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Fencing
We're getting closer to letting the horses
into their new field. The old fencing fell apart from rust
when touched, so it had to be about 50+ years old. Trees grew
wild along the fence line. The old wire and posts had to be
removed and the trees trimmed or removed. We threw the posts
and tree trimmings on the wagon and took them to the burn
pile. And we now have a mountain of rusted wire to deal
with. |
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Maiden Voyage
How very exciting for everyone -
especially Casanova and Muchacha! They love their new field,
even though there is still more work to do. The gates were
temporarily installed and the top wire hadn't yet been
installed and electrified when this photo was taken.
Those items were finished a little later. |
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Starting Point
This is what we had to start with on the
south side of the field. Many years ago, it was a farm lane to
the back 100 acres. We had lots of stuff to remove and haul
away. It was slow going and the barbed wire was ugly to deal
with. Tetnus shots were a must! |
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Poison Ivy Tree
Yes, you saw it here first!! The poison
ivy vines were so old that they turned into trees. I've
never seen anything like it before. Since Kenny only gets
poison ivy "a little bit" and I just have to look at it to get
a severe rash, he did the honors of cutting it down and
hauling it away. I still got poison ivy anyway. |
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Let it Burn, Let It Burn, Let It
Burn...
The "burn pile" was taking over a huge area and had to be
dealt with. It included fallen trees, tree trimmings, wood
trash hauled out of the barn, wood trash hauled from all over
the property, old fence posts and whatever would burn. It was
piling up for 2 years since we weren't able to burn last year
because it rained constantly. Here, Kenny is getting the
flames started. We burned about 1/3 of the pile that day,
December 20, 2003. Later in December, we managed to burn 95%
of the pile. |
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Bathroom Tub
Here's the frame of a tub platform in the upstairs
bathroom. It's located in the original part of the
house. We were concerned that the 1700s floor
joists and floor boards wouldn't be able to support a
full tub and bather with just four points of contact (the
legs). The platform spans two joists and supports are located
under the legs of the tub. The tub is the original
clawfoot model that was installed when indoor plumbing was
installed in the house in the 1920s. The tub is located
directly across the room from the fireplace. |
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Before
Installation |
After
Installation |
First
Meal, hard boiled eggs! |
"Gourmet" Stove
It just doesn't get any more exciting than this!
Over the Christmas Holiday, the stove was installed. It's a dual
fuel, downdraft Jenn-Air stove, so it couldn't have been more
difficult to install. The burners are gas, the oven is electric and
the venting system is installed below the stove through the north
outside wall. Our first "meal" consisted of boiling water, then
hard-boiling 6 eggs. They were delicious! The white patches on the
oven door are the remains of warning stickers placed there by the
manufacturer.
Office |
Office |
Parlor |
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Guest Room |
Guest Room |
Floor Sanding
Over the holidays, Mary did an excellent
job of sanding the floors in the office, exercise room, guest
room, master bedroom, parlor and first floor entry. It took
eight days of constant sanding to finish all those rooms with
a large, drum sander. All the floors are pine, but
are as hard as granite. By the end of "vacation", the office
was completely sanded with one coat of clear polyurethane on
it. The exercise and guest rooms were completely sanded. The
parlor, master bedroom, and entry were sanded with the large
drum sander down to 100 grit paper, but the edges of the rooms
still needed sanding with a hand
sander. |
One more tug... |
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Garage
The garage was ready to come down over the
holidays. We needed some more pine siding from it to
cover the bathroom tub platform. Some of the pine siding on
the garage is 16" wide and in good shape. We attached a chain
to the hitch on the truck and started tugging. Most of the
framing was rotted, so the chain kept pulling through the
framing and left the building standing. After a few more
strategic pulls, it fell flat. Once on the ground, we salvaged
the siding. We found one suprise - the garage was built by
Charles R. Hardesty, NOT Addison Withers. Mr. Hardesty's name
was written on the inside of the metal roofing as the
delivery recipient. So the garage was an early 1880s or
1890s structure. |
Framing and
Durrock installation  |
Pouring
1st layer mud pan |
Installing pan |
Testing pan for leaks overnight |
Shower ready for tiling  |
Master Bathroom Shower
Construction
The bathroom for the master bedroom is located
where the only original bathroom in the house was. The original
doorway was blocked off from the hall and relocated to the wall
adjoining the bedroom. The bathroom originally contained a large
radiator, sink, toilet, and claw foot tub. All the original fixtures
were removed. The original toilet was reinstalled in a new location
and the claw foot tub was moved to the main bathroom. A large,
custom shower is located were the claw foot tub sat. The side wall
of the shower is exposed stone from the original 1790s house. It is
framed out and lights accent the stone. A large sheet of plexiglass
will cover the stone and make the shower leak tight. The photos
above document building the shower. Kenny and Babs framed it in and
mounted the cement backerboard on the upper walls and ceiling. Babs
poured the pan and finished the walls. It's now ready for Mary to
tile. |
