Parmelee Farm – Page 2 – This Old House 2

Little Free Library

We installed the Little Free Library yesterday! After much thought I decided it would be put to better use located on a community property where there is more traffic. Parmelee Farm gave us permission to install it next to their community garden gate. I received some very thoughtful contributions from my blog buddies and I want to thank you for enriching our little library.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my husband of almost 25 years for supporting my animal and community efforts. I couldn’t do it without him, and I will always be grateful.

To learn more about the Little Free Library movement..

click HERE

To learn more about Parmelee Farm..

click HERE

It’s supposed to reach 80 degrees in Connecticut today…

I am doing a happy dance. Have a good day, all –

– Karen

Christmas at the Farm

Scenes from Parmelee Farm yesterday…

The Chamber of Commerce put together a lovely “Christmas at the Farm”

with local artisans, vendors, wagon rides, Santa!!…

probably the best Santa rendition I’ve ever seen…

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!…..

and I’ll leave you with this…

I hope my friend won’t mind that I’ve shared her living room.

Who wouldn’t love to come home on a cold wintery night and snuggle

up with a good book, glass of wine or cup of hot cocoa..

right HERE…

Those of you with rafters or beams on the ceiling…

isn’t this the most awesome decoration?

You’re thinking of doing it, aren’t ya.

It’s a brand new day, folks –

Make it a good one.

Savoring

…. every moment of this beautiful fall color we’re enjoying in New England. Hurricane Sandy is going to threaten the East Coast at the end of the weekend, and that means what remains of our glorious red and gold leaves will surely and at best be a wet blanket of fragrant leaf confetti on the ground come Monday.

Parmelee Farm

Great things happening here… so many volunteers coming together to make this

a community meeting and learning place for generations to come.

I passed by one early morning this week and the light was just luminous.

As I began morning chores today I witnessed this…

the sun comes up at the front of This Old House and showers

the ridgeline at the back of the property with golden red light…

Nature gives us such a bounty of treasures….

and Nature can taketh away.

Let’s hope Sandy is gentle.

If you’re as disgusted with Ann Coulter as I am,

read this … a beautiful response from an inspirational young man.

One final thought for today…

Ever notice?…

you get one bad pistachio, and the whole experience is ruined?

Just sayin.

A walk in the woods with Frasier

am amazed at this awesome little dog who has made his way into our home and hearts. After just over a week’s time… I know he’s completely housetrained, well mannered, gets along just fine with other dogs and people. He follows me everywhere, and that includes the bathroom when I take a shower. He sleeps on my discarded clothes when I do so. His one bad habit is that he is able and willing to jump the stone wall in the dog yard when something really really grabs his attention. Like me leaving him for the barn or in particular… my chickens. He’d like to just taste one, thank you very much. And I cannot believe he can jump straight up in the air, approximately six feet, with no toe holds in the middle… to get over that fence. This yard was made for my GREAT DANE, for cripes sake. Frasier would make an excellent agility dog, if I were so inclined. SO.. I’m very careful not to tempt him when he’s in the dog yard. The chickens aren’t turned loose while he’s out there, and I don’t go to the barn unless he’s in the house. I’ll also have to be very careful about this, because when he gets something in his mind…. like tasting chickens, he’s a one-track kinda guy. This is the only time he doesn’t listen to me.

Yesterday, we went for his first Connecticut woods walk at Parmelee Farm. So much work is being accomplished there… amazing what the good will and many many volunteer hours of caring citizens can do for a community gathering place. Although our spring has turned back to the typical New England chilly grey, there are things growing, colors bursting…

First we walked past the old school house that has just been moved to the site…

Then we wandered throught he community garden.

Most plots haven’t been started yet this season, but there were some survivors from last year.

You can see the back of the school house in this picture……

..and this one…

As we walked through a field to begin one of the many marked trails,

I noticed these litttle flowers blanketing the grass…

anyone know what they’re called?

Frasier didn’t care whether he walked the bridges or trudged through the streams…

These beautiful yellow flowers were found in the wetlands…

Heading back.. I noticed a new door on the stone barn…

Parmelee Farm is an example of what people can accomplish for a community

when they work together for a common good.

If only all of the world could accomplish the same.

All it takes is heart.

http://www.parmeleefarm.org/

Old School

We ventured over to Parmelee Farm on this coooooold afternoon (I asked for this, didn’t I – just hush) to see the progress on the old Pine Orchard School house reconstruction. The school house was given to the farm by a generous resident and the Historical Society paid to have it moved to it’s current site, where it is in the process of being rebuilt. Originally constructed in 1853 by W. E. Dickinson, Pine Orchard was one of several one-room school houses in the area, operating with approx. 15 students per school until 1948, when all were deemed economically unsound and were closed and sold as private property.

Pine Orchard School in 1948

Pine Orchard Class of 1941

Excerpt by town historian Tom Lentz– The schools then, as now, accounted for a major portion of the town budget. In 1901/1902, the expenses for the Pine Orchard School were $282.80. Wood, kindling, etc. accounted for $10.00, furniture and labor for $55.80, and teacher’s wages for the remainder. The total expenses for all the schools was $2,232.99 amounting to 45.3% of the total town budget of $4,928.07.

Expenses increased in the following years although the number of students did not change significantly. The expenses for the Pine Orchard School in 1921/1922 were as follows:

C. H. French, labor 3.50
L. D. Parmelee, labor 1.25
lock, sash bolts, and repairs on clock 6.10
Martha Buhrer, teacher’s wages 1,000.00
C. H. French, fuel 28.00
Francis Catala, kindling fires 2.50
Mrs. T. B. Perkins, clock, halyards and broom 4.05
Total 1,045.40

Thanks to the restorative collaboration of many, Pine Orchard School House lives again…

Another Old Soul

For more information on this wonderful old place and it’s evolution thanks to the generosity of many volunteers… click the link below. If you’ve ever heard of Arlo Guthrie and you live within driving distance, perhaps you’ll want to catch his show this November too…

http://www.parmeleefarm.org/