This Old House

Long shot from the alfalfa field

Actually, although people can see our house from the road, they can't see it up this close (a good thing, I know) because it's quite far from the road and there are lots of trees and a beautiful hill of alfalfa and dandelions in the way. If it looks like Ma and Pa Kettle's house, that's because it's a long wrap-around porch with table and chairs at one end, a slate blackboard for kids to draw on when they're visiting, a little sunrise window at the landing of our stairway (which still strikes me as a miracle that it survived our kids' childhood), a wicker bench, a bay window, and the other end that is screened in. I love it. And I have loved it for 28 years. But even more than the house, I love that alfalfa field.

You might also notice that I've got a new header - at least for now. I took this photo yesterday. I love this time of year, probably especially because our winters are way too long and cold, but when May rolls around, that's when springtime comes to Wisconsin. It's not March or April as some foolishly expect, but May when spring arrives here in the NW region of the state. So the new header shows you one of the things that delights me about our state, and that's the beauty of cows out on pasture after they've been cooped up all winter. And you can see that we live in rolling hills and that there are lots of trees here. This is Wisconsin, and it's a beautiful state.

I took this photo last May, but it looks just the same now.

The alfalfa (and dandelion) field

Praise God for the beauty of His Creation

and that winter only seems like it lasts forever.

***

Oxford High Street

Taken from University Church tower

For those of you not on Instagram,

this is the photo I posted this morning for

Anglophile Friday.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

***

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Vintage Treasures and a Downton Abbey Moment

 The smiling dog was thrown in for extra credit.

I hope you all had a nice weekend surrounded by some hints of spring. For all the Downton Abbey fans out there, I'd love to hear what you thought of Sunday night's episode. Feel free to share your thoughts in a comment. I think this was the next-to-last episode of the entire six season phenomenon. I'm hoping that Mr. Fellowes rounds up the cast for an anniversary show in a couple years. (More on Downton at the end of the post)

Today I thought I'd post a mosaic of some backyard photos. We have lots of vintage stuff around here, and I'm pretty sure our kids are hoping we'll get rid of it soon (except for the daughter who won't let me forget that I didn't ask her if she wanted the total piece of junk red metal shelf before pitching it.) I'm a little more careful now.

 Ye Olde Grain Bin

When I was a kid, there was a TV cartoon called 'Tom Terrific.' The old galvanized steel grain bin just beyond our [frozen] garden pond always reminds me of Tom Terrific. The lights are some I strung on the basswood tree a couple years ago. They're handy in late summer evenings if anyone wants to sit out beside the little garden pond and watch mosquitoes hatch.

 Someone was enjoying the pond.

A pair of ancient skis leans against the barn door. Mr. C. found these at a demolition site. I've mentioned before that I'm often the recipient of interesting 'finds.' Some wonderful, some not quite so much. As hard as I try, I'll never forget the ancient chartreuse, ceramic bedpan he once brought home. Really.

Do you remember when skis looked like this?

 No longer storing milk in a concrete cooling tank

In years past, on dairy farms across Wisconsin, milk houses would contain concrete water tanks in which several milk cans (like the can above) would be placed, each as it was filled with milk, and cold water was pumped into the tank to keep them cool until the milk hauler arrived to take them to the creamery. That was before the advent of the bulk tank with its electric agitator and cooling unit.

 Vintage Fuel Tank
in the West Wood

 February Sunset
glowing through the string of lights

Have a great week, everyone!

P.S. And about that Downton Abbey episode, we sure weren't at a loss for excitement. The last couple episodes have given us a shot of real drama. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on the subject.  Last week,  my favorite line was uttered by Lady Rosamund to her brother, Lord Grantham, 'The English language never lets you down.'  That was perfect! I won't set the scene, in case some have not yet watched that episode. But in context, it was a great line.

The more recent episode, Season Six, Episode 8, contained one of my favorite scenes, and a subject that I've written about before in a blog post about the importance of shared history.

From a scene with Lady Mary and Lady Edith:
 
“In the end, you’re my sister,” Edith says with a shrug. “And one day, only we will remember Sybil. Or Mama or Papa. Or Matthew or Michael. Or Granny or Carson. Or any of the others who have peopled our youth. Until at last our shared memories will mean more than our mutual dislike.”

The importance of shared history - something to think about.

Linking to Judith's Mosaic Monday
and Kathe's You're Gonna Love It Tuesday
and Tom's Tuesday Treasures
and Angie's Talk of the Town
and Evelyn's Freedom Fridays

***

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From your vintage blogger pal,

Building an Addition

Things have changed slightly at our house since August 1. Our son, daughter-in-law, and their family have moved in with us. Kevin and I are building onto our house and will be moving into the new addition. Our oldest son's family will be living in the main house.

Right now they're waiting for their house in the suburbs of Minneapolis to sell and are trying to stay out of it while the realtors have showings and (hopefully) get it sold. Yes, our son is a systems analyst and so is able to work from anywhere that has internet - which is really a wonderful thing.

 Getting Started...

Right now in his free time, my husband and sons along with the rest of his small crew are working on remodeling part of the basement for an office and laundry room, a kitchen, a spare bedroom and bathroom. Then we're putting on the addition with a living room and master bedroom - after the excavation for that has been done.

 The trees on the right are coming out to open the view. Our son has already opened up that view quite a bit more.

(Don't worry, they're weeds: Box Elder trees. They mostly grow up at a diagonal and then fall over.)

We're going with ICF block for the addition. We'll keep our southeast view, our son's family will have the south view from the deck along with the NE and SE view from the [soon-to-be-built] front porch.

  The New Parking Lot

I'm hoping the days somehow have extra hours and that they're full of cool weather and sunshine! There's so much to be done, and at the end of it we'll be moving all our stuff out of the house. At that time we'll also be downsizing considerably (except for the books) and some of our favorite items (cookstove, hutch, piano, etc.) I can't tell you how much stuff we have accumulated in 24 years and must sort through once that addition is built.

We'll even have a gas station!

And of course, as anyone who has ever been involved in construction knows, everything done is dependent upon everyone else's schedule, i.e. all the various contractors involved and all the possible delays that inevitably occur. E.g. 'Where are our rafters??' 'Oh, didn't we tell you - the rafters are backordered until March.'  or 'No, we have no record of your order.' (No, that's not an actual conversation, but it is the type of thing that can, and often does, happen during any construction project.)

BUT...

At the end of it all, we will have family nearby. And that's a wonderful thing!

Who wouldn't love this!

*** 

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Have a great weekend, everyone!

 

This post may be linked to one or more of the following: Mop it Up Monday  and Get in My Tummy and  Cure for the Common Monday and  Clever Chicks Blog Hop and  Barn Charm and  The Marketplace  and  Mix it up Monday and Make it Pretty Monday and    Making the World Cuter Mondays and Make the Scene Monday and  Something I Whipped Up Monday and  Motivate Me Monday and  Making Monday Marvelous and Get Your Craft On and Efforts and Assets and   You're Gonna Love it Tuesday and Creative Showcase and Memories by the Mile and Crafty Texas Girls and  Tweak it Tuesday and  Coastal Charm Tuesday and  Take a Look Tuesday and  Tasty Tuesday  and Love Bakes Good Cakes and Mom on TimeOut  and Adorned from Above and Wildcrafting Wednesday and   Cast Party Wednesday and  We Did it Wednesday  and All Things With Purpose and Home & Garden Thursday and It's a Party at Creative Princess and Artsy Corner Thursday  and The Girl Creative, Thursday and  Creative Things Thursday and Be Inspired and Time Travel Thursday and Thrifty Things Friday  and  Friday Fences and  Thursday's Inspiration and  The Self-sufficient Home Acre and  I'm Lovin' it Thursday and Creative Things Thursday and   Mandatory Mooch   and Foodie Friends Friday and Freedom Fridays and From the Farm and   Anything Blue Friday and Junkin' Joe and  Serenity Saturday and Get Schooled Saturday  and Inspiration Friday(ThursNite) and Vintage Inspiration Friday and Photo Friday and Share Your Creativity and   A Favorite Thing Saturday and Sunny Simple Sunday and Sunlit Sunday and  Market Yourself Monday and  Saturday Nite Special

View From Our House

It's cold. I just checked the outdoor thermometer and expected it to read about -20 degrees, but it was 10 degrees above zero. We've got plenty of very cold weather ahead of us. It was still pretty dark when I got up this morning at 6:30, and this time of year, as the hours of daylight are still dwindling, I have only a few hours of the day when I actually feel productive. By 4:30 PM, as it's starting to get dark again, I feel like hibernating.

My dear husband, the eternal optimist, likes to remind me, 'In just a few weeks the days will be getting longer!' So annoying. I mean, it's true that the days will be getting longer, but those longer days will be cold and snow covered until the end of March!

I never tire of looking at this old barn across the street from our house. I hate to think of the day when it finally collapses and then someone brings in a bulldozer to bury it. The next generation won't know that it ever existed. That's happening so often with the old barns of Wisconsin which used to house small dairy herds that supported a family.

Once the cattle are no longer in the barn to keep it warm, the structure falls victim to the freezing and thawing of our winters and springs. (In Wisconsin, our temperatures will reach -40 degrees F. in the winter and the frosts go down 5+ feet, and sometimes farther, which is why our pipes have to be buried so deep.)

The spruce are so beautiful with the new snow on their branches. They are also just across the street, next to the barn.

A couple of those huge, round bales, looking like frosted Shredded Wheat. On a summer evening, when the bales are scattered across the field, you can squint your eyes and imagine that they're a herd of buffalo. Okay, maybe you can't, but I can...and do.

Our own barn, which hasn't had cows in it for about 25 years, when the former owners had a dairy herd. The barn's not going to be able to stand much longer unless we get it repaired and bring in a nice warm herd of cattle. I remember, as a kid, enjoying being in my uncle's barn because his cows were kept in the barn all winter. We'd throw down hay, help lime the walks, play in the feed alleys, and make a general nuisance of ourselves. There was something about the smell of the cows, the milk, the lime, the hay, the grain, the kittens wandering around, the dog...

The cardinal at our birdfeeder. When I looked out the window, there were a couple downies, juncos, nuthatches, chickadees, cardinals, and bluejays. And even though I sneaked outdoors as quietly and inconspicuously as possible, they all vanished. Surprisingly, after a few minutes the cardinal, usually one of the shy ones, returned. At least I got that shot. Just wish I could have shown you a video of all those birds flying back and forth to the feeder, grabbing seeds and flying off. It was beautiful!

My nearly 10 year old GSD pal, Bridger, loves lying at the edge of the deck (our house is on a hill) and looking out over his domain, part of which he thinks is the neighbor's barn, pictured above. This is where Bridger watches cars go past, keeps an eye out for squirrels and rabbits, and hears the evening coyotes squeal. That's when I make him come indoors. I don't want him getting into it with coyotes.

 What Bridger's Looking At

So that's the view from here. It's cold out there, which is why I'm thankful for a warm house, a fire, two great dogs, two sweet cats, a wonderful husband, and a fire in the stove (not necessarily in that order.) :-)

Getting Ready for Winter

Here is pictured that good, hard-working man who loves me and takes care of me. He sees that I have wood to keep me warm in the winter and an occasional chocolate bar to cheer me.

What a beautiful sight! Wood that is dry, ready, and waiting to keep our house toasty warm, even when it's very cold outdoors.

Green beans waiting in the storage room - a nice side dish for chicken or beef.

Tomatoes for my soups and stews

A selection of books to read in front of the fire

The tried and true DVDs that are my favorites

Maps to help me plan and dream

A reminder that I actually did start knitting last winter. I need to branch out a little, moving from hats to an easy baby sweater, perhaps.  They tell me there is such a thing. We'll see.

The Ritter Sport dark chocolate with hazelnut bar which I'd better limit this winter. I need to keep reminding myself what the word 'occasional' means.

Imperial Upright Piano

This is a photo of our Imperial Upright piano made by the McPhail Company for the 1893 Columbia Exposition in Chicago. Its exterior birdseye maple is beautiful, but it hides a serious inner problem. The piano does not sound healthy.

We had the piano technician come out the other day to look at the piano to give us a diagnosis and an estimate of what it would cost to restore it. I mean, we don't need the exterior restored,  'only' the pin block, the sound board, etc.

Some years back a different piano technician told us that we needed to lay the piano on its back and pour wood glue into the holes into which the pegs go. That seemed a little fishy to me at the time, for I figured that if we did that, the first time the piano went out of tune it would be all over! When I told the current piano technician that story, he just rolled his eyes and said he was glad we had had sense enough not to do that.

He also shook his head at the story of our 7' grand piano which has been sitting in Duluth, MN for fifteen years, waiting for a different piano technician to get around to working on it. Needless to say, we've simply given up on that one. Today it would cost between $15,000 and $17,000 to have it restored.

Restoring our Imperial Upright, on the other hand, would cost a mere $5,000. Even if I had an extra five thousand, I doubt that we would spend it on a piano.  There are windows that need to be replaced and a porch that needs building in order to divert water from the basement. And right now, I just want a good studio piano with good sound.

What we have is a beautiful piano that's useless. I can think of several spiritual analogies here, but...

...I think I'll go on Craig's List.

In the Neighborhood

 

Neighbor Bill's Barn on an August evening. 

This barn is directly across from the end of our driveway. I remember when we moved here 20 years ago. Someone commented that it was such an eyesore. I'm so glad no one tore it down. I've always thought it was beautiful, especially in the evening light.

The huge round bales across the road from our house,
next to Neighbor Bill's barn.

The neighbor girls

A bird house at the edge of the corn field

 Angela, visiting the neighbor kids

More of those cute kids
'The grass is always greener...'

While we were visiting the goats, the Amish man who owns them came walking along the road to the goat pen, thinking that perhaps we had stopped because one of his goats was stuck in the fence. It wasn't. During the course of the conversation, he said we could get baby goats from him. Oh, how I would love to raise goats! I think.  

Wouldn't Bridger love to herd them!  Just kidding.

 We have a pen that would work great for little goats!

While we were visiting with the Amish man, his two little girls came along the road, pushing an old non-powered reel lawn mower, and stood, watching us. What a perfect opportunity to practice self-restraint and not take that perfect shot of those cute little girls in their dark dresses, aprons, and bonnets. So you see, despite someone-who-will-remain-nameless' assertions to the contrary, my EQ is improving. :-)

 Yes, it's just an old post at the edge of the field.

Look at all the barbed wire wrapped around that poor thing!

Wildflowers in the ditches

Last, but not least, a little roadkill
Why? Because it was there, and I had my camera with me.
I think this squirrel is a cousin to those that sit on my bird feeder and make faces at me through the window!

As September and October roll around, I'll be posting more neighborhood pics. There's nothing like the beauty of the NW Wisconsin countryside in the fall. I love visiting the Big City from time to time, but the countryside - rolling hills, barns, cattle, pastures, fields, trees, creeks -  seems to be etched into my soul. There is a calm that comes over me when we leave the hurry and traffic of the city, pass the smaller towns, and eventually turn onto our road.

I suppose it is possible that someday I might live in a city, but I would then be a country person living in the city. I really can't explain that phenomenon, but Willa Cather captures that feeling well in the pages of My Antonia and O Pioneers!

Hope you all have a great Thursday!