Objects Found

Every now and then I try to imagine who may have lived in this old house before us.  I know some of the answers thanks to the neighbors and the Bethel Historical Society but I certainly don’t know them all.  The other night I was sitting in the guest bedroom, which is now the nicest room in the house, and is also the oldest part of this house.  I can tell it’s the oldest by the Post and Beam construction, hand hewn beams, and the wide pine boards, some over 20 inches wide.  It would have been a cabin when it was first built, basically a living area and kitchen on the first level and the sleeping room above it.  There was most likely an outhouse somewhere nearby. I tried to picture how many people lived here way back at the beginning. Were there a bunch of children? What did they do to survive? This lot of land is only ¾ of an acre now but was it once a larger parcel that they had cleared to farm?  Did they cut timber?  Did they work at one of the original mills across the street on Mill Brook making staves or grinding grain?  What did they eat most of the time? What did they wear?  With no electricity what did they do at the end of the day and what time did they go to sleep?  My imagination was reeling so vividly that I felt like I could almost see them and feel them in the room. 

So now and then I find an interesting object(s) that get me thinking and here’s a sampling so far:

Do they think I'm the 19th hole?

I know the story here; bad golfers.  Living across the street from the second tee of the Bethel Inn and Country Club a severe slice will many times end up in my yard.  I haven’t been hit yet by a golf ball but I did see one land 6 feet in front of me a month ago.  I also noticed that the golfers don’t yell “fore” when they head my direction like they do when they can actually see someone that their ball may hit.  I’m thinking if I ever do get beaned by a ball and don’t hear “fore” maybe I should unload the contents of one these boxes back in their direction one by one every second and when the box is empty I’ll yell “fore”.  Well that would be mean, but funny if you could see their reaction.

Cut Nails

Cut Nails. They’re very cool and I did not think they were manufactured any longer but they are.  The Tremont Nail Company in Mansfield, MA http://www.tremontnail.com/    makes them just like they did 190 years ago.  It looks like you can buy a pound of these (approximately 165 nails) for $7.15.  That seems like a bargain.

Moosehead Padlock

An old padlock with a moose head engraving.  I found this tucked away between some rafters in the unfinished loft area. I wonder what they used the lock for?   I wonder where the key is?  I wonder if Antiques Road Show would tell me it’s worth $20,000?

Porcelain doll arm - Broken pottery

The pottery chunks I found in the house and I can’t tell if they’re kind of old or really old.  The arm is like porcelain and would be from a small doll.  I found this out in the yard a few weeks ago when I was raking. I imagine a young girl named Lisa was out in the yard playing with her doll one day when her brother came over and teasing her, grabbed the doll and then tossed it where upon the arm broke off.  The girl ran into the house crying to mother that Eddie had broken her doll.  Mother yelled “Eddie… come - here – right - now.”   Although Eddie tried to say it was an accident he couldn’t pull one over on mother who spanked him, gave him extra chores to do, and then sent him to his bedroom for the rest of the day.  The doll arm remained right where it broke off all these many years covered by dirt and leaves just waiting for me to pick it up and write this blog.

Turmoil

This last item is really the most interesting.  I found it near the padlock under a loose board and a bunch of dirt in the loft.  I began to read… “Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil…” and then I really couldn’t make out much of the rest of it.  My thoughts were wow, this was written by a tortured soul and could this be a suicide note?  It was a creepy feeling.  I didn’t realize it was a Psalm until I Googled the part I could read and lo and behold it brought me right to Psalm 94:19 which in full reads:

"Lord, when doubts fill my mind, when my heart is in turmoil, quiet me and give me renewed hope and cheer."

I feel a little better knowing this person was asking for renewed hope and cheer but this is the kind of stuff when you find it that really gives you a sense of what at least one person was feeling who lived here. 

The Culahs are coming, The Culahs are coming

This past week there was a very noticeable change in the colors of the trees.  Saturday was a beautiful sunny warm day and although we had many house projects to do it was way too nice do to any of them.  Instead we did what any rational being should…we goofed off.  After we went to the transfer station we decided to explore the hills and some areas where we have not been yet and all I can is wow. Having been in California for the last five fall foliage seasons I have really missed this special time of year in New England which is so brief and so beautiful. It feels wonderful to be in the middle of it as each day more trees join the chorus of colors.  So here are a few pictures of the start of the season and we’ll see when she peaks.

Later this day we were invited to dinner at our friend’s house who earlier had met a thru-hiker on the Appalachian Trail when she was walking her dog in Grafton Notch State Park and invited him to dinner also.  Greg Harris, with a trail name of “small-blue-dot” is from Austin, Texas and he started walking the Appalachian Trail at Springer Mountain, GA in April of this year.  I can’t remember if he said he left April 6^th or 26^th but either way he’s been walking for awhile.  He plans on reaching Mount Katahdin before October 15^th when they apparently close Baxter State Park for overnight camping.  Greg was a very thoughtful person and it was a treat to for us to be in his company for a few hours.  We wish you safe travels on the rest of your journey Greg.

Apple Picking

Sunday Lauren and I went apple picking at Lyon Orchards on Grover Hill Road in Bethel which is only 3 ½ miles from our house.  It was an overcast and cool day which was perfect for apple picking.  The Lyon Orchard is a picturesque place with rows of apple trees the follow the gentle slopes of the hillside.  They have five varieties of apples; Cortland, Red Free, Macoun, Red Delicious, and Macintosh. What I noticed most was how healthy all of the apples looked and how so many were growing on each tree so close together.  They were absolutely vibrant and we ended up picking 16 pounds of them for the two of us.  When we returned home Lauren made what I believe was the most delicious apple pie I ever tasted.  The crust didn’t come out picture perfect but I did not care because flavor trumps look any time.  I came across this article written by Donald Bennett on the history of Lyon Orchards and Herbie Lyon; http://www.thebetheljournals.info/Names/Herb_Lyon.htm

This apple picking adventure reminded me of a time when I was nine or ten years old and my brother Erik who was six or seven were trying to pick some apples off of one of those old abandoned trees out in the field behind our house in Easton, Mass.   The tree was big and overgrown while the apples were high and out of reach.  My genius idea was to grab the steel rake, throw it up in the tree where the rake would get stuck on some branches and then with the long handle hanging down, grab hold of it and shake the living daylights out of the tree branch until the apples fell to the ground. 

I remember telling my brother to stay the heck out of the way while I threw the rake up in the tree branch. The rake went up, hung on the branch for a brief second and then fell down; right on Erik’s head with at least one tine that poked into his head and another that poked right through his lip.  I imagine that didn’t feel too good and he started to cry and bleed at the same time.  I did what came natural to me at that age… I yelled at him.  I yelled something like “You jerk…I told you to stay out of the way” and I’m sure that made him feel better.  Yes, he needed some stitches which by this time were something my Mom was familiar with.

I feel bad about yelling at my brother that day, so Erik I’d liked to say I’m sorry for yelling at you then.  I should have waited until after you had your stitches. J   Hey I know why don’t you come up and visit soon and we can go apple-picking?  Don’t worry, we don’t need a rake.

Doors

Recently we’ve been scraping and painting doors in our house. I actually love some of the doors in this house because they appear to have been so well built. The rails have tenons that fit perfectly into the chiseled mortises at the stiles of the door which are then pegged with wooden pins. They are solid and even though they show the wear and tear of everyday living over the many years they exude a sense of pride. I can imagine that patient carpenter or cabinetmaker working with a clear sense of purpose while building these doors, build it well, build it to last.

After scraping and sanding as much of the old paint off as I could they were ready to paint. One of the areas where “light has dawned on Marblehead” is that there really is a difference in paints. You would think I would have known this by now but I thought if you were paying $35.00 a gallon for Benjamin Moore “Premium” paint you were buying the good stuff. Wrong. Benjamin Moore has this paint for $50.00 a gallon which is the good stuff called “Aura” and despite the cost it is worth the extra $15.00 per gallon. We found that in the guest bedroom on the doors and trim it took one primer coat plus three “Premium” coats to fully cover the wood whereas I could get away with one primer coat and one “Aura” coat to fully cover this door. I guess the secret is better pigmentation and a higher percentage of solids in the paint which is the “stuff” that actually sticks to the surface. It sure does go on nice and spreads like butter. By the way, if you’re planning on painting in an area of higher humidity and wetness like a bathroom or laundry room Benjamin Moore has a special “Aura” Bath & Spa paint which provides a mildew resistant coating.

So in researching information on doors I came across the following factoid: The oldest door in England can be found in Westminster Abbey and dates from 1050. This got me to thinking; my doors are old but where is the oldest door in America? I couldn’t seem to find a straight answer to this question so believing the oldest door may be located on the oldest house I Googled “Where is the oldest house in America?” And the answer was: The Fairbanks House in Dedham, MA is thought to be the oldest standing timber frame building in North America. Built circa 1637-1641. http://www.fairbankshouse.org/index.html

A Fine Door

I would have guessed something nearer the coast like Plymouth, Salem or Ipswich but Dedham it is. Now that I heard about The Fairbanks House I’d really like to check it out. They have some really interesting photos on their website. If you have any experiences and opinions on good or bad paint please leave a comment. Thanks for stopping by.

Now for the Trim

Ruth is #1

We had our first visitor to Bethel from San Diego (not counting our daughter) last week and it was Ruth who worked with Lauren at the Braille Institute. Ruth has some long time friends she came to visit who live on Clemons Pond in Hiram, Maine which is a little more than an hour’s drive from here. So on her second day in Maine Ruth and her friend Dolly came up for a visit. First there was lunch at the house and then Lauren took them to see the town. Unfortunately it was a short visit because Ruth had a busy agenda planned where she was going to a concert that night at Stone Mountain Arts Center in Brownfield, Maine http://www.stonemountainartscenter.com/ArtsCenter/ We also had a lot to talk about with her friend Dolly because her daughter now lives in Gloucester, Mass and married a fisherman.

I trust you enjoyed your vacation in Maine Ruth. You picked a great week for the weather. Thanks for being our first San Diego visitor. Now who’s going to be the next visitor from Braille? Joy, Debbie, Jay, Vint, Rick, Louise, Julie…..? Come visit us under The Dome. :)