Friday 06.28.2013

A very productive week at Ramsay--despite the 90+ temps most of 

the week doing little to slow down the outstanding cast of characters

on site working their distinctive bits of magic around the estate.

  Carpenters, masons, gardeners, grounds crew, electricians, 

housekeeping, AV specialists, glass specialists, and more.

On site today:

Sherry & SY - the usual

Kevin White - general handyman about the grounds

Jim Bailey -our AV and electronics specialist from SC

Mick - after working his usual wonders headed for SC

Kevin and Mike - carpenters at the Guest House

Kyle and masons - in the parterre garden

Chris & Todd - electricians installing final fixtures at the Studio

C'ville Glass & Mirror - installers at the Studio

 

",,, like the countryside of England..." Ramsay after dinner.

Beautiful "Herringbone" pattern

Almost ready for the new lawn!

Kyle and Nate (master & apprentice)

had a mock competition to see

 who would finish which side first. 

It was too close to call!

              

The new shower door at the Studio addition really

sets off the beautiful tile work done earlier.

The Ramsay cows & horses are popular fixtures in Greenwood!

Weekly--passers by stop at the main entrance to take pictures.

"This place is so beautiful we just had to stop and take a picture!"

Thursday 06.27.2013

 The forecast called for 60% chance of rain today, but the clouds

hung close to the mountains and simply teased us all day!

Looking south over Rt. 250

On site today:

SY - mostly the usual (see lower pics)

Kevin & Mike - carpenters at the Guest Cottage
Kyle, Kenny, Adam, Harrison, Nate - the masons in the parterre garden
Tim Scarborough and his  mowing crew

Jim & Mick headed off to Alexandria!

And just as I (SY) was thinking what an uneventful day 

it had been, I unexpectedly met this beautiful creature 

while making rounds in the NW pasture.

Oh, deer!!! Now what should I do?

Exit!   Stage left!

Wednesday 06.26.2013

 A fierce looking storm rolled in a little after 3pm today but 

skirted to the south leaving us mostly high and dry. The chance 

of precipitation for tomorrow afternoon is even greater.

On site today:

Sherry & SY - the usual
Kevin White - yard man extraordinaire

Kevin & Mike - fighting the heat and continuing their great carpentry at the Guest Cottage
Kyle, Nate, Kenny, Josh, Harrison (masons) - getting a good rhythm going on the parterre garden walkway

Kenny mixes a batch of cement at the staging area.

Jim Bailey (from SC) - stopped by to do some tweaking to the electronic master control hidden under the Main House!

Mick - is putting finishing touches on the Studio and finished installing the new wine cooler in the kitchen

OK TJ, where's the wine!?

Tuesday 06.25.2013

Weather Alert!

Heat Wave Coming!

According to our Central VA weather guys,

3 days of 90+ temps constitute a heat wave. So tomorrow's

forecast-ed 90+ temperature will be our 3rd day, and by

definition--we'll have  Our First Heat Wave of the summer.

(Kevin & Mike are ready with an industrial fan on site: see pic below)

On site today:

Sherry & SY - the usual

Kevin White - our one-day-at-a-time hardworking yard guy

Kyle and the masons - in the parterre garden

Kevin & Mike - fighting the heat wave at the Guest Cottage

Check out the 6' fan on the patio!

David "A" Snyder and some "rooter" guys trying to plumb the depths of the 

Guest Cottage drainage system--we don't think the news is going to be good!

And... Mick McWharter... our Master of Whatever Needs  To Be Done!!!

Mick is installing a new wine cooler in the kitchen island.

Monday 06.24.2013

Beautiful Hot Summer Day at Ramsay!

Typical afternoon clouds rolling in on a hot day!

On site today:

Sherry and SY - the usual
Kevin White - back for a day or two before heading to Alaska!
Kevin & Mike - at the Cottage

Friday - Last week

 

Today (2)

Today (1)

And....

Wild Man David "A" Snyder came by to resolve the riddle of the

gutters, downspouts, and drains at the Guest Cottage.

He's a genius -- and doesn't mind doing the dirty work!

It's out here somewhere!

A hah!!! There it is!!!

Mick McWhorter - our master carpenter and wizard from SC arrived earlier this evening to help us sort things out for a few days.

Weekend - 06.22 & 23. 2013

The First Annual 

Countryside Invitational 

Ramsay & Farmington Country Club

Tom & Nick (standing) Bill and Larry (seated)

...and a few scenes from a quiet summer weekend at Ramsay...

Bessie & Beulah

Smoky & Toby at the Barn

Farm House - Early Morning

 

Lindsay Yowell from Richmond

                                                                                 

Ramsay after dark during SY's night time patrol

Friday 06.21.2013

Such a refreshing First Day of Summer!!

Ramsay - 1st Day of Summer - 2013

On site today:

(1) Sherry & (2) SY - the usual, with lots of final prep for TS and his three friends in for a "Guys Only" weekend of Skeet Shooting, Golf, and "who knows what?"  Welcome to Nick, Larry, and Bill... pics to follow!

                                                                                        

(3) Jessica - cleaning the fish pond

Jessica takes on a mammoth task!

           (4) Patsy - beautifying the Guest Cottage porch.

                                                                    

Flowers By Patsy!!

(5 & 6) Kevin & Mike repairing rear wall of the Guest Cottage that had been leaking for years! They got a special consult from  wild man (7) David "A" Snyder - the best roofer in Greenwood!

Better than new!

(8) Billy Frazier - mowing the pastures... and...

our fantastic Yardman, (9) Kevin White on his last day at Ramsay. He's off to play summer baseball in Alaska as part of his conditioning as a rising Junior on the Baseball Team at the University of Michigan.

"Good luck Kevin - we enjoyed having you on OUR TEAM this summer!!"

                                                     

Kevin's request for his parting picture!

Thursday 06.20.2013

We were expecting clearer skies this morning.... but it took a while...and then we had...

Another spectacular sun-shiny day at Ramsay!

We never grow tired of this view!

On site today:

Sherry and SY - the usual

Kevin White - our wonderful yard man on his next -to-last day.

Kevin & Mike - carpenters at the Guest Cottage

Kyle and masons - at the parterre garden

Melvin - the Orkin rep

J&A painters - finishing Will's room

Tim's mowing crew

Jessica - from Patsy's gardening crew

Measure twice...cut once!

              Kyle Lundgren, our lead mason, starts the basket
              weave pattern for the new parterre garden walkway.

                                                            

                                                    

Kevin & Mike repair leaking gutter damage!

                                   J&A Painters work their magic in Will's old bedroom....

After

Before

                                                               

Wednesday 06.19.2013

Dark clouds rolled in mid-morning, laughing at the forecast of clearing

skies and a slight chance of precipitation. But the ominous storm clouds

hung tight to the mountain tops, and the rain held off!

On site today:

Sherry and SY - the usual

Jeff Shull - head assessment officer for the County. Well-acquainted with Ramsay, impressed with the repair and maintenance work we've done. Took current pics of all structures. "Everything is looking great! Congratulations to you and the new owners!"

Kevin and Mike - carpenters at the Cottage and Studio

J&A painters - continuing prep work in Will's old bedroom

Kyle and masons - at the parterre garden

Charles and Lewis - finished up the hedge trimming

Billy Frazier came late afternoon to mow the pastures but the ground is still too wet.

A rarity, I took no pictures today until this late afternoon shot of 

Susan, Laddie, and Obie on our late afternoon walk.

Tuesday 06.18.2013

The rain last night was extremely heavy here at Ramsay. Puddles in

unusual places are still standing this evening. Local weather authorities

 posted a 24 hour total for Crozet at 3.7"  through noon today.

But it's 7:30pm now, the sun is shining, and the forecast for the 

rest ofthe week, and the weekend, looks very good!!

Our two current major crews--masons in the parterre garden and carpenters at the Guest Cottage--showed up to assess conditions on site. Carpenters ruled out getting on ladders and the roof, and the masons had a go of it until about 11am, when steady showers moved in [and remained that way until late afternoon.] The masons did manage to add to the line-up of "soldiers" along the garden walkway before they left.

More "soldiers" at attention!

Patsy Wallenborn sent Charles and Lewis to trim hedges... but after a few hours,

they gave up--soaked to the bone--about noon.

J&A Painters arrived to paint Will's (Lankenau) old bedroom. We discovered a record of Will's height measurements over the years, and took pictures to send to the Lankenau's. They ranged from 44 1/2" in December of '04 to 5' 51/2" in August '10:

15 1/2 yrs. / 5'5 1/2"

Monday 06.17.2013

The morning clouds and predictions of rain off and on today gave way to 

beautiful skies and puffy clouds by mid-morning. Only late this 

afternoon did storms roar through with winds that were a bit unsettling!

On site today:

Sherry and SY - the usual

Jeff Swanson--our affable chimney sweep, came on short notice to check out the western most chimney on the Main House. He replaced the flu cap and  re-established a water-tight chimney cap, but also assessed the need for a mason and roofer to address the minor leaks.

Kevin and Mike - carpenters at the Guest Cottage

Kyle & mason crew -  at the parterre garden

"Soldiers" at attention!

The masons set the first "soldiers" -- bricks laid vertically on end to 

provide a border--along the parterre garden walkway.

Kevin and Mike continue the new shingle replacement on the 

Cottage working their way up to a new gable vent.

Toby and Susan

After months of searching--with plans being made to travel to Ohio if necessary--Susan found a 

beautiful Haflinger near Harrisonburg, and he arrived on Father's Day! Stephen was

happy to share the limelight. Haflingers are an Austrian breed--a cross between

a draft horse and an Arabian. This handsome guy, "Toby", is a seven year old,

seasoned trail horse with exceptional training, manners, and personality.

Friday 06.14.2013

We were blessed with absolutely beautiful summer

weather with temps in the 70's today at Ramsay.

The SW view toward Wintergreen/Nelson County

Kevin-The Gator Man!

             Our temporary yardman--Kevin White, a rising

             Junior who plays baseball for the University of
             Michigan--has only one week left.
             He has done a great job!

East entrance

The demo is complete, the footings are in, and the first bricks 

were laid today starting the "re-building" phase of our parterre

garden restoration.

Our week-long guests at the Cottage got the 50 cent tour from SY this afternoon! That's Alexander & his wife Kay on the left, from CA., and Alexander's twin brother and his wife from Germany on the right.

Thursday 06.13.2013

Bear Alert!!!

We had our first evidence of a bear on the estate this morning when

Charles--a member of Patsy's gardening crew--discovered a number of signs

 in the Studio Garden. The bear had pulled bark off one of the elms along the 

property line, enjoyed a mid-nite snack on the lawn, and then finished 

off with some of the limbs in this hemlock Charles is examining.  

We will post a "No Bears Allowed" sign ASAP!

Charles is pulling fur off the limbs!

Kyle Lundgren and crew poured the footings for the walk and garden rehab work underway.

The pour was set for 10am--which was canceled because of rain, then rescheduled for

after lunch, and just as we began, the bottom fell out of the sky! Everyone had a blast.!!

Hard-working guys!

The Courting Benches footings

Ready for new eliptical walkway

We thankfully dodged the "Severe Weather" bullet this afternoon!!

By early evening we had some blue skies and cooler temps.

Wednesday 06.12.2013

WEATHER ALERT!  

The forecast for the mid-Atlantic includes warnings about 

 severe weather overnight and into tomorrow: 

 High winds, hail, heavy downpours, and potential for tornadoes! 

We've prepped the buildings and grounds as best we can.

On site today: 

Guests - at the Cottage

Sherry and SY - the ususal

Masons-- Kyle, Nate, Kenny,and D.J.

Peter Mead - carpet installation Main House stairway

Piedmont Landscaping - mowing

Kevin White - amazing part-time yardman

Teamwork with SY on tractor

Elliptical pad footing

Courting Bench footing

New bricks & mortar!

Peter Mead Installer

              The new stairway carpet
              from Italy finally arrived!

Weather-permitting, we're scheduled to pour footings tomorrow!