Hurricane Sandy Damage.

OK, let's be honest.  We're fortunate. We don't live in NJ or near the Atlantic Ocean. We did experience strong winds but our 260 year old home withstood the winds without an issue. We never lost power nor had flooding.  The worst thing that happened was a few sections of our rear property fence fell down. Not a big deal, unlike our fellow antique home owner/blogger from the Enos Kellogg Homestead who now needs to rebuild their...

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Boiler Efficiency and Home Heating

This is a long post so I put a quick summary in the beginning. Edit: I have made corrections to my initial post on Boiler Efficiency from 10/21/2012 as a misunderstanding in heating terms has resulted in invalid information. My apologies to my readers and thanks to Lou of Cromwell Energy, Inc. for pointing it out to me.  The following has been re-written entirely to account for the misunderstandings. SUMMARY Our boiler was recently rated...

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Our Trees Leave!

Fall is a wonderful time!  I love it.  Allergies are little, the temperatures are moderate and cool, and with the season changing, the colors are a delight.  As the season comes to a close, those delightful colorful leaves turn brown and fall to the ground.  We have several mature trees surrounding our property.  Mature trees give a huge abundance of foliage.  Both in the air and on the ground... in Fall. As...

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Woodworking, Part I

I wouldn't say I have a fear of loud noises, but when I hear the power come on a table saw or even the vacuum, I become paranoid.  In fact, my wife spooks me while I am vacuuming.  Putting psychology aside, I've come to appreciate the hand made creation of our home and the furnishings from it's time period; so much so that I would like to get my hands dirty, so to speak. In a prior post, I mentioned a company called D.R. Dimes...

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Overwhelmed.

It has been a little over a year since we've moved into our home.  Has it been a great year?  No, not really.  Are we ready to call it quits?  No.  I will not let our 260 year old home get the better of us.  I am, however, just now beginning to feel overwhelmed.   It's simply impossible to blog of all the events that have transpired in this year, so in a quick synopsis:  Windows, insulation, grass, leaves,...

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You Are Never More Than 10 Feet From a Spider.

Ever since I was a child, I've hated spiders.  This angst could have been from my mother's fear that I inherited or perhaps my own experiences over time.  Regardless, the truth still remains that I hate spiders.  They are quite horrific looking and with thousands of species on our planet, there are many different nightmares to go around.  There are big ones, small ones, hairy wolf spiders, jumping spiders, hanging spiders, spiders...

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Groundhogs Breed Like Rabbits

Baby Groundhog Posing Have you ever seen the cute furry overgrown hamsters in people's backyard and thought, "Aw, their so cute!"? Sure, a groundhog (also called a woodchuck) can be cute (and funny, as in the GEICO commercial from a couple years ago:  Woodchuck Chucking) until these furry critters begin treating your backyard, garden, deck, and foundation as if they were a wedge of Swiss cheese. And they breed like rabbits...

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Lead Testing

Warning:  This test kit has an expiration date!  It must be checked prior to purchase.  Solution 2 needs to be checked regularly to ensure it is still active.  A negative test result will occur if the solution is inactive! My wife and I have a newborn.  We have a very old house.  Lead is guaranteed to be present.  I purchased a lead test kit in hopes of identifying which rooms have lead....

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Spirits and Bangs in the Night

At some point while running through the gauntlet of reality shows on cable TV, one comes across the unmistakable green washed image of night vision goggles being used on yet another episode of Ghost Hunters or Ghost Adventures or any other carbon copy series. You hear the homeowner's tales of encounters with the supernatural. Footsteps in the attic, a distant voice, perhaps even the levitation of various objects... ohhhh my (in a George Takei impersonation). No,...

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Old Money

In Home History - Part II, an article from a book titled Biographical Sketches of the Graduates of Yale College by Franklin Bowditch, referenced Mr. Merriam's estate having a value of ₤1324. This was listed in the Reverend's Will (though I have yet to find it). Now who can tell me how much ₤1324 is worth? Anyone, anyone....? As of this post, $2,085.04 equals that amount if the conversion happened now. In the 18th century, the pound went much...

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Home History - Part II

Update:  See Home History - Part III for the latest information. After my wife's jaunt to the government offices of our town (see Home History - Part I), I had a list of owners through the 1840's which was when our town became incorporated. Going back further was difficult at that time with the records being in a different township and also the handwriting and legal jargon make deciphering the documents worse.  Due to the recent arrival...

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Old Photos

Reading other's blogs with black and white photographs of their homes from yesteryear I find myself both eager and jealous.  I have been looking for photos of this home for restoration purposes and also for pure curiosity. A fellow blogger (the Enos Kellogg House) found a photo of his home from the WPA program (of the Great Depression).  The program was designed to give work to those unemployed by having them go out and...

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Crab Apple Tree

We have a rather old crab apple tree that had a rustic feel to it.  The picture above shows the tree to the right of our cat, Oliver, taken in October of 2011.  The trunk is gnarled slightly with three different main branches from the roots.  It was quite nice in the beginning. It's been several months since our damaging winter event back in October (see the post here).  When the storm hit, the weight of...

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