Indian basil, still growing strong, as is the Mexican basil.
Because I really did not do anything today worth talking about nor did I have any deep thoughts or profound revelations or traumatic memories that I need to discuss, I think I'd like to speak a little more about the house on Edenfield.
The woman in the couple that built the house had based it on a Colonial-style house. From what she told us, she had actually gone up to Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia several times to make sure she was getting details correct. She even insisted that the boards making up the floor were not to be stained or finished in any way because that would not have been authentic. We had them finished though before we moved in. We had kids, we had dogs, we had...a life. Of course the original Colonial Williamsburg houses did not have plumbing or electricity but those, thankfully, were allowed.
The woman lived for antiques and I am sure she envisioned the house as the perfect showcase for her treasures and wanted everything to be just so. The problem was that her collections grew to such fantastical proportions that it would have taken four large houses to hold everything she had in that house if it was done in a manner that didn't involve towering stacks of things everywhere. It's odd. From what I read, it would seem that there is a distinction between hoarding and collecting. I can see that. I have been in a hoarder's house and there was no doubt that that's what it was. The newspapers, the old food, the bottles and cans and bags and all the useless detritus of an everyday life. And those things are not arranged carefully or neatly.
But this woman definitely did collect certain things and obviously had big trouble letting anything go. There was a walk-in closet off our bathroom upstairs that was as big as some kitchens. It was huge. And she left behind a few things including boxes of impeccably folded, unworn real, true nylong stockings from back in the day when women wore girdles and garter belts and hooked their hose to them. She'd kept (and left) many of those tiny little Avon lipstick samples that Avon Ladies gave out. Remember those? They were made of brass, not plastic, and the ones she left behind had lipstick still in them.
She collected everything or so it seemed. And each and every item was precious to her and each and every item was arranged and stored carefully. Nothing haphazard about her piles and stacks, even though they covered every square inch of floor that wasn't absolutely needed for a walking path to get from room to room.
So you can only imagine how hard it must have been for her to move out of her dream house emotionally and physically.
And maybe my grave reluctance to buy that house and move into it was because it had so obviously been that woman's house. As I'd said, her husband was a collector too but I don't think his habit was anywhere near as seriousness as hers was.
Man, I wish I had pictures of the way that house looked when we first went to see it. I'll never forget I took Lynn over there once before they'd moved. I'd asked permission, of course, and sort of wanted to get an idea of what we were going to need in the way of curtains and blinds and possibly where certain furniture would go. When we got up to the bedroom which was to be mine and Glen's, Lynn said, "Must be mighty hard to heat this place."
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
"Well look at all these quilts they need."
And yes, there must have been at least a hundred quilts if not more, stacked in armoires (antique, of course), on benches, and shelves.
Hoo boy.
So that's the story of that. Two good memories I have of living there came quite soon after we moved in. One was from the night we moved, in fact. Mr. Moon and I were sleeping on a mattress in the den and we were exhausted. We've never hired a mover in our life. But as soon as he fell asleep, I decided to roam about and play in my new house. I don't remember all I did but I know that at one point, I took off all my clothes and got in the pool and floated and looked up at the stars in that great bowl of sky. And for that moment, it was all worth it.
The other was just a month or so after we moved in and it was Lynn's fiftieth birthday. I offered to have her party at our new house if I didn't have to do anything. I may have made the cake. I can't remember. But besides that- nada. Mostly I sat in the kitchen and drank rum and coke. There were SO many people there. Lynn was truly and fully loved by many. And she was SO happy. So very, very happy. No one loved a party more than Lynn.
Finally after almost everyone had gone and there were only a few of us left, we decided to all go skinny dipping and we did. And before we got out of that pool, Lynn arose from it like the Statue of Liberty, spitting water our of her mouth. "This is what fifty looks like!" she crowed.
And in a way, that party alone was worth everything. It was a beautiful thing.
All right. Mr. Moon is leaving tomorrow morning at some insane time to fly to Canada. He obviously needs this trip as much as he needs air. I have made his cookies and washed everything he needed to have washed which wasn't much. As long as we have no hurricanes while he's gone, I'll be great. I've already bought cauliflower and baby peas to cook when he's gone. I'm sure I'll be picking up tofu and maybe some salmon too this next week.
And Vergil is home, safe and sound. I am sure that Jessie and these boys are as happy as they can be to have him back.
Levon is putting on a good act. I thought he really was asleep! Chow Time sounds like a great place to meet and eat. You made some good memories in the house, that's always a good thing. Glad Vergil is back home.
ReplyDeleteLevon is putting on a good act.
DeleteI think that my two oldest kids have some memories from that house too when they were house-sitting. Some they have told me about and some they have probably not. The pool, of course, was involved.
I'm glad Vergil's back too.
such a load of fun- those memories!
ReplyDeleteAugust is such a handsome lad- still has those eyelashes of length and beauty. The envy of all.
That picture doesn't even begin to do his eyelashes justice. He looks like he has feather dusters above and below his eyes.
DeleteHow does anyone consciously fill up a home to that extent? It seems very overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteThe pool does sound like it provided lots of good times for you, your friends and family. Pools have a way of doing that.
But how much of human nature DOES make sense when you think about it. We don't plan on doing a lot of things when all of a sudden, we realize...oh dear. I've done it.
DeleteYep. Pools are very nice.
And that house was huge! So much stuff. I have hoarders in my family, too. My brother's wife had one person wide aisles all over her house.
ReplyDeleteAnd the attic and basement were huge too. And all of that was full.
DeleteI can see why that house had a hard time being YOUR house. Glad there are good memories as well as the "this isn't my house" feelings. That pool sounds well-loved.
ReplyDeleteI thought Levon was sleeping too. With a big brother watching over him. Great photos!
Chris from Boise
Those boys were goofing around. They do that a lot. I love how they interact.
DeleteWe have a house like that. We are STILL hoeing out. They inherited her mother's house, and they seemed to have moved her mother's things into the attic. She worked at JCPenny and she bought stuff, crazy amounts of stuff. We have so much midcentury mod stuff. New appliances still in their boxes, four sewing machines, 6 irons, sheet sets, probably 30 packages, all unopened. German crystal, a set of real pearls in the china closet. It's fascinating, but it is so. much. stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm around kids pretending to be sleeping it is because they've been bored to death by the adults.
Golly. That sounds crazy, Debby. I think I would consider hiring someone to sell it for me on eBay or something. Some of those things sound very collectible and/or valuable.
DeleteI don't think Levon was bored, he was just being goofy.
Was he pretending or really sleeping? Nice that Mr Moon is flying to Canada and not driving all that way. I remember Avon lipstick samples, ours were always plastic and so tiny. I'm sure my sister the (true) hoarder still has some somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI can hardly believe you attended a birthday party and all you made was the cake.
He was pretending.
DeleteI think that although Glen does enjoy driving to Canada, he was sort of relieved to be flying this year.
I remember those little plastic lipstick samples too. These were much older. They looked sort of like little bullets.
The party was at MY house. I drew a boundary and dammit- I learned that I can do that and it's okay.
I hope someone (relatives/children) of that couple were eventually able to sell many of those collections and make good money. I suppose it's one way for someone else to enjoy her collections further down the line and family to make some money. I guess it beats hoarding empty pizza boxes!
ReplyDeleteI really do hope her daughter was able to help her deal with all of those things. I imagine they may have had to rent quite a few storage units for awhile. And nope- no empty pizza boxes.
DeleteLevon is a very realistic pretend Sleeper.
ReplyDeleteHe's a little actor.
DeleteI can understand your misgivings about the house given the first owner’s extremely personal stamp on everything. So glad Vergil’s home safe and sound. Those boys always make me smile.
ReplyDeleteThat woman was a force, I tell you. She didn't just want any old Colonial Williamsburg house, she wanted a REAL one. Sort of. You know.
DeleteI'm really glad that Vergil's home too.
Skinny dipping? The neighbours must have thought that devil worshippers had moved in next door.
ReplyDeleteWe only had neighbors on one side of us and they were pretty far away and skinny dipping would not have bothered them anyway.
DeleteThat house sounds like a nightmare to me. I helped empty a similar place though not so big, after a friend died. Beautiful things crammed everywhere even up in the roof. Unused kitchenware and cookbooks in shrinkwrap all lovely quality. Floor to ceiling cabinet crammed with unopened spices.Collections of rare antique glass. She would visit friends but not allow them in to her house. I can't imagine the mental suffering. I also wonder how much she spent acquiring these items.
ReplyDeleteSo you, too, have known someone who hoarded the good stuff. It's a pretty crazy compulsion and you're right- a lot of suffering was probably involved. And about the money? I have wondered so many times how much money was represented in that house on Edenfield when we bought it. Hundreds of thousands, at least.
DeleteThat house sounds like a nightmare to me. I helped empty a similar place though not so big, after a friend died. Beautiful things crammed everywhere even up in the roof. Unused kitchenware and cookbooks in shrinkwrap all lovely quality. Floor to ceiling cabinet crammed with unopened spices.Collections of rare antique glass. She would visit friends but not allow them in to her house. I can't imagine the mental suffering. I also wonder how much she spent acquiring these items.
ReplyDeleteI entered that comment once and it posted twice, but I don't want to delete one in case both vanish!
ReplyDeleteA-Okay!
DeleteWhat did you do with all of the stuff that former owner left behind?
ReplyDeleteGlad Vergil got home and hope Mr. Moon has safe travels to Canada and back.
They didn't leave that much behind. Like I said, I left the magazines there. I believe I finally threw out the little lipsticks and may have left the stockings as a gift to the next owner. I know she left a green pyrex bowl and I still have that. Oh! They left a very large artificial Christmas tree in the attic which I loved. I would bring that thing down at Christmas and plug it in and it was done! We got a real tree too, though, for another room.
DeleteI think the previous owner of that house slipped from collector into hoarder, without even noticing.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that Vergil is home safe and glad that Mr. Moon and his buddies are flying and not driving here.
I think you're right. Definitely not normal behavior.
DeleteIt feels good having Vergil back with his family but I am so glad he could go. I know he helped his NC family so much.
I'm glad that Mr. Moon flew, too.
I wonder what that woman did with all her stuff when they moved into a smaller place. and I wonder what happened to it all after she died. just trying to clean out my collector sister's house was enough. even though it only took my niece and I 3 days, we had to be brutal to do it. and there are still boxes of things we thought her oldest granddaughter wanted, who it turned out, didn't.
ReplyDeletethose boys!
Ellen, I have wondered that so much. I imagine they HAD to rent storage units. They would have had to buy a true mansion to fit all that stuff in it. And the weird thing is, I am sure she was absolutely emotionally attached to everything she had so if, say, her daughter tried to help her go through things and sell some, she would have fought tooth and nail.
DeleteI loved reading your happy stories from the old house. Glad Vergil got home safe!
ReplyDeleteI love knowing you're reading! Yep. Vergil's home and he and Jessie had a kayak date today.
DeleteHa! I thought Levon really WAS asleep. I thought, "That kid can sleep through anything!"
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that even if the Edenfield house didn't feel like home in the same way your current house does, it made lots of good memories for you.
Ironically, Levon is the one who has the hardest time sleeping. He's often up by six.
DeleteWe do have some fine memories from that house. It is true.