Could it be love? November 24, 2010

While driving around our target area, we searched for “for sale” signs, but as life would have it, we found the house we want. And it’s not for sale. Darn. That didn’t stop us from poking around. I mean, we didn’t break in, but we did walk around the sides of the property and peek in the front window. She is very much vacant and starting to fall asleep….

Built in 1909.

We have actually been stalking the house for a little while on google street view. When we got into town, we knew exactly where to go to see her in person. And she was every bit as glorious stansing tall in front of us, just as she presented herself on the streetview image. Sadly, she has been neglected. No one values her now that she has become old and tired.

Standing on the front porch, zooming in on the porch roof details. Perfect example of a Neoclassic Revival.

Another view of her soaring columns. They are magnificent when you are close up.

So after we tresspassed, we went to the courthouse to get every piece of info we could on the property. We found out that who the owner was and some other things like the lots size, the history, taxes owned, etc. Did we leave it at that? Of course not. It was now an adventure. We went straight to the old owner’s house and there was the guy, sitting on his front porch smoking. I did all the talking. We chatted for about 30 minutes about the old days and what we wanted to do with that glorious house. And if he would consider letting it go. I told him to not give us an answer right now, but to think about it a little while. I left my name and number. I don’t want to go into all the details of the conversation, but I will say that it looks promising. It *might* be the new homestead one day. No telling how many hoops we will have to jump through, because it will have to be sold through succession. That means lawyers and heirs, but it is worth it. We will see where it goes and keep everyone updated.

I should also add that we are still looking for a big yard and a place that I could run my business out of. This property is an half acre, and it includes a giant workbuilding in the back with 4 skylights in it. It was originally an art studio. How perfect! And there is plenty of room left over to grow all the veggies and fruits we want and of course, add a chicken coop. All in all, it seems to have everything on our wishlist and more.

We also looked at a few other places such as these:

We like this old foursquare too, but I'm not sure why someone would have spray painted it salmon pink??

Interior shot of a house we toured with a realtor. The house was 3 stories high with almost 5000sq ft. The yard was great. The house was crooked. Every room slanted to a different side. Fantastic woodwork throughout.

Cute attic bedroom with beadboard walls. This was one of the 7 bedrooms. Crazy!

The best feature of this house, besides the yard, was this grand staircase that wrapped up into the second story. From there, was another simpler staircase that ascended to the 3rd floor. Try to ignore the sinful red carpet.

We learned alot from this experience so far. Like, when a realtor comes into the picture, expect to pay way more for a house. And what one person deems as “great” shape is another person’s dump hole…

We’ll keep you posted, but I have a sneaking suspicion that this will be a long process since we will most likely take the unconventional route. Would you expect any less from us??

My baby takes the morning train November 18, 2010

Remember that song? I used to sing it to Husband in the mornings, because he did, indeed take the morning train, work from 9 to 5 and then, take another home again. Now he has abandoned the train for the bus. He drives to a bus stop, rides the long commute, then walks the rest of the way to his building- in the dark. We can’t wait to be out of this ratrace.

Parked at the bus stop early in the morning.

Bus stop drop off in the big city.

Finally at work!

Shut the bathroom door, please November 14, 2010

Most people hide all their secrets in the closet, but not us. No, we hide ours in the bathroom. And right now, the door to the kids bathroom upstairs is shut. It will probably stay that way for awhile, because we destroyed it. I mean REALLY destroyed it. It started out that I might paint it and possibly change out the light fixture. When I went to change the fixture, the electrical box, which was attached to NOTHING, fell down into the trenches of the unknown…Okay, so, new electrical box needed and should probably be attached to something like a stud. And while we’re at it, maybe we could get a vanity that doesn’t take up the entire room. Oh, but if we do that, we will need to retile because a smaller vanity will leave spots of subfloor exposed. And so on and so on. Domino effect, which brought us here:

See that hole? Well, that's not where the little white bunny enters Wonderland...

And this:

Decided that the cream colored shower/tub combo would not work with the all white scheme. It was actually built into the wall. Who knew?

And then this:

Paint?? Yeah, what a joke. Some clown decided to paint over two layers of wallpaper, which are peeling. Looks nice, just like everyone's favorite crackhouse.

So what is the plan? I am so glad you asked because I have been thinking about this little bathroom for awhile. And here is what we came up with…

Here is the basic rundown:

We are going to install a new white tub with new shiny chrome fixtures. The walls will be tiled with white subway tiles with some type of mosaic style border to run the perimeter at eye level. I am thinking a spa blue color glass tile.

Floors will be 12 in ceramic tiles in a basic white. The toilet will be the same one that we currently have.

The vanity is off the shelf from HomeDepot, but I will be customizing it to look like an ageworn antique. I will paint it a spa grey/green/blue color and then “age” it. The sink is white along with shiny chrome fixtures. The best part is that it is a great space saver since it only comes out about 13 in from the wall.

The walls will be skimcoated after I peel as much wallpaper off as I can. However, I am doing a special treatment to the wall behind the vanity. We purchased white oak 6 in planks so that they could be nailed horizontally to the wall in clapboard fashion. They will be stained a light brown and then protected with a couple of coats of poly. Above the vanity, I will install a barn light fixture.

Overall, I am excited about this project! It will be great to have all our bathrooms up and running again, and this bathroom will function so much better compared to before.

Little weimaraner November 4, 2010

Dixie and Gabby soaking up the sun.

For the last week and a half, we have been fostering a precious little weimaraner from the rescue. Apparently, she was a stray and then taken in by a woman with lots of kids and other dogs. She nursed her back to health and brought her to the local shelter. They call the weimaraner rescue to come get her, since they recognized her as a full-bred blue weimaraner. She is beautiful! She is also pretty puppyish and is awkward and silly. I find “Gabby” to be super trainable and affectionate. There are already a couple of families who are inquiring about adoption, so we won’t have her too much longer. Our dog has really enjoyed the company, because this foster dog is very submissive and sweet to her. (The last foster we had was definitely the alpha.)

More sunning on the deck. Oh, and those green bins have carrots growing in them.

As you can probably tell from the photos, her fur feels like velvet. She is so pretty!

A couple of weekends ago, we went on a weimaraner hike with the rescue group. This is the same place we go msot of the time with the creek, the lake and the woods. We had a good time chasing dogs and kids through the forest.

Lagging behind because of "Miss Independent."

Taking a break down by the lake.

#3 loved chasing all the weims. I bet there were at least 20 to 25 dogs out there.

#3 trying to boss #2. Yeah, right.

Some weims playing in the water. Dixie put her front two paws and that was it. Not a water dog. Of course we still haven't figured out what she likes to do besides sleep...

As you can imagine, we brought home a lot of mud from this little outing.