Reprieve

re·prieve

/riˈprēv/

Verb Cancel or postpone the punishment of (someone, esp. someone condemned to death).

Noun A cancellation or postponement of a punishment. During the the summer months, my son Erik and I began the process of gutting the interior of the original house. With just over 60 cubic yards of debris hauled away and a number of bonfires to dispose of the burnable debris, the carcase of the house revealed our decision to assess the next move. Do nothing. The last tenent of Russell's just got up and moved out on a moments notice and there was Russell ready to rent the place again. Russell who lives next door in squalid conditions hadn't been in the house in years and really had no idea or for that matter, really cared about the condition of the house. Now mind you, here's a house with no heat or air conditioning, a trickle of water, no plumbing per se, no propane, tons of rot, broken windows, etc. but, it's got a great foundation, sort of.... Katherine and I toyed with the idea of rehabbing the house and I began preliminary plans on paper of some potential ideas. We wanted it for ourselves. A place that we could grow old in, serve our needs and reclaim the character and style. It would require an addition and major alterations in order to meet the goal and it did appear to have "great bones" so to speak. Russell was thrilled with the idea. His daughter and son-in-law, moving in next door in a couple of months. The house is estimated to have been constructed about 1924. Charming really, lots of nice detailing. It probably was a great house during it's time. Solid masonry, classic woodwork on the stair case and crown detail. Only one minor squeek on the first floor which otherwise was tight all around. I've been engaged in remodeling old structures long enough to know that what appears on the surface can certainly mask a myriad of problems underneath. The constant question I hear is "how much?" I always brush it off because I really don't know. Until I do a deep investigation to the core and then rebuild from there, then you'll have your estimate, not the answer. As we continued with exploratory dismantling, revelations changed the scope of work  and I could see dollars escalate. I put together numbers and crunched them for the sake of softening the blow to Katherine, my gut told me otherwise. The cost far outweighed the benefit. It was dead in the water as far as I was concerned and reasoned with Katherine to the decision.   The rest of the season fell into slump. A good slump. It became a time when we could manage what we've done throughout the past two seasons. Most everything we wanted to plant had been planted. A few casualties as a result of the brutal summer heat and deer pressure but overall, not bad.  I feel the pressure off a bit just because I don't want to deal with it. There's still plenty of work to be done, much of it in winter. I need the rest. We, Katherine and I need the rest. And so fall meandered in and the holiday time snuck in too. The clouds hang lower and gray palls the sky. Fast moving fronts bring wind, rain and change. The hunt club has been busy. It's their time of year. They've done a good job of maintaining the property and keeping things orderly. The land has fallen into a graceful peace which is wonderful to watch and preparing for it's deep winter sleep.