mini (many) miracles

A week or so ago I had learned of a magickal caterpillar on Sylvia Linstead's blog, the Indigo Vat.  Imagine my surprise when I was taking photos of a vintage lamp for Etsy only to notice this coast's version of the little visitor:  a white-marked tussock moth caterpillar.  He seemed to be carrying an extra bit of fluff in his antenna - you know there's always plenty of fluff around here!  The prominent little tufts, or tussocks, actually are defensive weaponry - they are toxic and can cause a rash in humans!  Wild little trickster faeries.

Father's day came and went with plenty of tears.  I feel like I'm breaking open and perhaps I'll be left a more real, less cynical and reserved, more overtly spiritual person.  In our wolf-dog's usual wake of destruction (at a year and a half, she's still just a huge puppy), she unearthed a notebook with papers that included an email from Papa dated 5/23/97.  It was one of those things I put in a safe place but had no idea where that was.  It was the sweetest letter he ever wrote me.  It felt like the sign I'd been waiting for, praying for, that he really is here with me.  And my wolfie messenger is so dear for delivering it.

Later this week I'm going camping with Mad, my oldest and bestest friend, at the firefly gathering.  We've known each other for around 27 years.  She's coming all the way from Illinois to see me and make things ok.  And our girls' getaway of choice is this gathering... she's an archaeologist, so our interests intersect in learning primitive living skills (including for me, dyeing the Appalachian colour palette) and communing.  I haven't been camping in years and my hub insisted I needed gear that I wouldn't have thought - like fold-up chairs, a hatchet, a lantern and a ginormous cooler.  I was envisioning glamping with quilts and candles and bunting, and so these utilitarian provisions in their Coleman shades of dark blue and grey didn't seem quite aesthetically pleasing or old-school enough for me ... but he says I'll thank him..  So you can look forward to lots of photos of hippies and tools and plant friends and bonfires and shamanic dancing and glow tubes, and hopefully more faeries!

kitchen: before

while i'm waylaid i thought i could show you

the sad little kitchen and breakfast nook.

stuck in 1998, or long before.

i have taken down the curtains and scrubbed and scraped

grease from the cabinets.

everything is vaguely yellowed.

the gas man told us that the man who used to live here

stayed right in the kitchen next to the gas heater.

this is where he lived

he didn't use much of the house

and he was a good man.

i wonder if he died here.

progress is being made in my absence, the roof is almost done.

the plumbing needed help too.

and we had the guy do some other sundries for good measure.

i can't wait to get home and see the progress

and start DIYing

and dyeing my pieces for the Fall show in Hillsborough

have i told you about that?  i will soon.

wouldn't you know

that the wood under the roof tiles isn't looking too good.

so we're told we need a new roof

i guess we'll have to go forward, although 

i loved that patina on the old slate roof

but it is 60 or so years old, i guess it's tired

and been leaking for a long while.

so, on we go!

our guy is replacing the roof, the plumbing, 

fixing the ceilings and walls

and repairing the hardwood floors.

should be done by the time i get back from atlanta!

and then we'll paint and see what else needs doing.

we found our person!

i'm so relieved that we finally have found someone to fix the roof!!

and he can do everything else too, apparently!

thank the Goddess for the recommendations of friends.

there's this strange ceramic part of the chimney
i wonder what went missing?!

i guess in the short term i'll cover it with a plant...

but it seems like it needs a coat of arms, or something architectural and grand..

there are two beautiful big black walnut trees

one in front and one in back

and this little workshop, with electricity

where Rocky will put his woodshop

and in the lean-to area, i think that'll be where we keep the feed.

here's the back of the girl.  a funny face :)

i love that stump right in the middle.

work on the roof starts thursday!

and then we'll work our way down.

murmurations

i feel like the Starlings are following me.  even though

they are probably just going about their business.

so i had to make a bird.

not fancy iridescent fabric for my first bird though.

just a little bird, looking at me.  

we're still trying to find some help on the house.

we're starting with the roof, and 

the first couple of people don't seem like the right fit.  

but i have another lead i'm working on...

we've had a couple of mishaps.  when i had the water turned on,

it sprayed everywhere in the mudroom from the washer hookup!

everywhere, out into the room, onto the windows, down the side of the house

it was cray-cray.

but some pliers and a few turns later, it was off.  

and it turns out the copper gas pipes were stripped!

by some needy soul.  

so they have to be re-installed.  

so still, no hot water because it's gas.

and for some reason, no water to the upstairs.

that has us scratching our (collective) heads.

more mysteries to be revealed.

13 acres

this is what the land looks like..

 this is that tree in the middle of the old well-house

it's an evergreen (obvs) and full of berries!

anyone know what kind it is?

and this is one of three sisters out in the pasture

Sarah thought it looked like an apple tree

anyone else? 

and this is the old barn.  i think it'll do just fine for the bunnies

and the lean-to will be good shelter for the donks and sheepies.

hub thought it might fall over, but i figure it's been here a while.

and we found this old trunk in the barn, how exciting!

this isn't who we bought from.  i love picking in general, but from our own land is the best.

i think we'll use it as a coffee table. 

and the sand!!  the sand is so weird!!  

this area of NC is called the Sandhills, but i'm so shocked to see it everywhere

at least we won't have so much mud and muck like here

i do love drainage.

She's Ours

So, we did it!

I had cold feet on the way to the bank, I'm not sure why!

Since the sellers did their thing on Friday,

our part of the closing took all of 15 minutes, or maybe 10.

We got lots of new keys.

We went to the house and the Buick was gone!

Which is a Good Thing, since we had no title or clue.

And then we opened door after door and looked

and looked ...

and looked around.

We were so awed that I couldn't bring myself to snap pics, you know?

but gawsh She needs a lot of work!

I put my special violet vase in the window.

Lit sage.

And then started ripping up lineoleum to see what they were hiding!

Yeah, some damage to the wood floors, but nothing so terrible.

And old, dark, kinda interesting tile in the kitchen.

I had planned on marmoleum, 

(look at all those awesome colours!) but then

I might just keep what's there.

I tend to do that.

(Pic from a previous, preliminary inspection!)

Back tomorrow to meet a heating & air dude,

and go to the waterworks and get that turned on.

And then Friday meeting a roofer!

And not-so-suddenly, I want to stitch again.

almost closed

Well the Closing started to happen on Friday, 

but they didn't tell me until that morning!  Apparently something about

coordinating all the sellers and their spouses (since title is in an estate).

So we didn't make it down there because it started sleeting.   

You know what wimps we Southerners are about snow! 

So we go in tomorrow, pay and get the keys!   

I was excited to find out that this gorgeous lady is a fir. 

I've been thinking a lot lately about firs.  

And there is more than one of Her!

oh the all-important hearth, what to do with you

The closing was supposed to be today but is apparently delayed. 

The title is coming out of an estate so they say that might be the reason.

But I think somebody just forgot to put it on the lawyer's calendar. 

Dern lawyers.

It really doesn't matter, except I can't do it tomorrow (doc appt.) and 

I'm anxious to get to work!

So here is the current state of the hearth at Violetcroft.

Poor neglected hearth.  

Although they did leave her complete with a Holy Bible, a gourd Santa, several books,

family photos, crocheted potholders, and a stapler.

The options seem to be:

a.  Unbrick her and try to work with her as an open fireplace.

Pros:  ambience, purity to period

Cons:  lack of heat

b.  Unbrick her and add a fireplace insert with a blower

Pros:  good heat by most accounts,

although one friend has one and says hers sucks on heat.

Cons:  serious uglification unless major bucks are spent, 

visible power cord from blower (even more ugly)

  quite expensive regardless

c.1  Unbrick her and add free-standing woodstove

Pros:  much more attractive, could get the soapstone I'm loving

Cons:  we lose space, need a hearth pad

c.2  Leave her bricked and add free-standing woodstove

Pros:  possibly simplest, could install ourselves?

Cons:  I think we would lose the most living room space 

I would totally welcome hearing other thoughts and experiences.

But.  I just saw the most amazing blackbird activity I've ever seen.

A mighty horde, swooping from the ground to the trees and back again

encircling this place.  I think it was a Starling dance

right here in our very own woods.  

A copse

This is looking out onto our new pasture.  

I was wondering what was in there, 

and hoping it wasn't a bunch of old junky appliance parts.

I love how land and houses always come with some mysteries.  

Is it an old well-house?  

It has some faucets and a cistern-looking thingymabob.

It's supposed to be on public water now.

It's an odd sort of structure with a triangle of limbs built up and suspended with pulleys..

All built around this tree, which is loaded with little purple berries.

You can probably tell that we visited the house yesterday.

I took lots of pics (more to come)..

and we close on Thursday!  

We're on again

Ok so strangely we are back on, I mean off, to the cottage!  So that means cottage bloggin!  I had fallen in love with another house in the meantime, it was quite lovely, but really, it was too far.  I know some friends will wonder how it could be too far and this one not, because they really are both far.  But this one is about 1/4 the price, so it seems not as far!  And only about half the distance from where we are now, so renovating and moving don't seem like as much of a thing.   It will be far for some friends, but when you live in the country, you get used to driving, if you want to go anywhere, that is.  And the friends I've made so far in NC are PRECIOUS.

I'm sure you remember the to-do list.  Maybe I should put it on the sidebar to keep it handy.  I think I'll edit that one rather than re-doing periodically.  I did get the stove too!!  And there's a car that comes with the house, weird.  I'll have to tell you about the neighbors one of these days...

The closing isn't until the 24th
so we won't get started in earnest until then.  

Plenty of time to dream and pin.

A facebook friend had thought these tea leaves suggested I'd be moving to (or near) Virginia, but now I see that it meant moving to the Violet Loop!

Oh and come visit my new Tarot Tumblr!

we're off!

so it looks like we're moving!

and that has given me reason to blog again.

we're getting a real fixer.  

this'll be my third grownup house and my third fixer, maybe the worst yet!

which makes it the best to my mind.  

i am so excited about making it amazing!

i have always wanted a Tudor cottage

when I was little we would drive around and I would say

"Oh mum, I want *that* one!  someday"  

and this has all the hallmarks:  

she's asymmetrical, cross-gabled, with prominent chimney and rounded door.

and even has a window with diamond-shaped panes!

of course need must get rid of those awful awnings and cutify

with paint and lots of flowers.

the outside doesn't look so bad, but the inside is *rough*

oh, i can't wait.

there are so many pretty trees 

like this luscious sycamore in the front yard.

i'm a little stressed that i haven't found an oak tree there yet.

"dru" means "oak" in old gaelic.

and i've always had them around, they are my protectors.

but there are 13 acres.  

most of them are pasture, which will make our critters very happy.

and rocky loves it, which makes it so special!

we've never chosen a house together.  

and there are lots of woods around.

another signal that this was right:  this is in the hoos.  

which is a variation on another one i have!  

there are so many projects that need to be done.

outside:

roof repair (& remove ancient antenna)

pressure-wash

scrape and paint windows

replace missing masonry tiles

termite inspection/repair

take down hideous awnings and fix any damage

take off the metal panels blocking the basement windows

(bad for moisture, i'm told)

chimney sweep

unbrick fireplace and get it working

reinforce barn so it doesn't fall down

clean out and haul away junk in barn and workshop (oh my)

(but there looks to be some good stuff in there too)

fencing, fencing, fencing

inside:  

pull up awful old linoleum (hardwoods underneath!)

figure out what hardwoods need:  sanding, patching etc.

demolish ceiling in one room and replace (water damage)
scrape off popcorn on other ceilings

take down and replace tile in bathrooms (see about rot or water damage)

new shower heads and faucets

paint

scrounge craigslist etc for appliances 

(mum is furiously trying to talk me out of a wood-burning cookstove)

cover up insulation on patio

install radio fence for doglets

i'm sure there's more but that's my running list!  

i'm leaving off the decorative stuff for now, although that will be the most fun.

so i'm thinking i'll document this massive labor of love here,

along with my journey toward homesteading.

hope you'll visit!

summer storm

a big storm rolled in this afternoon - a daily occurrence lately - but this time we lost power for hours.  not much to do but sit on the porch and pick some wool.  hub was bit the other night by a copperhead and has a nasty swollen ankle.  he's hobbling around and it seems like the time for real danger has passed.  the little bugger only got one fang in, thank goodness.  we're so grateful it wasn't much worse.

flash(dance) and heat wave

yesterday i went to pick up another sheepie.  this is flash, short for flashdance, who keeps getting bred at a friend's farm despite her advanced age of nine... so she offered her to me.. she's a beautiful shetland and her colour is known as musket, a light almost apricot...  and i love her spotted face.  and she's friendly!!  much more so than my other sheepies, especially the first three who have always been sketchy.

she loves chin scratches, especially when they come with cookies.  but she's still getting her bearings in her new homestead, poor girl.  i do like taking in retirement fiber critters though, it works out well for all of us.

going to meet her new tribe, all waiting and curious..

we are struggling to keep it going in this heat wave.  it's scary for the critters and not great for us either with no AC..  lots of time spent in the pool for the birds and the dogs, although still waiting for the hubs to get our pool ready...  

and btw it's my birthday weekend!  i'll be 44 on monday.  which seems almost as bad as this 115 heat index...  but there are fun plans for spinning and rabbit care today, then visiting my friend sarah at her new place in greensboro tomorrow - i can't wait to see what it looks like since it's a renovated barn!  we're going to explore, let the dogs run, picnic and swim in the pond near her place. and then monday, i want to swim here at home with the hub (the pool had better be ready by then!), grill, have some brews and a northern exposure marathon while stitching some alabama chanin t-shirts.  that's my perfect day.