Skip to main content

Getting ready for the big party

It's been a whirlwind.   I haven't written on the blog for many months and so much has happened that I have forgotten.   The three biggest triumphs have been the addition of the kitchen table and stools.  The kitchen table I made myself out of some left over floor boards and two saw horses left by the old contractor.  The stools came from Sawkille and were featured in the Times the week our stools arrived (6 weeks after we ordered them).

Big kitchen table

Hand made...by my hands!

11 foot table
Stools from Sawkille




















The screen porch is the other amazing part of the house which I had not expected and which we now spend most of our time in, even now the weather is cold I am sitting here writing my blog. 


Screen porch
Where I am writing my blog today

Finally, the master bathroom shower.   Oh my God...it is the best thing.   There's something amazing about such a large open shower where you can just walk in and don't have to close a door, step over a tub, deal with a shower curtain or glass.  Just stand there in the middle of the room with hot water running over you.   As well as that you have an amazing view of the pond and the property from the dormer window.   Which led me to the best discovery ever.   If you open the window you get a great view and the cool breeze all around you.  It's like a 365 day a year out-door shower.

Master Bath

Open shower in front of open window


















Amazing view from the water to the water

Now that we have the guest bedrooms and bathrooms complete we've been able to have guests. 
Cindy Gallop has been a regular but we have also had Dawn Charles and Jane Edwards-Hall staying at the house.

Dawn Charles, Justin Stanwix and Daniel
Justin Stanwix came up for the day too with friends who had a wonderful portable hammock which they hung from the willow tree.

 
Tree Hammock

Close up
I think all that happened in September but it seems so long ago now that the leaves have fallen....and now that the big party is over.

In the build up to Daniel's 50th birthday, we got a lot of work done.  The electrician finally finished all the work...(God that took a lot of time and heartache)...as did the painter Michael Clinton.   Jason Cisernos at Argo plumbing did a wonderful job on the bathrooms as did the incredible Manchione brothers.  Their work on the tile and the plaster work was stellar...efficient, thoughtful and of the highest quality. 

We also had the massive mounds of crap removed from all around the house.  While the guy with the digger was here we had him remove a number of tree stumps and re-grade around the house.  Such precision with their big toys.   The North of the house looks really great now, if it is still a bit muddy.
Boys with their toys

At the same time we got the guys to level out the drive way and we removed one of the drives, reverting back to a single drive.  The one we removed was always wet and we never used it.  (I think it must have been on a spring or something as it was wet all through the drought in August.)

So, by the time the party came round, most of the house was complete.  The kitchen was without the cabinetry but that's sort of on hold until we find a bit more money to do it exactly how we want it.  (But the kitchen works very well, even if there are a couple of really big air ducts up one of the walls).  


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Paradox farm

If you wander along Springtown Road, past DeJoux House, you will see our mailbox opposite the front door.  It's not especially distinguishable except it is rather large and sits on an old tree stump.  It's a rusty old thing but it seems to have survived the snow plows and drunk drivers of Springtown Road. It has always bothered me that on the side of the mail box you can see the vague outline of the words "Paradox Farm" which was clearly a name that DeJoux House was more recently referred to.  Occasionally when wondering the fields I would stumble across some incongruity and wonder if that was indeed the "paradox" that the farm was named after. Yesterday morning, for some unknown reason, I decided it was time to resolve the paradox.  I sent a quick email to the previous owner June Finer to see if she knew anything of the Paradox Farm ghost on the side of the mailbox. This was her reply: once upon a time we, (myself and russell gilmore---my ex), met a...
3 comments
Read more

Maria Deyo - a chilling tale

We arrived at the house this weekend to meet with the contractors who had poured concrete in the basement on Friday. When we arrived we found a family standing in front of the house taking pictures. Being the friendly types we are, we went over to chat. They told us they were on a haunted house tour and were looking at the house because their daughter had been talking about the ghost at our house for the last couple of days. She had bought a book called "Spooky Hudson Valley" and in it was the story of Maria Deyo and a tragic tale of a mother killing all three children and then killing herself. The family were wonderful and excited to be shown the house. They showed us the book and at the beginning of the story was a picture of our house. The book went on to say that Maria sent the men to the fields and then she slit her daughter's throat and the throat of her other two children...then killed herself. All this happened on September 13 th 1801. There was...
10 comments
Read more

Inspiration for the future look

Daniel has found some wonderful reference materials for keeping the history and character yet not making it a museum. I love the big kitchen table plan for the kitchen inspired by Lutyens and some "behind the scenes" pictures of victorian kitchens. He also showed me some country houses from Axel Vervoordt that I really love. http://bit.ly/uX1eW Simple, authentic yet modern. We discussed putting a full length plate glass window in the old hay loft window on the end of the house. Wow. I can't wait.
1 comment
Read more