The Hagers Join Us at Bentley

A few weeks ago my aunt's family came to stay in the vacant guesthouse here at Bentley Farm.

We are so glad to have them here and they add much color to our lives.

A beautiful family!

~Dinner at the Hager's~

~The little green house~

~Always willing to play~

New Helpers

Amelia is the best! She is always eager to help out and try anything.

Today, the staining of the house continued. When we did not have anyone to stain between the side of the house and the ramp, we found Amelia and she was the perfect size!

Amelia's dad, too, has been awesome with helping on the staining project.

Work Work Work All Day Long

Luke has been such a hard worker this week in beginning the major project of staining the house...

...even if the sun is beating down on his back!

And sometimes he can convince his sisters to come outside and help...

...because working together is so much more enjoyable.

The finished product.

Slowly Making Progress

Nate and Mark residing the east side of the house. Cedar shingles go so slow!

See who's watching? It's Maryella!

Residing the South Side

Improvements continue to be called for following last year's huge construction project. The landscaping is getting done and attention is now turning to the residing of the house. We decided to take one side at a time and started with the south side.

Hydroseeding!

All I can say is that I live with some extremely hard-working people who recently top-soiled and hydroseeded our "lawn." As we say to each other after a big project is done, "Let's hear it for the volunteers!"

Memorial Day Celebrations: Bentley Style

The day began with a fabulous small-town Memorial Day parade. This was followed by a Bentley picnic attended by approximately thirty-five persons and included friends and neighbors alike. A perfect day. What a great beginning to the summer!

New Seasons, New Rocks

No matter how many years we have continued to till and soften the garden soil, each new spring we find new rocks. And, so, as in life we find that changing seasons reveal continued need for the uprooting of freshly revealed vice and planting of newly required virtue, we continue, each spring season to remove the rocks in hope that this season's harvest will be a bountiful one.

Nothing Spells Delight for the Soul...

...better than a glorious spring day and the first load of hung laundry.

Spring Happiness

Spring happiness is... Caleb working with his older brother Nathaniel, home on break from college, to collect some of the season's last (hopefully!) firewood!

In Celebration of Home

Well, there's still some dusting to do, but the home is back in order, thanks to the effort of many hard working family members. Some pictures are noted below to celebrate the success! (You have to love the corn flake box!) - Sarah Angell

Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young - a place near your altar. O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. (Psalm 84)

Getting Messy Before Getting Clean

Some positive progress was made in the kitchen project today. We are racing against time as Nate is leaving us to return to Princeton for finals tomorrow. I am looking forward to being able to clean again without thinking in the back of my mind, "It's just going to get covered with dust and glue and spackling and wallpaper pieces again tomorrow."

On the Way to the Finish Line

The recent addition and Isaac's deconstruction of the dividing wall has left the kitchen in need of quite a lot of wall work. We decided to strip the current wallpaper in the kitchen and are anticipating redoing the walls. Today's work project was quite a messy one, but the company and our new found love of folk music (thanks to Uncle Sam's Christmas present!) made it a fun afternoon.

We had hoped to paint the walls, but the walls under the wallpaper were unfortunately not properly primed before the first wallpaper was placed, so we are settling for another wallpaper job. The wooden arch that Isaac made to replace the old wall is looking beautiful and awaiting staining.

We are desperately looking forward to the day when these indoor projects are completed!

And Mom's Heart Sings

For as long as I can remember, Mom has patiently waited to remove the wall between our living room and our kitchen to fulfill her desire for more open space. Her patience has been rewarded as Isaac is currently dedicating his vacation to removing the barrier. It's funny how life tends to get into "modes" that are hard to break. I think that the construction mode has permanently set in around the farm. It has been a good mode, but one does begin to look forward to the time when home feels cozy again and just a little bit less like a permanent construction site!

(Also included in the photography footage below: Evidence of the boys' hard work in keeping the home heated... And testimony to the best part of the season - tobogganing!)

A Labor of Love Overwhelmingly Received

The dreams that have filled the minds of many working hands throughout the past year have finally come to pass with Grandma's arrival today into her new home. Every detail was a complete surprise to her. She kept saying, "I hope that I live to be one hundred to make this all worth it!" We are so glad to say that three generations now live under one roof. What a wonderful season for thanksgiving.

Thanks from Bentley go out to the many, many people from literally all over the country who worked so dilligently to make this day a reality, especially to our most excellent neighbor, friend and carpenter/builder/construction manager, Lawrence and his family who allowed him to work such long and hard hours on this labor of love.

Anticipation and Sentiment

Despite the season of reflection induced by the recent autumn rains (11/13/07), anticipation is running at an all time high here at Bentley. We have all spent the last twenty four hours busily completing a multitude of last minute tasks to prepare the addition for Grandma's Monday arrival. Painting, sewing, shopping, electronics coordinating, picture and curtain hanging, furniture assembly and cleaning have occupied our minds and hands.

We are eagerly awaiting, not only Grandma's arrival, but the reunion of the family for a Bentley Farm Thanksgiving celebration. And as soon as Thanksgiving is given a proper celebration, we won't waste time preparing to enter into the excitement of the Advent season. The joys of anticipation!

Pictures of Grandma's home will soon follow as type of online "open house." In the meantime, our readers may enjoy Hudson Valley Development Group's new website which describes the growth of their project on Bentley Farm. The site will take you on a tour through the old red barn door to the late milk room. Nostalgia hits home, though, as Nate expressed, "It's sad to go through a barn door that's no longer there." The joys of sentimentality!

Colors Come to the Back Yard

Today was one of the first days where it both felt like autumn and looked like autumn. What glorious moments! Browse through the photos below for a sampling of the autumn view out of our southern window.

A Friend in Need: A Friend Indeed!

My friend Emily and her brother Joseph joined in the priming of the walls today. What a job! We were lost in an infinitude of white and our bodies became canvases for modern art. Still more work is left for tomorrow and then we'll reach the real job: painting with color!

Men on Stilts

The taping crew arrived today to make the sheetrock puzzle pieces fit together into a unified wall. I think it would be fun if I could teach with stilts like these men get to wear. I might actually be able to reach the top of the whiteboard!

The Hearth Fires Are Burning

Shut in from all the world without,
We sat the clean-winged hearth about,
Content to let the north-wind roar
In baffled rage at pane and door,
While the red logs before us beat
The frost-line back with tropic heat;
And ever, when a louder blast
Shook beam and rafter as it passed,
The merrier up its roaring draught
The great throat of the chimney laughed

- John Greenleaf Whittier