My Country Life

Lenten Rose Blossom (Helleborus orietalis)  Yesterday was a beautiful day. It started out a little overcast, but by afternoon the sun was shining and the temperature was spring-like. Perfect for a walk in the woods. I drove over to check on the cabin and pay a visit to LaMama. (That's my mama and stepdad, Lamar. I refer to them collectively as LaMama.) The cabin sits on ten acres that adjoin their property on the back. You can walk through the woods, down the hill, across the creek and back up the hill to get from their house to the cabin.

Longleaf Forest Carolina Sandhills National Wildlife Refuge photograph by Jack Culpepper I finally made a decision on flooring for the cabin. Last week I placed an order with Goodwin Heart Pine Company for antique longleaf pine flooring. Longleaf Pine once covered the southeastern United States, but it was harvested to near extinction during the building boom of the late 1800's and early 1900's.  Only a small percentage of original longleaf remains, and for the most part, it's not planted anymore because of the slow growth rate.  It might take 100 years to get a mature longleaf and no one has time for that anymore. The slow growth is also what produces the highly sought after, beautiful, tight grained heart pine.

A perfect winter sky. The sky was perfect today. That's all. That's enough.

White Christmas at the Cabin December 25, 2010 It snowed at the cabin on Christmas Day last year, making it one of the sweetest in my memory. It ranks right up there with Christmases from my childhood, back when a year seemed like an eternity and December 25th truly was the best day of the year.  Back then we didn't get toys except on Christmas, and our "new" clothes came in a giant cardboard box from my Great Aunt Minnie.  We didn't mind though because even as hand-me-downs, they were nicer than anything we could have afforded.

  I stopped by the cabin this morning to check on things and found this backhoe hanging around. The septic tank is being installed this week. That's the single biggest news since the well, water tank, and water line. In addition to the septic, lots of things are happening.  Here's a list of what has been done since I last wrote.

Earlier in the week I spent a couple of days at the cabin getting it ready for the plumbing work to begin.  I needed to clear the temporary "kitchen" and "bathroom" to make way for the workers to work.  While I was there, I met again with the man who will be installing my septic tank and doing the plumbing.  We went over the details of how it will be plumbed, fixtures, etc.  He may be able to get started by middle of next week.  If not, it will likely be after Thanksgiving before he gets to it.

About ten years ago I bought a red and white vintage water dipper, like the one I remember seeing at Aunt Annie's house when I was a little girl.  Aunt Annie lived way out in the country, way past Rustin's Lake where we did our swimming in summertime. Her ramshackled, unpainted farm house sat up on a hill, back off the winding dirt road.  A deep porch spanned the front of the house, and it was littered with boxes, farm implements, flower pots, and mismatched chairs.  Chickens scurried about in the bare dirt yard, and a set of rickety steps led up to the cluttered porch. The entry door opened to a central hallway that emptied into a sparse kitchen in the back of the house.  A hand pump mounted beside a huge sink promised indoor water in return for more than a few cranks on the pump.  A red and white enamel dipper hung on a nail over the sink.  If you needed a drink of water, you used ...