A Tour Inside The Farm House - Upstairs

Since we began a house tour yesterday, let's go upstairs now and see that also. That moose head, by the way, is a bird house with the two nostrils as entry holes for the birds. I don't put it outdoors but think it's a pretty nifty wall hanging:

The top of the stairs with Georgette atop her cat tree where she spends most of the day. That halo of light coming from the bathroom is from two high windows looking toward the west:

And here are the windows and the bathroom:

The business end of the bathroom. The shower is off to the left:

My bedroom which, admittedly, has gotten a bit crowded. Those bi-fold doors go to one of two big, walk in closets:

The parakeet and guinea pig get to live in my bedroom. I figure they get more personal attention that way from me and are protected from the cats:

One of two dressers plus the doorway to the second big, walk in closet:

The guest bedroom. I'll use it to house the brooder for the baby chicks when they arrive and then turn it into a guest room:

The view to the northwest from the guest room window:

The view to the northeast. Those trees are the flowering crabs and apple tree which bloomed so strikingly this spring:

A Tour Inside The Farm House - Downstairs

Now that everything is unpacked and organized, I thought it was time for a tour inside the farm house. Let's begin with the "Dog Food Corner" in the kitchen. There are two permanent water bowls and three food bowls, put out twice daily. The aluminum flashing on the corners is to prevent any more cat scratching damage and the row of dog beds to the left is one you've seen often because it is such a favorite:

Looking from the kitchen dog beds toward the main door:

And the business end of the kitchen, with sink, cupboards and appliances. The laundry room and door to the cellar are off to the left:

The kitchen work space. The needlepoint was made by my sister many years ago:

Looking from the kitchen through the hall, past the front door toward the living room:

One corner of the living room:

More of the living room:

My little office and computer space:

Another corner of the living room. The wooden mask came from a trip to Mexico, the drum and drumsticks I made myself. The old barn board with horseshoe, etc. was made by mother from artifacts of the ruins of the old family farm in Mount Vernon, Oregon. I found the cow skull in a cow "grave yard" in Hoosick, New York. It had no horns, so I glued some on:

The living room as seen from the front door:

I have two glass fronted shelf units filled with memories. This one has gifts from my sister, memories from both my parents and old stuffed animals full of history which I found in old, abandoned houses and fields. It also contains my childhood Pinewood Derby entry and trophy, vases, animal salt and pepper shakers and lots more. In the center of the top shelf is a double candlestick in the form of a Scottish bear sliding on ice, a favorite possession of my father's. I guess I'd qualify less as a pack rat and more as a sentimental, soft touch:

The other glass fronted shelf unit has a photo of my sister and me as children, my father's old brass canon once used at ceremonies of the Cleveland Armory and a moose candelabra. There's an ivory carving and patriotic dog stature from my father's apartment and lots of memories from family, friends and travels:

Farm House Scenes From A Brief Weekend

I drove up to the farm on a Sunday morning expecting to stay until Tuesday, my usual routine. But on Monday morning, the weather report predicted major snows beginning that very night and making travel, especially in the Adirondacks, both difficult and treacherous. So I drove back home on Monday. My stay had been brief, but I did manage a few photos to share with you, beginning with this one of the house and barn:

I drove to the Wal-Mart in Massena and came home to find a certain giant poodle hiding behind my coats. Can you guess who had pooped on the living room floor while I was out? I felt so sorry for him that I didn't even yell:

And we all took a Sunday afternoon nap. Wally and Winky have so much trouble going up and down the stairs, that I let them stay down there, sleeping on their floor pillows:

At dinnertime, I got a few dog photos. Madeline:

Wally:

Winky:

And Seamus. He's not too big to make use of the floor pillows. In fact, he has bigger ones but seems to prefer the little pillows. Perhaps that's because his little buddies use them:

Fergus, Madeline, Winky and Wally at dinner. They all take turns politely and never quarrel:

This is my sparsely furnished living room. I don't know what else I'll put in there. Certainly not anything covered with cloth - not with all my dogs and cats!:

And standing in the living room looking through the hall (with the stairs to the left and the front door to the right) into the kitchen. The dogs were looking at me, wondering what on earth I am up to:

Standing at the kitchen table and looking across the sink island toward the stove and cupboards. That's the main entrance door on the right. It leads into a mud room with access to the apartment and to the outdoors:


Standing at the sink island, looking toward the refrigerator and hallway, past the cellar stairs (on the left) and into the laundry room. There's also a door into the apartment there, but it's been nailed shut:

A Big Purchase, A Small Purchase, A Freebie

Besides moving into the farm house that weekend, I made a visit to see a used tractor which I'd read about on Craigslist. It was about 20 minutes east of my place and was parked out front by the road when I arrived:

I didn't stop at first, but drove right on back to the house you see behind the trees. They had a great big "Beware Of Dog" sign posted, but the dog turned out to be a sweetheart:

The seller was a retired dairy farmer who now spends his time fixing up old tractors and reselling them. He showed me this one, and then took me back to see what else he was working on that I might like. This was an old (and I do mean old!) Ford 660, gas powered. It ran and shifted like a champ:

It had a power take off and, he assured me, rubber which would live longer than I would (I wasn't experienced enough to tell, so I took his word for it). He agreed to install a block heater and find me a brush hog and hay bale spear which I can use with the tractor. So I bought it with the further agreement that he'd deliver it on my next visit and give me lessons in its use:

Then I drove the other direction to see a used dresser, also from Craigslist. After much trouble finding the place, I purchased it, loaded it into the back of my car and hauled it home. I brought the drawers and mirror in first:

And then I hauled in the dresser with the aid of a hand truck. By then it was dark and I was exhausted, so I took a brief rest:

But once I got it upstairs, it looked terrific in my new bedroom:

The neighbors had given me an old set of drawers which they had no use for.  It'd come from a relative who'd been a scientist at one of the local universities and had kept some sort of records and/or specimens in it. I'd had it a couple of weeks, stored out in the barn:

There were card file drawers stored inside and I threw them out:

Then I carried in the drawers, all except one which appeared to be locked (I have no key), and set it on a tarp in the living room. I planned to clean and paint it some bright color. Some day, when I have lots of free time:

Moving Into The Empty Farm House

I began by inspecting the recently vacated farm house. The tenants had left it clean and what few spots I did see, I cleaned. I vacuumed the bedroom carpet and then ran the rug shampooer over it. Then I grabbed my camera so that I could take you on a tour of the farm house. This is the big country kitchen. I was standing where the table would go and looking toward the appliances, cabinets and island with a sink in it. Outside the window you can see one of the apple trees:

I walked around the island to show you the stove, refrigerator and cabinets. At the end of that hallway are the washer and dryer:

I then walked from the kitchen toward the living room. I was standing in the kitchen when I took this, and looking through the hallway (with the steps to the upstairs bedroom on the right) and the living room straight ahead:

The livingroom, looking back the other way toward where I took the previous photo:

I walked up the stairs to my bedroom which has two giant walk-in closets plus shelves. Again, you can see some of the apple trees outside:

From my bedroom door you can see the stairway (behind that guardrail) and the doors to the other two, smaller bedrooms. The bathroom is on the left, in this photo behind my bedroom door:

A look at the bathroom. As you can see, it's lovely but doesn't have much storage space:

The old bathtub was left in place when we remodeled but ceramic tile was used to modernize and waterproof the walls. Yes, there's two cupboards there but they don't store nearly as much as you'd suppose. Two windows (on the left) look out over the county road toward my neighbors' farm:

One of the extra bedrooms:

The other extra bedroom. Neither of these has a closet and each is half the size of the master bedroom:

Once I'd gotten my bed moved from the apartment to my new bedroom, the dogs had to test it out. Winky, Wally and Madeline were terrified of the stairs, so I had to help them both up and down:

After everything was in place and night had fallen, I put some floor pillows down in the kitchen for the dogs. They rested while I did crossword puzzles at the table: