Our famous author neighbor, Deany Brady, invited us all to her new house on January 1st.
The neighbors gathered at Deany Brady's new farmhouse, built
on the site of the old homestead. The word went out earlier in the day that
there was no heat or water so come prepared. Deany was in great spirits and
made light of the situation the way she knows best, making it into a story.
They had arrived the night before from California to no heat or water. It was cold
in this new farmhouse, just like the old one. They called the local Wal-Mart and
were told that they never closed, so off to town they went, in search of electric
blankets and water bottles to warm their feet. They found the blankets fine but no
water bottles anywhere, do they still make those? The closest things to water bottles they could find were enema bags, same basic concept, so got some of those too. They took off the tubing and filled the bags with hot
water to put into the beds. Deany said the electric blanket worked okay, but in the middle of the night it needed
some help, so she got up and took the rug off the floor and put it on top of
the blanket. It really was like the old days now, the bed piled high and heavy with quilts to
keep warm.
Deany is in the middle of writing her third book and I can
only wonder if this latest adventure will become part of that.
Some of the neighbors assessed the situation and soon had
the pump running and heat on, that is one of the blessings of having good neighbors,
always willing to help out, at least that has not changed over the years.
The new house has parts of the old house included in the
construction, like the new rock fireplace/chimney made out of the rocks from the original
chimney. The mantel piece is a solid oak beam from under the old farmhouse. The vintage tin roof on the porch is from the old farmhouse roof. The wainscotting in
Deany's bedroom is from the paneling in the old dining room.
The family now has a new place to visit from California , they can sit
on the porch and see Turkey Creek and Yonder Mountain just like when Deany was
a little girl growing up here. They can tell stories from the past and make new
memories here.
We met a lot of good folks for the first time, and
reconnected with old friends too. Thank you Deany and Jeriann and David for
sharing your new home with all of us, it was a great time. Looking forward to
the third book in Deany's trilogy, due to be out this August on her 90th
birthday!
more pictures HERE
