Let's Catch Up...

Hello all!  I am very excited to start this blog all about our Hearthstone journey.  Believe it or not, the title,  “Hearthstone,” was already taken.  Therefore, I think “journey” sums up exactly what this road has ahead of us.  Lots of ups and downs, twists and turns, and coasting and bumping!  Well it sure has been off to a busy and encouraging start!  The first few days involved a lot of walking around and discovering.  Then we brought the mower, chainsaw, and backhoe (formally, front end back loader?) to clear out the yards.  Our first primary objective is to get the lot cleared enough to reach the house.  We have worked on trees, structures, and found treasures along the way.  We’re about 2 weeks in now, and I am so excited to share our progress with you. 

Tons of invasive trees are down—we have an enormous pile of black walnut logs that need to be split.  Here’s a quick Brey story…the first few days I’m all gung-ho with this whole lot clearing process.  Roger suggested that I pick a spot for the woodpile.  The boys would chainsaw the felled trees into logs and I ever so eagerly would organize them into a pretty little pile under the old maple tree.  I thought I was so smart when I discovered that if I threw them far enough they would end up even closer to the woodpile and therefore cut back on the time walking back and forth…how efficient!  This went on for maybe another solid tree or so.  THEN it dawned on me how extensive the woodpile would inevitably get.  I finally understood why Roger and Rocky kept telling me not to worry about stacking…it is literally a PILE of wood. 

Speaking of trees, we have some GORGEOUS specimens on the lot!  The maples have matured beautifully creating a gorgeous canopy over the driveway and back play yard.  I can’t wait to see what color they are in the fall!   The maples are neighbors to two old weeping cherry trees and a scrawny holly tree that we trimmed up.  Moving along the edge of the side yard, we discovered (or re-discovered, for some) an old ginko tree and a beautiful old Japanese maple tree.  Unfortunately, right in between them is a walnut tree that is blocking light and sight from these exquisite trees.  The fascinating part about this tricky walnut is that it has an enormous trumpet vine growing around it, intertwined to the top!  It’s a shame to have to damage it.  Towards the front yard, you can see the old centennial pine tree (the story is that each family who attended the centennial celebration would receive 2 pines) and a very old beech tree.  There is an incredible boxwood on the wall at the front of the house and some up and down the driveway.  In the back, we found what may be one of Nana’s old rose bushes (which we trimmed all the way down), a trumpet vine (which Mary and I cut back and it’s already sprouting leaves), unruly yew trees, and a mountain laurel (the first plant I officially pruned).  These treasures are helping us form and frame our yard with natural boundaries.  How exciting!

Earlier this week, we had the side yard clear enough to dig a burn pit and rake through the dirt to clip the vines.  The process is first to dig up the area with the backhoe, then clip the vines, then rake, then clip more vines.  Pap and I were so proud of the section we completed.  We even found some really cool artifacts from the “olden days.”   We found old medicine bottles, rusted shears, hand-ironed horseshoes, a little green/yellow frog that was used for watering the gardens, bits and pieces of pottery, and a marble!  We officially have a “treasure bucket” going for all these finds! 

I cleared off the driveway, wall, and steps from all the old layers of pine needles.  These layers were so deep and composted that as I raked I found huge, fat worms living in there and making soil!  Yes, I officially know what worm droppings look like!  They had made enough soil to grow all types of weeds.  Since the gutters and driveway are cement, it was shallow enough to just pull out.  What a difference it makes driving up the driveway to those gorgeous clean gutters that are mostly in great shape!  The steps were a little more tricky, as I have found that ivy (not the poison kind) is extremely difficult to rip out.  Again, tons of worms in these steps!  I ripped…clipped…ripped….clipped and so on and so forth!  (p.s. at this point in the journey, my favorite tool thus far are the clipping shears…and broom too!)  Already, I have had to go through a few times to clear up the little growths. 

This week, we finally got to the back patio!  We took the little mini wall down to fit the backhoe onto the patio.  Dad came to pitch in one evening too!  It’s a lot of sorting: burn pile; scrap/metal pile; marble pile; brick pile; stone pile; junk pile.  We have dug out enormous slabs of marble. My idea is to square them off to eventually use in part of the house.  The brick patio is just beautiful red brick in a running bond pattern around the perimeter and herringbone in the center.  The brick is in surprisingly good shape, after all, it’s been sitting under all that debris all these years!  We are coming near to the old hand dug well that we know is back there.  The brick is starting to break up the closer we get to it.  Along the back of the patio, by the old burn pit, is a surprise little garden.  It’s adorable…hmm…maybe a future herb garden that I’ve always wanted?!?!  It’s tedious work (in my opinion)…lots of “fluffing” (i.e. shifting the rubble piles around to make it easier to handle), sorting, and shoveling up backhoe loads to haul out. 

This is just an overview of all that we have accomplished in these past few weeks to get us where we are now.  It’s fun to compare the pictures from where we started to where we are now.  I will do my best to continually update this blog to share pictures and stories as they occur.  Hopefully, this has helped to catch everybody up!  Thanks for taking the time to read this and for all your excitement and support!