This Old House, Glaser Edition

See Steve Run!

2008-05-01T07:29:00.016-04:00

We could start off with,

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times

but that would be trite!

15,000 started . . .

8,000 finished . . .

TWO died . . .

Steve

survived

and

finished

. . .

Steve ran the Madrid Marathon last Sunday and surprised us all by surviving the high heat and humidity and the last eight miles of the course--uphill and miserable! His name did not appear in the top ten finishers, but he finished with twenty-one minutes to spare (they close the course after six hours). Steve, a veteran of the St. Cloud River Runners, met up with his MinneSOtan buddy Jay in Madrid. Jay, who found the weather uncomfortably hot, chose Madrid over a snowy day at the Brainerd Marathon! For a taste of what it is like to spectate the race, click here. For an insider's view, click here (warning: take Dramamine before watching this clip). What was his secret to such a stellar performance (remember, he did finish)?

Enjoy this marathon photobucket courtesy of ASI Photo Europe.

And, what did he win for sweating it out for 339 minutes and 4 seconds?

Protective Gear for Midnight Runs

Official Time Chip
(Sadly, Not A Potato Chip)

Medal and Bib

Tammy's Mother's Day Present

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/spain/madrid/427420197"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;maraton madrid 08&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br/&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href="http://www.mapmyrun.com/find-run/spain/madrid"&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;Find more Runs in Madrid, Spain&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

In case you are suddenly inspired to start running, check out this program for beginners and inspirations when ready to stop! Even penguins and mortals can learn to run. Runner's World arrives every month to motivate Steve with his running.

PUT DOWN THE REMOTE!!!!

BACK AWAY FROM THE COUCH!!!!

Spain or Striped Bass?

2008-04-26T20:06:00.005-04:00

Steve made a difficult choice this weekend: stay in town for the 29th Annual Striped Bass Festival or run a marathon in Madrid, Spain. For the first time ever, the festival will feature carnival rides. Who cares if Pamela (our autistic sweetie pie) is the only member of the family who can stomach them! Local beauty queens grace the parade as well as dancers, marching bands, motorcycles, and politicians. Everyone turned out, including a few, lone Republicans who thought entering a parade in yellow-dog Democrat country might earn a few votes. This festival is so popular another blogger beat us to the blogpost! Even a few lone Republicans running for office in yellow-dog Democrat country entered in the parade.

Did Steve stay home for all of the fun and festival? No! Tomorrow, he will be sweating it out in Madrid for 26.2 long-hot-weary miles. Tammy put together this short video clip, so that Steve can see what he missed! And, say a prayer for him, folks!

Retrospective on Windows and Door

2008-04-24T07:11:00.017-04:00

We have worked hard to give the front of our old house a facelift. Before revealing our most recent exciting look, we need for you to ketchup on everything so far. The first thing Steve did back in July 2006 was tame the hedges and gut the tree next to the house. He also JOMAXed the daylights out of the front steps which were covered in mold when we photographed the house in April 2006. In August 2008, Steve and Tammy's father handled the azaleas gone wild and hired a mason to work on the foundation and replace the old basement vents. In September 2006, our electrician installed new porch lights. In November 2006, the mason returned and gave us a lovely red brick walkway. In July, the electrician returned and put in an old-timey limy doorbell.

For many, many, many months, Tammy's father showed his metal as a real glazier by restoring the windows, redoing the framings, and topping them with storm windows for better insulation. Steve found it tricky to order the right windows because nothing in an old Victorian house is square or standard. He also worked really hard on the front door which was in sad shape. Here are extreme close-ups on the before shots:

We hope you enjoy these before and after shots of the windows of the house. Be sure to double click any photographs for higher resolution! We want to point out a couple of details in the before shots taken in April 2006: the ugly screens on the doors and windows, the moldy steps, the junk all over the porch, and the ugly plastic roof awning thingie, hanging from the side porch.

Before:

After:

Spic and Span Basement

2008-04-23T16:09:00.008-04:00

The day after the flood disaster (Part I, Part II, Part III) Steve and Tammy's father installed a new relief valve on the water heater. Ain't it perty?

A gentle reader asked in the comment section of the last post if our basement is spotless. I will let you be the judge. Steve JOMAXed and bleached the daylights out of the basement. He also made sure the sump pump was in working order in case the water heater decides to commit suicide by drowning again!

What is that little blob of dirt in the middle of the basement, you ask? It is not dirt! Even the palmetto bugs die from the excessive cleanliness of the basement!

The Corollary to "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It!"

2008-04-20T20:50:00.015-04:00

In Part I of this episode, Steve opens a file on the case of the broken heater and expanded it to the case of the broken water heater in Part II. The episode closed with the ecstatic Glasers pumping out the remaining water in the basement. In the next episode, an unexpected plot twist dashed all of their hopes, and David's victory sign quickly disappeared.

What happened, you ask? A person who shall not be named worried that the sump pump might be overheating. So, we shut it off and pulled the plug from the extension cord. A second person who shall not be named dropped the plug into the flood waters of the basement. We did our best to dry it the plug, but the blasted sump pump short circuited every time we restarted. We finally gave up and went back to the buckets, hence, the corollary, "If it's running, don't stop it!"

After we finally removed the majority of water from the basement, we waited for the heating unit condensation drain sump pictured left to dry. Steve started that up, and the downstairs heating unit worked like nothing had ever happened. Thanks to Steve's persistence and eagle eye, we saved a visit from the A/C repairman. He set his sights on the hot water heater.

The next problem he solved was the hot water heater relieve valve. With the help of Tammy's dad, Handyman Howard, they rigged up a way to stop the heater from spewing hot water so that Tammy could coif her curly mop of hair for church the next day. A couple of times, they failed which resulted in the steamy shots pictured below.
The next day we had plenty of hot water to get spruced up for church. Then, we faced this mess in the basement. The sump pump with its nice, dry plug cranked up immediately, Steve removed the rest of the water from the basement. He hauled all of the trash to the curb, including the Christmas tree, which came with the house and had just soaked in the nastiest water imaginable.

Steve took this opportunity to clear all of the debris out of the hole that houses the sump pump. He dumped most of the disgusting mess into this trash can. Then, he swept the basement and washed it down . . . and swept it and washed it down . . . and swept and washed some more.

Monk and the Broken Heater

2008-04-19T13:29:00.004-04:00

We apologize. This Old House, Glaser Edition, has been on hiatus for the past three months. There was no writer's strike. None of them were asking for more pay. Any pay would be nice, actually. It just happened. Get over it!

Last January, Steve began investigating the case of the broken heater and ended up solving into a much bigger case than originally thought. While Tammy sat glued to the one-eyed monster, watching episodes of Monk, Steve lived it! He put all the seemingly unrelated pieces together in true Monk fashion.

Here's what happened!

In our last episode, Steve noticed that the downstairs heating unit was not kicking in, which he thought was strange. It was the coldest day of the year on a Saturday night. So, he went outside and checked the breakers. They were all fine. So, he figured he would have to call the A/C repairman on Monday. So then Steve, who loves doing chores at odd hours of the day (sound like Monk?) went to wash the dishes. And, he noticed there was no hot water. And then, Steve knew there was a connection. He didn't know what, but he knew these events were somehow connected.

So, once again, he went outside and checked all of the breakers and found everything working normally. So then, Steve realized it was time to look at the hot water heater in the cellar. Steve cranked the comely winch to the cellar door, headed down the steps, tried to the defective light, and turned around to get a flashlight. To his great horror, he encountered an underground swimming pool with about two feet of water, quickly in danger of becoming a skating rink. Did we say that it was the coldest night of the year?

Steve realized that the relief valve to the hot water heater had failed, and water was gushing out of it as if it were a fountain. He ran outside to the sidewalk and shut down the main water line. Then, he knew what had happened. The relief valve failed and flooded the cellar, which in turn covered the heating unit condensation drain sump and automatically shut off the heating unit to prevent water from backing up into its coils. We ran out of hot water because the tank emptied itself into the cellar. So there we were on Saturday night, faced with no access to plumbers, pumps, etc. All hardware stores in the area were closed because of the lovely blue laws, so we had no access to bilge pumps or even boat pumps. We tried Plan A, better known as the wet-vac, to empty out the basement!

Did you hear that giant sucking sound? That was Plan A, which failed miserably. Nobody liked it, but we turned to Plan B. You already know it was the coldest day of the year, and the stores were all closed. The water was near freezing. And, there we were . . . the bucket brigade . . . breaking our backs, freezing our buns, emptying out the basement.

Several hundred gallons later, Steve, with his Monk-like vision, noticed an ancient sump pump sitting in a corner, hard-piped to a discharge line to the backyard. Steve said, "Let's give it a try!" Taking every precaution to not get electrocuted, he got out of standing water and stood on the wooden steps. Tammy held a towel, ready to wrap around Steve's rib cage and yank him away if he started to smoke. (In a former life, we were both Naval officers and gentlemen by an act of Congress and knew how to handle electricity and water). Miraculously, this pump came to life.

We danced for joy as the water flowed out of the basement through this discharge hose at a rate of several hundred gallons per minute. The water level in the basement dropped dramatically. Our hearts soared. Then, the unthinkable happened. . . Tune in for the final episode, tomorrow. Unless it takes another three months to write!

This Media-Hogging, Limelight-Loving Old House!

2008-01-24T12:05:00.000-05:00

We have not posted in two weeks, so Glasers Old House decided to grab the spotlight and force us to blog. How? The said house created such excitement for the Glasers that we could not resist blogging about the drama. Of course, it picked one of the coldest, wet nights to launch its fiendish plot. It chose late on a Saturday, too. Why, Saturday, you ask? We live in a state with the blue laws, which means that we could not buy the one teeny, tiny part that we needed until 1:30 P.M. on Sunday afternoon. You see, in 1885, South Carolina enacted a law that forbade "any worldly labor, business, or work of the ordinary callings upon the Lord's Day."

Since then, legislators have whittled away at that law with a bunch of exceptions. Business establishments cannot sell liquor, but they can sell tobacco. You cannot buy a DVD player or DVDs, but you can buy cameras, film, and batteries. You can purchase underwear, diapers, and panty hose, but not socks and other kinds of clothes. (Tammy is relieved that she can still pick up hose on the way to church if her last pair develops a run.) You can still get sick or die because pharmacists and funerals are allowed to operate. At least they have their priorities straight!

Some counties have repealed the blue laws, but efforts to end the blue laws statewide have all failed. The state capital Columbia is seated in Richland County, which dumped the blue laws. Its neighbor, Lexington County has kept the blue laws, which means that desperate shoppers cross the border to do their Sunday morning and early afternoon shopping.

But, what about Wal-Mart? Wal-Mart opens in the morning as always and blocks off the forbidden zones of the store with yellow crime scene tape. The check-out clerks are not supposed to ring up any Sabbath contraband, but we have never tried to sneak anything throng the self-check-out line.

But, we digress. Phase One of Operation Limelight was when the heating unit downstairs went stone cold dead on us. Fortunately, we had heat upstairs and oil heaters in the two rooms in which we spend the most time (Steve's office--i.e., TV room--and the kitchen). If Tammy got too cold, she could always put on the Clint Eastwood-esque alpaca poncho and toe warmers to wear under her moccasins. So, they cranked up the oil heater and sat back down on the leather couch to watch a few more episodes of Monk.

Steve's suspicions became aroused during Phase Two when the hot water heater died. Now, that was a real crisis! How can Tammy do her hair without hot water? Steve can hardly get a decent shave with hot water. How could any of us get cleaned up for the Sabbath we were supposed to be celebrating? Two dead heating units in one day were too much of a coincidence for Steve. While Tammy sat placidly watching television, Steve carefully searched and uncovered the reason for this double tragedy.

(To be continued--or it's 10:33 P.M. and we are too tired to type.)

Disclaimer:

We did find a technicality in the law. One of the exceptions would have allowed us to purchase a part for an emergency heating situation. How can we buy a legal and legitimate part if the store is not open? Here is the text of the exception:

The transportation by air, land, or water of persons or property, nor to the sale or delivery of heating, cooling, refrigerating, or motor fuels, oils, or gases, or the purchase or installation of repair parts or accessories for immediate use in cases of emergency in connection with motor vehicles, boats, bicycles, aircrafts, or heating, cooling, or refrigerating systems, nor to the cleaning of motor vehicles.

The Queen of Quilts

2008-01-08T09:00:00.000-05:00

People sometimes ask Steve why he lives across the street from his in-laws. Well, for starters, we have handyman Howard, who we have paid to do several projects on the house and who helps Tammy out with minor glitches when Steve is working. Then, there is Tammy's mother, who brews her own beer; bakes yummy bread; makes her own sauerkraut from scratch; preserves fruit as jellies, jams, and even marmalade; makes her own orange liqueur; and shares cherry tomatoes, asparagus, blueberries and raspberries, lemons, and other fresh food from her bountiful garden. And, we even forgive her for trying to sneak minced anchovies into the homemade pizza she so graciously let us sample. She is a talented artist and a trained photographer. She knits, crochets, cross-stitches, and sews. When puts her mind to a creative project, she quickly masters it.

Now, you know why we really are not crazy! After yet another satisfying meal, Tammy's Dad will quip, "Now, you know why I haven't run away from home!" Tammy is quick to add, "Yeah, now you know why I moved across the street!" and Steve will follow it up with, "And, now you know why I live near my in-laws!"

Oh, and we cannot forget the quilts. It all started in 2005 when our county celebrated its sesquicentennial anniversary: 150 years of history. One of our neighbors Margaret Jackson who is on the county council figured Tammy's mom must know how to make quilts since she excels at everything. In less than three months--with the help of an experienced quilter--Tammy's mother organized a new quilt group (Heart in Hand Quilters), joined up with the guild in the neighboring county, set up classes, and sewed the official Sesquicentennial Quilt raffled off for the celebration!

Tammy's mother gave us as a housewarming and early Christmas gift: a homemade quilt made of soft blues and beige to blend perfectly with the master bedroom. She found the pattern called Garden Window in a quilting magazine. This treasure turned out so beautiful that she put it on display at a quilt show.

To ensure the meaning and history behind a quilt is not forgotten, she always includes an inscriptions in permanent marker. When this heirloom is passed down through generations, people will know who made the quilt, who received it, where it happened, etc.

2007 was a busy year for the Heart in Hand quilters. In February, they submitted some of the 200 quilts on display at Patriot Hall for the Swan Lake Quilt Guild's First Annual Quilt Extravaganza. You can see Tammy's parents busy manning the tables at this inaugural event. Steve and Tammy were delighted that her mother put their quilt on display!

By October, the Heart in Hand Quilters had stitched together a quilt to raise money for the Swamp Fox Mural Society. They wrapped up the year by donating homemade lap quilts to forty-six residents of a nearby nursing home. The week before Christmas Tammy's mother and fellow quilters went to the home and personally delivered the quilts plus lotions and perfume donated by Avon.

You would think that was plenty of quilting for one year. But, no! Tammy's mother made a lap quilt for her husband Howard, a small, starry quilt for one son, another Garden Window quilt in fresh colors for another son and his wife, and a gorgeous sky-blue quilt for one very happy daughter and her husband. Enjoy all of those joyful faces with their cozy Christmas gifts!

Tammy's mother needs to start a quilting blog! But, in case she does not, her favorite show, which she records every day, is the Carol Duvall show. Sometimes, Tammy will find used (i.e., inexpensive) quilt books for her mother. American Graphic Quilt Designs, an out-of-print book, was a hot commodity for about six months but are now going for a reasonable price. She had no problems snatching up Tradition with a Twist and Marsha McCloskey's Block Party. Tammy's favorite sites for locating reasonably priced used books are Best Web Buys and eBay (of course). And, if you are looking for a cheap way to swap used books or DVDs, try Paper Back Swap and Swap a DVD (if you sign up, please give them Tammy's email address so she can get credit for the referral . . . tammyglaser798@earthlink.net).

No Mo' Sanford and Son

2008-01-06T16:25:00.000-05:00

We promised to blog more regularly, not every day! We do have a life, you know!

The first order of business the week we bought the house (July 2006) was to raze the backyard which had become overgrown. The landscaping crew that took down some old trees near the house also demolished the outhouse and yanked three clotheslines poles, probably meant to withstand a nuclear blast.

This was the view of our backyard before the landscapers started. Can you see the outhouse with the lovely words "I hate you" spray painted in blood red? Can you see the big eye sore called Sanford and Son? They really are buried behind the jungle covering our backyard.

Exhibit A: Outhouse

Exhibit B: Sanford and Son
Last spring, we were busy cooking up plans to hide this eyesore: build a very tall fence or plant bushes or ivy that grows quickly. Others suggested we dig up the dead Yankee that was possibly buried in our yard during the Civil War. Some recommended digging up the spot where the outhouse stood because people might have lost something valuable and opted not to retrieve it. In the meantime, the gentleman who owned the dilapidated house, junkyard, and a gazillion cats died. We figured we would have to live with that view until we found a way to hide it.

Fortunately, once the estate was settled, two nephews of the gentleman resting in peace decided to sell the place. But, to do so, they had to take apart the junkyard piece by piece. They had crews out there on the hottest weekends of the summer and often during the week. They hauled pile after pile of debris to the curb near the house. They tore down shed remnants where the stuff sat there rusting. One day, Tammy snapped these three photographs of the junk the crews were dismantling. As you can see, sheds full of shelves crammed with junk lined the west side of the property. The task seemed impossible, but the nephews succeeded in clearing out all of it!

Today, Tammy took this shot of the spot where the outhouse in our yard and the junkyard to the south of us once stood. Now, we can see all the way to the storage sheds that kept our stuff when we were moving into our old house in Christmas of 2006.

Just imagine! This entire fence was lined with sheds full of junk last year. We are Snoopy Dancing now that there ain't no mo' Sanford and Son!

The Flying Arwen and Wishful Thinking

2008-01-03T18:30:00.000-05:00

We have two medium-sized dogs. One is a cream puff named Loa, and then there is Arwen, whom we should have named Gollum. On the one hand, she is a sweet, happy dog who only craves affection. On the other, she is so exuberant when meeting people she scares them off with her hyperactivity and sharp claws. We wisely decided to board her at a kennel while Steve's parents were visiting for the holidays.

Steve and Arwen are playing in what we hoped would have been her lair--a completely fenced in backyard. She loves to jump, pull things, and fly in mid air. Unfortunately, she and her compatriot Loa start barking after about fifteen minutes of fresh air, which is apparently toxic to their delicate bodies. Even on the most beautiful, crisp and sunny autumn days, they want nothing to do with the great outdoors.

We could understand if the lair looked like the nightmare the former owner faced, the result of fifty years of neglect:

Even what we inherited might have been beneath their canine dignity:

Steve and David cleared out the dog yard of trash and mowed the overgrown grass:

That was not good enough for the royal princesses. They have a large yard and a dog house lined with wheat straw. Tammy's brothers dogs love this set-up, but not ours! About the only thing that keeps Arwen entertained is this old stanchion Tammy's dad used to support the front porch while restoring the columns. She drags it around like a toy! Does the Dog Whisperer make house calls in South Carolina?

How We Spent the First Day of the New Year

2008-01-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

Steve's parents, Jim and Barbara, joined us for Christmas this year. We spent the day keeping warm, playing Scrabble, and putting the final touches on a photo montage with photos from Jim's childhood. We hope you enjoy this bit of nostalgia from the 1930's and 1940's. We even got fancy and burned four DVDs of this clip for Jim and his three brothers.

Home for Christmas

2008-01-01T11:44:00.000-05:00

We hereby resolve to be more attentive to this poor little blog that has gotten scarce coverage in the past six months. Last Christmas, we did not move in until Christmas Day and had no time to decorate the house. To the left is the lighted Christmas tree we bought at Lowes on December 22 for HALF of the price: $110! Steve's parents and Pamela helped him pick the perfect tree. Be sure to click any picture for a larger view! On the left, you can see a beautiful painting Steve's sister Patty gave to us when she visited us in the spring. The colors look beautiful against the living room's Resort Peach hue.

This is a view of our fireplace, which has the original tile found in other homes built at the same time as ours. Tammy's father replaced the mirror for us and redid the frame around it with trim from Lowes (our former home away from home). I love how the front porch light's reflection shows up in the mirror. The chair is an antique his great-great grandmother had in New Orleans. The wood is original, but Steve's father and mother reupholstered the chair when they owned it. The stockings are from El Salvador, while most of the knick-knacks on the mantel belonged to the previous owner of our house.

We were thinking about going with light wood furniture but worried it would end up being like having too much lard and sugar in your frosting and went with very dark wood for contrast. We love the plantation shutters, which are easier to maintain than blinds or curtains. The wreath is a gift from one of Steve's sisters who live in El Salvador. We bought the red nutcracker on a trip to visit Tammy's parents when they lived in Germany, and the bowl contains pecans from our very own tree in the back yard. Steve's father and Tammy cracked a total of six cups of nuts to prepare holiday treats like Praline Pumpkin Dessert, Gluten-Free Casein-Free Pecan Praline Dessert, Cranberry Conserve, and Tropical Dump Cake. The book on the end table is a family favorite, Letters from Father Christmas by J. R. R. Tolkien who hailed from the Midlands of England like Steve's mother.

This detail features our Christmas look: a poinsetta from Tammy's friend, three candles (one of which rests on a wooden candle holder made by her dad from the pecan tree chopped down last summer), and a colorful nativity set and angels from La Palma, El Salvador. The items on permanent display in what Steve's sister Janet calls "the museum" include unusual artifacts gathered in our worldwide travels. The piece behind the nativity is made of driftwood, Japanese fishing floats, and shells, put together by an Alaskan native named Albert Jackson, whom we knew during our two-year stint in Sand Point, Alaska. To the right of that on the shelf behind the glass are two green, fruit-shaped pieces Steve picked up on a business trip to Quito, Ecuador. Our neighbors during our eighteen-month stay in Colorado gave us the snow white goose girl for babysitting their snow-white Westie named Christie. The cheap, ugly television behind the poinsetta is to cover the ugly gash we need to hide some day in a more elegant and refined way.

We did nothing more than hang a decorative piece on the wall of the tiffany hall, which takes you from the living room to our next destination, the dining room. Steve hung the closest thing he could find to mistletoe above the French doors. The Christmas colors of the lamp, walls, and carpet, the tiffany hall sets a festive mood without much effort. Likewise, the Heirloom Red walls of the dining room require very little addition. We put a Christmas cloth from Germany on the table and a few knick-knacks on the buffet between the windows.

We normally keep the willow girl, the prancing horse from Ecuador, and the photo of Tammy's parents wearing elf hats taken last Christmas. All we added was two more knick-knacks.

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall: A New Unsolved Mystery

2007-07-24T16:18:00.000-04:00

Howard the Handyman strikes again! One day, when helping to clean out our garage, Tammy's father Howard came across two interesting pieces: a vegetable peeler in very poor condition and a damaged mirror frame with nothing intact except for beautiful scrollwork. He whisked both away under our noses and quietly began restoring them. The one flaw in Howard's plan was that he did not take any before pictures. Because the restored treasures turned out so beautifully, we can forgive him.

Our unsolved mystery revolves around the mirror. To restore the mirror Howard pulled the scrollwork off the frame and ditched the frame. He restored the scrollwork and found a new beveled mirror. He built a new frame out of oak and mahogany. The finished product turned out to be exquisite (and heavy) as you can see in the photographs.

Where is the mystery, you ask? Study carefully the following photograph:

Howard found this board on the back of the mirror frame. Close inspection reveals the name Arch Goodin and Statesville NC. Statesville is north of Charlotte, NC. The surname Goodin must be quite common in Statesville because a quick search for phone numbers for people bearing the name Goodin is only thirty-four! Since Tammy is less than thrilled about calling thirty-four people, she ran a search for email addresses for people in Statesville with that last name. Only two turned up, so she will start searching the easy, lazy, procrastinating way by emailing them first, holding to the theory that even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then!

However, in case a person by the name of Goodin just happens to be googling their name and town, we might get a lucky break!

Mystery Solved

2007-07-18T16:16:00.000-04:00

Last week, we teased you with a newspaper item asking about a mystery plate. The enterprising reporters at the Manning Times solved the mystery with the help of a few readers. The plate was a horse buggy tag issued for a couple of years back in the early 1920s to help fund the paving of roads in Manning.

Click the photograph below for a large enough copy to read (if you cannot read it, you might need bifocals!).

By the way, Tammy wishes her parents a happy anniversary! (Guess who has been playing around with your scanner . . . maybe, the elves sneaked in this blast from the past!)

Handy Man Howard

2007-07-11T10:38:00.000-04:00

When Tammy was growing up as a Navy brat, she knew many things about her father. A former mess cook in the Navy turned Supply Officer, Howard cooked up specialities beloved by his children: tamale pie, scrapple, turkey ala king made by Howard ala King, etc. He learned the guitar by ear and jammed with his Filipino friends and could fill in as a percussionist in a country band (spoons, washboards, jug, etc.). He was known for the craziest costumes from a hobo to the infamous gangster, Howie the Torpedo King (aka "Forty Knot" King). He also picked up rug hooking (not latch hooking), but the true art form in which you dye your own wool, cut it into long strips, and pull up loops through burlap with a hook. While Tammy’s mother is the true artist in the family, Howard bested her in hooking rugs.

As talented as he is, the King Klan did not consider their father a handy man until he retired. We lived in Navy housing, which meant that other people fixed what we broke. Whenever he did do something handy, like install the pencil sharpener, he invariably did it backwards. Okay, maybe being left-handed had something to do with it! After Tammy's parents settled in their Victorian Era home in Carolina, her father finally found the time to develop his carpentry skills. He rebuilt the wrap-around porch twice (he landed a great deal on free, high-quality wood and just had to improve upon what he had already done well). To date, he has fixed many things in Glasers' Old House in addition to his own: he had redone most of the windows downstairs, helped install storm windows everywhere, handmade thresholds for the rooms upstairs, restored the fireplace (an update is in progress), etc.

We enjoy having conversation pieces in our old house (one sister calls it a museum). One of them is the candleholder pictured left. Tammy's father turned a pecan log from one of the trees cut down last July into this exquisite piece of art!

The mirrors above three of the fireplaces were very spotty, but we loved the look of the beveled glass and hoped to have them resilvered. After some research, her father learned that the most cost-efficient way to solve the problem was to strip the silver off the beveled mirror, turn it back into a plain old beveled glass. Then, we could place a new mirror behind the glass and nobody would be the wiser! Simple, elegant, and cost-effective is the kingly way of home repair!

Before Shot of One of the Mirrors:

After Shots of the Living Room Mirror:

After Shots of the Dining Room Mirror:

Limy Doorbell

2007-07-10T19:00:00.001-04:00

Last August, Steve ordered an antique doorbell from the United Kingdom. We thought a Victorian Era mechanical bell like the ones you see in movies to ring the servants. It seemed to take forever for the "company"--some chap named Adrian--to make the blooming doorbell and ship it across the Atlantic, but the results were simply delightful! We ordered the bell with an electric "shaker" hidding in a solid pine wood box, which you see in the video clip below.

To heighten the eccentricity of our choice, we complimented the ringer with a bell pull. Everyone has been able to figure out this old-fashioned way of announcing their arrival.

Last April, our electrician had time to hook it up and he laughed when he saw our antique gadget. He found it very easy to install. Steve enjoyed analyzing the mechanics of the thing. Tammy was worried the sound would not project back to the kitchen or up the stairs. However, she hears it clear as a bell, even while she listens to the radio and cooks dinner with the stove vent turned on high.

We are not the only friends across the Atlantic to install this limy doorbell: just check out what other buyers have written about this unique addition to our home.

Newspaper Article

2007-07-07T08:56:00.001-04:00

Yes, I am finally going to update the blog on Glaser's Old House . . . DAD!

Our local newspaper, The Manning Times, is celebrating its quasquicentennial anniversary by including historical supplements, focusing in specific periods of history since the debut of this 125-year-old periodical. They included the following quiz question about Glaser's Old House in the second installment of this series. Believe it or not, two people called in to say what the mystery plate was. I will write more on that later to give you time to ponder on the mystery!

How did the publisher find out about our mystery plate? Well, he just happens to be the next-door neighbor of Tammy's father and lives right across the street from Glaser's Old House.

The Pain of Popcorn

2007-02-02T16:51:00.000-05:00

Our ceilings were originally full of flaws, including holes cut into the sheetrock and underlying wooden planks to replace the knob and tube wiring. We left only a couple with the original planks: David’s bedroom, the homeschool room, the master bathroom, and the Tiffany hallway. We covered every other ceiling with popcorn texture to mask the flaws.

When Tammy originally picked ceiling colors, her brother triple checked the colors. He warned, “Once the popcorn goes on the ceilings, it is there to stay. I mix the popcorn and paint together to help it stick, and it is a pain to redo.” Now, we understand why he was so adamant about colors!

After a disappointing leak sprung in the master bathroom shower about a month ago, Tammy's brother had to cut a hole in the ceiling. He made a few repairs to the one piece of plumbing we never touched and waited for about two weeks to make sure nothing leaked. He removed everything smelly and rotten, sprayed the area with mildew killer, and let it dry thoroughly.

He only needed to replace one piece of sheetrock, but had to respray the entire ceiling. That meant he and his partner had to pick off all the little pieces of popcorn clinging to it. This job was tedious, but very necessary and worth the effort.

Here is a shot of the repaired ceiling and they did a masterful job. The casual observer would not be able to spot where they replaced the sheetrock.They still need to finish the hole in the masterbathroom wall now that Tammy has finally bought the right color of paint.

On Hiatus!

2007-02-01T21:19:00.000-05:00

We put our blog on hiatus because it is hard to do a photo blog when the digital camera is being jostled about the streets of India and Vietnam. Steve spent eleven days on a whirlwind trip to Jaipur, India and Hanoi, Vietnam and returned home today, bring home one nasty cold and gifts to follow (thanks to DHL). Below is a shot of the city where Steve stayed, Jaipur, the pink city, one of India's many historical cities. Jaipur has many contrasts like the poverty and the extravagant palaces and amazing temples. Elephants and monkeys freely roam the streets (translation: be careful where you walk).

Steve took a tour of the Taj Mahal, which is in the city of Agra. The building, carved from beautiful white marble, has a palace on each side. Although the Taj Mahal is magnificent and worth the drive, getting there is another matter. The trip from Jaipur was six hours, one way. Transiting through Agra assaults the senses in every respect.
Far from the images one remembers from war movies, Vietnam is an emerging country, growing rapidly. Hanoi is clean, bustling, energetic, and promises to be a future business destination. Its people are welcoming. Steve enjoyed a performance of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Hanoi Opera House, built by the French in 1901 and reopened in 1997.

This week it will be performed by top Vietnamese singers and musicians from the Hanoi National Conservatory of Music and the Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra. Tenor Dang Duong will play the role of Prince Tamino, soprano Nguyen Bich Thuy the role of the Night Queen, and Vu Manh Dung the role of Papageno, the opera’s favorite character who raised a laugh every time he appeared.
Austrian conductor and art director Wolfgang Groehs, stage director and designer Manfred Waba, and makeup artist Wilhelm Galli, all from Vienna, will do the honors. The Hanoi Philharmonic Orchestra will perform under the baton of Groehs. The show will also feature other works by leading composers – including Tosca by G.Puccini, The Bat by J.Strauss, Carmen by G.Bizet, and Egeni Onegin by P.Tchaikovsky.
This gala opera project was initiated by Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Pham Gia Khiem during a visit by Austrian Education Minister Elisabeth Gehrer in 2005. The Austrian government provided EUR80,000 (US$103,300) for an Austrian conductor, director, makeup artist and stage costumes, while Vietnam provided $70,000.
Compiled by Thu Thuy

Two Minutes of Bliss

2007-01-18T07:32:00.000-05:00

Tammy’s brother resealed the drainpipe to the shower, and we waited twenty-four hours for it to set. The next day we ran the shower and, for two minutes, we Snoopy danced and cheered. Then, an ominous drip dashed all of our hopes! After careful investigation, Steve and her brother determined it might also be a slow leak in the shower valve. Steve headed to our home away from home, Lowes, for a new valve and shower handle (among other things).

Yesterday, Tammy’s brother was relieved to find he did not have to cut into the tile to reach the valve! Yes, the huge hole in the sheetrock is about as ugly as the one in our dining room ceiling, but cutting into the tile would have been even uglier. He reinstalled a new valve and shower handle and tested the system. This time, my dining room floor stayed dry! We plan to continue our test for a week or two, having everyone use the shower in the master bathroom exclusively. Why repair the dining room ceiling unless we are absolutely positive we eliminated all leaks?

Tammy’s brother is the most relieved. The leaks were not the result of faulty workmanship. The only piece of plumbing left untouched by his hands was the one that sprung multiple leaks. The toilet and sink are fine from our inspection of the hole in the dining room ceiling.

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Kitchen!

2007-01-13T09:36:00.001-05:00

Click here for proper theme music to set the mood while you read this post. The music will enhance your blog experience.

Tammy was strolling through the dining room to the kitchen when she noticed something funny, meaning "curious; strange; peculiar; odd." She heard a drip and, when she looked up, Tammy saw an ominous sight: little dribbles pooled at the top of the dining room ceiling.

Of course, Steve was on a business trip, and Tammy's brother had left only fifteen minutes earlier and was shopping for groceries. Clearly, Tammy had no clue about what to do, so she grabbed her dad, who had witnessed this same terrifying vision on his dining room ceiling about four years ago. He bolted outside to the main water valve and shut down the supply. Tammy ran upstairs, checked both bathrooms, and saw absolutely nothing! David's bathroom was bone dry, and the master bathroom was slightly damp from a shower earlier in the day. Her dad came to the same conclusion--the source of the leak was not obvious to the most casual observer.

Tammy's father headed off to the grocery store and then to her brother's place and, after what seemed like hours, located him. Robby turned several shades of white as he threw anything cold into the refrigerator and sprinted to the car. Meanwhile, Tammy and David set up buckets and moved all the tools stashed on a sleeping bag in the dining room into a different room. All she could do was wait, wringing her hands, until someone with expertise arrived on the scene. As she stared at the pitiful vision, a crack slowly crept across the ceiling, mocking her inch by inch as it formed an evil sneer. Because we were fairly certain that master bathroom held the key to the mystery of the leak, Tammy's brother headed upstairs and checked his top worst fear: the sink and toilet, which he had installed himself. Both seemed buttoned up tight so perhaps the problem lurked beneath the floor. Then he checked his second worst fear: the pipes in the wall behind the shower had a slow leak, which would require him to tear into the lovely (and expensive) tile in the wall. He pulled out the switch to the fan, inspected carefully with his flashlight, and saw no signs of moisture. Then a very simple, but obvious explanation hit him: perhaps, the drain seal in the shower pan had failed, which would be the best scenario and easiest repair possible. He took off the cover, resealed it, and must wait twenty-four hours before testing for leaks.

We headed downstairs to the dining room. Tammy's brother cut a hole in the sheetrock, and the sopping insulation slimed him. An awful stench permeated the room, and we suddenly realized we had solved the mystery of the smelly bathroom. From time to time, an odd odor had wafted through the master bathroom, which had no relationship to the contents of the toilet. This odor had appeared well before we moved into the house and before anyone had started tinkering in the master bathroom. We suspect this slow leak had been happening for a long time and three long hot showers in one morning proved to be too heavy for the ceiling to support. We now think this is why the closet in the master bedroom stank so horribly we had to mask it with a cedar liner.

Ripping off the sheetrock diverted our attention momentarily. Exposing the layers of ceiling covering was like opening a time capsule. We could see the wooden ceilings, which still remain in three of the rooms. Shiny wallpaper once covered the dining room ceiling before being covered by sheetrock. The PVC piping looked odd amidst the evidence of the good old days.
The next issue Tammy handled was Steve. She opted to lie boldly and convincingly on the phone to avoid worrying him on his flight home. The last thing he needed after spending the day schlepping his way through Washington, D.C. was fear of the unknown. "Yes, honey, everything is fine! In fact, my brother plans to work a bit tomorrow." She rehearsed several variations of gently breaking the news and finally settled on (1) Ben & Jerry's butter pecan ice cream, (2) two comedy DVDs (Young Frankenstein and Oh Brother, Where Art Thou), and (3) a joyful announcement that we had finally solved the mystery of the smell in the master bathroom. From there, it was all down hill.

Steve took it philosophically and focused on the positives.

It wasn't a deluge.
It didn't ruin the dining room floor.
We had no furniture in the dining room.
No one was electrocuted or died during the making of this mess.
We may not have to tear up walls and tile.
We didn't make this mess. We inherited it.
We found Shelob's lair.

Color Scheme

2007-01-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

With the exception of the sanctuary, Tammy developed the color scheme for the other rooms with insight and approval from Steve. To give continuity between the rooms downstairs, she wove a constant thread between the rooms by choosing the same American Tradition colors: Sawyer White on the ceilings, Paramount White on the fireplaces, and Coconut Milk on most of the trim, molding, and wainscot. All she needed to do was to pick colors for the walls of each room.
Pamela was adamant about having a blue room, so Tammy handed her a pile of chips from Lowes, and Pamela settled on Wisteria Snow, which we carried from her bedroom into her bathroom. Steve and Tammy both agreed upon peach for the living room and tried to find a peach that would transition well from the living room to the office and Pamela's bedroom. Resort Peach was the perfect choice!

We fell in love with the rich reds and greens at our neighbor's house and opted for a dramatic look in the dining room by using Heirloom Red. We did not go with green because several rooms already were awash in that color. We were nervous about choosing such a dark red, but this will be for formal dinners and special occasions. We risked it because, even if we loathed it, we wouldn't spend much time in that room anyway!
The tiffany lamp is what ties in all the odd colors into one beautiful bouquet: Pamela's blue, Steve's olive, the dining room's red, and the green trim of the hallway.
At some point in the future, a few years from now after we have taken care of all the important details, we want to redo the kitchen. Its rustic look seems out of touch from the rest of the house. The Kitchen Maid cabinets are intentionally distressed. With all the movement flowing in and out of the kitchen during the renovation, they have become even more distressed. Even with careful application of elbow grease, the cabinets have too many pock marks for Tammy's taste. The counter tops are made of wood like the floor! We prefer earth tones over the bright blues and yellows in the back splash as we prefer earth tones. Tammy chose a warm, but neutral color for the walls of the kitchen (Muslin Wrap).
Tammy's brother and partner spend most of the day finishing up Pamela's bathroom and started the shoe molding for the entire house. Tammy spent the day mainly cleaning up the kitchen cabinets, but she did assist her father, the Paduan carpenter, in the final touches of the mirror in the master bedroom, which turned out fabulous! Once again, we struggled with the lack of squareness: our choice was to make it level with gravity or level with the fireplace. We opted for the latter.

After work, Steve shopped for a television stand at Circuit City, and David helped him put it together. We were all too exhausted to go into storage to find the plasma television he bought back in December at the mall. So we piled into bed while visions of HDTV danced in our heads.

The Sanctuary

2007-01-02T20:01:00.000-05:00

Three of the rooms downstairs are in good enough shape to present on the blog. Today we will feature Steve's office, except for the fireplace, which needs a tad more tweaking. We call it the sanctuary because Steve has big plans for this room. He selected all of the colors, which are Mark Twain House Olive on the walls and Gilded Linen for the trim, molding, and ceilings with paint called American Tradition. The east wall pictured here will have two interesting features: an access door to the porch and connection for cable television.

The first is already there. When the electrician installed the porch lights, Tammy's brother smashed a hole in the upper east wall for access. To avoid ever having to do that again, Tammy's brother framed an access door in case we ever need to work on the porch lights or add ceiling fans, which you can see in the picture just below the crown molding.

Today, the cable guy installed HDTV under mild protest by Tammy. We have lived without programmed television since 2001. We keep up with local, state, and national news off the radio and Internet and find less passive ways to entertain ourselves. Steve yearned for programmed television in his sanctuary, so we compromised with having cable in that room only. The cable guy also set up our Internet access, and we will go wireless once we have the electrician back in the house.

Steve has always dreamed about having leather couches, which are not wise investments for those with kids and dogs. Now that the kids are older and the wild dog is learning to love the great outdoors, we plan to try a burgundy leather couch that will look sweet with the olive colors. He will have the always-in-perfect-order desk, which the anti-Martha Stewart (Tammy) will avoid like the plague. He might even stash an upright piano in there if he can find the space. Steve took lessons for eight years and plays beautifully.

To the left are before shots, with after shots on the right. The ceiling was a real chore to beautify because the electrician had to cut a line across all the way to the ceiling fan. We thought that new wiring had replaced all the old knob and tube stuff. While the upstairs rooms were fine, the wiring downstairs was in sad shape. The only way to fix the problem was to cut into the ceiling and sheet rock! We decided to spray the ceilings downstairs with popcorn texture. It required several attempts to mask the gash, and one can still see a trace of it.

The sanctuary will probably be the most comfortable room in every season. Because we had to gut the room of all plaster and not simply cover it up with sheet rock, we took the opportunity to insulate it. Tammy's father has already redone all of the windows, pane and trim, and he and Steve covered them on the outside with storm windows. We still need to caulk some of the gaps caused by the lack of squareness of the house. Old houses tend to settle, and no square inch of this place is truly square. Imperfections like that affect every aspect of renovation from windows to trim to fireplaces. We like to think it adds character!

If you think the sanctuary looks great now, wait until you see a shot with the restored mirror, mantel, and fireplace!

Crime Scene Photos

2007-01-01T21:05:00.000-05:00

Something untoward happened to the floor in the office on the morning of Saturday, December 23, 2006, and we called the floor cop to the scene of the crime. The guilty party will remain anonymous to blog readers, so let us set the stage. A certain person has been highly particular about protecting the precious floors--and they are precious! No one can wear shoes in the house for tiny pebbles lodged in the outer sole of a shoe might scratch the floor. If Santa came down the chimney, he would be told to remove his boots and leave them on the fireplace floor. Area carpets and blankets are under every single piece of furniture or equipment. The beloved hyperactive dynamo dog no longer qualifies as a house pet and is learning how to survive the great outdoors. We all agreed we all must take these precautions to protect the floors, especially the pine upstairs.

Well . . .

The said person who shall hereafter be called I-speak-for-the-floors was working in the office, attempting to clean the tile around the fireplace and experimenting with the effects of paint thinner and . . .

You guessed it . . .

SPILLED it on the . . .

floor!

Do you know those slow motion special effects in which the character frantically tries to avoid disaster? Seeing life roll by in slow-motion, I-speak-for-the-floors exclaimed some choice words and then grabbed up the can, stripped off available clothing, and mopped furiously. The varnish on the floor boiled and bubbled and gurgled and curled up into little balls of candied gloss, little globules clinging to bare wood splotches on that section of the floor. I-speak-for-the-floors was mortified and humiliated and so berating of these actions, nobody had the heart to pile on with more accusations. Why hurl insults when the guilty party does such a capable job with self-inflicted diatribes and character assassination?

We called the floor cop, who told us other things people have done to ruin their floors: black paint, nail polish remover, floor stripper, etc. What made this accident so special is that it happened in record-time. He ended up having to re-restore the floor for a second time in two weeks!The cop was glad to pick up a little Christmas bonus and redo the office floor while we were in Florida. When we arrived home, the only tell-tale signs of the crime were painful memories and tape covering the door reminding us not to walk on the floor while it cures on penalty of death.

This blog writer refuses to reveal the name of the guilty party. Is it Tammy, the anti-Martha Stewart? Steve, or Whirlwind, as his in-laws have dubbed him? David the bumbling Boy Wonder (who suffers from teenager clumsiness) or Pamela the Stealth Child (who earned that name at the age of eighteen months by being able to quietly crawl up to Daddy's computer and press the red reset button). Maybe it was Tammy's father, the Paduan Carpenter, who used to hang all our pencil sharpeners backwards. Or could it be Da Boyz, Tammy's brother and sidekick? This blog writers lips are sealed. He, er . . . she, uh . . . they, whatever!--will never tell.

Today we did not do much! Our plans to prevent New Year's Day headache syndrome by avoiding adult beverages and going to bed early backfired. We all picked up plenty of germs in Orlando and felt tired and ill all day. Steve helped Tammy's father put together the newly restored, but unfinished fireplace in the office. He did some handyman work, but a persistent daylong case of hiccups wiped him out. Tammy managed to clean the most of the stove and cycle through four loads of laundry. David washed more walls!

Here is a sneak peek of the replacement for the cracked board of the fireplace!

Ringing in the New Year!

2006-12-31T22:36:00.000-05:00

We did more housework today. Tammy focused on the two bathrooms upstairs; David washed the walls because the dust stirred up by the floor restoration lightly coated everything! Steve installed doorstops, new window latches, bought supplies for the electrician, replacing the too bright 75 watt light bulbs with lower wattage, and assisted Tammy’s father with prepping the installation of mantel mirrors and the restored fireplace in the office.

The electrician completed mundane tasks like fixing the fan in the master bathroom that had burnt out, figuring out the electrical outlet adaptor needed for the dryer, and installing a smoke detector (no, it was not the culprit from yesterday!). Then he replaced the lights in the dining room and at the bottom of the stairs. Steve picked both lamps at Lamps Plus and chose well.

We envisioned a simpler light for the dining room because it was too busy: beaded trim dangled off the fussy mini-shades, and the bottom of the lamp had a busy floral pattern. We thought the medallion was busy enough and wanted to keep both the room’s color scheme and the lamp simple. An effusive crystal chandelier was definitely out of the question. We opted for a bronze pendant chandelier with the opaque shades tilting up for we despise bare nekked bulbs. The graceful, elegant design allows the ceiling medallion to be the focal point, and the light makes a beautiful pattern that highlights the colorful medallion. Even better, it was on clearance at half off the listed price!

The original lamp in the hall seemed a bit dull. The new tiffany lamp in the hallway is about as perfect a match as you can get. Its colors tap into nearly every room downstairs: the leaves hint at the soft, warm blue in Pamela’s room, the red reflected dining room’s dramatic red, and the green unite the garland green in the stairs and the olive tones in Steve’s office. The warm colors blend in well with our peach living room. Because the space is rather confined, an intricate light pattern dances on all the upper walls of this area at the bottom of the stairs. This chandelier brightens our journey every time we pass it going up and down the stairs!

We spent New Year’s Eve at Tammy’s parents’ house and enjoyed more delicious fare. As we are still cleaning the stove and are surviving on microwave food, we were especially thankful for real food. We toasted marshmallows over the fire in their chiminea in the back yard. By ten, the Glasers headed home and passed out in Camp Glaser. David was the only one who decided to stay up to watch and hear the massive firework explosions ringing in the New Year.

Firing Up the Neighborhood!

2006-12-30T22:26:00.000-05:00

On our first, official, full day in the house, we excited the entire neighborhood! Back in July when we bought the house, the previous owner asked if we wanted her to transfer the ADT security system account to our name. We told her to deactivate it, and we would restart the system after moving into the house. We assumed someone had deactivated everything completely. To be honest, we really did not know what the system was supposed to do. When we plugged the system into the wall, we assumed we would have to call ADT to reactivate it. We assumed too much!

Steve saw an innocent looking wiring hanging off a smoke detector in the ceiling. He hauled the latter upstairs and tried to figure out how to make those wires disappear in their hidey-hole. Suddenly, a noise blared through the house that sounded like he had dropped a hammer on a banshee's foot. It was the smoke detector, but it was no ordinary one. The shrill alarm pierced our ears much more sharply than your average pathetic chirpers could. He turned off the sound, and we all went back to our housekeeping duties.

He looked out the window and noticed a Sears' delivery truck stopping out our house. We were puzzled because we had ordered nothing. When two fire trucks showed up at the house a minute later, we slowly realized that parts of our security system were not only activated, but also in tip-top condition. The deliveryman, part of the volunteer fire department, asked us where the fire was. Even if we had known to call 911 to alert them of a false alarm, it would have been impossible. We are getting by with cell phones, which lack 911! The phone company transferred our landlines over to the new house, but our phones are hiding somewhere in the storage shed!

By this time, the whole neighborhood was out on the street, wondering what the Glasers had done to their house now! We are quite sure they were laughing with us! (This was because it happened at eleven in the morning, rather than six.)

Besides helping Steve make a joint to-do list in Excel and joining him on another Lowe's shopping spree (area rugs, oak registers, door stops, window latches, and other minutia), Tammy unpacked clothing from the trip, but did not do any laundry because the appliances are not installed. She discovered something awesome about the kitchen window above the sink. Some variety of camellia shrubs line the yard due east of the kitchen and dining room, and they are blooming right now during the gloomiest season of the Carolina year. All she needs are some bird feeders, and she will happily wash dishes all day long. We will figure out what variety they are after we address more pressing concerns, like the security system and a telephone connection!

Camp Glaser

2006-12-29T19:15:00.000-05:00

We returned home in the early evening completely exhausted and did little more than shop for essentials (like nine-volt batteries for our birds—smoke detectors), check our email, and read a few pages from a book. We have no Internet right now, but happily discovered we can mooch off Tammy's parents' wireless if we sit with our laptops in the north end of our house! The earliest we could set up our own connection is January 2. Right now, we are trying to avoid setting up too many rooms until Tammy's brother installs the shoe molding, so here is our campsite!

Lessons Learned at Universal Studios Part II

2006-12-28T20:56:00.000-05:00

Please join us for the conclusion of our lessons learned at t Universal Studios. (Click here for Lessons 1-9). Here are our final lessons learned from our visit to Universal Studios Florida:

Lesson 10 In every photograph, there is always at least one person not willing to pose for the camera, even if you prompt them with "Say cheese." If you wait too long to snap the shot, hoping for that perfect moment, waves of people will flow between the camera and its subject. Just get on with it and take the picture!

Lesson 11 Some unwilling posers prefer the limelight and want to hog all the glory to themselves. Corollary: The unwilling poser might not have been sure about sticking her head in a shark's mouth until she saw her cousins do it and walk away unharmed. Smart cookie!

P.S. It is hard to discern which theory is more true. Said poser was unwilling to leave until Tammy snapped the shot.

Lesson 12 Lovers of all things disco be forewarned about staying at the Hard Rock Hotel, which displays detestable art with slogans like "Disco sucks." In the immortal words of one of the Disco Boys from Mystery Men, "Disco is not dead! Disco is LIFE!" If sensitive to anti-disco imagery, choose another hotel. Signs of sensitivity include dumping disco songs into your video games, memorizing the track numbers of your favorite disco songs on each CD, and wanting obscure titles like Let Me Take You Dancing by Bryan Adams for your birthday.

Lesson 13 Properly framing a shot in a crowd is next to impossible, even with a digital camera at a Blu es Brothers Live Show where crowds are known to dance and jostle your camera arm!

Lesson 14 Never enter into a staring contest with this person. You will lose, and he will win! How does he do it? He does not try to make silly faces because he will laugh himself. He simply stares and thinks of something sad until the other person cracks.

Lesson 15 Even cutesy creatures totally unrelated to any known cartoon characters remotely resembling Ariel's friends under the sea can capture the imagination of those who are young at heart. Do not attempt to photograph older male teenagers with a sea horse and starfish worthy of H. R. Puffinstuff. They will not like it!

Lesson 16 Do not spill your soda while this one is reading the television guide in the newspaper. She will move out of the way and continue gazing at the beauty and order of a lovely schedule. She will not lift a finger to help.

P.S. Pamela LOVED the rides, especially Jaws, Doctor Doom's Fear Fall, and everything in Seuss Landing. David's favorite rides were Spider-Man and Back to the Future, and he lived vicariously as a storm-chaser wanna-be in the Twister ride. Steve's favorite ride was The Mummy, while Tammy enjoyed tamer things like the Blues Brothers and Men-in-Black.

Lessons Learned at Universal Studios Part I

2006-12-27T22:41:00.000-05:00

We interrupt this house blog with a brief message about our trip to Universal Studios. We met up with the nephews and their cousins at Universal Studios for two full days packed with excitement. Here are our lessons learned from our visit to the Islands of Adventure theme park:

Lesson 1 Do not expect to have free Internet as an amenity if you stay at the pricey hotels at Universal Studios (*ahem* Hard Rock Hotel). Even if you do have Internet, expect to get behind in blogging due to sheer exhaustion if there are any teenagers in your party. Parental exhaustion is directly proportional to the number of teenagers present. Wear anything other than dependable running shoes at your own risk.

Lesson 2 Speaking of running shoes . . . if you lack proper footwear for running, wear some with laces you can tie tightly, preferably with double knots. Failure to do so will result in unexpected loss of flip-flops, loafers, and clogs on rides like The Incredible Hulk Coaster. We do not speak from personal experience, but witnessed evidence first hand. Double click the image to the left for a better view.

Lesson 3 Do not try rides like this early in the morning, especially in the winter. Be suspicious when teenagers try to convince you that you will not get too wet. Based on our experience, consider the following rides suspect no matter how much said teenagers beg you to ride: Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls and Jurassic Park River Adventure. They were kind enough to warn us that Popeye & Bluto's Bilge-Rat Barges really will get you wet!

Lesson 4 If you are tempted to ignore the previous lesson, take off your sweatshirts, jackets, and sweaters and leave them with someone with a weak stomach. Better yet, wear a cheap, hooded plastic poncho for better protection. Our experience is that T-shirts dry faster than sweaters and sweatshirts. If you fail the last lesson, expect to either spend time waiting for your clothing to dry or fork out $50 per sweatshirt when the sun sets and hypothermia begins to degrade your financial wisdom.

Lesson 5 Know your limits. Previous excursions to theme parks have resulted in unexpected loss of lunch for Tammy and nearly so for Steve. While Steve can handle up and down motion, spinning will undo him. Tammy can ride mild rides, but nothing with continuous, unstoppable, lurching, dizzying movement. When in doubt, team up with families with adults who have iron clad stomachs. Because we mastered this lesson before arriving, no one had to return to the hotel for a change of clothes!

Lesson 6 If you have a queasy stomach or are too short for some rides, be prepared to wait. Stretch your imagination in thinking of entertaining conversations to humor those who cannot ride. Steel yourself for signs of the poochie lip disease and rolling eyes for those tired of waiting. Buying an Express Plus Pass for all is well worth the money! You still have to manage short lines, but you will see fewer pouty faces.

Lesson 7 According to the web page about Doctor Doom's Fearfall, "the initial launch at the beginning of the ride uses more thrust than a 747 jet engine and accelerates faster than the space shuttle." Feel free to draw your own conclusions about this one, which are obvious to the most casual observer!

Lesson 8 Expect to cramp up horribly if you stupidly schedule a long drive after two days of moving boxes and furniture and cleaning house. While following teenagers all over the park can help loosen up the calves, nothing will prevent tired and achy feet, especially if you ignored the first lesson.

Lesson 9 If you have extreme fans of Dr. Seuss with you, expect difficulty in extracting them from Seuss Landing, followed by dazed, dreamy expressions as you walk through the park. Our definition of extreme fandom is owning a copy of nearly all the books in the picture below, memorizing all information contained about every Dr. Seuss cartoon ever made that can be found at IMDb, and repeatedly watching and discussing DVDs like The Hoober-Bloob Highway and The Lorax in more detail than you ever wanted to know.

Stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of this information-packed series!

Our First Day at Home?

2006-12-26T23:34:00.000-05:00

Disbelieving neighbors shook their heads and claimed we would never fill our first humongous dumpster. Not only did we pack the first du mpster to the top, we filled the second one with debris from the house! With all the warm weather we enjoyed in December, the dumpster began belching vile odors. Tammy snapped a shot of the interior and found nothing suspicious nor worthy of an episode of Monk, a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder who would not touch it with a thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole.

Because all demo work is finished, Steve called the dumpster company this morning. Business must be slow this time of year because the truck arrived in about half an hour. Our neighbor probably uncorked a bottle of champagne once she saw the foul beast depart from our driveway. We were glad to be rid of the stench worthy of Shelob's lair. And, we are excited because we can finally park our cars, side by side in the driveway. Our carport is full of junk again and cleaning it up is yet one more project on the to-do list.

Readers might wonder why we were so adamant about moving into our new old house in Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. We faced two intractable deadlines: (1) our lease expires on our rented house by the end of the month and (2) Steve’s nephews and their father were visiting Universal Studios in Orlando all the way from El Salvador. The cousins had not seen each other in two years, and we hoped to share some quality family time. We knew we would not enjoy a vacation with the dread of a move hanging over our heads, so we gritted our teeth, ignored our sore muscles, and pushed ourselves.

We spent the morning washing clothes, dropping the dogs off at the kennel, and packing for the trip. Steve, Tammy, and the children (Pamela and David) ate a hearty lunch at Tammy’s parents—leftovers from Christmas dinner, even better the second time around. We left at 2:30 P.M. and spent the rest of the day in the car, allowing our sore muscles to stiffen! What ought to have been a six-hour journey took seven-and-a-half because of traffic backed up on I-95 going through South Carolina and Georgia. We arrived in Orlando completely exhausted between the hard work of the past two days, the chirping birds in our house (two smoke detectors in dire need of batteries, stashed in an unknown box in storage), and the long ride.

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T07:10:00.000-05:00

Every Christmas Eve, a neighbor leads a group of people who line half a block worth of street with luminaries for all to enjoy on their way home from Christmas Eve services. Tammy and the children, who are in the youth/"young" adult choir, sang three songs from City on a Hill for the Christmas Eve candlelight service and felt welcomed home by the soft light.

We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day moving into the new house and cleaning the old one (in between singing gigs). Well, we did not exactly move in because Tammy's brother and co-worker have to finish the kitchen, Pamela's bathroom, and the punch list. We put most of our stuff in storage a block from our house. We are "camping out" on mattresses on the floor in David's room, living out of suitcases, and surviving with minimal supplies in the kitchen. We have been slowly moving boxes and furniture into storage since Thanksgiving, so attempting this during the holydays was less traumatic than it could have been. We had to rent a U-Haul truck to move the appliances, which we dumped directly into the house to avoid moving them again!

We took a break on Christmas Eve after the service and celebrated the holiday in the German fashion. We lit the Advent wreath, and Tammy's father read the Christmas passages from the Bible. We sang Christmas carols, each person taking turns picking their favorite. Her mother even broke out the harmonica and played Stille Nacht. Then we opened the presents—that is right, we opened the presents on Christmas Eve! Viva la différence! We never complained about opening presents early as kids and neither do mine! Would you?

Living across the street from Tammy's parents gave us one fringe benefit. Her mother is a fantastic cook that would give Julia Child a run for her money. She cooked a wonderful meal for Christmas dinner: ham, deep fried turkey, mashed potato, a Momma Dip sweet potato recipe, mixed vegetables, homemade cranberry sauce, and biscuits, topped off with Italian love cake for dessert. Moving had built up a healthy appetite, and Steve even ate seconds! Dad says Mom's cooking is the reason why he will never run away from home.

Dear Aunt Della!

2006-12-23T22:23:00.000-05:00

We planned for today to be the day for hauling as many boxes as humanly possible into storage and for cleaning both houses. Life interrupted our plans: Tammy's dear grandaunt Della died yesterday. Her grandparents have been dead for many years, and Aunt Della was her remaining link to the past. Tammy and her parents visited her at her home in Mount Olive last June before her final health decline began. She gave her last gift to us that day, sharing wonderful memories we never knew about life in Piney Grove, North Carolina in the first few decades after the turn of the last century.

She reminisced about her parents, Tom and Ola (pictured here), who spent many of their days poor, but pretty well off on their two hundred acres of farmland. Tom borrowed three dollars to pay for their marriage license, and Martin Luther Weeks presided at their wedding in Sampson County on Christmas Day of 1901. They raised their family on the old King plantation in Piney Grove Township, where the cemetery is today. They were poor during the "Hoover" Depression because they literally had no cash. Unlike others, they ate well, raising hogs, chickens, and cows on their farm and living off the land with vegetable gardens and grape vines. Both white and black grape vines thrived on the farm, and Della claimed that preserves made from black grapes could not be beat. One could guess a child's age by the number of rings of scars on the legs from picking huckleberries every year. By Depression Era standards, Tom and Ola prospered for they had a two-holer outhouse with a Sears Roebuck Catalog to pass the time.

Tom's younger brother Henry Clevland was called Preacher Henry because he was an ordained minister presiding over the Pentecostal Holiness Church in Suttontown, North Carolina and had served as a missionary in Africa. He and his brother Tom (Della's father) clashed over tobacco. Preacher Henry raised cotton, corn, soybeans, and vegetable crops and sold them at auction at the farmer's market in Faison, North Carolina, while Tom raised tobacco. Preacher Henry did his share of rebuking before removing Tom from the membership roll of his church because of Tom's partiality to tobacco. Tom was described as very mild-mannered, and the only person to whom he raised his voice in anger was Preacher Henry. As much heat as their arguments generated, nary a curse word passed between their lips.

The community held a great deal of respect for Preacher Henry and his strong beliefs, which were at times a bit too strong. Not only did his Pentecostal Holiness Church disenroll Tom, it removed Della's mother Ola from the rolls for taking the children to the county fair. From that day, Tom and Ola attended, but did not join, the King's Methodist Church in Piney Grove Township. Their daughters Della and Alice eventually became faithful members of the Methodist Church in Mount Olive.

We learned about family traits observed in our branch of the King line. Della's father did not leave behind too many serious pictures of himself: he despised having his photograph taken and would totally ruin a shot by monkeying around like a clown. Both Tammy's father and son (pictured here) have that tendency to show off for the camera and look forward to Halloween and costume parties just to have an excuse to ham it up. Tammy learned her lyric soprano voice, which mysteriously appeared during her college years out of nowhere, might have come from her grandfather, Leslie Howard (Della's brother). He was known for his very high tenor falsetto voice that only appeared after hours when the musicians showed up at the store. Not only was Tammy's grandfather Howard a talented singer, but he kept people entertained by wrapping both legs behind his neck like a pretzel. He could also crawling around the floor with his legs crossed, yoga style. Music flowed through the family gene pool, and a young Della bought her own guitar and learn to play. Della gave it to Tammy’s father, who taught himself to strum chords.

Aunt Della died on Friday and, because of the holidays, her family held a funeral service on Saturday and burial on Sunday. Tammy and Steve drove three hours one-way to visit friends and relatives. While Steve and the children headed home, Tammy attended the Saturday service and rode back with her parents. Beautiful flowers surrounded the altar, and people who fondly remembered Della filled the room. A poem about Della printed in the bulletin for the service, writing by W. Dwayne Summerlin, describes her beauty, grace, sharp mind, and wonderful things we cherished about Aunt Della:

Mrs. Della was always a well-dressed lady, everything in place,
Was always fixed up when going out, she walked with splendor and grace.
She liked nice things and wanted them right,
And her spoken word was always positive, or else, she’d be quiet.
Love and compassionate, she was extremely kind,
And even until her dying day, she had the sharpest mind.
The historian of her family, all the important dates she knew;
Competent advice was there for the asking, she was knowledgeable and nurturing too.
She was the mainstay of the King clan,
She worked hard and took care of those needing a helping hand.
She loved to dance, she loved to read,
And was happy to see others succeed.

Here is another snippet that made us smile:

Brother remembers the time she was driving the ’29 Ford Model A,
And how it got in the ditch, she backed it out, and they were on their way.
These and many more memories of a life well lived, a lady well loved;
May the Lord enfold her in His keeping in the heavens above.

Here is her obituary:

DELLA K. JOYNER
Oct. 1, 1913 - Dec. 22, 2006

MOUNT OLIVE -- Della King Jordan Joyner, 93, of 902 North Church Street in Mount Olive, died Friday afternoon.

Funeral services were held Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Tyndall Funeral Home in Mount Olive, officiated by Dr. H. Dennis Draper Jr., with visitation immediately following. The burial service will be today at 1:30 p.m. at Wayne Memorial Park.

She was a retired hairdresser and a member of the First United Methodist Church of Mount Olive. She was a native of Sampson County.

Those preceding her in death include her parents, Thomas J. and Mattie Viola Sutton King; her first and second husbands, Pete Jordan and Edd Joyner, her infant daughter; her brothers, Wesley King and Leslie Howard King; and her sisters, Mattie K. Hollowell, Essie K. Payne, and Alice K. Baker. Those surviving include a brother, T.O. King and his wife, Betty of Durham; and several nieces and nephews, including Thomas D. Hollowell of Mount Olive, who had been a special caregiver.

Gifts in her memory may be made to First United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 420, Mount Olive, N.C. 28365.

Arrangements handled by Tyndall in Mount Olive.

A Close Call in the Can

2006-12-16T13:57:00.000-05:00

Everything about David's bathroom is a tight fit! We replaced the bulky claw foot bathtub with a Victorian style pedestal sink. Tammy's brother rerouted the plumbing to the left to supply water to a corner shower, which was a tight squeeze. The shower covered up the ceiling light switch plate, so Steve found a very small ceiling light with a switch built into the fixture. Even Tammy—at 64 inches tall—can reach the switch because the ceiling is so low. The light ended up with about an eighth of an inch clearance from the shower door (pictured left). Did we mention Steve is an engineer? We kept the toilet in its original spot, but replaced it with an Heirloom low-consumption model manufactured by Steve's company. About the only thing we kept from the original bathroom was a compact medicine cabinet.

Tammy, who is no interior decorator, put some careful thought behind the look of David's bathroom. Because it was so small, she kept the window to create a feeling of space and selected white and very light airy materials. The pedestal sink and corner shower allowed much more floor space. She thought contemporary fixtures made sense in a small space because the Victorian ornate details can be fussy and claustrophobic. Steve picked a contemporary mosaic tile that made the bathroom look smart. Tammy's brother mixed leftover powder blue paint originally used by the previous owner in David's bedroom with the Lowes' American Tradition blanched pine to give the ceiling an ethereal feeling. The faucets made by Steve's company harken back to the Victorian era. We chose only modern brushed steel hardware for this bathroom from the Brentwood collection with a satin nickel finish at Lamps Plus: towel holder, towel bar, bathrobe door hook, and toilet paper holder. Tammy's brother installed a shower from a kit we ordered from our local hardware store: a 38" by 38" by 77" Atlantic NEO-angle shower with white trim and three shelves and a towel bar into the corner. This shower adds a great deal of floor space and makes the bathroom feel larger than it really is.

Below are before (to the left) and after (to the right) shots for comparison. The bathroom is so small it is impossible to get a full shot of the shower, but you can see the model by clicking this link.

Postcards from Heaven

2006-12-11T14:12:00.000-05:00

In the process of fixing up the fireplace in Steve's office, Tammy's father brought it down to bare brick. As he pulled the wood off the chimney, something caught his eye as three postcards from the 1930's fluttered to the ground. He could not wait to share his excitement over this ancient find with us! The postcards are in poor condition, but intriguing nonetheless.

Two of the postcards were postmarked and bore one-cent stamps, and the third never left the house. One displays a picture of the Federal Reserve Bank in Atlanta—an important symbol of the Great Depression, while another is a reminder requesting a financial report for the local chapter of the American Red Cross chapter, which is still very active because of hurricanes in this region. The third could be Depression Era fraud in which a person sells 20 articles of some kind of merchandise and receives some kind of reward premium for doing so. We could find very little online about Reliable Premium, but it is listed as a pending lottery case by the Federal Trade Commission for fiscal year that ended in 1943 (page 77) and a resolved case in 1944 (page 88). The case was one of five involving the use of lottery methods in selling candy and other merchandise. Another site mentions a "Big Reliable Premium House" in Chicago, not New York, as a mail order catalog outfit in which "lady agents" sold the merchandise for premiums, which sounds like a forerunner of Avon and Tupperware!

The Tile is the Thing!

2006-12-10T07:53:00.000-05:00

Of the three fireplaces upstairs, two are in excellent condition. The one in the homeschool room was bare wood, propped up against the chimney. We never found the pedestal supporting one of the columns. Tammy’s brother and partner painted all the fireplaces and repaired the one in the homeschool room. The master bedroom is the only one with a mirror, and Tammy’s father is fixing that. Two fireplaces are not tiled (the ones in David’s bedroom and the homeschool room), which is a project for us down the road. The tiles on the floor of the master bedroom fireplace are cracked, but we have not decided what to do and our only plan at present is to clean the tile.

Of the four fireplaces downstairs, three are in excellent condition. Tammy’s dad is fixing the mirrors in the ones in the living room and dining room, while her brother and partner painted the wood. Some of the fireplaces have cracked tiles, but nothing so severe to need replacement. Cracks reflect the character and age of the house!

The fireplace in Steve’s office had a damaged board with a crack running underneath the ornamental centerpiece. Tammy’s father, as a Christmas gift to Steve, is repairing the fireplace in the office. Using a heat gun, he has already peeled away layers and layers and layers of paint. About an eighth of an inch layer of paint covered the wood. Tammy’s dad bought a piece of oak to match the original wood. Steve plans to select a new ornamental centerpiece for the new board. We have decided to go with varnish, rather than paint since the wood is so beautiful.

We have visited in several homes built in the same era. The home of Tammy’s parents does not have tile like ours. A few months ago, our neighbors showed us their home, which had served as a bed and breakfast for many years before they purchased it. Some of their fireplaces have the white tile found in Steve’s office and Pamela’s bedroom, but none had the colorful tile found in the master bedroom, dining room, and living room. Gorgeous wine-colored tile decorates one of their fireplaces (and it probably hides the soot well). Yesterday, we finally saw a home with colorful tile!

Every two years, the town’s garden club hosts open-house tours of some of the old homes and businesses in the area. In 2004, Tammy’s parent opened their home for tours. The garden club spruces up about six houses on the same block and decorates them festively. They charge $10 for tickets in advance ($15 for ones sold that day) to benefit the gardens that beautify the area. The police block off the roads, and people walk from house to house, one of which serves refreshments.

This year, the garden club decided to add a new feature—music from a gazebo in one of the yards. They solicited areas musicians and singers brave enough to sing a cappella out in a cold gazebo, and Tammy was one of them. She sang obscure Christmas songs and a few favorites and took requests in between songs, encouraging onlookers to join in the carols—and they did! The audience was small, but included the King, Elvis himself, sideburns and all.

After finishing her stint as song leader, Tammy joined Steve at the home next to the gazebo. The homeowner graciously showed us her home—her fireplaces are stunning! Her fireplaces gloried in the white, wine-colored, and colorful tile! They are in mint condition with the exception of the unavoidable tile cracks, and everything is beautifully preserved. Even the tile pieces with raised medallion stand out unlike ours, which are worn and hardly noticeable. Because the owners of this house have maintained it throughout the years, the rooms had the original ceilings and plaster walls! We left that amazing place with a bad case of tile envy!

Steve and the Three Little Storm Windows

2006-12-05T09:26:00.000-05:00

The house is not insulated, except for the crawl space under the first floor, and Steve’s office. We have heard about shooting insulation between the siding and the original slats, so we might investigate that at some point. Our first step in plugging the leaks is the installation of storm windows. Victorian houses have plenty of windows, and ours is no exception. Tammy’s parents, who also live in a Victorian house, have seen a dramatic difference in the energy efficiency of the kitchen, which has storm windows, and that of other rooms in the house, which do not.

Tammy’s father has been busy restoring the window frames and re-glazing the glass panes. Now that he is nearly finished, Steve has started shopping for storms windows downstairs, nineteen windows in total! Fourteen windows are about the same size, originally handmade. While the measurements are the same, buying storm windows is tricky. The settling of the house means that the windows are slightly skewed, all in different ways.

Trying to fit storm windows is like Goldilocks in search of the right bed. Steve special ordered one from Lowes as a test, but it was too large. Fortunately, the window arrived cracked. Steve hauled it home just for a test before returning it for a replacement. We are glad he did because it was too big! He ordered another sample window, and, unbelievably, the second one was too small! Caulking will plug any gaps between the window and skewed frame, but there is still a slight gap at bottom of this storm window. It is not perfect, but will be much better than nothing at all. Now that Steve has the measurements that are “just right,” he is putting in an order for thirteen windows of that size.

The window we ordered, pictured above, is a Comfort-Bilt (Millwork Division) Double-Hung, three-track aluminum storm window. It is hard to see in the photo, but we end up buying built-in screens. They are inside the storm window, better protected from ripping and dirt.

Pamela’s Pipe Dream

2006-12-02T16:00:00.000-05:00

As mentioned in an earlier post, until about five years ago, three of the rooms upstairs held wall hung sinks, remnants of the Edwardian Era when the original owners built the house. The previous owner had removed the sinks, but left telltale signs in the floors. Someone had repaired the spot where intake and drainpipes came up through the floor of David’s room (pictured left), but just covered it up with plywood in the homeschool room. The pipes in the master bedroom were left untouched (pictured fourth from the top, before the cop restored the floors). While we could have lived with the look of the master bedroom, the homeschool room was unacceptable.

The cop suggested we fix the incompletely repaired portions of the floor in the master bedroom and homeschool room by cannibalizing wood from the floor underneath the cabinet in the homeschool room. If we must be stuck with an “ugly” spot, it had better be the one covered with boxes and school supplies, which will rarely see daylight. Tammy’s brother made the repairs to the floor, and Tammy’s father covered the hole in the floor under the cabinet with plywood.

Now that the upstairs rooms are nearly finished (with the exception of ceiling light fixtures in the bathrooms, shelving in the hall closet, and shoe molding), we have focused greater attention on the rooms downstairs. Except for the kitchen, Tammy’s brother and sidekick have sprayed all ceilings with popcorn texture and covered all molding except for shoe molding, and painted the walls. Steve's office required the greatest effort for they had to knock out the old plaster, add insulation, and cover the walls with sheet rock. Every room has its own, strikingly different color, but continuity of ceiling color and trim ties it all together. We will post pictures once the rooms are closer to being finished.

One of the things we noticed only recently is hot water, cold water, and drainpipes from the upstairs wall sinks tucked neatly in Pamela’s bedroom closet. We decided to keep the pipes for two reasons. One, we have to move in by end of December, come what may. We have things that are more urgent on our mind right now! Two, we think it adds character to the house and is a reminder of the way things were. Undoubtedly, people will want to tour our home, and glimpses of the past will certainly delight them. Many neighbors and people related to the family who owned the house for most of its life have been curious about all the changes. At Hardee’s (the local hangout for morning coffee), total strangers stop us and make comments about the progress of the house.

Hello, Red Brick Road!

2006-11-29T21:58:00.000-05:00

To recap our adventures with brick, back in August 2006, our first mason repaired the foundation to our house and installed brand-spanking-new vents to the crawl space under the house. He also stuccoed the back chimney, but balked at the two front chimneys, which were in sad shape.

In the fall, Tammy's father located a second mason who lives a few blocks away. He had just finished working on the roof of a bank in town and was willing to try his hand at the two front chimneys. A few weeks ago, he tore down and rebuilt one chimney. He did the same for the second one the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Last October, the second mason also paved over the front walkway in red brick. We did not purchase enough brick for the project, so he added the final touches to the walkway after he finished the second chimney. Our red brick road looks spectacular as shown in the before and after shots. If you click the shot on the right, you can see the "royal" touch we have added to our front porch for the convenience of our guests!

Hope Smiles on the Threshold

2006-11-18T11:00:00.000-05:00

The quote, “Hope smiles on the threshold of the year to come, whispering that it will be happier,” attributed to Alfred Lord Tennyson, seems fitting now that we have finished all but one threshold upstairs. We plan to move into our house on the threshold of 2007. As we see each room emerge from its cocoon, we see hope smiling upon us. A room will never be complete as an old house is always a work in progress. We hear the whisper of happiness as we pack each box and prepare to move for the eleventh time since we have been married!

Tammy’s father scoured through his stacks of wood to find the most interesting and unique thresholds for our house. He looked for striking patterns in the wood grain and stable knotholes. Working with knotholes is tricky for some pop out. The threshold pictured below is an example of how it can add character to a room.

The threshold to the master bathroom has a beautiful rippled pattern in the wood grain. Tammy’s father made a double layer for the bathroom floor ended up higher than the bedroom floor due to the tile. As you can see, we are already buying antiques to decorate the house.

The threshold to David’s bathroom was the trickiest one! This shot below provides a sneak peek of this tiny, cramped bathroom. To the right is the corner shower, which gives it much more space than before. We will show off the bathroom in a later post once the electrician installs the final light fixture. Tammy’s father cut the blue diamonds from the mosaic tile in half and carefully lined them up in the grout to add a professional touch. The thin sliver of wood lining the grout makes it look clean. The threshold itself has charming swirls and matches the wood in David’s bedroom perfectly!

Chim-Chiminee

2006-11-12T14:59:00.000-05:00

Last August, we had one of our chimneys stuccoed, but the brickman stated the other two chimneys were too unstable to stucco. He was right! We hired another brickman who has his own scaffolding and was willing to replace the two old chimneys. Yesterday and today, he and his crew tore down one and rebuilt it. Next weekend, he plans to finish the job, weather permitting.

In the before shot, you can see sky through it! We think the gaps may have saved it because these chimneys withstood Hurricane Hugo back in 1989, while others in the neighborhood did not. The brickman had no problems tearing down the chimney for the mortar had lost its adhesion. Usually, he must chisel out the mortar to remove brick, but not this time. He just popped off each brick and tossed it down to the ground.

While in the neighbor’s yard taking pictures of the chimney, Tammy snapped a shot of the west side of the cookhouse. Observant readers of our blog may aks why only one side of the cookhouse is painted. Years ago, the family next door held a wedding in their backyard and begged the man renting the house to paint that side of the cookhouse white. He painted the west side of it, and they helped him spruce up the yard.

A Mighty Fine Forest Commission

2006-11-07T08:29:00.000-05:00

A tree in our backyard began blooming beautifully last month. Its snowy flowers with pink edges and brilliant yellow stamens contrast its shiny, leathery leaves. A few flowers went to seed, which are tiny brown nuts. The crown goes down to the ground and covers a shrubby-looking trunk.

Identifying the classification of this tree proved to be challenging. When the owner of the tree service knocked down the trees too close to our house last July, we asked him what this tree was and he had no idea. Over the weekend, Tammy tried to identify it with online biological keys. She looked for trees with flat, simple, alternating leaves, slightly toothed margins, no lobes, etc. She consulted several websites dedicated to trees in the Southeast: Durham, North Carolina; North Carolina Piedmont; and Virginia Tech. The Tree Identification for South Carolina did not have anything like our tree, so Tammy emailed them directly. Two foresters wrote her back right away and called it a Camellia sasanqua. Tammy researched potential cultivars, and Northern Lights seems to fit.

Well, that explains everything! Camellia sasanqua is a shrub, not a tree! She was truly barking up the wrong tree. Our "shrub" is about sixteen feet tall, but Camellias are only supposed to be as tall as ten feet. Rarely do they ever reach twenty feet! They are evergreens, so we will enjoy the dark green, leathery leaves year round.

Camellias, native to Japan, did not arrive in Europe until 1869 via Dutch traders. The Japanese make tea with its leaves and tea oil out of its nuts or seeds. They sweetened the odor of tea by floating a single camellia flower floating in a cup of green tea. Its beauty and scent released the sorrow of the drinker. The camellia symbolizes longevity, endurance, strength and eternal love.

One question we have is the age of the tree. The next time Tammy’s parents or we meet with the lady who grew up in the house, we plan to ask her. According to someone we contacted at The American Camellia Society, several trees as old as one hundred years are scattered throughout the country. Could ours be one?

A camellia flower drops
And spills yesterday's rain.

-Yosa Bosun,
1717-1783

A Pecan near the Pee-Can

2006-10-31T05:41:00.000-05:00

A mysterious guest left us the housewarming gift in the master bedroom yesterday.

Tammy's father is building wooden thresholds for the doorways upstairs. He removed the threshold of the door leading from the master bedroom to the bathroom and headed downstairs for a spell. When he returned, he spotted a tiny pecan on the floor.

We have two theories: the east side of the house has several trees with squirrels. A squirrel could have found its way into the crawl space and stashed it in our bedroom for safekeeping. The other possibility lies in the spiritual realm, and perhaps some ghost has a pecan fetish, in addition to the rusty nail fetish. Even though this mysterious guest appeared on Hallowe'en Eve, Tammy hedges her bets on the material explanation.

Speaking of Halloween, kids are never too old to dress up and go trick-or-treating. Pamela dressed up as a cute, cuddly white cat, while David was a modern-day hippie, asking folks to sign a petition for "whirled peas" and "peas on earth." Many people got the joke and signed the petition. Others wanted nothing to do with it, and David casually replied, "That's cool, man." We saw many neat costumes and a live tarantula--yes, live!

Somebody Had a Nail Fetish

2006-10-30T06:26:00.000-05:00

One-thousand, nine-hundred, and forty-seven cubic inches of nails are what we have in our shed! Three 13.5" by 16.25" boxes with nails three inches deep have been rusting away in our shed, probably for the last half a century. We thought the bucketful of tetanus near the root cellar was bad. That bucket contained only 904 cubic inches of iron oxide! Are you surprised that we are making progress in filling up a second dumpster?

Absolutely Floored!

2006-10-27T19:56:00.000-04:00

We had planned to install a laminate floor on top of the wooden floors, which were in terrible shape. Tammy's parents have laminate flooring in their kitchen, which her dad and brother installed in about five hours. They look great and are easy to maintain.

Some had told us that the floors, painted years ago, would gum up the sanding equipment, so restoring them would be an expensive nasty job. Steve called the floor cop anyway, who begged to differ after seeing the floors for himself. The cop shrugged his shoulders and explained he had brought back floors in far worse condition. We were skeptical, but his prices were reasonable enough to try. For the price of covering 858 square feet of mid-range laminate, he could restore the floors already there.

We are believers now! The floors turned out to be absolutely stunning as you can see! We also picked up a few tidbits about floors. The floors upstairs are yellow pine, while the floors downstairs are oak. At the time in which the house was built, people considered oak to be more suitable for company, but it was also more expensive. To save on building costs, they covered family areas with pine and formal rooms with oak. Pine floors are much softer than oak and show more wear over time. The paint covering the floor did us a favor because it has been protecting them all these years.

The cop and his family sanded the floors several times with increasingly finer sand paper each round. Tammy's brother cannibalized floor inside the cabinet in the homeschool room to get closely matched wood to repair the places in the homeschool room and master bedroom where the wall sinks once stood. To prevent dust from flying everywhere, they attached a burlap bag to the sander and filled eight green garbage bags with dust. Then they swept up the dust and then gave it three coats of finish with a natural stain. We chose semi-gloss over high-gloss because the latter will show scratches and marks more easily.

Super Smash Brothers

2006-10-10T23:35:00.000-04:00

Our daughter Pamela loves Mario and Luigi on Gameboy, so today's title will surely brighten her face. The walls of Steve's office, the only room with plaster remaining, were badly cracked walls with the potential of even more cracks. Our super smash brothers, Tammy's brother and coworker, rescued the room and managed to gut the entire office in one day. Dust flew everywhere, and they hauled piles and piles of rubble to the dumpster. Both were so sore from the hard labor, a tornado could have ripped through town and they would have been none the wiser. Here are some before and gutted pictures.

The most exciting news is that the floor cop and his wife started the floors upstairs. Floor cop is not a catchy name; he is a cop who moonlights by restoring wooden floors. His parents did this for a living, and he learned the business from them in his youth. Rumor around town was that they were the best when it came to wooden floors, but their prices are so reasonable to make it seem dubious. After one day's work on the floor, we are believers! The beautiful in bare wood lurking underneath paint, dust, dirt, and cruide turned out to be a delicate light brown. David's room, the homeschool room, and the hallway will be darker because those floors were chocolate brown. We cannot wait for the two weeks to be over, so we can see how they will appear after more sanding and several coats of color and finish.

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2006-10-06T21:54:00.000-04:00

A fellow blogger (thanks, Mary) pointed out that we could more easily alert interested parties (limited to very close family and friends with a high tolerance level for home improvement minutia) by setting up a subscription service. Now we no longer have to alert everyone, especially those who secretly have no interest in the progress of our house, whenever we make a new post. To join this wonderful service, look at the sidebar on the right in the section called "About Me". Just under the blue words "View my complete profile" are the words "Enter your Email". To subscribe, type your email address in the blank above the button that says, "Subscribe me!" Follow the three steps in the new window that pops open and you will be able to receive every tedious detail about our adventures in home improvement in your very own email box! If you are not computer geeks like us and are having trouble subscribing click "View my complete profile" and click "Email" in the contact section. If that completely loses you, click this and order now! If all else fails, cross your fingers and click this.

Cedar Solution

2006-10-06T20:58:00.000-04:00

You may be congratulating us for being far-sighted enough to install cedar liners in our master bedroom closet. After all, anybody who knows anything about home improvement must know all about cedar's natural protection from moths, roaches, silverfish and mildew with a much more pleasant aroma than mothballs. Cedar is also historically accurate as evidenced in an ad for Brown's Supercedar Closet Lining in Good Housekeeping in 1927! If you give us that much credit, you are sadly deceived, and we hope to correct your grave error in judgment.

Sometimes there is no nice way to put something distasteful, and we will try our best. We had a little problem with the master bedroom closet, where we will hang our clothes. Tammy's brother noticed that, if you took a deep whiff, you found an "aroma" that reminds one of something nasty on your shoe after having taken your dog on a walk. His solution was to line it with a cedar closet liner. Given the choice between clothes that smell like cedar and dog excrement, we agreed with his proposal.

Except for touch-ups and the floor, the master bedroom is done. Tammy decided to play it safe with the colors of the master bedroom and saw a photograph of a bedroom in one of Lowe's color guides with an analogous scheme in the Yellow/Gold/Umber range. The walls are Belle Grove Buff; the trim and popcorn ceiling, Quail Egg; and the firplace, Paramount White. You can see the exact scheme by going to the American Tradition page and click "Photograph Galley." You can view our inspiration in the pop-up window by the selecting "interior photos", "bedrooms", and "Yellow, Gold, Umber" and then click "go". Below are some before and after shots of the master bedroom. We plan to put up the plantation shutters once Tammy's dad glazes the windows.

Speaking of glazing, the honorary member of the Glaser family, Tammy's dad, has taken on one more project: several of the fireplaces have decorative mirrors that are showing their age. Her dad found somebody local who can restore the mirrors! Her dad will be applying his newly developed glazing skills to remove and reinstall all the mirrors. Below is a before shot, but, as you can see, the after shot remains to be seen!

One Can in the Can

2006-10-01T21:50:00.000-04:00

The master bathroom is nearly finished! All we are waiting for is a switch plate to arrive in the mail and a toilet seat. We kept the old shower, but replaced everything else. Because Steve works for a plumbing company, we bought the sink and toilet suite for a decent price. Tammy's brother and coworker tiled the floor and walls halfway up and, to save a bit on the tile topping, bought decorative molding to finish the tile (thank you Mom for the awesome idea). To go with a Victorian theme, we settled upon an Heirloom pedestal sink and faucets made by Steve's company and Victorian style fixtures purchased at Lowes: a double towel bar, toilet paper holder, hand towel ring, double robe hook, glass shelf, oval tilting mirror, and light fixture. We did not have many choices for the light fixture because we both prefer "bulbs-up" look. Throughout the house, including the bathroom, we chose pewter beaded switch plates, but special special ordered a few ones without beading for odd needs. The only plastic switch plates are covering the cable connectors.

Because the bathroom lacks a closet, we plan to purchase an armoire for the corner near the toilet for storage. Tammy likes her mother's idea of having a large basket for holding decorative towels. The other end of the bathroom has a window and we plan to have a pretty bench for dressing, as that area is long and narrow. The wall colors are Lowes American Tradition Desert Sand and the trim is Mark Twain Brown, while the tile is American Olean tile in the color Walnut. Below are three "before" shots and three "after" shots.

Will the Real Glaser Please Stand Up?

2006-10-01T16:45:00.000-04:00

Although Steve and Tammy are Glasers by name, Tammy's dad has proved himself to be the real "glaser"--German for glazier. Her dad has an unlikely background for cleaning trim and glazing windows. He started out working on tobacco farms as a youth and spent twenty years in the Navy, cooking and running galleys, before retiring as a civil servant working in Army supply. He was not the handiest father: we kids lived with things like pencil sharpeners set up for lefties! Once dad retired and bought a Victorian house, he became so handy that he restored the porch that wraps around the house. He did everything from fixing up and remaking the columns and railings to replacing the wood on the porch floor. He is now known for having one of the most beautiful porches in town! He has even built wooden flowerpots, shelves, and headboards.

Tammy's dad likes to keep busy and now, that he has finally completed refinishing his porch for the second time, he has time on his hands to try his hand at glazing. He is stripping the windows of layers of paint, repainting them, cleaning up the glass, and glazing them. Judging the difference between the before and after pictures, he is doing a fine job--a true craftsman. Two windows have missing panes, and several are cracked. The window in David's bathroom has some kind of wallpaper stuck to it. We have decided to cover the windows with storm windows to lower the electric bill. In lieu of screened storm windows, they are thinking about buying some adjustable screens that you pop into the window whenever you desire fresh air. They are fairly inexpensive and much easier to maintain.

Even though work on the house has continued, Tammy has been on hiatus from blogging because life gets in the way. Now that the kids are fully back in the homeschool mode, she plans to blog about the nearly finished rooms upstairs, the front walk, and the floors, which are getting restored starting tomorrow. She finds it relaxing to take a break from algebra, biology experiments (did you know a tiny sample of pond culture on a microscope still reeks), writing assignments, and many books, not to mention Pamela's speech therapy and astronomy class.

Master Peace

2006-09-15T06:12:00.000-04:00

Back in July, we asked those with an artistic eye to give us some ideas for our upstairs hallway ceiling. We covered the inoperative monstrous air vent with thin plywood, which was cheaper than dismantling it. We had to choose something lightweight to avoid sagging. We received and investigated online numerous ideas: copper panels, metal grates, Tiffany style contact paper, medallions and molding, textured wallpaper, wainscoting material, mirror, paint, "canned" mural, and original mural. We were flooded with so many ideas, leaning toward the copper panels.

At around this time, a new Mexican restaurant opened in our town. The artwork and murals impressed us, so we grabbed the business card of the artists who painted it, a family-owned business called Master Peace Originals. One day driving around town we noticed Master Peace Originals had also painted one of the murals on the wall of a Mom and Pop dime store, only a block from our house. Our county's citizens are proud of their heritage and commissioned historical outdoor murals, six of which are in our city. Master Peace Originals has painted three of the county's fourteen murals. As our home is part of the town's historical heritage, a mural seemed the way to go. We wondered if a small project would intrigue the artists we had in mind. During David's birthday dinner at the Mexican restaurant, the conversation turned to our house and the mural idea. One of the couples had commissioned the family to paint a mural in their log house and endorsed their work. All of these coincidences seemed to point us to a mural made by Master Peace Originals.

We made an appointment with the artists to discuss our small project. Tammy met the Williams family one afternoon at the house. She saw their portfolio, which included outdoor murals and indoor murals in schools and homes. She especially loved their version of The Secret Garden, painted at a school. The Williams were intrigued by the idea of painting a ceiling, a project they had never attempted. When they saw the homeschool room, Jim remarked, "This would make a great reading room." Sensing kindred spirits, Tammy ventured, "Well, it will be in a way. It's going to be our homeschool room." His wife Liz smiled, "You homeschool too?" One more coincidence!

We chose an old-fashioned sky light, countrified by the stick in the window propping it open. When Steve suggested Spanish moss, Liz laughed--she had thought of that, but did not include it in the sketch. Tammy wanted a bird, but did not express her wish of a cardinal because the red seemed out of place. Then Liz hesitated and suggested that every painting needed a bit of red, confirming Tammy's gut instinct. They did not have any bird pictures with them, so Tammy sent David over to the house with their bird book. We were all amazed that the one picture in the book with a bird and a window was a cardinal in flight, ready to confront its mirror image. With all these coincidences, we all started to wonder if this were not inspiration from above . . .

The short end of the long story is the final product. We especially love the idea of painting a clear glaze on the window to make it seem more like glass.

The hallway is nearly ready, except for some touch-ups and the floor, which will be the last project before the upstairs is ready for moving in! We thought you might enjoy the "before" and "after" photo of the railings and the new look of our hallway (you can see the "before" shots of it here). When we moved in, the walls were bare sheetrock with sporadic molding, chocolate brown paint covered the railing's beautiful wood, and all door and window trim was either peeling or layers of paint. Tammy's brother and contractor brought the door and window trim and the railing back to bare wood.

A Second Blast from the Past

2006-09-09T22:52:00.000-04:00

Tammy figured out a way to change the banner on the blog. We took pictures of the photos shared by a woman who grew up in this house, which was in her family for over 50 years. Then we made a montage of our digital images of the photos, which were not high quality. We found some interior shots, but we could not confirm which were from the house, as we have not had a chance to meet with the former owner. Regardless of quality, the pictures are fascinating.

Mary started cooking for the family when she was only fourteen years old. Child labor laws were obviously lax in those days! She lived in the cookhouse, which was her little home on the property. She stayed with the family many years and is buried somewhere in the city. The exterior shot is of Mary heading into the backyard.

The cookhouse is in sad shape, but we have no plans to demolish it. Vandals spray-painted the Plexiglas window with "Death to the DEA" on the outside. On the inside, they hit the mother of all cash registers and the woodstove with more death threats. Steve cleaned out the cookhouse earlier in the week, but had no place to put the trash because the dumpster was full. The company replaced the dumpster today, and we would not be surprised if we filled it again.

We never mentioned what happened to the cash register. Last Saturday, when Steve finally emptied the carport of all its treasures, he left it plus a box of Barbie dolls with unusual haircuts, a box of miscellaneous stuff, and the smoke-o-rama. We should have taken a picture, but it looked like something from an Art Deco nightmare: a metal floor stand with garish decorative do-dads and three ashtrays at the top that sell on eBay for peanuts. We probably should have consulted Antiques Roadshow first, but the smoke-o-rama was so ugly—it just had to go! The cash register went first. Within two hours, a burly guy asked if he could take it off our hands. To our astonishment, he heaved the whole thing into his truck without help! The smoke-o-rama disappeared later that day. By Labor Day, the Barbie dolls and other junk were under new management.

Porch Lights!

2006-09-05T06:21:00.000-04:00

Last Sunday, the electrician worked for a good five hours and installed three new porch lights and a doorbell. He finished most of the electrical work on the inside of the house too. The lights are perfect for the house because they give the porch a sense of depth, but with a soft glow. What a warm welcome we will receive when we return home at night with the porch lit.

Steve did the yard this weekend and started the cookhouse. His spider bites looked nasty for a while, but cleaning them with hydrogen peroxide and Neosporin helped. They are slowly healing, but are definitely not brown recluse bites. Steve's wounds did not show the characteristic red target mark that eventually turns blue nor did they have any craters. Tammy did nothing all weekend! Her throat started getting sore on Saturday and she had a fever with muscle aches on Sunday.

Tammy and David did work at the house on Thursday for an hour cleaning up rubble in the office and sweeping downstairs. David played "hooky" from P.E. on Wednesday, a bright sunny day, and visited Oma and Opa and cousins for an hour instead of riding his bike. Unfortunately, the rain fell all day on Thursday so David accomplished three classes at once: P. E. (clearing out the rubble), Vocational Education (learning the meaning of manual labor), and Health (wearing masks and gloves and opening a window because of the dust stirred by the pieces of plaster). David has not played hooky from P.E. since then!

More Grunt Work

2006-08-30T07:08:00.000-04:00

Over the weekend, Steve, Tammy, and David did more grunt work: they offloaded all the bricks for the front walkway to a pallet in the yard. Steve did the usual round of yard work (mowing and weed whacking) and completely cleaned out the carport. Now the huge dumpster is completely full! He somehow managed to get a couple of nasty spider bites on one arm. Some streaks around the bite look like acid had dripped down the skin. This morning, the bites stopped looking so angry.

Tammy won more victories in the battle against the bamboo. She finally made it to the end of the line of the bamboo growing on the east side of the root cellar and cookhouse. She did not have to dig under the cookhouse, but one rhizome came uncomfortably close to doing so! She is making a map to show the treacherous trenches dug up by those insidious rhizomes. When Tammy finally vanquishes the bamboo, she plans to post it here. City planners ought to force all people considering buying this form of bamboo to view such a map, much like teachers had drivers-ed students to watch documentaries on grisly car wrecks.

Color at Last!

2006-08-27T07:58:00.000-04:00

Tammy's brother and co-worker have spent the past month getting the walls in shape for painting because the walls were in poor condition. David's room had staples in the wall, while the homeschool room had decorative wallpaper, some of which was ripped off and not worth keeping. Some spots had writing (pen and marker). The walls of the hallway and master bedroom and bathroom were pure sheetrock. They had been exposed to the air for quite some time (at least a year) and had dried. The sheetrock thirstily drank up the first coat of paint, so the walls required more paint than originally anticipated. Finally, the door and window trim held layers and layers and layers of paint, which they sanded back to bare wood.

Above are the before and after shots of the bay windows in the homeschool room. We put a shot of David's room in the post called Middle Earth Green. The homeschool room and hallway are in Lovely Buff on the walls, Garland Green for the window and door trim and the moulding, and Northern Glen for the cabinet. Our contractors came up with a wonderful idea that makes the wainscot down the stairs pop: they painted the trim the darker Northern Glen and the interior area Garland Green. Steve and Tammy feel relieved because the colors go well together. The lighting in the photos was insufficient because the elecrician removed all the lights to install the new wiring.

Power to the People!

2006-08-26T16:43:00.000-04:00

School started this week in the Glaser household! Tammy was knee-deep in Algebra I, Biology complete with microscope and dissection kits, and other high school subjects, which left little time for blogging.

The first week we owned the house, we discovered it still ran power through old cloth wires, knob and tube style, which was state of the art--100 years ago. Our electrician works a regular full-time job and freelances on weekends, which is why we have not covered this topic in detail. Last Sunday, our electrician and his brother removed all the old wiring in the house. Upstairs had three spots--a bare bulb hanging in the bathroom, a fixture in the master bedroom closet, and a switch controlling a faux tiffany lamp at the bottom of the stairs. Downstairs had three spots: the combination light and ceiling fans in the living room, Steve's office, and Pamela's bedroom.

Some spots were harder and others were a snap. The wiring in the master bathroom and closet was simple because it drops from the attic. Major surgery is not required for anything dropped from the attic. The rooms downstairs literally required surgery as Tammy's brother had to slice a one-inch line from the fixture to the wall, down the wall too the switch. The trickiest maneuver was the tiffany lamp because the electrician thought he would have to cut into the wood ceiling. After doing extensive measuring (running upstairs and downstairs to do so), he located a small spot in the upstairs hall closet through which he could drill a hole. Tammy, with advanced degrees in mathematics, was thoroughly impressed for he hit the target perfectly. This allowed him to run the wire down from the attic, through the hall closet wall, and to the tiffany lamp. Later in the week, Tammy's brother covered the area with sheetrock, hiding all traces of the wire.

Steve and Tammy also asked the electrician to install three hanging lamps along the porch. When they saw what lay beneath the vinyl siding, they were glad somebody had already sprung for the siding. Tammy's brother cut a hole out of the plaster in Steve's office that leads to a crawl space above the front porch. The electrician's brother, a National Guard reservist who has served a deployment in Iraq, is used to working in hot conditions and volunteered for the mission of running the wires through the crawl space. When the lamps arrive and are installed, we will post photographs.

The old wiring was in sad shape, and we are glad we forked out the money to replace it. Steve said bare wire showed in many spots and the cloth covering was quickly deteriorating. Just touching it caused pieces to loosen.

Bamboozled!

2006-08-19T21:07:00.000-04:00

Steve, Tammy, and her father spent Saturday morning in the yard. Steve and Tammy's dad refined the edging and spent time killing the grass in the sidewalk cracks with Roundup and weed whacked a good portion of the yard. While edging the front yard, two interesting discoveries emerged. First, Steve and Tammy's dad uncovered bricks lining both sides of the front walkway and noticed brick underneath the sidewalk. At some point in the house's history, someone poured a thin layer of concrete over a brick walkway. Second, while edging, Steve and Tammy's dad found a "stone" lodged in the ground and began digging. Before long, they discovered what we suspect is the foundation to an old carriage block. Several homeowners in the area have preserved their carriage blocks, which helped passengers climb into horse-drawn carriages. As the house was built around 1908, the builders would have included that "modern" convenience.

Tammy worked in the backyard on the damn-boo. She nearly finished emptying the root cellar, and the only thing left is to shovel out the remains of a plastic swimming pool. She is 99.9999% sure we have the invasive kind of bamboo that launches rhizomes, or runners, underground and will eventually take over a yard. Some enterprenuers actually make organic jewelry out of that stuff! While following rhizomes from here to eternity, Tammy wondered if the stuff was trying to dig a hole back to China. We have two weapons of damn-boo destruction: grunt work (pulling up all the rhizomes as far as they go) and chemical warfare (pouring a concentrated cocktail of Roundup down the throat of a cut stem). Both sound good to us!

While Tammy rested on the steps of the cookhouse, taking swigs from her Bubba Keg, Charlotte, a yellow garden spider, or Argiope aurantia for all you naturalists, cozied up to her. As these spiders eat the pests that plague us so while working in the yard, Tammy didn't mind the company. Had it been a snake, even a garden snake, she would have outpaced the bamboo in a race to China. Stay-tuned for any messages in the web, which had a zigzag (stabilimenta for all you geeks) much like Jacob's ladder.

After they headed home, Tammy's dad won the prize for the best discovery of the entire month. The lady who sold the house to the previous owner stopped to chat with her dad, who was finishing up in the yard. She still visits a neighbor down the street and noticed some changes happening to her old home. She was born and raised in the house, and her parents owned it for many years. She is willing to share with Steve and Tammy old photographs and stories about the house some day in the future. She was relieved to hear we plan to keep the cookhouse. Her family hired a lady named Mary to cook for them when Mary was only fourteen-years old. Mary lived in the cookhouse and cooked in the main house.

Panic Attack!

2006-08-19T15:35:00.000-04:00

Tammy nearly flipped out Friday morning when she saw the hallway windows upstairs. The window trim looked like lemon custard spread all over the wood! Picking colors had chafed her nerves as badly as the 1930's cloth wiring still in the house. She was startled to see the "garland green" curdling around the windows! Fortunately, this was not one of her brother's practical jokes like the day he had secretly bought some slime, a novelty new to our acquaintance in our teen years, and sneezed in his hand during dinner. Our horrified faces showed him he got the intended effect! Tammy should have given him more credit for the primer he applied to prep the windows was not white, but bright yellow. Whew!

The rooms upstairs are taking shape, but it is a tedious process. Tammy's brother could have slapped on paint, over layers and layers of paint, and would have been finished in a few weeks. He and his co-worker are craftsmen and are doing their best to make it look as close to a showpiece as an old house on a limited budget can.

Steve and Tammy are starting to get positive comments on the outer appearance. One neighbor quipped, "The view from here is getting better and better." Another added, "It hasn't looked that neat in years." We are new to town and do not know many people outside of our small circle in friends. The other day, Steve was picking up coffee at Hardee's and a total stranger told him, "The house is looking good!"

Burn, Baby Burn!

2006-08-16T20:24:00.000-04:00

Tammy's brother and his co-worker must have had the tune, "Burn, Baby Burn", turning in their heads Monday and Tuesday. Sometime over the weekend, one of the two air conditioning units stopped dead and, in compliance with Murphy's Law, it had to be the upstairs where they were working. They sweated through two days of sweltering heat in spite of two fans propped in the windows. The room was hot a person could break out in a sweat just sitting there doing nothing. Steve and Tammy sweated too for visions of The Money Pit swirled in their heads. After all between a leak, old wiring, and other surprises, they feared the negative spiral into a fiscal sinkhole was about to begin.

Today a repairman did a thorough check of the entire system: air filter, compressor, condensation areas, condenser coil, electrical components, fan and motor, refrigerant and thermostat. Checking the electrical components was an especially daunting task: they had to check the A/C box near the units, the circuit breaker panel (we have two!), and a rat's nest of wires up in the attic which has absolutely no ventilation. The repairman could have baked a sheet of cookies had there been less dust and dirt up there. He found two problems: some genius had installed a switch in the attic backwards, and paint dust had completely clogged the air filter. The damage was only $59 for the service call!

Note to Self: Tell the contractor to shut off the upstairs air conditioner and power up the fans whenever they sand.

Question for All: Is a poltergeist capable of reversing a switch? Hmm . . .

Hurricanes, Stay Away!

2006-08-15T16:14:00.000-04:00

Before buying the house, we hired a home inspector to report discrepancies to clue us into what we might be facing. The foundation was in decent shape, but needed work. Last week a mason worked on several brick related projects. The chimneys were in shaky condition, so shaky, that the mason could only stucco one of the three chimneys. The other two are structurally unsound, so we plan to remove them when we redo the roof (dream: replace the shingles with a metal roof). A hefty wind could topple them, and a hurricane would sweep them to the ground. The mason also strengthened the foundation by repairing any gaps and covering crumbling areas with concrete. He also replaced the nine rusted metal ventilation grates with modern vents that close when the temperature dips below freezing. We were not shocked to learn the old vents were not of a standard size, so the mason had to fill in the gaps. Finally, a piece of siding between the top step and the porch was rotting, so he replaced it with bricks!

Seeing Ghosts!

2006-08-12T14:52:00.000-04:00

No, nothing paranormal has happened. Thursday morning, two people entered the house--one with olive, tanned skin (Tammy's brother) and the other black skinned (a friend hired for the day). By the time they left the house Thursday afternoon, they were whiter than ghosts! What caused this startling transformation? They spent the day plastering, sanding, and chipping paint off the trim of windows and doors. The rooms upstairs have a total of fifteen windows and six doors. Judging by the layer of dust on the floor, they probably wished they were ghosts because of sore muscles, stiff fingers, and aching backs and wrists.

Today, Tammy swept up the ghost dust and uprooted the damn-boo invading the ground near the root cellar. Bamboo is treacherous, and she completely agrees with the folks at TAMU that no one should ever plant it on this side of hell. As pandas are not indigenous to the southern United States, anyone considering planting this stuff without a two-foot-deep barrier trench ought to spend eternity digging up bamboo roots.

P.S. The bloggers do not intend to ensnare unsuspecting readers with such a titillating title. They gladly offer a bone for lovers of all things paranormal. The previous owner told Tammy the house has a poltergeist who enjoys ringing the doorbell. Tammy, the skeptic, thinks the poltergeist is nothing more than the cloth wiring installed in the 1930s to be removed by an electrician at a future date.

Blast from the Past!

2006-08-11T22:24:00.000-04:00

The house's former owner gave us photographs of it when she first arrived. Prior to her, no one had improved the house for 50 years! As we make progress, we will share blasts from the past. We have cleaned and trimmed the yard; we thought our task was daunting until we saw this shot of the shed from five years ago! The next photo shows her progress; the third shows our attempts to trim. We plan to clean out the shed (housing more "treasures"), paint it, and landscape later in the year.

Steve and Tammy apologize for the dark, grainy photo, which is our only shot. The house had wall hung sinks in the bedrooms, quite fashionable in the Edwardian Era. The bedroom upstairs holds evidence of the pipes in the hardwood floor: this spot of plywood in what will be our homeschool room covers some pipes. The other two bedrooms upstairs have pipes in the floor. Tammy's brother and co-worker have almost finished painting the homeschool room's ceilings, molding, baseboards, and windows in earth tones and have installed new outlet covers, switchplates, and cable connection plates. The floors, painted ugly brown, are in sad shape, and we wait for a quote to restore them.

Bucketful of Tetanus

2006-08-09T08:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Tammy removed a bucket filled with rusty old nails. She couldn't lift it due to its weight and rusted out bottom. She tried shoveling, but invasive roots had knitted together the rusty nails. She wore gloves with thick rubber covering the palms to avoid being punctured and the risk of tetanus. Tammy spent about 1 1/2 man-hours removing most of the nails by hand in the steamy heat. The bucket measured two feet in diameter with at least a foot of nails! With all the junk in the house and yard, the dumpster Steve and Tammy rented is nearly full!

The Mother of All Cash Registers!

2006-08-07T21:04:00.000-04:00

The cookhouse is full of junk, which we plan to remove! The first item proved to be harder than expected: a National Cash Register. We believe a company of that same name in Dayton, Ohio manufactured it in 1947. Between the spray paint, rust, and broken parts, the thing is inoperable and probably worthless. Steve was able to roll out of the cookhouse, but it was so heavy he left it in the yard. Steve and Tammy's dad managed to lug the thing onto a dolly and haul it over to the dumpster in the driveway. Lifting it into the dumpster is another story. So, for now, this forties high-tech clunker is taking up space in our driveway.

Azaleas Gone Wild!

2006-08-07T19:48:00.000-04:00

Steve and Tammy's father waged war against the azaleas and other shrubbery gone wild this weekend. They cut them back to mere nubs, and the house has a much neater appearance. They razed the jungle next too the house, bursting with briars, thorns, and other unpleasant plants, that hid two hammock posts! With the steamy oppressive heat, Steve felt like he was trying to tame the Amazon rain forest. We can finally see clear to the doggie fence from the street now; compare the photo on the left (our before shot) with the one on the right (the after shot).

Call me "Bubba!"

2006-08-03T17:40:00.000-04:00

While Steve was on his business trip, Tammy and David worked in the yard, emptying the root cellar. They have discovered all kinds of lovely things like an aluminum bucket of rusty nails with the bottom rusted out, requiring them to shovel nails out of the dirt, and its twin, full of wet decomposing leaves that smelled like dog doo. They retrieved rusty poles, two big round aluminum pipes, a rusty chain, rotten wood and sticks, live vines, loads of brick, big brick blocks, old toys, a pack of cards, an aluminum trash can and its lid, shovels full of leaves, and an empty Canadian whiskey bottle--we're surprised we didn't find more of those. Clearly, sometime in the past, they ceased storing fruits and vegetables in their root cellar in lieu of trash. Tammy and David were thankful they have not seen any rats, snakes, or spiders . . . yet.

Because of the extreme heat, they worked either early in the morning or late in the evening. What helped them immensely was something Tammy picked up at Wal-Mart called Bubba Kegs. She bought three, in different colors, in the 52-ounce size. Before they head out to the steam pit every day, she fills them up with ice and water. Water never tasted so good than after working an hour in an outdoor sauna. The Bubba Keg also comes in handy when Tammy was in the garage sorting more "treasure" to donate to ministries at church, the Council on Aging, and the dumpster.

"Middle Earth" Green

2006-08-03T17:08:00.000-04:00

When we first asked David, who turns 14 in two weeks, about the color for his room, we were relieved to hear, "Green, like my eyes!" We gave him some color chips and booklets containing shades of green. Apparently, he must think his eyes are a bright shade of lime because the name of his favorite color was Temptation, which is so bright it couldn't tempt us! A friend of Tammy's in cyberspace wrote that her 15-year-old son picked nearly the exact color and painted his room last week--they are brave. We settled for a deeper, darker shade called Northern Glen with Green Garland trim to complement a White Scallion ceiling. After the contractors did the first round of painting his room, David approved of the new colors because it looks like Middle Earth!

Sanford and Son

2006-07-27T07:38:00.000-04:00

Tammy's brother and co-worker covered one of the hall closet doors and prepped more walls for painting. They spent the afternoon at Lowe's restocking supplies, purchasing wall paint, and ordering the bathroom tile.
Weeds running wild in our overgrown back yard were blocking the view of the outhouse. Weeds choked the fenced-in dog pen. A landscaping crew cleared out the entire back yard. They demolished the outhouse and yanked three clotheslines poles, probably meant to withstand a nuclear blast. The poles were ten feet tall, five of which were underground, secured by two blocks of concrete. They removed an old awning lying next to the cookhouse, junk, and wild bamboo. They trimmed the pear tree, bearing fruit for Tammy's mother to can.

There is a catch! We can see not only our yard, but also the one behind us, unoccupied due to the death of the owner. We took a peek in the shed back there; it is full of old junk: refrigerators, diverse parts, rocking chairs, and anything that could possibly rust. The first item on our landscaping list is a privacy fence lining the back yard! If you know of any pretty bush or vine that can grow fast enough in Zone 8 to cover all that, drop us a comment!

Ludicrous Speed!

2006-07-25T21:42:00.000-04:00

Today the contractors finished caulking the wooden ceilings and repainted them. The ceilings definitely have a more finished look (except for the master bathroom, which they are still prepping). They also reduced the number of doors in the hall closet to a reasonable number (one). Tammy spent the day at Lowe's finalizing her color choices for the rooms upstairs. After awhile, her eyes began to see plaid like the heroes of Spaceballs when "Spaceball One" engaged the hyperactive drive and went into ludicrous speed. After awhile, she felt as dizzy as Lord Helmet did after he crashed into the bulkhead, staggered about the deck, and mumbled to his crew, "Smoke 'em if you got 'em."

Our Comely Winch

2006-07-24T19:58:00.000-04:00

Back to the ceilings! Tammy's brother and co-worker spent the day with the painfully tedious task of detailing the ceilings: adding small amounts of mud, letting it dry, and sanding all the crevices between molding and wall. Old houses settle, so nothing is truly square: from door frames to the air intake vent mentioned in the last post. To get a smooth look, mud and caulking are the way to go. Three rooms upstairs have wooden ceilings, never covered by sheet rock. We are keeping them even if covered in several layers of paint. As you can see in the picture, the ceiling has many gaps, which the contractors are covering with caulking and mud, depending upon how wide. We thought Michelangelo had it bad!

Tammy, her father, and the electrician discovered a leak when we were down in the "basement" with the electrician yesterday. It must be new because the very thorough home inspector did not find it, nor did we notice it last Friday when we were trying to trace back the old wiring. Tammy's brother crawled under the house (a dusty, dirty job) and found a leaky elbow pipe--an easy fix. (Steve is missing all the fun--he is on a business trip.)

The thing that most amuses us about our "basement" is the door. The basement is really only big enough for the family (plus a few friends and neighbors) to duck and cover in case of a tornado. The door to the basement is very heavy, but one person can open it easily. Holding it up without getting a head concussion is another matter. We use a winch *not wench* to hold the door for us. You can see the winch in the upper left corner of the picture, which brings back fond memories of when the Glasers were "haze gray and underway." That's Navalese for sailing. Mmmm . . . block and tackle . . .

Calling All Artists!

2006-07-23T22:46:00.000-04:00

If you have slogged through over a week of posts, you can quickly tell we are rank amateurs. We need your help. We covered the old, inoperable, irreparable air vent with lightwood (it is more cost effective than ripping it out). A flat white board with a frame lurks underneath the plastic protecting it from the popcorn texture spray-a-thon. We want to do something decorative, and here are the parameters: it must be lightweight, fitting into a Victorian theme, matching green tones on the walls in the hallway, inexpensive but not cheesy, and not tacky. Just click “comments” and float some ideas our way. We need a lifeline from anyone with taste.

By the way, the lamps pictured above are the ones we were going to foolishly toss out and replace with Tiffany lamps!

Where is a Camera When You Need It?

2006-07-23T22:40:00.000-04:00

Today Steve cleaned the mildew off the porch roof with Jomax. He climbed a ladder up to the dry roof and sprayed away. He did not realize that Jomax turns mildew into a slick gel. Steve started sliding down the roof, facing the windows. He grabbed the shutters, which he has confirmed are firmly attached to the house. Tammy’s father saw him hanging onto the shutters, kicking madly, and just had to ask Steve why he wanted to rip off perfectly sound shutters. He made it across the street just in time to catch Steve, who is short and light. Steve also discovered a live and uncovered socket cut into the wall of the house. It was hard to miss sparks flying while spraying the porch! We can laugh at it because Steve walked away unhurt. God is going to have to assign him a full-time angel until we finish this renovation.

An electrician familiar with the wiring in our house came over to explain why it has old and new wiring mixed together. Apparently, the previous owner could not fund the entire project with a different contractor, so she hired him to do his best with what little she had. We will have to adjust the budget slightly to cover new wiring when copper is most pricey. In a way, we are glad because he informed us that the hanging lights in the upstairs hallway are original. He rewired them for her. We had already decided to replace them with something "more Victorian-looking" from Lowe’s. Are we amateurs, or what?

Week Two, Already!

2006-07-23T05:48:00.000-04:00

We bought a riding lawnmower from the local Sears appliance store in town. We were too thrifty to pay the $50 delivery fee, so Steve drove the thing home on Saturday! He rode through the neighborhoods behind the store and zigzagged his way 0.58 miles to our house (according to Mapquest). This is not as odd as it sounds. One old man in the neighborhood could not afford a car, but he could afford a riding lawnmower. He used to drive it all over town until the police got on his case over that. FYI, Steve didn't receive any moving violations--he stayed under the radar.

Steve worked outside again. He edged the lawn around the sideways and cleared all the junk off the porch (does temporarily moving it to the carport count?). I bet the neighbors will open a bottle of champagne when they see an empty porch. Some of it went to the dumpster, but some is in the garage. Tammy plans to either junk it or donate it to worthy causes next week. Right now, anyone who will take it qualifies as a worthy cause. David power washed the siding too.

Tammy's brother painted most of the ceilings upstairs. The ones in the master bedroom and hallway have texture, while we kept the original wooden planks for the ceilings in David's bedroom, the master bathroom, and homeschool room. They will caulk any gaps and paint again. We decided to rip out the plaster in the office because the house will settle some more and the walls will crack again.

Steve did not achieve as much as he had planned outdoors: between sore muscles and lightning storms, it just was not meant to be.

Only One Week

2006-07-22T07:33:00.000-04:00

We have owned the house for only one week and can see quite a bit of progress. Tammy has sorted through the stuff left on the porch and in the house. She threw out quite a bit of junk and has invited the pastor to go through the serviceable items (housewares, toys, and decorations) for donation to ministries. She had no idea of what do with two ugly 18-inch tall statues--the only thing she could think was white elephant party. One of the contractors got excited about these statues and begged to take them both off her hands, even the one with a broken arm. Tammy secretly wondered about his taste until he explained that his pure-bred Pitt bulls love to gnaw on those things.

Tammy also discovered the early stage of a wasp nest perched on a sewing hoops in one of the boxes of junk on the front porch. Fortunately the contractors helped her out with that! Those persistent insects kept coming back all afternoon in search of a new spot.

Tammy's brother and co-worker have prepped the ceiling in five places upstairs. The only thing left in the master bathroom is the shower stall and shelving. The fixtures, toilet, sink vanity, etc. are gone. On Saturday, her brother will paint the ceilings, so she spent a good chunk of Friday morning seeing colors! Tammy is more of a mathematical logical thinker than an artsy type (she joined the Navy just so she wouldn't have to think about what to wear every day). So picking colors is a major stretch for her! Fortunately, Lowe's American Tradition in-store folders and color design center have color wheels that explains how to match colors properly and a virtual painter tool for trying different combinations in sample rooms. Thanks to that, she is not curled up in a corner, sucking her thumb, staring vacuously into space.

We like warm colors: light, semi-muted shades of green, yellow, and orange. The master bedroom will be monochromatic with soft shades of yellow. The master bathroom will have peach, but will have accents in yellows and greens. David loves green, so his room will have variations of green--does it have something to do with the color of his eyes? We are going to mimic Tammy's mother's kitchen in the homeschool room--peach ceiling, mint frost trim, and very light, light green walls. We haven't quite nailed down the hallway and David's bathroom yet. But, by next week, she will have to be bold and pick something.

Slower than Watching Paint Dry

2006-07-20T21:08:00.000-04:00

Today Tammy discovered something slower than watching paint dry, and that is standing in the paint line at Lowe's watching paint mix! We love the fact that Lowe's offers so much choice, but she almost got a migraine trying figure out what kind of paint goes with what material. The caulking section had so many kinds Tammy had to call the painter to find out which kind he wanted. Our 17-year-old daughter with autism came on the expedition and, for the first time ever, Tammy secretly hoped she'd get impatient and throw a fit to have an excuse to jump ahead in line. But, she showed more patience than her mother!

The future office, the room full of cracked plaster, got prepped today, but we are toying with going full bore with sheet rock, like all the other rooms. The master bathroom is ripped apart except for the shower stall, which we are keeping. Steve was able to get a good deal on high-quality new toilets and Victorian-style pedestal sinks plus fixtures. The upstairs hallway has an inoperable old vent that used to suck up air into the attic back in the days before air conditioning. We had it covered with a light board, so the celling will have a finished look. They also removed one door for a closet that two doors. It already has a window--why would it need two doors?

We discovered an old yardstick that has a four-digit telephone number. Seven-digit numbers started being used nationally in the late 1940s. Who ever heard of an antique yardstick? We are also in the dejunking mode, but took home some perfectly good wine glasses, let Tammy's mom have first dibs on what she wanted, and hauled seven green trashbags of clothing and shoes to the drop-off box. Anyone want some thick plastic hangars? (They make a mean bow when paired with a wooden spoon as the arrow. David, the prop master, made that discovery when he went through his Robin Hood phase a few years back.)

The First Glitch

2006-07-20T06:12:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, the contractors (one of whom is Tammy's stepbrother) started renovating the house. Two are working upstairs on the master bedroom/bathroom, David's bedroom /teeny tiny bathroom, a hall closet, and the homeschool room. The plan is to work from one bathroom out to the hall and from the other out.

We have a painter working on the only room in the house that still has plaster, Steve's office. We might have to go with sheet rock because as an old house settles, plaster just cracks up. Some walls have very slight tiny cracks, but others are a mess.

Now what is the first glitch, you ask? We were told the electrician who installed new and grounded wiring, disabled power to the old two-pronged outlets. Well, it didn't happen. We were hoping we wouldn't need to hire an electrician, but what are we doing the second day in the project? Looking around for one!

We do have another glitch, but now I know why. We want to restore the hard wooden floors and use are rugs and runners in strategic spots to prevent wear. Some of the floors upstairs are painted. Much of the master bedroom floor is painted white, but unfinished. Apparently, the paint gums up the machine used to smooth out the floor, so the paint must be stripped first.

You may be wondering what Steve and Tammy did all day. Well, Steve travels a bit with his job, which is why we started this blog--to keep Steve in the loop. Tammy is not very talented when it comes to crafts, hands-on work, etc. She is not a superwoman who can be all and do all, but she does know her limitations. Other than removing "treasure" from the house, she wisely stayed out of the way. Tammy ran around town donating unwanted treasure to the library, the church's mission food supply, and the church's costume department.

TTFN Trees!

2006-07-19T21:06:00.000-04:00

On Monday and Tuesday, we had a tree service knock down three trees that were too close for comfort. Tammy rewarded her dad for trimming the hedges with some wood from the pecan tree, with which he smokes meat. They also trimmed up some limbs hanging over the back of the house and ground up some old tree stumps. Our first glitch was that the small town bank tellers planned to hold the check for five days because the federal credit union we use is "out of town" (not "out of state"). They also had trouble figuring out that the military style of writing dates, 17/7/2006 meant the same thing as July 17, 2006. I can see it if our calendar had 17 months. We left the tall trees in the back year, but the one to the left (west) side of the house is gone!

The Taming of the Hedges

2006-07-19T20:55:00.000-04:00

The previous owner did not move out until the following Tuesday, so Steve spent the weekend in coveralls working out in the yard. He razed the out-of-control azalea bushes, which reminded us of Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, while Tammy's dad squared some hedges. David, our 14-year-old son, helped clear the brush and branches and made the enormous pile in front of the house. After the lightning storm--the one that knocked our Internet out for almost two days--passed through town, Steve power-washed the bricks, which had turned green in some spots and black in others, as well as the sidewalk. He also cleared off this ugly cream-colored plastic covering off the side porch. The house has a much neater appearance on the outside.

Done Deal!

2006-07-19T18:32:00.000-04:00

Last Friday, July 14, 2006, we bought our first old house--almost 100 years old--two stories, eight rooms, 3000 square feet, complete with an old servants' house and a one-holer outhouse in the backyard. According to my dad, back in the day, folks who didn't have a two-holer and a Sears and Roebuck catalog to pass the time were poor. The previous owner has done much to renovate it: new wiring, new plumbing, security system, new kitchen, siding, etc. A few rooms are almost, but not quite finished. Others need work, and some have never been touched. No one has made major improvements to the house for 50 years, except for the roof courtesy of Hurricane Hugo, and she had to do things like have sinks removed from the bedrooms!

We hope to share pictures and our journey as we get our house ready for the big move.