Sorry folks, its been a while. Hell, life is darn hectic. I was at the house in July and had the absolute pleasure of meeting Nancy Tingle Deacon and her cousins, Sally, Flora & few more of which I cannot put the name to the face at this point - Nancy! Help! It was a short but excellent visit..picture 8 women chatting away all at one time. They gave me so much history on our beloved home, seemed to like the changes I made and confirmed many suspicion I had about the house, like the kitchen was actually the dining room and the summer kitchen was the origional kitchen. I wish it could have been a longer visit and I really wished I had videotaped it!

Nancy & I found the time to go out to her property in Merrit. An amazing river-front piece that anyone would be blessed to own. Simply beautiful. I would scoop it up myself, had I not already been married to the Tingle house. Although Nancy & I have spoken on the phone and emailed quite often, to meet her in person was wonderful. So pretty, soft-spoken and just had an aura of warmth around her..I wish she did not live so far away. It's official...I have adopted her, but she can choose the rank; aunt, cousin, sister...

I was mainly at the house to meet with the logger who will be removing many of the trees. The trees will pay for further restoration, and bring the land back to a farm, which is what it will be again. They will be leaving many of them, along the property line, easement, etc. for privacy and I simply cannot strip the land of all of it's beautiful foliage. I also had Shane Harris come in and do the door frames, door molding  crown molding in the front parlor. He did an amazing job as usual, at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, I did not get to see the finished product, as his other job was delayed and I had to leave that Saturday. But I look forward to my next visit! The puppies were with me and Bear proceeded to eat an entire box on De-Con mouse/rat poison. I was panicked! I conted my vet in NJ & NC, and was told the dog had to throw up. How do you make a dog throw up? Hydrogen peroxide..I never knew that..1 tsp per 20 pounds. He was okay, and had to be on vitamin K for 3 weeks, but boy, scary.

We are waiting to decide on a logger before I go down. Mills are closing & reopening like crazy, prices are down, and the property will require 2 weeks to log, of whch I cannot spare from work, so we are trying to work that out. But being as I have halted all other outside contractors for now, I will be refinishing the floors in the front parlor & back parlor and start on the 7 french doors that need to be stripped and refinished, (night-time work).  Chris the electrician will finish the high hat lighting, swtiches and outlets in the back parlor while I am there, so we can move into that room while we are there for three weeks at Christmas.

Other than that life has been really busy...work, Melissa, my daughter started college and is working full time...she got her drivers license and sadly I barely get to see her, I am going thru mom-withdrawal. Having some issues with family that I am working very hard to resolve and some medical things we are working on too. The puppies are still crazy but improving. Ali, Johns daughter is a sophmore in high school and has become captain of her JV Field hockey team. Both girls are working really hard. I completed my Appalchain Trail hike, New Jersey, 71 miles in 7 days. An amazing journey that has changed me forever. John & I are spending great time together now that we are children 'single'. We have been kayacking on the Wallkill River, enjoyed a great pigroast with our friends and have been doing a lot of off roading. Every dent & scratch in my jeep is a war wound of an excellent off-roading excursion. I am looking forward to the trees being done, I need a rest! Lol...till next time...