March 2004

When we first moved into this old farmhouse, I fully intended on sending out a monthly email detailing this major change in our lives to all our family and friends - I did really well at it for four months...........this is the first of those emails ~ anything in italic has been added by me today!

These are photos taken in December of 2003 - our second walk-through of the house with our then 7 year old Hunter - (a camera hog you might say) - the house was full of lovely antiques and the smell of pot-pouri and scented candles...the wind whipped furiously outside the windows....it already felt like home.

March 10 2004

Hello everyone. We have now been in the new home a month (we moved in on the sixth of February) are loving every minute of being in the country. This is truly a dream come true for David and me, something that we wanted to do since we first married. Both of us were raised in the country, David on the river and me with horses and pigs and chickens and although we're not on the river, and we don't have livestock yet, we have taken steps in the right direction.

The house is about 97 years old (apparently built in 1909 when the Master Gardner who purchased the land finally brought his small family over from England) and has been partially restored. As I hear is usual, after moving in one realizes just what "partially" means. The worst of it has been the caulking around windows (that are new but just never caulked in properly) to stop the drafts of this cold rainy winter and re-mudding around receptacle covers where the sheet rock was cut too large. The drafts were unbelievable and hidden by the previous owners long draperies. Now that the mudding and caulking is underway and spring is showing its face we are far more comfortable.

The best of it has been reclaiming the grounds. The trees and shrubs were allowed to become overgrown and I have been in my element trimming and pruning. I have found treasures in almost every overgrown garden, from old bottles and pieces of the old crawlspace coverings to the bricks from the original fireplace and the original pathway on what used to be the front of the home.

Being a history buff, this is a joy to me, not yet labor. The wind blowing the rocking chair on the front porch has seemed to me to be the old lady, whose parents built the home and who lived here all her life, I imagine her spending a pleasant evening rocking on the old front porch seeing us bring the landscaping back to life. (It was her nephew who partially restored the home and then sold it to us.)

Hunter is loving the old home and has said several things worth remembering...He commented first on how the back door in this house is the front door and has said that he wants to live here forever and ever. He and his dogs (a yellow and a black lab) roam the property discovering the joys of privacy that country life brings. He hasn't seemed to mind the fact that there are no neighbors with children for him to play with. The crop duster flying up to and over the house was a thrill for both of us....we were running from window to window and floor to floor to watch the daring flight over the fields, under the telephone and electric wires and diving down to spray the fields after flying directly over the barn and our house. It is an experience that cannot be described adequately.



The old farmer across the road owns all the crop land surrounding our beautiful little home. He leases the fields to the farmers who grow potatoes for Lays so next time you open a bag of them you may be eating chips grown in our back yard! Mr. S. has a personal garden and has brought us fresh vegetables almost every day; cabbage and beets and carrots and broccoli. He is now planting his spring garden and will soon be bringing over tomatoes and onion and peppers and squash...I think I have found a little heaven on earth.

Nikki is still making the commute to O.P. for college but is now working in S. A. Dallas is living with his Aunt Karen during the week until he graduates high school this spring and then will be home for the summer before leaving for college in the fall. He has the worst of it since he is away from us for five nights each week, but he loves coming home on Friday night and can't wait for spring break. We miss him but are enjoying the time he is home all the more for it. He has even applied to a local college so he can stay home next year. Since his heart was set on going way, this is a definite change of plans for him.

Perhaps the greatest plus of all is being closer to family. Mom and Amy are only a fifteen minute drive from us as opposed to the previous hour. Dad and Jan are an hour and fifteen minutes, a difference of 45 minutes and Kirk is now less than two hours, down from the three it used to take.

I have been asked to go to work for the Real Estate office that handled the sale and purchase of our homes. I drove them crazy with the details of closing both deals, sometimes setting straight what needed to be done and who needed to pay for it etc., instead of driving them totally insane, they actually decided the needed my obsession with details in their office. I have begged for time to become settled in the new home and have arranged to begin part time in a month. Pray for us as this will be the first time I have actually worked outside our home in 12 years, it will be a big adjustment for me and for the family.

For those of you wondering when I'll get back to the genealogy, it is calling to me now. I actually have my own little office in what used to be the front porch years ago. One wall is completely windowed making it a wonderful place to work. I have it just about organized and will soon be able to spend time researching again. It has been almost four months since I have been able to devote any real time to my obsession....but the photographs are hung and the printer and scanner are hooked up and I am able to get online, so it won't be long now.

Here's hoping that all is well with all of you.....Lori -the country dweller!