Balancing Acts Friday, Aug 9 2013 

Esperanza acairfearann 15:19

In a house such as this, filled with the oddments of six or seven generations, most of whom died here or, if they died elsewhere, their belongings returned, finding space for a new order is difficult.  One of the charms of the house is that one never knows exactly what a drawer will hold.  Yet, when one is entirely reworking an attic room for another sort of work space; those oddments are probably in the way.

So one balances the charm of the room essentially untouched for decades (just quietly getting more and more stuff….) with a working space.  How? In this case, a drawer got reserved for the cleaned oddments that would be left: maybe a strange candlestick, a massive square nail, some old painted tin boxes, a toy, an odd bottle…that sort of the thing.

The rest get used for saner, sorted storage which will relate to the room’s new use.

The dust goes.

More importantly, my tame electrician spent the morning rewiring a wall sconce…We’ve had problems with that particular style, the wire is bent over a sharp point and after ninety years the insulation fails.  This one did not blow fuses, this one simply arced, and arced, and burned through the sconce plate.  God loves fools.  It could have burnt the house down.

 

Morris Smith Thursday, Aug 8 2013 

Genealogy , , acairfearann 10:40

There is a tendency, because of who wrote what, to concentrate on the women in the history of Esperanza.  Julie, seen as the driving force behind the house’s creation, tends to overshadow her husband Morris.  This is unfortunate, since it is clear from her letters that they were definitely partners.  Furthermore, Morris was a consummate businessman and active in the business politics of New Orleans from the 1850’s through the 1890’s.  The New Orleans chapter of the family’s history is largely opaque, and we know very little about it or about Morris’ various businesses.

Here is part of a description of him written by his daughter Fanny Morris Smith:

“My father was an important member of the number (the Boston Club, which was the New Orleans club through which many northern businessmen maintained contacts). His opinions on business matters were sought far and wide. I am proud to write that when the Mafia undertook to seize and loot the city by terror of assassination he was one of the men who decided to hang the proved murders. Always M.W. Smith & Co., Cyrus Yale & Co., Seymore & Stevens, stood for absolute rectitude in their business dealings.*

My father and mother were both readers. Their tastes were so similar that he often brought back from New Orleans the book she had purchased in New Hartford…He was very sensitive; absolutely without a sense of humour; fond of his family; my mother’s lover till she died; a man whose inner life never was told except to my mother.”

*The Yales and Seymours were close friends and business partners with Morris.  It was the Yale family that first introduced Julie and Morris to the Esperanza area; as they owned the neighbouring house.

 

Vegetable Garden Tuesday, Aug 6 2013 

Esperanza and gardening and Landscapes and Modern Photos , acairfearann 10:31

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That is the peach tree with the lettuce box in center of the photo. Our chimney swift colony lives in the chimney which is in the center, a good location for them!

 

Cardinal Flower Monday, Aug 5 2013 

gardening , acairfearann 10:26

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There are certain plants that are inexplicably under used.  The red cardinal flower, lobelia, is one of them.  This is a well behaved perennial (unlike the blue lobelia which seeds abundantly and is short lived).  It prefers stream banks or pond locations, where its roots can get wet, but the basal crown of leaves is not drowned. Unlike the fiddled fancy pinks that have been bred, it is a very tough plant. During August, its scarlet red flower spikes give long lasting color and will do so even in fairly deep shade.  Hummingbirds love it.

 

Moment of Zen Sunday, Aug 4 2013 

Landscapes and Modern Photos , , acairfearann 10:24

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Skunks Saturday, Aug 3 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 10:30

I usually have a fondness for skunks; they do a good job on de-grubbing the lawn.  They are sort of cute and quite smart.

However, for years there has been a running battle on whether they should be able to get under the porch (and thence into the foundation).  Skunks under the house aren’t exactly the best companions.  Still, it was more of a nuisance than anything else (aside from the memorable year in which the hibernating colony all got spooked, woke up, and sprayed…under the main hall).  Not this year.  This year we have an angry skunk. (or possibly a zombie skunk)  Not only is it starting the nightly round of attempting to find an ingress earlier than usual.  It also digs in the garden and inadvertently kills fish by knocking over the fountain.  All of which might be tolerable….Except.  It Reeks.  Think of a cross between a skunk and septic tank, the aroma is powerful and constant.  Sufficiently so that when we have smelled it coming the last few nights, we have closed the doors and windows.  When it sprayed something a week or so ago it, it woke us up.

Not sure exactly what to do with it.  Trapping it is, for the obvious reason that I lack a HazMat suit, not an option.  My mother was able to banish one once by managing to spray it with soap, but that also requires close quarters.  Lead maybe, if I was more confident in my aim, and willing to stake the house out every night.

 

Late summer Friday, Aug 2 2013 

gardening acairfearann 10:08

It is always a little amazing how quickly the summer months change around here; I think it is because so much is trying to grow so fast.  Still, this year has been flying past at a ridiculous rate.

The trees this year are all still a mid summer green, probably because despite the heat, we have had enough water.  But there are the first shades of olive, and on over-stressed plants, yellow-red. The roadside, where it wasn’t mown, is in its full glory: dusk blue and pink chicory, ivory Queen Anne’s lace, the old gold of the black-eyed susans and goldenrod, the bright gold of the Jerusalem artichoke, the dusk purple Joe-Pye weed.  The wood aster now has visible flower buds clustered and waiting.  The old standard hydrangea has slowly, almost reluctantly, been unfolding its ivory blossoms.  The hayfield is rapidly regrowing, they probably will get a second cut, for it has gone from a baked brown to a lush green.

Now if only my tomatoes would get their act together and actually do something….

 

Fun and Games Thursday, Aug 1 2013 

Esperanza acairfearann 14:16

If anyone has been trying to get hold of us…we apologize profusely*.  The good news is that the phone company has finally conceded that there might in fact be multiple problems, and that they are under contract for the inside as well…

I don’t think they were expecting hundreds of feet of copper wire, however.  The phone line is very solid wiring, put in place by Alexander Bell’s assistant, Frederick Shand Goucher, who was a relative by marriage.  (if not by Bell himself)  It isn’t the first telephone line in town (that belonged to the textile mills down in the valley) but it is certainly one of the first lines.  It has some quirks, one of which being that you really can’t disconnect it entirely; the big bells are literally hard-wired to the copper line.  Which explains why they ring when a lightning strike hits the line somewhere on the hill.

So far, the interior problem is an errant staple in the basement.  I bet the exterior problem is somewhere down the hill in the switchgear, again…

*Yes, I have a cell phone, it is five years old, I don’t use it, I don’t know what its number is; I carry it only when travelling, because you try finding a pay phone to call a tow truck in this day and age!

 

Garden Flowers circa 1925 Tuesday, Jul 30 2013 

gardening and Historic Photos , , , acairfearann 10:16

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I haven’t happily identified the woman yet, someone connected with Bradford Ellsworth, possibly his first wife Juliet Inness?

Nice dress….

I do know the picture was taken in the big garden, and those are probably classic New England/New York asters.  Clearly, the plant breeders have been had at work making them smaller.

The photo by the way is actually a scanned negative, aren’t computers wonderful?

 

What’s Blooming Monday, Jul 29 2013 

gardening acairfearann 12:19

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Daylilies: the orange river is just about done, but some of the special creams/purples are still going in the shade, as are the orange ones in the shade.

Shasta Daisies: the flagpole garden is a nice white half-circle, the Russian Sage is just about to get going there as well, so it will start to shade to the pastel shades shortly, dusty blues, pinks, yellows.  The Joe Pye weed and the goldenrod are about to start, then the asters.

Yarrow: the wild white throughout the unmowed sections, some elsewhere

Echinacea

Coreopsis

Wild Thyme

Hyssop

Agrimony

Soapwort

Black-eyed susans of all types. The west porch set has been blooming for a month solid

Monarda: red (Jacob Cline), Hot neon pink (short), tall raspberry pink

Phlox: here, there, and everywhere; mostly the reverted washed out pink, but some good salmons, whites, deep pinks.

Hostas: almost done

Oriental Lilies

Gooseneck

Astilbes: almost done, the last are the big pink ostrich types

Cinnamon Clethra: the insects go mad for this underused shrub, a nice vanilla scent, loaded with white flowers, gorgeous exfoliating bark, native.

Black Snakeroot

Blue/Red Lobelia: just starting up

Annuals: including morning glories, marigolds,

Hydrangeas

Duchess of Albany clematis: pink bells over the top of the pergola

other….

 

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