Reflections on a Year (Ago)

It was a year ago today we closed on the property that would become Savage Hart Farm. I remember most of that day as if it was yesterday.

The bank was behind on the paperwork, so the closing time was pushed back from 1 pm to 4 pm in Woodstock. At the walk through that morning, I complained about having an additional three hours to kill all alone (Peg was flying in from Chicago that afternoon, and wouldn’t get to Hanover on the Dartmouth Coach till around 5 pm). I also asked the seller/listing broker, Chris, where I might get myself a rider mower – he suggested Trottier’s in South Royalton – a John Deere dealer. I replied, “I can’t afford a John Deere!”

The walk through was interesting. Typically you don’t do a walk through with the seller. Chris pointed out several things that came in handy over the last year.

• In one of the bathrooms on the second floor, there is a removable panel in the wall. Chris told me to take it down when it’s really cold and windy in the winter to get warm air circulating in a void above the kitchen where there are pipes (we got Mark’s crew to add a grate to the panel so that we can leave it up full time).
• Also when it’s cold and windy, Chris pointed out a door-sized piece of two-inch thick firm insulation in the basement that fits exactly over the glass door that leads to the screen porch (we used that a couple times).
• When it seems like water pressure is going down, Chris said to check the water filter in the basement (I did that around March – the amount of fine silt in the filter was incredible – remember, well water – and it took quite some time to clean it all out and I made a point NOT to show it to Peg).

After we finished the walk through, I went to lunch at Panera in West Lebanon, fired up my laptop, and saw that Trottier’s carries used tractors. So, after lunch I did the drive up to South Royalton. The sales guy showed me three different used rider mowers. In less than five minutes, we agreed on the one that seemed the best fit/deal and I said I’d take it. Probably the quickest sale he’d ever made. Later, at the closing, I commented that the three hour delay cost me an additional $2200.

After the closing, I rushed Moby over to the Hanover Inn to get Peg from the bus, then up Jericho Street to our new home. I’m almost sure I carried her over the threshold. The moving van was scheduled to arrive the next day, but we had purchased the king bed from Randy and Julie who had been renting the house, so we didn’t have to sleep on the floor or in a motel.

We also had purchased the three bar stools in the kitchen from Chris and Carole, so we lugged two out to the ridge along with some adult beverages, and enjoyed our first sunset in Vermont. It was, like so many since, spectacular.

As night descended, I went to the truck to get the Angel – Gayle’s Angel. It is now sitting on our mantle, and we rarely turn it on, but it has tremendous sentimental power. My sister, who left us way too soon in 1996, had a neon Angel, which came into our possession. It’s traveled from Chicago to New York and back to Chicago, before making the trek to Vermont. Unfortunately, the move back to Chicago didn’t do her any favors, and we had a copy made after it broke. Learning our lesson, we decided not to let the movers bring it back East, and it was very securely wrapped and placed in the truck. Turning her on, and putting her in the window, I knew I was “home” again.

The next morning, one of us got up early to take some morning shots of our new surroundings.

Peg and I had a cup of coffee at Starbuck’s this morning before a meeting – I reminded her that today is our 1^st anniversary in the house. We looked at each other, both commented on all that has happened in a year, and shook our heads. We didn’t start the blog until the end of September, 2012. We’ve done 86 posts since then – that works out to more than 9 posts a month or about 2 posts a week. If you’re new to the blog, go back to “Once In A Lifetime” (my first post) and get yourself caught up. It’s not like Game of Thrones, but there are a lot of stories and even some characters (the sheep).

This year we’ll have even more adventures, with a wedding at the farm in less than seven weeks. We’re excited to have the apartment open for business. The lambs seem to be doing fine without their moms. We’ll start to figure out how to market our yarn. Calvin’s coat came off this morning (one leg had gotten out of its loop and he was limping a little, so we took it off completely) and his fleece is gorgeous – we’ll have much nicer results at next spring’s shearing. Now if we can just get the rain to stop so summer can begin…

Todd