In which I post random thoughts on what is currently happening at the Ocean House

Sherds!  

Over the last year I have found a number of old potsherds on the property.  The rain has been uncovering them and they are fascinating to me as a decorative arts historian and a private collections curator, because I come across full pieces of these sherds in almost every auction catalog I get in the mail

The two sherds on the top most like date from the 18th century and they are examples of "Queen's Ware" or creamware...a popular utilitarian ware made in England.

The one on the bottom right is a piece of early 19th century English "Mochaware" with a seaweed decoration on it.  From the shape of the sherd, I think it came from a jug or a mug.  There is a collection of mochaware coming up for sale in a few weeks at an auction in NH.

I can't identify the blue and white sherd, but I think it is also English, made to look like export from China, which was very popular in the period.  These pieces predate the Ocean House by several decades or more in the case of the Queen's Ware.  Fascinating!!

The lower level stucco color is set and looks great!  People have gone out of their way to tell me how great the color is and how much they love that it grounds the building like a brick foundation.

Sorry for the angle, I held my camera up over my head to try and get a good shot of the interior of the first floor.  We emptied it of stuff so that our favorite painter could spray the ceiling with three coats of fire retardant paint.  Tomorrow, the last coat goes on and then we can prime and paint the walls, trim the windows, put in the floor, and get our favorite electricians back to finish up.

The floor in the lower level is a very good fake acacia wood laminate click-and-go floating floor

The lower level is also serving as our painting studio.  Here we have the brackets for the front porch.  Greg just finished painting the ceiling for the porch too.  

Oh, and they started the roof yesterday....YAY!