House in Progress Diary

Daily Diary Archive

Daily musings as we (slowly) create the house of our dreams.

In the Beginning

Of course, this is when all of the writing occurs. After midnight when everyone in the "transitional house" is asleep and the dog is snoring and I am up in the loft wondering, "What on earth have we done?"

What did we do? We bought our first house. Our second anniversary is Monday. And I have never been this thrilled, tired or scared since the week before my wedding. Though I was a LOT less dirty around the time of the wedding. Every day since last Thursday has been the same thing...work at my "real" job, go to the TH* (transitional home), change into work clothes, take the dog to new house and work like a gerbil sorting and hauling debris. Stumble home to peel myself out of layers of grime. And marvel at the amazing resiliency of a mistreated house.

I will catch everyone up on the story in the next few posts by cutting and pasting some correspondence that "sets the scene". Then we can get to the latest installments.

Every Day

Every day, there are discoveries at the new house. Those funny looking sink drains that I thought was just extra hardware? (They were thrown onto the hardware bench versus tossed out.)

Collectible flower frogs. Who knew?

At this point, we just want to peek behind the fireplace boards and get the first floor clean. And evict the raccoons from the attic.

We have organized everything that we need to research by floor and room. Now that the digital camera is back, we'll be able to share some interesting "finds". PLUS our house has many mysteries that need to be solved for restoration. But we'll come back to that.

Most interesting point in my day? Figuring out that I had a rare Mother Goose book published in 1878. One conversation with Powells in Chicago and they're sending someone out to review the rest of the "finds".

Low points of the day? Realizing that our dog absolutely hates the new house. (Too scary) Hauling out half a garage full of garbage to wait until I can call a service. Nothing interesting in there...just cardboard boxes and dirty rags and fallen plaster.

New mystery...we'll post a picture soon. How did the kitchen look originally? So complicated, that one question.

Credit Where its Due

J did a great job of providing the history of our situation in her previous post. I'd like to point out the great support and feedback we've received from the American Bungalow discussion boards. That group has provided us with great advice and encouragement through a challenging time. Thanks to each of them/you for your help and encouragement. I don't know if we'd have had the courage to buy this great old house if it weren't for the wisdom over at AB!

Plus, they deserve credit for this weblog! So many people had an interest in our situation--it was because of them that we realized that we had a somewhat interesting story to tell. (Plus we were trying to keep our relatives up to date on our situation...and they are scattered all over the place.) So yesterday I threw together this site and convinced J to commit to her job as an "embedded journalist" for our project! :-) If it works out, we think it will be fun to keep this site as a record of our progress and also keep in touch with the many friends we've developed through this experience so far.

So thanks again to the regulars over at AmericanBungalowMagazine.com. If it works out, we hope this new site is a useful (and fun!) way for us and for all of you to stay updated with each other!

P.S. - If you've never participated in that site's message boards, I recommend it highly. If you're interested in more background on our story, you can access the various posts/threads J has been involved in here.

Mysteries & Milestones

Parents came in for the cleaning "blitz" of the first floor. Photos should be ready soon. A & I bought ourselves 2 concrete pots for the front steps for our anniversary and then decorated them with red impatiens. We began trimming the hedges and mowed the lawn, set up the grill and have been sharing our abundance of overgrown backyard peonies with our neighbors.

It seems as if the "story" of the house's move-in condition has made it around the women's circle at church. Their enthusiasm to help clean is only matched by their curiousity in getting a glimpse inside of the "famously junky house."

Had a Geraldo moment as Dad and A pulled aside a board in front of the fireplace to see if the fireplace was still there ...yep, it's still back there. The front of it is gone, but the skeleton remains of the old gas fireplace. Wild. We'll eventually resuse the hickory boards for a built-in closet upstairs.

I should be able to publish LINKS to other pages at least...meaning, the pictures are going up. Not the Ofoto "before and after" shots, but we will be recording the work in progress and showing everyone what interesting "treasures" were left behind.

And we want your stories about these treasures! Maybe you remember your grandmother or great aunt having one. Let us know! We'll publish you.

Mysteries of the week:

-Are the bookcases from the fireplace (which we found in the basement) worthy of repair, or will they have to be replaced?
-What did the original kitchen look like?
-How much sleep are we EVER going to get?
-If they saved everything else, where did all of the molding from the front two rooms go?

Mysteries solved

-Where are the gas lines in the kitchen? (Answer: Everywhere)
-What created the water damage on bedroom ceiling--first floor? (Answer: Wax seal of PO-installed toilet breaking above that room)
-Where are the raccoons getting in and out? (Answer: Mushroom airvent at top of house.)

Resources of the week:

-Gary at Cellar Master who inspected and maintained on our flood control pump, gave us advice on water flow and taught us many things. He rodded our pipes and pulled out all sorts of nastiness...Go Gary!
-John at Just Sashes for sending in a pretty comprehensive proposal.

Milestones of the week

-Cleaned...and then cleaned again.
-Prepared 1st floor for living while gutting goes on around us.
-Dog no longer afraid of the first floor (too much).
-Everything categorized, but not photographed or catalogued.
-Doorbell fixed (well, kinda)
-Joist under 1920's installed tub has been sistered.
-Ordered the Silent Paint Remover.
-Pest Control comes Monday
-Mowed lawn, began weeding, trimmed bushes in front
-Exhausting research on books and music, some pottery started (especially Oriental vintage)

Pictures of daily finds will be categorized at What On Earth?!?

It's like a trip back in time in here.

Where am I?

Whew. An all nighter. I haven't pulled one of those since college. But these days, it is the only time I have in front of the computer.

So, more new pages are up...more pictures. I go over to the house today to meet with the pest inspectors (gulp!) so I'll ty to take specific pictures for those who are interested. Then I have to make a slew of phone calls and tidy up the garage. So I'll be back this evening with more of the story about the house itself. Enjoy!

Clean for a Day

I've decided that FOX needs a new game show. Well, actually, it's a new take on an old game show. I'd call it...

CLEAN FOR A DAY

Rather like the "Queen for a Day" game show that our mom and/or grandmom watched, the winner would have all 70 years of dirt and grime and nicotine in his or her house (mid-renovation) sucked up into oblivion. They would be given a big bar of scented soap and led to a sybaritic white tiled room...with sun drenched skylights...to soak and talk on the phone to their friends or (if they prefer) to soak while watching a marathon of mindless TV or read trashy novellas. Water sprites would serve pina coladas silently and make sure that you don't slip below the water before being wrapped in dustless sheets on a clean, clean, cozy bed to snooze.

And there wouldn't be any raccoons for miles and miles around. Especially not howling on your roof.

I am exhausted.

I am exhausted.

First the raccoons. Two of four. With massive apologies to our newly-deafened sleepy neighbors, especially Krystina, Jay, Alex and Caitie (since the raccoons were on that side of the house).

Then, the accounting software at work was determined to break me today.

Then, my lovely mom-in-law and her lovely friend Millie went above and beyond to get me to a meeting for selling some of the camera equipment because the keys to the car went missing.

Things go better at the Chicago Camera Collectibles meeting. Great chaps. Know their stuff! I took a few things home again, but they were being kind about price and about a collection which to REALLY seasoned collectors must seem a little yawn worthy. They were terrific really.

I'm crawling to bed soon. There is $46 in my pocket which will be great to pay a little bit towards the rental fee for stashing our things when we couldn't move in because of all of the stuff. Plus a lot of new introductions into a pretty cool group of people.

Sorry, I keep yawning into my keyboard. More new items up on: What on Earth!?" Check it out...

5, not 4

I take that back. Make that two of FIVE raccoons. How did we miss that she had 4 babies? And that she is too smart to let the remaining 2 get near the traps? I cannot see a pretty end to this.

Not much today at the house. Except the advice that people gave us running through our heads..."everything will take 3-5 longer than you think it will." Yes. That is because you get so so so so tired.

Brain-numbing tired.

A and I are trying to think of ways to keep this fun and not let it drag our relationship around. We are trying to be pre-emptive. Advice from seasoned veterans on that one is welcome. He is working very very hard at the office and I bounce from part-time office to house and back. The movers are scheduled for Friday afternoon and I am just nervous about getting the rest of the first floor clean and hoping we can fit our furniture all into the first floor of the house. Plus, how much to unpack? I'm tempted to say "Nothing!" but then, where else do you put it?

At this point, there are enough things in the house for 3 garage sales. Everyone is also saying "Ebay!" but every item would be so time consuming that you could do this full-time for a year (or more). We'd like to donate one garage sale's worth to the Senior Youth Group at church so they can finance their retreat. One garage sale for us to help finance home repair and what it is costing us to delay moving in. And donate a number of items to World Relief and other worthy causes who could use basic household items. A few things we need to sort out and investigate. Like the lithographs from Japan and Europe. Artwork? Garage sale worthy? Who knows? The research alone is mind boggling.

I took a long shower today before going to a lovely goodbye dinner for our Pastor and his wife, who are retiring. I adore them. He married A and I, was my first "non-Catholic" pastor and they are such a beautiful, loving couple. I will never forget, after being dreadfully, doggedly sick for 3 months last year when we couldn't figure out half of my symptoms, I returned to church and sat on the back bench with A while he ran sound. It was a huge milestone for me to be up and out of the house. During the recessional and before the benediction, Pastor A strode down the center aisle of our large, lovely church--a tall distinguished man--heading straight for me with no hesitation and just wrapped me in his arms in a gentle, loving hug. I was so surprised that I still burst into tears at this memory. I was still pretty frail then and not getting around so easily and I was so moved by this homecoming. This neighborhood means so much more than this broken, sad house (that will be beautiful again). It is filled with beautiful families who feel like home. I did get a compliment on my hair tonight...one on how it looked and another on how good it smelled. What can I say? I cleaned up for this occasion :)

Today, I saw kids riding their bikes and playing up and down the lawns like I used to do in Pearl River, New York with my cousins or in Pittsburgh with the neighbor kids. This was IN THE CITY. In the suburb where we were, though I am fond of it in a way, I never saw kids without parental supervision every moment. This is better. Much better.

And I need to remember that when I am cleaning and dragging myself through the selling off of things and battling raccoons. It is the bigger picture of creating a home.

10 Bags of Trash

Okay, three raccoons transplanted. The mother and one of the babies still elude us. When we're finished with the raccoons, we can begin with the squirrels :( They are living above the porch.

Emotionally, I bounce all over the place about the house. As I wrote to my friend K when I wasn't sleeping well in transition and was trying to read myself to sleep, "I just finished the "Little House on the Prairie" books. Again. For the one zillionith time. I found myself saying goofy, dumb things like, "A, if PA can build a house ON THE PRAIRIE from NOTHING, than we can restore this house." And some days, I believe that. Other days, I go home and weep. Like tonight. Some relatives were visiting and were curious about the house. They were shocked and dismayed. Seeing it through their eyes, I was dismayed too. I am going back to read a few passages from Little House on the Prairie again tonight. Do all these people think Rome sprang from the ground fully built in a day??? Well, then again, Rome was probably never this filthy dirty.

Reading Mother Theresa's biography didn't help me either. I found myself crying, again, and thinking "I'm not worthy for God's world! I must get a sari and begin serving mankind immediately!!"

Well, tonight, wearing neither sunbonnet nor sari, A and I lugged 10 trash bags full of yard waste to the dumpster in front of my in-law's house. This is so we can leave more trash for the regular city garbagemen and work our way towards getting a garage back. I was in the same jeans that just WILL NOT come clean. Because the previous owner never cleaned. And now it is ground into my jeans. Honest. We were vacuuming 1-2 INCHES (no exaggeration) of dust off of boxes and trim. There were old mouse "party favors" STILL IN THE KITCHEN. We know there aren't any mice IN the house because the pest inspector and I crawled over that place for 3 hours. Only raccoons and squirrels. But, well, gross! If you had mice at one time and you knew about it (we knew she knew because we found an ancient trap)...wouldn't you clean your floor???!!!

I am only thankful that I do not have toddlers at this point in time and I break out the bleach.

Closer...

The remaining raccoons are accounted for! No more raccoons in the attic! (Thanks to Lou from Critter Detectives for your hard work and perseverance!)

We think the squirrels may have been scared away in the raccoon scramble. Lou put some paper over the hole to test it and if they haven't broken through by tomorrow, we are boarding that bad boy up! Meanwhile, the stainless steel grille cage for the mushroom vent/fan goes on in 3 days when the attic is officially declared "raccoon free".

Today we moved our furniture in (all on the first floor) and we move in with cat and dog tomorrow. We also had our second dinner guests (after my parents)....A & L. We tested out the new grill in the back yard which will function as our kitchen until the weather becomes too cold for words. The current kitchen is a little hard to cook in.

And the "Silent Paint Remover" arrived. Everyone on the street and the alley has been offering us unlimited use of tools and equipment and that is really saying something. We have some pretty handy people in our neighborhood, all of whom know what kind of shape the house is in. After doing the math and adding up the cost of liquid paint stripper for everything needed inside/outside of the house AND the outside of the garage...the SPS was the way to go. It uses infrared heat, doesn't give off the fumes and other hazards related to heat guns, does tile/paint/varnish/and more, AND it's from (well, where else?) Sweden. So, we'll let you know how that goes. The guys on TOH gave it a big thumbs up. Hopefully, we will too. So now we have our own unusual power tool to lend to helpful neighbors because, well, with a contractor and handy ma'am for neighbors, what do you lend to the couple who have everything?

I feel better with our things in the house. Though I need to clean it again (this will be the fourth time) to get the rest of the dirt/grease/grime/dust that I didn't get first 3 times. Soft Scrub is my friend.

We're in!

(insert bars of dramatic organ music here)

We are IN the new house. First night. So, of course, I cannot sleep.

We have crammed our boxes and furniture all on the first floor since work will begin with gutting the second floor entirely. We will be saving every piece of trim, every door, every beguiling bungalow feature and dragging out everything else.

The house had only 1 bathroom and 5 bedrooms until 1951 when W decided to purchase "brand new watercloset accessories" and convert the upstairs bath into the strangest, elongated bathroom you have ever seen. While expanding the possibilities for bathroom usage, it is not the most elegant of solutions. The bathroom-related portion covers 1/3 of the room. The rest is just...well...open space. Plus, lack of proper ventilation has made a mess of things and a broken wax seal on the plumbing years ago that went unattended to made a mess of the ceiling of the bedroom in which we camping out. Since we have to lay at night and look at that for up to 12 months or more, we purchased 4 inexpensive tablecloths from Le Target and will be pinning these to the ceiling in the manner of a sultan's tent. Self-denial is a balm to the renovator's senses.

Everything is still covered in a film of grey dust. Maybe it's the dirt left over. Maybe it's an asbestos cloud from the tiles the PO began tearing up and stopped. Maybe it's the newsprint we used to pack everything or the fact that our things just spend 8 weeks in a garage. Whichever it is, it is making Dave the grey and white cat into a decidely grey cat. I did spend my first night under our blissful new showerhead. A rainshower purchased at Home Depot last week...forty of the best dollars we ever spent. Even after I turned off the water, I turned my face to it and watched solemnly as each diamond shaped nozzle cried its last tear of beautiful clean water.

Heaven. Being so clean.

Geez...Bees

Today was a little more, um, organized.

So we are moving the furniture into the right rooms but...ugh. It is unbelievable to be so dirty ALL OF THE TIME! Dave the Cat snuck onto the second floor today and came down happily two hours later with black paws. Fine, except his paws are usually snow white.

Have you ever tried to wash a cat's paws when they are unwilling? It is like trying to shake hands with a slot machine over an extended period of time. That arm just keeps shooting back.

Today we experienced a lesson in evolution...or devolution...homeowner style. It goes like this:

Trapping the live raccoons scared away the squirrels living above the front porch. Because raccoons are meat eaters and the squirrels were trying not to be lunch. So, A, brave husband, buys thick wire grating and heads up a rickety ladder we found in the garage to fasten it into place. Holding it into place for him, I watch every rung of this ladder, wondering how long it's been in garage and picturing in my head how I will catch a husband who is 1 foot taller than I am (and much more muscular and heavy) before he hits the sidewalk. I'm doing word problems in my head

A 6'7" husband traveling unexpectedly down a vertical wooden ladder which is 14 feet high, while gripping a staple gun...

Meanwhile, things are getting hairy for A up above. Because now that the squirrels have been gone for 48 hours, a family of bumblebees has decided to supplant them, just one more step down the food chain. We need to get that wire up and bumblebees are notoriously slower than their wasp or yellow jacket cousins, so...coaching him with gentle words of support, I hand up a fly swatter and tell him to "jes' knock 'em down if they get too close."

To our neighbors, it must have looked and sounded like this:

"Honey, you've got one at 12 'clock if you want to swat it."
"Where? Where? That one?"
"Oh wait, no. That's the second one."
"Whamo! Got him!"
"Wow...he really hit the sidewalk."
"Is he still alive?"
"Woozy, but he's hanging on."
"What?! So step on him!"
"Oh yuck. okay, wait. Don't sting me...and...okay he's a goner. How's that wire going?"
"Just hold the ladder..."
"Okay, but take your time. Make it look like a neat job. That's across from J and K's bedroom window..."
"It's as neat as a squirrel will need it to be...whoa! These bees are in the squirrels nest! What part of the food chain are we on now??!"
(I'm laughing, can't breathe) "Honey, when the primordial ooze starts coming out of the hole, you'll know you're near the end."
"Ooze? This swatter and spray wouldn't do a thing to ooze!"
"The spray can says that stuff will KILL SCORPIONS...I think ooze will not be a problem."
"Wham! Got two more!"
"How's that mesh coming?"

Recleaning

I am so tired of recleaning. We're on recleaning #4. Or #5. Something like that.

So instead I offer you the newest edition of What On Earth? You get to guess whether the items are random or related.

If you haven't been to pages 1-7 of "What On Earth?", by all means please help yourself to the link in the right-hand column of this page. Sorry about the ancient page design. We're waiting for the new, improved version of Blogger and we're just holding ourselves together (barely) in the meantime.

Just like everything else.

More cleaning. More unpacking.

More cleaning. More unpacking.

We even went back to my husband's parents' house today to try to undo the damage that 6 weeks, 2 transitional adults, a hairy cat and a hairy dog will do. And I learned something. My pets are ambitious. Their "shed ratio" increases with house size. In the old condo, the cat was content with one chair in the living room and a bench in the bedroom. In my husband's parents' house? The cat was a fat, fuzzy, gray "Goldilocks-wanna be". This chair is too big. This chair is too small. This one is too warm. This one is too cool. And around and around. We lint-brushed cat hair off of each chair in the entire house, I think. Enough to make a new cat. And it doesn't help that our cat has hair the consistency of cotton candy. Enough said.

We've gotten many requests for pictures of the creatures. Here they are:
Coco and Dave the Cat

We are squeezed onto the one (relatively) clean floor of the new house and still are unpacking. And yes, there is still more stuff in A's parents' garage and basement. Mostly books. Because we cannot find the fasteners that put the shelves on the 8 bookcases that we own. We put them in a "safe place" before we left the condo. Which means that they are at the bottom of one of many boxes.

Lastly, it is 85 to 90 degrees in Chicago this week. Which should be okay because we have two large window A/C units on this floor. When the owner was leaving, she (probably guiltily) took us aside and explained that they were "a little unreliable". We were puzzled. We had tried them out during the inspection--we knew they worked. But now we know better. As in the entire front of the house (2 A/C units, living room, sunroom, entry way, dining room, front half of basement) is on ONE circuit breaker. Oh. As in we can have one A/C unit on AND use the portable phone. But add a light or TV to that combination and we are plunged into a sweaty, dark nightmare. Have we told you that all of the windows on the first floor are painted, stained and (in the kitchen) GLUED shut?

We don't have any massive monthly assessments anymore though. And our washer and dryer are in the same building that we are in. Life is good.

Some days are more adventurous than others.

Some days are more adventurous than others.

The one thing I like more than anything about this project is the people. Our cool neighbors, the talented craftspeople we are discovering, hearing from people who read the website and have their own stories to tell, fellow bungalow owners.

I haven't been in touch with my bungalow pals as much as I'd like these past 2 weeks. We are cleaning like mad. Floors are scrubbed and rescrubbed. The insides of closets, walls, trim, everything covered with grime and dirt. Plus, garage living and newsprint have not been kind to our things, so they all need to be washed and freshened.

Discovery. For better or worse, this whole project is about discovery. And vision. Can we make these walls bend to our will? Turn back the clock? Sometimes others don't see what we see and even tell us, "Yuk. Glad it's not me." And that makes me sad. I wish I could show them what we see. The fully remodeled upstairs that keeps all of the trim and windows and floors and lovely nooks, but straightens out all that was muddled. The lovely living room that is rebuilt with the original fireplace, stained glass windows and bookcases. The really sunny kitchen with its bungalow touches of cleverness and efficiency.

It's at times like these, when no one else can see your vision, that you do realize that your husband is your best friend and confidant, your best grill chef and organizer.

p.s. I'd like it to rain now, please. We need the cooler air. And the plants in the backyard, especially the rosebush which has painted itself against the white clapboard wall of the tiny garage, are thirsty.

Zen & the Art of Kitchen Cleanliness

I washed the kitchen floor 2 and a half times today.

I had to.

The first time around, I was just making mud.

I cooked on the grill for the first time all by myself because it will be our kitchen for the next year.

Which should make Christmas dinner pretty lively.

peace. and good sleep to all.

We've added comments!!

We've added comments!! Now anyone can comment on an individual posting by clicking on the "Comments" link below each entry. We'd love to hear your thoughts or ideas, so comment away! :-)

The First Survivable Floor!

Let's take a trip back in time and then look at...

THE FIRST SURVIVABLE FLOOR

I can only do the front half tonight...tomorrow is second half. Then we're back to the stuff we've found and BOY! Has it gotten interesting! (Are you intrigued? Please be intrigued. It motivates us to keep going.)

Living Room BEFORE we bought

Yes, this is where the fireplace and built-in's were. They will be back someday.

Living Room (and Sun Room) NOW

Well. This room still needs a little inspiration. Not even a piano can hide the fact that the fireplace should be there. We're hoping that books on the bookshelves of our temporary bookcases (they'll go upstairs after renovations) we'll warm it up a little. That, and new curtains in the sunroom. We're washing the outside of the windows right before we install the screens.

The Dining Room BEFORE we bought

You didn't actually forget about the marlin, did you? I mean, c'mon. (By the way, she took that with her.)

The Dining Room NOW

('http://www.houseinprogress.net/images/diningroom2.html','popup','width=300,height=400,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,toolbar=no,directories=no,location=no,menubar=no,status=no,left=0,top=0'); return false">

Once those windows are jimmied open and we have new curtains, this may become my favorite temporary room in the house. Still a shame about that trim around doors and windows, but we'll replace it.

Is this progress?

I just posted pictures of the first floor, "Before We Bought" and "After We Move In". I thought, "Weee...we are making progress here! This is livable!"

And then I discovered the drawbacks of photography.

It looks a little bit better 2-D. But to really appreciate the amount of space we have and the progress we have ALL (A & I, his parents, my parents, our neighbors who helped) made...you need to SEE it 3D. And SMELL it. (No moldy, dust, yuckky smells.)

Right now, it's about the quality of a college apartment. But with a lot more potential.

And better furniture. And healthier food in the refridgerator. And no finals. You get the picture.

P.S. Hey! A big shout out to all of the grandparents in our families following along as well as the folks from the American Bungalow Magazine forum...peace!

More of the First Survivable Floor

Let's take a trip back in time and then look at...

THE FIRST SURVIVABLE FLOOR

The second half of the first floor. Tomorrow, it's BACK TO THE STUFF.

Bathroom & Bedrooms BEFORE we bought

I wish I had taken more pictures of the Master Bedroom before. It was just so crowded, I couldn't stand anywhere to take a decent picture.

Bathrooms & Bedrooms NOW

We haven't even DONE ANYTHING YET. We've just cleaned it and put in temporary living fixes (note the shower curtain-lined walls in bathroom...pre-tile). The dog is much happier. But we still have to put the new fabric on the ceiling...because this is what we see at night before the lights go out. Yech.

The Back Room and Kitchen BEFORE we bought

Can you even SEE these rooms beyond the stuff? And the island in the middle of the floor basically took up ALL of the floor space.

The Back Room and Kitchen NOW

Again, more windows to pry open. New curtains will help (versus the sheet in the back room that she left up there...and do you like how they started painting down the wall--then stopped? That's to cover up some old roof leaks). We still have unpacking to do in the backroom, but thanks to the power of wireless technology, it is our office. And it looks out onto the REAL kitchen.

Another Day, another BBQ & Home Depot Run

Back to the stuff...tonight's edition of "What on Earth" (Batch 14) is in honor of our American Bungalow forum pal, Kitschywoman. It's a quiz for all of you playing at home, with a few ringers thrown in. Do you know your kitsch? Are you sure? Here's your chance to throw that gauntlet down :)

It was a busy weekend with A's family in town for the ordination of A's mom (go D!). Some of the group were going to go downtown to see a few museums on Saturday. After touring our home on Saturday morning, they decided that was good enough and they were free to ride the EL around the Loop and visit the John Hancock tower instead! (No fooling.) Yes, we're officially competing with The Field and the Museum of Science & Industry now.

Today, after a lovely BBQ at A's parents, A & I came back to the house. A knocked down the wasp nests and I puzzled out where a few more window screens fit and mowed the lawn. It is sad when, even with a leak in our hose and less force than there should be, that the water from a hose could knock down wasp nests AND take strips of exterior latex off of the underside of the eaves. This is a sorely neglected house.

While I tried to weed what we now can call, "The Jungle", A went to the Home Depot and scored 50 ft of hose, a groovy/solid sprinkler, and a nifty ergonomic hand sprayer all for under $50.

We are hoping that someday our lawn will be a GREEN lawn, like the neighbors all around us. Though we are careful not to direct the hose AT the house, for fear that part of the house will just break off.

Lawn Care & the Ego

A neighbor who was mowing his lawn waved at me today.

That made trimming the bushes and falling in that thorny rose hedge last weekend worth it.

There is something about cleaning up our yard that brings out the approval-hungry teenager in me. "Love our lawn? Aren't we good neighbors? Aren't I a good person? Do you liiiike mmeeeeeeee????????"

Marketing companies must chortle in glee over people like me, grab their phone and dial up the advertisting buyer for Home Depot. "No, really!!! One more $80,000 ad in this Sunday's ad circular and she is all yours!!! On a silver platter! I promise you, man..."

I am so transparent.

Coco Takes One for the Team

The dog and I are sharing a new experience...allergies.

I just get headaches. The dog has these "5 in a row" sneezing fits that are so fierce, she bangs her head on the floor during the blowback.

So now when I hear her start to wuffle, I throw my body between her chin and the floor. I've only managed to prevent a few "sneeze hits". Generally, she is so startled, she forgets about sneezing entirely.

I'll have more exciting things to post after a holiday weekend working on the house. I will be attempting to make (ta DA!) curtains. Temporary ones for the downstairs windows which currently have sheets on them.

Wish me luck. I'm going in.

A....CHOOO!

The Biggest Pile of Trash Ever!

Okay, so I cleaned out part of the basement today. One of the TWO toolbenches. W was a real "do-it-yourself" guy. I found a bunch of old tools, parts of things and a LOT of dirt and rust and broken glass and pieces of wood and string.

Life is not all eBay excitement here.

I did find an old Ford hubcap in pretty good condition. And we can finally get into our personal safe (did I mention the house came with a great big safe? There is an enormous safe. And they left us the combination. Which is way cool. And it was empty. 'Cause I know what you're thinking...I mean...my mind went there too, originally.)

The garbage men (and lady...go girl!) came this morning (one day early!) without warning. So, I'm pouring coffee while in my p.j.'s when I heard that familiar whine in the alley. I FLEW out of the back door, looking not very hot, screeching "Wait! Wait!" I tore into the back of the garage and hit the button for the garage door. And I just watched everyones' eyes get really big as the door rose up to reveal...

I plucked 6 big things out of the pile and handed them over (which didn't even make a dent, really), thanked everyone, shut the door, and headed back inside. There's a limit to how much you're allowed to give the nice garbage people and we're working our way towards gaining custody of the garage one week at a time. At this rate, the garage sale will be in September. Of 2004. When we have our garage back.

Peace.

A New Site!!

Welcome to our new digs! We decided that we were having a lot of fun with this and that we should get a proper set of tools and our very own web address! :-)

We hope you like the new look. It also has cool new features, like the category buttons along the right. Try 'em out!

It's a HOUSE! (A crazy house!) It's a WEBLOG! (Mom, that's an online diary...) It's a, um, HOUSEBLOG! A HOMEBLOG! A CHAOSBLOG? Chaosblog seems most appropriate for the moment.

PS - Thanks to AJ for the webhosting. If you're looking for a good service try him out at aefjdesigns.com.

It's us against the weather

This isn't living. It's survival.

How did vintage bungalow people do it?

I mean, sure. Their windows opened back then. But they had petticoats too.

Yesterday, the thermometer topped 93 degrees outdoors. I don't even want to think of it indoors. Meanwhile, for the hottest part of the day, we (2 humans, a cat and a dog) huddled against the A/C in the bedroom with the door closed and prowled around at night. Until we all fell asleep at 4 a.m. That's when we found out that contractors don't work when the rest of us do...they are tireless.

Because the phone rang at 7:30 am. It was a lovely man, someone who is a real trooper to even come see the place because he usually works somewhere in the southwest suburbs. It was the Saturday after a holiday and he was ringing us up to tell us that he'd be out to look at the masonry at 9:00 am. And we would have answered the phone usually. But this was after the rainstorm drama.

You see, when we finally fell into bed, there was a rainstorm. Around 4 am. And ALL of the windows upstairs, as well as the only ones which will open on the first floor, were open. Being blessed with the ability to hear the cat cough up a hairball even in the middle of my REM cycle (but not with the ability to hear my husband telling me to "shove over", hmmm), I sprang bolt upright, with both feet aiming for the floor and landed on the dog.

I sprinted around calling, "A! A!" at the top of my lungs. But the poor man was exhausted and besides, didn't everyone tell us that lathe and plaster was magnificent at killing sound?

It is.

After I groped around without my glasses and managed to find the OLD towels with which to mop up, I realized with horror that it wasn't just the rain pouring water onto our sills.

The ancient A/C from Montgomery Ward had been propped up in the window with a few boards of wood to tilt the unit INTO the house. So ALL of the condensation from 72 hours of A/C was finally running INTO the bedroom.

Our A/C runneth over, so to speak. Well.

At 4:30 am, with the choice of stuffing a load of rags between the sill and the A/C unit OR sleeping in that room with NO A/C and no open windows, I chose the former, muttering "Worse things have been happening to this house since 1914. I'm going to bed."

Which is why we didn't get the phone at 7:30 am. And why we slept past the visit from the mason. And we are very sorry. And we won't let it happen again.

It's too darn hot

I had to sing the song "It's Too Darn Hot" in swing choir in high school. I thought the premise was neat...it had rhythm...as much as my 15 year old brain could understand jazz rhythm.

The reality is much much more of a bummer.

So I didn't do curtains. It was too hot. We couldn't take down the blinds and do curtains because that would let the sun in. To the windows we can't open. In the house with one window A/C unit.

You're getting the picture, right?

We spent the holiday in the basement.

And therefore, I would officially like to thank my parents--ONLINE--for the getting me the best present that any house restoration-obsessed daughter (and part of a couple) could ask for upon the event of her birthday.



A SUPER COOL, HIGH POWERED WET/DRY VACUUM CLEANER

Anything that sucks up nails, plaster AND spiders is A-OK in my book.

Here are some photos to meditate on...the planters that we bought each other for our anniversary are still blooming with impatiens (click on the thumbnail photos to enlarge them):



And the day-lilies are outstanding.


If we could have world peace, things would be perfect. Peace.

Waxing the Tub

I waxed my bathtub today.

Just for the record, I do not wax anything else in my life. Car, floor, legs...(I'm a razor grrl).

But when Tim says "Wax the tub every 5 days for the first 30 days", I become a Turtle Wax devotee. A slave to bungalow renovation.

I also caulked some fixtures and reassembled them. (Caulk is messy.) And realized, dispairingly, that before we tile the walls in the first floor bathroom, we're going to have to go into the wall behind the fixtures and fix whatever is lurking there first. I guess I feel better that we don't have to go through TILE to do that...because the tile is already gone. But we have LOOKED at replacement tile...3 x 6 subway tile...so proper for a bungalow.

The Bug Slayer

Before I moved into this house, I was a total wuss about anything with more than 6 legs.

I mean, there were things with six legs I wasn't keen on either. Like the Palmetto bug. These bugs have six legs but THEY ARE LARGER THAN MY SHOE, therefore making them part of the "HTK" (Harder to Kill) category and super scary. (Click to make photo larger...IF YOU DARE!!!)

My friend, K, is going to bust me on this one because I think that is actually a picture of a giant roach. But a palmetto bug LOOKS like a Giant ROACH to me. So. There.

Well, we don't have these. But! We do have icky SPIDERS:

Again, I don't hang around to take pictures of real spiders...I am usually hollering for A at the top of my lungs to come kill it. Do you know how FAST those things are? And how much ground they can cover for their size? I think creepy + speed = death fear in my book. And yes, I know, I know. "Spiders are our friends because they kill other bugs." I've heard it, I've said it to 7 year olds while crossing my fingers behind my back. Well, fine. Spiders can be someone else's friend. I don't want them as friends. I am not scared out of my mind by other bugs!!! Which is why I sucked up all the spiders in the basement with the Wet/Dry vacuum last weekend. A told me that I would regret it, but I only regret it because I'm too afraid to empty the Wet/Dry Vac. Did I regret sucking them up into their own private plastic prison, however?

No.

Which brings me to my most feared enemy, the THOUSAND LEGGER.

I never, ever saw these before I moved to the Midwest. They are technically a "house centipede". Uh-huh. That makes them sound too nice, like a "House Cat" or a "House Pet". These things have ONE MILLION LEGS (perhaps a tiny exaggeration) that enable them to propel themselves at you faster than you can run. They run across the floor and up a wall. There are so many legs, you can't guess which way they are going to turn...which is why it is good to just RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! If you see one.

Well. That was before I moved into "The House".

We still have these things. But I have become numb. My first 1000-legger encounter took me by surprise early on, I'll admit. I was walking into the kitchen and it was walking out. I screamed at the top of my lungs and spun around to take off. But just before my sprint, I noticed something.

It spun around too. And dove under the stove. I scared it.

Aha. My feared enemy is VULNERABLE.

So, 2 nights ago, up at 3:00 am, I had a metal spatula on the desk next to me. (Don't ask why.) And a BIG, HUGE thousand legger fluttered its way across the platform where the cat's food bowl is. And I thought, "Oh no, you don't, bug boy!"

And I reached over, cut it in two with the spatula and went back to typing, thinking "I'll clean it up in the morning or (hopefully) the cat will eat it."

The cat, however, is useless...unless its prey is in the shape of a pellet of Iams Cat Chow and that pellet does try to run away. Pulls no weight around here in the pest control department.

So, after proudly displaying my kill to my husband the next morning, I wrapped it in TP and flushed it. Because, you know, drowning the bug even after it is dead makes SURE it won't come back to life and come and get you....right?

p.s. I slept last night. First time in days. Whoo hooo!

We're a hit!

Today our site was featured on the popular site boingboing.net! (You can see their description of our site here.)

As a result we saw a HUGE spike in traffic today!

Many thanks to Cory and boingboing.net! :-)

Random...it's all random

This entry is totally random. My life has become random.

Things I'm thinking about:

- I do not miss cable TV except that I can't get any news of the outside world. This may be because I ONLY get my news from one source...The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Because if we weren't laughing, we'd be crying. (But it REALLY bothers me that you have to get through ads to get to their site now...Jon, I love you. Now stop that.) Okay. Enough politics. Or big JW is going to jump in here and rant at me. :)

- Being on the front page of BoingBoing.net for a day surprised me...I mean, wow! Isn't that like the cool guy in school noticing you before he asks out your sister? It's so fleeting, yet so...so...I don't know! BUT! My DAD posting on the site...that just floored me. My dad! Screening our Blog! That is, like, BIG TIME!!!! Dad! What are you doing on the INTERNET???

- La-la-la...groovin to the new Victor Vagabond CD and diggin' it.

- We solemnly handed over a few trinkets from the house this weekend to our pal, E, who is the manager of a U.S. Soccer Team and has to move to L.A. We'll miss you E...but we're glad the bowling shirts will be with you.

- Where is the battery charger for the digital camera? Oh, over here...behind these boxes. Oh, my new mascara too. The next entry this evening is the latest installment of "WHAT ON EARTH??!!" for the fans of stuff. (Now that we've categorized the entries, I'm posting them separately.)

All the stuff today? It's all random.

I am SO difficult.

So, we continue to sally forth.

Today we awoke to a sticky kind of heat...the kind of heat that makes you wish that you could just sprawl in a kiddie pool all day long. Whoa. We COULD get a kiddie pool. There is no condo board here!

A is sketching different tile strategies for the bathroom. TILE is HARD. Not floor tile so much...we're digging that American Olean has 1" hexagon tile and other neat patterns with backing so you can install them in sheets. (Cheating, I know.) But WALL TILE.

That's a whole different story.

If you have good wall tile, go thank it before you go to bed tonight. Say, "Nice tile, nice tile" and brush your fingers along its straight, geometrically perfect grout lines.

For fun with tile, go to this site. Can you believe that this is my brand of FUN these days? :) I used to go clubbing. Now, I play with tile software.

Today, the cable man came. And went.

They're getting better at this cable thing. They CALL YOU right before they get there...it's no longer a TOTAL mystery. But you still don't know if it will be closer to 1 pm or 4 pm.

Anyway. It's hot, I'm grumpy, the cat is grumpy, the dog is confused. The cat is actually in the one A/C room but horked on the rug last night and is still brooding. Like WE CAUSED that! He is so sensitive.

The cable man shows up. And I'm sure that he is a perfectly sensible cable man, sent to do his job. He checks out where we need cable--downstairs and up. Then he goes outside and disappears.

I'm curious but have work to do. So I'm at my computer by the window when I notice the cable guy's truck in the backyard and he is setting up a ladder against the house to tack up cable. Completely opposite of the house corner where this cable needs to go!

So I stroll outside and ask him some questions. Turns out he wants to nail the thick black cable halfway up the side of the house and wrap it around to the front. Which, if you were looking at the house while walking up the sidewalk from the south, would look like the house was wearing a super cheesy pencil-thin mustache. Señor Bungalow.

"Near the roofline?" I ask. "No, too high." "Near the ground?" I plead. "No, too low." So, I sent him away. I started to give in then thought...wait! I own now! I don't want the outside of my house to look this way! So I sent him away like Queen Homeowner. And now a "specialty company" is coming next Tuesday to give us a quote on "fishing" the cable through the walls of the house. Which should be interesting because they will have to, somehow, go around the chimney.

Now. My husband is an incredibly lovely man. He already tried to tell me about the cable thing. Priced one of those little cable mini-dishes. I couldn't do it. I picture the radiation or whatever it is pulsing out of one of those things like the lightning bolts in a Flash Gordon comic. Or picture myself at 80 years old with a big cauliflower looking thing on the side of my head from exposure. It doesn't help that our neighbors in the old place had one and, everytime I walked within 20 feet of it, my cell phone shorted out with a zap. And, of course, the cauliflower thing could be from the cell phone....but that doesn't LOOK as lethal as those dishes.

BEFORE CABLE DISH

AFTER CABLE DISH

(the comb-over does nothing for the cauliflower growth)

And it was the All-Star Series tonight. Something that has to do with sports and it is important. He graciously offered to listen to it on the radio. So I did what any loving wife would do.

I sent him to his parent's air-conditioned house to watch the TV.

I am so difficult.

Smelly Encounter

"Adventures in homeownership"

We took the evening off.

After I got home from work and used my new CLEANER OF CHOICE (vinegar) on a couple of things (it really does work)...

...we went sailing for the first time this season. A's family has had a trim little sailboat in the family for three generations so we headed out for the evening on Lake Michigan with our pals, AJ and L.

So relaxing. When the water is calm, the breeze is steady and its dusk...it's like sitting in your living room with the coolest view of Chicago in the world. And...you're moving.

Ok. So. Anyway. When we got home, we took the dog for a stroll around the new 'hood...

She'll be 12 in a week, she's an awesome dog, but not the brightest penny in the bank.

This is Coco, hugging my feet when she is sleepy.

I'm joking around a little because I've seen a possum and have smelled AND seen a skunk on different days this month. I tell A, "If we see the skunk, grab the dog." And the dog is careening all over the sidewalk like she has a steering problem. Because she is following her nose and she is always excited about nose following.

I see the black cat on the wall first. I open my mouth to say, "Wow...look at the cat..." Except nothing comes out, because I see the skunk. Like Pepe la Pew serenading his beloved in a cartoon, except this is real life and much more stinky.

The dog veers straight for the skunk. "Get!" "Her!" I yell, as I grab her back end and pull.

The skunk waddles away super fast, straight for our front steps...past our front steps and into the neighbors' yard.

And the dog is like, "What? Huh?"

And all I can think of is....vinegar.

No good, very bad, horrible day

Last night I used vinegar successfully to take some funky stains off of some vintage Pyrex glassware, but then set off a huge cloud of acrid smoke in the basement when I turned on the mangle to try pressing some towels.

At 3 am.

So A and I had to drag that thing into the back yard (with it screeching and protesting and belching smoke the whole way--I am terribly sorry for our neighbors) so we didn't have to worry about it exploding before morning. I turned the hose on it a few times for good measure.

It was the sorriest sight to see over morning coffee.

The poor thing looks like it tried to crawl out to the garbage and died on the way there, next to the sidewalk.

This sleep deprivation thing is a huge bummer.

{waving hello madly...}

You know...this Internet thing is super fun.

I had no idea the interesting sites that I would find by looking at people who had looked at OUR site. This is one big Internet-fest. Sorry I sound so much like a geek but honestly, this blog thing is a pretty new phenomenon to me. Though I really miss the Table Talk crowd at MWT for Salon.com. :(

And to those of you who are tuning in to just our site (like my family), roam around a little bit. These folks, especially some of the livejournal crowd, are very good writers and FUN!

Our top ten linked sites (according to web stats) are:

1. BoingBoing - This is some very cool stuff served up piping hot daily.

2. American Bungalow Magazine - If you love the site, the zine will have you swooning. Plus, such a helpful house restoration crowd.

3. Old House - If you have an Old House, you need this site. Not to be confused with "This Old House".

4. Purejuice - She's a great writer, she's got soul, and she's got a kickin' site. Also voted Livejournal user we'd most like to have a margarita and conversation with.

Rest of top ten if you click the link...

5. Gapers Block - Something else in Chicago that I love as much as the Chicago Reader but didn't know it existed until 3 days ago.

6. Craigs List - What do you want to know? It's on Craigs List.

7. Saucy Dwellings from LiveJournal - The sauciest! Dwellings! Ever!

8. Morphius 7 Friends - Dang! Who is Morphius 7? And how'd he get so many friends?

9. Cadence 90 - Lisa Williams is insightful, funny and interesting. Get to know her.

10. Vicki and Friends - Again...many, many friends. Dialogue, random-ness, photos, entertaining!

11. Blogwise.com - A directory of blogs...thanks Sven!

We are just blogging away about the house...these folks have real exciting lives! With photos! And points-of-view!

Someday. Someday.

Okay, back to the stuff.

Electricity and I--Not the best of pals

Today, after I got home from work, I put on a brave face and started to sort and tag. For the garage sale, that is. Man, but researching what things should cost is stressful. There is a LOT of stuff in here. And a lot of it is worth very, very little. Trust me on this. Old does not necessarily equal valuable.

A good thing and a not so good thing happened.

I did drag our BIG PRIZE SCORE from the dangers of the unventilated bathroom to the dry comfort of the storage room in the attic. This part of the attic has a cute little door and everything. Very sweet...

As is the TRUNK! (Our aforementioned big score...)

Constructed by the Hartmann Luggage Company at the turn of the century. Those clever drawers have ribbons in them to tie things. Under the silk hanging down is a series of flat wooden hangers. It has it's original keys... It is very smart and we love it. We will be tucking this into the kneewalls of the Master Bedroom

When we have a Master Bedroom.

BUT THEN! Tragedy (again with electricity!). I was wiping off and examining the marks of some unusual pottery in the basement. The piece I'm about to show you is by Lewis Weil:

I have no idea who that is...but his name is on the piece. I was fascinated by this piece. The overall construction involves a lightbulb in the head of the yawning boy and when you plug it in, it is a nightlight. With the light coming out of his mouth. A little strange, but in a wacky vintage way.

Without examining the age of the cord or it's series of tapings with electrical tape, I confidentally plugged it into the wall...and immediately shorted out a breaker in the box while at the same time sparking the cord and blowing it into two pieces. The head survived just fine.

Sigh. I will never know what this happy little head looks like lit up at night.

And as I type, I am making less and less sense because it is LATE. Goodnight. And goodnight Lewis Weil, whoever you are...

Say whaaaa...??? (To paraphrase Jon Stewart)

So, we are at that place where we feel like we are losing momentum rather than gaining it. After the initial cleaning and before we've had time to begin anything major and drawn out. Before the hot and muggy weather is gone.

Luckily, a phone call to L in Boston has me laughing instead of blue. Not only do her sister and brother-in-law live in a gorgeously renovated Victorian in Northampton, but they have put themselves through this more than once! Is there a type of -mania, like "kleptomania", except with renovation? What IS that Latin word for "renovates endlessly putting themselves through torture repeatedly"?

She's says I'll be alright. That is the absolutely most yucky stage.

Well, that's good.

So, before we fall asleep at night, A and I read our little "Do It Yourself" picture books and gear up for the weekend. Here's a snippet of our conversation from last night:

A: Listen to this. Who writes the copy that goes with these pictures? (reading aloud) “…sometimes, though, you want to go beyond the basics and experience the real pleasure of bathing. The deep relaxation of hot water. The therapy of quiet immersion. The peaceful pleasure of bathing with family or friends…” (stops reading) Whaaaaa? (makes funny cartoon shaking head noise)

J: (Can't speak...laughing too hard with a combination of horror and fascination...makes hand waving gesture that indicates "keep reading!")

A: (Reading on) "…my sense is that the quality of room as a space is paramount—with places to sit around the perimeter with good natural lighting…”

J: Ohmigosh! Who wrote your book???!!! I mean, the photographs are great, so maybe the guy hired to write copy around them thought, "It's Friday. No one will really read this...I'm outta here for the weekend"...?

A: No, but wait! Don't you see? This is exactly what we need to design for our upstairs bathroom! So when you are taking a bath, and if you have a guest over, they have somewhere to sit, you know, on the perimeter…

J: Stop! STOP! Suddenly, I don’t want to know anymore...I'm going to sleep.

What happens when you have too much "guest seating" around your bathtub? Alice Springs, Australia...that's what happens!

(It's the Bath Tub races at Alice Springs, Australia!)

What have we learned so far about old things?

You know, researching the history of historical and vintage items is so much more difficult than we thought, After many trips to the library, and bookstores, and MANY searches on the web, I still have the following questions:

1) Who is the pottery artist named "de Vegh?"

2) What is the story on the Gefle company in Sweden?

3) Who is Lewis Weil?

And many others. It's back to the books on this one.

The objects themselves are interesting, however, it's the story behind each one that I find fascinating. I spied this on a book list somewhere and thought it might explain my general fascination. Objects of Desire: The Lives of Antiques...

To this end, the folks on the eBay Community Discussion boards have been INVALUABLE. I tip my hat to their good judgement, generousity and kindness. Thank you folks. (If you are ever confused about something's identity, check with these folks...they REALLY know their stuff!)

Also, if you want to complete Mom's wedding china set with that cup and saucer that you accidentally broke when you were 11, here is you BIG CHANCE. Replacements, LTD can at least get you started...

I've learned that vinegar is a handy cleaner when it comes to old glass and even metal. Straight ammonia (use in well-ventilated area, protect clothes, wood and other surfaces) can strip years of grime off of a window and chandelier and linoleum tile. (Thanks Mom)

Using Oxyclean then a gentle vinegar rinse breathes new life (and white) into some darkened or stained linens. Treat stains with a combination of salt and vinegar using a small fingernail brush. Or with an enzyme-absorbing stain remover. Dry in the sunshine on a breezy day...the sun will lighten and is a critical part of the process! I was blown away by how snowy white I was able to get an old lace daily after a gentle vinegar rinse and some time in the sun.

(sorry...took the second picture at night with the overhead light on, created some funky shadows)

A dehumidifier is critical in a musty, damp basement. Yahhoo!

LPG says that using vodka on a rag to wipe down the drawers of antiques and built-ins gets ALL the musty, old smell out. But I have been too afraid to try it. I throw dryer sheets in them instead but I think I may have to try her approach soon.

I'm going to use an interesting stucco cleaning recipe I found today...I'll post the results later.

Any one else have cleaning or freshening words of wisdom? Bungalow pals? Relatives? livejournal folks? eBay friends? Friends in general?

Is this renovating? Or dating?

The cable person stood me up today.

I feel like I am dating again.

I thought A and I were safely tucked away within the bonds of matrimony and suddenly we've been thrust into the front lines of THE HOME REPAIR GAME because we have bought a fixer-upper. Waiting by the phone? Yes. Wondering if they'll like you enough to come back? Yes. Moping around until you hear from them? Yes.

I'm in high school all over again. I'm scanning the "Ask Norm" column in This Old House magazine as feverishly as I used to scan the "Dating Tips" column in Seventeen Magazine.

So, we did a lot of stuff ourselves this past weekend while pretending like we didn't care that the most POPULAR contractors were spending time with OTHER clients. Probably cheerleader clients.

We took the garage from WORSE than this (click on the picture for a close-up):

To BETTER than THIS:

Raising our hopes (oh please please please!) for a garage/yard/basement sale in September. That's right, you heard it here first...GARAGE SALE IN SEPTEMBER. Of 2003 even! Probably the 2nd or 3rd weekend. Bring the kids. Unless you need the room for the amazing STUFF you'll get. eBay auctions for a few choice items will begin that same weekend...more later.

We dragged this little beauty from the garage to the upstairs bathroom to temporarily solve our ventilation problem near the shower...

Aii-yup. (I drawl, as I hook my thumbs in my suspenders and rock back on my heels.) That there is a gen-u-ine Berns "Air King" RE-versible window fan. Just a touch of the lever on the top and the whole fan unit inside that grill flips over to blow air in the other direction. 'a course, we've got it facing OUT so that the moist air from the shower doesn't wreck the "bedroom-turned-bathroom in 1951" anymore than it is already wrecked. No plastic? Art deco styling? I'm guessing the fan is from the 1930's or 1940's...

Ah, the GOOD life. With modern technology....

A peaceful place

Instead of showing you pictures of our dusty, yucky place today (can you tell we worked all day?), we will show you our vision of hope...a little piece of paradise that we call...

A's parent's house.

A's parents lived on the same street that they live on now when A was born. They moved a few times and eventually settled back in Chicago, a few blocks away from their original house. They rented THIS house from the previous owners and then eventually bought it. It is adorable.



It is a Tudor-revival bungalow with a clever, lovely addition in the back. It is also clean. And everything WORKS. And they are working on a new garden. Sigh.




The flags (click picture to resize) are a loving nod to the Scandanavian roots of A's family. I pass for Scandanavian sometimes, especially when I wear my clogs :) But my Irish and (Polish? Russian? Ukranian?) roots betray me sometimes.

For example, I had no idea until I met A that this picture was painted by a famous Swedish artist, Carl Larsson (book). But it looks very Arts & Crafts, doesn't it? No wonder Scandanavian folks who settled in this neighborhood were at home in these bungalows!



It's hard to pick a specific part of the house that I love...there are so many! And the amount of pictures to capture the whole house would take its own site. I am a big "nook" lover...anything tucked away will do. So, I'll just have to post a few favorite "perches" and "nooks":







The house actually has its original front staircase and a "tucked away" back spiral staircase in the addition. This gives the house two extra bedrooms and a family room with a fireplace. The original exterior wall creates the interior wall of the addition and a fun loft is above one of the "newer" bedrooms. (It is from this loft that I typed my first webpage entry for this blog! Yes, this was our beloved "transitional house.") The house is very "Sarah Susanka"...Not So Big house. Esthetically pleasing and making great use of space.

Plus, it isn't often that a you get a neat indoor "treehouse" in your mid-thirties!

p.s. Yes, the lanterns in the porch nook ARE from IKEA...how did you know? :)

Our Own Personal Niagara Falls

Today was a very unusual day.

Coco had a yucky day. She ate something that didn't agree with her and didn't feel well.

She didn't feel well many times. On almost an hourly basis for about 5 hours. This kept us on our toes all day.

And it rained VERY hard today. And also hailed.

When we checked the new extended downspout in the front of the house, we were very proud little homeowners. It was working very well.

So we checked the back of the house, just out of curiousity.

And realized that the back sidewalk was ANKLE DEEP in water. Which I tested out...yup, ankle deep. Love those Teva's.

This made me wonder...hmm. How is the basement doing? So I trotted down there. Everything looked dry! Great! And then, I heard the sound of rushing water. So I opened the back door which is at the bottom of some steps under the back room of the house. Actually it is the SECOND back door. We have 2 doors there...one at backyard level and one at basement level.

Luckily we had decided to have the pipes under the house rodded clear of debris the first week we moved over. Because the drain and the pipes were keeping our own personal NIAGARA FALLS from flooding into the basement.

Notice how I popped the top off of the drain? This is because it was draining a tad bit more slowly than it needed to for this onslaught of water.

Like I said, it was an unusual day.

Splash!

Everyone needs a buddy break!

You know, when this whole process becomes too overwhelming, we are thankful for our friends. Because they make us laugh. And think hard about world issues. And help us through the rough spots. (But...at the end of this story is a surprise appearance by the EMPEROR of creepy crawlies...be careful when scrolling.)

Today, K came in from Law School in DC...we were SO HAPPY to see her! She and her sister, B, as well as friends L & A helped A & I to celebrate a mild Friday evening in the flowery backyard. And to break in the new (old) lawn furniture! (Okay, okay...I'm the one next to L on the seat...with the blue dress. A is taking the picture.)

We cooke