BATS IN THE BELFRY!

THE BAT STORY!

I was going to call my blog;  "Bats in my Belfry"or "Going Batty" but my husband Joe told me I am already there, so I decied on a different name.. LOL!!

My late husband Bart, (who passed away in 2004)  was caretaker of  Edgemont Condominiums in Tarrytown, NY for a time period just after we married in 1975.  There were 188 units, and they were upscale in a very desirable area.  The condos go for about $460-600 thousand for a small  two bedroom at present.  They were situated on prime property which had previously been a Nursery with incredible tree, plants, shrubbery, flowering greenery from around the world.  While the condos were being built, my husband Bart managed the completion of the condo's, working with contractors, and when they were finished, he was overseeer of maintenance. We were given the very large main house on the property to live in.


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My Aunt made the sampler on the wall, and my uncle made the frame



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We displayed Bohemian Ruby and our Falkener Figurine with our china



I loved the original cathedral windows






The French Doors led to our outside entertainment area patio



The large, over 4,000 foot home was three stories tall with three fireplaces.  We loved this home with plenty of room for our four children, and lots of space for family activities.  I immediately got to work refurbishing this old gracious home with my husband .. having an absolute ball doing so!  I particularly loved our dining room.  We decorated this room in a stunning navy blue wallpaper with eagles and cheeries.. with Navy blue under the chair rail and chair rail and all the trim in white.. The carpet was navy and deep red/burgundy stripe and we furnished the room in dark pine.  With a very pretty dining room hutch and rolling liquor table.  It folded open to quite a large serving table for guests.




I loved this rolling liquor cabinet.. it was so versatile for entertaining

I also loved re-doing the children's bathroom .. The walls were painted a pastel cloud blue with white trim and I used a Beatrix Potter design material to have the shower curtain,  swag window treatment and valance over the shower.  I found some amazing pastel striped towels and completed the room with Beatrix Potter look-alike soap dish, drinking glass and toothbrush holder. I was also delighted to find some very fluffy and soft throw rugs in a pastel blue, and some Beatrix Potter prints for the walls!!  All in all it was a darling room.. I even wanted to go in there for my shower!! LOL!!



This was similar to the material in the children's bathroom



The Master Bedroom was done in a deep rust/orange with white trim and black/ brass and gold accent pieces... Our bedding was black / chocolate brown/rust/gold/orange andd the room was a Safari theme with very large animal statues and lots of jungle greens.  We used some unique antique hurricane lamps over the bed as sconces that we picked up at a house in Connecticut selling antique pieces in brass.  We so loved these sconces, with flickeing antique lights.  They needed quite a bit of work to bring them back to their original condition, and it was truly a labor of love on both my husband's and my part.  He did the repair work and I did the cleaning.  Also, the Master Bathroom had a claw foot tub ... so much fun,  decorated also in Safari theme with a faux animal fur rug. We even had a small refrigerator with shelf in the closet for midnight snacks, with wine, soda and what we called "noshes".


The kitchen pantry was large with floor to ceiling hardwood cabinetry going from the buffet table to the ceiling.  and then storage underneath on one end.  I decided to wallpaper one wall.  BIG mistake.  I must have used the wrong glue, or did not prime it beforehand, because after I finished the whole wall I called my husband in to help me complete what I was just too tired to do.. and when it was all done we stood back to admire our work.. and it literally in front of our eyes .. peeled down and off the wall!!! LOL  We didn't know whether to laugh or cry!!  We finally did get it up properly and it looked wonderful and added some spark and interest to the room .. ...  

We decided to to the TV room in a Toy Train theme and used some large gauge trains Bart inherited from his brother who died before he was born.  His name was K just like that .. no other letters... just K .. anyway.. he decided to go sleigh riding with a friend after church.  Bart's sister Carmen who was inseperable from K had gone overnight to a friend's sleep over.  Somehow K's sled went on to the frozen lake below and the ice was thin enough to give way and he drowned.  Bart's mother and father and Carmen were devestated .. and we were told he had been the model child.  So loved.  A good majority of married couples separate or divorce when there is a death of a child.  But, George and Erlamond worked out their sorrow with faith and persistance.. Poor Carmen as a young girl, and loving her brother so much, had a hard time, I am sure thinking to herself .. if she had only been there as she always had with him.   How difficult.


Because of the extreme grief over losing a child, Bart's father said he wanted no more children, figuring "if you don't have them, you can't lose them".  But, Bart's mother was so desiring another child.. she prayed and said to the Lord. "if you will give me another child, I will dedicate the child to You".   She told us years later, that she got dressed up and seduced her husband!!  My darling Bart was the product of the union.. and I told her time and again, I  was sure glad she did!! 

So, Bart inherited the trains that had been his late brother's, the Lionel Standard guage.  They were in perfect condition and in their original boxes, also in brand new condition.. He had also collected some smalller O guage Lionel trains to so we decided to do the TV room in a dark sage green.  Bart had at an earlier date made a exquisite credenza from Walnut with labouious lattice work and brass embellishments on each door.  He then made some walnut shelving to display the trains, and we filled in the shelves with some wonderful and very collectible train memorabilia, and I used some antique velvet window swags with twisted fringe trim that we purchased at an antique auction.  The curtains  had been used in a dining train.  The room was such fun, and we all enjoyed the warmth and nostalgia of the room.




Lionel Standard Train

We also were amazingly fortunate to have first opportunity to purchase the furnishings and decorating pieces from the Condominium models.  So, with them .. we were able to completely decorate the children's rooms in top style.  Our only daughter, Keri had her room in pink and white stripe with a window treatment of beads.. gorgeous!!  Chip and Tood had their room done in a boys pattern bedspreads with aqua/red/tan/and mustard yellow print and it really popped with their pine furniture.  Our oldest son, Mark was way up on the third floor and we did his room in red/white and chocolate.  The decor in his room was dramatic and totally majestic in my opinion.  We all felt like we had our little corner of our world, andwe even put in a salt water fish tank in our living room that was done in greens with a soft off white velvet couch, and dark pine furniture.. a chancy combination that worked to a tee when all done with an all wool striped sage green/gold and off white striped carpet.

We all loved the fish tank, and the children knew the names of the fish by heart.... I always loved turning on classical music with a glass of wine or coffee/tea and just watch the fish in the tank looking like they were dancing!  We had a Hawaiian Wrasse fish that had an inner time clock and at exactly 9 PM, if we were looking at that moment, this fish would scoot under the sand and go to sleep until morning.  Our daughter was the same way.  Keri would be ready for bed at 9 PM... she would say "Goodbye, I have to go to sleep now".. we used to laugh and ask her if she was going on a trip, because she would say "goodbye instead of goodnight".   hahahahah  anyway, our pet name for her was our "little Hawaiian Wrasse" and it has stuck till this day.  LOL     PS ... she is still that way!


Keri .... our Hawaaian Wrasse!

Another story about the fish tank.. One morning we got up to find ALL the fish dead in the tank.. Panic set in as we tried to find out the reason... until we asked the children if they had done anything to the tank?  Our youngest son Todd replied "well, I did put some soda in the tank"??? SODA we inquired?????   "Yes, he said.. we were all having a party last night and I thought the fish might be thirsty"!!!   I guess he wanted to have the fish join the party... Todd is sitll the same today.  He has more parties and entertains more people than anyone I know.. what a caring person.  He is such a giver.





Fish like to PARTY too!!!!!

One more story and then I will get to my main point.  With Keri being our only girl, you can imagine the joy I found in dressing her .. she had a collection of Polly Flinders dresses we just loved and she looked like a "sugar plum" in every one of them.. what a darling child... little white tights and Maryjane's.. how precious.  One summer day she was dressed in an adorable little sundress with a yellow background and bees all over it.  She wore little white sandals too. 



Our Keri outside our home at Edgemont Condos
wearing an adorable Polly Flinders dress

She was playing outside and unbeknowing to her stepped into an underground yellow jacket nest.  Immediately she began to cry and her brother Mark rescued her (Mark was such a rescuer .. .he has a heart for the hurting) anyway the bees of course follow her into the house and I had the presence of mind to quickly pull out the hornet spray and tell her to close her eyes while I quickly sprayed her and Mark. I was horrified that I could not tell the difference between the bees on her dress and the real bees, so I kind of swated everywhere.. poor Keri.. !! The bees fell dead on the floor, but to my horror, my little girl was swelling up with an allergic bee reaction.  I asked Mark to call his Dad, call the Dr's office to tell them what was going on, and I got my daughter in the car.  Half scared to death she would die before I got help for her .. and yes, I sure did pray!  Silently, as I did not know about praying out loud at that time in my life.. but it worked .. Keri's face was blowing up before me as I was driving, and I was so concerned her throat would become constricted, but the minute we arrived to the doctor, he brought her into his office and gave her a shot and a sedative for the pain, some ointment for the stings and he pulled out the stingers.  I think not only was my traumatized daughter in shock, but I think we all were.  I never left her side all night long, monitoring her breathing.  She was one hurting little one for awhile....   How scary huh?? 

Yellow Jacket Sundress

So, back to my original thought.  Okay.. so here we are in this beautiful home we had all worked so hard to fit into our little palace that worked with our lifestyle and personalities, set in this Adam and Eve atmosphere.  Life was good, and we were all happy.  Bart and I decided to go out for dinner one night and asked our babysitter if she could come over.  Which she did.  We had been so busy with our home, and had poured every bit our our resources into the repairs, we didn't have the money to go out to dinner too, we loved the choice we made, but now it was time for some fun, and we were so looking forward to this night out. 


We drove about an hour away to our favorite romantic restaurant in Bedford, NY called the La Cremilliere.  Wonderful atmosphere, food and service.  Immpeccable in every detail. 

http://www.cremaillere.com/  

So, we make the long, but totally enjoyable drive, we are drinking in the ambiance of this magnificent place and relaxing finally with a glass of wine, playing "toesies" under the table and anticipating a wonderful romantic night.  We had just finished our appetizers and we were waiting for our entree when we received a frantic call from our babysitter.  The maitre' d lead us to the phone as, this was before we had cell phones.  Oh no, we thought, finally we have a moment together and what could be wrong?  

Our babysitter hurridly and in a terrified voice begins to tell the tale of how are your ready??   How the house was being invaded with BATS!!   OH NO... surely not bats...  ???   But, yes this was true.  My thought turned to old wive's tales from my mother and grandmother about bats getting into people's hair and making a nest.. and how the nasty little varmints' were loaded with germs and bacteria and disease.  I panicked and we quickly paid for our dinner and had a very hair rising mad dash trip home to the children who were all huddled in the living room by this time downstairs ready for another onslaught of the invaders.  


Each child told their story of the incident and before long, the feared flying bats began to swoop down with all of us screaming except for Bart..   The problem was that the children had seen several bats, and we were not sure how many would appear, or if we had gotten them all even if we were able to kill them. We called my parents and said "guess who's coming overnight?"   We quickly packed overnight necessities and headed for my Dad and Mom's with each child re-telling their story!!   There was NO WAY I was going back in that house without it be "de-batted"... and so the next day my husband called a policeman he knew would surely be accustomed to this kind of thing, who ended up being a scaredy cat.  Bart took our trusty cast iron frying pan and proceeded to investigate the whole house from one end to the other.  When he folded back the curtains in the living room, he found one of the culprits sleeping.. When he was rudely awakened by my husband, he came flying at him and my husband with his frying pan held it out, and the bat flew right into it, killing himself instantly. 


The trusty weapon!

"Hurray" they cried while my husband's policeman friend said.. "all done, I'm out of here" without a second breath which left my husband to fend for himself hunting down the rest of the bats!!!!  My husband said it had been a one in a million shot.. hahaha   He did find several more and deemed it safe enough for us to come back home.  However, my brave Mark who had his bedroom closest to the attic had taken a bat to bed with him just in case, and he slept with it under his bed.... just in case.  I guess in his little 11 year mind he thought you could come against the onslaught of a bat with a bat!!  Makes sense to me .. LOL! 

He could hear more activity at night and several came into his room, which sent the whole household in another bout of screams and running.  Oh no, they were back again.  All of us scrambling to hide in bathrooms and such huddled together while brave Daddy hunted the enemy down.   None of us got any sleep and we decided to call in an exterminator my husband knew who could take care ofthe job.  He found the hole they were coming in and out of in the attic as they can fold their wings into just about nothingness and get in very small spaces. But, those critters did not die so easily and we were uneasy for a very long time, and my son had a perpetual friend as a companion I think probably for years as protection.. I don't blame him.. I thought he was WAY brave to even stay up there after the attacks.  I would have made a permanent bed in the enclosed bathroom!!





Our family at my parents home.. left to right
Chip, Me, Keri, Mark, Bart and Todd

So that is the story of the Bat's in the Belfrey at Martling Avenue!! Hope you enjoyed it. 

If I never see bats again in my life, it will be too soon.   I know my family will never forget it for sure!