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!  

Violetcroft

So no pics today, but an update!  

The house has a termite bond on it, so the little buggers have already been zapped.  And tomorrow we're meeting to find the corner stakes to try to make sure where the property lines are. A survey you say?  No way, that would be too easy (and expensive).  

But one little problem is that at the back of the Violet Loop 

(a dirt road that encircles this lovely little 13 acres!)

there are some... trailers that look like they have been burnt.

As well as some pickup trucks.  Sofas and stuff.
And a house of sorts, a real charmer, it even has window panes out. 

I peeked a little in a window and do see some evidence of life 

if you count whiskey bottles (which I do).

And, there are four little dogs rush out whenever we've gone back there!
But never any lights or people...

And some of it looks to be encroaching from what we can see of the property lines on the plat.  

So I'm really looking forward to having this conversation with our new neighbor! :/  

And in the midst of all this, my facebook friends like Dani and Kristine have helped me come up with the current name of choice for this place:  Violetcroft.  

It might sound a little hoity-toity amidst the trailers, but a croft was meant to be humble.  

That's the current fave anyway, there are many others!

And tonight, we are going to look at a wood cookstove that I found on Craigslist!

Did I mention that there were no appliances in this house?

Yes, everyone thinks I am insane.

But it looks just like this one.

It's also the one that was in the movie Babe in farmer Hoggett's kitchen, or so the seller says.

I should probably pass, but I just know that then all I will see are more expensive ones in worse condition.  That's what always happens.  This is my dream stove.

And this is *so* much less than the modern equivalent of my dream stove, the Aga.   

My only hesitation is what to do with this kind of stove in the summer.  

I guess then homesteaders have an outdoor kitchen.  

But I think that except for those few brutal summer months, 

the slowness of the wood would really help me find my cooking groove.

And it looks like we will close on the 21st!!  How totally fitting.

Just in time for the rebirth of the Sun!

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!

Honey Locust tree id. no 3

i've been wanting to look at the pods on this tree up-close

but s/he is thick in the woods

today the high winds brought me plenty

nothing similar in the book, of course

but i do see mistletoe attached.

we are having high winds and branches playing music on our tin roof

under tonight's blood moon

be safe out there friends.

male persimmon or female persimmon with no male in the area to cross with tree id no. 2

this one has me stumped, between two maples.

there aren't that many in my tree book with leaves of this shape

that are so rounded and without teeth.

some possibilities were sourgum or persimmon

but it doesn't really have the chequered bark.  or does it?

and i don't remember any persimmons.

plus that just seems kind of random.

the last one was figured out within minutes!!

Sweet Pignut Hickory tree id no. 1

trying to start identifying my local flora, or at least what is in my yard...can anyone help? from the tree book i thought maybe a hickory, but then the nuts don't seem to have four-part husks, more like two-part. it's always so hard for me to identify plants and trees with those books. the leaves are only a couple of inches long and their edges do have little tiny teeth. remember we are in central nc.

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.

poor lil blue

so, some things do not belong in the dyepot.
critters, i mean.
i'm not sure how he (she?) got in since there was a lid on it, but i did have it open for a while the other evening while i was experimenting.
he must have been curious.
too bad he couldn't have crawled back out and continued on about life, a little bluer.
for me, lots of fresh dyepots today. bronze fennel and dahlia soaking and steaming.
rip, beautiful.

in the spirit of jude's boro 2 class, i give you this much-loved apron..

she needs some care and i'll give it. she tears a bit more with each wearing. i'm embracing what i use (although i would prefer to always be dressed as ms. havisham) (although perhaps using and mending could eventually produce the same result!) i've been longing to work more with clothing and recently made an alabama chanin dress that turned out wonderfully well (her patterns are brilliant)... martha beck, in her book "Finding Your Way in a Wild New World" (first spied in India's book stack), refers to those of us searching for new/old ways as "menders" or "wayfinders." i'm trying to hold this idea gently as i find it so powerful and comforting... and clothing myself in it is just the way.

the boys i mean are not refined

yesterday's round of shearing was a little less idyllic.. i thought it was too early to shear the twins since they were just born in august, but i'm told it's best to go ahead so they'll be on a spring schedule. the fleece is long enough too, and lamb-soft.








there were some mishaps... we had a lot of trouble getting them to relax. it was their first time after all. lovey bleeehhhh'd the entire time and made me a nervous wreck. pokey poked me in the eye with his horn, and he also lost his fourth horn which was barely hanging on. i cut myself and bled all over part of a fleece. still, they are frisky, scampering around and happy, and i'm so relieved that there's a whole year before the next shear. off to wash some fleece!

Gretta's haircut

i'm still loving shearing. the other day we finally got ahold of Ms. Gretta, the trickiest of the four-leggeds around here. hands were in use, so no photos of us, but i continued to bliss out with it, and i think i'm already improving. here's her fleece laid out for skirting and i've labeled it so you can see where the parts came from...

unreal that all that came off one little sheepie, isn't it?!

she has long, primitive Shetland locks. i love spinning this sort of wool.


and here is the clean and beautiful cut side... almost no second cuts!


her wool is a gorgeous gingery colour, called mioget in Shetland parlance.


for my master spinner's certificate, one of the projects is to spin and knit up a swatch from each part of the sheep!! so i sorted it into these piles to be washed and prepped. should be mega-interesting!

there's also belly wool and that's another category, but there wasn't a whole lot of that and it's outside the frame...

new calling

now that it's in the 80s(!), we can't put off shearing any longer. yesterday i sheared georgie, and it was the first time i've done it by myself. it went well! and i loved doing it! and today, i sheared gabbie, our black sheep. only one to go, greta (the lambs won't be sheared till next year)... and she knows we're coming for her.

i've been wanting to learn to shear, since, you know, i'm all about the dying arts.. and we only have such a few sheepies. plus it's nice to not be so dependent on having a shearer come to us. the few that are left are so busy this time of year. last year, after he drove an hour (in june no less, the first opening he had) to get here, we couldn't catch the little buggers. it was a total sheep debacle.. they are really crafty. i'm not sure why people think sheep are stupid.. at least ours have outsmarted us many times.

i've tried electric shears, but they are so heavy and noisy. a shepherdess friend suggested hand shears, and also said that sometimes she even uses fiskars - which seemed right up my alley since i use a small pair to clip the rabbits... and this was a good excuse for a beautiful pair.. and especially with a 40% off coupon at michael's, a much better deal than electric shears... and they work great, at least for our little shetlands.




the only other issue is my sheep are so messy. i'm afraid i'll be picking hay out of this fleece until next year .. but still, like grace, i think i may have found my métier (besides watching downton): i want to become a shearer!