Be It Ever So Humble............

There's No Place Like Home!

Our house is an 1829 post and beam Cape. Somewhat shabby (okay, very shabby!), it still has some redeeming features in its old age. The side porch has a lovely view of the land across the road. Not another house in sight.

It will be getting a facelift on the outside in the spring; indoors, we are working on painting, wallpapering, and several repairs that are to be expected in such an elderly structure. To quote the real estate ad, this has the "possibility of becoming a charming and cozy home." Amen!

The barn as viewed from the back. A window up top was removed by the previous owners who did not appreciate the brood of bats nesting in the rafters. Apparently bats do not approve of drafty homes and vacated the premises. Now we need to close it back up before spring or they will return. I'd actually like to construct some bat boxes as the bats are adept at keeping the mosquito population to a minimum and with the incidences of disease in these parts, such as EEE and West Nile virus, we could use their help. What looked like a pen to me at first in the foreground was actually used as a compost bin.

Our fickle New England weather has not failed to disappoint us and winter has returned both to enchant and dismay with a muffled blanket of white laid o'er all the earth. This was the scene as I peered from my kitchen window early this morning. This little fellow has made himself quite comfortable and does not look any worse for the mantle of snow that covers his home. Likewise I am warm and snug indoors; as I prepare a roast for the oven, Dwayne and company are at play out of doors creating castles and snowmen to guard them in the nether regions of the back yard, and I am more than content to be in this dwelling place.

Saturday's temperatures climbed into the 50's, and we took advantage of the more amiable weather to clear several square yards of brush out from behind the barn. Son #2 and I spent our afternoon with a machete and lopping shears slashing and chopping and hacking and ripping out at least 2 tons of bramble bushes. Now don't laugh, those were the only tools we had. We accomplished 99% of the task before darkness fell. Having no floodlight on the barn, we called it a day, and crawled back into the house to lick our wounds and have our supper. Thankfully I had left a chicken to stew with some potatoes and carrots in the crockpot that morning and we were well provided for. To labor is a joy in itself. The aches in my muscles were the triumphant fruit of a productive day and I welcomed them. I'll tell you, I did sleep well that night!