More Packing For The Move To Our Prefab Home, With More History Adventures, And Color.
Ah, but there's always other projects to do once this is complete... Lessee: The natural pool, fencing, chicken protecting projects immediately come to mind...
Although the prefab home could have been finished quickly, our family opted to approach it as a pay-as-you-go project, living in the mid-century house while saving up, paying for, and completing each stage. But now we sell the mid-century house, and the summer will be spent finishing FINALLY the interior walls, connecting the solar hot water (which is happening now), etc....
[Pictures of the prefab home from last week.]
But for now, we continue to pack.
The months of negotiating the sale of our mid-century modern in the city, of, with the sale of the mid-century house, purchasing the In-Town Ramshackle Farm House in Deltaville, and to FINALLY begin the FINAL phases of finishing our prefab home, our passive solar off grid modern house outside of Appomattox... well...
We are run down.
We are stressed, no, we are frantic. Each week we pack, each weekend we haul out another trailer of belongings, all while being under construction, all while working and meeting professional deadlines, all while being a parent... and in the cold, damp spring, all while enduring colds!
Even haggard we might be.
So when I saw that Henricus Historical Park was commemorating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Henricus, our nation's second permanent settlement in 1611, with re-enactor colonists and real native Americans portraying their history, when I saw that Captain Mike Ostrander (whom I think is SO cool and have admired from afar for awhile) of Discover The James tours was captaining a boat for a tour of the James River's history and wildlife, well, SIGN US UP, honeychile!
Saturday, April 28, 2012 (10 a.m. - 5 p.m.)
Pocahontas, Rocke Hall and the Powhatan People
Explore the life of Pocahontas at Henricus where she converted to Christianity by Rev. Alexander Whitaker at his Rocke Hall home. Experience the life, events and culture of the Powhatan Indian community of Arrohateck during the colonial first contact period around 1613. A demonstration of Revolutionary War history will take place on the bluff to commemorate the April raid by King's forces that destroyed the Virginia State Navy.
Participate in history and conservation tours on the Discovery Barge II!
Visitors to Henricus Historical Park in 2012 are encouraged to participate in history and conservation tours on the Discovery Barge II, a covered 24-foot boat captained by Mike Ostrander of Discover the James, an established provider of educational eco-tours and fishing trips. Excursions will feature local wildlife and 17th-century through modern day history at Henricus and Dutch Gap. Participants will step back in time and explore the habitats of native bald eagles and listen to stories of 12-foot sturgeon fish among other fascinating aspects of the James River.
All tours taking place during special events at Henricus will explore nature and history related to the themed event.
It was AMAZING. First we did the boat tour and saw bald eagles and osprey while hearing all about the Powhatan Indians of Arrohateck as the English settled, skipped into whatever period of history as questions arose regarding the landscape we passed... Then we walked through the settlement and Indian exhibit... learning and also recognizing things we still use today-
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"Hey, look! An earth oven!!! I've been wanting to build one of those for three years!" |
HEY! Even those ospreys gotz themz some SOLAR PANELS!
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Solar panel osprey nest! |
Then we returned to the mid-century modern house.
Back to packing.
Wellllll, except for the hens, who were busy helping our garden...
Reading Club
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Guard Puppy. Green is not just LEED, y'all. |
- To LEED or Not To LEED
Where is LEED Leading Us?…And Should We Follow? - Why Bigger Cities Are Greener: http://bit.ly/Jk4wOz
"Denser cities are seed-beds of innovation and productivity improvement, as Jane Jacobs long ago argued." >>Believe me, I get that... - "As stated elsewhere, it looks like chickens will be a major upcoming political topic for City Council." (You've got that right, #RVA...)
- Thoughts, provoked by public education. wapo.st/HPRpHV Interesting read... especially to then read:
- Grads' Job Picture Grim
"About 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 last year were jobless or underemployed, the highest share in at least 11 years."
My thoughts are that we need to emphasize not just the return to apprenticeships that pass on valuable skills not just for the college-bound, but to bring home economics back into the spotlight. - Handsome Husband's contribution: Septic Testing: "Excellent article on soil testing and sizing septic fields. I am not giving up on a gravity fed field!"
- A *VERY* useful GMO shopping guide.
- And finally: How the junk food industry won the war on children: http://bit.ly/IEkUgn
>Not mine, they didn't. And the comments are great.
I know this late entrance of the Ramshackle INefficient In-Town Farm House is confusing. But I've been in Deltaville my entire life; now, for generations. Pamplin and Deltaville have a lot in common- a strong community, where friendships often span generations. This here, is Deltaville:
In 1929.
[Tony thinks this is our house, here, at :57 :]
HOW DO YOU THINK WE BECAME PIRATES?!?
Deltaville.
After the tornado hit last year, I felt closer to Deltaville than ever.
[The tornado missed the Ramshackle In-Town Farm House by a mere fifty feet, by the way...]
With the Ramshackle In-Town Farm House we ensure that more generations will continue sailing, pirating and banditing.
Farm House Fashion, LOL.
Our friend Tony is busy Dodging Hessian Specters & Battling Stachybotrys Chartarum at the In-Town Ramshackle Non-Efficient Farm House.
Colors that influence me for the In-Town Ramshackle Farm House: I am inspired by decay, freshened.
Anthony Caprara (realtor design dude and good friend) and I discussed the following ideas:
Who does freshened decay better than Paris?
A collection of Parisian colors that work well with any Decrepit Dinge:
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From Apartment Ideas From Paris |
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From My Modern Met |
ORANGE and white! Anthony wants to do bright orange in the bath room, and after seeing its dingy beginning, I say YES, YES, YES!
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From House Design Decorating |
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Yellow wall in Paris |
Colonial Williamsburg paint colors:

AND Latin America...
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Columbia |
Note the touches of light blue, coral & pink, and green...
Always, with touches of coral and pink...
From earlier visits, some of my pictures:
Speaking of CORAL AND PINK!
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From Katy Elliott |
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From Cindy's Salon |
"MOMMA, I told you I want a Wildlife Room!!!!"
Pipsqueak #2 does not want pink. Or Williamsburg Blue, for that matter.
"I want WOLVES! I want DEER! I want to feel close to the land even when I'm not there."
Um, ok, how about a deer against, uh, Williamsburg Blue?
From Ebay |
From Ebay |
Meanwhile, I am roused from my Delusion of Grandeur:
WHO ARE WE KIDDING. This is our reality:
WHO WANTS TO COME VISIT????
Labels: Deltaville, history, prefab home, Ramshackle In-Town Farm House, The Very Interesting Year, virginia