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Solid gold septic
Dawn's gotten three quotes for the septic system, ranging from $60,000 to $90,000. As one person eloquently put it, "holy crap!"
Last week, Dawn even met with the sewage enforcement officer to see if there were any other options. ("Sleep with him if you have to," I said.) It didn't matter; there was nothing that could be done, and even if there was it would set our project back six months. So we are building the Taj Mahal of sand mounds.
On a related note, we are now featured on the Outhouses of America Tour and I've been in touch with Sherman Hines, who produces an annual Outhouse calendar. (Seriously--check out his 2006 calendar at Amazon.com!)
We considered installing pay toilets, but even at $1 per flush it would take 27 years to recoup our costs!
Dawn's to-do list, updated
In early April, I posted Dawn's to-do list. Let's review:
- Gut the Summer Kitchen -- done!
- Clean out basement, dig out mud, and pour a concrete floor -- done!
- Install cellar doors on mansion, Paymaster's Office -- temporary doors installed!
- Clean off vines, remove bushes -- done!
- Trim Sycamore trees -- done!
- Remove rust from basement grills
- Scrape adhesive from kitchen floor -- done!
- Take down wallpaper from 6 rooms + hallway -- done!
- Remove all loose paint, plaster -- done!
- Clean up entire farm (in April she had already filled two twenty-yard dumpsters) -- she has now filled six dumpsters!
- Periodic site cleanup -- done!
- Scrape paint off stairs; stain and seal
- Strip paint off 42 windows and 24 shutters (with a blowtorch!) -- done!
- Repair, sand, prime, and paint all 42 windows and 24 shutters -- halfway there!
- Prime all exterior trim -- done!
- Buy all fixtures, from faucets to mattresses -- bathroom fixtures ordered!
- Demo back porch on mansion -- done!
- Remove boiler and oil tanks from basement -- done!
- Remove linoleum under carpets in Summer Kitchen -- done!
- Demo all ceilings in Summer Kitchen -- done!
- Remove trash, organize barn -- done!
- Clean out trash in Tractor Shed -- done!
- Clean out basement of Paymaster's Office -- done!
- Remove couch and all other trash from Paymaster's -- done!
- Clean out dirt and debris from Privy
- Re-roof privy
- Remove all items inside workshop -- done!
- Dig out mud on the first level, pour cement floor if needed -- dug out!
- Repair floor joists/floor in second story of workshop
- Re-roof workshop
- Fix drainage around workshop
- Rebuild outside stairs on Aquarius (greenhouse)
- Install drapes on ceiling of Aquarius -- done!
- Rebuild Mom's green house
- Build basement steps in Tenant house
- Build a rail fence around the back yard
Not bad for six months! Of course, she's done such a great job, we gave her all the interior painting as well. That will realistically take about three months, depending of course on how many people she can get to help. (Just call her "Dawn Sawyer.")
Both the boat and the metal wagon were found in the cornfield!
Dawn vents
About three months ago, Dawn sent me an update on the project, and it was such a rare event that I posted it to the web site. Well, she did it again:
So what needs to be done? What doesn't need to be done. Monday, August 29th, the electrician is supposed to be here, the heating and cooling guy is supposed to start today, but only the cooling guy is here mapping out where the ductwork should go. Did I choose the right company, I don't know, and yes I doubt myself on a regular basis. Not accustomed to this feeling, I become hostile. However I do try to keep it to myself. Mike the cooling guy was pleasant and seemed to know what he was up to, and was even figuring the future into his design work. I cannot picture what this house will look like when we are done. While Mike the cooling guy was about his business, the excavator showed up with 6 tons of stone dust for the bottom of the electric pad hole behind the privy. While we were talking I placed a call to the designer at PPL, who said there were additional requirements for the hole. I asked him to please come out and look before we did anything we would regret later. He obliged my request by coming by at 2:30 and meeting with the excavator and myself. He told us to put some of the dirt back in the hole and get another 10 tons of stone dust to place at the bottom of the hole AND the trenches. OK. Meanwhile the roofers started working on the gable ends and placing the copper gutters. Wait, I need a picture.
So back to the electrical pad hole. This is kinda done, and now I find out that while PPL could come out and install the pad sooner rather then later, the electrician needs to install the meter box and disconnect first, it needs to be inspected and then they will come out, so I really did not have to dig the trench NOW. It could have been done in two weeks. ACK. Where the &^%* is that electrician!
Ok, so a friend pointed out the other day that Gregg was having second thoughts about where to place the meter, but while he told everyone that would listen or for that matter read the blog, he neglected to tell me. I don't know why, something about fear and worse things then death, blah, blah, blah. I have a call into Jason at PPL to find out if the other location is acceptable, but I have been told by the designer that my new location is not really a building, but a dilapidated wall with three other walls trying to stand next to it with no roof left to speak of. Hum sounds like most of the buildings. Needless to say I am ignoring the designer of the electrical pad and asking Jason, who was the one who told me I could have a pad instead of a pole.
So the east side of the house is getting pointed starting Sept 15 if we are lucky. The roofers want to leave the pent roof on that side unfinished until the mason comes; they also don't want to place the downspouts on until the mason is done. The plumbing, the new well, the electric and the cable are all coming into the house at the same location on the east side of the house, and the gutters are to be fed into a pipe that runs underground along the east side of the house, around the corner, across the parking lot and driveway, and empties on the side of the hill- all of this needs to be coordinated and I am getting a little crazy because of it. I still need to dig out the dirt around the existing electrical going into that side of the house and it looks as though I will be the one to do it. Sigh.
I need to get all the windows and window sashes done by the end of September.
I need to hire a paver.
I need to hire an excavator to do the septic.
My mom calls - her email is down again. When I check it, I find that she has viruses again.
I am really cranky and mean to Gregg, I feel bad. Could it be that I didn't fall asleep until 3 am?
Darin is hard at work glazing now, and Mike is taking care of the dormer siding.
I am sure there is more. Oh, I have learned to drive the dump truck, and at the end of the day, I went up the hill to start the burn pile on fire. Darin went with me because he had the lighter.
I called Toni; I need to know what type of inspections I need to have done, and when and who needs to do them – who do I call.
All in a days work, I am going to bed.
Sleep well, my love; you've earned it.
The dump truck loaded with all the old radiator pipes
The True Cost of Dawn
While Dawn was in LA last week, she was actually working--her old company needed her to cover for a week, and we are in no position to turn down money. Well, I just ran the numbers and found Dawn made a little over $1,000, and spent $1,400!
My first thought, of course, was that Dawn was never coming to LA again. But then I realized that, on average, she spends $5,700 per week in Pennsylvania! So if I had any sense, I'd whisk her back to LA immediately!
But then she sends me a copy of the appeals board decision, and I remember that she just saved us over $50,000, and that wouldn't have happened if she had been in LA. So it's all good, I guess.
P.S. Most of Dawn's expenses were in dental work--she likes her dentist here and refuses to find one in Pennsylvania. (She's already got an appointment in December to get a crown replaced.)
Dawn had to speak in front of a dozen people!
Privy
Sometimes web surfing takes you to some odd places, and yesterday I found myself at the "Outhouses of America Tour." As the title suggests, they have pictures of outhouses from all over the country, and I suddenly realized (which is kind of scary) that we have a great outhouse!
Most outhouses are wood; ours is stone. Most seat one; ours has three holes and a divider wall (although we can't tell which side was which). Most have a crescent moon for light and vent; we have two original windows! Of course, ours is in pretty sad condition -- the roof has partially collapsed -- but it's on the list to be restored, and it (along with the other 18th century buildings on the property) are being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Suddenly I'm feeling like we shouldn't be mounting the electric panel on the privy as we planned. I mean, there's lots of 18th century stone houses in the country, but how many 18th century stone outhouses are there?
Dawn will not be amused by my sudden protectiveness of the privy
Paymaster's Office - Video
A couple of weeks ago, someone asked if the Paymaster's Office was available. No surprise, since the outside of the office is in great condition. However, here's a short (50-second) video of the inside. Viewer discretion is advised.
Dawn's gone
[Note: If you're thinking, "Here comes the mushy crap," you better abort here...]
Wanted: Single female, ageless with a childlike sense of wonder and appreciation, strong and outgoing yet tender and able to create intimacy anytime. Must be kind to all creatures (including rats) and enjoy long walks on the beach, sleeping in cars, and old movies. Must be open for anything, from folk festivals to vegetarian food to staying up all night watching meteors. Must be understanding and tolerant, able to convey a point without yelling or attacking. Non-smoker, great smile, and large brown eyes preferred.
Me, I'm a classic Scorpio: vindictive, mean, and obsessive; needy but afraid to trust; smart but forgetful; quiet but opinionated. I mask my optimism with cynicism, and many find my sense of humor offensive. I enjoy living on the west coast, but willing to do anything for the right person.
I miss you, baby
Amish Roofers II - The Video
Dawn has really gotten a kick out of the Amish roofers, for several reasons:
1) They all speak with a heavy Pennsylvania Dutch accent.
2) They arrive by 7am, and stay until 5pm.
3) Except for Melvin, they all wear traditional Amish clothes -- dark pants, long-sleeve shirts, suspenders, and straw hats. When the temperature hits 100, they take off the straw hats.
4) They are all short and seem to be solid muscle; they pick up 10-pound slates like nothing.
5) They built a chute into the dumpster, and after using it twice they just started throwing stuff down.
6) They don't mind explaining to her how things work, what the options are, and why they are doing it the way they are.
7) They are all craftsmen, and take a lot of pride in their work.
8) The only power tool they use is a small motor attached to a ladder for shuttling the slates to the top of the roof.
9) To make pilot holes, they hold the slate against their groin and stab it with an icepick. (I am not making that up.)
10) And the best reason is they gave Dawn permission to videotape them.
Nevertheless, Dawn managed to get 30 minutes of footage without ever showing their faces. She didn't try; she's just that bad at making videos. Either they were backlit, or they were facing away from her, or they had a chute in front of their face, or there was a tree in the way. A tree. Not sure how Dawn missed that, but it's two minutes of a tree blowing in the wind with the sound of roofers behind it. I did not include that in this 90-second montage:
Dawn's top ten
I asked Dawn what she missed most about being home, figuring (of course) that it would be me. I didn't even make the top ten:
1. Water pressure
2. Soft bed
3. No bats
4. No bugs
5. Beach
6. Perfect weather
7. Neighbors
8. Food variety
9. Her truck
10. Dishwasher
Matt and Brian digging out the first level of the workshop, where the air conditioning equipment will go.
This Old House II - Video
I don't want to "out" my contractor (especially after Dawn made me remove the reference to "evil Mike") but when This Old House came to take pictures of Gary, he brought an entourage -- Vince, Sean, and Lauren. Dawn immediately put them all to work, letting them pause only long enough to take this short video:
Large (broadband users)
The week in pictures
Here we have a rare photo of Dawn working. (Rare because she's always behind the camera, not rare because she's never working!)
The plumbers decided that with the new high-efficiency boiler, we needed a metal flue liner. Unfortunately, they brought one just a little too big, and it wouldn't fit in the chimney.
Mike is done with the outside trim. (There was a lot more that needed to be replaced than we thought.) Now he can start on the summer kitchen, which doesn't involve nearly as many ladders.
Frank the chimney sweep -- whose motto is "soot loose and fancy free" -- said the chimneys hadn't been cleaned in fifty or sixty years. As if to prove his point, he found a full can of Raid c. 1978 in one of the chimneys. If anyone had lit a fire, that would have been ugly.
The plumbers pulled all of the old iron pipes from the basement, and then laid down all new plastic ones. Dawn, who doesn't know a thing about plumbing, thinks that metal is good and plastic is bad. I, who also doesn't know a thing about plumbing, think she may be right.
Dawn snapped this picture of a chipmunk watching the curious proceedings.
And finally, Dawn took this photo to take to the sprinkler appeals board. Nothing has been done to it yet, but I just thought it was a cool picture. This place is going to be amazing when we're finished.
Dawn's back
Dawn's back in LA! And more importantly, she brought pictures and video! (For some reason, in this era of instant communication, she likes to hand-deliver the video camera to me.) I'll post them when I can but, unfortunately, this 3-second clip pretty much sums up the videos.
James Buchanan
The Lancaster County Historical Archives references another book Professor Klein wrote on James Buchanan and Ann Coleman. The short story is that James Buchanan, an attorney, fell in love with Robert Coleman's youngest daughter, Ann Caroline Coleman. Mr. Coleman, who had risen from penniless immigrant to wealthy ironmaster, felt Buchanan was beneath him, and so refused to let Ann see him again. Ann then died under mysterious circumstances, leading many to conclude that she committed suicide (which was taboo at the time). Mr. Buchanan, meanwhile, never married, and went on to become America's only bachelor President.
I also found another article that said James Buchanan ordered his letters burned upon his death, but the surviving letters were reprinted in a book called "President James Buchanan" by -- you guessed it -- Professor Philip Shriver Klein.
Wheatland, the estate of President James Buchanan
The Horse-Shoe Trail
There seem to be two theories about how the "Horse-Shoe" trail was named. The boring one (and therefore probably more correct) is that it was used by both horses and people. The more interesting tale is that when people were moving west and a horse threw a shoe, they couldn't take time to look for the old shoe; they just nailed a new one on. Anyone who found a shoe would hang it on a post along the trail. After a while, every post sported a horseshoe; hence the name.
The Conestoga trail follows, in part, the Conestoga river, so there's no mystery there. I mention these because they meet about a mile from Speedwell Forge. The Horse-Shoe trail runs 140 miles from Valley Forge to the Appalachian trail; the Conestoga is a hiking-only trail that runs 61 miles through Lancaster County.
A couple of weeks ago I mentioned that the triathlon route that goes past Speedwell Forge was "one of the prettiest rides in all the triathlon world." I didn't mention that in addition to swimming, you can also go canoeing at Speedwell Forge Lake; they don't allow gas-powered boats, so it is very serene.
If that's not your cup of tea, you can go birding. According to Audubon Pennsylvania, Speedwell Forge Lake hosts Bald Eagles, Osprey, Great Blue Herons, Great Egrets, Green Herons, and Black-crowned Night-Herons. Speedwell Forge Park has Ruffed Grouse, Wood Thrush, Veery, White-eyed Vireo, Common Yellowthroat, Carolina Wren, and Yellow-breasted Chat, among others. A survey in 2003 identified 125 bird species!
And finally, you can engage in my favorite activity: Nothing. Sitting on the porch watching fireflies; reading a book from a deep window well; strolling around the farm; watching the sun set and the moon rise (or vice-versa).
So there you have it: You can stay at Speedwell Forge and go hiking, biking, swimming, canoeing, birding, even compete in a triathalon, all without getting in your car. :-)
I've also read about "inn-to-inn touring" where you bike from one B&B to the next, and the innkeeper transports your luggage for you. That sounds really cool and something I would definitely participate in; I just have to find other B&Bs along the Horse-Shoe trail...
Horse-Shoe Trail
Conestoga Trail:
http://www.conestogatrail.org/
Speedwell Forge Lake:
http://sites.state.pa.us/PA_Exec/Fish_Boat/water/lakes/speedwell_forge/00index.htm
http://www.pabirdingtrails.com/trail-guide/site.asp?id=197
Speedwell Forge Park:
http://www.co.lancaster.pa.us/parks/cwp/view.asp?q=518304
http://www.pabirdingtrails.com/trail-guide/site.asp?id=198
Triathalon route:
http://www.trails.com/tcatalog_trail.asp?trailid=XGP001-022
Inn-to-Inn Touring in Vermont:
http://www.bikevt.com/experience/
1955 Lancaster Sunday News
In 1952, as Dawn's father told it, an escaped felon was hiding in the barn. When Dawn's father went to shovel hay, the convict hit him over the head, set fire to the barn, and ran away. Dawn's father was lucky to escape with his life.
Bill was a wonderful story teller, and we suspected this was just that -- a story. But after the Lancaster newspaper article came out in April, someone sent Dawn a long letter saying, among other things, that she knew Dawn's father, and her barn had also been burned down! We had no idea who this person was, and the newspaper article didn't even mention the barn, so it was kind of weird.
In any case, after the original barn (a beautiful 1840 stone-end bank barn) burned, they needed to build a new one. In 1955, they completed a new 210-foot monstrosity. All of the wood was cut on-site, so pictures from that time are surprisingly void of trees. (Fortunately they left the two sycamores.) The local paper ran an article on March 13, 1955:
Click to enlarge
Addendum 8/25/05: Oops, turns out it was a story. It wasn't an escaped convict hiding out in the barn, it was a bored teenager! Apparently he torched half a dozen barns in the area in 1952. He liked to watch them burn, and police noticed he was at every single fire, which is how they caught him. I don't know what happened to him, but apparently he still lives nearby. He's got to be about 70 now.
How do I know all this? Dawn talked to an excavator today about trenching for the electric, and he knew her father, her grandfather, and went to school with the arsonist! Small world...
Edward Coleman Freeman
In researching the Speedwell Stock Farm, I came across this in the Lebanon County Historical Society's 15th annual report, from 1913:
In Memoriam
EDWARD COLEMAN FREEMAN
Edward Coleman Freeman was born at Washington, D. C. on the eighth day of April 1856, and died at Cornwall, Penna., on the fifth day of May 1912.
He was a son of the late Col. William G. Freeman, U. S. Army, and Margaret C. Freeman, a daughter of Thos. Bird Coleman, dec'd. who in his lifetime was the owner of Cornwall Furnace and the large estate connected with it.
He was President of the Cornwall Iron Company and Cornwall Turnpike Company, and a Director of the Cornwall Railroad Company, Robesonia Iron Company Limited, and the
Valley National Bank of Lebanon at the time of his death. He had also served as President of the Board of Directors of Cornwall School District, and held the office of Postmaster at Cornwall, for a number of years.
He was also the representative of his family's interest in the Cornwall Ore Bank Company. Mr. Freeman took great pleasure in gunning and out door exercise up to a few years before his death, and he was the owner of a kennel of some of the most noted hunting dogs in the country.
He was also interested in farming and the raising of trotting horses at the Speedwell Stock Farm of the Cornwall Estate, and had on his "Fairview Farm" near Bismarck, a choice herd of Registered Guernsey Cattle.
...
He was unmarried and left surviving him, of his immediate family, two sisters, Miss I. C. Freeman and Mrs. B. H. Buckingham, and William C. Freeman, a nephew.
"Peace to his ashes."
The full text of the article is here.
[28 years later, Dawn's grandparents purchased Speedwell Forge from Mrs. Buckingham.]
The Stallion Pen, c. 1950
Hambletonian
I caught a cold. I mention that only to explain why, on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, I was lying on the couch watching TV. As I flipped through the channels, I came across the Hambletonian, a horce race--or, more specifically, a harness race. (Apparently, it is the harness race, with a purse of $1.5 million.)
Of course, the only reason this was of any interest to me is that one of the sons of Hambletonian Ten (who was the original progenitor of most standardbred horses, and for whom the race was named) is buried on the farm! I know this because we have a newspaper clipping from 1942. (Unfortunately, I cut off the edge when I scanned it.)
Addendum: Found this link of horse pedigrees, which lists Middletown in 1858.
Until we found this newspaper article, we never knew why the one building was called the "stallion pen." (Click to enlarge.)
First reservation request
Got a call today from Mary of Maryland, wanting to know if the Paymaster's Office was available for her 35th wedding anniversary in September. By the time I returned her call she had read enough of the website to know that it wasn't, but it was heartening to know someone was interested. We've been so focused on the renovation, that we've lost track of the business!
Dawn had a chimney sweep out today, who is cleaning four of the six flues. Apparently chimney swallows are nesting in the other two, and they are federally protected, so we have to wait until they migrate in the fall to finish. (And then we'll put mesh across the top so they don't return.)
Similarly, one of the posts on the front porch is waiting for a small wren to move out so we can continue working on it. The wren isn't protected but she had babies, and the chicks should be fully fledged in a couple of weeks. They tell me the hole in the post is about the size of my pinky.
And finally, I freaked Dawn out today. She was complaining that they had thrown away a bunch of siding for the dormers, because they had used an oil-based primer and then found you weren't supposed to use oil on fiber-cement boards. Well, all I heard was 'fiber-cement' boards and I gave her a lecture on the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation which states, in part, "Where the severity of deterioration requires replacement...the new feature shall match the old in...materials." Needless to say, fiber-cement siding was not available in 1760.
Of course, I was ambivalent: fiber cement siding looks the same as wood but doesn't rot, is impervious to insects, and (most importantly) only requires repainting every 15-20 years. It's even touted as a 'green' building material because it doesn't contain any toxins -- just sand and cement and cellulose. But you know, I'm sure they said the same thing about vinyl siding, and asbestos siding before that.
But it turned out I was a tempest in a teapot: The contractor had discussed this months ago with our historical consultant. He wanted a low-maintenance product on the dormers (which of course were most likely to be neglected) and she had agreed, so that is the end of that. When it's all done, nobody will be able to tell the difference. The only lesson learned here is to LET ME KNOW EARLY, so I don't freak Dawn out when she's installing the stuff. Hint, hint...
Frank the chimney sweep
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