the 2nd cabin here on the farm. 

     this is the second cabin here on the farm as the 1st is the main house mom lives in. in 1943 it was the only house back in here when grandpa and grandma first looked at the property. the original house was much smaller by about half what it is today and the basement consisted of a whole dug in the ground and there was an  old coal furnace standing in a about a foot of water.a small shed was attached to the front porch ad i believe someone used to sleep in it. the lane was thick from brambles that would scratch the sides of the vehicle as you drove in or out. they paid 1800 for it when they bought it. mom said she had never seen so much cash at that time. today it wouldn't even be considered a good down payment. but at that time it was a lot more money than most people had, work was plentiful as the war effort was on but there really was nothing to spend it on as everything was rationed. 

      so grandma being a real penny pincher managed to tuck away enough to buy this farm of 40 acres. grandpa set about building the house that partially houses me called the little house and little it was 4 rooms and outside toilet. it had no running water as there was no electric back here yet , wire was in short supply due to the war effort. so it was candle light and carrying water from the spring that feeds the pond we have today. they lived in the little house till grandpa could remodel the main house. when world war 2 was over it wasnt long before electricity was installed .wharton electric wired the house and the old log cabin finally leapt into the 20 th century. 

        it is amazing how we take a simple thing like electricity for granted. they  now had electric for a water pump and had my uncle orpha come up and drill a water well we still use today. grandpa and grandma worked as much as they could, so there was little time to do anything , but grandpa would find time and he built a barn and a corn crib . it was about this time he bought a new tractor a ford ferguson. a small but dependable tractor that was a big plus  to farming. at some point land was becoming available in large tracts with suitable barns and houses. 

        not quite sure if it was the muskingum conservancy district or a government agency similar that offered up the land behind dover dam for sale at auction . it was about 1955 when this happened and the piece of ground grandpa was interested in was our other farm. the house had been moved but the barn had not. it was necessary to move the barn or tear it down as it was in a flood zone and we had one year to move it and grandpa did and it still stands today. 

       again this farm was put on hold as grandpa set up frming at the other farm .  until mom met my step dad and married him in 1963 and then we as a family moved into the vacant house here on this farm. then  grandpa and grandma eventually moved into our house on the other farm. when we moved back into this farm  i can remember everything being grown up and spending days pruning saplings out of the fields especially crabapples and briar vines well over 10 feet high were the norm. the house was quite cozy in a grove of trees and the backyard was a hill out of the kitchen . soon dad would bring in equipment borrowed of beaver excavating  and  set about making the yard as it is today. 

       the original old cabin does date back to the early 1800's around 1825 when the deed to the property mentions a cabin as part of the description of property. originally the property was a land grant to a revolutionary war veteran as compensation for being involved in the war effort. . this cabin i am building  is going to be built with pieces parts of old barns that used to exist around here and may contain parts of the barn next door that is nothing but a memory as many have fallen. 

       lucy took the pics of babe and her darn wood she leaves me in the yard. mom calls them her babies as she carts them around protecting them. and chewing on them when frustrated . i was showing lucy where i was placing the cabin above the spring and we were sitting on the stones of the foundation when the cattle come up to us and started crowding around. some wanting petting and some were curious . at one point while talking to lucy i totally left my guard down and allowed the bull in  an open pasture get close enough to my back while being seated to smell my shirt which made me jump up and chase him off. he is a friendly bull but unfortunately to many friendly bulls have killed farmers or maimed them over the years. never again will i allow that to happen as once before i was to friendly with a bull and nearly cost my life. lucy was unaware the extent of danger we were in , but rest assured i shall never let her be in that situation again. thankfully he is still scared of me and maybe now more than ever. but this did allow me some great closeups of everything but the bull.

    and here is obama at a safe distance looking all sullen and rejected as i wont play with him. to bad.