Cold day, warm thoughts

Today, when the tempature hovers around single digits, my mind drifts back to a time not so long ago when flowers bloomed and the sun didn't hide behind the clouds. Here are some photos from a beautiful afternoon in September at 100 South Meadow. On this very cold day, let them warm your thoughts.

It's begining to look a lot like ...

... Christmas at South Meadow!

We wanted to share pics of some of the holiday decorating we've done so far. When upstairs gets decked, we'll post those, too.



























Next year, we'll expand this view to show the connected barn to the right (currently under renovation)










































Kitchen ...



















Sam nevers seems to miss a photo shoot.

Guest bathroom:



























The halls are decked as well ...

























Can you spot Moses, enjoying a bone?

Living room mantel ...

Eric requested his own tree on his side of the bed ...

'Fall'ing into the season ...

Fall is here and the pumpkins are up ...
... we LOVE this season at 100 South Meadow!

Small steps ... big payoffs

We've made some progress in many areas of the house in the last several weeks ... so decided to share a couple of the updates.

We finally decided on window treatments for the kitchen. The period wool fabric we chose lets in light while providing a bit of privacy. We chose very primitive securements for the curtains (antique nails and garden twine) to finish the look. Many thanks to Grandmother for her help!

We also finished off the laundry room recently. We went with a wide pine paneled ceiling painted the same color as the plastered walls and floor boards. A square window lets in amazing light -- and since it faces the back yard, we didn't adorn it with anything other than trim. A shelf made of leftover flooring holds our laundry supplies and some goods from an antique store in Western New York (including an old Rochester-made whiskey jug and Cape Cod cranberry crate). A rug, found at a yard sale of another historic home in Lancaster, finishes off the room. Because a door (just to the right of the camera view) in this space is the gateway to all that the back yard holds, we wanted to blend the "outside" with the "in" ... and make it a room that is easy on the eyes of its passerbys.

Wet & Wild

If you're familiar with the picturesque babbling brook that runs through our property; a meandering stream that gently washes over and around large field stone and fallen trees -- then you'll appreciate these photos taken just minutes ago.

After a deluge in the early hours of this morning, resulting in about 3 inches of rain in a short period of time, our stream has transformed into a raging river that can be heard clearly from inside the house.

‘Check’ it out

Many hours were spent over the past several days painting the wood floor in our mudroom. Painted floors of all types: solid, checked, striped, free-hand designs and stenciled were a common touch of early American homes. A feature we admire.

After painting the mudroom and hallway the historic color "parnsip," the more detailed work began - measuring, marking, taping, painting, wating, painting, waiting, painting ... you get the point.

Moses insisted on helping with the taping process.

But ...

It proved too tedious for him.

First coat of black ...

After many rounds of touchups, we used a handcut 18th century inspired stencil on the non-black diamonds. A few coats of poly later ... the project was finished. As you can see we continued the black/parsnip/shaker red color combination up the hallway on the walls, floors, built-in bench and sliding doors (built with antique hardware found in New Hampshire).

Here's a glimps of what the mudroom area looked like when we bought the house a little over a year ago.

Splish, splash

After weeks of rain, mud, mold and mushrooms ... we must remind ourselves that the sun will shine again (hopfully soon!). To help that effort, enjoy these photos of the last "summer" day we had in New England ... June 7. It was so hot that Sunday even Moses needed to cool off. He enjoyed hours of play in our yard, splashing with his girlfriend Soli.

Earlier that day, the pups attended Whisker Walk at the Lancaster Fairgrounds; here's a shot of them enroute.