I have just finished a couple hours of raking leaves. Sisyphus must have been speaking metaphorically when he used the rock construct. Anyone who has raked leaves knows that it has to be one of the most futile activities going. I have now raked three times in the past month. That number would have been larger but for all the rain we have had. Each time I have raked I have wondered at the futility of my actions. As I was physically raking the buggers were raining down on me. I think in terms of actual numbers I was still cleaning up more than was falling, being as I usually don't rake on windy days. Yet the results of my exertions were negligable. One of my friendly neighbors called over that I really should wait until they all fall before bothering to do any raking. I agreed with him yet admitted that my purpose for raking was not entirely pure. When I reach a point with the inside of the house that appears unsurmountable, or perhaps just unbearably frustrating for the moment, raking leaves is more satisfying. That says a lot, doesn't it? Sigh
There is actually real, tangible progress to be seen. The master bath has the structure in place for the tile shower, including the curb between the room and the stall, and the floor of said space is now sporting the actual tile! The balance of the tile will be going up this week. The sink and toilet are on order and should be going in by next week latest. We are having dinner with Dave to look at the kitchen plans tonight. The new windows for the kitchen and the french doors for the living room arrived last week. Don and our friend Bud took the window to be replaced out of the kitchen on Friday. Don is framing out the hole for the new window as I write. The old window was a vertical application, the replacement is a strip of three awning windows totaling 6 feet in length and about 2 feet in height. It will open the room up greatly and provide a vastly improved view of the back pasture.
I am excited to see construction glimmers in the demolition whirlwind. It appears that every time we approach a project we need to take the area down to the studs instead of working around the existing structure as we had hoped to do. I have learned how to do some wiring, just the basic stuff, but I have installed a good handful of ground fault outlets in our kitchen. We were hoping to do much of the electrical work ourselves but have run into some real boneheaded applications that will require the services of a professional to remedy. Luckily for us our wonderful plumber recommended an equally talented electrician who came in last week to give us an estimate. It was wearing on Don, thinking he had to do the electrical in addition to all the window framing and installation. I am happy to have him able to concentrate on fewer(?) projects at hand. The man is working his butt off. He is truly a Rennaissance man: versant in wine and sawzalls; Dada and framing windows; electrical wiring and Fatboy Slim. I am one lucky woman. I am trying to keep up with him, but find my inherent skills limited to painting, although I am a willing student.
I believe we will be seeing drawings for the kitchen tonight. Dave has told Don that he can begin building the boxes that will form the cabinets this coming week, and that we should have the boxes installed and appliances in by Thanksgiving. We are currently shooting to move in by early December. That is not to say that we will be anywhere near completed by then, but we will be able to move in and do the remaining work in residence. Driving back and forth between Alfred and Kennebunk every day is time consuming. Also Don and I are not really early morning people, so when we finally move in we will be able to get more work done in the evening hours.
We took a walk around the property this afternoon. After what seems like years of rain and grey skies we are having a beautiful temperate day today. When you actually traverse the fields you realize how much space we have. This weekend was open farm day for the Alpaca farmers of Maine. There are seven Alpaca farms within an hours drive from us. We have all this land, it seems criminal to leave it fallow. Don has dreams of growing grapes to make wine someday. I think the larger pasture would be suitable for agriculture of some sort. That leaves the smaller pasture, the one that backs up on the barns. This property was a cattle farm and a chicken farm in earlier days. The smaller pasture is rocky, too rocky for growing crops, but well suited to sheep or goats or alpacas? We went to four alpaca farms yesterday and today and asked many questions. Neither of us can quite figure out if the alpaca farm movement is real or some sort of pyramid scheme. An individual alpaca can cost upwards of $15,000. yes, that is the correct number of zeros. There is a limited number of the animals in the country because they are no longer being brought in from abroad (why?) and they have a long gestation period (11 months to a year) so the National stock is building up slowly. For those unfamiliar with the animal, alpacas are Camelids, related to camels and llamas. They are raised for their fleece, which is extremely soft, strong, warm and non-allergenic (unlike wool which some people are very allergic to). They are, relatively speaking, easy to care for. They eat grass (and hay in the winter), don't get many diseases (unlike horses and cows which constantly need Veterinary care), they don't have hooves which can beat up turf, they do not roam and so do not need fencing to keep them in (just to keep predators out). They originated in Peru, in the Andes, so they are used to cold terrain and therefore are happy with Maine winters. They do not need to be kept in a barn except for the most frigid nights. But the adorable little creatures are bloody expensive, and we have not yet figured out if one can actually make money from them. Research will be done and we will uncover the mystery that is Alpaca farming. I am searching for a way for this property to sustain us, and maybe for another way to make some sort of a living. So I am toying with the idea of raising livestock. Perhaps this blog will need to be renamed Slouching Towards Agway.
Daylight savings has ended in this part of the world so it is dark now here at 4:30. Winter is bearing down on us and I just want to get into our house so I can sit on the couch in front of the wood stove and knit. (actually will probably be spending the winter painting, but a girl can dream, no)
There are more pix on Don's blog, we will try and keep up with them. There should be progress to show soon.
Oh yeah, I have decided the first thing I will make in the new kitchen will be brownies. Seems appropriate as they started me on this road which has led me to the contemplation of alpaca farming in Alfred, Maine...
A bientot,
Samantha
Where we have landed has a history unlike anything I experienced in NYC. We learned about a cooperative program with one of the local farms whereby you give them permission to tap your Sugar Maple trees and they give you a gallon(?) of maple syrup in the spring. You can tell your friends that they are eating pancakes with your very own Maple syrup when they come to visit for breakfast. Granted the amount of sap you actually contributed is likely an infinitesimal amount, but what the hey.
We liked the sound of this idea and so toddled down to the farm stand this weekend. We inquired at the counter about signing up and got a blank stare from the cashier. She referred us to one of the farmers who said they don't really take new people. Mainers can be suspicious (understatement of the century) of new people. If you weren't born here you are from Away, forever. We told her that our neighbors were in the program and wondered if we couldn't join too. She asked us where our house was and we started the process of explaining our location. I am getting better at knowing which landmarks will stir recognition and so we quickly came to the conclusion that we were in the C____ house. Houses are identified by who lives in them. Usually those people have been living in those houses for a long time, often generations, so the family name is the identifier. We are looking forward to the day when our house is known as the L_______ house. The farmer informed us that the previous owners had been part of the program until their divorce had become public, at which point they apparently declined to continue. We were happy to learn that that fact was not going to be held against us. We know we will never really fit in up here, but we would like some of our neighbors to like us, just a little bit. Actually we have made friends with a number of our immediate neighbors, probably because none of them seem to have been born in Alfred, so they too are foreigners. In general people who move to Maine to live seem to be nice. Guess you have to be a certain type of crazy to like the winters up here enough to live year round.
Late winter/early spring the farmers will show up to tap our trees. When I was a child we used to rent a house in Putney, Vermont right in the middle of an apple orchard. There were hundreds of Sugar Maples in the town and each early spring the cans would appear with the tubing snaking down the hills. There was a sugar shack just down the mountain from us and I loved to watch the process. It involves a very hot fire and a long boiling time. Not unlike watching paint dry. But hanging out in the shack engulfed in the maple clouds I was in heaven. Something real, something delicious was being made right in front of my eyes. Sap from the trees that surrounded us, sap that tasted like nothing in raw form, was being boiled down into a magical elixir. I love Maple syrup.
I am starting to miss baking. I have been very distracted with painting. I sanded and painted one of the old cast iron radiators our plumber found for us, that we are using to replace the (horrid) baseboard unit in the living room. It was not my favorite task, but the thing looked beautiful when I was done. I also finished the scraping and primering of one section of the front of the house that was peeling badly. I would like to paint it before it gets too cold so it doesn't look too cheap with all it's white splotches through the winter. Have finally applied enough primer to the formerly red living room walls to cover the color. Also have primered the dining room and done one coat in the den. But there is more to do, much MORE. Haven't even started painting the ceilings. Believe that Mike will start tile work on the master bath sometime in the next couple of days and the plumber is done with all his rough work. We are waiting on the delivery of the window and the french doors before we can move forward with the kitchen. The french doors will replace two windows in the living room, but the window is for the kitchen. Dave cannot start until the new window is in place. So we wait. ummmm, ugh. Keep meaning to mention that there are some pix up on Don's blog which is casamalapropDOTblogspotDOTcom. The kitchen pix are already old, Don has ripped out more stuff and the cathedral ceiling idea is a new one. There is a picture of Dave, who will someday begin to recreate this space. I must have faith.... Been daydreaming about baking in the new kitchen. Looking at the new space as my laboratory and I am greatly anticipating many experiments. The neighbors will love us in no time!
a bientot,
Samantha