Tuesday, June 22, 2010

There Is No Pavement Here

Well, the lack of sidewalks here has been trumped by the lack of paved streets. Willie and I have bought a house on a gravel dead-end road. In Durham, this exists about a mile north of downtown and fancy restaurants.

There was much discussion about the difference between a gravel road and a dirt road -- and which sounded better. But whatever you want to call it, this is our new street:



And this is our little house:



The house is cute and old and well rehabbed (by someone else, which was key). What sold us was the crazy two-thirds-of-an-acre backyard, which is partly wooded, fully fenced and backs up onto a wooded ravine.

Some shots of the main deck:




Our guardian fish:



My first vegetable garden:



Some blackberry bushes:



I used to make fun of people who compost (not really, but kinda), and, well, I take it all back, especially since composting turns out to be way more complicated than I thought:



The other crazy thing about the crazy backyard is that is has three out-buildings, complete with electricity, finished walls and floors, and AC units and space heaters:






That open structure to the right of the garage will eventually be a screened-in porch:



Fonzie is hot and happy running around like a semi-free dog in his backyard:



As for us, we've become instantly boring people to talk to, concerned about the standing water in the basement, the over-budget renovations, the cracks that just showed up in the ceiling in the second bedroom...and whether or not we live on a gravel road or a dirt road. We are boring but happy and really really darn lucky.

3 comments:

Tricia said...

Naomi- I LOVE IT!! I am sooo happy for you and Willie!! The house looks wonderful! I hope to see the inside someday. :) I owe you a phone call...I miss you and I can't wait to catch up. Lots of Love!

Unknown said...

It is beautiful. What a catch and you guys were smart and adept enough to catch it. We can commiserate in the abstract on renovation issues, because we are having lots of stuff done after years of well practiced neglect.
Mazeltov!
It was great to see you.

Lots of love, Joan

Claire Just Claire Like Cher said...

Durham, Love Yourself! Claire, love this place! Soooo exciting and such a lovely home sweet home, you guys did a great job! Can't wait to impose again ASAP, GOOD stuff. Dirt road? Gravel road? I just know it's Awesome Road!