Jo’s New Digs

December was an incredibly busy month for me – I met my daughter for a morning with the horses & the farrier followed by a wonderful lunch, went to 2 free concerts at the University of Virginia, celebrated my birthday at Jo Smithfield’s Open House, visited with my friends Eric & Linda Rice-Johnson and went to the Rathbone’s New Year’s Eve Party.  Somewhere in there I also enjoyed having Gypsy Jane here at my house and got a bunch of primitive camp gear projects done.  I needed a video crew following me around so I could watch what I’d missed later !

Anyway, my friend Jo Smithfield of the NNMC (that’s No Name Motorcycle Club) got herself a  genuine 3 story with attic  Victorian mansion.  It just needed a wee bit of repair here & there – well OK then, a whole lot of repair everywhere.  But Jo was woman enough for the task, particularly since her son Matt was in on the deal & thus there to do a lot of the work. 

The Formal Parlor which looks Rather Informal to Me

Parlor Fireplace

Of course there are fireplaces in every room, along with radiators from the old furnace which are now hooked up to the new furnace  since the old furnace was well past doing anything useful like heating the house as opposed to burning it down. 

The kitchen has been modernized and has a nice pantry attached

Another view of the kitchen

Across the main foyer & behind the dining room is a spare bedroom.  That handsome Orange Tabby is one of the 2 house guard cats.

Jo had quite a spread laid out for us – that’s my Urchin in the upper photo & Urchin’s fella JR & Jo in the lower photo.

Matt’s an artist – these aren’t things he’s made but various things he’s collected just because they’re interesting.  He also repairs spring driven pocket watches, although he shuts the cats out of his workroom when he’s working on watches.  Watch parts do not good cat toys make.

Urchin, JR & Matt in the 2nd floor hall

This Tabby totally has my Urchin wrapped around her furry little paws.  The sofa is in the dinning room, its nice to be comfortable after you dine.

I’ve got a desk & chair set just like these – they were my father’s.  The handsome lady lives on the banister of the 1st floor stairs.

Of course, a Victorian house must have a place for the ghosties & ghoulies – this is section of the 4th floor attic, which obviously has never been finished off.  Nice place for the haunts.

I had planned on taking a bunch more pictures, had carefully charged up my camera batteries, even checked the charge on the way there – but then I left the camera on during the ride down & depleted the batteries & had to recharge them again, which took awhile.  Then I had an electronic fail moment back at my place & lost the directory to the JPGs.  Gypsy Jane took my SD card to her Geek son-in-law who was able to fix things but it meant I couldn’t post things earlier.  Oh well, here they are at last.