Hoadley House

This is the house I grew up in. It used to be a white farm house with dark green trim. Then it was barn red with a matching log swing in the yard. The siding you see in this photo was done in the 80's, when I was away to college in Allentown, Pennsylvania. I think. That is a while ago. 

Things always changed, but things stayed the same.

The angled roof near the ladder is the dog house, the entry to the basement. It used to be literally shaped like a dog house, attached to the house. I remember the boys used to climb up on it to get to the roof. Or maybe even Dad climbed it. If I climbed on it, it was most likely with a sheet or umprella in hopes of flying like Mary Poppins.

Those big ole pines in the picture? They are about 60 years old. There are some trees missing from my childhood memories of the house: The big willow in the back yard. There are cottonwoods that line the driveway, but two were cut down that would have blocked the view to the house pretty completely.

Everywhere you look when spring comes, there seems to be daffodils and paperwhites. Violets roam the yard all over, remnants from Mom's and Grandmother Maginity's gardens. There is an ancient crabapple tree hidden behind the house that survived a garage burning down and taking the outhouse with it. There are lilac bushes that need to be cleaned up and given some good vitamins to come back to their glory. The big storm in March 2012 knocked trees down on the largest bushes. 

Over the years, the walls have been covered with may different wall papers. I remember the Ivy print best, but this was the paper when my family first moved in in the photo below. In the living room, there was an interesting space-modern print in brown, pink, and gold. We didn't do the harvest gold, burnt orange, and avacado green, but we covered the walls with a dark paneling, and put in dropped ceilings. Which I hate. This, and brand new wooden cabinets, was done just before my big sister's graduation.

The formica table in the picture was with our family for many years. I remember Mom hooking up the old meat grinder to the table to grind the roast beef into hash. I remember so many family gatherings around that table. My favorite memory has to be the suprised blue racer that came in during a family reunion. The ladies were on that table, doing the "creepy-thing-get-it-out-of-here" quick step.

The door in the above photo led to the front porch, which was covered but hasn't been for years. I guess the porch roof and pillars weren't all that stable. There was a side door just behind the chimney; that and the living room and bedroom window are covered up and gone now.

I love the sink and metal cabinets in this picture. Not to mention the linoleum. The phone was a party line for years and years. How my sister hated that! When the kitchen was remodeled, I was climbing on those old white metal cabinets and they fell on me, giving me a broken nose. How I cried! But it was my own fault.

The barn in all its glory. I don't ever remember the silo. All that was standing when I was growing up was the main barn part. Dad let let some neighbors keep their shetland ponies there for a bit. I have lasting memories of those little buggers in the shape of a scar on my rear end.

Over the years, my Dad used lots of the property as income. Any time he tried to have a business here, it would get closed down by the powers that used to be. So, Craig Stoops bought up the hill and back to the river. Grandpa Scobie bought the pines next door, the lot that cornered on Hoadley and the Dam Road. lot by lot, until only five and a half remain, with the house and root cellar, and the garage that Dad build out of reclaimed blocks. He also built up over the root cellar with those cinder blocks. These things have endured, damaged but still here.

All the memories endure even more. This house is where our relatives call "up north" and everyone would come and visit. Some would camp in the yard. Picnics and cook outs, both sides of the family mixed in so much that for years, I didn't know there was a difference.

And now, this is my house again.

And I am glad.