The Life Of A House

Once upon a time, 
That Old House was a working farmhouse.

The family who built it owned most of the land at this end of Main Street.

From June, just after the painters finished.  The day before our daughter's wedding!

Bit by bit, the land was sold off, other houses built -- hundreds of them --

and a big sprawling high school built on the hill above.

On this side of the house, our property ends quite close to the sunroom.  There is more lawn on the other side.

The previous owners further parceled up the land, taking the last

intact 3 acres and dividing them into 4 three-quarter acre lots.

That Old House, in its new white coat, hosted an After Party the night of the wedding; I got no pictures of it!

That Old House sits on one of those lots.  Gone are the barns, the greenhouses,

the wells and pump house, but we feel lucky that the house is still here.

A Greek Revival country farmhouse, recognizable.

Well cared for by generations of families.  Yes, we do feel lucky!

Yup, that window on the bump-out IS that crooked.  You should see the others.

But we mostly live inside of our houses, so come on through

the newly-painted door.  They tell me it's yellow.

I had threatened to paint the door pink, so I didn't get too many arguments on the bright yellow.

A big part of the joy of living in an old house are the

echoes of past lives that you feel, or that you wonder about.

This past June, I wondered how many other brides

had come down those front stairs in the last 179 years:

How many sisters had stood together in that parlor,

with one fussing over the other's gown?

How many other bridal parties posed for their picture in the parlor?

How many other daddies have hugged their little girl on her wedding day within these four walls . . . 

. . . and then left from the old house for a last ride together, as that little girl begins a new life?

I wish I could say that in the month-and-a-half since these pictures were taken,

that we'd ordered and had installed the reproduction shutters for the house,

and painted all the porch furniture, and planted a few shrubs in the front bed . . . 

I wish I could say those things, but we haven't done much of anything.

Maybe it will take another wedding to get us off our kiesters and into gear again!

Oh please . . . not yet!

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I meant to show our mostly D-I-Y interpretation of a

farmhouse kitchen for this post.  But the post had different ideas.

Maybe next week.

Meanwhile, I'm linking to a few Linky Parties today.

LaurieAnna's Vintage Home is sponsoring a new meme -- Farmhouse Friday.  Click here!

At My Romantic Home, it's Show And Tell Friday.  Click here!

It's Feathered Nest Friday at French Country Cottage.  Click here!

The Charm of Home features Home Sweet Home on Fridays.  Click here!

It's Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground.  Click here!

 Now one more thing ... if you are interested in those wire baskets -- or the little pumpkins -- that I blogged about yesterday, Thursday, I forgot to say that you can buy them online, have them delivered free to your local Dollar Tree, and pick them up there.  No running out of stock, and they will now break up case lots for most items.  No Dollar Tree near you?  They'll UPS it to your front porch.  No front porch?  Sorry.  Can't help you there.

Anywho -- check it out at Dollar Tree Online.

 To go right to the wire wastebaskets, click here!

I didn't get any compensation from Dollar Tree.  I mean, really . . . it's Dollar Tree, folks!  -- Cass

The Party's Over....

A mercifully short-lived winter cold has kept me indoors but curled up under an afghan for the last few days. It's a good time to be hibernating.

Every year since they were "little," my two girls have had their own Christmas tree in our family room. This year's tree had a former life as a dorm room tree, so it's a little tabletop fellow, and not quite big enough to hold all the girls' ornaments. When my girls have their own homes, they'll have a head start on a collection of quirky, funny, sentimental, homemade, vintage and other tree ornaments.

And inspired by Mary at Little Red House, I put a tree in the dining room. I planned to wire teacups on it, like Mary's tree, but A) this tree is too small and spindly for that and B) I ran out of time. So instead I poked in some beaded and glittered fruit.

Our "real tree" is down, now, lying barren at the curb, all the ornaments packed away. Now to tackle the other big tree. Tomorrow....

There is a tiny tree in my powder room, in a Santa boot, with Santa ornaments, but for some reason when I try and put up a picture of it, the picture comes out sideways and looks very odd indeed.

I am looking forward to the house getting back to as normal as it ever is, and getting ALL the corners cleaned out!