Starting Point-- Summer 2014

We are in the final phase of the renovation of the guest house, and I am finally making myself sit down and write a post.  Most days we have worked from sun-up to sundown alongside the contractors (well, at least I have -- Stan still has to do his bread-and-butter work.)

Here's where we started:

 It's a cute little house right across the driveway from the main house.  It was built as a one room cabin, then a lean-to addition in the early 1930's (we think) added a bedroom and bathroom. The little part on the left in the picture above was originally a tool shed. 

 Stan's brothers each spent some time living here after college.  Then in 1984 Stan's grandmother came to live with them, and the house was renovated for her.  The tool shed was made into a kitchenette, and Stan's mother had fun decorating the cottage with pink sprigged wallpaper.  Behind the wallpaper the walls were plywood and filled with cellulose insulation.  Not exactly built for sturdiness, eh?  But the low ceiling (about 5'8" at the back wall (see window) added to the cottage-y charm, although you couldn't stand upright at the window! More like a cottage for the seven dwarfs!

After Nana's death, the house sat empty, although Stan's dad used it as a home office some days.  Then in 1999, while Stan's parents were in Australia, a thunderstorm felled a tree that pulled on the wires of the main house, causing arcing, and the house was severely damaged by fire.  Soon after that, Dad was diagnosed with cancer, so they moved into the guest house to bide their time and figure out what to do.  They ended up spending three years here as the main house was rebuilt.  By the time I came along, they had moved back across the driveway, and the cottage sat empty.  No one really noticed when the roof began to leak.  And the mice moved in and set up a mouse kingdom.

Now Stan's dad is gone, and a couple of health scares last year made us realize the day might not be that far off when Mom will need to have us live here or she will need to be here where she won't have steps to climb.  So this summer the renovations began! 

The plan:
---Remove the damaged rear roof and raise it 2 feet.
--- At the front, remove the slates from the shed dormer kitchen roof to allow for the additional height, then put back in place.  The rear roof to be asphalt shingles.  No one will ever be able to see both sides at the same time and realize the difference. 
-- Renovate the bathroom, getting rid of the acrylic shower stall, but keeping the original toilet and sink.

In July, construction began -- or rather, demolition!  More on that next!

Snow Tableaux

After the exuberance of Christmas decorations, I hate to go to ... plain, everyday... nothing.  So last year I decided to change the dining table every month.  This is my "winter wonderland snow tableau"  I had for January this year. 

I use the couple of place settings of Vietri pottery that Stan and I received when we got married.  The pale blue, white, silver, and crystal give a clean, fresh feeling to the dining room.  The effect is quite sparkly when we eat by candlelight, as we often do when it gets dark so early this time of year. 

It also works at breakfast!    (The photo stylist was late that morning so the silverware is askew, the juice has been drunk, and Stan has grabbed the wrong china for his cereal bowl!)

You might not think food would look so appetizing on pale blue, but we live on soups and salads (and the morniing bowl of cereal) in January.  The deep pink of borscht is particularly lovely.

The tableau is particularly appropriate this year as we have snow scenes inside and out!

Stay warm!
Catherine

2009: The year in pictures

Stan and I have been married almost six years now, and I don't think we have ever sent a "Christmas letter," mostly because we have no children to show how they've grown nor an uber interesting lifestyle to chronicle.  But we finally got a little computer savvy and decided to use this blog to update our friends on some of the (yawn) exciting things that have kept us busy this year.  

First of all, the Barn.  The ole 1830's barn was in pretty sad shape. 

Last winter we cleared away the dregs of the carriage house, which housed chickens when Stan was a boy. 

Then in the spring Stan interviewed about 400 barn restoration contractors.  They all agreed that the huge hand-hewn white oak beams were still sound and worth saving.  He selected a company out of upstate New York. 

We spent the summer at the farm, as the workers numbered all the beams and carefully dismantled the barn.  

Going....

going.....

gone!

Some of the handmade pegs and hand hewn beams

This fall Stan split his time between the city and the country as the barn was being rebuilt.  First the stone foundation was rebuilt, then the refurbished timbers were placed.

The bank barn will be restored to its former state:  stalls below, garage and workshop on the main level, and hayloft above.  By January, the barn will have a new slate roof.  

While we were at the farm, we also worked on restoring some of the garden beds.  By far the most prolific plant is my nemesis-- poison ivy.  I escaped with only two cases requiring massive doses of steroids.  Here is a lush crop:

Stan also increased the size of his toys with the purchase of a Kubota tractor.

What boy doesn't dream of his own backhoe and front-end loader??

While Stan was enjoying acting like Oliver on Green Acres (actually, the name of the Woodcock farm is Old Acres), I had fun playing florist for two family weddings.

Carol Woodcock married Joe Roman in June

Heidi Woodcock married Steve Mavrakes in September

Maid of Honor bouquet

I also enjoyed a wonderful week (thanks to the generosity of sister Fran) at Bald Head Island, NC with my three sisters, my namesake niece, and her three children.  We had a delightful week watching the children experience the beach, the surf, and the sea turtles.

Catherine with Sarah (8 months), Jack (2) and Hannah (3 1/2)

Hannah dancing on the beach in the batiste dress I made for Catherine over 20 years ago

At a turtle nest excavation, a turtle was found mid-hatch

Mind your step!

Hannah gets up close and personal

The last of the summer's nests is washed away

Stan was able to do his "real" job while we were at the farm -- all he needs is the internet and he can work anywhere.  But in the fall it was back to work for me as I returned to Ambleside School for the fifth year.  

Ambleside School's Shakespeare Festival

The Kindergarten class performs Sonnet 143

One child in my class last year became very special to me as I got to know his family.  They began to attend Truro, and this summer, his mom asked if Stan and I would consider being Keaton's godparents.  We are very honored and awed to be spiritual guides of a boy who has such a great heart for God.  He was baptized December 6, and we became proud godparents.  

  Now we are digging out of 23 inches of snow

and enjoying celebrating our Savior's birth!

May you have a most joyful Christmas celebration!