Wednesday, December 28, 2011

S'no(w) Picnic

Don and I are discovering, what the Sherman Hollow native's warned us about.....the weather climate particular to living on this road and at this (1050) elevation, is MORE of whatever they are getting down below. We best qualify that to winter weather. Today, snow flurries in the town of Hinesburg gradually turned into accumulating snow the closer I came to Sherman Hollow. By the time I got to the top of our driveway, the snow was an inch deep and by the time I have posted this picture, it's at least two or more and still coming down hard.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Shelved

The empty nook is now filled with shelves, which are now filled with books. Our living room echos less, and seems, finally, 'finished'. How good it feels to empty out the boxes and line up the books, fill in with nick-knacks and what-nots, and rediscover stories that had been hidden in storage.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

A Place for the Christmas Tree

One of the very important design features of a house is having a good spot for the Christmas Tree. The spot in our new house was under dispute, until the tree was bought and in the house, and the spot revealed itself to us. And it wasn't one of the places being argued over. PEACE reigns.

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

For the Birds

The woods around us are full of a variety of birds. It's our hope this feeder will bring some of them closer into view. We've already had chickadees, nuthatches, titmice, blue jays, ravens, goldfinches, purple finches, downy and hairy woodpeckers, red squirrels, grey squirrels, and chipmunks.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Dining Room Table Progress

Remember those cherry logs we took to the saw mill (see post August 15th) to be turned into boards for a dining room table? Well, they have been kiln dried and are ready to go. Don picked them up today at Lathrops.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Book Nook

This recess in the living room is intended for a built in book shelf. The measurements have been taken and the simple design drawn and it's now in the hands of the cabinet builder. Meanwhile, books and favorite nick-knacks wait in boxes and piles

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Wood Shed

The woodshed, started over a year ago, is being finished in time to get the wood under cover for the winter. Pat Reed and Don are making use of scrap wood to build it. I'm thinking it looks just about perfect for a few sheep instead of wood.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Smokin'......not

The upstairs fireplace has been equipped with a fan on top of the chimney to help keep it from smoking. It seems to be working and we can have a smoke free fire upstairs. But, the house is soooo tight it even sucks smoke in around the edges of our closed spring loaded damper on the downstairs fireplace. So...the downstairs fill with smoke. Back to the drawing board. Next try...somehow rigging a box to place the fan on top of both flues. Stay tuned. Clyde the cat seems to be oblivious to any issues what so ever. Guess he doesn't hear those coyotes howling outside.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Hold On!

At long last we have our front porch railing. Very useful for balance.... and help getting up and down slippery or wet stairs.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Spring Loaded

Our 'energy star rated' home is so tight, maybe too tight?, that when we have a fire in the upstairs fireplace, there is not enough air for it to draw properly, so it smokes terribly. Not only that, it also sucks air in from the downstairs fireplace flue (even when it's closed) causing the downstairs to fill with smoke too. The fix is still in progress, which will include a fan on top of the upstairs fireplace flue, and a spring loaded damper for the downstairs flue.....already installed and shown here. Maybe we've taken making our houses energy tight a little too far? We were required to meet certain energy star requirements to get our Hinesburg Town Certificate of Occupancy. The energy police didn't much like us putting in a fireplace from the very start. But with 7 acres of woods and a pyromaniac for a husband, a fireplace was non-negotiable. Plus...winter in Vermont with no fireplace just wouldn't cut it.

Monday, October 24, 2011

First Lawn Mow

The first mowing of our new lawn will most likely be the last of the season. The weather man is warning us of snow flakes on Thursday. We will be left with the dilemma of determining where the lawn ends and the fields begin. I guess we'll have to make that call next spring when we start up the mower engine again.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

Our Barn Doors are Open


The barn doors are permanently open right now. A delay in their order means the barn remains 'unfinished'. And, until they are here, and installed, the farm equipment remains in the ugly, green temporary barn. The barn is strategically located between the east and west fields for easy access to both, all the while sitting just off the main driveway. What you can't see in the picture is the great amount of space up in the barn loft. Lots of room for barn cats! ;O)

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Falling into Place

It's been exactly two years since we bought this beautiful piece of land on Sherman Hollow Road. We are now mostly moved in and living here and calling Hinesburg and our new house 'home'. A few more blog posts and I should be able to wrap it up! Maybe I'll start a new blog devoted to the development of actually turning it into a working farm. Stay tuned for some final photos of land, house and barn, then a link to a new blog all about Sherman Hollow Organic Farm!

Monday, October 3, 2011

Settling In

It's been a little over a week now that we've been in our new home in Hinesburg, and the pile of boxes is going down. But there's still a long way to go. One thing's for sure, we've been sleeping well after a

hard day's work. This is the great spot we wake up in!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Just in time?

The landscapers finally made it to the house yesterday. Hopefully the plantings will have time to take root before winter hits. They put in some quintessential Vermont plants like lilacs, hydrangeas, lilies, cat mint and more. Now I can fill in with some bulbs and plants of my own.

Monday, September 26, 2011

Exhausted

I guess moving really wore Don out! We are officially 'in' at 251 Sherman Hollow Road after some very intense moving on a rainy Saturday. This photo was taken mid-morning on Sunday. We are still moving out the dregs from South Burlington so aren't officially 'out' of there yet.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Official Business and our first mail delivery

Our very first piece of mail at 251 Sherman Hollow Road was also our very first income for Sherman Hollow Organic Farm, and to make it really special, it came from my favorite uncle. He is selling some syrup for the farm, down in Virginia. I think that's a very good omen for our new home and new business! Thanks Uncle Hank!

Monday, September 19, 2011

Honey from our Bees

Don has harvested the first crop of honey from his two hives. It wasn't a huge harvest since it was a 'building' year for the bees, but I think we got 20 or more pounds of honey. And it's deeeeelicious! We had some fresh from the comb on hot buttered toast.

Sunday, September 18, 2011

Change of Address

This afternoon we put up our new mailbox. By the end of the week we'll be switching our address from 12 Butler Drive, to 251 Sherman Hollow Road.

Saturday, September 17, 2011

What's First is Last

Originally, the barn was going to be the first thing built so it could store construction tools and materials during the snowy winter. But a too wet fall along with an initial poor site plan put the barn on hold till spring. And then some other unplanned interruptions further delayed getting it built. So, now, just in time for

winter, the barn is going up.

Monday, September 12, 2011

Belly up to the bar

A beautiful 'bar' height counter was made by the cabinet maker, Bruce Simpson, and installed late last week. It looks substantial enough to take on a bottle of wine or two, or some mugs of coffee or beer, or whatever else you wish to serve. Some high bar stools will need to be acquired.

Monday, September 5, 2011

Now we're cookin'!

The stove, dishwasher and fridge arrived last Tuesday. And the maple butcher block just needs a couple of coats of mineral oil before the kitchen is good to go. We're practically ready to cook.

Friday, September 2, 2011

Yard Work

Anything Grows Landscaping has been busy grading, raking, seeding, mulching and laying stone paths.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Teal Zeal

The painter thought he got the wrong color when he opened the can of Teal Zeal to paint the powder room and so he didn't paint it...until I quizzed him as to 'why?' a few days ago. Guess he just didn't believe I wanted a room that color. I assured him it was the right color and to go ahead and paint it. So now we have a very teal blue powder room. There will be an old fashioned mirror picked out to go under the light fixture.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Counter tops

The counter tops have arrived and have mostly been installed. The kitchen island is all maple butcher block that is still covered in cardboard. I've only heard negatives about choosing white laminate counters. But I've had them for 25 years, love the 'color"..is white a color? and the fact that a little bleach easily takes care of any stains.

Monday, August 22, 2011

Stonewalled

"Anything Grows" has begun work on the front stone wall for the house, as well as the steps that will lead from the driveway to the house. By the end of the week there may be grass seed planted and some perennials for the

start of a garden.

Saturday, August 20, 2011

Under Contract

We've signed a Purchase and Sales agreement for our house on Butler Drive, so this morning I happily pulled up the For Sale sign. It's been a great home for 24 years so it wasn't easy to put the house on the market, but the new family makes me feel really good about the sale.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Cabinets or Cupboards?

Bruce Simpson, whose shop designed and built the kitchen cabinets, installed them today. Maybe they are cupboards? Anyway...they are beautiful, natural cherry. I'm debating about what sort of hardware to put on them. I don't want anything to detract from them. Countertops will be white f ormica, the island will be maple butcher block, appliances are stainless. Those blue tabs you see in the photo are just little pull tabs so you can get them open until the hardware is put on. I am open to suggestions!

Monday, August 15, 2011

Our New Dining Room Table

These cherry logs, from the cherry tree that had to be taken down at the end of the driveway so that we had clear vision onto the road, will be made into 6/4 boards at Lathrops saw mill. After they are kiln dried Don will make a new dining room table. It will be a long and broad farmhouse table, with plenty of room for you to join us!

Friday, August 12, 2011

Showing you the doors

The interior doors are all going to be natural fir, four panel doors with oiled bronze hardware. These doors are on a closet in a downstairs room.

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Bathroom cabinets

The bathroom cabinets and shelves for the master bath have arrived and are being installed.

Septic system update

John Scott, the excavator, is making fast work of the septic system. There will be a nice little sledding hill or mini-ski jump off the south side of the mound system.

Monday, August 8, 2011

Gravity hasn't failed us yet

Despite pressures to build a septic system using the 'new fangled' pumps and tanks, Don has insisted on going with a gravity run septic. There are no pumps to fail, power outages to endure, or yearly inspection contracts to sign with our Prespy Mound system. What does seem absurd is to have to import fill when you've already got 42 acres of dirt. But, finally, this week the waste water (aka septic system) will be installed. It too is required for the COO.

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Bottom Floor

The basement, which is really a hybrid of a second floor and a basement, is getting it's engineered, quarter swan, floor. It's a floating floor that 'floats' on a pad over the concrete floor and radiant floor heating, rather than being nailed down. It is a darker, wider plank floor than the upstairs birch.

Sunday, July 31, 2011

Exposed!

While clearing trees, undergrowth and brambles for our COO (certificate of occupancy)down by the driveway entrance, we came upon this old, half buried, (what we are guessing to be) horse drawn plow. Yet another old piece of farm equipment to add to our inventory. It is inspiring me to find out more about the history of this little bit of farmland.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Caged Queens

A batch of new queen bees were picked up in St. Albans by Don and Tim King. They will be used to expand into new hives. In the meantime, they really aren't liking their cramped quarters.

Trimmed out

The windows are being trimmed inside. It's a simple design, intended match the lines of the rest of the house.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Pine Floor

In the folklore of Scots pine a common theme is their use as markers in the landscape. We have used the Scot pines that we had to fell from the land to put up our house as some flooring. Perhaps we have marked with this Scot pine floor, the spot from which it lived and now where we will live. This picture is of the Scot pine floor in our bathroom. Maybe by tomorrow afternoon the mudroom and powder room will also have pine floor installed.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

One could do worse than be a swinger of birches

or have a beautiful birch floor underfoot. Our birch flooring is almost all installed and it is beautiful. There are all sorts of colors and patterns. The birch hardwood is from Vermont, which was purchased from Lathrops in Bristol, Vermont.

Friday, July 15, 2011

From Floor to Ceiling

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Instalation of the hardwood floors and the living room pine ceiling were all started today.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

COO

COO = Certificate of Occupancy, which is required before we move in. One thing we need to do to get our COO is clear some trees along our field of vision when exiting the driveway onto Sherman Hollow Road. This is a 'before' picture.

Thursday, June 30, 2011

Inside colors

We have chosen to go with a basic 'sunny white' for most of the inside color, until we can live with it for a while and see how the light/seasons/ etc. are. But some rooms were given a 'real' color. The downstairs den and guest room all were painted. as was our bathroom and the power room.

Monday, June 27, 2011

I'm seeing red

I'm very pleased with the deep, almost brownish red of the garage. The color in the picture makes it look more scarlet than it actually is. Don and I decided that it's the red of sumac fruit in fall. I tried to get a picture where you can see the color of the house next to the color of the garage.

Saturday, June 25, 2011

Finally

It took lots of time and work, but we've finally gotten Butler Drive ready to sell. It was a sad/happy day today to put the 'for sale' sign in the front yard. This has been a great home to us for 24 years.

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

We've got a color

After lots of discussion, we decided on a deep red for the garage. Matching the house seemed too 'suburban' now that we are going to live in the country. I'll add a picture of the color palette we are using that supported the decision, a least according to Benjamin Moore.


Thursday, June 16, 2011

Upstairs in the garage

This is Don, upstairs in the almost finished garage. He's looking very happy because he realized there's lots of room up there to store all our 'stuff', like toboggans and snow shows, fans and bicycles and any other out of season things. There is a wide set of stairs going up into it, plus, for the extra big things, a double wide door at the other end. Now Don will never get rid of anything since he has a place to keep it. The view from those double wide doors is beautiful, out over the field and into the far hills. It would make a better room than a garage storage space.

Nike

Nike
good 'ole Nike, we miss you!