New Pics From Lois

Lois just sent me these, 2 days after eye surgery! It's wonderful to see how things are looking. 

Mom and Dad obviously found the kitchen table.

Cabinets look great!

The kitchen faucet through the George Lowe window

 

They painted the basement bathroom floor and I believe they are working on the rest of the basement floors too.

The shingles are graying out. They are getting the exterior trim painted. I see a lot of the white is done.

 

 

This is Blue's Road, which connects Hopefield to the shore, very near the house. The fall colours are amazing. Thanks Lois

Thanksgiving

My cousin Tom, his wife Jennifer and their girls Emily and Bridget visited us form Moncton for a few days and we celebrated Canadian Thanksgiving. 

We had a great time and did a little site-seeing while they were here. On their first day we toured the mansion and grounds of J. Sterling Morton, who was the father of Arbor Day. The house is located in Nebraska City, a small town about an hour east of here, right on the banks of the Missouri River overlooking Iowa.

Arbor Lodge

We had dinner at the Lied Lodge in Nebraska City that evening.

Lied Lodge 

 We sat in the sunroom and had a drink while we waited or the dining room to open.

The next day I took the girls to the Sunken Garden, a city park near our house. It was the city dump until it was made into this garden in the 1930's.

 

 

 Sunday to the Children's Zoo, also close to our house, and saw many exhibits including our famous penguins.

 And took a ride around the Zoo on the train!

Thank you Bridget, Emily, Jennifer and Tom for coming to see us. It was wonderful to see you and the first of hopefully many trips to Nebraska!

A Century Ago Today...

Dan Munn, my great-great grandfather, died. He was 59. My grandfather was not quite 2 years old at the time and Aunt Viola wasn't born yet. Even after all this time, we have reminders and artifacts from him, even his land!

The baby is my grandfather. His mother Sarah Kathryn is standing to the left, and his grandmother Elizabeth Ann is in the carriage with him. His father Ira is holding the horse at center, cousin Frank Barker is holding the carriage. That is Dan at the far right. By the age of my grandfather, this was probably taken in the summer just before Dan died.

This was his house in Hopefield as it looked in 1945, already abandoned for decades and falling into the ground. That's Sadie and Viola with some of their children looking around.

This is the same farm about 1900. Dad owns this land now

Dan at the far right, with family, 1907. That's my great-grandfather Ira in the middle

Dan is buried with his wife and many of their children at the Wood Island Cemetery

Dan built this sideboard. This is the same one Dad is refinishing now. Even a century later, we have reminders of who and where we came from, which is a gift.

Furniture

Lois visited Mom and Dad today and took these photos of the interior. They have been methodically unpacking all of their things and moving into the cabinets. Above is their china cabinet, now in the dining room. Dad's model EPA 737's and Canadian Airways jet are displayed on the top.

The cabinets are all painted now and the hardware is on

Dad has been refinishing the old sideboard that used to be in the old dining room. It will now reside in the kitchen. He has the lower portion completed and he is now refinishing the upper portion that contains the shelves and mirror.

 

This was my sideboard that I had in Halifax over 20 years ago. It was painted purple when I got it so I refinished it. It is originally from the Island. It now resides in the dining room as well, where the chimney and built-in china cabinet used to be.

 

They are moved into the kitchen. Must be a huge relief to have a kitchen at all!

Drawer pulls are installed

Thanks Lois for the great pictures. Looks wonderful!

Kitchen

Mom and Dad have been back from Ontario just a few days and went straight back to work, painting the kitchen cabinets. Jim and Marcia were on the Island on the weekend and visited on Sunday. Jim took these photos.

The cabinets are French Gray, with 5 doors left to paint, then the hardware can be installed. The sink is known as a drop-front or a farmers sink. The counter-top is laminate with a dark gray marble graining, and the edge is Corian. The old original shelf will be put back on the wall to the left of the window. It will go back when the trim is put back on. I didn't order upper cabinets in the hopes of eventually finding an antique cabinet with glass doors to put to the right of the window eventually. The plumbing and dishwasher are working, and the stove and refrigerator are in use. Finally they can cook in the kitchen!

 

 

 

 

 

View from the Dining Room, through the Butler's Pantry into the Kitchen.

The phone station in the Butler's Pantry, what used to be the Dining Room. That little table used to be at the top of the stairs. Dad refinished it and they had it in their house in Springhill for years. It's back home.

They have the Kitchen and Pantry doors painted French Gray as well. The wainscot will eventually be the same colour, and will be put back all around the room. The outside of the Kitchen door has one coat of Carriage House Green on it.

The main floor Bathroom

This is the first time I have seen the hardwood floor at the landing of the Back Porch.

The Moravian Star light over the basement stairs

Jim took some exterior shots as well. Dad is keeping the grass cut with the push mower! The outhouse looks bigger somehow with the little shed next to it.

The field looks like it has recovered well from the stress of all of the equipment.

Sunflowers?

The house is really starting to grey out nicely. By next summer much of the copper colour of the shingles will be gone.

The Mountain Ash, also known as a Rowan Tree, is blooming.

Thanks Jim and Marcia. These are great!!