Finishing Touches

Recently The Farmhouse has been  getting gussied up.  We now have an actual garage!  As I write this  our cars are all tucked in and out of the elements.  Oh, how I appreciate the little things!  The garage doors were installed today and now we are waiting for the electrician to come back and hang the outdoor lights and Jason needs to paint the new siding he hung above the doors.  We wanted to get Gooseneck lights for above each door, but, alas they were too pricey!  How come everything I choose is the most expensive?  I wish I had bad taste :) Instead we settled on the hanging lantern style lights that match those on our front porch.

We also had our window treatments installed today.  They really warm up the room.

I enjoy decorating and I spend a good deal of time searching the Internet for fun crafts to make.  I was quite the decoupager back in the day.  I also dabbled in painting birdhouses and painting wooden trays.  I wanted to have a project that incorporated The Farmhouse. I decided to use one of the old windows that we removed to make way for the new energy efficient windows.

This old window cleaned up real nice!

Next, I taped and painted the glass.

Painted some Roosters (homemade stencil) and painted the Porch Rules - they must be enforced!  I think we will hang this on the screened in porch if it ever warms up. I had a lot of fun making this and now I am searching for a nice beat up piece of wood to paint on.  Give me a call if you know of some.  I strongly have the urge to stencil!!

Thanks for stopping by.

Cool Discovery

Once again the Farmhouse is a beehive of activity.  On Monday we started the renovation of the Carriage House.  While the Carriage House is a huge building, it was not set up as a proper garage.  We had sliding barn doors, while charming to look at, not so charming to open and close.  We are making the opening in the

front wider so it can accommodate two working garage doors and we are opening up a space on the side for a door to exit closer to the house. 

Cliff went out to check with Jason, the contractor and Jason informed him he had found a cool relic from the past.  While tearing out the frame around the old barn doors Jason discovered this:

 It's hard to see in this photo, but on this piece of wood is a handwritten name.  In beautiful script it reads:

General Felix Agnus Stevenson Station Maryland.

Born in France, Felix Agnus came to this country to fight in the Civil War.  He rose to the rank of General and was honorably discharged in 1865.  His post war career saw him rise as a prominent newspaperman in Baltimore.  He founded The Baltimore Star.  In March of 1888, Annie Agnus, wife of Felix purchased 171 acres of land that was known as New Stoneton for $25,000.  General Agnus renamed it Nacirema, American spelled backwards. Where the Farmhouse sits today.

 

The area at this time was known as Stevenson Station.

The General died in 1925 .

Now the story gets better.  Remember the urban legend of Black Aggie???  Black Aggie was the statue that was placed on the grave of none other than General Felix Agnus!

I remember stories of kids going into Druid Ridge Cemetery to see Black Aggie and be terrified that it came alive.

Black Aggie

 

Anyhoo - Jason is going to remove the nails and make a frame to put around the sign. I love these history lessons!

Here's the progress so far:

Wide open.

We also got new windows installed in the old part of the house.  We are now an energy efficient Farmhouse.

Thanks for stopping by.

Fifteen Minutes of Fame

On Wednesday the Farmhouse had its fifteen minutes of fame.  A crew from Maryland Public Television came to the Farmhouse to do a bit of filming. You are probably thinking they were doing a story about old houses, but you'd be wrong!  My friend Karen is a producer for MPT and is working on a program about saving the Chesapeake Bay.  She needed to do a few spots about natural cleaning products and ways to conserve water and keep the bay clean.  Enter The Farmhouse.  Karen asked if they could film here and of course I said Yes!  I always fancied myself an actress or at least an actress wanta-be.  Karen arrived with a camera woman and a still photographer and the fun began.

These photos were taken in the kitchen where using natural products was demonstrated.  I even got into the act and was filmed loading the dishwasher (Meryl Streep look out), I requested that only my hand be shown, as I can't deal with the paparazzi right now.

This was a very moving scene.  A dripping faucet.

The producer hard at work.

Cliff even got into the "act" - get it - act?  Look at him load the washer!

Uh oh, Bella snuck in the shot.

It really was a lot of fun and I am looking forward to seeing the finished product in April.

Please...no autographs at this time.

Now on to my latest project.  Remember the cool cabinet Dave made in the mudroom?  Well I have been thinking it needed a finishing touch.  After much Internet searching I decided on a hand painted sign.  Since we seem to have quite a pig theme going on my thoughts turned to swine.  I made a pig stencil and used chalkboard paint and came up with this.

Step One.

From here I ordered a custom made stencil. And then....

The Flying Pig was born.  Or Established 2013.

Love it!  Do you?  Now I want to stencil the whole house.  Cliff has gently reminded me of the sponge painting debacle of 1992.  I will stop.  Until springtime.

Thanks for stopping by.

What Lies Beneath

As a new homeowner I am  trying to be very diligent about maintenance around the old homestead. My last home had a well and I swore up and down that I would never, ever own a home with a well.  WELL...I lied - we have a well...again.  With a well comes a multitude of maintenance issues that must be followed. One  such task is changing the water filter in the basement.  Uh oh - I don't like that place!  Cliff said he needed my help and he wanted to show me what to do in case he decided to move to Florida.  So we headed on down to the basement.  Now our basement is not what you'd call civilized, it's more like a cellar.  To get down to the basement you must first open the hatch door.

Once the door is opened you must scrunch down (think hunchback) and walk down to the bowels of the Farmhouse.

The new heat pump.  Repair man must be under 3 feet tall.

Look at these stone walls.  Cliff says these walls are at least 2 feet thick.  Is this good or bad?  Not sure, but it's held the Farmhouse up for almost 100 years!

Cliff showing me the filters and such.

Here is a good view of pipes and other "stuff".

Remember back in the summer when they saw the black snake.  Here is where he was living.

Now it's all nice and clean and snake free!

And that my friends is the basement. Oh yeah - the best part?  Cliff couldn't get the old filter off of the pipe.  He turned and turned , but it was stuck on tight!  Guess we will be calling a plumber.  I told you I didn't want a well :)

This is the part of the program where I must confess my utter obsession with my new "grand pup".  I think I may have a problem.  

Is he not the cutest thing ever? Am I biased? I think not.  Is it weird that I pray that my son will call and say he is coming over (with the baby), not that I don't want to see Josh - I do - but that baby!! I even passed up riding Kitty to stay home and see him.  Help! We stayed home New Years Eve to babysit.  Of course I wanted Josh to have a fun night - it wasn't because I wanted the baby for myself :) What's happening to me?  And more bragging - Bella loves him too!  She is the perfect playmate for Fletcher.

Don't let that face fool you.  She loves him. The wrestle and chase until they are exhausted.

Of course after he goes home we collapse, too.  Then we clean!

Thanks for stopping by.