Movin' on Up!

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smooches!
emily

Trip the Lighting Fantastic

If my heart had tap shoes on, you would hear one CRAZY dance routine! 
(ok, that's a weird thing to say--I was trying to tie in the title phrase, which means to dance giddily)

The point is, it's AUTUMN in the Hudson Valley and I couldn't be happier! Seriously, it's heartbreakingly gorgeous around here. If you don't believe me, here's some proof:

I've been drinking it all in, along with my fair share of pumpkin beer and pumpkin spiced pumpkin seeds from Trader Joe's--eep!

When we're not out driving along quaint, leafy roads, combing through the High Falls Flea Market (more on that later) or attending church dinners (moistest. turkey. ever.) I've been busy trying to wrap up the damn painting or scouring the internet for house stuff.

The house is really coming together now, especially since our brilliant electrician, Kurt, installed our light fixtures. It's amazing what a difference lighting makes. After years of living in rentals, I am thrilled to have the privilege of choosing my own ceiling light fixtures.

We've glammed up the alcove and I have to say, it's even more fabulous than I imagined. It really makes it a special and unique place. I LOVE this gorgeous Capiz light fixture from Cost Plus World Market, where I've sourced many of the items in the house. I had to source all the pieces separately and so I was crossing my fingers it would all come together properly, which it did.

We also changed out the living room flushmount light from a "boob" light fixture (Home Depot special!) seen here:

To this simple, little fixture. SO much better!

Lastly, we were finally able to get a light in the breakfast room, which had only a giant light-less ceiling fan (yup, dinner by candlelight, whether we wanted to or not!).
I had searched the internet up and down for the light fixture above the table and ended up settling on a mason jar "rustic" pendant fixture that I found on etsy. It felt a little precious to me, but I went with it anyway.
Then a funny thing happened.
We happened to go to the High Falls Fair and one of the vendors was selling a weird and cool old metal chandelier that needed rewiring for $65 dollars. It was absolutely serendipitous!
Jon dusted off the cobwebs from his Electrical Engineering major to rewire the lamp and I spent ungodly amounts of time searching etsy for the right finishing touches (ie the chain and the wrapped jute candelabra covers) and voila! We have a light!

Another great find recently at the High Fall Flea Market was artist Sean Sullivan from Saugerties. I was immediately drawn to his table and was practically ready to buy everything!

Now I must tell you, we are pretty new to the world of art ownership other than some movie posters in cheap frames. It's only been recently that we've acquired some paintings from my dear friend Raye, a neat little cassette tape print from my friend Liz and now these two works, painted on wood.

It feels so wonderful (and grown up of us!) to have some original art pieces from up and coming local artists. Can't wait to hang these up on the gallery wall I'm accumulating for above the sofa!

So, another AMAZING thing happened.
We discovered on the porch swing the other day a small package containing some old fabric and some rusty pistol pieces with the following note:

Dear Emily and Jonathan,

I hope you are fully enjoying your new house. I imagine by now you've made many changes.

I mentioned at the closing that 2 pistols were found when we tore up the old kitchen floor. They were right under what would have been the original back door--the door from the dining room into the kitchen. The fabric they are wrapped in was found inside one of the walls.
Now that you own the house, I thought you should have these.

Enjoy it all--it's a special place.

Best,
Ellen 

(the previous homeowner)

We were completely floored by this. I sometimes forget how much history this house must have. (which reminds me I seriously need to visit the town historian!)

I took the packaged to Michael's yesterday to have it mounted and framed in a shadowbox. The young woman at the counter was SUPER excited for this project, which is awesome! I am so excited to see it finished.

Let's see, what else has been going on (yeah, I know, I need to update more frequently)...

Ah, we had a chimney sweep (not Dick Van Dyck) come in to inspect the wood burning stove. With a few fixes we are finally able to make fires! I couldn't get a good picture this weekend, so I'll include one next time. This morning it was so warm from the fire that I actually opened the window in 50 degree weather! Winter is going to be EPIC! 

We also went to the Rondout Valley Grower's Association Annual Barn Dance a few weeks ago. Such a great time! I was happy to get some do-si-do time in. 

Lastly, nothing has been more special and heartwarming for me than seeing my little girl frolicking in the leaves. I will say nothing more...

So. Much. Painting. And buying.

Well, we're a little over 3 months into our farmhouse adventure! I meant to write and update sooner, but well, life. And painting. And hardware store runs. And online shopping. And handyman calls. And more painting. And toddler wrangling. And a near fire. And did I mention painting?

--screech--
Near fire?!?! 
Yup, the entire town fire department (which probably consists of the entire town) responded to our house the other night when the relay for our water well pump overheated and filled the basement with noxious smoke. It was delightful.
Thankfully we were awake (painting) when it happened. When the electrician came the next day (thank god--we had no running water!) he said that it was not grounded properly and so it didn't trip the circuit in a timely manner hence all the smoke and burned up pump part, as you can see below.
All in all, it was a good learning experience because Jon got to learn how our well pump works, we both got to learn that old houses often have shoddy electrical work, Agnes got to learn that fire trucks are cool and I got to learn that I prefer ogling city firefighters to country firefighters.

So, I bet you're wondering what all this painting we've been doing is all about.
Behold, Before and Afters!!!
Apologies in advance for the not great quality photos--I don't have my wide angle lens with me, so these are iPhone pics.


Living Room--Still have a couple things to do here, but it's mostly done.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Mudroom--This wins the award for most improved. Jon says it's very Pottery Barn, to which I say, "YES! Mission accomplished!"

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Master Bedroom--Still keeping my eyes peeled for a shabby chic dresser. The view of sunrise over the barn and fireflies in the trees at night is sooooo nice.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Agnes' Room--So sweet it makes your teeth hurt!

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

Jon's Office/(streaming) TV Room/Guest Room

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

Guest Room--This sunny room makes me smile every time I walk in.

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

We also painted the bathroom, but I'll wait to post a pic until the new (smaller) pedestal sink is installed. And I painted the upstairs hallway and bannister, which took waaaay longer than expected.
For those of you keeping score, we now have 3 rooms left to paint: the formal dining room, the half bathroom and the sitting room, where the wood burning stove and farmhouse table are located.
And we have a kitchen renovation, which will start sometime in the Fall. As we're learning, it's going to be a beast. Fun with electrical and plumbing!

The house is really coming together though and when I slow down from all the work, I'm amazed at how special and soothing it is here. It's going to be hard to go back to the city after being here for the last 2 weeks. And I'll miss the AMAZING fireflies. And I won't miss the other bugs. Or the sulfur smelling water.

Besides all the painting, we hosted our first dinner guests and our first weekend guests along with a few other visitors. It's so nice to have someplace to share with friends.

Also, Agnes enjoyed 2 weeks of summer camp at the local Waldorf preschool--days spent sleeping under trees and pumping water from wells and snuggling with teachers. She has all the scratches, bruises and weird tan lines to prove her country living now.

(photo credit: Minka Wasylyk)

I promise I'll update again sooner than 3 months from now!

And so it begins...

We did it!
We finally bought a farmhouse in the Hudson Valley! Such an awesome, original idea, right?!
:-)

Today we drove up to our little slice of heaven, did the pre-closing walk through, had lunch with our realtor and then went to the closing. I wasn't nervous at all until we got to the bank. Then suddenly I felt like I was attending a court date and was a little petrified! Entering that conference room with all those real adults and all that paperwork was a little intimidating.

But, thankfully, 2 hours before, I was moved to tears by the sweet note that the seller left for us on the kitchen counter. She couldn't have been nicer and more interesting and conscientious. I was also thrilled to discover in her note that we will have loads of fireflies in the summer and that fall/winter brings the possibility of seeing the Aurora Borealis (one of the most mind blowing things I've ever seen) at the house. Oh and apparently there's a gopher who lives under the back of the house.
Eek! We have SO much to learn about deer resistant plants, reinforcing things, septic maintenance, and on and on...

As expected, the closing went smoothly. Lots of signing, but friendly conversation and it went quicker than I thought. We also got to hear about the guy who tried to put an offer on the house when we were already in the inspection phase--he wanted the house so bad he even wrote a 2 page handwritten note to the realtor!
Sorry, dude!

We were delighted to have enough time to come back to the house, walk around the property (so. much. deer poop.), unload some already purchased housewares, finalize paint colors and dream about the future. Jon walked down to the swimming stream and took video--I've never seen him so giddy!

Oh, and we couldn't have celebrated the closing without "shake o'clock" from Stewart's.

This day has been a long time coming. We couldn't be happier!