This and That

We left the farmhouse this weekend feeling pretty good about all that we accomplished. Here is a run down of our progress this week: 

We weeded the front garden bed and added some new rocks to better define it as a garden. 

Cory added some new down spouts to all the drain pipes.

 With a munchkin down for a nap we hauled some boulders from the riverside up to the front yard to make a fire pit.

We've decided to tackle two of the four bedrooms first. We took down the blinds, pulled up the carpet and started to peal away at the layers of wall paper. The wall paper is going to be quite a chore to get down. We were pleasantly surprised that they had only painted the the parameter of the original hardwood floors...

Just a reminder here is what the room looked like with the blinds, and carpeting...

We also pulled the wall paper down in the room where our daughter sleeps. It was a little frightening to find what was underneath the first layer. Our best guess is that there is an additional 3 layers of wall paper that still remain in this room...

Here is what the room looked like before-

We have some friends living under the shed in the back. We think they are Nutria and seem pretty harmless...

It had been two weeks since we had been out to the house and we were thrilled to see that Spring had decided to appear..

from our property looking across the river

Rug on the cheap

I was inspired by several posts on Pinterest on how to create a beautiful rug for the farmhouse. I searched through several options and combined some of the suggestions into this creation....

I found this cheap rug at Home Depot for $20.00. It is a 5X7 foot rug. Next step was to pick out a stencil  My biggest suggestion is go for a bigger stencil. This got really tough towards the end as it is so intricate. Then I picked up 2 cans of white spray paint.

the rug before

have to keep the sides of the stencil covered so that the spray paint does not go everywhere

 The finished product:

 After the white was done, I felt like it was missing something. So I went back and got a smaller stencil to lay on top of the white and add a pop of color. I love this blue and happened to have it on hand. Although not one of my best creations it is farmhouse workable. The entire project was under $30.00. One lady said it took her only a half an hour to spray paint her rug. I'd guess that mine was a 2 plus hour project. I think stencil choice is key. Overall, I'm pretty pleased how the rug turned out.

Plumbing is overrated

We got out to the house to find that all the hot water pipes were missing. It appears from the time that we last saw the house until closing someone had their sights on the copper hot water pipping and came and absconded it with it. I guess there is a market for such a thing?

 The scary part is that someone came into the house. None of the windows were busted out nor did it appear that a door was busted. We assume that through one of the 5 entrances to the house that one of the doors accidentally got left unlocked.

Regardless, it was not the nice welcome that we were expecting. We were all a tad foul after four days of no hot water and running water to the bathroom. We did meet a handyman who came to our rescue on Saturday afternoon. So there is now hot water pipping it's still questionable if the hot water tank is working :)

shot of the water heater with the pipes cut

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History of the Dawson Farm

Over the long weekend that we were out at the house, we learned a lot about it and it's origins. The house has been in the Dawson family since the 1730's. It is said that the living room still has the original logs and foundation (which is just nuts).

 The most recent owners were Sparky and Blanch Dawson. Several neighbors stopped to share with us stories of Sparky and what the farm used to be. It was a full fledged working farm up through the 80's. Sparky had a working saw mill up on top of the hill and a lot of folks worked for him on and off over the years.

At some point they transitioned the farm and created a camp ground just below the house and it was a popular attraction in the area.

Sparky died several years ago and Blanch sold the house and surrounding property to a developer. The agreement that was made was that she could live in the house up until her death and then the house would turn over to him. She moved out of the house last May and that is when the house went on the market. She just passed several months ago after living most of her life on the property. Folks said that she was an amazing cook and quite the hostess. I definitely got a flavor for her cooking after scrubbing the kitchen for several days. The knobby pine cabinets are one of my favorite things about the house.

Before I scrubbed my guts out:

notice nasty grease 

entire scope before 

 The after

pretty excited about how they turned out

so fresh and so clean, okay not quite, but so much better than before

It's official- we own a farmhouse!

On Thursday, April 4th we closed on the farmhouse. There of course was drama right before closing, but it all came together and we can officially now say that we own a farmhouse. For better or for worse it is now ours! 

Here are some pictures from out and about around the house: 

L and Cory in front of the house

the house down from the road

the Cacapon River-this is our property

L and Cory heading back up to the house

side view of the house

out for another walk up to the saw mill located on top of the hill behind the house

View from the saw mill down over the field. The farmhouse is down to the left