By Way of Introduction

by Shi

Long story short, within the span of two weeks we (my dear husband, whom I’ll call “Handsome”, because 1. He is handsome, 2. I do call him that, and 3. Some semblance of privacy is worth attempting) packed up our upstairs apartment with no yard, located in the desert-climate-has only-two-seasons (hot or cold) region of Las Vegas, Nevada to move across the country to the has-all-four-seasons-and lots-of-trees climate of upstate New York.
We moved not only for “Handsome’s” new job, but also because we wanted for our newest family member (our dear daughter, whom I’ll call “Punkin'” for more-or-less the same reasons listed above for “Handsome”), and the possible family members to follow later on (much later on), a patch of grass and place to call home.

So. Let me tell you about a little yellow house that sits on the top of a not so little hill.
Resting several yards back from the road, it is easy to miss if you aren’t watching, as the trees along the road hide it from view.
We passed it by the first day we came to see it.
The driveway is lined with pea gravel, little green weeds poking out here and there.
Lush, bright green grass covers an expansive area, making for a wonderful yard.
Lilac bushes are scattered all around the house, as well as many plants that are yet to be identified.
A scattered stone path leads up to the sun porch door, which is used as the main entryway at the moment (mostly because the doors at the front are old, and difficult to open).
The main part of the house was built in 1838, has been added on to since, as well as remodeled throughout the years…we hope to restore as much as possible throughout the coming years.

The front rooms of the house are two of my favorites.
If you were to enter through the true front door, you would see the dining on the right, the living on the left.
The rooms are open to each other and filled with light from the six old double pane glass windows, that make the views outside look rippled and wavy.
The floors are old hardwood, a warm amber honey color. The walls, a subtle creamy yellow that makes me think of the cream that rises to the top of whole milk.

Continuing on, the kitchen is ahead.
A bath/laundry room are to the right, and to the left, narrow stairs to the loft. Past those, further to the left, is a door to the sun porch.
Also off the kitchen is a door to a little cupboard/pantry (that has another door through it, leading to the woodshed), and another door to a bedroom that we will use as an office/tv room/man “cave” (I didn’t want the television in the front room, as it would have completely ruined how pretty and peaceful they are).
But back to the kitchen. It is small.
The stove is from the late 50’s or early 60’s, and the cabinets from the 70’s.
Two layers of linoleum cover the wood floor underneath.
We will, over the next who-knows-how-long, be ripping up all the floors not original to the house, so that we can restore all the hardwood.

The stairs that lead up have a nice creak to them from the old wood, that is now painted a dull tawny color.
At the top of the stairs, to the right, is a small bedroom with a single window and decent closet, and to the left an open space that also has a single window, and will be used as my sewing/crafting space.
Past that space is the master bedroom and a bathroom both containing (you guessed it) single windows.

Under the upstairs stairwell is a sketchy staircase leading to the basement, which is essentially a dry storage area, that also houses and old oil furnace and a beautiful old brick cistern, that is in perfect condition.

The house rests on 5 acres, although the gentleman we bought it from has 40 acres surrounding it that (I desperately hope) doesn’t sell any time soon, as I would love to own it as well.
Also on our 5 acres is an old red barn in need of lots of TLC…

Below are some thoughts from the last few days, before we acquired internet access…

Wednesday 19th
Today is a busy day.
We have a new septic tank going in, taken care of by our landlord/seller of the home.
The electrician is here now, looking at some very old wiring.
“Handsome” bought us a new dryer, as the old (very old) one here smelled like burning when he turned it on.
He also bought a new stove, mostly for safety reasons. The old one here worked, but the wiring was questionable. I’m rather sad to see it go…
The cable/internet guy is coming out today. He should be here soon.
Oh, and we just heard that the VA loan inspector will make an appearance at 2pm.
All this aside from the continual unpacking of boxes.
As I said, busy day.

Thursday 20th
The wind was howling last night and this morning.
Actually, it’s been quite strong since we got here. Oh yes, that’s right. It’s because we now live on a lovely not-so-little hill.
After breakfast “Punkin” and I went for a walk in the soft drizzle of rain – it was surprisingly warm out.
“Punkin'” loves it outside. She was calm and quiet, taking it all in. She touched the juniper tree greens, the bark on the maple trees, watched the rain water stream down the end of the gutter on the house...
  “Handsome” joined us after a bit, and we talked about where I wanted the garden come Spring.
We came in with damp shoes and socks from the raindrops on thick grass, the hems of our jeans soaked.

Friday 21st
It’s hard to believe we’ve been here almost a week. And that we only left Nevada 2 weeks ago.
From the desert of Nevada to the tree covered  upstate New York.
And I love it. We love it.

Our first sunrise at our new house.