New Hampshire – Page 14 – New England's Narrow Road

I’m Thankful For My Surprisingly Great Home – It Has a Mudroom!

When I was getting ready to buy a house last year, there were a few things I really wanted the place to have. But I was not in a position to be picky and the reality was that I would be lucky if the roof wasn’t caving in. The features I hoped for were not likely to be part of the fixer-upper I would be able to afford. I hoped for a garage, 2 bathrooms (with windows please), a nice neighborhood, a fireplace or wood-stove, a decent basement, and it would be oh-so-nice to have a mudroom. I believed it was only a dream, and doubted I’d have any of those things in a house I could afford.

I did not have the luxury of time either. I needed a place to live right away. My choices were, move into another apartment or rental house, or buy something. With the interest rates so low and the housing market at the best it might ever be, I saw this as my (possibly) one and only chance to own a home of my own in the northeast.

I looked at some scary homes. The Realtor and I walked into one house that was missing a bathtub. Upstairs the insulation had been ripped out of the ceiling and it was hanging all over the room. That was not the least of the issues with the foreclosures I looked at, and I am not a handyman, so I couldn’t imagine what it would take – in terms of work and money – to “fix” those places and make them livable. How could my son and I move into such a place?

The first house I saw at had warped siding, was loaded with black ants, had broken garage doors, a leaky basement, leaky roof, and no steps from the sliding door to get to the back yard. To name a few of the issues! But, believe it or not that was the NICEST place I saw. I ended up buying that house and I have been here for over a year now and I’ll tell ya – it’s looking good!! I had to begin renovations right away, and things moved along nicely to make my little family comfortable for winter.

The most amazing thing to me is that this house has most every feature I wanted (and never expected to get) in a house. I love the big, 2-car garage (now, with new doors). Both bathrooms have big windows and are nice and bright. The kitchen is modern and huge and I have a big home office. I even have a mudroom (pictured). The neighborhood I live in is quiet and we’ve even made a few friends. I am thankful for this place and definitely feel that I made a good choice when I decided to buy a fixer-upper instead of renting once again.

Makeshift Mudroom (winerequired.wordpress.com)
Consider This When Buying a Wood Stove (newenglandsnarrowroad.wordpress.com)

Consider This When Buying a Wood Stove

After living through the ice storm of 2008 without any alternate heating source and freezing for eight days, my main goal when I moved into my new home was having a wood stove. In 2008 I was renting a duplex and the people next to me had a wood stove which kept us somewhat warm, but in my own place I knew it would be up to me to make sure we didn’t freeze if and when a storm takes away our power.

The living room has a fireplace, but the room itself is the smallest one in my house. After the winter of 2008 I had purchased an old, large stove to use in the basement of my rental and that one was far too large to use in the living room of my new place. We would have roasted.
I sold that one and I bought a small wood stove. It fits into the fireplace well, and it won’t cook us when we are sitting in the room. But….

I did not take into consideration the fact that the wood I buy may not fit in it! And that is the trouble I am having.

The little Jotul is a great stove, but much of the wood I had purchased last year is too big. Places generally deliver 16 inch logs – and some of those measure longer. It’s a front loading stove, and the opening is quite small. The pieces of wood I burn need to be narrow enough to easily fit into the opening when the stove is going. Who wants to have to try to jam a piece of wood over an already burning log in hopes that it will fit?
I did not take this into consideration and now I wish I had thought about it and maybe bought another type of stove.

I’ve had to hire someone to come and split the wood for me – I wish I could do it myself. I have some dead trees on my property that I plan to use (and have already used) which means the pieces can be made nice and short using the chainsaw, which is very helpful.
Just something to consider if you are planning to buy a stove for a small space.

Wood Burning Stoves Are the Current ‘Fashion’ (prweb.com)
Turn up the heat with a wood burning stove (greenreview.blogspot.com)
Good (Free!) Wood For The Stove (rubyandwheaky.wordpress.com)

Painted Turtles Grabbing Some Sun

As I was walking near Gregg Lake in New Hampshire last week getting some foliage photos, I kept hearing the “plop” of turtles leaving their sunning platforms as they heard my footsteps on the road.
I had my eyes open for the heron that can usually be found in the area, but never saw him / her, and then I caught two painted turtles still sunning – but ready to leap at any moment. I managed to get four shots before they had had enough and dove underwater to hide from me. As you can see, they were nervously eying me and my camera!

I’ve made this photo into a huge size poster. You can buy it as a 53 x 40 inch size. Or just enjoy looking at it below.

turtles sunning — Painted Turtles Sunning

Pictures of a Beautiful Fall Foliage Season

fall foliage season 2012 — Fall Foliage of 2012

Even though Fall has been a disappointment to me this year, I did get out and try to take some photos at my favorite spot. I drove back to the lake where I used to live and of course the sun disappeared as I began to take photos. Everything looked dull without the sun to enhance the color, but the colors just were not all that impressive anyway.

Maybe I have been spoiled by the couple of years that gave us such brilliant color, or maybe my expectations are just too high. It’s easy to miss the peak color when days turn cloudy and storms blow through at just the time you realize how lovely it all looks. Fall is the most fleeting season, and it’s a shame.

As I was driving around last weekend, I saw lots of tourists with cameras (they looked like tourists anyway) out photographing the foliage, but I wondered what they were thinking. Were they impressed?