I made an actual decision!

I had to make the first actual purchasing decision for the house last night. I've been dreaming about countertops, moulding and the like for months. Now it's time to stop contemplating and start deciding.

At left will be the front and back entry doors. It's a pretty close match to what was already there, only in energy-efficient steel and glass combination that "closes like your refrigerator," or at least so says the manufacturer's product literature. And the grilles are inside the glass for easy cleaning. Music to my heart.

I tried hard to keep the original wood doors, at right. They're beautiful, but I got dumb looks (as in, I was the dumb one) when I proposed stripping and refinishing them, reglazing the windows, and adding weatherstripping to bring them up to today's standards. Yeah, I have to admit, they would still be energy suckers no matter what I did.

This is the entry lever. Can you see I'm planning ahead for carpal tunnel syndrome and arthritis? Sheesh, I'm only 34.

Bob and I bought three of these entry light sconces on a super deal at the outlet mall Smith & Hawken store. I'm in love with oil-rubbed bronze (or faux bronze, which is the case here). One will go by the backdoor and two by the front.

Shifting wall!

The heavy load of snow on the roof, coupled with the rains we had a couple weeks ago, made for a big problem. The ice was too heavy for the roof, and it actually pushed out the front wall of the house a bit. It even snapped one of the upstairs ceiling joists.

Why has this never happened in the house's 125-year history? The house is unheated as Pat works on it. The house had never gone unheated in 125 years, and it also never had a speck of insulation in it. All the heat went right out through the roof and melted the snow, so there weren't heavy snow loads sitting on it.

Once the house is insulated and we're in it, we'll have snow on it most of the winter. Pat has been working away in the attic, bracing the roof and attemptening to straighten out what he can while up there.

Isn't this fun?

Gutting

We were able to completely gut the house the weekend of October 18. Thanks to the help of several family members who arrived to help us out and those who supported the crew, we were able to save thousands of dollars over having the builder do it! The cost instead was a lot of sore muscles, a handful of Band-Aids, a dumpster, a burn permit and only a little cash.


I won't say it was an easy do-it-yourself project. It has taken me this long to finally recover and get this video put together. The work was hard on our muscles and the plaster dust hard on our sinuses, but we are thankful it was done so quickly and very thankful to everyone who helped.


Bob and I did many nights of prep work, removing everything that needed to be saved or that would get in the way of demolishing the interior. Our first friends and family members came on Friday, October 17 and got more done than we imagined possible. By the time more people arrived on Saturday, we were well underway with lathe and plaster flying every which way. It's amazing what a determined bunch of people can destroy in a couple days!


We started out Friday morning with a list of priorities and some directions I had penciled on the dining room wall. By noon those were long gone, as the plaster was already ripped from that wall. Everyone was adept at seeing what needed to be done and getting right to work doing it. Each person had her or his own method that worked well for them. Some cleaned as they went. Others pushed hard for awhile, then took breaks to shovel out the debris. Some preferred a small prybar and hammer, others a pick axe and sledge.


Bob spent most of him time shuttling loads of lathe to the burn pile on a wagon behind our lawn tractor. Maggie, Rick, Arthur, Chris, Dale, David, Glenn, Anita and I worked on interior demolition. Dick made the hog barn look so clean I couldn't believe it was the same building. (Now it will be the perfect home for the girls' future 4-H animals.) Mark worked on some projects around the farmstead. Brenda, Diane, Anita and Carol took care of Addy and Dori and meals (big thanks to Diane for feeding the crew the entire weekend). Diane and Brenda both spent time sweeping up after the crew. Addy and Anita pulled nails after all else was done.

We're going for it!

Part insanity, part history, part roof over our heads, we have decided to take on the project of restoring the 125-year-old farmhouse that has been in Bob's family since shortly after the Great Thumb fire of 1881. It received its last facelift in 1929.

Yeah, we have a lot to do.

Bob and I are country people, suckers for the draw of family and history, so although this may possibly be the craziest plot we have yet developed, it is our plot.

And it thickens.

The Great Thumb Fire of 1881 wasn't the only one to ravage the area. A decade earlier, another one tore through the Thumb, brought on at the same time and by the same conditions as the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 — minus Mrs. O'Leary's cow, of course.

If you're wondering what the heck a Thumb is and why I'd capitalize it, think of the shape of Michigan as a mitten. We live in the thumb. And we're a proud people, so it's The Thumb.

Most of this area was left charred, but somehow a large section of maple woods was spared. That is the family sugarbush, where the family has been making maple syrup since 1882.

Those maple trees have charmed five generations so far. Addy says she has two favorite places in the world. One is my parents' dairy and cash crop farm. The other is the maple woods.

I can't imagine anything better than raising our children at the edge of the woods, with barns (though having seen better days) in which to raise some 4-H animals. We'll be just down the road from grandma and grandpa. Our neighbors will be cattle, corn fields and Amish families. There's one English neighbor (that's what the Amish call the rest of us) across the way, and it's nothing less than thrilling that they have a couple of homeschooled kids just a little older than ours.

We have been town people for nearly 5 years, but the country is where we grew up and where we belong. If you know me well at all, you know that my requirement is to be able to walk to the mailbox in my underwear. Doesn't work so well in the city limits.

Maybe we've been reading too much A.A. Milne and Laura Ingalls Wilder, but we are charmed by the appeal of The Hundred Acre Wood and The Little House everywhere.

I know, it sounds charming now. Wait until we're knee deep in plaster and paint. Ask us how charming it is then.

Until then, we're gathering bids to see just how costly this plot will be.