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Maine Farmhouse Journal
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Our 1987 GMC Jimmy is loaded inside and out with stuff for the farmhouse
- a queen-size box spring and mattress, folding chairs and tables, dishes,
silverware, canned goods, lamps, bedding and clothes, tools. We get an
early start on Saturday, and after a stop in Waterford, NY to mail the
day's books, we took the route cross-country through Bennington and Brattleboro,
Vermont, over Hog Back Mountain, and through Keene and Concord, New Hampshire.
Stop off at Portsmouth, NH, where we picked up a 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee
- Penny gets to drive it up to the farmhouse, while I chug along in the
Jimmy. The Jimmy has more than 285,000 miles and has been across the country
twice - a good old car - and it now gets to "retire" to the farm
where we'll use it for errands and fishing trips.
We find the farmhouse waiting for us, with about 2" of snow in patches in the fields. Gerry and Chris, our tenants, were still in the process of moving out, and their stuff was still scattered around the house. Gerry called us on the road coming over, and said he'd be there on Sunday to finish hauling stuff away to their new place in Limington, Maine. Our moving-in process wasn't very extensive - setting up the bedroom and unloading dishes and stuff in the kitchen. Our two dogs, Buffalo and Happy, were busy checking out all the new smells.
We were up early on Sunday morning, before sunrise, and enjoyed coffee in the kitchen as the sun came up over the woods and fields. Temperature in the mid ‘20s. The dogs took a tour of the property with me after breakfast. Several deer had been bedding down in the field below the blueberries, and the swimming pool had a nice skim of ice on it. I am able to take down a good part of Gerry's horse fencing around the pasture.
Paul, our contractor, arrives on Sunday morning and we go over the immediate things that will have to be done to winterize the place. We've arranged for fuel oil and propane deliveries, a new phone number, electric service, etc. Ed, the former owner, will take care of plowing the driveway when winter really begins. With things in good hands, we head off west in our new car - this time via the Massachusetts Turnpike. |
| Our tenants at the Sebago farm, Gerry and Chris, have lived there for
nine years. They just recently began work on a new place of their own,
and moved out of our place earlier this week. They have been good tenants,
and are largely responsible for the great shape that the farm is in. However,
we're looking forward to begin the work to remodel the carriage house and
barn for our old book business.
We're loading up the car this morning and heading out for our first weekend at the farm! Paul, our contractor, will be moving in on Sunday, and begin work on the remodelling over the winter. We'll take some "before", "during" and "after" pictures as all this progresses. |
Allen and Penny Crabtree
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Last updated February 1, 1999
