Sans Souci

Hello again everyone.

The woodwork stain problem is just about to become a bad memory. Tomorrow, hopefully, it will be finished, as well as those pesky doughnuts.

This post however is more along the lines of tongue-n-cheek.

Remember way back when I rambled on about a house name for the property? Guess what (?!) - we have one.

Before the big reveal, let's do a little backtracking.

All my life I have been somewhat of a person along the lines of a 'Niles Crane' with the exception that I like to play in the dirt and be a bit scruffy. You could say I fall in among the worlds of the Bon vivant, the Hedonist, the Savant, and the Epicure.

On the lighter side I have a wicked, warped, and somewhat twisted sense of humor.

In high school SWMBO and I were considered the 'Sam & Diane' of the town.

We fought like cats-n-dogs but could not be rid of each other. The universe just kept throwing us back together. I had the attitude of Sam and SWMBO had that of Diane, even down to the hair!

Our notorious 'break-ups' were legendary around town as well as among our friends and family. It was so notorious that when we got married we invited 405 people to the wedding and 401 showed up! The joke was that they came to see if we would go through with it. The four that did not show only missed it because they were living in France at the time. The rumor had it that there were even bets as to what would happen.

Anyway, you are probably wondering how this has anything to do with a house name. It does and I'm getting to it.

SWMBO, like myself, has a sense of humor. Not as twisted and warped as mine, but a good one.

This is where it all comes together so pay attention.

Take into account the refinement of Niles and Diane; my twisted sense of humor as well as SWMBO's sense of humor; and our love of good food, good wine & luxurious surroundings. Then throw in a healthy amount of the trials and tribulations of old house ownership and restoration à la "The Money Pit" and you have the reasoning behind the name we have chosen.

What IS the name you ask?

Sans Souci

It is the name a famous palace in Potsdam Germany. If you go here and here you can learn more about it and see some pictures.

The rest of the 'joke' is up to you. Keep in mind all that I have told you as well as the aspect that the name belongs to a world famous palace, and then look up the meaning. Once you know the meaning you will see just how much of a sense of humor we have.

In the words of Walter: "Here lies Walter Fielding. He bought a house, and it killed him."

Well, till next time...

Cheers!
Larry

House Name

As most of you know, I'm trying to come up with a suitable name to call the place. Most of the advice I've been give suggests finding a feature about the property or naming it after the owner.

Well, we do not know who, or when, the house was actually built and so far the possible builder are Abner Kerns (he owned the property in 1875) and James Mordy (who we think built the house as we see it now.

Today I reason to look at a topographical map of our little town. When I zoomed in on our house there was the 'feature' staring right at me! Our house is sitting on a low hill, or a 'knoll'. It is about the only one left in town and ours is noticeable (remember the steps leading down to the street?).

Here is part of the topo map. I outlined our 'knoll' in red. That little black square is our place.

Sadly, the only part of the knoll that still exists is the part on our property.

The big black square with the flag is the old school. It too sat on a low hill but it was leveled out to make the new school and parking lot.

Here's a better view.


I have a couple of house names in mind now that I've seen this little hill on the topo map. I'll see what SWMBO has to say about it and then let you all know.

For some reason she doesn't seem to be as enthused as I am about a house name; not sure why. All the really cool houses have names so why shouldn't ours? Besides, we've always been known for marching to the beat of a different drum so something like naming the house is not really out of our comfort zone.

I'll keep you posted.

Cheers!
Larry~