Octopi Friday, Mar 1 2013 

Esperanza acairfearann 10:37

People sometimes wonder how Esperanza is heated: today an oil furnace and steam heat.  However, there was a gravity feed hot air system in the north end of the house from its construction in 1893 to the 1960’s; in addition to the steam heat system in most of the rest of the house*.  The air was heated by a coal fired furnace in the basement; the duct work ran (and still does) throughout the upper two floors.   The furnace still occupies a large portion of a basement room, being about 7 feet tall and four feet wide.  Originally, there were eleven ducts coming either into or out of the furnace, and some ran at about six feet off the floor.  Wrapped in white insulation*, which over the years had sagged, snaking off into crawl-spaces, and being in a very dark space, it is not entirely surprising that it earned the term the Octopus.  A few years ago, one of the cats ended up in the ducts (he fell through a hole in a main duct) and several of the lowest arms ended up being removed in the process of attempting to get him out.  That, combined with corralling the insulation, has made it much less spooky.  Some times people argue that we ought to take it out, as it is utterly unusable*.  But, I have to admit that I have grown to like it down there.  Not simply as a personality, but because it adds ‘character’.  I kind of like spooky houses.  Besides, why take it out if it doesn’t bother one? 

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two of the ducts are already off in this photo.

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looking across the top at the ducts heading into crawl-spaces, the hole on the bottom left is a removed duct.

*There is no heat in some of the house.

*Yes, it is asbestos; yes, its fuzzy; no, I am not dead; yes, this tends to make me somewhat sceptical about certain ‘green’ screeds.

*The bottom of the fire-pit no longer exists….in the spring there is a nice bit of groundwater there….

 

On Reading Letters Thursday, Feb 28 2013 

Historical Events , , acairfearann 11:12

Reading old letters is one of those guilty pleasures, we know we aren’t the intended audience.  It is, of course, that which makes the information in the letters both more useful and more misleading.  We don’t have the full story, but the story that is there isn’t written with an eye towards our reaction.  Our offense or our delight are not being deliberately provoked by the original author.

I tend to pay less attention to the snarls of the personal relationships in the older letters, though they intrigue me greatly.  My particular delight comes from the passages which more fully describe the time and setting.  Sometimes, these passages can capture a philosophy far better than a dry bit of argument.  Below is a piece written in 1873, by William Gillette (then in Houston, Texas) to Helen Ellsworth (then in Europe).  The confidence in the Manifest Destiny philosophy is clearly in full flower here:

“Texas is extraordinary. To say it is the best part of the great United States would hardly do, out of consideration to old New England. But Texas will sometime be a wonderful place. When the Mississippi is lined with great and handsome cities every few miles of its course, and the Territories are divided into innumerable states, and cultivated like gardens; when Chicago shall have outstripped in size and splendor London or Paris, and Boston become the literary center of the world, then Texas will be one of the wonders of this mundane sphere.”

Whatever one thinks of the philosophy, how well that seems to capture the youthful confidence and passion of the time!

 

Hope Rises Eternal Wednesday, Feb 27 2013 

gardening acairfearann 13:57

It is about 33 and pouring rain out there (so much for replenishing the water table, the ground is frozen); but looking through pictures always lifts the spirits.

I like this one, taken in June, even if it is a bit fuzzy.  I was especially pleased to find that the combination of Moss Roses and Alliums is used in other gardens, Hidcote in England to be exact.  Such illustrious company for us little folk!  The yellow flowers just visible in the left foreground are evening/Ozark primroses. 

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Moonlit Romances Tuesday, Feb 26 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 16:53

Between critters, that is.  Last night was a lovely, nearly full moon night, not very cold.  The trees were casting great, black shadows, and the amount of light was very great.  And, despite the large amount of snow, there is no question that spring is well on the way.  In addition to the Great Horned Owls calling back and forth from the hedgerows, and the multitude of cardinal males chasing one fewer female (during the day), there were the skunks.

We have had one perfectly gorgeous big skunk, nearly all white on the back and tail, for about a year. He/She now has a friend, equally large.  They were cavorting out on the snow near the flagpole garden, always a favourite location for the skunks.  Exactly what food they were finding, I don’t know.  But that didn’t seem to be what was on their minds, anyway.

It was rather fun to watch them.

 

Amaryllis ‘Apple Blossom’ Monday, Feb 25 2013 

gardening and Modern Photos , acairfearann 14:50

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Random Information Saturday, Feb 23 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 12:05

Not actually going through and counting, mind….but following an off the cuff comment, I tried to count up the doors in the house.  That is, doors designed for people to walk through (not cabinet doors).  I think I got 83 in the main house; the outbuildings take that to 109.  My count might be off by one or two, it is surprisingly hard to get all of them!  And no, double doors don’t count for two, nor do storm doors.

That is entirely too many!

 

Forward Progress Friday, Feb 22 2013 

gardening acairfearann 12:58

Finally, having straightened out an unfortunate miscommunication with our tree people.  Houses and gardens tend to require a ‘go-to’ list; that is people who you can call to get something fixed: plumbers, plasterers, carpenters, and tree people.  It isn’t that you will need them every year, but you know who to contact when you do need them.

Trees have been a headache for us.  But, I think that this time around we will get the dead wood taken out of the two big oaks by the end of March.  As I told the tree people, it is a bit nerve-wracking to look up at four to six inch diameter, very dead, oak limbs that are fifty or sixty feet up.  Although, oddly, they don’t come down when you expect them to.  Hurricanes, snowstorms, high winds…they don’t come down then.  They do seem to drop on a quiet night.  Go figure.

It should be an interesting process.  The two trees in question are fully mature Black Oaks between 110 and 130 years of age, the limbs don’t start until you are about twenty five feet up and the real crowns only begun above the main house, so about thirty-five feet.  They are 75-80 feet tall with a spread of about 50-60 feet.  Big trees.  This company does not use trucks for this sort of work, because of the problem of soil compaction and root damage.  They use climbers.  I am going to be curious to see how they get one branch in particular: it can’t be dropped, as it is a major limb that extends right over the ridge of the cottage.  I image it will include some ingenious ties and ropes to some of the other equally large trees in order to get it swung off and down in a controlled fashion.

Better them then me.

The trunks of the two oaks in question are shown here:

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Snow Devils Wednesday, Feb 20 2013 

Modern Photos acairfearann 14:49

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Yes that was through a dirty window, no I didn’t feel like going out side.

 

From the Guestbook Tuesday, Feb 19 2013 

Esperanza , acairfearann 14:48

The earliest guestbook, which covers the 1870’s, has a number of truly delightful sketches in it.  This one, of the author, is a very simple one.  ‘The author’ by the way remains unidentified, we simply can’t figure out who signs with a little bird as his signature, except that he (presumably he, based on this sketch) is responsible for many of the amusing caricatures.  The initials appear to be ‘del’ but that doesn’t match either.  I am sure, by process of elimination I will figure it out, when I get around to it.

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Fox in the morning Sunday, Feb 17 2013 

Uncategorized acairfearann 22:20

The last few days, the repeated snow flurries have created perfect conditions for seeing tracks, at least when the wind hasn’t been up.  The barnyard is a veritable highway: skunk, dog (or coyote), cat, and possibly fox.  The latter was finally proven this morning. 

I happened to look at the window at the field, about an hour after dawn to see a fast moving shape halfway down the field.   Clearly no cat, this!  Big fox, beautiful bushy tail, those long legs, and the ears.  The shape is distinctly different from a coyote.  He (or she) was getting pushed about a bit by the wind; but was definitely heading somewhere.  They checked out a possible mouse and then headed down the field before ducking into the hedgerow, about where there is a break in the stock fence. 

If I hadn’t been looking, I could have walked across the field afterwards and missed him.  He had no problem running on the top of the snow, which in that area is hard and the loose snow had blown away.  How much we can miss, and so easily!  It was nice to finally have visual proof of a fox.  A lot of people claim there is a large population* but I have only seen them twice in this area.  I have actually seen more of them, or of British foxes, in cities.

*which they usually blame for the loss of their chickens, cats, and yapping dogs…

 

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