Changes in elevation Wednesday, Nov 28 2012 

Uncategorized acairfearann 13:22

It is always amusing to run down the hill and see what the weather did elsewhere.  Yesterday’s little bit of snow, the wonderful just-barely-snow sort that sticks so beautifully to the trees, had vanished in the valley by the mid-morning.  Just a few hundred feet separated the fairytale like trees, spun sugar ornaments upon every branch, from a pleasant, if damp, but nothing special landscape of early winter.   Yet looking up at the hills, they were and still are crowned in silver and ivory against the blue sky.

 

Cottage gardens Tuesday, Nov 27 2012 

Esperanza and gardening , acairfearann 11:07

Esperanza is still sometimes for some purposes called Esperanza Farm.  The relationship between the house and the farm is a complicated one, leading deep into women’s history, the rise of scientific agriculture, and economics.  I won’t get into it here.  Suffice it that the cottage, long sold and now a winery, produced sufficient vegetables, dairy products, meat, and cut flowers to support Esperanza, its dependencies, and sometimes enough to sell.  Obviously, it did not have to support the family through the winter; although it did add to households of the various caretakers, we know late season vegetables were part of the wages so to speak.  The dairy products were sold during the winter.

Here is a picture of the edge of the cottage garden taken in 1909: corn, pole/bush beans, lettuce, and gladioli are all visible.

 

From the guestbook Sunday, Nov 25 2012 

Historical Events acairfearann 15:17

Until WWII Esperanza, though not the farm cottage, was shut for the winter usually sometime between October and December.  However, as with all older New England houses, there was heat (if no insulation or storm windows): the north end had a coal-fired hot-air system put in when it was built in 1893; the rest of the house relied on the fireplaces until 1930 when the steam system was installed.   Today the steam system runs well, but it would seem that there may have been some glitches at first:

“Thanksgiving, November 26-28, 1930. Celebration: Turkey, lots of Radio, and Grand Failure of the new heater.”

Somehow, such a sparse description is nonetheless quite vivid.   One does wonder exactly what failed and how!

 

Spaces Saturday, Nov 24 2012 

Esperanza acairfearann 10:55

Esperanza is big, absolutely no question.  Though no bigger in footprint than some of the new houses in town, the existence of four floors and a veritable maze of small rooms makes it seem even larger.*

I don’t believe it is haunted, a question people always ask; but it does have a weight to it.  And part of that weight is created by the physical space.  No matter what you do, how many lights you turn on, you can’t see around all the corners.*  Always, there is a great bulk above, below, behind.  I think that this freaks out a lot of people.  It is certainly easy to let the imagination run, wondering just what that noise was that echoed down the steam pipes or through the old ducts.  And what was that reflection which flickered across the window-pane?  Easier still on a dark and windy night.  You go up one stairs, but It might have gone down another….

I like the house on those nights, the house is its own and I am within. 

*Actually, the layout is very straightforward and I can navigate it in the pitch black, but first time visitors have a hard time with finding the stair-case they went up, because it isn’t the expected layout.   They certainly never know where all the doors lead.

*Leaving aside that some sections have essentially non-existent lighting, or lighting that can only be turned on having crossed the dark room and not from the door.

 

Photo of the day Thursday, Nov 22 2012 

Modern Photos acairfearann 22:23

 

Indoor gardening Wednesday, Nov 21 2012 

gardening and Modern Photos and Uncategorized , acairfearann 09:13

One could take the winter off….well no.  Anyway, houseplants in this house face some rather serious obstacles.  Most of the house is actually quite dark, a majority of the rooms can easily sink to 55 at night in the winter*, and the major issue that pretty much all the furniture Must Not get water on it.  Obstacles.  Nonetheless, to the running bemusement, if not horror of the other inhabitants, the houseplants are conquering territory.  They started in the kitchen, a warm, sunny nook, with one elderly and happy Christmas cactus in an upstairs room since sometime back in the 1960’s.  They now have a commanding advantage in: the kitchen, the dining room, the basement (three spots), and three rooms upstairs.  And horrors, just invaded the library.

Here are two invaders of the library.  I like Christmas cactus, I can’t kill them, they like temperatures in the low 60’s down into the 50’s, the bloom every single year without fuss, they don’t need pruning, and so forth.  Of course, the don’t want to bloom at Christmas, but hey.

A yellow one:

And a pink one

*The record is 38, but that was set with a loose storm window in that room; the usual winter low is 47.  Heavens knows what it was before the storm windows.

 

The Robins of Fall Tuesday, Nov 20 2012 

Uncategorized , acairfearann 22:43

Spring migration is always seen as a big thing, spotting the first robin or bluebird is a harbinger of hope.  However, fall’s migration tends to be equally noticeable.  The juncos appear by the dozen, as does a wintering flock of chickadees.*  And sometime between October and December, the robin flock descends on the property.  We must have a pretty popular stop-over place for them; because they will hang out in the area for some time; usually twenty or thirty in a group.  A few stalwarts will hang late into winter if it doesn’t snow. It took me awhile to figure it out, the mystery of the vanishing ilex berries, a much favoured snack for robins.  The roadside bush is always the last to go, despite it having an abundant crop; I suspect because it is right next to the road, whereas the others are tucked into the woods a bit. 

Today, I nearly collected a group of robins as I turned into the drive.  They all flew up into the trees, as if a sudden swirl of red and brown leaves had chosen to return to the sky.

*Unlike the titmice, the chickadees do not hang about in the summer nor does the cardinal, though he/she nests here.

 

Complexity Monday, Nov 19 2012 

gardening acairfearann 18:29

Esperanza is nothing if not complex, both inside and outside.  The house’s architecture is baffling, the contents both diverse and vast, and the grounds quite full of plants and animals.

I was pondering this today, while contemplating the fact that I really ought to update the sadly out-of-date tree list I have.  It currently stands at about 150 distinct tree and shrub species, not broken into specific cultivars, on 18 acres.  It doesn’t include the pond or woods, mind you. This is a decidedly large number…  Of course, what I really need to do is start taking notes everytime something gets planted.  It is typical of my gardening, that on acquiring another azalea…I planted it, removed the tags, and now haven’t a clue as it what it is.  Aside from a small-leaved, evergreen azalea, of course. 

Next time maybe?

 

Getting the Post Sunday, Nov 18 2012 

Historical Events , acairfearann 16:36

In this day and age of the internet, Skype, apples of the month, and phones, we don’t think much of the post.  However, it was the form of communication in the late 1800’s.  Telegrams were expensive and not always reasonable, if you didn’t know where the person might be.  Letters, however, were addressed so that they could chase the person via ship or company quite nicely.  ‘Care of’ is almost archaic today, very useful then.  In the last letter excerpt this was encountered: a package was entrusted to either a messenger or a station agent, having already passed through another individual’s hands on the way to its final agent.

Here we have Edward Hooker writing to Helen in 1875; both were travelling in Europe at the time.

To: Mademoiselle Helen Y. Smith

Passengere a bord du paquebot “Klopstock”*

partant au Havre pour New York, samedi 26 Juin, 1875

“I have been to the office of the Hamburg Co and so have the name of your ship. Will writes me that he has written you at Havre aboard the ‘Goethe’*- you may possibly get his letter by inquiries at the Post office or the office of the Steamer. From the circulars, I see you will be a whole day or more at Havre….

…Once again adieu. May we soon meet. I hope you won’t drown on the way home, that would be SO disagreeable.”

*The ‘Klopstock’ http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=klops

*The ‘Goethe’ http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=goeth

*William Gillette was then travelling as well, on board the ‘Goethe’; he presumably had left his letter to Helen at the Havre port offices.

 

Still not an off road vehicle Friday, Nov 16 2012 

Historic Photos acairfearann 11:36

Another picture of the first car getting well and truly stuck, August 1911.  The young boy is Kennedy Creevey, the blur to the right is actually a dog (the Great Dane Nero).  Same team of horses, looking a bit put out this time around.  Of course, the car is looking a bit more stuck too…

 

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