Virginia (Bluemont)

Dan and Susanna outside the Bluemont Cottage or Addy's Cottage

The Bluemont Cottage has been in the Thomforde family (actually Truesdell, Hemingway, and Thomforde) for 2 generations.  It was first given to Addy (a Hemingway or Truesdell relative and Susanna's great aunt) and it has been passed down since.  It is in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains about 1 1/2 hours from Washington, D.C.  Susanna has fond memories of family gatherings there often during summers growing up.  Berry picking along the gravel roads in big Chinese hats, a dozen mattresses lining the screen porch, practicing violin with Phil, and listening to Izzy's bible stories that were illustrated using a flannelgraph. She really wanted to see it again and to show it to me for the first time.   We knew that someone named Chip had been living there and taking care of the place, but we didn't expect to find anyone there when we arrived.  Well... we were surprised.

Chip. He’s interesting to talk to for sure and very friendly too. We were quite surprised to find his belongings all over the middle room…clearly lived in! 

When we went to ask Russell, who lives in the big house, about Chip, he told us to be careful since Chip probably owned a gun and would defend his property against strangers.  Needless to say, we were quite intimidated by this warning! However, when we returned to the cottage, Chip greeted us with a good sense of humor. It sounded like this: Susanna: “Hello. I’m a Thomforde (Thomforde said slowly and emphatically so he would understand immediately we weren’t strangers).” Chip: “Well, Hello Thomforde!” For the rest of the evening, Chip remained jovial, conversational, and friendly, sharing dinner with us and greeting us in the morning as we repacked our car.

As far as the warning about catching Chip unawares and meeting a gun, I think that was more a reflection on what a typical gun-owning Virginia mountain man is expected to do rather than a picture of how scary Chip is.  Chip was more interested, it seems, in such pursuits as protecting the woods from invasive flora that comes in on construction equipment and finding a job where he can commute via recumbent bicycle.  In fact, Russel and Hayes (his 15 year-old grandson) seemed far more interested in hunting and gun collecting than Chip.  Hayes warned us that he was going to be hunting squirrels at the cottage, partly for sport, and partly on Chip's suggestion because they have invaded the cottage and Chip's non-violent remedies aren't working.  Chip's response to carpenter ants was to "send out vibes that say 'go away.  Find somewhere else to live-- maybe a rotting log.  Wouldn't that be nice?'"  In addition to 'sending out vibes' he's been using peppermint oil to repel them and researching ant killing fungi.  He had outlet buzzers that repel rodents, but I guess he needs a little Hayes too =)

All in all, Chip seems to know a lot about natural, non-chemical responses to pests, plant or animal. He lives in many places and calls himself a Generalist. For what it’s worth, he seemed to know quite a lot about how to care for the Bluemont cottage. He told us an impressive story about skiing into the cottage in the middle of winter, only to find a snow drift as high as the front door. Dan and I want to try skiing into the house some day! Snow that high in Bluemont is unusual, though Chip would rather call the recent changes in climate the “new normal.”

Dan and I would both really enjoy visiting the Bluemont Cottage more often and would be glad to help fix it up. Maybe some time in the future.  For now we continue to head west.

Oh, and by the way, we saw this nice Saab sports car in the driveway when we first turned in.  I think that it was the first tip-off that the cabin wasn't as Susanna remembered it=)

 

We stayed in the corner bedroom that was not lived in, but rather tidy and COLD.  I think the high the day we arrived was 45.  We were glad for the small space heater provided by Chip.  Also, Istra was thoroughly enjoying herself exploring every nook and cranny in the cabin and getting covered in cobwebs!

We found an old Newsweek magazine with an ad for our new used car acquisition, a 2002 Toyota Corolla.  I like the ad, even though it's for an '01 and ours is an '02... close enough.