an out-of-state house tour
Saturday afternoon we took a trip to southern New Hampshire to visit a friend of Leah's who had never met any of the rest of us. It was exciting to leave the state for the first time in months, even if only by two towns! And the house was super fun to visit too. Starting with an 18th-century farmhouse, the current owners added a big addition in the Adirondack Camp style (with ornamental work made of unpeeled logs and branches like in this picture). Inside was just as charming and unique, with antiques and tons of taxidermy: the usual deer heads and bear rugs, but also more individualistic pieces like a family of mice in a chandelier. And there was a spiral staircase! I wish I had taken pictures. It would have felt a little strange to, since it was of course someone's house; but the way they were showing it off makes me think in retrospect that they probably wouldn't have minded! Of course, we did have to take pictures of the boys playing with their brand-new kittens.
Besides the amazing house they have lots of land, and we took a fine walk around their yard and gardens. They've got a couple of ponds that we thought we might be able to swim in, but in these drought conditions they were a little too murky for anyone to want to try. Then while the mature people sat on the porch to talk Lijah, Zion, and I played croquet golf up and down their hill. The dogs came along on the trip, of course, and added an extra challenge to the game by picking up our balls and running with them; instead of "fore" there were lots of calls of "drop!" Of course, we had to play it where it lay! Even though their participation was a little annoying I still felt bad when I his Scout on the chin with one particularly strong shot (maybe we should teach him "fore"?).
Of course, as obsessed as I am my favorite part of the tour was the gardens. With all the space they have available they have a blueberry orchard, a small field of corn, and about an acre of squash plants. Plus a regular garden about twice as big as ours. And the most amazing thing about it was they don't need fences! Apparently they have more coyotes (and bears!) than deer and squirrels, so they can grow things out in the open. I'm jealous: we can't even keep the animals out of our crops when we cover them completely! Happily they took pity on us and sent us home with a giant sack of greens and cucumbers. It was a great visit!
appreciating the kale