Step One, find a house and barn

After looking in 3 towns in the Bennington area, we found a house and barn. We looked at 4 and the last one was the one. It is in Arlington which is just south of Manchester and not far from Bennington. We drove around Bennington and finally saw the monument, but what was better.... gorgeous homes around the monument, very old and classic. We will like it there.

We will move to this Cape style house with a nice barn. The closing will be in mid November.

BIG CHANGES SINCE THE LAST POST

From spring, through summer and into the fall, we have decided to make some major changes in our life.

• first we were going to open an Airbnb using the apartment and lots of left over furniture from the house to fix it up nicely. New flooring and a rebuilt chimney were the major renovations. 
• with a visit to Grand Isle in July, we recognized that it would be quite enjoyable to LIVE there. we met with a real estate agent and started looking at property. Trying to find a little house and a big barn brought us to a place that was simply shocking, and thus started us on the journey of house hunting that continues to this day. 
• but in the middle of the night, after realizing that taxes are very high in the islands, and the houses were not great away from the shore, I visualized living in southern Vermont closer to our families.
• Bennington area holds  our interest now, some place we have never spent much time in, some place that has the charm of Vermont, an academic community with a highly acclaimed medical center, a very rich historical background ( the monument is a big clue) and it is close to one of Vermont's outstanding fly fishing rivers, the Battenkill. So does this make sense? 
• all the family and some friends we have discussed this with are more than happy about the idea.

So today I started in the attic and had a great time throwing stuff out the window. The new pickup truck does help with trips to recycle and will be great for moving, towing the trailer, towing the boat and eventually towing the next Airstream trailer (Flying Cloud 23 FB); it's already picked out.

Here is the first load of the house clearing.

It Just Keeps Snowing...

winter deep freeze 2018

Jan 6, 2018   at 100 pm and it is -11 degrees. For weeks it has been below freezing  and lately below zero. Birds feed all day, deer look for any bits they can find, but the snow is very deep now.

This year's driftwood mobiles are working well for the perching birds like juncos, chickadees, and sparrows.

Woodpeckers are driving me crazy as they peck on the house, really removing quite a lot of wood bits, perhaps since it is so cold. We are hoping the warms temps on sunday, anything about zero would be nice. I think this what it must be like at the poles, north or south, just NOT for 45th parallel.

Visit from the SAAB guy.....

Graham Cullen and friend Tom finished a 12 hour bike ride at our home saturday, July 15. A great visit ended with the  best part of all, Graham worked on my Saab and did a mini tune up, solved a problem, squirted lubricants here and there and off we went. Runs like a dream with the new shocks thanks to John this summer. Before they left, snapped a few pics.

Morning Glory Inspiration

This is how it all began.
At 4 corners farm   4 Corners Farm   in W. Newbury, VT, I am so impressed by this wall of morning glories, year after year that I had to make something as dramatic. I hope my morning glory greenhouse will be as good.
see previous  post.