Posts

Exploring the back 40

-
Image
 It’s been a crazy week!  Chad took the  week off from work so that we could get a lot of moving things done while the weather is still nice. It’s cooler today, but it has been into the 70s the last few.  Since we are so busy, we are taking one day totally off from working to rest and enjoy our new house. Last weekend, while Chad was napping, I decided to check out our back 40 acres. (He knew where I was going and I had my phone with me) It’s not exactly 40 acres, but we have almost 80 acres total that is split roughly down the middle by the road, so that’s what we’re calling it. It’s the hill behind our house.  The sellers of the house had the land surveyed, and I was curious to see where the markers are before they blow away or some chipmunk steals them. There are permanent pins at the corners of our property, but the flagging tape is a lot easier to see than a small metal pin.  It was a little challenging getting across the brook, which was surprising because it’s not very wide. The
1 comment
Read more

First tastes of country living

-
Image
 Hello all!  We still haven’t set up my computer, mostly because my desk is still at the old house.  I find I am able to do most things ok on my phone, though it’s hard to write a good post on this blog. So I will just do another photo dump today.  We have gotten the woodstove up and running. It took some time to break it in, because it’s soapstone and it hasn’t been used in a long time. It’s so efficient that two pieces of wood makes it cozy and four pieces makes it feel like I just walked into an oven. We are planning on running the stove frequently because the main furnace burns oil, and we have done some rough math to decide that it costs about $10 a day to use it.  The kitties are continuing to improve. Velvet is very comfortable and maybe 98% back to normal. Dorian is getting better, but he will only come out at dusk and dawn, and then goes back to bed during the day. However, he’s getting more brave when he comes out, and he is drinking and eating like normal again. Yay! We are
Post a Comment
Read more

A tale of two cats

-
Image
 We moved the cats to Ciderbrook on Saturday, and they took it very differently. Despite being littermates, they are the most opposite of cats.  Velvet, smaller, floofier, and braver, came out of hiding almost immediately, and has already begun exploring the main part of the house when we’re out there (we have them closed off in the bedroom area at the moment).  Dorian, on the other hand, is perhaps the biggest scaredy cat in history. He’s 18 pounds of shivering wimpiness, and still hasn’t fully come out of hiding. He’s currently hiding under my blankets.
Post a Comment
Read more

Busy busy busy

-
Image
 Hello all!  Chad and I have been so busy moving that I haven’t had a chance to post anything new in a while. We have packed up our tv, shampoo, microwave, wooden spoons, cat scratchers, and our computers, among a lot of other things. So with my computer packed, I can’t make a very good post.  Instead, I’ll just post a bunch of photos and let them speak for themselves. I’ll be back after a while! ❤️
1 comment
Read more
-
Image
Saturday was a big day for us.  We got our first load of wood for our new house!  We have a beautiful wood stove in the living room which is large enough to heat about half the house.  Since we have an oil furnace and oil is very expensive, we are planning on supplementing with wood this winter. While I was waiting for the wood to be delivered, I decided to pull back the carpet in the dining room to see what the floor underneath looks like.  It's not wall to wall carpet, it's a big bound rug, and it goes almost the whole way to the wall.  It's a pretty carpet and I'm sure it would clean up nicely.  However, it took me almost 2 hours to vacuum the entire house that first day we were there, and I decided I just don't want to vacuum that much in the future!  If I could easily get rid of this rug in the dining room, that would be awesome.   And guess what!  The floor underneath is LOVELY!  It needs cleaned, but thankfully there is a pad under the rug so the wood is in v
4 comments
Read more

Getting to know the house

-
Image
 We went back to the house on Wednesday, for our first real day being there.  Every other time we'd been to the house, even after getting the keys that first day, it was only for a rushed hour of looking around.  Doesn't that strike anyone else as strange?  To spend so much money on something you've only seen for a few hours? In the closet was a fat file of receipts, manuals, and a big plastic bag of keys.  We finally have keys to the 200 doors in this house, including all of the skeleton keys for the original 1948 doors!   (Click on the pictures to make them bigger) There's a key for every interior door, and every room has a door, even the kitchen!    We also found (dun dun dun) the keys to the mysterious fairy cabin!    Chad's standing way back as he opens, as per his mother's instructions.   And what did we find inside?  Oh my goodness, we hit a jackpot with this little cabin.  It seems they forgot about it when they were emptying the house, and left it co
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome to Ciderbrook

-
Image
Hello everyone!  This is just a little blog to update my favorite people on the happenings of our new homestead.  I’ll be posting pictures of our property, and all the projects we’ll be working on, plus anything else I feel inspired to share.     (Click on the pictures to make them bigger)     Bet you're wondering why we are calling it Ciderbrook.  Well, there's a tiny stream that runs through the property, behind the house and at the base of the hill.  Chad says I have apple eyes, as in I can spot an apple tree from a mile away.  I love wild apples!  So when I finally got to walk our property (after many rushed visits during the buying process), I noticed there are dozens of apple trees all along the stream.  And a dear friend of ours helped us come up with the name based on that!  The tiny stream, which sits at the base of the hill behind our house.        This is the field next to our house, facing the little stream.   We signed all of the papers for our house today.  I si
1 comment
Read more