I Smell a Project

So there's lots and lots of things going on around the house on lists of things 

that need to get started around the house.  

I'm working on my upstairs hallway project, 

I'm working on prepping Ethan's room for new paint and furniture, 

I'm getting ready to redo the redo on the upstairs bathroom

 (turns out peach isn't a great color after all) 

and I'm Big E is finally getting the laundry room started.  

Back when we were waiting for settlement on the house,

 we saw a huge deal on laminate flooring during a Black Friday sale.  

We bought what we needed for the laundry room, 

and it's been sitting there ever since... for a couple of years.  

The room needs to have a small wall built to enclose the pipes and 

cover the old window opening into the bathroom (the laundry room was once a porch).  

And other than that, it just needs the floor (that can't happen until the wall) 

and some drywall on the ceiling to replace the drop ceiling. 

 Oh, and we need to work on the doorway because 

while helping friends salvage things 

out of the old historic firehouse and community center, 

I might have found a really great door for the laundry room 

that is a little bit wider than the door that's there.

So we need a little bit wider opening, 

and, you know, some minor electrical work 

to move light switches and what not.

No big deal.

But really, isn't this door worth it?

The pebbled glass let's light in, 

but hides whatever mess might be in the laundry room.

And it's a piece of town history.

Totally worth the effort

(says the person not doing the work).

So let the work commence!

We have about a month and half to get it all completed

(before we have our Christmas Open House).

You can read about how we helped salvage stuff here

Catching Up on Summer

I was a little shocked to learn I hadn't blogged here since April.

So I figured one big post of the summer

would get all 2 of my readers you caught up.

In May, we had our first camping trip with the new-to-us popup.

It was also the dog's first camping trip.

I'd say it was a success.

We had rain.

We had a lot of rain.

I think we had more rain than the Biblical flooding of Noah's time.

It was definitely more than 40 days and nights.

We salvaged some stuff from the parochial school at the Catholic church.

Yes, we cut out an entire double door entry way.

We had some baseball.

We starred in the town's annual cabaret show

(this year was based on the 60's)

We dug up more garden space and found bricks.

I really hate bricks.

We had another camping trip, this one being a week long vacation

on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.

We saw wild ponies.

We burned stuff.

I started a project in the upstairs hallway.  

It's nearly done, 

and I'll post all the before and after photos when it is.

The garden hosted many monarchs.

I had so many caterpillars that they stripped all of the available milkweed.

I'll have to plant more next year.

(I had a lot- close to 20 large plants)

And there were shenanigans.

We also were going through some stressful times

concerning our family's place on the water.

You can read about that here.

So the summer is behind us,

and there are lots of projects ahead for the fall and winter.

(and more time to blog)

Home Over the Range

Big E has become enamored with Facebook Marketplace.

His latest find was an over the range microwave for $25.

Since I've wanted one

 (I hate that we use precious counter space for the microwave we have)

and this one seemed like it was in pretty decent shape,

he went and got it.

That meant cleaning out all the spices and meds from the cabinet.

So I cleaned out the cabinet,

and finally Big E had an evening to get to work.

He had to cut the cabinet above the stove.

He used this really cool gadget called an oscillating tool.

I NEED one. 

It didn't take long to get everything cut to make room for the microwave.

Really, I didn't even have to move the canning supplies until

he was ready to drill holes for screws and wires.

Take a look at the wall color on the plaster!

After a few hiccups,

we got the thing mounted and in place.

Big E used an extension cord to make sure it worked

(thank goodness it did).

We just needed to cut the doors down to fit 

and put them back in place.

Once everything was back in place,

you couldn't even tell that the doors were cut. 

I'm thrilled with this over the range microwave.

It's much bigger than the one on the counter top,

and now I have a bit more counter space.

Salvaging History

Anyone who knows me, 

or who has spent any time at all reading this blog

knows that I like old things and history.

Abandoned, dilapidated buildings make me sad.

I see old dreary farmhouses, and I can see their potential.

I want to know their story

and share it.

In my town, there is a building slated for demolition

(actually for today, but not sure because of bad weather).

Part of the building is the firehouse built in 1886

(Shown here as it was originally built. 

There have been 3 additions since)

The other portion of the building was the public school built in 1901.

It was later turned into the Community Center in 1963.

Unfortunately, the buildings fell to ruin,

and the cost of repairing them was apparently

more expensive than destroying and building new ones.

So when friends of Big E and I needed help saving artifacts,

I was eager to help.

Our friends had a dilemma.

There was a large cabinet that they wanted to save, 

but it was too large to go down the stairs.

The cabinet was built in place,

so the only option was to saw it in half.

Long story short, it got cut in half, moved downstairs, 

loaded into a truck and taken to my garage to live for a bit.

(It's their story to share which is why I went for the quick overview on this part)

While all the sawing was going on, 

I commented on how sad it was that the wainscot 

was just going to be part of a pile of rubble.

Big E mentioned how nice it would look in the dining room,

but unfortunately, we had no hammer.

Until our friends mentioned they had a hammer-

and a crowbar.

So began my job of carrying wainscoting down to the first floor

to load in the truck.

The wainscot was the old type-

the thick tongue and groove wainscot

not the thin MDF type you find today.

So I carried entire sections of wainscot,

and I carried armloads of bundles.

Some from upstairs, 

some from the 1901 elementary rooms downstairs.

I was a little worried I wouldn't have enough for the dining room.

What I ended up with was a truck bed full of wainscoting.

As you can see, the entire bed is filled to just past the top of the bed.

But that's not all.

I also saw a door with textured glass that I thought would work well

as a door between the kitchen and laundry room.

While not original to the building,

the door was still on the old side and solidly built.

It would let the light in from the laundry room

(which is full of windows)

without allowing guests to see into the room

(the dog that eats everything stays there during the day,

 plus the laundry and it's also the "mudroom"- literally,

 so I don't really want people to see it).

Big E was saying no to the door though.

But while Big E was busy loading the wainscoting,

one of the people helping with the cabinet said

if I just wanted to get new hinges for it,

he could tap out the pins for me.

So, knowing if I got the door off and carried it out,

Big E would have no choice but to take it home-

I hoped-

I had them take the pins out.

Big E was a little not thrilled about the door

making the comment that it might not even fit.

But like our friend said, we can cut it down.

I love friends who think the way I do-

that old is good, that historical items need to be saved 

and that I really needed to have that door.

The door ended up riding home with a section of the cabinet,

because our truck was full

(and if it had slid and busted out the window of Big E's cap

 I'd be in big doo-doo).

The next day while I was in the garage admiring my new door, 

Big E started talking about how he was planning on redoing that door frame

when he works on the laundry room anyway

so the door won't have a problem fitting.

(this is where I smirk to myself)

So, thanks to this salvaging crew,

some local history will be preserved and used.

The cabinet and a few odds and ends are being saved 

for inclusion in a museum in the future,

and the wainscoting and the door will be used in our 100+ year old home in town.

(so look for all the blogs about that process in the future)

I'm going to try not to be too upset over the original hardwood floors,

or the gorgeous old wavy glass windows 

or the rest of the wainscoting and woodwork

that we couldn't save.

One last look out of the school windows before demolition

The 100 Year Old Stairs

 Before we owned the whole house and we rented the upstairs apartment, 

I was in love with the banister.

Granted, we didn't really see much of it since it was in the landlady's portion of the house 

behind a makeshft wall,

but when I would go down to help her out I would admire it.

So imagine how disappointing it was to discover

that when the house was converted into apartments,

the contractor hacked off the end of the railing

and 2 spindles were missing.

Big E screwed a scrap piece of wood to the ends of the railing

to keep it together, but it wasn't an appealing look.

We spoke to someone about repairing it,

but the cost was going to start at around $450 just to remake the end.

I found one of the missing spindles in the attic, 

and I hoped I might find the missing banister there too.

Big E thought the chances were slim to none, closer to none.

But while poking around a stack of old doors and windows, 

I found it.

You can read about it here

Fast forward a bit to present day.

I had a thought that the old piece of railing could be attached

by using wood biscuits.

(I'm always full of thoughts and great ideas).

So Big E called in a friend who likes to do woodworking projects,

and he said he thought he was up for the job.

The idea was to reinforce the entire section of railing, 

not just the missing piece.

(I'm glad I didn't have to witness these steps, 

I would most likely have panicked silently)

There were also a few loose spindles 

that were reinforced with dowels

 Everything was also screwed together with finishing screws.

 When I arrived on scene, 

they were putting the missing corner piece back on.

Biscuits weren't possible because they spilt the one piece into 3 pieces.

Apparently being over 100 years old and sitting in an attic for 40+ years

makes one brittle. 

All in all, the finished product is fantastic.

I couldn't be happier to finally have the banister in one piece.

 Next step is to strip the paint off the wood.

I'm pretty sure the wood is walnut, and I'd rather have a stained wood railing 

than a painted one.

Then we'll need to fill some gaps, slightly smooth down some rough spots,

paint the spindles

(rip up the ugly carpet, clean up the wood floor, strip the steps....)

and finally it will really shine.