Never thought retirement would be like this

[NancyNGA]

I love Google Streetview.

My parents briefly owned a farm near Marietta, OH. They had to sell out some time in the early 80s because the property was in a national forest, it was very isolated, most people sold out to the gov't, and no one wanted to take responsibility for policing the area. A few incidents of rifle shots through outbuildings from the highway late at night and arsons on abandoned property and they decided to leave. Sad for them, but a must do move.

Anyway they built a small storage shed, a 90 foot long pole building, and remodeled a 100 year old farmhouse. When they sold out to the gov't the buildings were either auctioned off or demolished. Someone bought the storage shed and moved it. We drove by it one time in the late 80s and all I remember was it was along the Ohio River. And here it is 30+ years later, still standing. Just curious to see if I could remember where it was well enough to still find it (if it was even still there).

Also needed an excuse to put off mowing the lawn.

 

[Meanderer]

Good job finding it! Sure beats mowing the yard!

 

[ndynt]

WOW...how did you find it, Nancy?

 

[NancyNGA]

Nona, I didn't really think I would find it. Only knew it was along the Ohio River and so it had to be on Route 7. Found the shortest road to the river from the farm. Began there and started "cruising" toward Marietta, and it came up very soon. Just lucky. ( Nothing much else to put here lately.

)

 

[Meanderer]

Street view....

 

[NancyNGA]

Hey, don't make fun of StreetView! I've found it very useful for procrastination purposes. Btw, I did finally get the front lawn mowed and string-trimmed.

 

[Ameriscot]

Hey, don't make fun of StreetView! I've found it very useful for procrastination purposes. Btw, I did finally get the front lawn mowed and string-trimmed.

I love using streetview. I've found every place I've lived and many relatives lived. Even found the house my ggggrandfather built in 1837!

 

[NancyNGA]

All About Feet
(A bit more serious discussion---well, sort of.)

- I probably learned to avoid doctors and lean toward a "let nature take its course" attitude about health from my mother. But that can be carried too far and come back to haunt you when you get very old, because....

- There seems to be a tipping point with regard to age, beyond which it does not pay to have body parts fixed, procedures that take a long recovery time or require a lot of commitment to physical therapy, partly because...

- There also seems to be some mysterious mental condition---not talking about dementia here---that comes over you past a certain age, where you refuse to listen to anybody and ignore science.

This doesn't happen to everyone, but I've seen this pattern in relatives, and maybe it's genetic. :eewwk: So I've been on this kick lately to take care of potential health issues now, while I'm not too old and can arrange them by myself. I don't want anyone else to have to deal with this stuff for me when I get too old and start fighting about it.

That's why I'm dealing with the teeth issues now, for the long run, not just put out fires in emergency situations. This requires professional help, but I think there are some mechanical issues that can be addressed on your own. So I'm working on these 3 right now---posture, balance, feet.

The simplest one is feet (yes, the bunions topic again ).

The first thing is to buy a pair of shoes like these. Hopefully I can find them without the heels.

Why? Because if the experts say you have to pry your toe out to prevent/correct bunions with contraptions similar to this one, then that's what your shoes would have to look like.

Well here's my opinion

Seriously I think the problem is spreading out at the ball of the foot due to too wide shoes or going barefoot. I'd like to have some like these if they had something under the toes so they wouldn't dangle in the dirt. They keep your foot from spreading out.

I actually have a pair of these and they are pretty comfortable.

The problem is it takes 20 minutes to put them on because you have to have all your toes lined up. This little piggy went to market.... . And would they be considered cool to wear in public?


Since you can't find narrow shoes anywhere, then something like this worn inside may be the only option.

The end.

Gosh now you all know for sure I'm nuts. {sigh}

 

[NancyNGA]

I love using streetview. I've found every place I've lived and many relatives lived. Even found the house my ggggrandfather built in 1837!

Ameriscot, that is such a cute house.

 

[Ameriscot]

Ameriscot, that is such a cute house.

It is isn't it? I thought it would be a bigger house and they had 14 kids, but my distant cousin who lived in the area confirmed that it is this house. Streetview has the house number wrong though.

 

[Ameriscot]

As for feet problems, my feet are fine except my arch and heel - plantar fasciitis. Those shoes with separate toes look like you'd get blisters between your toes!

 

[NancyNGA]

I love using streetview. I've found every place I've lived and many relatives lived. Even found the house my ggggrandfather built in 1837!

Ameriscot, I was thinking about your ggggrandfather's house while walking tonight. Did you by chance mean 1937?
A house built in 1837 might easily have been a log cabin, especially if it was not on the east coast.

On second thought it had to be 1837 with all those gggg's. Wow, that's really interesting.

 

[ndynt]

I was wondering the same thing, Nancy. Perhaps it was originally a log cabin? Interesting, Annie. Would love to hear the history of it. Does your family have a pictorial history?
Reading of your searches I looked up the house I grew up in. Am devastated. All the beautiful gardens have been destroyed and 14 houses have been built on the property. A road has even been built on it. When my parents built a smaller house, and sold it, they would have never even considered subdividing it.... The house looks the same...except all the climbing roses and shrubs are gone...as is the lawn.

 

[NancyNGA]

Oh that's such a beautiful house, nona. I love old houses, especially 2 and 3 story ones. They always have such interesting arrangements of rooms, nooks and crannies, staircases, the bay window in front. At least it looks like it's been well taken care of.

 

[ndynt]

Yes, Nancy...I too found them fascinating. Especially if I was allowed to explore attics LOL In a friend's gazebo attic, on a island in Maine, we found the most wonderful victorian baby clothes...and a tiny, tiny silk embroidered dress.
Would you believe our house had hidden passages throughout the house, that came out in hidden doors in the library and the back of some of the bedroom closets. I used to have nightmares....that ghosts were coming into my bedroom, through the closet. As soon as I was old enough I begged to move into what had once been the third floor servant's quarters. No hidden passages up there.
Yes, steep, steep servant's staircases off the butler's pantry. (wonder why they were called butler's pantries....did anyone in the states ever have butlers?) Could never figure out why they had to make the servant's stairs so steep. Two rooms had bay windows. And of course the wonderful molding, paneling and parquet floors.

 

[NancyNGA]

Would you believe our house had hidden passages throughout the house, that came out in hidden doors in the library and the back of some of the bedroom closets. I used to have nightmares....that ghosts were coming into my bedroom, through the closet. As soon as I was old enough I begged to move into what had once been the third floor servant's quarters. No hidden passages up there.

Oh wow, hidden passageways. :eewwk: I thought that was only in the movies. Would like to roam through that house, now that I don't believe in ghosts.

Did you have brothers and sisters?

 

[Lara]

Nona, your house looks to be in pristine condition despite the loss of gardens and addition of surrounding development. You can be quite grateful for that. Have you ever thought of writing to the current homeowners or knocking on their door? My kids did that with the house they grew up in, in VA. I had no idea they were going to do that until afterwards. The owners (2 doctors that bought it from me, then we moved to a smaller property) invited them in, gave them a tour, let them take pictures of the outside, and were very gracious. Have you ever thought of writing about your experiences in the house?

 

[Ameriscot]

Ameriscot, I was thinking about your ggggrandfather's house while walking tonight. Did you by chance mean 1937?
A house built in 1837 might easily have been a log cabin, especially if it was not on the east coast.

On second thought it had to be 1837 with all those gggg's. Wow, that's really interesting.

1837. Small town in TN. I Googled 1830s architecture in TN and the style is similar. Interesting finding out about this family. On my phone on the bus but will say more when I get home after the gym.

 

[Meanderer]

Happy Monday!

 

[Ameriscot]

Nona and Nancy, I LOVE old houses. Nona, your old house looks a lot like a house owned by my great aunt and grandmother. It was built in the 1860s'. I adored that house and was quite upset that they sold it when I was 14. My love of old houses and antiques comes from that house. It had a gorgeous wooden staircase from a large foyer in the front of the house and a back staircase into the kitchen (which I always found scary). One bathroom, 5 bedrooms and a huge attic with big trunks to dig around in. Big front porch with a swing, and a side porch. When the house was sold the new owners took down those beautiful porches.

 

[Ameriscot]

As for my ancestor's house....I found out about it when doing genealogical research about 10 years ago. I got a lot of into from very distant cousins, some of whom had been researching for years (w/o the internet!). This ggggrandfather was actually traced through the female side. Two of his daughters are both my gggrandmothers because the son of one and daughter of the other got married. So my grandmother's parents were first cousins.

The house is in a small town in middle TN. The road it is on was named for him (or his father?). gggg owned a saddle shop and cousins think he may have been a lawyer as well, although he and his wife died suddenly (disease? two weeks apart) and he didn't have a will (would a lawyer do that?). I've got a list of his properties and furnishings etc which were divided up.

Anyway, I'd love to go see this house. My grandmother lived in this small town until she was 17 when her dad died so the family all went to Michigan.

 

[ndynt]

Great history, Annie. The lack of a will. Perhaps laws were very different then? Would it not be wonderful to be to obtain a pictorial history? To see how the house evolved from a simple house, built from local materials of that era. Evolving into the lovely little cape it is now. Personally, I find that very exciting. My mind is racing...thinking of how it was built, ect.

 

[NancyNGA]

Architecture in populated areas was much more sophisticated than out on the frontier, wasn't it.

This is the only picture I have of my grandmother's house, taken probably before I was born. Trees near the road cover it from Streetview now.

It had only 3 bedrooms, but a lot of extra rooms that most people wouldn't want today---a solarium, a sewing room off my mom's bedroom, and a huge dining room. The attic space was completely open with hardwood floors, and a full basement with a canned goods room and a coal storage room. Satellite view shows the new owners made an addition on the back side. It only had one bathroom.

 

[ndynt]

Oh wow, hidden passageways. :eewwk: I thought that was only in the movies. Would like to roam through that house, now that I don't believe in ghosts.

Did you have brothers and sisters?

Nancy, I only had one sister...six years younger and very timid. So no great adventures...exploring. Though I found one passage that ended in a long narrow storage area, filled with feather beds. I would hide in there...climb on top of the fluffy beds..sinking in with a flashlight and book and read for hours.
The house has quite a history. My grandfather lived next door in what was probably a caretaker's house at one time. I cannot really understand the relationship....for he was at sea for long periods and my grandmother was deceased. He had a elderly Italian housekeeper/baby sitter. So neither could have been caretakers.
My father told me stories of when he was very young.....early '20s....during prohibition. There was a portico then and cars would drive up at all hours...flappers and wealthy men. He told me that he would sit in the kitchen with the cook and she would pamper him.
Somehow my grandfather acquired the house when the owners fled prior to a raid. He told stories of burying the roulette wheels and other gambling paraphernalia. He later dug up the beautiful roulette wheel...it was ivory and carved wood, that he readily displayed. This all occurred in a pretty wealthy bedroom community, outside Boston. When my father married he acquired the house and my grandfather went back to his smaller house, next door. Though he continued to care for the large property and beautiful gardens...until his death.

 

[ndynt]

Architecture in populated areas was much more sophisticated than out on the frontier, wasn't it.

This is the only picture I have of my grandmother's house, taken probably before I was born. Trees near the road cover it from Streetview now.

It had only 3 bedrooms, but a lot of extra rooms that most people wouldn't want today---a solarium, a sewing room off my mom's bedroom, and a huge dining room. The attic space was completely open with hardwood floors, and a full basement with a canned goods room and a coal storage room. Satellite view shows the new owners made an addition on the back side. It only had one bathroom.

Sooo beautiful, Nancy. Looks so large. Yes, I think all houses of that era had sewing rooms. We had one, with lots of windows, also. Love it. Reminds me of some of the Sears catalog houses. They were so wonderful.