A Name for the House

"There's lots o' dead wood as ought to be cut out," he said.

"An' there's a lot o' old wood, but it made some new last year. This here's a new bit," and he touched a shoot which looked brownish green instead of hard, dry gray. Mary touched it herself in an eager, reverent way.

"That one?" she said. "Is that one quite alive quite?"

Dickon curved his wide smiling mouth.

"It's as wick as you or me," he said; and Mary remembered that Martha had told her that "wick" meant "alive" or "lively."

"I'm glad it's wick!" she cried out in her whisper. "I want them all to be wick. Let us go round the garden and count how many wick ones there are."

She quite panted with eagerness, and Dickon was as eager as she was. They went from tree to tree and from bush to bush. Dickon carried his knife in his hand and showed her things which she thought wonderful.

"They've run wild," he said, "but th' strongest ones has fair thrived on it. The delicatest ones has died out, but th' others has growed an' growed, an' spread an' spread, till they's a wonder. See here!" and he pulled down a thick gray, dry-looking branch. "A body might think this was dead wood, but I don't believe it is--down to th' root. I'll cut it low down an' see."

He knelt and with his knife cut the lifeless-looking branch through, not far above the earth.

"There!" he said exultantly. "I told thee so. There's green in that wood yet. Look at it."

Mary was down on her knees before he spoke, gazing with all her might.

"When it looks a bit greenish an' juicy like that, it's wick," he explained. "When th' inside is dry an' breaks easy, like this here piece I've cut off, it's done for. There's a big root here as all this live wood sprung out of, an' if th' old wood's cut off an' it's dug round, and took care of there'll be--" he stopped and lifted his face to look up at the climbing and hanging sprays above him--"there'll be a fountain o' roses here this summer."

--

I was working pruning the bushes at the house yesterday, and cutting the branches reminded me of this part of the Secret Garden. I think the house is like the Secret Garden-- it's not been looked after but it's still wick underneath. And I will prune it and make it pretty for this summer. I think I'll call the house The Secret Garden.

Before Pictures

Living-room, kitchen, and bathroom before. There are also two bedrooms that look essentially like the living-room and a front entrance room that has the same linoleum as the kitchen and bathroom, and is the same colour as everything else.

A Game for Grown-Up Children

The Project: Make a nice little home from the plain little house at 1419 River Road.
The Budget: $3500.00
The Plan: Paint everything that can be painted (more things than you think). Remove obstructive walls to give the house a nice big living-space. Hunt through thrift stores, garage sales, Habitat for Humanity ReStores, and the like for cheap furnishings, accessories, and materials.
The Pros: The help of some talented friends. New-used appliances (refrigerator, dishwasher, range) for the kitchen. Wooden siding on the house. Lots of practice at thrifting and painting.
The Cons: The budget. The sloping floors that preclude the use of laminate or wood flooring. The green shingles. 

This is a drawing I did of 1419 River Road, last summer long before I ever knew I would get to play my houselove game here.