side (opposite the door) for natural light. The area further forward will be for storage, and we’ll leave that with a gravel floor to be concrete later. Our contractor thinks we’ll end up with just about 7′ of head room to the beams. 

While the foundation guys were digging underneath, the timber framers were working on the front sill and door threshold. They installed pressure-treated planks over the sill beams for protection, then the front was backfilled and the new driveway ramp was installed. Next spring they’ll re-install the granite threshold, which will give us a nice, gentle entry into the barn rather than the janky collection of planks we used to use to get the cars inside (and the MG bottomed out anyway).

After installing a temporary post, Jenny and I took out the loft floor in the first two bays (saving all the lumber possible). We could then take out the buckling half-stud wall that was being supported by way too small a “timber” that someone put in after cutting the lower post away, and replaced it with a fresh 8″ x 8″ hemlock post, floor to beam.

We also worked on painting up a couple more rooms; the mudroom and parlor. The parlor was previously painted salmon pink with reproduction stencils from the second owner of the house (Moses Eaton Jr.) to match a panel left intact with his original stencils from the mid-19th century. Since we are taking the house back to the original owner/builder (Daniel and Abigail Warren), and the plaster in this room is failing, we went ahead and painted something more appropriate (“High Tea” with “Perfect Taupe” trim), but left the single panel of Moses’ original stencils. We decided on a buttercream yellow for the mudroom, with the “Perfect Taupe” trim. Keep in mind, “painting” in this old a home usually means stripping and cleaning layers of paint off of hinges and hardware, planing cabinet door edges to remove layers of paint that keep them from closing, priming just about everything, and changing out the often painted (maybe more than once) outlets and switches, along with the cover plates.

In the mudroom, we’re working on making a plank (that we found in the barn) with antique forged nails we’ll hang above the bench to use to hang coats.

We also ran back to the auction in Vermont and picked up this antique harvest table, shaker chairs, and Windsor bench. Note that the table top is a single, solid board (we think cherry). It’s crazy that no one wants this “old stuff”.

That’s it for now- it’s going to be a crazy week coming up! The contractor will be starting on Monday to replace the granite sill under the front door of the house, along with some other structural work, and install the new, antique, floorboards in the hearth room. Not sure where everyone will park, as most of the yard is filled with staging of heavy equipment, piles of various size rocks, boulders, gravel, and dirt, as well as the barn contractor’s team’s trucks and trailers, etc.

Stay tuned!

Fall has come and gone here in New England, but winter has yet to fully arrive, so we’ll call this “cold-Autumn”, or “Frozen-Mud-Season”. It’s been hovering within a few degrees of freezing for the past week or so, occasionally dipping a bit below at night, but nothing we can’t handle. While it dropped to 16 earlier this morning, and there’s a winter storm advisory for the next couple of days, we’ve got plenty of firewood stacked up, some food in the pantry, a deck of cards, and each other. 

There’s currently a lull in the barn work, as the foundation guys now are waiting for our timber framer to replace the sill under the front of the barn door, then they can finish up the cap stones in front, and the front of the barn can be set down on a new, secure, foundation. Then they’ll dismantle the partition wall on the lower level, and prepare to take out what’s left of the stone wall that lays across (perpendicular) the barn, holding it from sliding down the hill. Once a new poured concrete wall is set in, the barn can be fully set on its new foundation. There will still be a lot of work needed, such as siding, interior structure, floor patching/rebuilding, and such, but these are things we can be a part of, rather than just spectators. In the photo below, you can see how they will finish the foundation wall as two-sided, so the drainage system is hidden between the two walls of boulders. Once they level it off, the drainage system will be covered with a membrane, then soil, so we can plant hostas and impatiens there, or just leave it as stone. 

One of the things we’ve wrapped up recently was the rebuilding of a window sash from the upstairs bathroom. Most of the windows in the house are period, if not original, and are showing their age. We started out by just replacing a pane of glass that Jenny accidentally broke while hunting down an especially evasive housefly, but when the panes were all pulled out, we found that one of the muntin bars was missing, and the pane was just being held in by glazing putty (face-palm). Jenny, having become quite the frugal, resourceful Yankee, patched it up using an awl, toothpicks, wood glue and a chiseled-down piece of scrap wood. Good as new!

Another thing we recently wrapped up, (well, for now,) is the rebuilding of the roof on our shed. A large tree fell on the shed several years ago, tearing holes in both sides of the roof as well as the gable end. We fitted a replacement rafter where one was missing, and repaired another that was damaged, tore off four rotted-through layers of old shingles/tar paper, patched the sheathing on the west side of the roof (again, using scrap boards from our stock in the barn), then nailed on new shingles. Next spring, we’ll do the same to the east side of the roof, then we can rebuild the doors, fix the windows, add some tie beams/braces, pour in some gravel to level off the floor, then we can park the MG in there (the shed is 12′ x 24′, or the size of a one-car garage.) The shed is currently holding a couple of cords of firewood. When that becomes seasoned by the time spring rolls around, we will move it into the barn.

Jenny has rekindled her love for splitting wood, as she just hasn’t had much of an opportunity outside of the occasional cabin/vacation trip until we moved out here. One day last week, while I was doing some winterization on the house, she bucked, split, and stacked an entire cord. By hand.

We’ve also been enjoying a few sunny days out on the local trails. One nearby trail we recently checked out is at Miller State Park, just on the other side of Peterborough, and just 10-11 miles from the house. Miller State Park is the oldest park in New Hampshire, and includes the peaks of Pack Monadnock and North Monadnock of the Wapack range (visible through the trees from our kitchen window). We drove the auto road to the top of Pack Monadnock for incredible views of the Boston skyline, Mount Washington and the White Mountains, as well as nearby Mount Monadnock, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. While we did do a little hiking, we had to keep Tennessee on a leash (he doesn’t normally need one, as he stays close-by) because there was a lot of porcupine activity in the area. It was a good thing, as we nearly stepped on one that was standing within inches of the trail. Otherwise, it’s a beautiful park, and I’m sure we’ll spend more time there soon.

We’ve spent some time this week clearing downed and dead trees along the old tractor path, as we wish to build a trail around the hillside to walk the dog. We also want to build a fire pit patio on the upper area of the path, as there is already a line of boulders that can be used as a windbreak. We spent quite a bit of time clearing a couple of fallen trees in this area, some dead, diseased, or broken trees, as well as thinning some that were way too crowded to let go much longer. We’ll also trim up the canopy where needed to increase sight lines and expose the rock walls down the path. The first image below is what it looked like for the most part (actually worse, but I forgot to take a “before”), the others are what it looks like cleared and thinned. The fire pit area will be in the area shown in the bottom photo.

With winter approaching, or threatening to, we’re eagerly anticipating the delivery and installation of our 500 gallon propane tank, which will be buried to the side of our barn door/driveway. We’ve been using a small temporary tank, but after last night, we were down to 5% remaining. Since we weren’t sure exactly when they would be able to deliver more, Jenny conserved propane by cooking breakfast on the coals of the hearth! The driver did show up just after breakfast to fill us up, so at least we’ll be able to stay warm until the permanent tank is installed and filled next week.

We are making daily progress on transforming this house into something we feel honors Daniel and Abigail, and for the love that they put into it when they built it and enjoyed living in it. There are hard, muddy, tiring days, but we truly love what we’re doing, so it all seems so easy, and the time so quick. I can’t imagine spending my days any other way.

Take care, until next time. Don’t forget to leave us a comment if there is something you want to hear more about, or you have any questions.

Thanks for following along!