Sunny chilly Friday, part 1 the search for the country home

We are still waiting for the first frost of the fall 2010 season!  Every day, weather actors  say  ".... tomorrow morning...."  but frost has not materialized as yet.  Mother nature is in charge.  The frost will get here when it does.

This morning, the birds at the feeders are all puffed up against the cooler air. purple finch look fat and sassy in their purplie pink hue. Large flock of chickadees and tufted titmouse, like little acrobats, flitting here and there in quick jerky motion.  White breasted nuthatches are collecting sunflower seeds and secreting them in crevices on big old trees.  What a hoot to watch! after a seed is fitted into a space.... another bird removes it and places it some place else. then a third and even a fourth  watcher  performs more rearranging.. This goes on for hours. collecting, secreting, moving.   One red breasted nut hatch, smaller than it's cousin is busy collecting seeds also.   There only seems to be one  each year and i only see him/her in the fall.  During the winter i have seen just one across the road at the neighbors. guess he/she likes that location better.

When we first started to look for a home, here in the country some 30+ years ago, we happened across an old farm that was being divided and sold for development. Interesting Victorian farmhouse in need of some work.   Big barn, milk house, corn cribs, eight acres and the largest collection (dump) of major appliances i had ever seen.  The house had seen better days. Had been rented out for quite awhile while the owners farmed the 100 acres of land.  The renters all did what they wanted to make the house comfortable.  They also let the space they didn't need  fall into disrepair.... (which is putting it mildly). It was not a huge house but a gracious one none the less. Two front doors, living room, family room, dining room, kitchen.  Beyond that were 4 more rooms. Mudroom, laundry room,  room with an array of non working appliances, and maybe an small (but generous sized) office.  5 bedrooms, 2 baths 1 1/2 bath. Full cellar with stream running through it...(how often do you see that in the city?!)  This was our first foray into the possibility of living in the country.  Unfortunately there were a number of people interested. We made an offer but did not get the house. 

A few months later we got the call that the house was back on the market.  made an appointment with the agency and the nice lady who was helping us  ferried us out to the location again.  In the interim, we had done some reading and were more aware of buying country property  (which was the title of one of the books).   It was fall when we visited the second time. The wind whistled through the weeds in the yard and fields......
sort of like today.
city girl