Before I continuereminiscing about my old log cabin.....
Let me first point out a
SENIOR MOMENT!!!!!
I host a Q&A on the FIRSTTUESDAYof each month.
This past Tuesday, I put up the form to ask questions.
NOBODYpointed out to me that
it was the middle of the month!!!!!
Now I figure that you guys were either being
polite.....
too scared of me to say anything.....
or you didn't notice either, 'cuz you're as brain dead as I am!!!!!
So don't expect any answers next Tuesday...
BECAUSE
it is the
first
Tuesday
of
July!!!!!
(so I will be taking questions.....
because that is what the FIRST TUESDAY is for!!!!!)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now back to my cabin.....
Back in 1985,
I thought it would be a good idea to buy a home on water.
So first I looked along the ocean on the north shore of Massachusetts,
only to find that anything in my price range
was next to some hovel with a car up on cinder blocks in the side yard.
That's not a look I'm crazy about.....,
so I decided to go farther afield into the neighboring state of New Hampshire.
I heard of Lake Sunapee through some friends,
so thought it would be interesting to look up there.
(Going for an "On Golden Pond vibe")
I checked out the newspaper for properties for sale,
saw something and called the real estate agent.
And he said.....
"The property in the ad wouldn't appeal to me,
but to....
BRING MY CHECK BOOK,
'CUZ HE HAD JUST THE PLACE
I WAS LOOKING FOR!!!!!"
I walked in and went straight for the screened in porch....
And bought the damn place.
Knowing nothing about the area, the lake, the mountain, the people, the activities, the flora or the fauna......,
I still buy property the same way.....
When I see something I like, I'm so afraid someone else will snatch it from under my nose, that I don't take the time to really research it.
Doesn't matter that this house had been on the market
FOREVER!!!!!
It just takes one other person to want it, and ruin all my fantasies.
I didn't have to do much to get it to what I wanted it to be.
Just.....
reroof it
varnish the outside
redo the kitchen and the bath
put in an artisian well
refinish the floors
put in skylights, cuz it was so dark inside
winterize it
add another floor downstairs with a bedroom, bath and study
put in new windows
add a laundry area
repoint the fireplace
replace the floor on the screened porch
add storm panels for the screened porch
put in a new driveway by regrading the hill, so a car could actually get down to the cabin.....
add a deck
redo the stairs to the lake
addAdirondacks railings to the deck and stairs
put in a stone terrace
AND DECORATE THE $%&
OUT OF THE PLACE!!!!!
You may have not noticed, but I like to collect
themes of stuff!!!!!
So I started acquiring Black Forest bears.
From the European Alpsto the American Rockies, Black Forest carvings are timeless works of art thatcelebrate nature and mountain living.
Their name causes abit of geographic confusion—they are often mistakenly associated with the BlackForest of Germany but are in fact from Brienz, Switzerland.
And according toWikipedia
Wood-carvingis a traditional cottage industry in the regionand carved ornaments now are produced in substantial numbers as souvenirs fortourists.Cuckooclocksarea popular example; they have been made in the region since the early eighteenthcentury and much of their development occurred there.
All I know is I bough a whole $%& load of them.....
I had to blow up pictures of my magazine article, so they are
VERY
fuzzy....
Notice the big bear outside the window......
I got it in Rutland Vermont, on the way back from visiting my parents up in theAdirondacks.
It's a wonderful example of chain saw art,
a truly
American type of folk art....
But lets go back to the screened porch, because that isdefinitelythe most wonderful space in the cabin.
In the evening.....
with the sun setting over the lake.....
sitting on the little wicker loveseat.....
with a good lowbrow paperback and
a bag of Chexmix
IS HEAVEN!!!!!
(shesh, look at how young I was.....OY!!!)
As I mentioned.....
the living room was so dark, that I put in two skylights to add much needed sunlight.
That's one of the biggest disadvantages about having a porch off a room, it cuts down on daylight getting in the windows.
I struggled with the idea of painting the wood white,
which would have really lightened up the room.
But the thought of covering that wonderful honey color was something I couldn't face.....
The kitchen was another black pit.
One of the reasons I don't have a before shot, is because the room was so dark, my Polaroid....
(yes, that's how long ago this was!!!!)
couldn't get an image.
So on Tuesday, I will pick up at this point,
and tell you all about the kitchen,
and other good $%&.
Latah Gatah
Partying at
