a storage room that opened to a section of the porch that had not been included in the breezeway enclosure creating a porch from which to step down to the covered well just outside the door.

            The cabin became a large bedroom with enough space for four double beds.  Eventually, the outside of the cabin was covered with clapboard siding, and the inside walls and ceiling were covered with grooved boards.  Over time, the log cabin was forgotten and just seemed to be a natural part of the overall farmhouse.   It was a wonderful room for the cousins during the summer months.  The thick walls and tree shaded roof kept it from being excessively hot.  However, in the winter months, it could be a very cold room.

            The newer addition included a kitchen, living room, and two bedrooms.  A long, covered board porch ran the entire length of the front of the farmhouse.  It was painted gray and had two steps that went down to the sidewalk that ran from the middle of the porch nearly to the road.  The ends of the porch were not high off the ground and easy to exit to the yard.  At one end was a porch swing.  I remember it was painted many times.  Originally, it was oak colored, but was then painted green.  Another time, it was painted brown.  

            There were windows on the front side of the house that opened to the living room on one side and the front bedroom on the other.  Both rooms also had windows on their sides.   The front door was in the very middle of the front porch and opened into a long hall that ran all the way into the big kitchen.   On either side of the hall was a door, one leading to the living room, and the other leading to the front bedroom.  

            The front bedroom was big enough for two double beds, a dresser, and a rocking chair.  Beside my grandparents’ bed was a small bedside chest on which my grandfather set his radio.  There was a butane heater on one wall.   I can still see the dresser.  It had a beveled mirror that I thought was beautiful, and there was always a round, dark blue, canister of Evening in Paris talcum powder sitting on top of the dresser.

            The living room was approximately the same size as the front bedroom.  There was a fireplace on one wall with a butane heater sitting inside the hearth. In one corner, by a window, my grandfather had a rocking chair and console radio.  That is where he spent most of the day, listening to his radio, smoking his pipe, and reading his Bible with his very large magnifying glass.  He smoked a pipe that was filled with Prince Albert tobacco.  It had a strong black cherry smell that was very pleasant.   There were several overstuffed chairs and two rocking chairs in that room as well as a half bed in the northeast corner.   When I was six, Uncle Bob brought us our first black and white television.  It was in the southeast corner of the room and attached to an antenna that stood up over the roof on the side of the house.  

            The kitchen was large and square.  There were cabinets that ran along the back of the kitchen and halfway up one side of the opposite wall.  On the other wall, was the cook stove and the refrigerator.  In the very center of the room was a dining table large enough to accommodate ten people.  It was covered with red checked oilcloth.  The backdoor of the kitchen opened onto the breezeway in front of the back bedroom that had once been the log cabin.  Beside the door, sitting on the edge of the cabinet was a water bucket with a dipper.  It was always filled, and everyone used the same dipper to get a drink.  We did not think much about it then, but it seems pretty unsanitary to us now. The water from the well was always sweet and cool.  

            The bedroom on the side of kitchen was just behind the living room wall.  It was large enough for two double beds and a single bed.  A closet with doors at both ends ran the full length of one wall.  It was a wonderful place to play and hide with an easy escape route at either end.  There was a small butane heater in the kitchen, but none in the bedroom.  It could be very chilly at night.

            There was no indoor plumbing when we first came to live at the farm in 1951.  The outhouse was at least 75 yards behind the house, but it often seemed more like 75 miles, especially in the winter.  Eventually, my Uncle Bob, (Robert Pound, youngest Pound sibling), built an addition on the side of the kitchen.  It was divided into a storage room and an indoor bathroom.  I was about six when this addition was added.  It was wonderful to have indoor facilities. There was a tub and commode.  It was a much appreciated luxury.  He also put running water in the kitchen sink, but we still had access to the well.  We cleaned up the old outhouse and eventually used it for a playhouse.  Unbelievable! (My brother read this and says he and our cousin, Jimmy, also used it for a fort.)

            The farmhouse was already aging when it was purchased by my grandparents in the late 1920s.  By the 1950s it was reaching a ripe old age.  However, I don’t seem to remember thinking it was terribly old or in need of repair.  My aunts and uncles were so very good to my grandparents and usually saw to any repairs that were needed.  It was a comfortable home and felt very secure and peaceful.  It was always full of visitors, brimming with laughter and love, and smelling of good things to eat.  

            After my grandmother sold the farm and moved into town, the old farmhouse was torn down, the land resold, and new house was built on the same spot.  In tearing down the house, the old cabin was discovered.  Darrell Thomas, who had purchased the farm from my grandmother, had the cabin moved piece by piece and reconstructed on his own property.  It was used as a guest house for many years until an infestation of termites caused it to be torn down.

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