Barn Charm # 79

I'm featuring the Ohio State Barn west of my small town

in full summer dress.

This is my favorite barn around here.

Check out Barn Charm.

Explanation and Monday's Prayer

I have been absent from blogging.

Sometimes, I have read some of your blogs,

but did not comment.

At other times, I didn't read any.

I have not posted for almost two weeks.

Explanation: A switch of medications.

Something I researched and agreed to do.

I have a good doctor and I believe I am in good hands.

The body has not liked the change

and I have felt anti-social 

and/or too tired to think of something to write.

I am rounding a major bend and in three weeks

I will be completely switched.

My body is finally adapting

and thus, my brain is beginning to want to function.

I don't know how much I will blog or comment,

but know that I care for all of you -- my blogger friends.

My silence only means my body is adjusting.

A HUGE moment occurred yesterday:

I joined a local church.

It is where my dad pastored when I was in high school.

It is the church God has been instructing me to join.

I've always been a bit rebellious,

but the rebellion often manifests as passive aggression.

I don't 'do' as much as I 'do not do'.

So I did not join though I've lived here nine years.

Well, yesterday I became a conscious (not simply on paper)

 member of a church.

Below are some pics of the house.

We have possession 

and my husband has started on the living room ceiling.

He and a friend tore out the ceiling in the living room.

He is wiring places for lights.

Then he will put dry wall up and do the finishing touch.

We've got a guy lined up to paint it then.

MONDAY'S PRAYER:

Lord,

I commend my day to You 

and ask You to be in charge of it

from beginning to end.

Enable me to do all

I need to do successfully and well.

Help me to do it 

carefully and not carelessly.

Help me to do it all diligently 

and not lazily.

Help me to do everything skillfully 

and not shabbily.

I know I cannot do all I need to do in my day

without Your help.

I don't want to ever take for granted that,

just because I have done some of these things before,

they are always going to turn out right

each time.

I know that sometimes

even the simplest things

can become a problem or a challenge,

so I don't want to assume that 

everything will automatically go smoothly.

That's why I submit 

my entire day to You

and ask You to be in charge of all I am doing.

Specifically, what I need the most help

with today is:

(fill in).

The ways I want You to guide me today are:

(fill in).

What I am most concerned about today is:

(fill in).

The things I want to accomplish today are:

(fill in).

The people I need to see and talk to are:

(fill in).

What I hope will happen today is:

(fill in).

What I don't want to happen today is:

(fill in).

Lord, I thank You that You are in charge

of my day and all that happens.

Be in charge of the surprises,

the unexpected,

and the things that turn out differently

than I planned.

Enable me to hear Your voice

speaking to my heart,

telling me the way I should go

and what I should do.

In Jesus' name I pray.

WORD POWER:

This is the day the Lord has made;

we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Psalm 118:24

Blessing to you all as you go about your week.

More News about our 'new' house

We closed on the house this past Tuesday.

They will be out by evening the 23rd

or if moving truck is behind time,

then the morning of the 24th.

We have some work that needs done 

to the living room ceiling---

well actually a whole new ceiling----

smooth plaster instead of the  squares 

that are there now.

I want some rooms painted.

I cannot do it myself because:

a) I'm very MESSY.

b) I do a lousy job. 

c) I get more of the paint on me than the walls.

d) It's tough to do with the fibromyalgia.

Since I am thinking about some aspects 

of this house buy,

I thought I would share some of my thoughts.

This is a great picture of how two rooms flank the dining room.

The camera is being shot from the door to the living room.

I love the character that the arch doorways add.

To the right is the kitchen.

There is a coat closet there.

To the left is a large hallway-type room

where they have their washer and dryer.

We do not want it there,

so will hopefully be able to move it upstairs 

to the long walk-in closet/storage room.

The room will most likely become Mike's office

 and we want to look into installing doors to shut it off.

(Neatness in not part of his office style.)

The main reason we are considering it for Mike's office

is that his close friend/like a brother Rusty's desk

will not lift well or go through a bedroom window,

and we both want to keep it.

Rusty died in a freak diving accident at a coal strip pit 

when we were all 23.

(We went to school and graduated together---

Rusty was a good friend of mine also.)

When his mother died several years ago, his sisters sold the house

(their dad was already deceased).

They gave Rusty's desk to Mike 

and it and two file cabinets have made up his corner office

in the basement (literally a corner of the basement--not a room).

This will be a huge step up for Mike!

Here is the ceiling that will be replaced.

Some trim work needs done also.

They have wonderful stained glass transoms

that they had installed.

I would like to do this to the ones upstairs--

two are shown below.)

This is my least favorite room. 

The folks who sold this house to us are Quakers

and their quiet, gentleness is shown in the low-key decoration

of the house.

Sheer curtains and soft tones are found in all the rooms but here.

The curtains are a much heavier material 

(there are blinds in all the windows

except the kitchen) and a 'loud' floral.

The wall color is a version of clay perhaps.

The room is not awful by a long shot,

 but I would rather not keep it this way.

Also---

We, being use to much more crowded conditions,

would have squeezed the toilet closer to the sink

and the sink right up against the wall.

That would have allowed for a shower--maybe custom-made

to fit.

Since this is the only bathroom upstairs,

a shower feature would be welcome.

However, it is nice to have all that space there.

It was originally a walk-in closet.

[Actually, we like the idea of getting ready downstairs,

because Mike and I do not get up at the same time

especially during school.  I get up at 4:30 and the soonest

he has to be up is 6 and often 7.]

Anyhow, a paint job and new curtains are needed.

The floors are navy in two bedrooms and the hallway connecting them.

I am not a navy person.

Any suggestions for paint color?

Restoring them to natural would mean going through layers of paint

to not so great wood underneath (according to them),

so that is not an option for us.

Below is a better picture of the floor color.

This is one of the kitchen windows.

A window flanks each side of the old chimney (not visible inside).

There are trees and bushes blocking those windows.

She has sheer curtains with a lace pattern drawn across each of them.

The curtains have a special meaning to her pertaining to her mom,

so they go with her.

Now, should we cut back the trees and such to let light in

or keep it private

 and thus not have to worry much about covering the windows?

The inside of this portion of the house is shown below.

There is presently no heat in the kitchen except for this black stove.

There is a place ready for heat to be installed,

bit we will use the stove for the first year. 

Well, that's it for now.

Nothing I have mentioned is a big deal.

We could move in this week and live contentedly in it as is,

except for the living room ceiling---that bugs both of us.

This redo is more a matter of making it ours

than having to do it.

Any ideas are welcome.

If you missed the original post about the house,

click here for lots of pictures and info.

Barn Charm # 78

Different angles of the same barn.

I've shown this once before,

but it was not summer

and I didn't 'shoot' all the angles well.

I took a side road off the main drag out west of town.

I decided to follow it indefinitely

and found myself weaving back to the main road.

Please check out Tricia's place.

Corner View: Home

As some of you know,

we have been searching for the right house

in which to make our last home.

There are 5 houses on the market here in this lovely small town 

for every 25 that come on the market in a near-by town,

where my son lives.

However, C. is not our home;

B. is.

So for 3 years now,

we have been examining houses,

wondering if 'this one could be the one'.

Although, I don't have photos of all of them,

here are some.

This was to go up for auction, but there was a problem with the title

being free and clear,

so we did not bid on it.

I never got inside it.

This is a landmark home in our  historical register town.

They bought it at the peak of the U.S.'s real estate market

and were selling it at the low point.

It was quite expensive and needed many updates,

the two greatest of which were a remodeled kitchen and bathroom.

 A friend of ours grew up in this
home.  She and her sisters were considering selling it after their mother died.  They knew we were interested,
so with much hope in all our hearts,
we looked.
The bedrooms were tiny and strangely located and the upstairs bedroom and storage room needed a lot of structural
work. There was no air conditioning.
The kitchen would need major updating.

 I have only inside rooms and the side yard photos of this house.
It was a lovely, fairly new home on one acre in one of three nicest neighborhoods in town.   However,
the rooms were incredibly smaller than  I expected considering the price tag.  This is the kitchen, dining area,
and main living space.  There is no separate dining room.  We could not get 13 around that table in that small space and would have to move furniture to set up a table in the living/family room.
We can get all 13 in the dining room of our 600 sq. ft. home now--a feat not to be taken lightly!
Below is a picture of a side yard to this house.

This one was far out of town, but off
of Interstate towards where my son lives.  It was on 14 acres, so we decided to check it out.  The realtor had told us to look at the outside first and then if we were still interested, he would set up a time to show us the inside.
We knew the house would require a lot of work, but the price was very low for that reason. The land and outbuildings were great.
However, our thoughts were drowned out by the sound of the Interstate 70 traffic---not the peace and quiet we were seeking.

 This home was a 20 minute drive from town,
but there were 3 decent ways to get to
my school from it, so it actually would have been the same driving time to my work.  It once belonged to a close friend of mine--a long time ago--and before the additions and big building were built.

It sat on five acres with a pond.  Part of the pond can be seen here.  The house you see is separate and not close to the house we were looking at.

Here is the big building that was built for multi-purposes: the main one was for the guy's successful gun shop.

However, the building was specifically set up inside and Mike would have had to tear down walls.

There is an apartment upstairs that would have been good for my daughter and her family when they visited.

But the house itself needed work inside and out. The young widow (he was much older and each wife was younger than the previous one until he was almost 'robbing the cradle'; my friend was the first wife) had let it deteriorate.  She just couldn't maintain it. 

However, the kitchen and main bathroom did not need remodeling. The kitchen was in a new addition 

and the bathroom had been enlarged and redone.

In the end, it was just too far out of town.

Also, if anything happened to Mike, I'd be isolated and would struggle with upkeep.

 This one was my dream  home.
I grew up across from it.  I wrote all about it here.  I featured the incredible stained glass windows in another post
This is the only one I cried over.
To say "It needed everything redone and brought up to code and time period (like heat upstairs) is not exaggerating.  Though lower than the others, the price was still ridiculous considering  we would have to put a lot of  money it.
Mike told my son that if we were 20 years younger, we might take it on, because then we would have been able to do a lot of the work ourselves.

But now, it was too much, too late in our lives and with a little yard.

This will be our home soon.

We close on it July 8th, but they won't be moved out yet,

so it will be Aug. before we are in.

Check out more of it here

As Goldilocks said, "This one is just right."

For more views on 'home' from around the world,

check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo.

.

Barn Charm # 77

I have been taking photos of several barns out west of town
and showing the seasonal changes through them.
The smaller photos of each barn is from April of last year
before that terrible storm in June that wreaked havoc throughout
the US and other places.
The larger ones were taken this past Saturday.
As you can see, the differences in the seasons are obvious.
So is the storm damage.

This is the Ohio State barn, but I wasn't able to get a photo of the other side--the side that has
the Buckeye painted on it.  The smaller one is an April shot with the larger one being a June one.

As for the other two barns,

seeing them was difficult.

You really would have had to strain your eyes and use your imagination 

looking at a photo

to see the one through the leaves.

The other one was invisible to me,

although I knew it was there behind all that foliage.

For more barn views, check out Tricia's place

.

Here is the Soon-to-be-Our HOUSE!

Beautiful country setting: Lovely renovated home on 8.2 private acres, in the quiet neighborhood.  Four minutes to town. Level yard surrounded by woods and fields. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 bath. New kitchen and custom bath. High ceilings, great natural light. Replacement windows, fully insulated. Natural gas heat, with both forced air and radiant stove. New roof. Rewired. City water. Large 2-car detached garage with workbenches, storage in upper level.…

What I love about the home

Our home of 29 years has been a wonderful place to raise our children. We have enjoyed renovating this charming house, which combines character and comfort, privacy and convenience.

• Bedrooms:3 beds
• Bathrooms:1.5 baths
• Single Family:1,484 sq ft
• Lot:357,191 sq ft
• Year Built:1878
• Heating Type:Forced air
• The above information was on a Zillow Real Estate Internet site for folks selling their own homes.

• We had no idea that this house sat on 8 acres smack dab in the neighborhood in which my husband
• grew up and where he wanted to live out the rest of his life.
• It came up for sale out of the blue and by the owners.
• My husband was not 'into' the farm house, but it is in great shape.
• The land is what grabbed both of us: it's an absolute haven.
• I can teach two more years if I have this to come home to.
• We signed a contract and gave a down payment on it this past Thursday.
• We close on July 8th.
• They are trying to get their closing date in Massachusetts moved up from Aug. 8th.  We want to be in and somewhat settled before my school begins---August 26 and 27 are teacher days and the students begin Sept. 3rd--the day after Labor Day.

• I am not sure how I got this white area and all these bullets, 
• but this post has given me problems, so I am not going to try and fix it.

• 
• This the view from the side of the road.
  This is a front field. 
  A guy mows it for them for the hay.
  
  
• 
  This is considered the front of the house.
  The front door has the portico over it and opens into the living room.
  The bay window is the living room.
  The other lower windows you see are over the kitchen sink.
  
  
  
  This is the back of the house.
  They will be taking their swing with them,
  but we will take one of ours--
  the one that was mine when I lived on my own with my teenage son
  a long time ago.
  
  
  There is an unheated storage room --the tiny square window
  is in it.
   You access it from the back porch.
  The long narrow window near the fireplace is in the kitchen.
  
  
  
  Here is a close-up of the front of the house.
  
  
  The next 3 photos are of the wonderfully 
  remodeled kitchen.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  They are leaving most of the appliances including 
  the washer and dryer.
  However, they are taking the refrigerator with them.
  It is a German model and is incredibly quiet
  which was top on their list.
  It is much too small for us
  so we are fine with buying a new one.
  Ours will stay here for the renters.
  
  
  
  This is the main bathroom and it is downstairs.
  There is a half-bath upstairs.
  The tub is 6 ft. long--he required one.
  Mike and I are shower people,
  but the grandkids will love it,
  and I won't be
  sitting on the toilet seat squished
  between the sink and the bath tub
  while I supervise them.
  By golly, there is room for a chair in there!
• 
  



The dining room is off the kitchen.
The door you see is a closet.

The door you see here takes you to a
small, sandstone basement.
Even with a sump pump,
it remains damp.
There will be no 'man-cave' in this basement--
something my husband has given up for the land.


The alcove is their laundry room.
The washer and dryer are behind closet doors.
We are going to try to move them into a huge closet upstairs,
and this will be closed off to be Mike's office.
It is a good-sized room.
• 
  
• 
  



Here is the living room.
The door you see is considered the front door,
although people usually enter through the kitchen.
That's fine with me; it's much better than having folks come though
my cluttered, dreary basement
as they do now.



The two windows you see are where we will probably 
add a master bedroom.
A basement foundation, a master bedroom,
and stairs to an art studio 
are parts of our future plan.


We are also buying the mineral rights to the land,
so adding on will have to wait a little bit.
(It is incredibly wonderful that they offered the mineral rights to us.
Our area in Ohio is in the middle of the fracking boom,
so this is a crucial time to have control over your own land.)



This is the main stairway 
and is between the living room and bathroom.
There is an outside door that opens out into a very private
side yard.
This side yard is where the addition will go.



This is the 2nd biggest bedroom.
The door there leads to a walk-in closet
that goes the entire width of the house.
One of the bedrooms will be for guests all the time,
and the other will be my office/studio
until we are able to build the addition.

This is the smallest bedroom.
There is a walk-in closet in here also.
The closets are remarkable for such an old farm house!



They took a walk-in closet and made a half-bath
for upstairs.
It is in a good location for all three bedrooms.



This is the master bedroom as they showed it on their Internet site.
Below is how it looks now.
The steps lead down into the kitchen where there is a closed door 
separating the stairs from the kitchen.
If you look back at the 3rd kitchen photo,
you will see the door
and the remainder of the steps.
This is typical of old homes.


There is another walk-in closet in the small hallway
that leads to this room.
That closet is used for their clothes
and will be for ours too.








This is just a small part of the back yard.
Over in the back left-hand corner is a grape arbor.
The land extends into the woods, ravine, and a stream.



This shows the separate garage that has 2nd floor storage.
However, they kind of goofed when they built it
and didn't make it high enough for a lot of adults to stand up in.
That nixes it for an office or studio.
We will use it as they did: for storage.



This window in the small bedroom 
looks out at the front field 
and the main road in the subdivision beyond the big tree.
We already know the folks across the road---we went to school
with them.  They will be good neighbors.




In the next photo, the house you can barely see part of 
is across the road
and belongs to a good friend of ours.
We will love having her as a neighbor.
(She was just widowed last year
at age 60.  She was a year ahead of us in school.)

Here are the two side fields.
The land extends to the road on the other side of the pine trees.







This is where the addition will go.





Just another view of part of the back yard.


So this is the fantastic news I've been hinting at.
Some of you know how long we have waited for a 'home'.
We will rent our small Craftsman bungalow.


I will tell about how God worked this all out
another time.
This post is already too long!