Pink Roses

curb appeal...

After months of working on the house, it was time to do a little work on the yard.  This old house needed some serious curb appeal.  Here it is at the end of last June when I bought it:

Cutting the lawn was a huge improvement!...

There were MONTHS of rebuilding the huge wrap around porch.  Everything needed to be jacked up and rebuilt.  All 16 columns were rebuilt with custom millwork to match the original columns.

A landscaping crew came in and removed all of the old plantings...

and I scraped grey paint off of the brick foundation...

Plants were installed, some with a crane, because they were so large.  Everything planted in the front of the house is evergreen, so it will look nice all year long.  Plants that lose their foliage (all my roses and perennials) are in the back.

The porch ceiling was painted blue...

before and after...

Now that Spring has arrived, and things are starting to bloom...

The house is looking better and better.  Now when I drive in the driveway, it feels like "home", not just a project.

 

spring...

This is my first Spring here at the farm, as I purchased it at the end of June last year.  I am still in the discovery stage of all the plants and trees and wildlife here, and am constantly amazed with something new.  I am also a bit overwhelmed with how FAST everything is growing!  It seems as if one day the ground was sleeping, and the next day it is running wild!  The good news is, that everything  I have planted is growing very well.

I've planted roses in several locations, hydrangeas, peonies, azaleas and dozens of perennials. Color and placement were a huge consideration...pinks, purples and white against the grey weathered siding of the barn, giant yellow sunflowers against the rusty metal siding of another barn (the one shown above). My neighbor Frank has plowed 6 or 7 acres in the far pasture and is planting corn, watermelons and cantaloupe.  He has also plowed me an area to grow heirloom pumpkins and gourds. I'm letting him grow on this spot of my land (and I get all the corn and melons I want), and he does mowing and tractor work for me.  Bartering land for services, and we both are happy.

Frank is becoming a good friend, he's a wealth of knowledge about all things farming, and has been a huge help to me.  Although he did kill a 40" snake one morning, and left it for me to find and scare me...

Thank goodness my carpenters found it before I did...although they also saved it, but only to show me, not scare me.  My son told me it was a corn snake and non-poisonous, but it was still a SNAKE, so no thank you.

This past winter we had a huge ice storm, and several large trees fell into my lake, pulling away part of the dam with their root system.  Frank, and a friend of his, came over with their tractors and cleared and removed all of the trees along the lake side of the dam,  and reinforced the dam.  I called him a lifesaver, he said he was just being a good neighbor. A good neighbor indeed!

In other news, the beadboard ceiling on the porch has all been repaired/replaced...

and is finally being painted blue!

 

Inside, I have removed all of the dining room wallpaper, and the walls are being replastered and prepared for painting.

The to-do list around here never seems to get any shorter...one thing gets crossed off and three more get added, but I'm having fun and enjoying the process! 

back in the day...

This is an undated photo of my farm from many years ago, with it's many barns and outbuildings.  Some of the structures are still there, but many were destroyed in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo passed through town. Some of the remaining features include:

 

Here is a photo dated 1973 showing some of the buildings at the top of the driveway.  These buildings included a blacksmith shop, and a smokehouse.  All of these were destroyed in the Hurricane. 

I am grateful to have this glimpse into the history of the farm through these photos, generously given to me by the previous owner of this property.