Christmas Dining Room Table 2009

Here are a couple of shots taken of the dining room table ready for Christmas dinner with our family.

Merry Christmas from LFF

Here are some shots of the front of Four Flues Over the Cuckoos Nest at Laughing Fox Farm during the Christmas holidays.

Listed With the APTA

Our home has been listed with the Association for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities. Here is a photo of the sign that will be placed in the yard. Thank you, APTA for recognizing the importance of our Tennessee treasures!

Light Thrower 2000

This is an Arte de Mexico cast iron light/pot hanger with farm animals around the periphery that finally got hung last week. It took two men to hang it, Andy was one of them, there was a lot of grunting going on. He's not convenienced that it's the safest thing in the world (he's being facetious). It weighs 81# and when he's irritated with me, he tells me to go work under the light...I think he's looking for the guillotine effect:). He has named it the "Light Thrower 2000". Percival O. Possum shows up on it from time to time...

Living Room Updates

This is the Living Room with Andy's childhood piano. He was very excited to finally have a place to have it (after 35 years). My sister, Carol kept it at her house for her son, Michael to take lessons on. He plays very well, and hopefully will play for us during the holidays...Michael are you reading this??

Updated Photos

Here are photos of the foyer and the dining room. The light fixture shade is the original light that we had returned to its original oil burning status...as you can see it hasn't been hung. I plan to have it hung in the dining room.

Just For Fun

Trees With Faces

Can you tell which one we call "The Smoking Tree" and the one that we call the "Where's Waldo?" tree?

It's Been Almost a Month

When I look back at the old posts, I realize how much progress we have made! The drapes for the living room are being made, final electrical inspection is due in a week or so, so we are down to the tiny details that make a house a home.

We feel so blessed to have Laughing Fox. It truly feels like home and where we are meant to be. We are stewards of this property, here for just a while and leaving it better than we found it, and hopefully that will be a long while from now!

We are planning on having family and friends over for Thanksgiving, so it will be a real country "over the river and through the woods" holiday celebration. It was Michael's idea to have Thanksgiving here, and it is a good one!! I know that having an artificial center piece for the dining table is not the best choice, but I had one done by Liz Blalock at The Tulip Tree in Nashville and here is it's picture, complete with the turkey that will survive the holidays for more to come:)

Here are some fun pictures: Andy removing a boat-load of stick tights (see the collection on the floor?) from Gracie our intrepid hunter...she should have been named Diana or Artemis. Here is the turkey center piece and the pine boughs that Andy brought in this morning. They make the kitchen smell soooo good!!!

Raining...STILL!!!

Everything here is wet, everything squishes, I think I'm molding, but Andy and his beloved Emma found the best use for another rainy day and spent the morning on the front porch. I got this shot through the screen door. Gracie, our foundling chose to stay inside and sleep on her pilow. Duchess, the Foxhound is hiding in the smoke house:)

Decorative Tile in the Guest Bath

I hope this image shows clearly. I found a company on E-bay that makes decorative tile and she had images of ladies and gentlemen fox hunting...well, I couldn't resist, so Luther Bolden, our tile guy put them in. They look really nicely with the Laughing Fox logo on the door done by Class Glass in Nashville and the hunting scene wallpaper that Andy (yes, Andy) choose. I bought five sets, but should have bought six, one to go over the shower head, but had to make my best guess.

Andy Makes Closets Useable

Andy installed shelving in the hall, guest bath, and washer and dryer closets. He did a great job! Our washer and dryer barely fit into the closet (it will be awful when we have to get new ones), but that's just part of fitting into an old house. I got the doors at a salvage yard our builder, Chris told us about in Nashville called Haley's Salvage. Andy said they look like they should open into a saloon...well, who knows? someday maybe:)

Thanks, Andy, you're the best!!!!

View Outside the Kitchen

Taken through the screens, but you get the idea...pretty nice, huh?

We Have a Refirgerator!!!!

Because I refused to go into the cellar after I found a very much alive but now not alive rat!!! poor Andy had to go down there to the ancillary refrigerator to get food that would not fit in the dorm size 'frig that we had to use until the real one came. It came last night!!! We're so happy, especially Andy, no more trips to Rat City, Rat Cellar, Rat's Nest (by the way no more have taken up residence...I need a snake!)But the real story is WE HAVE A REFRIGERATOR!!!!

The Sideboard and Dining Room Drapes

10 years ago when we bought the farm and the home on it, in the cellar there was a very worn out period sideboard. We had Randall Grace in Nashville restore and preserve the piece and it took him a year. It has been at our real home ever since until Andy and I moved it back to its original home here at Laughing Fox. Here is the photo of it and our first set of drapes!!! They're in the Dining Room.

We're Here!...sort of

I have been living at Laughing Fox for two weeks now, Andy is going back and forth to Averill, so life is hectic! There is so much to do, that how anyone could possibly get bored on a farm is beyond me. I have made new friends here and we have been to one party at our neighbors, the Cains and I have been to a girl's night out party already at our neighbours, The Heglers...I'm gonna love it here!

For you restorationists, if you have any questions about the process, please let me know.

For you equine people, if you want to know how life is taking care of your own equines, please ask and I will respond...so far, so good! Molly and Nancy are loving it here, too!

For you canine people, Duchess the Fox Hound, Gracie, our Who Knows What, and Emma our Queen, the Golden Retriever are in heaven. Lots of room to play, sleep, roam, torture the mares (we're working on discipline there), they are doing great!!

I will post more photos when I have the time to take them. That will hopefully be soon, but in the meantime,here are some moving in pictures...thank goodness for family!

Andy and I moved that very heavy period sideboard from Averill to the truck by ourselves. That is the sideboard that I found in this house's basement and had it restored by Randall Grace in Nashville about nine years ago. It has come back home and has pride of place in the dining room. The Nashville Tennessean did a story on it at the time. What a lovely piece of furniture.

Kitchen Granite Counter Tops

The granite counter tops in the kitchen were installed yesterday by Eagle Fabricators in Nashville, TN. The granite is called "Golden Fantasy", and it is golden (you think?), with gray and cranberry veins. It was installed without seams and it took about five hours. They also installed the white marble called "Espirito Bianco" onto a vanity. It looks great on the white vanity. I will get pictures of it when the installation of the vanity is complete.

The geothermal is done, the yard still needs to be smoothed out, the propane was connected to the range and to two of the gas log sets. Lindsey Propane in Williamsport, TN did that. They were very efficient, professional and diligent in getting copper pipes gently through old foundations and fireplaces.

Now mostly we have a boat load of details to take care of such as the front door that sticks so hard that one has to push it with full body force or pull it with both hands...not a pleasant task. We also have two or three interior door knobs that have to be installed. The problem there is that the doors require old style latches as they are solid and not cut for today's door knobs and locks...a trip to Preservation Station and hopefully they will have what we need...I could go on, but that's boring. Most everything is coming together well, we have even moved in some furniture pieces! Stay tuned for more posts!

Thank You!

To everyone who is reading the blog and making such kind comments, thank you! If there is anything that you would like to know or pictures that you would like to see, make a comment on the blog and I will do my best to answer your questions or post the photos that you would like to see.

Work is continuing, the template for the granite in the kitchen was done today, the cornice was added to the cabinets, more tweaking to the doors soon, master closet to be installed by Closets By Design in Franklin to be done this Friday.

Kitchen Cabinets Have Doors

Here are some of the photos of the kitchen cabinets with doors, pulls and knobs. They're coming along, still need some tweaking to the doors so that they will close properly. The drawers appear to be perfect, and the cabinet people are to come back and add a cornice to match the Shaker cornices that are original to the house so that they go well together.