tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89220228065083235992024-02-19T06:11:20.005-06:00Little Old HouseFrom Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan - A family of three and their quest of bringing a little old house back to lifeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger503125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-40981819448001497822016-10-17T15:11:00.002-05:002016-10-17T15:11:37.255-05:00Falling for Fall Colors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Among all the craptastic things Hurricane Matthew brought with him (fortunately not for us; we just had to survive five days without electricity), fall was the best. The days following the big storm have simply been beautiful: bright blue skies, lovely breezes, lower humidity, and - best of all - cool nights. Fall in Florida!</div>
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That's the time of the year I think my house loves best - its colors just belong into this season. Earthy fall colors to celebrate the Craftsman detail and lines on our house, warm and inviting. Picking those colors were a decision we did not regret one bit!</div>
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This past weekend I tackled a project which was delayed by Hurricane Matthew: painting the front door and touching up the paint job in those areas that were dedicated to our accent color (chocolate brown so we're looking at you crag stones and top rails).</div>
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After five years our front door is now a rich chocolate brown, and gosh, do I love it! It's one of those little projects you wish you'd tackled sooner. We loved the red, but it just didn't -reeeeally- go with the new color scheme (but life got so crazy it was one of those things that was easily pushed waaaaaay to the back burner).<br />An hour later, this is what the front looked like. It seriously reminds me of a chocolate bar, and it's just as delicious! Best husband ever doesn't quite get my excitement, but he does love it too.<br />
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And because we're slowly but surely approaching Halloween the front wreath got a little make-over too. Two sprigs of fake flowers from the dollar store, a pack of plastic eye balls, and some hot glue! Voila! Peekaboo,<strike> I</strike> We see you!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-28842940360868038822016-06-13T17:19:00.004-05:002016-06-15T21:12:29.737-05:00Steampunkin'<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
And we're back with a little update! Steampunk and industrial chic have been around as home decorating trends for a while now, and because we have pipe (shelf) dreams for our library due to the fact that simple wooden book shelves simply cannot handle our massive load of books I hopped onto the train to Steampunk Town and updated our lighting.</div>
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This is Florida and so getting rid of the ceiling fan was unfortunately not an option. That little bit of air movement makes such a difference 90% of the year Ill happily put up with its slightly tacky look. An easy and affordable update to any ceiling fan light, however, is the addition of better looking shades. Both, the orange and the blue box offer a wide variety of smaller shades you could use but I went and ordered light cages through Amazon.com (<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Newhouse-Lighting-Pendant-Vintage-Industrial/dp/B00GRFZ2H8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1465855672&sr=8-3&keywords=light+cage">here</a>). I only needed three but ordering the set of four only sets you back $20 (instead of $25 for three). Now I have a spare ...or an extra for another project!</div>
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First step is to unscrew your existing lamp shades. </div>
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<b>(Make sure the light is turned off and maybe even go so far as to turn off the electricity entirely. I only turned the lights back on for photos, not while I was working on it. Be SAFE. Always!)</b></div>
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Next you realize that your cage is too large to screw directly to the light bulb socket. </div>
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And of course it appears to be too narrow to fit over the entire socket. </div>
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Not so fast!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAjN8dPY6sqUh7b19TUx_UOGVfhR0XnICOrU1oEcqspSl3MWzUNtQDtq7ZvVoK8bWaK6xhYz56ufoeT0KU0OPmMBTOWUhEi1S4hm-_13E8m6zQQYmnH8IRwk-TZ6eQ50oTTlrCe3Tj8WJ/s1600/IMG_2460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIAjN8dPY6sqUh7b19TUx_UOGVfhR0XnICOrU1oEcqspSl3MWzUNtQDtq7ZvVoK8bWaK6xhYz56ufoeT0KU0OPmMBTOWUhEi1S4hm-_13E8m6zQQYmnH8IRwk-TZ6eQ50oTTlrCe3Tj8WJ/s400/IMG_2460.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">If you unscrew the screws on the neck of the cage and bend it apart ever so gently, it will actually snap right over the wide part and clamp onto it well enough that you don't have to worry about anything.</span></div>
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Crisis averted!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv73Gru-Lu9O7U_1tC1muEilyLwXNUmBBZFjIVGVbIwx1lBTmoeADmomFIlVL9WRl9AbtrHA5p-091biZ_VMWz3CesUDRLan6HTj-9pExH1wb0YhYUHKgxt3WjjjOuSOan4lMF-lLg2BB1/s1600/IMG_2462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiv73Gru-Lu9O7U_1tC1muEilyLwXNUmBBZFjIVGVbIwx1lBTmoeADmomFIlVL9WRl9AbtrHA5p-091biZ_VMWz3CesUDRLan6HTj-9pExH1wb0YhYUHKgxt3WjjjOuSOan4lMF-lLg2BB1/s400/IMG_2462.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Rinse and repeat three times, and then stand back and admire your handiwork! Careful, this is much brighter than before which is great for the room but not so great for looking directly at it.</div>
Even though it was bright I did notice that the light bulb sockets were a bright white sticking out like a sore thumb so I simply painted them with a bit of black acrylic craft paint.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hbW2D5k3Rc16UUUcwy6NDCKlc7ihSif4C15jc7f8L2-dViBMfNasCw05YobpMQQHQWV9Ens1JRb8VnWlX3XVynOXutKMaB-aYWXUntnEflCn2iOapMTZy2mpybBhurtAlUl6Hqyw5cv-/s1600/IMG_2461.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_hbW2D5k3Rc16UUUcwy6NDCKlc7ihSif4C15jc7f8L2-dViBMfNasCw05YobpMQQHQWV9Ens1JRb8VnWlX3XVynOXutKMaB-aYWXUntnEflCn2iOapMTZy2mpybBhurtAlUl6Hqyw5cv-/s400/IMG_2461.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Fabulous! I really like it!</div>
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And what I really like is that it is quirky and farm-y and industrial-y and not frilly and girly.</div>
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So the kitchen sink light got a quick update as well, courtesy of the blue box store and a sale on their cage light shades (On sale right now for $15).</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82pNVPpPekpOOgDcw_aYJfkzR5yIEzPgZEEnpaoGTkRKK-kLxg4TkxFiSp2qP5Unui-6_7GheNsCnzVXywokutS39NQXPAP23R1I7L4PQ7EghX0IUq54sukgnauvSnLl8F8ARV-hIoV6K/s1600/IMG_2463.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg82pNVPpPekpOOgDcw_aYJfkzR5yIEzPgZEEnpaoGTkRKK-kLxg4TkxFiSp2qP5Unui-6_7GheNsCnzVXywokutS39NQXPAP23R1I7L4PQ7EghX0IUq54sukgnauvSnLl8F8ARV-hIoV6K/s400/IMG_2463.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Tada!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-51352604049420041622016-03-02T21:46:00.000-06:002016-03-02T21:46:06.978-06:00Coffeebar Wunderbar!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Here at the Little Old House we are slooooowly getting back into the DIY groove, and one of the smaller projects with mega effect was what we did to our kitchen.</div>
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Ever since we moved in I ..well, we had been waffling over what type of seating arrangement to add to our little kitchen. Banquets were all the rage back then, and they are quite historically correct for a house like ours but our little Duckling house lacked the cute little nook that was just begging to be turned into a breakfast nook.</div>
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You see, our kitchen is a square. A small square. Our original plans of opening up the one window and turning that into a French door opening up to a small deck in the backyard had been dashed before we even started with our renovation. Copper thieves had torn apart our AC compressors and the new units had to follow current code which placed them right where we'd dreamed up our deck.</div>
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Oh well ...</div>
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Anyways, back to seating arrangements. I'm not crazy about islands, especially when they end up sitting smackdab in the middle of a line of traffic, and I was also not crazy about busting out part of the (load-bearing) wall for an open floor plan. I like my kitchen separate from the rest of the public living space, Yeah, I know I'm odd.</div>
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We went back and forth between a breakfast corner arrangement and a breakfast bar, and you know what? At some point, the breakfast bar won. Prooobably the last time I ran out of room for munchies and drinks on the diningroom buffet and wished I had more counter space in the kitchen.</div>
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So we ordered heavy duty shelf brackets from Rockler and a butcher block counter top and went to town!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU0hAuV1Mfh9oO_F7pYU5A5XmTPI4d_AC5G3XuFJWKl8vXyUSwb6DbzLF7B8vdJHOD_sNlQe2nUFG-8Qk9FrM4a3gjoFl8MLr1LM0XLsVye6t0TdO2WxseeAumD1_lmwBj0lE_wu1pzjI/s1600/IMG_1552.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxU0hAuV1Mfh9oO_F7pYU5A5XmTPI4d_AC5G3XuFJWKl8vXyUSwb6DbzLF7B8vdJHOD_sNlQe2nUFG-8Qk9FrM4a3gjoFl8MLr1LM0XLsVye6t0TdO2WxseeAumD1_lmwBj0lE_wu1pzjI/s320/IMG_1552.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Best husband ever and Little Man did most of the work while I supervised (and kept all the pets from photobombing the production and interfering with the work). Tough job but somebody's got to do it!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkYmec-ALEd5VeEXa0RGW4OfdgKGhK0p6ZI6J-RyCnA5_WpeN5HCiaqCOgxCWnhbdh2oWvw1pKavrs0zCsQeiiT1ibzZG822f_aZo0brIqNcz_Ecu3djNGvs2jZIiN-3qejGTIOJ80Jtq/s1600/IMG_1556.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTkYmec-ALEd5VeEXa0RGW4OfdgKGhK0p6ZI6J-RyCnA5_WpeN5HCiaqCOgxCWnhbdh2oWvw1pKavrs0zCsQeiiT1ibzZG822f_aZo0brIqNcz_Ecu3djNGvs2jZIiN-3qejGTIOJ80Jtq/s320/IMG_1556.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Yes, two levels. The husband takes measuring and leveling much more serious than I do which is why I'm the creative brain and he gets to lead the execution of plans that require measuring and leveling. We make an awesome team!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwnhvSVIslNLtCfLm2x7dnb16aa0wEFaQY3jNMMevao9dSQ4TcRAivE2MiMpLqNWDWqRSWziCZEmXmGCKv9tTCrQcmCsCnp32_KQ9M4_ByEjZIR86GDXEhwno9ZCvV7hOftS1EjrlFuE_/s1600/IMG_1557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicwnhvSVIslNLtCfLm2x7dnb16aa0wEFaQY3jNMMevao9dSQ4TcRAivE2MiMpLqNWDWqRSWziCZEmXmGCKv9tTCrQcmCsCnp32_KQ9M4_ByEjZIR86GDXEhwno9ZCvV7hOftS1EjrlFuE_/s320/IMG_1557.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Here it is, our new breakfast bar, waiting patiently to be installed. This baby is seriously heavy.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3L7jJ_9vmVRfuBvQbBCy9ko5-0BOLvJ6bVCiu40Km-EKSZL3Krq2GWy1qPBDRFQxriCXO9G1c9GrSsksPr15GX4DdiTI3vvXBCbDD2BKaNALM9Yl2NZKATjQyIXGkLdLhcj2xkDEMhET2/s1600/IMG_1567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3L7jJ_9vmVRfuBvQbBCy9ko5-0BOLvJ6bVCiu40Km-EKSZL3Krq2GWy1qPBDRFQxriCXO9G1c9GrSsksPr15GX4DdiTI3vvXBCbDD2BKaNALM9Yl2NZKATjQyIXGkLdLhcj2xkDEMhET2/s320/IMG_1567.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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Ta-da! Here it is, our new breakfast bar complete with husband's coffee station. The chairs I picked up ages ago (Two years? maybe even longer ago than that) through Amazon, and aside from having to add rubber feet to keep the hard plastic covers on the feet from scratching the hardwood floors we love them for their sturdiness and industrial 'chic.'</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieP8v0kKG1sygC0YkxLftTXI7-16pXMvor8ZKgGzu-iDjeFFtH2Oc56o7tXA56Ki0ZtydZrYmPygnvWmfpg8QwiYnasjse4qToaoHI4xV1LElY1x-tbp2PeNNCtL_VP7KyKwnySOJrm2NP/s1600/IMG_1569.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieP8v0kKG1sygC0YkxLftTXI7-16pXMvor8ZKgGzu-iDjeFFtH2Oc56o7tXA56Ki0ZtydZrYmPygnvWmfpg8QwiYnasjse4qToaoHI4xV1LElY1x-tbp2PeNNCtL_VP7KyKwnySOJrm2NP/s320/IMG_1569.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
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We LOVE our new breakfast bar. This thing was the BEST feature we have added to the kitchen by far. </div>
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Spot to eat breakfast in the morning? Check!</div>
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Cup of Coffee/tea and a magazine/newspaper in the afternoon? Check!</div>
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Spot for Homework? Check!</div>
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More counter space for food prep? Check!</div>
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Serving space for parties? Check!</div>
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Space for folding laundry? Check!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JceiVwjA_YmWU3dhsx0i11Mh7g4hWrdkc-eNgf53Bdw5uK0L1GSFaR9h8o1WzEipS0qI3FYtJ_ug_fXPYa4ozXwH1RsIh3MLI3jANJ-8iRN5CSwrINbxeTQ1n4DA378iJIK9PCLrgBYE/s1600/IMG_1570.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5JceiVwjA_YmWU3dhsx0i11Mh7g4hWrdkc-eNgf53Bdw5uK0L1GSFaR9h8o1WzEipS0qI3FYtJ_ug_fXPYa4ozXwH1RsIh3MLI3jANJ-8iRN5CSwrINbxeTQ1n4DA378iJIK9PCLrgBYE/s320/IMG_1570.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Why again did we wait this long? Seriously.</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-22762276445161079422016-02-10T19:04:00.000-06:002016-02-10T19:04:42.988-06:00Never Before Seen FootageI'm going to squeak in one old blog post before the end of the week, and one with never before seen footage to boot!<br />
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You see, I inherited this fireplace mantle from our next door neighbor Mrs. Harriett before she moved into an assisted living facility. We so miss this sweet spunky lady and this little treasure she gifted us with brings back very fond memories of and with her, but we do love our new neighbor!<br />
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Long story short, the old computer died and with it the pictures that showed the husband and I spending days stripping this beautiful late 1800s fireplace mantle with the heat gun from layers of mostly bright frog green paint were lost. There is some lovely detailing on the mantle along with some beautiful wood grain that really deserves better pictures one of these days!<br />
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Anyways, we put in a lot of time cleaning up this baby and in the end it looked like this in its new spot in our master bedroom. It provides a nice counter 'weight' to our bed directly opposite and a simply great focal point on a wall that was simply plain boring aside from the batten and board treatment I'd given it before we moved in.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6od2xLRm7Pe_5lMb152fuldAZ5dQXGHLkQMIro1EOG7BJ-yATwUFevl_TPuLQGLatgM3SgLN1KmyHE07Fv8LMtZxSVzWrJn-iqFElenNrM8ENyVj4GBXicL2MYqm2Aq3R2myHMWprK5Qs/s1600/IMG_9915.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6od2xLRm7Pe_5lMb152fuldAZ5dQXGHLkQMIro1EOG7BJ-yATwUFevl_TPuLQGLatgM3SgLN1KmyHE07Fv8LMtZxSVzWrJn-iqFElenNrM8ENyVj4GBXicL2MYqm2Aq3R2myHMWprK5Qs/s1600/IMG_9915.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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It's just a mantle, no actual fireplace, so we covered the opening of the firebox with a panel that we painted black for now. Maybe we'll add shelves for candles or something like that. Later.<br />
However, with the black panel in place it did all look a bit too stark, and the black panel to wood ratio was off. Of course, since there is usually a band of tile surrounding the fire box!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlP8saoJ0eaAf8oTIUssEIHuus5bnn9qwYzcnDrTnSG7A155DLDh-7lwOS0tZuJFV0k7jRwUHJXtqzKk26_khR5kvqt-uUuwQ622_Hu5ETYXBuN5d6dPxqD8BJaUGzQaAIoQlx73VuX9w/s1600/IMG_9916.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRlP8saoJ0eaAf8oTIUssEIHuus5bnn9qwYzcnDrTnSG7A155DLDh-7lwOS0tZuJFV0k7jRwUHJXtqzKk26_khR5kvqt-uUuwQ622_Hu5ETYXBuN5d6dPxqD8BJaUGzQaAIoQlx73VuX9w/s1600/IMG_9916.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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So I went to the orange box and poked around the rile section for a bit until I scored a couple of sheets of this variegated cream and latte mosaic tile. At just $5 a sheet these were a steal, very much in keeping with the type of glazed tile you would see in an original, and fit the overall color scheme of our bedroom. Neat! I also grabbed two small buckets of pre-mixed adhesive & grout in a soft almond color, and went home.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Zm5Tc3s2xPa2AJ9cEWrlfN4S7ZGUfjU3LRLp9yLj3unJKT5g9zz9JmTXjw6n4UjcEdXVcw4ByBy70V5iJ-sj0_UDnLQ0KrFo3-l3yNDmFFyA7m3y_uztx7EtIVMh2pw46VgUuFe0xeLt/s1600/IMG_9918.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5Zm5Tc3s2xPa2AJ9cEWrlfN4S7ZGUfjU3LRLp9yLj3unJKT5g9zz9JmTXjw6n4UjcEdXVcw4ByBy70V5iJ-sj0_UDnLQ0KrFo3-l3yNDmFFyA7m3y_uztx7EtIVMh2pw46VgUuFe0xeLt/s1600/IMG_9918.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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This was an incredibly quick and easy fix. I cut the mosaic tile sheet with a pair of household scissors into wide strips, then spread some adhesive, placed the tile, and so slowly worked my way around the opening of the former firebox.<br />
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Oh look! You can catch a glimpse of "The Green" - that's the color the whole fireplace mantle was painted. It was very bright ...and very very green.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LtSY9s-5fDF4kqjqt2c8jGkqSxfoiCMimYAVoB-KSlomOBktt3amQLtG7QYDLcVAaboItdpjcVZbTSjKaRqNMrcvfVecJKI0LQIay90C5yo32At-9JXHmZfKg90JGS0yWPQvGWB95Otp/s1600/IMG_9917.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9LtSY9s-5fDF4kqjqt2c8jGkqSxfoiCMimYAVoB-KSlomOBktt3amQLtG7QYDLcVAaboItdpjcVZbTSjKaRqNMrcvfVecJKI0LQIay90C5yo32At-9JXHmZfKg90JGS0yWPQvGWB95Otp/s1600/IMG_9917.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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After letting it dry, I used the same stuff for grout, and then touched up the paint along the edge where board and tile meet. Done!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-47880685545365508552016-01-07T15:07:00.001-06:002016-01-07T15:08:26.906-06:00And once more: Happy New Year<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid19hvvtPBhVm4i_yXcSPbJHapj35K_GP3ib0elcHLuM-AWC5KclB8CrMGtcts8BT-y4OEV64hKQyviUMNeI95IZy1_26kHgYU3lrEaoSJhhiptY9gqqj9PwbBkgzpyg9-rS3AiMtaxrsz/s1600/happynewyear.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEid19hvvtPBhVm4i_yXcSPbJHapj35K_GP3ib0elcHLuM-AWC5KclB8CrMGtcts8BT-y4OEV64hKQyviUMNeI95IZy1_26kHgYU3lrEaoSJhhiptY9gqqj9PwbBkgzpyg9-rS3AiMtaxrsz/s400/happynewyear.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Frankly, I just cannot believe it has been a year since I last posted here.</div>
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Seriously.</div>
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A whole year.</div>
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Time really does fly.</div>
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Life at this little old house is buzzing along happily amidst bees and chicken and cats and dogs. While 2015 has not been the grandest of years, we were blessed for the most part. Little Man went off to middle school and is now taller than his mom. His mom did a whole lot of other, non-house crafts, and the Best husband got some much needed quality time in lazying about on the weekends reading and smoking a pipe on the porch rather than checking off items on the honey-do list.</div>
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After all this time just doing house and house blog stuff, we apparently needed a year off, both from house projects and blogging about it. And looking at my blog reading list we were in good company. Great company even, seeing that YHL pulled the plug on theirs.</div>
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Anyways, long story short, a day before Christmas the Best Husband and I whipped together a small project in the kitchen that we'd been stewing over for -years-. It came together great, we love it, and it has made a -huge- difference in how we use our kitchen. You know, the kind of little update that makes you go "Why the heck didn't we do this sooner?!"</div>
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So, I guess we got the bug again. There will be projects again. A few, every now and then, and, thanks to a new camera that arrived today, even blog posts with pictures.<br />
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I promise you at least DOUBLE what I posted last year.</div>
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Make that triple.</div>
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Ha!</div>
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Much love,</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
-M.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-52528150577683050622015-01-01T12:05:00.002-06:002015-01-01T12:05:40.092-06:00Happy New Year!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkWnaKXw_AstdpZNWFOpIFd3rydgcDa7qGmUJktmup-xJHRoOd0aXfMKzcL4x2DVVNnu4GcG3IisX_yHBptdeblzIx6lPnIEi4l0ZED-mgCpexj_fsjdrl7SneM5wJZ-eENJS0gEqhtvV/s1600/happynewyear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZkWnaKXw_AstdpZNWFOpIFd3rydgcDa7qGmUJktmup-xJHRoOd0aXfMKzcL4x2DVVNnu4GcG3IisX_yHBptdeblzIx6lPnIEi4l0ZED-mgCpexj_fsjdrl7SneM5wJZ-eENJS0gEqhtvV/s1600/happynewyear.jpg" height="400" width="255" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-27267366347542301062014-12-21T11:31:00.000-06:002014-12-21T11:31:17.684-06:00Almost There!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
Just a day before my parents arrived for their vacation with us we had reached the following stage (of completion):</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi556H1LRObGmiXW3hludcOyca_WqKb9ho8lQg_JkOzb1a8FJmrCRJ90lE0_QB3fYrOIaaPpdVWgUP62Jse7ZNsmhi2SSLXhNZzfK3aE7LFP8y2gSeGV7m5tEZKhF4rfF3ssc_3-jr64yex/s1600/IMG_9959.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi556H1LRObGmiXW3hludcOyca_WqKb9ho8lQg_JkOzb1a8FJmrCRJ90lE0_QB3fYrOIaaPpdVWgUP62Jse7ZNsmhi2SSLXhNZzfK3aE7LFP8y2gSeGV7m5tEZKhF4rfF3ssc_3-jr64yex/s1600/IMG_9959.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Also known as "AD" / "Almost Done" we were almost done with painting. Both body colors were up, and all that is left to do is fine-tuning, trim work, and the porch floor.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDyO9TMa-pq12SU6NMBYCX07XERYMtW9hTfK4J_RperXsGglYyAldb1SNeIt5BsJiuj4rX63puWtngi3dGldMKvblssq553TeAfMbTLaBi5CpTFD-DtMSHVZuR1Jf6E5aqb_xJoTOw5dV/s1600/IMG_9961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivDyO9TMa-pq12SU6NMBYCX07XERYMtW9hTfK4J_RperXsGglYyAldb1SNeIt5BsJiuj4rX63puWtngi3dGldMKvblssq553TeAfMbTLaBi5CpTFD-DtMSHVZuR1Jf6E5aqb_xJoTOw5dV/s1600/IMG_9961.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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That will most likely have to wait until after the holidays provided the weather plays along with days that are nice and sunny and not too cold.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYQybmT39Mt0stSlrRByzjfUkdTet6sAsEsmjKY_fJsXy-vECDqFvWAcEGweGFRRO9Ylh757jBvusRFWFi86DVUkcxeOi66Kcc64M1EPt1aRa3LCFNbudyZrWmFOyTYpSsKwkdY7NUQIV/s1600/IMG_9962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYQybmT39Mt0stSlrRByzjfUkdTet6sAsEsmjKY_fJsXy-vECDqFvWAcEGweGFRRO9Ylh757jBvusRFWFi86DVUkcxeOi66Kcc64M1EPt1aRa3LCFNbudyZrWmFOyTYpSsKwkdY7NUQIV/s1600/IMG_9962.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The color?<br />
We love it!<br />
We are ecstatic that it turned out almost better than imagined and envisioned <a href="http://littleoldhouse.blogspot.com/2014/02/oh-no-you-didnt.html">here</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0nVX7ZnHDAyV3gIqAwoZkbXQeNPMvFW0K6XmkKJ85vJ2wixAJK7_geMyAi_QXeUEljoSy_Mj5UzrardoGVl8BKWNsr4vHqoS7Cxwl1sT5MXexOoy0p5-8J9sVdVEiI0hkz0IfSdR6uPH/s1600/IMG_9965.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU0nVX7ZnHDAyV3gIqAwoZkbXQeNPMvFW0K6XmkKJ85vJ2wixAJK7_geMyAi_QXeUEljoSy_Mj5UzrardoGVl8BKWNsr4vHqoS7Cxwl1sT5MXexOoy0p5-8J9sVdVEiI0hkz0IfSdR6uPH/s1600/IMG_9965.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Almost there!<br />
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After the holidays we will be back with more exterior goodness, but for now, this will have to do (and it does because, omigod, it's so much better than the flaky peeling blue and grey mess from before).<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-90141553140276608622014-12-15T10:00:00.000-06:002014-12-15T16:39:44.414-06:00Color Going Up!With my parents' impending arrival we were buckling down for good on the last free weekend.<br />
Nothing, absolutely nothing is as inspiring and motivating as your parents coming for a visit. After all, you want to show them a little bit of progress, and we'd been talking long enough about painting the exterior so we wanted that baby done (or as much done as the weather allowed).<br />
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While it rained on and off on several days throughout the past couple of weeks, that last weekend was just brilliant, despite a weather forecast that stated the complete opposite.<br />
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So we decided to get at least the front painted.<br />
No kidding.<br />
In the beginning we had vowed not to start with the front because we had seen the occasional house where -just- the front had been painted while the rest lingered unfinished and forgotten. It's so easy to get sidetracked, so easy to be swept away by Life. We didn't want to risk that. Since we had hired help (Thanks, Mark!) coming to our rescue, however, we thought we were pretty safe in that we would get all the house painted at some point this year.<br />
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So here we go, starting with the front.<br />
We had<br />
scraped<br />
sanded<br />
repaired<br />
and<br />
primed<br />
and now, finally, we got to apply paint! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirq3ocAcnck8HpXFQ2_D4Da0P3pqtjjqxECUT0wxWAZb8wOwcSkffOTAPz1uffBPzlF7n-CQDptSqfWUIWk6BW9lzZBTBmKbQcudD8zRhaZ5BxhuHzQa-fDW_vegZkzCmtZewYNt6B_KYM/s1600/IMG_9941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PTS_NbRPmrpNmS_zQF8_DxjLTU2rEJDmna9Ii8mlhfLOcV5Oy8WBvZdyPh9jm-tD0xAEsTVoa4QPgGAMxQUxEal3Z126Fysnyw7lyV1SNA1onV3wLJm10t8wSNNL1T9-7HzGSQ8LDF0o/s1600/IMG_9942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3PTS_NbRPmrpNmS_zQF8_DxjLTU2rEJDmna9Ii8mlhfLOcV5Oy8WBvZdyPh9jm-tD0xAEsTVoa4QPgGAMxQUxEal3Z126Fysnyw7lyV1SNA1onV3wLJm10t8wSNNL1T9-7HzGSQ8LDF0o/s1600/IMG_9942.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Here's yours truly atop the front porch roof getting started on painting the upstair's Sherwin-Williams' Oakmoss, a dark, sage-y green, color matched in Benjamin Moore paint.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF13j_mS7HnLFxWXG0FX5E7aYaFcb3g76je9R9pSiWeY1DnsyWjiweM4PsqbssH8-dNUFqz1awjRFrTLgaUfrER5KruLRzMEazExRXL6F2eCRkLOBVqSc_D896B6MkmbFDQzlQ4ANJ48E_/s1600/IMG_9945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxE_qJAbDI_dwrThCorNxBhvVw20MD7C45cqZbRi5ukNrq-d1VU_H2E82COxN1t-9T_4lv2l7d4yk-K9A3pxmUafq0uHnr9_WWJ9kGx4y7Zt7zB_REVv9Qr7SFDsc1022pO7_J8f07IAh/s1600/IMG_9946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRxE_qJAbDI_dwrThCorNxBhvVw20MD7C45cqZbRi5ukNrq-d1VU_H2E82COxN1t-9T_4lv2l7d4yk-K9A3pxmUafq0uHnr9_WWJ9kGx4y7Zt7zB_REVv9Qr7SFDsc1022pO7_J8f07IAh/s1600/IMG_9946.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Yes, I'm crazy excited about painting and seeing how lovely the color is turning out. The husband was mighty proud of me of braving the heights - I usually refuse to work on anything higher than 10ft up, but I felt pretty safe on the big ol' porch roof; it was almost like working on solid ground.<br /><br />
While I was up there, the husband and Little Man were down below. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZtmTTipbT3jGJQKnfbod7LqfwmoCgVSqP6d8s1jFKiCvb9EqvAjd2cIQi-M74heSJ7tZI-EZAzIHaRg20I3kkaGdg7TfUaaF0yQo2erbEAg2hL2xnZLnYjaOn8x80rD3HBC2rKr0-34n0/s1600/IMG_9952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><br /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngFmweyZH_Hwx-9wU05kmhOVcumlq-KF4xmzGLOgsq1CIs19k_UeB0eZ1FETAgPs5Y1rziISWS1Tz8nINrKZPXhK9309LeH21UyBINEONweDvN3WfArm3UIL6qwXQ9oZlZ2FbXsjjqL-c/s1600/IMG_9953.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgngFmweyZH_Hwx-9wU05kmhOVcumlq-KF4xmzGLOgsq1CIs19k_UeB0eZ1FETAgPs5Y1rziISWS1Tz8nINrKZPXhK9309LeH21UyBINEONweDvN3WfArm3UIL6qwXQ9oZlZ2FbXsjjqL-c/s1600/IMG_9953.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Since you are supposed to paint 'top down' here's what it looked like after the first of two coats of Oak Moss upstairs:<br /><br />
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Isn't it lovely?<br />
Isn't the crisp contrast between the green and the creamy antique white just absolutely delicious?<br />
No, the window frames weren't yet painted - good catch!<br />
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The order of painting is<br />
1. Top down (start at the top and work your way down)<br />
2. Details and trim last<br />
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While upstairs was drying and putting to use every bit of daylight we tackled the downstairs, first painting the ceiling Antique White, then rolling on the first coat of "Bosc Pear" onto the walls.<br />
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The change is drastic, almost more so downstairs than upstairs because Bosc Pear is such a warm, rich color - a huge change from the cool pale grey-blue we used to see.<br />
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And then the sun went down and night made it hard to see what we were painting so we called it a day!<br />
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The next day we would return for Coat II, paying no mind to our aching arms and backs and feet!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-47767810688630739552014-12-12T22:05:00.000-06:002014-12-12T22:05:04.598-06:00Elfing Around<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
December arrived, and with it our Elf on the Shelf, "Barrigade." This is our third year celebrating the holiday season with the daily antics of our silly elf, and just as last year I'm wondering if this will be our last. Little Man is now 11 years old and will be headed for Middle School in the summer, and well, how long can you actually keep on believing in a world that bares it all all the time?</div>
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So far, so good. There was some empirical testing (he secretly touched the elf only to find out he was still moving through the house and committing his silly pranks at night - results of this test are, as of yet, inconclusive ... heh. Besides, we 'believe' that if you stop believing in Santa or, in my German case, the Christkind, you will only receive socks and underwear as presents) but he was and is still pretty excited to find the elf in the morning.</div>
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Husband and I enjoy coming up with crazy ideas to make finding our little elf fun to start off the day. Mind you, we have never used him as a parenting tool and/or in-house creepy stalker secret agent - we have fun with it, and leave the rest to Little Man's imagination.</div>
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So here are a few shots of our elf from this year - more to follow! Enjoy! <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtY9Jd6LL0mEy8az3htvrq_TP7bfeVqxY_WIs8J8MmMl_lyoFMpQFSHTr_rNq50_aVsaU51o-RuuleVmkAvcUCZUSXsRpfsyfzxUObRZmZJlz6YKnCvdXspep1St3gIRn9c2Y0fVoWptdq/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtY9Jd6LL0mEy8az3htvrq_TP7bfeVqxY_WIs8J8MmMl_lyoFMpQFSHTr_rNq50_aVsaU51o-RuuleVmkAvcUCZUSXsRpfsyfzxUObRZmZJlz6YKnCvdXspep1St3gIRn9c2Y0fVoWptdq/s1600/IMG_0050.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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Rough trip back from the North Pole </div>
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or feeling sympathetic to Little Man's minor foot surgery?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFV81Yp6d6Q3qlO6UiisDWU3sWT7CUxDmT24wjJ5RPHDrpF6VkBP7w8p4y5E8J2hyphenhyphen2sAZw5JEZnwjGbBPmkjIHANVKlaTAGKqqNhAuVTL-EuWYsWpx7YP6x6lo8vjHKu7_DHrLdDejfLaM/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFV81Yp6d6Q3qlO6UiisDWU3sWT7CUxDmT24wjJ5RPHDrpF6VkBP7w8p4y5E8J2hyphenhyphen2sAZw5JEZnwjGbBPmkjIHANVKlaTAGKqqNhAuVTL-EuWYsWpx7YP6x6lo8vjHKu7_DHrLdDejfLaM/s1600/IMG_0093.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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Playing Little Man's least favorite game with Enderman </div>
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Worst cookies ever - Do not feed (milkbones) to Santa! </div>
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Catching up on the chocolate advent calendar for Little Man - yes, he stole a piece of chocolate when Little Man wasn't up-to-date on opening his advent calendar. Bad elf!</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-67789006334759661052014-12-10T08:35:00.000-06:002014-12-10T08:35:00.589-06:00White going up!Much to this short person's frustration, you star painting from the top down. That's the part I cannot reach and where I need the help of strong men who aren't afraid to, you know, wield paint sprayers and rollers at a lofty 20-something feet height and can physically maneuver that beast of a ladder I bought for this purpose.<br />
Me?<br />
I max out at 12' which is a whopping 10' higher now than before we bought our little old house.<br />
Seriously.<br />
I don't do heights very well.<br />
At least not on ladders.<br />
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Anyways, since we decided to get rid of the ugly dark trim, Sherwin Williams' "Antique White" colormatched to Ben Moore Exterior paint was the first color to go up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdSCGwzoGzAl976DoU_c7Y46m_fWHknUKIQZ_hX4m0S-OyFPks5Zkx_qr8K1mLMp_rBC_HHlY3iMUfctqsv1pyqVKm3NjuvpLTOD1i9szeW2y0h9IgQIugCCf2qH9Slwm3wrVyMLjW__m/s1600/IMG_9929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdSCGwzoGzAl976DoU_c7Y46m_fWHknUKIQZ_hX4m0S-OyFPks5Zkx_qr8K1mLMp_rBC_HHlY3iMUfctqsv1pyqVKm3NjuvpLTOD1i9szeW2y0h9IgQIugCCf2qH9Slwm3wrVyMLjW__m/s320/IMG_9929.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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It's a sweet, soft creamy white - almost beige looking against a bright decorator's white - but it goes on beautifully and will provide just the right amount of clean contrast between our two body colors. Trust me, I know.<br />
I tried.<br />
The first white I'd chosen was just too bright so I mixed my own personal 'right' kind of color which turned out to be a dead match for "Antique White."<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEfgnTU5yOZVDXwJjjE3vclRwDKsrCDeFmppLjxdpKiw020owHGsW1LcHkfdYRaNbSQ8ztIQmSHyDDhCy5aYil-BPKjHwN9Nb6iK_iJIq90nHsD8ZR3ZJo3EzfOFE0w_38KJRZ77mkzV8/s1600/IMG_9930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDEfgnTU5yOZVDXwJjjE3vclRwDKsrCDeFmppLjxdpKiw020owHGsW1LcHkfdYRaNbSQ8ztIQmSHyDDhCy5aYil-BPKjHwN9Nb6iK_iJIq90nHsD8ZR3ZJo3EzfOFE0w_38KJRZ77mkzV8/s320/IMG_9930.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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See?<br />
Nice and creamy.<br />
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It even looked kind of cute with the pale blue-grey that was already on the house ... and for a teeny tiny moment I was torn between continuing with our planned color scheme and just keeping the blue grey. I could see it working with a sea-glass colored porch ceiling, for example.<br />
Very beachy.<br />
Then the sun came out and we went blind.<br />
It was so bright, we felt like vampires skittering into the shelter of the shadows cast by the trees, hiding from the searing burn of the sunlight reflecting off the house.<br />
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That made the decision really easy: Oakmoss and Bosc Pear it is! <br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-58065442507537798412014-12-08T08:24:00.001-06:002014-12-08T08:24:19.676-06:00Primer!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Slowly but surely we are getting closer to color photos! I know this is a rather slo-mo type of reveal but it was a slo-mo kind of project, and that's not even counting the time it took us to figure out the color scheme in the first place (read about it <a href="http://littleoldhouse.blogspot.com/2013/05/we-got-blues.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://littleoldhouse.blogspot.com/2014/02/oh-no-you-didnt.html">here</a>, and <a href="http://littleoldhouse.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-best-laid-plans-of-men-and-mice.html">here</a> ...oh, and <a href="http://littleoldhouse.blogspot.com/2012/11/color-scheming.html">here</a>).<br />
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Unbelievable but true, it took us <u>two whole years</u> to really decide on our exterior paint project (so massive KUDOS to you if you can make it happen faster than that).<br />
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After two years of waffling over the 'right' color, squirreling money away, doing research first on professional painters and how much it would cost to have the house painted by someone else, then how to paint it ourselves to save money, and then, finally, buckling down and getting started FOR REAL, we and our little old house were finally (three weeks ago, to be honest) more than ready for<br />
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PRIMER!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnL7eu8ObjI9bgb5M3ud6QQFaaDQ5KtJj1LX2TN_xR5MmXPU_8LUW8HYMz1cR61ad2-oBIgoBQzHovrtzucggLOguty72-BOlpkhkdZEKTU3dF01TEL9S-xIpPKIptwc1Z8RQzJ1Waa-h/s1600/IMG_9914.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwnL7eu8ObjI9bgb5M3ud6QQFaaDQ5KtJj1LX2TN_xR5MmXPU_8LUW8HYMz1cR61ad2-oBIgoBQzHovrtzucggLOguty72-BOlpkhkdZEKTU3dF01TEL9S-xIpPKIptwc1Z8RQzJ1Waa-h/s320/IMG_9914.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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I know. How exciting!<br />
Well, it was for us.<br />
Seeing the white (for downstairs) and dark grey (for upstairs) primer go up finally made things real for us. We were actually going to get our house painted.<br />
This year!<br />
No more peeling paint.<br />
No more sad dingy blue grey.<br />
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Even with just the white primer it looked SO MUCH better already. <br />
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I realize I'm an evil tease dragging this process out over so many short posts but this comes preeeeetty close to how 'fast' we progressed, and I knew we wouldn't get anything done during my parents' visit over Thanksgiving.<br />
Bear with me - it'll be worth it (at least that's what we think - we loooove the end product)!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-85505617611229983472014-12-03T07:30:00.000-06:002014-12-03T07:30:03.400-06:00A Side Job<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Owning a house always comes with a learning curve. Depending on your budget for repairs and updates it is more or less steep.<br />
In our case, and especially in case of huge project such as an exterior paint job, the learning curve was pretty daring and came with new experiences.<br />
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For example: siding repairs.<br />
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Termites, bad prep work committed by former owners, and weather had wrought quite a number on some of the boards of our wooden siding, and those had to be repaired one way or another.<br />
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I filed the paperwork for the Certificate of Appropriateness (COA) to make sure all our siding repairs were legit and sanctioned by our Historic Preservation Commission, picked up a couple of boards of bevelled pine siding matching our own at <a href="http://clcjax.com/">Carolina Lumber</a> (nicest people ever!), and set the husband up with a couple of videos and articles on This Old House on how to repair wood siding.<br />
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Like <a href="http://www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/article/0,,1208709,00.html">this video</a> for example.<br />
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We started with a very simple spot - no piecing, no funny monkey business, just plain replacement of one board. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kvSj11N0bOPjE5QRGrk8nVgdJk5D-wOCF3y_KUl-U-kAa1-5XHs9HV2F71cvh8ktR-01jhPT9AORmgC9Cu6cF8HaYzCWjnJX0PeK4-4CETT3uNVwiFO-vSyh6SAMk1_ZvURnCWQMzwx2/s1600/IMG_9842.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_kvSj11N0bOPjE5QRGrk8nVgdJk5D-wOCF3y_KUl-U-kAa1-5XHs9HV2F71cvh8ktR-01jhPT9AORmgC9Cu6cF8HaYzCWjnJX0PeK4-4CETT3uNVwiFO-vSyh6SAMk1_ZvURnCWQMzwx2/s320/IMG_9842.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Well, our first trial run cost us three boards in the end since prying the old boards - even the old, rotted, broken one - was harder than we thought and it looked, and before we knew it we'd cracked a second one and a third. Oy! They always make it look so easy on TV!<br />
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Fortunately, after that things started looking up (it's like calibrating your feet for a new car and a more touchy pair of brakes), and we replaced a few other spots with no problem at all.<br />
It is rather straightforward process, after all: pry out or cut out broken piece, measure new piece in place, cut, nail, caulk seams. Done!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EO5vvgQudOasIOK-avnOZMQLxaX8O6gDZii5kUVklCKP6lC7abs70YtW0IopmLvch6k7LGzRmmJzp6apTQHUvvJmAYUVcQgPbyNOs44t0a7pjisVaFKW0rqidNj1zjNJlq7LKuRh9wuC/s1600/IMG_9864.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4EO5vvgQudOasIOK-avnOZMQLxaX8O6gDZii5kUVklCKP6lC7abs70YtW0IopmLvch6k7LGzRmmJzp6apTQHUvvJmAYUVcQgPbyNOs44t0a7pjisVaFKW0rqidNj1zjNJlq7LKuRh9wuC/s320/IMG_9864.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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That being said, when the husband came to fix the siding on the upstairs addition (the area containing our dressing room and master bath) things got difficult again, mainly because a previous owner had used and patched with -three- different types of siding.<br />
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In order to make up for the discrepancies in board widths and the resulting gaps, we had to remove quite a few boards - more than we'd originally planned.<br />
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That required another trip to Carolina Lumber (not really a hardship at all - they are very close by and really nice and helpful, not to mention surprisingly affordable) and more siding boards. A small blow to our tight budget for our exterior job but no budget buster (unless we hit another crazy snag like this).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBkB0FLM2ip_ZI6ZxDsquKRPEwFlnwxvIRi0J9TWdhvZlJR7b10NAodnMlu4RKdwkTHtzrI6cuCDlLoXH4jmyCcg0Oom5uUICEC7EHyJotJWEUQqObdqvoJbovJz0lkHK7rnq8NeaUfHa/s1600/IMG_9921.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKBkB0FLM2ip_ZI6ZxDsquKRPEwFlnwxvIRi0J9TWdhvZlJR7b10NAodnMlu4RKdwkTHtzrI6cuCDlLoXH4jmyCcg0Oom5uUICEC7EHyJotJWEUQqObdqvoJbovJz0lkHK7rnq8NeaUfHa/s320/IMG_9921.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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The husband spent an entire weekend trying to match things up, fitting boards, measuring, and cutting perched on the roof of our little downstairs (enclosed) porch.<br />
Steep learning curve, I'm telling you! There were quite a few choice words directed at tools and planks, but in the end, he figured things out and made me a mighty proud wife.<br />
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Nailed it!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-78134548963243339442014-11-28T08:30:00.000-06:002014-12-03T06:44:36.055-06:00Prep Party Part IISad but true we needed two whole weekends - Saturday and Sunday - from Sun up to Sun down to get to the next step in our preparation for the exterior paint job.<br />
Let's break it down again:<br />
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1. Wash<br />
2. Scrape<br />
3. Sand<br />
4. Repair<br />
5. Prime<br />
6. Caulk <br />
7. Paint<br />
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We only feathered out old patches of paint that wouldn't come loose on the first floor in high traffic areas. We decided early on that we would not try and go for a 'smooth as a bay's behind' look - our house was a 100 years old and we were proud of its marks that tell its story, and we wanted to enjoy the new look in this decade.<br />
So no infra-red paint remover tool for us, no chemical strippers, no heat gun. Just pure elbow grease.<br />
Even so we spent an entire weekend feathering paint and smoothing out the couple of boards that took the hit when we learned to pick the right pressure for the power washer.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIril0bOybwOVZ-eRB3c62dSaiG8BVDgdM0PjhW4437g_SKDkqIBxCJ-AafY0M7dcOhyjKu57fiH3wVScoH-nAGk8z6M2-NJ6eiBumYdCxAWZc4qg3e8PD2X7lRmQw4GU-Wx4T8lk-T4c/s1600/IMG_9899.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMIril0bOybwOVZ-eRB3c62dSaiG8BVDgdM0PjhW4437g_SKDkqIBxCJ-AafY0M7dcOhyjKu57fiH3wVScoH-nAGk8z6M2-NJ6eiBumYdCxAWZc4qg3e8PD2X7lRmQw4GU-Wx4T8lk-T4c/s320/IMG_9899.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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We did wear proper protective face masks to keep from breathing in harmful dust, and we covered the ground with tarps to contain the mess as much as possible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijgrjmekGfxvoSaKY8IkOWXCZre7ucWcQqs5S7Z6glNnZHXBe5FZ2-Hpig1fQbbj6KyAgHthl30IwC-bTrmPUn8zrJB-8kfoPbTTImooyhjsL_7MQ6uO6t1lFGBFR3KybV3BtwXRI4Wbz/s320/IMG_9902.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjijgrjmekGfxvoSaKY8IkOWXCZre7ucWcQqs5S7Z6glNnZHXBe5FZ2-Hpig1fQbbj6KyAgHthl30IwC-bTrmPUn8zrJB-8kfoPbTTImooyhjsL_7MQ6uO6t1lFGBFR3KybV3BtwXRI4Wbz/s320/IMG_9902.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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In the end we spent -three- whole weekends preparing the house to the point where we could prime. Hallelujah!<br />
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Here it is, moments before the paint sprayer dipped into the primer for the first time! We taped off the 'new' aluminium windows only because they are smaller, with narrower trim and as such more prone to over spray.<br />
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Other than that, it was "Fire at will!"<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-78393694711718649332014-11-27T06:30:00.000-06:002014-11-27T06:30:02.437-06:00Happy Thanksgiving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNBnlNHhZx5sLgJhhIAcv4-FE8ZFryZNZnxF8LxZ42I65iIUUz2Xl7s0_LHwf59-pq3CSbkyyrqVZqfUqtEXHm8PBgS77VxbK8ucV7fDLXhl797V8IDiEB3bOBrE4toDrOZu7_Pq56dEu/s1600/Thanksgiving.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiNBnlNHhZx5sLgJhhIAcv4-FE8ZFryZNZnxF8LxZ42I65iIUUz2Xl7s0_LHwf59-pq3CSbkyyrqVZqfUqtEXHm8PBgS77VxbK8ucV7fDLXhl797V8IDiEB3bOBrE4toDrOZu7_Pq56dEu/s1600/Thanksgiving.jpg" height="640" width="412" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-38554188704769577792014-11-26T08:30:00.000-06:002014-11-26T08:30:02.606-06:00Prep Party Part I<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Nothing provides more motivation to "get'er done' than a visit from the parents.My parents hadn't visited us at our little old house in three years - health issues had thrown us a curve ball, and Germany -is- quite a bit away, and it's not a trip you take lightly, or on a weekend. Not if you don't own your own jet. Which we don't.</div>
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So, three years since their last time, and of course we wanted to show some progress in regard to all our grand home improvements plans.</div>
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And the biggest project we could possible force into a tight deadline?</div>
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Painting the exterior, of course!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPpaejmoHy3s8wvNzd0VD4YGDet-6jSzixntoyQDJNFxg0iP89df8ZIvr8i1_1PW7u9jsx4Ro2Yqxkr5AZgh7JE9afXQzXIOeFUvZYrRPdFaUNjp54C9J8oDf4CN6hm0GEP_FINZ9T5TH/s1600/IMG_9757.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFPpaejmoHy3s8wvNzd0VD4YGDet-6jSzixntoyQDJNFxg0iP89df8ZIvr8i1_1PW7u9jsx4Ro2Yqxkr5AZgh7JE9afXQzXIOeFUvZYrRPdFaUNjp54C9J8oDf4CN6hm0GEP_FINZ9T5TH/s320/IMG_9757.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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We got a helping hand from my co-worker Mose who provided back-up and equipment to power wash our little old house. It helped remove some of the loose paint but really only aimed at washing off the grime and funk of decades. You have to be careful with the old siding since most commercial grade power washers are too strong and cause more damage than good.</div>
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You can literally rip your siding planks to shreds washing out the soft wood pulp between the grain. Ugh!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvrF91Ev3V98pD6RPPrnMVu1i5ktxHbv0NGeX1mgXPLJYnq3mbL6xPAueCy-D9KYpb77RAy_3ueCdnlhgB_lTuKoVEEWb5924tjw5-5kDF8QnN1oszaEO1Ju7k13-lvBFzEatHhuXZ2Io/s1600/IMG_9758.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRvrF91Ev3V98pD6RPPrnMVu1i5ktxHbv0NGeX1mgXPLJYnq3mbL6xPAueCy-D9KYpb77RAy_3ueCdnlhgB_lTuKoVEEWb5924tjw5-5kDF8QnN1oszaEO1Ju7k13-lvBFzEatHhuXZ2Io/s320/IMG_9758.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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We gave the house a good scrubbing ending up incredibly filthy ourselves. Man! There's nothing that gets you wetter and dirtier than power washing anything. And don't you dare consider power washing yourself - takes the skin right off! Not a good thing!</div>
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Here's the husband scrubbing down the stairs. The poncho is really just for show - he was just as dirty and wet as me who skipped the protective gear!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpIrmbj3eGdILQ7oBai_nY_i1jDHxlYFKR1zhIEKXrV1qrwTdUcpqsEzV_t0uzE6bJCkZxNlnKx7OvSMx-PS8pCL1RU5qjH1850xqFUBOJC-WoskKIUbs094BEclN9lzi-jNcNyjLwm32/s1600/IMG_9761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwpIrmbj3eGdILQ7oBai_nY_i1jDHxlYFKR1zhIEKXrV1qrwTdUcpqsEzV_t0uzE6bJCkZxNlnKx7OvSMx-PS8pCL1RU5qjH1850xqFUBOJC-WoskKIUbs094BEclN9lzi-jNcNyjLwm32/s320/IMG_9761.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Afterward we scraped.<br />
And scraped.<br />
And scraped.<br />
There was quite a bit of loose paint that had to be removed, carefully, catching and discarding it in bags to contain any possible lead.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzK5UoOoCokqzHTZy4Xq3RmMHmqJhkfE4RkJj7juT1rADzb79rjhlWIlhpJmC9CSAKXM6H0tGL-Jhb_b-iCAYUZhoKy0RNQTUtg7Qk5OG6EHx-Z__ZOqHM7Q8-N7TNYnC5DcAxdKCyozea/s1600/IMG_9762.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzK5UoOoCokqzHTZy4Xq3RmMHmqJhkfE4RkJj7juT1rADzb79rjhlWIlhpJmC9CSAKXM6H0tGL-Jhb_b-iCAYUZhoKy0RNQTUtg7Qk5OG6EHx-Z__ZOqHM7Q8-N7TNYnC5DcAxdKCyozea/s320/IMG_9762.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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More scraping along the front elevation of our little old house. The front, facing mostly north, wasn't bad at all. Here the peeling paint was minimal, really, compared to the rest of the house and especially the western elevation. That one was a -real- mess!</div>
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At the front most of the failing paint was along the window frames due to ancient paint build-up.</div>
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Little Man was a great big helper, and really enjoyed getting to hang out on the roof of the porch -with- permission from the parental units.<br />
We even ate lunch picnic style out here because the weather was fantabulous and the view is really nice.<br />
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After lunch there was more scraping.<br />
And more scraping.<br />
And some more after that.<br />
There was a lot of peeling paint caused mostly where some bright mind had decided to caulk the underside of the siding. That inhibits an old house's natural ability (and need) to breathe, and in the end the moisture that collects there causes the paint to fail. Geee, they could have saved so much money on caulk and time -and- gotten a longer lasting paint job out of it, but no.<br />
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We spent a lot of time prying old caulk out of every nook and cranny on the underside of the siding our house. As one contractor once explained to me: " Imagine pushing your house underneath a waterfall. That's how you want to caulk'em."<br />
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And caulk we did ... two weekends later!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-25122683371624910072014-11-24T12:23:00.001-06:002014-11-24T12:23:34.528-06:00Quicky In The BathroomUpstairs we have two full bathrooms: our hall bathroom and the newly added master bathroom. Call it a bad habit that's hard to break but the husband hardly ever uses the master bathroom because he is so used to using the hall bathroom from when we moved in that he's not been able to break that habit for good. Means, I get the master bathroom, claw footed tub and all, all to myself!<br />
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I don't mind sharing with the husband at all, and all three of us did share one bathroom before we bought our little old house, but still ... it's nice not having to share with stinky, messy boys ;)<br />
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They also keep their boy bathroom clean-ish and so I don't have much reason to go in there, except for the occasional pilfering of toilet paper or looking for medication for Little Man.<br />
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That's how I discovered that one of my men had fallen victim to their Herculean strength and broken one of the hinges of the medicine cabinet. Well, actually it was the lopsided mirror that gave it away.<br />
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While I went shopping for a replacement, the husband tore it out of its wall cubby. That's when things got interesting in several ways<br />
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- drywall was damaged; what was supposed to be a simple switcheroo became much more involved - as usual, really<br />
- the cabinet was shaped like a ... what's the word? tray ceiling starting large with the frame, stepping down a size and getting smaller, and then - surprise, surprise - taking the size down another step - the one we didn't measure until it was too late.<br />
- Nobody seems to sell 'Dutch Boy' paint around here any more and I had to find a match or repaint the entire bathroom <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3lnGFtkl_cK6Ic8rGP732-Wi0MLri51wFj1YQDptmzTAHDHacAhmkOmjIc10EKBQ2KyrhM_CU2hLrbJ5_627Y1EXyfCCVKjEEarUI0_Fnxan8GrkkHF-MiP9HBrfvRiiMAGGFh7jwTNx/s1600/IMG_9800.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjr3lnGFtkl_cK6Ic8rGP732-Wi0MLri51wFj1YQDptmzTAHDHacAhmkOmjIc10EKBQ2KyrhM_CU2hLrbJ5_627Y1EXyfCCVKjEEarUI0_Fnxan8GrkkHF-MiP9HBrfvRiiMAGGFh7jwTNx/s320/IMG_9800.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Here's the hole in the wall in all its glory.<br />
There was a moment's temptation to just by a large wall mirror, cover the hole, and call it a day.<br />
Then I remembered the scathing hate we feel for all those crazy dumb quick fixes we unearth (me and my neighbours) throughout our neighbourhood - from caulk and duct tape in odd places to toothpicks and cardboard in even worse spots) and decided to put on my big girl pants and man up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFL3SDYv8Ck6Q6aCJkhCR3poGeCLIKjLyKgpAponWRFRjJpnJvt8ytQG_TQx3jiejsVfaH18GAsmeNhySCbMVT_iJqaePGUgxxAy7e1itIrsU26JVl7J8N3jj6mWubQ4EpNrOML5L0I68/s1600/IMG_9801.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcFL3SDYv8Ck6Q6aCJkhCR3poGeCLIKjLyKgpAponWRFRjJpnJvt8ytQG_TQx3jiejsVfaH18GAsmeNhySCbMVT_iJqaePGUgxxAy7e1itIrsU26JVl7J8N3jj6mWubQ4EpNrOML5L0I68/s320/IMG_9801.JPG" width="300" /></a></div>
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Thank God Athena was around to keep me on target! Here she is correcting my camera angle!<br />
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Some where along the way I forgot to keep taking pictures of the process. It was pretty straightforward though, no matter how tedious and aggravating I find drywall repairs. That dust gets everywhere and good repairs require a slow, careful layering of dry wall mud - there are only so many bumps and irregularities you can sand out, so it pays to take it slow.<br />
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Anyways, while the drywall repairs dried, I went off in search of a color match to the existing paint. I 'thought' I'd found it - the paint chip was spot on! in every light - but when I returned home with my can of paint, it because immediately obvious that the paint -in- the can was way too light.<br />
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Now what?<br />
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Well, I have an entire stash of testers in various shades of blue, so I sat down and started mixing my own 'match' - no kidding.<br />
And the best of it? It worked!<br />
Spot on!<br />
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All fixed!<br />
No more hole in the wall and a nice clean place to put medications and bathroom stuff with a functioning door to boot!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-48231367390787110522014-11-19T08:00:00.000-06:002014-11-19T08:00:00.075-06:00Ding-dong - Dining room done!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I know it's not a lot but staining and polying the table, painting the chairs, and adding shades to the chandelier did give our dining room look a subtle shift to ... well, more craftsman, I want to say, but that's not really true. It's not one of those UH-MAY-ZING blog make-overs. No magazine shoot here either. Maybe that makes it more real?<br />
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At the end of the day it looks cozier now which what with the
temperatures dropping and Thanksgiving and Christmas just around the
corner feels just right.<br />
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Sometime these days I'll get started on hanging picture rails and finalizing mural plans. Yes, mural. I want to handpaint a frieze mural. I know I'm crazy.<br />
In any case it will have to wait until the New Year. Right now we're already running around like chicken with their heads cut off. No need to speed up - it's a wild enough ride already!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-78936235207732494472014-11-17T07:36:00.000-06:002014-11-17T07:36:00.128-06:00Dining room Chandelier Make-Over<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Saga of the refreshing of the dining room look here at the little old house continues with an excursion into lofty heights. Yes, even the chandelier did not get away!<br />
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Here is what our dining room looked liked right at the beginning, just 3 years ago. So far we haven't changed much. We added a larger version of our old pedestal table that is more in proportion and keeping with the size of the room than the one we moved in with.<br />
Now the larger dining room table got a mini make over and a new paint scheme. <br />
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Now the chandelier. This was an incredible inexpensive find at the Habijax store. Less than $10 for the chandelier, a bit of spray paint to turn the meh glossy brass into oil rubbed Bronze, and those nifty capiz whatchamacallits - done!<br />
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Now though I was craving a bit of texture. Seagrass or maybe burlap or something similar.<br />
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I did come across a good deal on six burlap mini shades on Amazon, and pulled the trigger!Here they are nicely arranged in a box.<br />
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They simply clip onto the light bulb which requires a bit of fine-tuning as you can see since the chandelier comes with chandelier bulbs, and those just aren't straight. You need to rotate the shades slightly, one by one, to account for the twist in the bulb, until they sit straight. Not all cattywampus like in this photo.<br />
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The shades dim the light just so to make it look cozy and warm at night while still looking light and airy during the day. I really really like the addition of the shades, even if it means that for some crafts I need to break out the big daylight craft lamp.<br />
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I also added a burlap cord cover to our chandelier. It's growing on me although I'm still not quite sold on it. Ergo, the lack of photo evidence. We shall see ....<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-44471562371105545292014-11-14T08:19:00.000-06:002014-11-14T08:19:00.170-06:00Dapper Dining <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I promised projects and posts and pictures, and you shall have all three!<br />
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So, sometime in the last year or so I got bit by the Arts & Crafts bug. No, not the DIY kind of bug but the Craftsman style design movement of the 1900s. The Arts and Crafts movement was an international design movement that flourished between 1880 and 1910, especially in the second half of that period,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-triggs_1-0"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement#cite_note-triggs-1"><span></span></a></sup> continuing its influence until the 1930s. It stood for traditional craftsmanship using simple forms and often applied medieval, romantic or folk styles of decoration. Colors were earthy, craftsmanship impeccable, decorating non-frilly and simple. To me it is best summed up as "Hobbit House Style." If you consider Bilbo Baggins' cozy abode as seen in the movies "Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" the perfect home, you might be a candidate for the Arts & Crafts style.<br />
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Our house was built in 1914, toward the tail end of the Arts & Crafts movement, and while it's not a stereotypical example of arts & crafts architecture, it does feature some elements that hint at it like dominant brackets bearing the roof, exposed rafter tails, and more. And I really really love Bilbo Baggins' home. So much that it suckered me right into the Arts & Crafts design boards on Pinterest. While I'm not willing to go back and strip all of the freshly painted white trim work inside my little old house, I have slowly begun to add Arts & Crafts touches to our house. More on that in days to come!<br />
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A simple and much quicker Arts & Crafts update to our beloved dining room was to refresh our dining room set. Because, you know, I didn't have any other, more pressing projects lined up four weeks before my parents' visit. <br />
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Here is our dining room set pictured with two of the available furry supervisors: Athena, the cat, and Roomba, our foster pup. Everybody else didn't make it into the shot - too slow! The photo isn't great - the table isn't bright orange, I swear! - but you have seen this table and chair set before. It's a plain honey oak color - nothing to write home about.<br />
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In order to tie everything together I decided on a two-tone color scheme for the table with the pedestal in white and a stained top. A quick sanding and priming ensured the paint would stick and stand up to occasional misplaced kicks under the table.<br />
Here, another supervisor joins the crowd - Turtle, the tortoise kitten. She came to us as a foster kitten through the local animal shelter as a two week old bottle baby, and while she eats for two, she has a hard time growing. She just now, after four months, finally made it past the two pound mark required for surgery (she needs to be spayed before she can go out for adoption). She's stinking cute but somewhat weird. She likes to watch and observe a lot, teeny head cocked a bit sideways, looking slightly bewildered.<br />
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My furry supervisors got bored after a while and wandered off to take a nap giving me free reign and a paw- and furless working environment. That was really essential for staining the top. I went with General Finished Gel Stain in Candlelit (get it <a href="http://www.amazon.com/General-Finishes-GEL-CANDELITE-HP-Candlelite/dp/B001DSXTB0/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1415900410&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=gel+stain+candlelit">here</a>, for example) after reading plenty of sites and reviews on the ease of using it on other typical blonde honey oak cabinets. Most seem to use Java but I didn't want to go that dark.<br />
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It's nowhere near as red as it appears here. It's a warm,
almost mahogany type of brown, very rich and 'glowy.' I loved working
with the gel stain which went on smoothly and evenly without the need for wood conditioners, massive sanding, and more, like with usual wood stains.I had bought a quart of General Finishes Poly in Satin to seal the top, and working with that was just as easy. Three coats and the top is super silky smooth, and looks terrific!<br /><br />
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<br />After finishing the table I debated what to do with the chairs. Two-tone looks for them? Stain only? Both, Big Man and Little Man, vetoed these and suggested black chairs.<br />
I wasn't 100% sold on the idea but forged ahead, and what can I say? My men were right - The black chairs work great with the two tone table!<br />
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After painting the chairs black, I sanded the edges a bit for an aged look and used the gel stain as a glaze - lovely!<br />
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-77147586811275786782014-11-13T11:35:00.000-06:002014-11-13T11:35:05.660-06:00Long Time No See<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Wow ... that's been quite a ....break. Yes, break. Let's call it that. No, we didn't fall off the face of the earth but somehow life got crazy busy and pushed what little DIY spirit we had going on earlier this year to the back burner. Waaaay back.<br />
Somehow it was easier to update family and friends via phone on project progress, if there was any, and for some inexplicable reason I just didn't have the time or energy to write up blog posts and take pictures.<br />
Life simply got too busy.<br />
Not in a bad way, mind you.<br />
We are still happy and healthy and love living in our little old house and our wonderful, special histpric neighborhood.<br />
We spent some time this summer exploring Washington, DC, tried Ueber and Airbnb (like the fearless, ferocious hipsters we are ... not), and simply had a rocking and rolling good time.<br />
Little Man started 5th grade and heralded in his last year at our favorite and best-ever Elementary School in Jacksonville. I'm neither looking forward to nor am I ready to start choosing a middle school for Little Man just yet. He's thriving though, and there is simply no stopping him.<br />
Chickem, cats, dogs, bees - all are still around, and a daily source of entertainment.<br />
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Hmm, whatelse?<br />
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Oh yes, there are projects!<br />
And pictures! <br />
And blog posts, so check back in tomorrow morning.<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-70104363721660517112014-05-11T14:47:00.002-05:002014-05-11T14:48:42.114-05:00Happy Mother's Day<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-42045672654478936382014-05-01T07:52:00.000-05:002014-05-01T12:56:06.239-05:00Hatching A Coop, Part IIWe may have been procrastinating on getting our exterior paint job done or working on other projects for our house BUT we haven't been really all that lazy either.<br />
We've been building stuff - chicken stuff! After our peepers moved into their happy little brooder box, we got started on building their home in the back yard to make sure it would be move-in ready when they were old enough.<br />
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It started, of course, with a trip to the blue box to buy lumber and hardware. <br />
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Our chicken coop design consists of two stacked boxes, one framed out and with a roof to go on top, and the other one open with hardware cloth as an easy, breeze run, measuring 3'x4' and thus creating a whopping 24sqft of living space for our five ladies (more than the required 15sqft).<br />
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Plans all finagled out, we got busy cutting, and my Christmas present - the new compound miter saw - really came in handy! Loving my newest toy!<br />
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Then husband got real antsy to play with my new toy and I was delegated to take care of the are of the backyard that would house the coop. Moving the new structure into a place that's in direct line of the kitchen window (Chicken TV!) and five feet from the property line, meant our yard needed a bit of rearranging.<br />
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The African irises came up as did the Lantana and the Hibiscus to be replanted in a different area. The plywood board was used to determine the exact location for our coop.<br />
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And while I was happily digging in the dirt, Little Man and the husband started building the coop.We created a frame on top of the plywood floor, and then covered the sides with strips of plywood.<br />
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I got sidetracked and didn't take too many in-progress pictures but we cut out a trap door from the floor to create a doorway for a ladder down to the ground level, added nest boxes by dividing the front into three 12" sections using cut-offs from a couple of old boards we'd kicking around, and added a roof with vent.<br />
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Here it is in all its unpainted, unfinished glory! It's still missing its paint job and the roof vent cover, but it's in its proper place and looking good. I was most impressed by the fact it didn't feel like we just sacrificed 90% of our remaining yard - there is plenty of space around it to play with the dog, have friends over, pitch a tent in the middle of the yard, lounge in the sun, what have you. Sure, I'd like a bigger yard - the only thing I'd like to change about my house - but after mowing and weed-wacking, I'm not sure I really do want a bigger yard. Ha!<br />
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Anyways, as you can see the front has some sort of locking contraption and you can see hinges as well. That's because the front folds down for easy access to the next boxes (so we can steal eggs quickly), and the bottom front of the run folds up, so we can rake out chicken poop and , well, access the run part. It's all solid and heavy and not going anywhere!<br />
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This is what it looks like when you fold down the front. You peek right into the three nest boxes. Three is more than enough - rule of thumb is one box per five hens - but the math worked out this way and they'll have a choice. Since Silkies don't roost quite like other hens do, we added a low and removable roost to the inside of the coop (it's the block shape in the center). In the back you can see the chain that opens and closes the trapdoor down.<br />
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Since our coop design was inspired by the SmartCoop, we included the folding roof, i.e. the roof folds up on both sides for easy cleaning. After reading various articles and books on bedding, I decided on using sand (and so far it's worked beautifully!). <br />
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Here it is, primed and ready for paint! On top of the vent cover is Ferbie, our porch kitty, who just couldn't quite figure out what it was we were building and what it was for. She sure did not appreciate the addition of the roof vent cover because it messed up her resting spot (obviously sitting in the sharp edge is not as comfy as lounging on hardware cloth). Primed it looks like a cute little barn and for a moment I was tempted to leave it that way.<br />
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However, we decided it would be a great opportunity to test our house color scheme on a small version first and see how we liked it.<br />
So the frame of the run was stained dark-brown (should have done that first before adding the hardware cloth, but it did turn our okay), the lower half of the coop was painted a lovely golden aka "SW Bosc Pear" (it's not as yellow as it looks in the picture; it's my camera messing with you, I swear!), and the top a soft sage green aka "SW Oakmoss", with a creamy "SW Antique White" trim.<br />
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So far, we haven't grown tired of the color scheme - phew! We may have a winner, but we definitely have a chicken coop!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-35242416817181986882014-04-28T08:06:00.000-05:002014-04-28T08:06:00.064-05:00Peep-A-Boo! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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And here they are, our little peepers! We ordered three silkie chicks through our local feed store Standard Feed, and after waiting for about two weeks we finally got the call we'd been waiting for with bated breath: Your chicks are here for pick-up!<br /><br />
We wanted silkies for their cute looks and less so for their egg production. As I mentioned a little while ago, we aren't in it just for the eggs - those are a neat side effect of having chicken. As a breed, silkies really appealed to us and we are madly in love with their looks. They are also a Bantam breed so they are smaller than the average chicken, but we were very surprised to see just how much smaller they are. The chicks were -tiny-!<br />
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We went with three different color for ease of identification: blue, white, and black. Since our family has Irish roots (and I'm a bit Iron Druid fan) we went with Irish names: Danu (pronounced "Da-noo") for our little blue chick, Niamh (pronounced "Neev") for our little white one, and Morrigan for our little black one with the attitude.Aren't they adorable?<br />
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See how tiny they are? This is Danu, our snuggle chic. she loves to cuddle right into the palm of your hand when you pick her up! They are about half the size of regular chicks of the same age.<br />
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And here's the peep squad rocking out under the red light of the heat lamp!<br />
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Pinterest proved invaluable in collecting information and inspiration. There are so many different types of coops around, from plain and utilitarian to fancy and whimsical, in all sizes, colors, and even architectural styles. After a while your vision goes blurry and your brain will stop working. It's great to have pinterest to collect all the inspiration in one neat spot:<br />
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCLsqIY0TyRG36RZCeQHjWu2QlQaqodkKhBAYZBYIn8xJE9kMfqNZgLs_fUFlN-NtLT_H7PikIoZ63imCe5g0RZ2ErlGuMJqo_qZWVlOm7TbhFlVVH2jbShooyuzp4rdsH2dGeXS58iH-e/s1600/pinterestchickenboard.JPG" height="224" width="320" /> </div>
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(check out my chicken board <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/michaelag/chicken-coopsn-more/">here</a>) </div>
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We really, really loved the Hobbit Hole type of coops, but for our small urban backyard, space considerations played a major role in deciding on a coop design. Since we are required to keep our hens safely fenced in and need to protect them from birds of prey and the cats during the day, we needed to include a run while keeping the coop a whopping 5' away from the property line to boot. Not a small feat when half your yard is already taken up by an above-ground pool and two A/C compressors - ugh!<br />
That pointed us into the direction of two-story coops, the kind of coop with a run as the ground level and a cute little ladder going up to the second story penthouse!<br />
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Like this one.<br />
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(Pin <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/pin/149744756332789673/">here</a>)</div>
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Or this one.<br />
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We also discovered the <a href="http://thesmartchickencoop.com/">Smartcoop</a> (tm) online and really, really like its look, but there were a couple of details that didn't mesh with our requirements, for example we wanted a coop with floor for our silkies (they aren't big on flying and roosting due to their fluffy feathers) as well as a separate door to access the nesting boxes, so we didn't go for that one.<br />
However, after building our coop and adding up the expenses I'd say go for it, especially if you aren't handy with tools. Right now they are even offering free shipping!<br />
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At the end of the day we decided on a two-story coop with fold-up roof for easy access and clean-up, a separate door for access to the integrated nesting boxes, and a bottom run. Those two stories with a measurement of 3'x4' give us 24sqft of living space for our chicken without additional attached run (future project alert!).<br />
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Not wanting to use pallet wood due to its chemical soaked nature we went shopping at the big blue box first! Stay tuned!<br />
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8922022806508323599.post-10909209183659897082014-04-18T07:00:00.000-05:002014-04-18T07:00:00.496-05:00The Broody BoxAs somebody who considers anything below 79F "sock weather", I can seriously relate to chicks needing warmth to thrive. Hell yeah! Even I would consider a heating lamp over my nest absolutely creature comfort.<br />
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So, in preparation for the arrival of our babies (special ordered silkies) we had to create a brooder box for them to keep them warm, safe from cats and dog, and contained.<br />
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We started with a large-ish plastic bin. We picked the clear plastic for entirely selfish reasons - we wanted to be able to see our baby birds from every angle, and we're glad we went this route because OMIGOD they are cute! <br />
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Our plastic bin came with a handy warning label that you cannot put babies into it with the lid on, so we cut a hole into the lid and covered the opening with some hardware cloth.<br />
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We wanted to make sure that neither cat nor dog could get their paws onto the peepers while at the same time allowing for plenty of ventilation. The top was easy to cut with a sharp knife. Not quite like "buttah" but not too bad either. Just stab and slice, and keep going.<br />
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Working with hardware cloth is painful - it seems to consist entirely
out of sharp edges and stabby spikes - but it is so much more solid and
thus safer for your chicks than chicken wire. I used a pair of pliers to
tuck back the pointy ends so nobody would get hurt.<br />
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I used a drill to drill holes along the perimeter of the opening and then used thin wire to 'sew' the hardware cloth to the top. <br />
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Chicken wire should really be renamed to something like Veggie wire; it's good for keeping out birds from your veggie beds but you're not supposed to use it for anything chicken related, really, because it's too flimsy and doesn't offer protection from predators. Go, figure!<br />
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I drilled two more and bigger holes into either side of the box and ran a dowel through it for a quick and easy roost.<br />
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Final touches were the water bottle which was fashioned from a simple water bottle to which we attached a drinking nipple (drill hole into lid, screw in nipple - done!) and a store-bought feeder. We line our brooder box with paper towels so the peepers don't slip and develop a case of spraddle leg, and then top it off with a layer of pine shavings (Remember - No cedar shavings; they are toxic for chicks).<br />
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All set and ready for some baby birds!<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0