Paymaster's Office

The willow tree dropped a limb through the Paymaster's Office. Fortunately, there is some extra slate in the barn, so they can patch the roof. It's ironic that the building that was most neglected is in the best condition. I know the answer is water - it never had plumbing, so it never had water damage. The only indignity it suffered was when Dawn's brother's used it for his bachelor pad.

(By the way, it's called the Paymaster's Office because that's where the Paymaster sat. A wall splits the room in two, with a small window where workmen would collect their wages. From the basement you can see where the floor was reinforced, presumably to support a safe above.)

Paymaster's Office, and the offending willow tree

Watt & Shand

We felt we'd cleaned enough where we were comfortable giving tours, so we invited Dale and Suzanne (of Forgotten Seasons B&B) over. Suzanne took home a Watt & Shand box (a now defunct department store) that was in the trash pile. Apparently, we weren't erring enough on the side of caution.

Tomorrow, after a traditional New Year's dinner of pork and sauerkraut, we're flying back to L.A. I can tell these trips are very stressful for Dawn's mom - a lot of change is in store - but I can't really do anything for her. I try to tell her everything that's going on, but Dawn says I'm giving her too much information and freaking her out even more.