Miniature...

One of the best features of our little acreage is the pump house, which shelters the original hand-dug well for the farm. There's a bright red hand pump to move water into pipes that run somewhere; we've never been able to trace them. The water level is just 6 feet below the surface, and it's cold.

I like to think that it was the owner (a carpenter) who built the pump house, which matches the house. I've always loved the little building, surrounded by apple trees, and backed by tall cedars.

When we bought the house and land, we locked up the pump house: what a kid magnet this building would be! The opening to the well was covered with big timbers and looked pretty safe, but one of the windows was missing. We nailed up plywood and hung plexiglas over the remaining window, and put a padlock on the door.

Such care was taken with this building, with a lathe ceiling and plaster on all four walls. But the ceiling has started to collapse, and the cover over the well was rotten. So we replaced it with ground-contact 4x6 boards, and found the missing window in the barn. Both windows got new glazing, and John replaced broken siding. I dug out the steps, swept out the hazelnut and walnut shells (remnants of a squirrel's winter stash), and edged out the corner flowerbed, ready for a lavender bush.



With all the other buildings, it was easy to choose the paint colors. But this little gem of a building was harder. Should it match the other farm buildings? Or because it's a miniature of the farmhouse, should it match the farmhouse?