Greetings from Bloomington, Indiana and Red Roof Farm!

Although we sent out cute little announcements last summer just before our move, some of you may not have gotten the news that we are now "Hoosiers". We moved here mid-June to a little farm east of Bloomington in southern Indiana. We have 13 acres of pasture and woods, a gorgeous little pond, an incredible scenic view, a fairly new little barn, friendly neighbors, and most of all, peace and quiet. Our farm is surrounded by Morgan-Monroe and Yellowood State Parks, and Hoosier National Forest is 10 minutes away.

The property was a small horse farm before we bought it, and had a charming, but totally inadequate house, size wise. Being adventurous, and slightly crazy, we started building an addition to the house the day after closing in March. Two stories, 3 bedrooms, two full baths, laundry room, music studio, and 3 porches later, we now know the true meaning of insanity. Beth stayed in Virginia to sell the houses there and pack, and Harold moved early to Indiana in order to work with the contractor on the project. The final move was in June. The house was finished in October. You can imagine the rest!! We slept on the floor, had 3 pianos camped in the living room, and ate all our meals outdoors on the front porch because that was the only place with adequate space to fit a table. Almost everything we owned was in storage in the barn, or in boxes underfoot in the tiny original part of the house. There is still much unpacking to do, and minor construction details to finish up, but now we have a beautiful home, and we can actually walk through the living room without tripping over U-Haul boxes. The bedrooms are another story.

So we have a farm. What are we going to do with it? Well, Beth is going to use the barn for wildlife rehabilitation. She starts training in February, and once licensed, will work on rehabbing orphaned and injured birds. She also plans to work with the Indiana Bluebird Society. She will monitor nesting boxes that will be set up around the farm and help that recovering species grow and flourish. You might say that Red Roof Farm is going to be a miniature wildlife refuge. In addition to these and other wildlife projects, we have a couple of acres of berries to deal with. Beth learned how to make preserves with a vengeance this summer, and the freezer is FULL of blackberries awaiting their fate in cobblers and pies.

Harold is contributing to the upkeep of the place by riding around on his adorable antique blue tractor he named "Babe". This name connection stems back to his childhood state's (Minnesota) folklore about Paul Bunyon's blue ox. Old Babe is over 35 now, and she breaks down occasionally -- usually just after mowing the south pasture. Harold is learning how to be a wonderful tractor mechanic from all of the practice he's getting. The cussing part he already had down. The garage has a wonderful, separate wood working shop with an office that Harold is about to turn into a violin shop. He is also in the planning stages of opening a storefront shop in Bloomington with a colleague from Virginia. The shop will be walking distance from Indiana University's famous music school, so he's pretty sure he and his partner will have plenty of business. The only other shop in town just closed a few weeks ago. The owner retired and Harold is stepping in to fill the void. So much for retiring to the country!

Speaking of the university, both kids are doing great there. Michael is continuing his studies in violin performance, and Jewel has joined her big brother at IU in the music preparatory program. She loves her new cello teacher and piano teacher. She's doing very well in music theory as well. Michael commutes to school from the farm, and enjoys living at home instead of the college dorms. (In-state tuition doesn't hurt either!) Jewel declined to go to public schools here, so we are continuing to home school her. She's a 6th grader, officially, but we have a multi-graded curriculum which includes French and Latin. She's back in tae kwon do and Girl Scouts, and can drive the tractor almost as well as her dad. She loves rowing the boat on the pond, and hiking in the woods with Mom. Michael's days are filled with classes, rehearsals, performances, lessons and occasional video games and pizza with his friends. We attend many musical events at IU, ranging from chamber music to grand opera. The performances are first class and usually FREE. Since there are over a thousand of these wonderful concerts per year, the problem is how to whittle down the options, since it is physically impossible to attend all of them. Do the math and you'll see what we're talking about! Needless to say, we don't miss the Kennedy Center one bit.

Grandma Jewel, who just celebrated her 82nd birthday, is adjusting to the move by keeping busy with her sewing, watching the wildlife from her room-with-a-view, and listening to the kids practice. She had cataract surgery last summer (in the midst of all of our building chaos, no less) and is enjoying life much more now that she can see better.

Our animal family, 2 budgies, a cockatiel, and a cat, have remained about the same, except that the cat is a new one. We lost our beautiful old kitty "Odile", but exactly a month later "Franz" stepped up to fill the empty spot in our hearts. He was a skinny, starving stray who decided the good life on Red Roof Farm was the way to go. He's adjusting to his new life as an indoor cat by becoming a chubby butterball and harassing the budgies. He doesn't dare mess with the cockatiel. She doesn't tolerate such foolishness, and Franzie likes the shape of his nose just the way it is.

Please visit our homepage at: www.his.com/~hevans/
There, you can see pictures of the farm and other interesting (?) updates about our family. We all hope you have a great new year with good health and prosperity. Be sure to stop at Red Roof Farm if you ever travel through Indiana. At the very least you'll go home with a jar of blackberry jam!

Happy 2000!