Farmhouse Fireplace

              A sign outside a bookstore Bob frequents.  I had to laugh because I'm always calling him a hoarder.  Years ago I did a post of his "library" on FB and said hoarding or collecting?  All the girls said hoarding, my friend Rich was the only one that said collecting, proves men and women don't think alike!  
 

 This is just a small sampling of what he has.  He has two storage units full.  His plan is to be a fulltime bookseller when he retires, whenever that may be. Every day I say "Are you retiring today?" The reply is always, "Not today."  Then I say, "You better not stick me with all these books!"  LOL  The point of this post is the farmhouse fireplace.  There actually is a mantle on the far wall behind all these books.  I tried, I painted, had the mantle installed, wanted this to be a really pretty room . . .

    The thought started with the foundation. It's lattice and ugly cinderblock.  We were going to put up some gutters for some water drainage, but now thinking a French drain, but our contractor said best thing to do would be to build a solid foundation.  The columns are brick, but I like rock.

    Don't even understand what was going on here, thought initially this was a door into the crawl space, but it's not.  The cinderblock doesn't even provide support. First thing I need to do is get the gas company out to remove that pipe that is attached to the old oil tank just to be safe, but this wall would be beautiful as a rock wall. There is a local rock guy named Terry Hudson, convenient name "Rock" Hudson!

           Took some maneuvering to get a few photos of this mantle. Bob bought it at a house sale in Georgia.  Primitive old paint, the perfect colors of chocolate brown and hints of green coming through. Lots of crackle!

     It's small, which is good because at the farmhouse I would use a window where the fireplace would go.

   The painting above was found in the chicken coop when we moved here, done by the owner of the house who was a well known paper mache artist, but also did some paintings and drawing. 

    Up close you can see the layers of paint and crackle.  I really love this mantle, it's plain and simple, perfect for a farmhouse.

Right now with this warm weather I have moved outside doing what I can to prepare for spring, which is right around the corner. I need to get the gravel for the driveway, lay rock paths, patch woodpecker holes and paint, oil the front porch floor.  I have a feeling the farmhouse is going to be a never-ending project, just like our 1946 bungalow, but it keeps me busy!!

Bees Are Busy