Treasures I Will Say Good Bye to One Day

The old timbers in our great room are treasures of sorts.  Most came from old barns, repurposed for our house.  The horizontal one above with the peg sticking out of it and below, above the stone fireplace, are chestnut.  Chestnut trees don't grow here anymore since they succumbed to blight.

These beams came from an old church in Northern Baltimore County that was built in Colonial times, likely late 1600s or early 1700s.  So these trees were growing in this area before Europeans arrived.  A bit mind boggling I know.  The timber framer who built this portion of the house found these beams laying by the church after a major renovation had taken place which removed them.  He got a good deal and originally hadn't planned to use them in our house, but changed his mind.

But here's a new treasure that will go with us: the latest painting by my husband.  His father was a Washington DC policeman hence the jacket and baton, his maternal grandfather was a founder of the Franconia fire department and his paternal grandfather was a train engineer.  One of the engines he drove is in the Smithsonian.

Joining Tuesday Treasures

More Real Every Day

A sign went up at the bottom of our driveway and another at the top of the lane at the main road.  

[We live about a half mile from the road which is our address. 1/5 of that distance is our driveway.]

Today the realtor put toppers on the signs to pique interest.

Here's the one at the top of the lane.

Here's the one at the bottom of our driveway.

The house officially goes on the market on the 31st, though I must have everything done by next Monday when the photos are taken for the brochure.  After that it will be a matter of keeping the house neat and tidy.

What to buy a house in the woods?

Frederick, MD Church

Friday I took a break from getting this house ready for selling and went to Frederick, MD.  I have had a box of old coins that I figured we didn't need to have in the safe deposit box anymore.  A couple of years ago I took them out expecting to find out what they were worth. Well the box sat in a closet until recently along with some old jewelry. After selling the jewelry to a local jewelry store most for the melt value, the jeweler said they also buy coins but sell them to a coin store in Frederick.  I figured I would cut out the middle and go directly there.

It was a beautiful day to be out and I was sorry I didn't bring my camera.  I used my phone to take these two photos of a church I walked past.  It was the white walls against the blue sky that caught my eye.

Joining Inspired Sunday

First Event at Our Soon to be New Abode

As a future resident of Vantage House I was invited to attend a presentation that happens once a month there on genealogy. The subject for March was Land Deeds.  Fascinating stuff genealogy!  Like solving a mystery and I love reading mysteries.  I noticed in the elevator a plethora of activities being announced for the coming days.  I'll take advantage of those once we live there.

I learned a lot at this presentation and hope to put that new knowledge to work after this move.  I joined Ancestry.com in January and did some sleuthing with that.  I have had an interest in genealogy for some time and even took a course at the community college in 1979 but then I had children and no time.  Now I have the time so I will return to it.  It's my husband's ancestors that need to be researched.  I had an uncle who did major research and wrote up the genealogy for my side.  I suppose it can still be fleshed out more.

There were three other people besides the presenter in attendance.  I think it was a lighter than normal attendance since names were mentioned that were missing.  One woman was a prospective resident though she hadn't made up her mind yet.  The other couple were new residents as of December but they haven't sold their old house yet.  The wife said she needs to clean out the basement before they can do that.  I'm so glad we have never had a basement in the three houses we have owned.

Next up at Vantage House will be for us both to go to dinner there.  The food comes with such rave reviews even from some of our friends who are moving to another retirement community in near by Ellicott City.

House staging continues in earnest.  Mostly it's the deep cleaning tasks that are on the list before the photographer comes on the 28th.  A "Coming Soon" sign was to go up today but I didn't see it when I went out or upon my return.