The fireplace brings "charm" to our home.

Our fireplace.

When we started looking for a house, we really didn't have a long list of "must haves", we just kind of felt we would know our house when we saw it. A big part of recognizing the house that would be ours was to find one with "charm". What "charm" is, or is not, is of course, very personal. And I suppose some do not even care about charm and just want functionality. That of course brings up the concern that a house can have too much charm and end up being ridiculous. We saw several homes that were in good condition, had nice features, but no charm.

The house we chose to be our home, has loads of charm. Among the charming features are huge and useful porch, beautiful, refinished hardwood floors, and a fireplace. A fireplace was as

A face cord in the garage

close to a "must have" as anything for us. I know wood burning fireplaces are about as inefficient of a heating source as you can get, and that they are dirty, but you really can't beat the crackling fire and sweet slightly smokey smell of a good hardwood fire. I love too how it makes me more active, whether it's stacking, stocking, or splitting wood, or simply getting up off the couch to attend the fire with a poke. A side benefit is the approving glances I get from Cindy whenever a roaring fire is going in the hearth. We've already noticed how the fireplace has made us more of home bodies, not just in the evenings after work, but all day on the weekend, staying home for breakfast and spending the day working on projects and monitoring the fire.

After recognizing the beauty of our fireplace, and purchasing our home,

Our first fire

Observation Car, 20th Century Limited

we got some not so good news from the chimney expert. Our flue was constructed with a right angle turn, with several feet of horizontal passage before heading straight up the chimney. This was no longer in code and it was his opinion that we may get smoke in the house if we tried to use it. The good news is that he was able to un-jam the damper and pull the dead squirrels out of the flue. He also installed a rain shield and animal screen at the top. I was very concerned and disappointed that one of the key attractions of the house may not be usable. He did suggest that a gas insert would solve the problem. Ugh. Sorry for my friends that have them but to me gas fireplaces are as different in charm to wood burners as coach class on Delta Airlines has to a Pullman coach on the famous 20th Century Limited. (I'm a train geek - sorry) The good news is that he was wrong. Our first fire, on a mild Christmas day, that should have caused trouble drawing smoke, created no problems. We've had no problems since, possibly because the right angle section is a good 6 feet above the hearth. One problem we did come across is the shear size of the fireplace. I would love to get glass doors but the huge opening (55" across) has eliminated all off-the-shelf options. Custom built doors cost several thousand dollars and are probably not an option, at least for now. We ended up going with a folding screen with mesh doors that are barely covering the opening.

#1 Brother-In-Law Randy allowed be to abuse his truck again.

Another issue was firewood. On any normal winter, demand for firewood outstrips supply sometime in the Fall. At first I was buying those ridiculously expensive bundles at the grocery store so we had something to burn. This year, our mild winter allowed me to find seasoned fire wood after only two phone calls. After borrowing Randy's truck again, I headed up to Robinson Hill Nursery where a very helpful young man helped me load a face cord. The well seasoned wood has been burning nicely.

Helen Street, Part 1

When I started this blog back in October I wrote that I might reveal the reasons behind our motivation to move out of a very comfortable rental situation. In simple terms, it became uncomfortable and we had to leave. The details are the story however, and any story starts at the beginning. Back in June of 1990 we were living in Cortland, NY in an ancient and interesting town house. Cindy had been working for the Cortland City Schools and I was commuting to the Binghamton Airport and my job at the NWS. Cindy was very worried about her job since they suddenly forced her to take a Civil Service test, so she began to look for other work. As it turns out, she found a job though BOCES working at East Middle School in Binghamton. She accepted the position, and with our lease up at the end of the month, we had to find a place quick in Binghamton. Ironically, we found out later that Cindy aced her test and would have kept her job, but we were past that and moving on.

A recent picture of our old place

Happy days for Boris and Natasha at Helen St.

I can't recall if our place on Helen St was advertised in the paper, or if we just saw a "For Rent" sign in the window but we somehow connected with Margaret and Charles Page. The elderly couple were living on the south side of the two family and renting the north side. They were less concerned about getting top dollar than getting agreeable and quiet tenants. We saw the apartment, were interviewed by them and were told they would let us know, Well, obviously we passed the test and given permission to move in. This began a wonderful friendship with the couple that became family for us. In the beginning, Margaret and Charlie did all of the work around the place, as well as the work at their six story apartment building in Binghamton that Charles nicknamed "the snake pit". As time went on, I began shoveling in the winter simply because it was the right thing to do, and I always enjoyed it. Unfortunately, age and health began to catch up to Charles and Margaret, so Cindy and I slowly began doing all the maintenance in the place, from yard work and snow shoveling to simple plumbing, electrical, and painting.

Then, on a snowy winter night at the snake pit, Margaret was hit by a car as she crossed the street leaving her essentially an invalid. Then, Charles was diagnosed with colon cancer and his health declined rapidly. After Charles passed away, we fully maintained the house, and helped care for Margaret. Margaret turned out to be stubborn and tough and lived for many years alone becoming blind and practically unable to walk. She kept her spirits up and was happy to have us with her, never raising the rent in deference to our help and company. From our perspective, we liked the place, but knew our time at Helen Street was coming to an end.

Choosing paint color for the dining room at Helen St.

We had become very comfortable at the place, collecting "Tchotchkes" and traveling easily, not having to worry about home ownership. When it became time to move, we realized how much we had loved the place, painting the rooms multiple times, repairing the ceilings, and filling the walk-up attic with memories and decorations.

The end of our time there came not from the passing of Margaret, but from a far more tragic death, That story is for another blog in the future. Next blog will be of far more pleasant experiences, including our fireplace and visitors from distant lands.