Every day, it rains. A few weeks ago I couldn’t even remember the sound of rain. Now I can’t remember our land’s former aridity. Due to the rain our grass has sprouted and is a six-acre sea of blue-green through which Reginald swims.

When I took these pictures I still considered him half-wild and was a little afraid to pet him. Hard to believe two weeks later he’s curled up on the couch with me. It didn’t take this cat long to get domesticated. We are still trying to make him live outside.

Labels: home notes, pets

My heart is burning as I imagine being home. I don’t know its nooks and crannies, I really don’t know its noises in the middle of the night – but I will.

There’s an old bird’s nest I salvaged from the hedge I desperately want to cut down. I have been keeping it in the shed for a month now waiting for picture time. It’s made with scraps of plastic, styrofoam and string – an amazing feat. We hate ourselves for the trash we make – but I think that bird really appreciated its sturdy nest. I was awed.

There’s a little cat who lives in the pasture and barn like a wild thing – wild but needy. We have named him Reginald. He’s small but huge – huge paws, huge head – white with gray and black mottling in places. We had glimpsed him but only at a distance. Like a little rabbit when our presence was revealed to him he fled. However our first night he came into the backyard and sat, crying to us through the kitchen window. When we went out to him he fled, but we left him food and water. Later when I went out again and looked around, he was simply lying in the pasture. He appeared terrified but purred and dragged his head along the ground as though longing to be petted. I’d never seen an animal like it. I reached out to him, and he rubbed along my arm, leaping away at my every flinch of movement, but returning quickly. I coaxed him over to the barn where we had laid food and he began eating voraciously, all the while starting at my every sound or movement. The next morning he was lying out in the middle of the pasture when I went to my car. It was almost unnatural the way he lay, so white along the grass.

His combination of wildness and desperation for affection seems straight out of a novel from one of the Bronte sisters – perhaps we should name him Bronte.

Labels: home notes

I was amazed by these switch plates. They are everything I want in a switch plate. I want them in the music room and parlor. Their golden tones will offset the warmth of the floor and contrast with the wall color I have chosen "Spanish Bluebell."

Other rooms will have subtle switch plates, but I actually want to replace everything, including the telephone jacks, which we won't use, because the plastic is so old they have yellowed and become dingy.

This weekend I weeded one front bed but didn't dig up the bulbs. I think they are amaryllis because I saw amaryllis blooms earlier this year. They need to be thinned out and replanted elsewhere because they have migrated randomly and are really on top of each other. For the front of the house I best like a color scheme of blue and yellow. The side yard will be white flowers, and an accent of red won't hurt. I also see them looking well near the gates. I still don't know where to plant a rose garden. There's no obvious good place. The front yard is very shady.

I cleaned one of the tables. I'm thinking they may stay in the shed for a while. I have become so familiar with spiders and beetles today. The spiders aren't the same as in east Texas, not at all. The ones south are rangy and move quickly, are often tarantulas. The spiders here have large, decorated abdomens and those bent-needle like legs. They look like black widows, but are brown with white markings. They make me uncomfortable, I need to look them up. It's amazing how it comes back to you.

I find I am not that excited about chickens right now. Maybe I find the stables too intimidating. I more desire a dove cote. Not very useful, I know. I also wish for ducks, but I'm afraid we don't have enough water. I also don't know if something would eat them.

I painted one pole over completely. I didn't strip the old paint that well, and I've applied two new layers. For the next pole I stripped it twice, and next I will repaint it, compare it to the first. If my extra stripping made a big difference I'll strip the other poles likewise, including the one I already painted, which will probably peel quite easily since it is so fresh. Actually painting is pretty tiring! The muscles in my hand hurt for clenching the brush. I'm sure I'll toughen up. If two strippings don't improve the texture of the second pole I'll resort to three. Need more Simple Green and white paint. I turned my rubber gloves inside out because they've gotten so moist. They have red mold growing all over the palms apparently. Maybe I should just throw them away.

Already I feel life changing so much. I am not writing anything right now. I feel this is not the time for that. This is a time of great change for us, a time to live and experience things.

Labels: home notes, treo photos

Saturday afternoon we drove out to the house to see how renovations are coming. The kitchen looked like this!

I was so surprised to see all the flooring ripped up. It was formerly linoleum, apparently over a different linoleum, over plywood, over hardwood which had rotted in places, over these pine beams, and beneath these pine beams are air and dirt.

 

Later in the afternoon I met our floor person for the first time and he mixed a couple different stains for us. We are going with a medium tone to hide scarring and staining in the original flooring. Above is the sanded floor. It’s hard to believe the floorboards are sixty years old. Once they are sanded, they look like new, although when the floor person stained an old board and new one side by side it was easy to see the difference between them. Older boards take on a lot more stain than newer ones.

Here’s our new carpet upstairs. Our style is “Harvest,” our color “Pebble.” I feel most comfortable in these upper rooms. I love the bright light that comes in and love being amid the trees and looking over the courtyard, or what will be a courtyard when I plant it.

Labels: home notes

After finishing up at the house we went over and toured the local nursery, which grows plants particularly suited to the North Texas climate. I found a lot of inspiration there.

I want to have a multitude of pepper plants for our vegetable plot. The side of the house near the kitchen is shady. I visualize that as a good place for a gothic/medieval garden, with blackberry vines, various herbs and spices and the more delicate, night-blooming plants. Everything I liked had either white or purple blooms.

This is a Bella Lugosi hibiscus, which is definitely on my want list.

There was also a butterball hibiscus which was appealing, as well as the candy lilies below. I would love to have a more Candyland-type garden to the side of the sewing room where I can derive inspiration for my clothes and doll styles. I am trying to keep my cotton candy-colored hydrangeas alive long enough to make it to the new place.

 

I would like to put the vegetable plot a little further away from the house. There is a space between the two barns that seems ideal with a moderate amount of sunlight. The courtyard area is sunny, but it has a nice lawn, and with a little landscaping it would be so pleasant that it would be better suited to entertaining than growing vegetables.

Labels: home notes

I thought this picture the inspector took for the front of our report was rather funny. It is my understanding now that a home inspection is meant to highlight every possible flaw about a home. I could not help but think that this picture is funny with respect to that. Our inspector did uncover a few sources of discomfort, possibly horror for us, that led to some stressful bartering. In the end, it was out of the hands of buyer and seller and then suddenly, placed right into our hands.

At any case, our home looks nothing like this picture.

Labels: home notes, treo photos

Here's the little table in one of the barns that the former owner made. As you can see, everything is very dusty. This place has been uninhabited for some time.

Labels: home notes, treo photos

It is about to rain. The sky is dark, the birds are flying low, and the air is heavy. I have ten more minutes before I have to return. I find I cannot sit in the building any more on my breaks. I have had such a deep need lately to have a boundary between myself and the building. What if we could all experience the sunshine of the spotless mind every day? Somehow life gets so complicated.

I put my dressform in the small room I adore as my sewing room. It is just what I wanted. It is a sewing room.

I am reading A Sicilian Romance by Ann Radcliffe. It is so good! I have actually not read her in my adult life. It's like I'm discovering her for the first time. The Mysteries of Udolpho was too immense for me in high school. Her discernment and discussion of human behavior is rapier-sharp. I have noticed how the Age of Reason authors focus on the nuances of behaviors and personalities that truly resonate down the centuries. I will come up with some quotes when I am on my PC. We can all say, "I have known someone like that."

Labels: home notes, treo photos

Here are the keys to our new home as of right now.

Labels: home notes, treo photos

 

In an effort to reduce waste I have decided not to buy any more paper towels or napkins. I have a good-sized collection of vintage napkins which I brood over and iron regularly. I realized pretty quickly this weekend, however, that I’m going to have to make more napkins soon in order to make this work.

That I do not mind at all, because that is within my skill-set, and there are some vintage-style calicos at Wal-mart now for very cheap. I can’t wait to make my shopping trip after work tomorrow.

I have one cloth shopping bag and wish to make some of those myself as well.

Labels: home notes, sewing

My notes on our new home.

This room leads from one of the front doors. This was actually my least favorite room in the house. I do not like the stone floor, pillar, or fireplace (not shown). I would actually like to cover the floor in low-pile bone-colored carpeting and cover the fireplace with pale wood paneling. I want the column covered in matching paneling or carpet. I would like this room to be an entertainment room. The dining table would be ideal near the window, and closer to the camera perspective would be seating and television.

In the fireplace is a vintage wood-burning stove. I am looking forward to seeing how well it works, because I would like to keep it, if we both like it.

Nathan and I sat in these wicker chairs while we signed our contract.

Donna is opening the doors to the laundry hook-ups. The back door leads to the yard and clothesline, which I intend to try.

This is a view of the side yard. Our property extends to the white fence in back. Beneath the trees is a creek. The creek is also a property line.

This is the back yard. The white siding needs to be power-washed all over and repaired in a few places. You can see the small well next to the back door. It is supposedly still operational, and we could use it to water our gardens. The clothesline is just behind the camera's perspective. The windows are good, new storm windows. The screen doors are vintage.

Here's one of the barns.

It's full of rusted junk. We negotiated with the seller that all junk will be removed before we move in. The house and yard are full of junk right now.

Back of the house.

The tank, fed with run-off from the neighbor's stables. If we want to clean up the water we will have to re-shape the tank and control its drainage better. I have other ideas for beautifying it however. I want to make a water lily garden here, with a wrought-iron bench in the shadows.

View of the property from the rear boundary, just in front of the tank.

This is the old stable. Fascinating junk here, but we have no means to move what we don't want, so I am glad we will be moving into a junk-free home. I can't wait to get a rake and hoe and start mucking it out. I plan to keep the chickens here. We are going to try not to have very many animals at first.

Back view of the house from the stables.

Ceiling extends two stories at the staircase. Normally I love vintage carpet, but like the stone, this just doesn't feel right to me. This is not a "brown" house. This is a white house, a green house, a blue house, a fresh, clothesline-crisp house.

This is where all the magic will happen. :o) This is the kitchen, overlooking the property and stables. Counters and cabinets all around. Gas stove. We will put in a dishwasher. The floor is linoleum. Once again, brown. Not quite right. But that is not a priority now.

I think we both like this room a lot. At least, we have talked about it the most. This adjoins another room just like it. One will be our music room. The other one, opening to the front porch, which I hope to make the "front" room, will be a parlor where we can relax. I am going to try to make it a traditional parlor, very lo-fi. The television and stereo equipment will go in the entertainment room, and the record player will go here. We will refinish the wood floors before we move in.

Front porch. The wood rack will be gone. I hope to find some vintage lawn furniture for the porch.

A dog house and yard to the side of the porch. We don't intend to get a dog, so for now it will be a guest dog house.

I would like to have little potted trees on the porch, and there will be gardens all around the house.

This is the view from the front of the house. The best enclosure is here. If we have a large animal, I would like to put it out here. It is surrounded by heavy steel fencing.

This is Tabernacle. He's the neighbor's dog. He is very friendly and stayed by our sides the whole time on both visits. The second time, he was even more happy to see us. It made me feel like he wanted us to buy the place.

This is the chimney.

A view from the upper windows. The front bedroom looks over the road. One of these rooms will be a computer music room, and the other will be our room.

Labels: home notes