tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-73080058983441403412024-03-12T23:32:44.320-04:001926 FoursquareA young couple purchases their first home, their dream home: a 1926 American foursquare style craftsman house. (Calamity naturally ensues.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-63181720362324868642011-10-11T12:35:00.002-04:002011-10-11T12:36:10.027-04:00Bathroom Renovation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Surely you remember the lone bathroom on the second floor of 1926 Foursquare. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">What a mess.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wlqvz_Ys_z0/ShvvekeF8LI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/kE3XTfcIE9I/s1600/3494598410_4a4ea1e2f0%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Wlqvz_Ys_z0/ShvvekeF8LI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/kE3XTfcIE9I/s400/3494598410_4a4ea1e2f0%255B1%255D.jpg" width="300" /></a><a href="http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/thumbnails/825180-florida-miami-beach-electric-light-switch-outlet.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://gb.fotolibra.com/images/thumbnails/825180-florida-miami-beach-electric-light-switch-outlet.jpeg" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Firstly, please note the total lack of an exhaust fan, a single electrical outlet-</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(that is ONE outlet which also functions as a lightswitch)</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">so exactly one socket in which to plug a hair dryer or something. </span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Usually it sports a pretty night light. <a href="http://www.jascoproducts.com/products/pc/catalog/50828/50828webd3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://www.jascoproducts.com/products/pc/catalog/50828/50828webd3.jpg" width="200" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">I am such a huge fan of GE's electroluminescent night lights!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">You may also remember...</span></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I-q3sTwlzOk/ShvvOS49EbI/AAAAAAAAAGA/yYpCX8A6K1M/s1600/3494600344_5d727122ab%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-I-q3sTwlzOk/ShvvOS49EbI/AAAAAAAAAGA/yYpCX8A6K1M/s320/3494600344_5d727122ab%255B1%255D.jpg" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My beloved laundry chute. <3</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rXD-Fqzl6Ek/ShvvOZQf7oI/AAAAAAAAAGI/jKuxEbqevFY/s1600/3494601192_8a4ba39375%255B1%255D.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-rXD-Fqzl6Ek/ShvvOZQf7oI/AAAAAAAAAGI/jKuxEbqevFY/s320/3494601192_8a4ba39375%255B1%255D.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">My adorable gas flame space heater. <3</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We had the heater removed last spring. That's around the time things got really bad.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OjXMBTodSaE/TpROy0SHW1I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/lQTI5UU_6MA/s1600/bathroom.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OjXMBTodSaE/TpROy0SHW1I/AAAAAAAAAfQ/lQTI5UU_6MA/s320/bathroom.JPG" width="237" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eTxLWmcsGqQ/TpROzo9yK-I/AAAAAAAAAfY/LBHtFEm5Oew/s1600/bathroom2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="228" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eTxLWmcsGqQ/TpROzo9yK-I/AAAAAAAAAfY/LBHtFEm5Oew/s320/bathroom2.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RzorLHckb-Y/TpRR2rhNkXI/AAAAAAAAAgA/phgoOf4PR08/s1600/wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RzorLHckb-Y/TpRR2rhNkXI/AAAAAAAAAgA/phgoOf4PR08/s320/wall.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FRveMK5_-kQ/TpRX0tlSdbI/AAAAAAAAAgY/sILzMxkMm-o/s1600/IMG_3808.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-FRveMK5_-kQ/TpRX0tlSdbI/AAAAAAAAAgY/sILzMxkMm-o/s320/IMG_3808.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">View from above the medicine cabinet. Someone did a REALLY crappy job.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">I effing hate this vanity. What I wouldn't give for a pedestal sink and a built-in medicine cabinet!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Alas, that is not in the budget for this round of remodeling!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Solution = paint it!!!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4pTt5dD3WPg/TpRSJZOxa5I/AAAAAAAAAgI/VcyTRaF2M9Y/s1600/vanity.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="292" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-4pTt5dD3WPg/TpRSJZOxa5I/AAAAAAAAAgI/VcyTRaF2M9Y/s320/vanity.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o288T8VbJhg/TpRO0dgka1I/AAAAAAAAAfg/vC8QGZkeOFk/s1600/bathroom3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-o288T8VbJhg/TpRO0dgka1I/AAAAAAAAAfg/vC8QGZkeOFk/s320/bathroom3.JPG" width="237" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1nh6VvXkUG4/TpRO1FreX6I/AAAAAAAAAfo/-8lgibkXgvk/s1600/bathroom4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1nh6VvXkUG4/TpRO1FreX6I/AAAAAAAAAfo/-8lgibkXgvk/s320/bathroom4.JPG" width="236" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W8DRMjt-8Dw/TpRO1aYr41I/AAAAAAAAAfw/MAbAlyKQ2fE/s1600/bathroom5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="229" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-W8DRMjt-8Dw/TpRO1aYr41I/AAAAAAAAAfw/MAbAlyKQ2fE/s320/bathroom5.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RIrWPs1ngvs/TpRO12GB6rI/AAAAAAAAAf4/Bv7ZV6i7EeE/s1600/bathroom6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RIrWPs1ngvs/TpRO12GB6rI/AAAAAAAAAf4/Bv7ZV6i7EeE/s320/bathroom6.JPG" width="238" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The paint... I hated that paint. I know it's not the paint's fault that we didn't put a vent in our bathroom when we first moved in, but the paint cracked like crackle paint and slimey paint-water ran down the walls every time we showered. So gross. So we were like screw you crappy paint! And we installed a fan and painted with better quality (Sherwin Williams) paint in hopes of not having a repeat of the crackling.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That is, we repainted after framing the ceiling over top of the plaster and installing new drywall and a fancy fan light. We also installed a new wall so that the end of the tub would be flush with the wall so we could install a tub surround. The tub surround went on perfectly on the newly built, perfectly flat drywall. However, on the curvy wavy plaster walls from 1926? Not so much. It was like an episode of I Love Lucy as we contorted ourselves in the bathtub, smashing our shoulders and bottoms against the vinyl trying to get the surround to curve and stick to the walls. But those things are designed NOT to warp so getting them to act flimsy and bend so that they would adhere water-tight was a nightmare! On top of all of this, the manufacturer-recommended caulk peeled off like rubber cement the day after it was applied. I swear that surround is made of Teflon. It is, to this day, the bane of my existence! </span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u00NU0R5PxE/TpRwCma79GI/AAAAAAAAAis/RwMIMHXyau4/s1600/progress.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-u00NU0R5PxE/TpRwCma79GI/AAAAAAAAAis/RwMIMHXyau4/s320/progress.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVNUmTpuWt0/TpRgHnoSBII/AAAAAAAAAhk/WQStV1xreLw/s1600/newbathroom9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fJ4S9tPKQ0s/TpRgFt5bsvI/AAAAAAAAAg0/ErIAaFpyrTc/s1600/newbathroom4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fJ4S9tPKQ0s/TpRgFt5bsvI/AAAAAAAAAg0/ErIAaFpyrTc/s320/newbathroom4.JPG" width="320" /></a> New ceiling.</span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-izANB0mW1co/TpRgFnT9DhI/AAAAAAAAAg4/qVx0XpfaIVI/s1600/newbathroom5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-izANB0mW1co/TpRgFnT9DhI/AAAAAAAAAg4/qVx0XpfaIVI/s320/newbathroom5.JPG" width="320" /></span></a><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Br7MJNwJjys/TpRgHBNMC5I/AAAAAAAAAhU/0S8eedG4HSs/s1600/newbathroom6.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="227" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Br7MJNwJjys/TpRgHBNMC5I/AAAAAAAAAhU/0S8eedG4HSs/s320/newbathroom6.JPG" width="320" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="-webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: none; color: black;"> </span></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New plate rails. (The walls were too wavy for wainscoting.)</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11zGrbptsLo/TpRgGfNQZlI/AAAAAAAAAhE/IalXWua3HJY/s1600/newbathroom7.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="225" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11zGrbptsLo/TpRgGfNQZlI/AAAAAAAAAhE/IalXWua3HJY/s320/newbathroom7.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New cabinet for towels and stuff.</span></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVNUmTpuWt0/TpRgHnoSBII/AAAAAAAAAhk/WQStV1xreLw/s1600/newbathroom9.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-RVNUmTpuWt0/TpRgHnoSBII/AAAAAAAAAhk/WQStV1xreLw/s320/newbathroom9.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pretty paint!</span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0hhMrob6CIg/TpRgE3tnCGI/AAAAAAAAAgo/Yxtx2vdZz80/s1600/newbathroom2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="226" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0hhMrob6CIg/TpRgE3tnCGI/AAAAAAAAAgo/Yxtx2vdZz80/s320/newbathroom2.JPG" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New prints and a pretty fan light.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">New hooks for towels courtesy of Target. God, I love Target!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So in love with our hotel shower curtain rod!</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am so incredibly glad this project is over with- for now! Still shopping architectural reclamation and salvage centers for the perfect pedestal sink!</span></div>
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-29544973747479484712011-04-21T17:51:00.005-04:002011-04-21T18:17:27.788-04:00THE FLOOD<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fHT601iz2KQ/TbCqHgiGE0I/AAAAAAAAAPg/GO2o61CZXFg/s1600/poop.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fHT601iz2KQ/TbCqHgiGE0I/AAAAAAAAAPg/GO2o61CZXFg/s400/poop.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598161382790271810" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Tuesday, April 19, 2011:<br /><br />Husband is smack in the middle of remodeling our bathroom, and we're taking a break and eating lunch, when we hear a huge POP! Husband runs upstairs to make sure the piping for the new shower he's just installed is intact. It is. We shrug and go back to eating lunch.<br /><br />Ten minutes later, our next door neighbor knocks on the door. "Do you have water?" he asks.<br />"Yeah," I reply, "The water's on, why?"<br />"No, in your basement, do you have water?"<br />"Uh, Jason's been up and down the stairs all day turning the water on and off, I think we're dry. Jason is the basement wet?"<br />Jason puts down is sandwich and goes down to the basement.<br />A long series of curse words drifts up from the cold air return.<br />"We've got water!"<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_JeNx6bGx_0/TbCpiGtgMYI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/wjAGj5D9MlQ/s1600/poop3.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_JeNx6bGx_0/TbCpiGtgMYI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/wjAGj5D9MlQ/s400/poop3.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598160740203639170" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Neighbor proceeds to explain that he's lived in our neighborhood for decades and that they have not had any problems with their sewer drain backing up since the early 1980s when the city expanded the sewer line out on the main road. That's 30 years and no problem with their main drain. Neighbor's brother lives across the street so he knows the houses in our neighborhood very well, and when he saw water in our basement he figured we'd have the same problem and ran over to tell us, first thing. We have the sweetest neighbors! We might not have noticed for hours if he hadn't come over.<br /><br />It's a good thing we did notice because our 1-year-old, $5,000 furnace would have been under a foot of water if I hadn't run out to Home Depot for a sump pump. It was a bad Tuesday.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWXueKnGv4s/TbCpxrnQQPI/AAAAAAAAAPY/gOBnlYzLlxU/s1600/poop2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bWXueKnGv4s/TbCpxrnQQPI/AAAAAAAAAPY/gOBnlYzLlxU/s400/poop2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5598161007807578354" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-22309663645702956312010-10-01T22:26:00.010-04:002010-10-01T23:31:44.566-04:002010 Concours d'Elegance<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKai5MM_xRI/AAAAAAAAAOM/y6FHjZZKuCg/s1600/IMG_5586.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKai5MM_xRI/AAAAAAAAAOM/y6FHjZZKuCg/s400/IMG_5586.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523281096428471570" border="0" /></a>We were surprised with some free tickets to a lovely local event- the 2010 Dayton Concours d'Elegance! (Ahh, the perks of working for public television!) Now I know this is an old house blog, but I think this really fits with the theme of historic restoration, don't you?<br /><br />I was really impressed with the bigness of the show. It was held at Carillon Park, a large historical park similar to Detroit's Greenfield Village. Carillon Park emphasizes the Dayton area's rich history of invention, exhibiting items from the Wright Brothers, the National Cash Register corporation, as well as old buildings and historic artifacts from around the Miami Valley. 1926 Foursquare is located about six blocks from Carillon Park.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKai4kXnJaI/AAAAAAAAAOE/zPylLR1IV9A/s1600/IMG_5692.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKai4kXnJaI/AAAAAAAAAOE/zPylLR1IV9A/s400/IMG_5692.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523281085735576994" border="0" /></a>We saw so many gorgeous cars it should have been hard to choose a favorite. But it wasn't, because the first car we saw was The Westcott!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKai4Z58HuI/AAAAAAAAAN8/8bf-PLlyHJM/s1600/IMG_5569.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKai4Z58HuI/AAAAAAAAAN8/8bf-PLlyHJM/s400/IMG_5569.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523281082926767842" border="0" /></a><br />You may recognize this 1920 model from our wedding photos. She's a beauty! And my goodness those big seats are comfortable! I love it. I cannot describe my excitement to see it. It actually belongs to the Frank Lloyd Wright Westcott House Foundation , the organization that performed the full historic renovation of the house in which we were married. Both the house and the car have been restored to look just like new! Except for the turn signals. I love the turn signals!<br /><br />The old-timey cars were my favorite. Everybody likes the vintage sports cars, the pony cars, the muscle cars-- but as for me, I prefer a "classier" caliber of vehicle, something with some style! Here are some of the cars that caught my eye:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf2f4g-WI/AAAAAAAAAN0/W_hi7QRwL30/s1600/IMG_5794.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf2f4g-WI/AAAAAAAAAN0/W_hi7QRwL30/s400/IMG_5794.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523277751636785506" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf1lnzx0I/AAAAAAAAANs/v1IsOtudKzU/s1600/IMG_5588.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf1lnzx0I/AAAAAAAAANs/v1IsOtudKzU/s400/IMG_5588.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523277735997458242" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf1ThTwrI/AAAAAAAAANk/3yOXWXON_TM/s1600/IMG_5566.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf1ThTwrI/AAAAAAAAANk/3yOXWXON_TM/s400/IMG_5566.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523277731138355890" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKalHIszmxI/AAAAAAAAAOU/KmOvkWLyS5c/s1600/IMG_5597.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKalHIszmxI/AAAAAAAAAOU/KmOvkWLyS5c/s400/IMG_5597.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523283535029574418" border="0" /></a><br />I suppose I should also mention that Dayton is home to America’s Packard Museum, the home of literally dozens of refurbished Packard cars. It is located in the historically preserved 1917 Citizens Motorcar Company building, a popular car dealership in its day. We saw so many gorgeous, lavishly, lovingly restored Packards at the Concours. We saw tons of cars from the 1930’s—cars that would have been puttering around Dayton when 1926 Foursquare was young, and that was really neat. But my favorite part of the day was wandering into Carillon Park’s Transportation Museum.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf0cMlauI/AAAAAAAAANc/ifRk9adgUPQ/s1600/IMG_5711.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaf0cMlauI/AAAAAAAAANc/ifRk9adgUPQ/s400/IMG_5711.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523277716287482594" border="0" /></a>I loved this train car. It was so luxurious- the interior was all velvet seats, stained glass windows, beautiful lighting and amazing woodwork. Even the bathrooms were sparkly!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadnArS7KI/AAAAAAAAANM/Xl5GO4Os3DM/s1600/IMG_5729.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadnArS7KI/AAAAAAAAANM/Xl5GO4Os3DM/s400/IMG_5729.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523275286538546338" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadmzy_e8I/AAAAAAAAANE/FoGm8i_mgkg/s1600/IMG_5731.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadmzy_e8I/AAAAAAAAANE/FoGm8i_mgkg/s400/IMG_5731.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523275283081165762" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadmnN-3tI/AAAAAAAAAM8/rbZ9aMtsyp8/s1600/IMG_5732.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadmnN-3tI/AAAAAAAAAM8/rbZ9aMtsyp8/s400/IMG_5732.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523275279704710866" border="0" /></a>Aren’t those light fixtures exquisite? That’s my brand new husband standing in the aisle, by the way. He’s exquisite, too!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadmedjrwI/AAAAAAAAAM0/3A7OYdnqXig/s1600/IMG_5733.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadmedjrwI/AAAAAAAAAM0/3A7OYdnqXig/s400/IMG_5733.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523275277354118914" border="0" /></a><br />I thought the hat, handbag, and novel on the table was a nice touch, and when we exited the car, a coach was waiting!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadl8Ms6eI/AAAAAAAAAMs/xJe50FUT8e8/s1600/IMG_5735.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKadl8Ms6eI/AAAAAAAAAMs/xJe50FUT8e8/s400/IMG_5735.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523275268156615138" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa3qoyF0I/AAAAAAAAAMk/G3zwMr26bXI/s1600/IMG_5719.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa3qoyF0I/AAAAAAAAAMk/G3zwMr26bXI/s400/IMG_5719.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523272274145318722" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa3e6c30I/AAAAAAAAAMc/fNRkbQ1jiUE/s1600/IMG_5722.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa3e6c30I/AAAAAAAAAMc/fNRkbQ1jiUE/s400/IMG_5722.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523272270998200130" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKanGBIHxmI/AAAAAAAAAOc/9O0pttw6pCU/s1600/IMG_5746.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKanGBIHxmI/AAAAAAAAAOc/9O0pttw6pCU/s400/IMG_5746.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523285714840045154" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa3IfjoDI/AAAAAAAAAMU/aB2GaPYsA8I/s1600/IMG_5747.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa3IfjoDI/AAAAAAAAAMU/aB2GaPYsA8I/s400/IMG_5747.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523272264979816498" border="0" /></a>We also saw a bus, an OLD streetcar (my favorite!) and an 1883 horse-drawn fire engine. Despite the heat, we had an amazing day. I had forgotten how fun Carillon Park can be! After the show, Jason and I had dinner at an Applebee’s. This is the wall next to the booth where we were seated:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa2wV1u8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/zs8gw0o-tM4/s1600/IMG_5829.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa2wV1u8I/AAAAAAAAAMM/zs8gw0o-tM4/s400/IMG_5829.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523272258496609218" border="0" /></a>I thought it was funny so I snapped a picture!<br /><br />We’re still coming off the honeymoon high, (who knows, perhaps we never will!) so we haven’t done much work on the house lately. But we’ve really been enjoying living here, despite all of the renovations in progress. We are always picking up ideas, finding neat things, and making plans. Rummage sales, antique malls and thrift stores are always on our list of Saturday outings. You never know when you’re going to find the perfect piece of art, the perfect lamp, or the perfect chair for this corner or that one. It is so exciting to own an old house!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa2XMTHkI/AAAAAAAAAME/FogoakS9Eic/s1600/IMG_5703.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKaa2XMTHkI/AAAAAAAAAME/FogoakS9Eic/s400/IMG_5703.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523272251745705538" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-51819492124807318792010-09-27T08:35:00.006-04:002010-09-27T09:33:06.287-04:00"My little dog, a heartbeat at my feet." - Edith Wharton<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKCadRQ9zeI/AAAAAAAAAIo/aoao3RJvIxc/s1600/IMG_5834.JPG"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TKCadRQ9zeI/AAAAAAAAAIo/aoao3RJvIxc/s320/IMG_5834.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5521582970797673954" border="0" /></a><br /> Last December, Jason and I adopted Cooper from Craigslist. He is a beautiful 3 year old English Springer Spaniel, but when we met him, he would not stop barking at us! He was abused by his former owners, and he hated men. It took him a half an hour to stop growling at us long enough to take a milk bone! His original owners had gotten divorced, and the wife couldn't afford to keep Cooper. So she gave them to a nice couple that <span style="font-style: italic;">thought</span> they could keep him, until their landlord added a no-pets policy to their new lease! So they posted an ad for him on Craigslist. When we went to look at Cooper, this family really didn't want to give him up, but they wanted Cooper to have a forever home. I knew as soon as I saw Cooper's picture that Jason would love him. I had wanted a German Shepherd, but Jason wanted a Welsh Springer Spaniel. (It turns out, there are only something like 500 Welsh Springer Spaniels in the United States!) And I never thought a grown-up dog could look so much like a puppy, but Cooper definitely has that baby face. And it was his baby face that won us over. After about an hour, he was rolling over for a belly rub. We took him home that night.<br /><br /><br /> I have no idea how we got so lucky with Cooper. Normally, when rescuing a pet from a shelter, there is a standard interview process and plenty of time to get to know the dog you're adopting. Not so with Cooper. We sat with him for about an hour before we took him home, and most of that time was spent trying to convince him we weren't going to beat him up! But that was almost a year ago. Now, Cooper only very occasionally gives a little grumble when approached by a man. Other than that, he's all smiles. And he was a little overweight when we got him, but feeding him less was a good thing- it cost us less in dog food! And we love taking trips to the Bark Park and running the agility course, which keeps Coop in tip-top shape. He's a permanent part of our family.<br /><br /><br /> <span style="font-size:130%;">I think every old house needs an old dog</span> to keep it safe and homey. Anytime someone comes onto our yard, Cooper is at the window, ready to let us know! More than once, Cooper has alerted the neighbors to someone prowling around their cars. We live in about a half a mile wide strip of suburb nestled quaintly between a very high income community and an old industrial town. It's good, because we have low taxes, great neighbors, and unique, beautiful homes, but it's bad because we tend to get bad people coming through the neighborhood at night looking for stuff to steal. It seems that all the best old houses are in not the best of neighborhoods- but all the more reason to adopt a dog and add the extra measure of security! Cooper is a great guard dog. My neighbors hear him barking at our door every time the mailman comes, and they always come out to check on our house if Cooper is barking and it isn't mail time. I have a friend house-sit when we are out of town, and I feel totally confident that she and Cooper can hold down the fort while we are away. I don't think I'll ever board him, because it is better for him and for our house if he's at home fulfilling his role as guard dog!<br /><br /><br /> And of course, there is nothing more homey than sitting in your living room at night, watching a movie while your dog sleeps on the hearth, little legs kicking as he "chases rabbits". I love my dog. Our many walks throughout the day keep us in touch with the neighbors, the groundsmen at the local park, even the local police. Everyone knows Cooper, and his little cow spots. They stop to pet him as they get into their cars to go to work. They take a break from working on their own old houses just to get Cooper a milk bone. They take a break from pulling weeds in the garden at the park to scratch his ears. He is a good dog, and you might think he's lucky we found him, but we are the lucky ones. He is the best addition we ever made to our old new house. Older than the wood and the stone, the wavy glass in the windows, even older than the cobblestones we keep digging up in our flowerbed- is this <span style="font-size:130%;">ancient symbiotic relationship </span>between dogs and men. This trust that we will keep each other safe and warm and fed. Every day when my husband comes home, Cooper bounces around joyfully as if he's coming home from the war. I'll never know how we got so lucky, but we did, and we are both so eternally grateful to be able to give such an awesome animal a home!<br /><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dxZxZbXnreeJUI3dOmf9ZBLVAmsjzdul9zaYMWoLR2ul7mQeubfXQ4Fnc16meHUQ6dZNGrYGvEf_G2kjTY6-A' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-37591626120395518832010-09-18T23:16:00.009-04:002010-10-15T22:20:35.757-04:00Shellabella Bridal<div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWP2ApFWNI/AAAAAAAAAIg/xljxF11X-kA/s1600/AKEsjQPXzA%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWP2ApFWNI/AAAAAAAAAIg/xljxF11X-kA/s320/AKEsjQPXzA%5B1%5D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518475076460435666" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www.shellabellabridal.com.au/">www.shellabellabridal.com.au</a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPLITT3xI/AAAAAAAAAII/RpRnpQCkjTc/s1600/bestfriend.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPLITT3xI/AAAAAAAAAII/RpRnpQCkjTc/s320/bestfriend.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518474339782221586" border="0" /></a><br /></div> I was obsessed with finding the perfect wedding dress.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPnFWQGxI/AAAAAAAAAIY/RPi7W-Unaxw/s1600/dress1.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPnFWQGxI/AAAAAAAAAIY/RPi7W-Unaxw/s320/dress1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518474820025588498" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPaUZqcUI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/IsQz3N6Q7vk/s1600/kiss2.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPaUZqcUI/AAAAAAAAAIQ/IsQz3N6Q7vk/s320/kiss2.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518474600728129858" border="0" /></a><br /><br />Every wedding gown I saw was so manufactured. I went to all the major stores, all the little boutiques, and even a huge warehouse for an international formal wear website-- and all the gowns were the same: cookie-cutter sizing, cheap fabric, and the same, boring, trend-driven styles. I wanted something different. I wanted a dress that was mine and only mine, that reflected my style and made me feel beautiful. But I'm 5 feet tall- so it's almost impossible to find a gown that doesn't make me look like a 10 year old that's been raiding her mom's closet. I have a long torso, petite legs, small bust. Dresses never fit me like they should, so it's impossible to try on dresses and try to imagine what they'll look like when they're altered. I was getting so frustrated, and fed-up with the whole process. Then I found Shellabella Bridal.<br /><br />I don't even remember how I found the site. It was like fate. I clicked on the site, and I found the perfect dress- the Isobelle. It was positively lavish, with a beautifully beaded bodice, gorgeous lace trim, and an enormous pick-up skirt. It was as if someone read my mind! Every detail was exactly what I wanted! I had looked at hundreds of gowns, and there were many that caught my eye. I liked the ruched bust on that one, or the pearl bead work on that one. But the Isobelle was the ultimate combination of everything that I had liked about every dress I had ever seen. It was simply stunning. I knew from the first click that it was THE dress.<br /><br />But I was worried. It was an international purchase from a new company made entirely through e-mail and PayPal! Shellabella is based in Victoria, Australia and I live in Dayton, Ohio, USA. So much could go wrong. But nothing went wrong. Nothing at all!<br /><br />Michelle Heron is a true business woman. She handled my transaction with the ease and confidence of a huge company, but she also took a real interest in my wedding and my vision of what I wanted my dress to be. Communicating, ordering and paying with Shellabella Bridal was a breeze. I just went to my local seamstress and got measured for my wedding dress, emailed my measurements to Michelle, and the left the rest to Shellabella. I couldn't decide weather I wanted straps, cap sleeves or strapless, so Michelle added all three with hook-and-eye fasteners, so that I could decided what I wanted when I received the dress. I have to admit I was initially very worried, never having seen the dress. But I had tried on a lot of similar dresses, so I knew that the style of dress would look good on me- especially since Shellabella was customizing a dress to exactly my measurements. And Michelle emailed me about every two weeks with an update, to tell me how the dress was coming along. When I ordered the dress, Michelle had estimated I would receive the dress in mid-June. It arrived right on time.<br /><br />I opened the box and the dress was packaged perfectly. The dress bag was so durable, but nice and light. I unwrapped the hoop skirt, and it sprang right into shape. And then I unwrapped the dress. It was absolutely stunning. It wasn't even wrinkled! And when I tried it on- the fabric was positively luxurious. The detail of the beading was incredible. And when I tried it on it fit like a glove. It needed no alterations whatsoever. It was amazing!<br /><br />I have to say, buying a wedding gown from Shellabella was the easiest online purchase I have ever made. The customer service that Michelle provides her customers is absolutely unmatched. Her attention to detail and genuine concern for her clients is something so rare to find in an online bridal shop. I loved my wedding for so many reasons- but my Shellabella gown made my day!<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPLITT3xI/AAAAAAAAAII/RpRnpQCkjTc/s1600/bestfriend.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TJWPLITT3xI/AAAAAAAAAII/RpRnpQCkjTc/s320/bestfriend.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518474339782221586" border="0" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-79432432215163245432010-09-13T11:32:00.002-04:002010-09-13T11:35:43.936-04:00Married Life<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span style="font-size:medium;">The wedding was absolutely magical... In every way. I have been grinning like an idiot all week. In a way, it was better than shipping off to honeymoon for a couple of weeks- no stress of travel, no counting down the days until the vacation is over, no obsessing about money and passports and all of that. It was just a weekend in Indianapolis (prettiest little city ever) and a week at home with husband, minus two days of classes and one amazing day at church.<br /><br />Indianapolis is the most romantic city on earth, I'm convinced. It was so neat walking back to the hotel along the canal. The whole city is so big and clean and safe. It feels new, but there is so much history. I didn't even bring my camera, and I left my cell phone at the hotel the entire time, because I wanted to be sure to enjoy every moment, rather than photo-documenting every interesting thing for friends. And I am so glad I left the camera at home because night time in that city was too beautiful for any camera to ever capture. We ate at the best restaurant where I drank the best wine I've ever had and ate the best food I've ever eaten in my entire life. I had Thai chicken and Jason had the beef brisket. It was so delicious. After dinner, we walked by the huge war memorial in the center of the city- which has a fountain that is as wide as a river on either side of it and huge round waterfalls that were entirely illuminated at night. It was in the middle of a big cobblestone roundabout and there were horses and carriages EVERYWHERE. The sounds of hoof beats on cobblestone is my favorite sound in the world. It was the most romantic spot ever. And Jason and I each threw a shiny penny in it and made a wish. It was amazing.<br /><br />The next day, we got free breakfast at the hotel bistro because I told the concierge that we just got married. :D It was by far the best french toast I had ever eaten in my entire life, but it was twice as tasty because the whole meal was free. Everything was free that weekend. Really, it was amazing. We spent the whole day, Labor Day, at the zoo. We saw a dolphin show, rode a roller coaster, and ate foot long hot dogs from a little stand called Dogs & Suds. It felt like an old-fashioned honeymoon. We drove home and stopped at Jason's mom's house to pick up all of our presents. We came back to the house to open them and we cracked open a leftover bottle of champagne and delicious leftover chicken satay and grilled veggies and wedding cake and commenced to burying ourselves alive in wrapping paper. It was awesome.<br /><br />Jason had the week off so he worked on the house and got a TON of stuff done. He picked 8 pumpkins and tore down the garden. He picked me up on Tuesday and Thursday ( I have class from 8:30-5:30 on those days) and he took me out to lunch. Best husband ever. And then on Wednesday we went to the antique mall in Springfield where Jason got my engagement ring and my platinum filigree bracelet. I am now the proud collector of antique tin cookie cutters. I got one shaped like a girls scout trefoil (ironically made as a promotional item for some old brand of coffee) and a star of David and a plain round one. :D We also bought a postcard from 1910 Downtown Springfield at night- down High Street- the same route we rode in the Westcott car from the Westcott House to the hotel. It was an amazing find.<br /><br />Then Friday I went down to Sinclair and dropped off my old German texts to a friend who needed them. I got them for free (and they're like 300 dollars) so I thought I'd pay it forward and let someone else get some use out of them. I loved German but I just don't have the time to study it like I want to. I studied it for three years because SO MUCH psychological terminology is extracted from German studies. Just this week I found a concept I didn't quite understand in an article I had to read for Selective Visual Perception- and I translated the original German to understand the meaning of the English word "set" as it was used in the study. Turns out it's an adjective. Who knew? ;) Anyway, German is still coming in handy. And I had a great conversation catching up with an old Sinclair friend, too, which was awesome!<br /><br />Afterward, Jason and I went to Voltzy's hot dog stand and Voltzy pretty much fell in love with Jason when he found out he works for PBS. Turns out Voltzy is a huge Bob Ross fan. I had the best sausage and sauerkraut sandwich ever. We went to Great Miami Outfitters and looked at shoes. I think I'm going to get the cute little lady version of the Keen boots Jason has. Still deciding...<br /><br />Then Saturday we went to the Cincinnati Museum Center- where we had our first date. It was just as amazing and romantic as it was July 2, 2006! Except we got to see an incredible exhibit called America I Am- a collection of African American art, artifacts, and cool pop culture collectibles like one of Jimmy Hendrix's outfits and Mohammad Ali's famous robe. There was also an original copy of the Declaration of Independence there- and get this- it was THE copy that some guy found behind a painting he bought at a yard sale for $4!!! How amazing is that?<br /><br />AND<br /><br />There was a whole exhibit on the daguerreotypes of J. P. Ball. I could have peed my pants. I LOVE daguerreotypes.<br /><br />And today we went to church, and visited Sara after because her car broke and she had to stay home and try to fix it. Then Jason and I went to lunch with Pastor Mike and Kathleen and their grandbabies Emma and Andrew. Cutest. Kids. Ever! Then Jason and I went shoe shopping and got a soft pretzel at the mall. Didn't find any shoes (I have a $10 coupon from DSW that I just have to use) but it was worth the drive just for the pretzel.<br /><br />Now it's a night of Netflix instantly to our TV via X-Box. Another thing Jason did this week was finally run the wires to hook the X-Box up to the internet. And now we're both addicted to live streaming nerdy history documentaries. I really hope I have the willpower tomorrow to resist the netflix long enough to get some homework done- because we've got dinner and photos with the beautiful Christi Salchak tomorrow night! :D The best week of my life is quickly turning into the best two weeks of my life! :D</span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-68377301622144495502010-08-22T11:18:00.004-04:002010-08-22T12:00:44.738-04:00The Luckiest Girl in The World (continued)<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/THFBU3r0OjI/AAAAAAAAAH4/s3ymUjNakXQ/s1600/1.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 190px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/THFBU3r0OjI/AAAAAAAAAH4/s3ymUjNakXQ/s320/1.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5508255646051744306" border="0" /></a>I love this dress. I knew this was *the* dress before I ever touched it. I was meant to wear it. I was meant to belong to him.<br /><br />I love my husband-to-be. It's perfectly strange how little will change once we are married. We've been best friends- utterly inseparable best friends- for almost five years. I knew from our first date that I could never fall in love with anyone else. It was over. I didn't ever want to be married, I didn't ever want to be somebody's wife, I had never wanted to settle down, to have a home, to have a life. But there was no fighting it. There was no doubt. Jason is the reason I exist. He is my purpose. He is the ideal man. I could not live with myself, had I ever let go of such an incredible human being, who, for reasons I will never understand, is and always has been totally enamored with me. I could never explain how undeserving I am of his attention, his affection. But it's useless to try. I could never convince him of the fact that I am so unworthy. He's delusional! He is blinded by love! But that's just fine with me, because I do love him so totally. I'll just have to spend the rest of my life trying desperately to become the kind of good that he is, (though I know I'll fail). He is a prince among men, an angel among mere mortals, my knight in shining armor!<br /><br />Luck doesn't begin to describe it. I was meant to be with him. My whole life, I've been waiting for something really good to happen, disbelieving that there was such a thing as a truly great man. Then one hot summer night it just happened. It was just an ordinary day. I tiptoed out of the house in the middle of the night. I was meeting a friend, who took me to this tiny video store that I just had to see. And it changed everything. Meeting him, falling in love with him, it completely changed me. I am not who I was. I feel like I didn't exist before I fell in love with him, that I couldn't live without him. He the source of my every happiness. No, luck doesn't cover it. Maybe fate. Maybe providence.<br /><br />I cannot wait to wear this dress, to promise myself to him. He is my belief in life.<br /><img src="file:///C:/Users/River/AppData/Local/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-31079568024060051162010-06-24T22:11:00.013-04:002010-06-27T11:21:44.024-04:00What about the ring?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQWEjbysUI/AAAAAAAAAGs/kU_Ue9ubcS4/s1600/1067%5B1%5D.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 146px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQWEjbysUI/AAAAAAAAAGs/kU_Ue9ubcS4/s320/1067%5B1%5D.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486534513531203906" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><br />I feel so incredibly blessed. A lot of girls never get the big white dress, the first dance, the fancy cake. A lot of girls don't even get a wedding. And no girl gets a husband as perfect as mine.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQWQrAb5hI/AAAAAAAAAG0/h_KsaloNVB8/s1600/ring.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQWQrAb5hI/AAAAAAAAAG0/h_KsaloNVB8/s320/ring.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486534721722377746" border="0" /></a><br />It's been almost a year that I've had this ring on my finger. I grew gorgeous pumpkins, adopted the perfect puppy, and made highest honors on deans list all year. I was so afraid before... I was afraid I wouldn't finish college, that the money wouldn't work out. I was afraid I'd never have a family again. I was afraid I wasn't strong enough to carry all of this. But then Jason asked me to marry him. And I don't have to be afraid of anything, anymore, ever. He is my foundation. He is all of my strength, my courage, my joy. It's about trust.<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQY1TmJf4I/AAAAAAAAAHE/j1g_7DAM0UY/s1600/wescottroom05-med.png"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 242px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQY1TmJf4I/AAAAAAAAAHE/j1g_7DAM0UY/s320/wescottroom05-med.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486537550116519810" border="0" /></a>We will be married in this room, at the Frank Lloyd Wright Westcott House in Springfield, Ohio just before sunset on September 4.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQbrfuw4CI/AAAAAAAAAHM/f8MPZJ2MRes/s1600/Ele.jpg"><img style="float: right; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; cursor: pointer; width: 310px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQbrfuw4CI/AAAAAAAAAHM/f8MPZJ2MRes/s320/Ele.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486540680110071842" border="0" /></a>Our wedding cake (pending a few modifications) complete with gumpaste cymbidium orchids and copper, not chocolate, ribbon. The tiers will be hexagonal, to reflect my gorgeous engagement ring. The top and bottom tiers will be white cake with raspberry preserves and the center tier will be strawberry- Jason's favorite- all coated in Italian buttercream icing! The center tier will feature a sort of 1920s craftsman/art deco design that we used on our invitations and the top and bottom tiers will be decorated with little <span style="visibility: visible;" id="main"><span style="visibility: visible;" id="search">∴s . </span></span>It will be beautiful and delicious!<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQetVfFkJI/AAAAAAAAAHU/Lw1APD9X83I/s1600/WestcottCP3_2_04Westcott_Mr_bedroom_02.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 137px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQetVfFkJI/AAAAAAAAAHU/Lw1APD9X83I/s320/WestcottCP3_2_04Westcott_Mr_bedroom_02.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486544010254586002" border="0" /></a>This is the room where I'll put on my dress. The prettiest thing I'll ever wear.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQhhn_2fnI/AAAAAAAAAHc/rfMrwWy7LP8/s1600/dressss.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/TCQhhn_2fnI/AAAAAAAAAHc/rfMrwWy7LP8/s320/dressss.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5486547107600301682" border="0" /></a>The dress. The dress that makes me look like the barbie doll you stick into a 3-year-old's birthday cake. The dress that I could conceal my entire balance ball beneath. The dress that doesn't fit through a doorway. The perfect dress that fits like a glove and gathers and flows as magically as if it were skimming the red carpet. The perfect dress.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />I am so incredibly, unbelievably, lucky to be able to post this blog from this big, gorgeous house as I sit beside my fluffy, happy, snoring dog and as the love of my life is asleep and dreaming upstairs. I am so in love with my life.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-67033421071672717252009-09-02T08:46:00.002-04:002009-09-02T09:11:27.795-04:00Goodbye SummerGone are these lazy summer days of River being <em>eine Hausfrau</em>. Gone, I say! These are the days of waking up extremely early to commute ever so slowly to Big Girl School (AKA WSU) where parking is ridiculous and classes are loooong. Away we go! Armed only with our laptop, our statistics text and our sheer will to resist the overwhelming urge to skip class to paint the garage, pick pumpkins, and plan our engagement party.<br /><br />Life has been so good to us this summer. Our house, yard and garden have become our retreat, our sactuary, our fortress against "the real world", that is to say, all of the facts, such as the fact that my fiance hasn't had a single day off from work in about a month, the fact that I have really complex classes starting fall quarter on a campus which my female brain (<em>sans</em> decent spatial reasoning skills) as of yet seems incapable of navigating, the fact that somewhere amidst this busy chaos we have a formal, intimate wedding to plan. These facts loom. Yet the warm breeze of the coolest summer on record still insists that global warming is by far the hugest hoax in history, and it makes me happy. Our big, cool house and its big cool rooms make us happy. I take solace in still another fact, not the looming kind, but instead, one of the reassuring variety: after an impossibly long and stressful day I will arrive home, here, to my own house, still collapse with a sigh into a warm bed in a beautiful room, and when I wake, this summer will be all but over, and I'll have the first fall of leaf-lined streets in my new neighborhood to look forward to.<br /><br />Perhaps I am too optimistic, but I am compelled by everything that has ever happened to me to believe fervently in a benevolent universe, one in which mostly good things happen. And lately, mostly good things happen to me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-90231310146220426272009-08-19T11:35:00.001-04:002009-08-19T11:35:16.954-04:00I love my life!<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17795411@N00/3836401933/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3477/3836401933_884c94ea61_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17795411@N00/3836401933/">IMG_4285</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/17795411@N00/">rivercarrot</a></span></div>I am so happy my pumpkins turned out so well. There are even two still on the vine! Which reminds me, I should go check on them... :D<br clear="all" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-77442081736964448022009-08-19T11:33:00.001-04:002009-08-19T11:33:19.690-04:00Me and my babies!<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17795411@N00/3836401297/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3434/3836401297_9ec80d4ed6_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17795411@N00/3836401297/">IMG_4292</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/17795411@N00/">rivercarrot</a></span></div>I love these pumpkins. I didn't do a thing to them all summer and they still grew up big and strong and ready to become jack-o-lanterns!<br clear="all" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-8475510011999246232009-08-19T11:31:00.001-04:002009-08-19T11:31:08.309-04:00River picks a peck of perfect pumpkins!<div style="float: right; margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17795411@N00/3837188608/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2556/3837188608_81bbdc03dd_m.jpg" alt="" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" /></a><br /><span style="font-size: 0.9em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/17795411@N00/3837188608/">IMG_4286</a><br />Originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/17795411@N00/">rivercarrot</a></span></div>I picked 5 pumpkins last week! They were grown in 100% organic soil with zero herbicide and zero pesticide. And they got HUGE.<br clear="all" />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-34020740341862336592009-08-09T00:34:00.003-04:002009-08-09T01:13:32.283-04:00every 15 secondsSo I have an <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">AVEDA</span> t-shirt that says EVERY 15 SECONDS A CHILD DIES DUE TO LACK OF CLEAN WATER. Disturbing, no?<br />You know what else is disturbing? A guy came to our house today to analyze our drinking water and made a glass from the tap look like Nigerian well water. Wow. Gross. It was rather unnerving to see all of the minerals, chlorine and sediments that are in the water coming out of our pipes. So unnerving, in fact, that I might be brushing my teeth with <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Culligan</span> water tonight.<br /> Seriously though, despite the hidden grossness, I count myself extraordinarily lucky that my water is as clean as it is. I mean the odds of me getting <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">giardia</span> from drinking my city water are infinitesimal and that is something I quite appreciate. However, <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">eww</span>. All the sediments and minerals and icky <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">floaties</span> this guy showed us in our water gave me the creeps. No wonder our water tastes like crap! No wonder it takes me a handful of shampoo to wash my hair! I was seriously considering investing in a combination softening/filtration system to clean and soften all of the water that we use in the house.<br />But is it worth it?<br /> The salesman that came to conduct the test was (of course) also peddling the solution to our every water quality problem: a whole-house water purification system. It cost more than my car. However it is said to extend the life of water-loving appliances, like the dishwasher and clothes washer, as well as cut our costs on cleaning and soap consumption, as well as make our daily personal <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">hygiene</span> practices and household cleaning tasks "green", which simply means it would make biodegradable soap and cleaning products their most effective. It all sounded good. But I noticed our salesman/mad scientist had a few tricks up his sleeve. For example, when testing our water's hardness, he used the hottest water from the tap in order to ensure his sample contained sediments from our ancient gas water heater. I thought that was funny at the time, but now I'm really curious- how hard is the cold water that we use for 90% of what requires water, like cooking and clothes washing? I should have asked!<br /> Alas! Amidst the noise of rushing water and clanking beakers, I was whisked away to Clean Water Land. Dr. Salesman had us wash our hands, one hand in the purified water and one hand in our icky water. I fell in love with the softness of my left hand, and discovered a fresh hatred for tap water due to the gritty feeling it left on my right one. He tested two glasses of water, one which was straight from the tap, and another glass of tap water which he'd had Jason swish his fingers around in. The tap water contained chlorine; the finger water did not- proof of how human skin absorbs toxic chlorine every time you shower, wash your hands, or wash your face! Save us, Dr. Salesman! He then went on to prove, through a series of simple tests, how poor a rinsing agent hard water is, how abrasive it is to clothing in the wash, and how much money we "poured down the drain" by using too much soap to compensate for our hard water, among other things. "This unit will pay for itself in just a few years! Think of your health!"<br /> This company, which is endorsed by a major home improvement store, seems rather reputable. The water tasted good and felt luxurious compared to the gritty city water we drink and (attempt to) lather up in daily. But I'm torn. Is $5,000 (around $75- $100 per month for 5 years) a reasonable price for *better* water? Or am I just being lavish with myself? I mean, there are people in the world who contract unspeakable illnesses from their drinking water, and I'm concerned about the ~luxurious feel~ of mine?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-3911729269124276772009-08-08T10:53:00.002-04:002009-08-09T01:30:46.894-04:00Drinking Water AnalysisWe are scheduled to have some people out to test the quality of our drinking water this afternoon! I'm rather curious to see how Dayton's city water performs... I will post the results as soon as we receive them!<br /><br />UPDATE: Our water is HARD. Almost as hard as water can get!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-62006886924104325002009-07-30T13:09:00.002-04:002009-07-30T13:11:59.689-04:00Posting PicturesWhy must posting pictures on Blogger be so tedious a task? I've tried linking directly from Photobucket, but the pictures just come out enormous and bad. Oh well! I guess I'll just stick to the old fashioned way that takes three hours!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-90200345400944723282009-06-28T18:13:00.002-04:002009-06-28T18:44:38.699-04:00Crazy Pumpkins<a href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_4041.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 1024px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 768px; CURSOR: hand" border="0" alt="" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_4041.jpg" /></a> My pumpkins are going insane! My garden, which I like to say is 100% organic and about 95% weeds, is going okay. I have carrots and beans and squash which seem to be doing fairly well, as well as a Mr. Stripey tomato plant, two bell pepper plants, and ten stalks of corn. However a <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_0" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">cucumber</span> beetle invasion has attacked my pumpkins, killed my watermelons and seems to still be nibbling on the tender sprouts of my cucumber plants.<br />Despite this cucumber beetle situation, I simply could not bring myself to spray my plants with anything, not even a home-made organic solution like pepper spray or a diluted soap solution. The home's previous owners took perfect loving care of this garden and its soil since 1948, and I simply cannot bring myself to do anything to the plants and/or soil that might damage its quality. Our soil is famous throughout our neighborhood because it has been so well cared-for and expertly cultivated for so long. I simply can't risk changing it. Especially after how my <span id="SPELLING_ERROR_1" class="blsp-spelling-corrected">pumpkins</span> have taken off!!!<br />My pumpkins are growing like MAD. In just a few weeks, the two pumpkin plants in the back of my garden have reached out their little curly-cue phone-cord-looking vines and pulled themselves about eight or ten feet into my garden, sprawling out hugely into several of the spaces between the rows. Big, bulbous female flowers have started to sprout, which I can only pray will fill out into huge orange moon-like gourds come September. I am praying that they have really overcome the horrible onslaught of cucumber beetles, (the damage from which is evident in the picture of my pumpkins chewed-up flowers above.) But I suppose only time will tell. My success with this plant has so far been my only victory, which might account for why it makes me so happy. My neighbor's garden is really something to envy but my pumpkin plant is bigger than hers. She said she thought my pumpkin was doing great and I just beamed with pride. (Because I've never grown a pumpkin before and she really knows her stuff when it comes to gardening so I took it as quite a compliment! I think the only reason my pumpkin is doing so well is because of the conditions of my garden. Her garden is a little shady, and very full of other much more delicious and fruitful looking stuff, so the pumpkins don't have as much room as they might like to sprawl out in the brightness. My garden, on the other hand, has so much room and sun and good fertile soil, that even though I hardly do anything to the plants I've planted there, I can hardly contain my pumpkin. It's growing like a weed.<br />The other above-mentioned plants, however, are only doing so-so. Have I mentioned I know almost nothing about gardening?!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-14219280387613459812009-06-24T23:31:00.001-04:002009-06-24T23:31:35.622-04:00<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.11NXC/bHQ9MTI*NTkwMDc2NjgyOCZwdD*xMjQ1OTAwNzkyOTIxJnA9Mzg2MzYxJmQ9Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTEmdD*mb2Y9MA==.gif" /><a href="http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/?action=view¤t=IMG_3969.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3969.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-3267671514341670392009-06-24T22:32:00.001-04:002009-06-24T22:32:39.123-04:00<img style="visibility:hidden;width:0px;height:0px;" border=0 width=0 height=0 src="http://counters.gigya.com/wildfire/IMP/CXNID=2000002.0NXC/bHQ9MTI*NTg5NzE4Mzg3OCZwdD*xMjQ1ODk3MjYxNzIyJnA9Mzg2MzYxJmQ9Jm49YmxvZ2dlciZnPTEmdD*mbz*wZDAxOGY1OGFkNjM*MDEwOGI1YjViODUwY2Q1YWU*MiZvZj*w.gif" /><a href="http://s244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/?action=view¤t=IMG_3786_1.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3786_1.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-38199240589037722052009-05-26T09:32:00.001-04:002009-05-26T09:36:55.804-04:00<div>Our bathroom needs the ceiling replaced, the floor replaced, a new tub, shower, and tile surround as well as a new vanity. So we gave it a fresh coat of paint.</div><div> </div><div> </div><div><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340125091642863794" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/ShvvekeF8LI/AAAAAAAAAGQ/-OiKDhNtnUw/s320/3494598410_4a4ea1e2f0%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340125096857586178" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 240px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 320px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/Shvve35YSgI/AAAAAAAAAGY/2i-mtlQ262g/s320/3494600344_5d727122ab%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340125097210788882" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/Shvve5NlvBI/AAAAAAAAAGg/AA9oSDS3-Ys/s320/3494601192_8a4ba39375%5B1%5D.jpg" border="0" /> This is our adorable 100% functional, 100% unsafe gas radiator. Should we opt to use it, the fumes could kill us all in our sleep. So we're going to cap it off and just keep it around for the cuteness factor. I am seriously considering spraypainting it a funky color!<br /><br /><div><br /><br /><br /><div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-84078004008742582382009-05-26T09:11:00.005-04:002009-06-28T18:13:34.829-04:00Recent DevelopmentsCATASTROPHY STRIKES!<br /><br />Our basement flooded* this past week and though we've had RotoRooter out to the house, black sludge keeps bubbling up around the drain every time the washer spins out. I suppose it's simply residual, and hopefully, it will go away soon...<br /><br /><br /><br />On the bright side we have succeeded in:<br />-removing all wallpaper<br />-patching the plaster<br />-caulking several rooms<br />-planting pumpkins<br />-finishing one bedroom<br />-"finishing" the bathroom<br />-painting the kitchen<br /><br /><br /><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 200px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 150px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340122549608648946" border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/ShvtKmp6EPI/AAAAAAAAAFY/2Veozk66w5g/s200/3493777301_b9f64f0e2a%5B1%5D.jpg" /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p><img style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; WIDTH: 320px; DISPLAY: block; HEIGHT: 240px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5340122935757741970" border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_ElkHDLV0F1A/ShvthFLBn5I/AAAAAAAAAFg/HEwUxhV5xTU/s320/3493778931_606cb684e7%5B1%5D.jpg" /></p><p> </p><p>Correction: My boyfriend, Jason, has alerted me to the fact that when I said "the basement flooded", some people might take that to mean that the basement actually flooded. As in 'severe water damage' as in a foot or more of water on the floor' or something to that effect. In actuality, however, a floor drain simply backed up a little and a puddle of water about 18 inches in diameter began to pool in the indentation around the drain. It was far from an emergency, but unsettling nonetheless! Sorry if I made it sound worse than it was!</p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-60589563331252114902009-04-22T10:57:00.005-04:002009-05-26T09:39:41.532-04:00The Bunny ProblemUpon moving in, our tremendously kind neighbors informed us that while their own gardens flourish, our neighborhood has "a bunny problem". One neighbor has erected a permanent <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">chain link</span> fence around the entire perimeter of her garden to deter not only bunnies but also deer. Yes, you read that right. Deer. Rabbits and white-tailed deer wreak havoc upon the gardens in our neighborhood. In order to protect their sprouting veggies, our neighbors have fenced in their every garden. You think we would have taken the hint, but as you will soon learn, dear reader, River has to do everything the hard way first.<br /><br />Jason, an avid smoker, was taking a break on our back porch a few days ago when he noticed something moving near the garage. A bunny. It noticed him and froze. For several motionless, unblinking moments it simply sat and stared him down. That is, until Jason headed back inside to get back to work. A few hours later, right on schedule, it was cigarette time again. When Jason came outside, the bunny was sitting in the same spot! Later, Jason came back outside to get something out of the garage, the bunny was gone, and all that was left of him was a little matted patch of grass where he'd been sitting. A few days later, we realize he'd been scoping the place out. Only one sprout remains of my four newly-transplanted pumpkins. I can only assume that the bunny got them.<br /><br />Jason has decided that, for the sake of my pumpkins, he must build me a raised-bed garden this year. Which is quite ambitious considering his knee is broken. Yesterday, when the refrigerator repair man came to inspect our vintage fridge, Jason somehow managed to sprain his knee bending down to pick up a piece of paper. So he was incapacitated for the majority of yesterday, had to call off work, and will probably have to stay home again today. Washing and patching the walls has been put on hold due to this unexpected injury, but I do have good news! I have finished painting the guest bedroom <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1"><span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Sherwinn</span></span> Williams' "Morris Room Grey" and got a first coat of "Rembrandt Red" on the bathroom walls, which I'll have to finish tonight. So far, things on the second floor are looking good!<br /><br />UPDATE: One pumpkin completely recovered and I've planted two more! We should have the rest of our enormous garden tilled and planted soon, so stay tuned!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-81438425690312386802009-04-20T13:22:00.006-04:002009-04-20T13:45:41.127-04:00Dreams of a Pumpkin Patch...Ever since I was 12, I have wanted a pumpkin patch. Grade-school field trips to Windmill Farms <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">fueled</span> my fascination with pumpkins, but I didn't know that it was even possible to grow pumpkins in back yard gardens until I was 12, when I picked up a book of teenage love poems by Ralph Fletcher. There was one poem in particular about two kids who fell in love planting pumpkins together in a back yard. They broke up, and the one kid had to watch the pumpkins grow big and round in his back yard, long after his young lover had left him. I guess it's yet another testimony that pumpkins will grow heartily and relentlessly anywhere- surviving even unrequited love! Which is good news for me, because I know nothing about gardening, and my only wish for this Fall is to be able to look out my back window one night and see big fat pumpkins glowing brightly in the twilight. I love pumpkins. I love everything about them!<br /><br />I bought a little cup of pumpkin seeds and seed starting soil from <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Lowe's</span> about a week ago. It was like a little seed starting kit for kids, the kind just for them to see how plants sprout, then the parents toss them, you know? I thought for sure they were just baby pumpkin gourds. Turns out they're real pumpkins, and there are 4 of them sprouting in a <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Dixie</span> cup on my kitchen counter as I sit here and type this. They are so crowded; I need to transplant them ASAP. It just might break my heart if my first pumpkins don't survive. I think I'll stop somewhere on my way home and pick up a little rake and trowel. I need to clear out some space to make some little mounds in which to plant them. I really hope they thrive. I think they will. Jason (the farm boy) said that his family had pumpkins when they lived on the farm and that no matter what they did they sprouted every year. That's good. I can't think of anything (except maybe painting and decorating our new house) that would make me happier than having a little pumpkin patch. It is my childhood dream! Of course I also have sweet corn, green beans, cucumbers, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Chinese</span> giant red peppers, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">California</span> wonder green peppers, and homestead tomatoes to plant. I really need to get to work!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-27819735429199360472009-04-19T20:32:00.000-04:002009-04-19T20:44:27.975-04:00The Breakfast Nook<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3409.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 628px; height: 837px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3409.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>This wallpaper was particularly hideous. It's pea green and depicts a quaint cartoon village scene. Thankfully it came off rather easily, but it was vinyl and and it had probably never been cleaned. It was greasy. Yuck.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3413.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 577px; height: 432px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3413.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br />Even more yuck: what I found underneath it. Mildew. Ugh.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3705.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 573px; height: 762px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3705.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3751.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 576px; height: 431px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3751.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3489.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 483px; height: 360px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3489.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3720.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 485px; height: 363px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3720.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3753.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 485px; height: 363px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3753.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>I cleaned it up, though, and we should be ready for primer tomorrow! Yay!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-63513743084634791992009-04-19T00:56:00.000-04:002009-04-19T02:01:25.460-04:00Before & AfterHere are some photos I've been meaning to post. I've been meaning to be more thorough with my photo-documentation of the Great Revitalization, however, there is oh-so-much wallpaper, and only 4 hands to take it down. So that's what Jason and I have been devoting ALL of our free time to this week, leaving little time for blogging. Finally, at 3 AM, I am sacrificing sleep to make an account of our exciting week of undoing...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/430186.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 225px; height: 149px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/430186.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BEFORE:</span> beautiful old craftsman foursquare home in dire need of a total makeover with no one to love it<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3695.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 206px; height: 273px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3695.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER:</span> beautiful old craftsman foursquare home in dire need of a total makeover with only one overly ambitious, totally naive young couple to love it. (and we do!)<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3478.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 330px; height: 231px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3478.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">BEFORE:</span> gorgeous stained glass window<br /><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3707.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 324px; height: 243px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3707.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER:</span> hideous leaded glass vinyl-framed window with what I'm fairly certain is a satanic symbol of some kind<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3437.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 624px; height: 467px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3437.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">BEFORE:</span> really ugly wallpaper <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3725.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 658px; height: 492px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3725.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER:</span> much more tolerable robin's egg blue plaster<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3475.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 651px; height: 487px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3475.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BEFORE:</span> pretty much the ugliest wallpaper ever designed <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3696.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 603px; height: 437px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3696.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER:</span> not so bad mauve-taupe plaster<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3474.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 347px; height: 458px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3474.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">BEFORE:</span> an amazing feat of physics: an entirely wallpapered stairway- including the eight feet of vertical wall over the stairs. (though the most puzzling question is not how, but WHY? WHY?)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3746.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 303px; height: 403px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3746.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a>Insert a death-defying steaming session where man + steaming hot home improvement appliance + precariously perched step ladder miraculously does NOT = untimely death...<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3748.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 353px; height: 471px;" src="http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg30/river_watson/IMG_3748.jpg" alt="" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">AFTER:</span> Instead, it yields some of the world's most difficult-to-reach-with-a-paint-roller plaster, desperately in need of paint.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">NEXT TIME ON 1926 Foursquare:</span> something is lurking behind the pea-green wallpaper of the breakfast nook... stay tuned to find out what!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7308005898344140341.post-1577567949380181572009-04-16T14:14:00.000-04:002009-04-16T14:53:20.361-04:00Moving InOur official move-in date is May Day! There is much to be done, but I must say, we've accomplished quite a lot already. Special thanks to the previous owners for all their hard work and meticulous <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">maintenance</span> , and to our wonderful realtor for all his advice, all he has done, and all that he continues to do for us, even after closing!<br /><br />So April 13, 14, and 15 were spent stripping wallpaper. Upon moving in, only three rooms in the house, (not counting the basement and attic,) were without wallpaper. The previous owners had graciously stripped the kitchen, and the smallest bedroom was recently stripped and/or freshly painted. And obviously, (or is it surprisingly? I cant decide!) the bathroom was not wallpapered. Other than these three rooms, the house was completely wallpapered. It's not just the main rooms and the bedrooms- it is in the stairway, the hallway, the closets- it is ON THE CEILINGS OF THE CLOSETS. It amazes me that a person could be so persistent, consistent, and downrights in love with wallpaper. The best part: it is all yellow. Even the seemingly pea-green patter of the kitchen wallpaper was peppered liberally with yellow! How? Why? It matters not! The only thing that matters now is our determination to rid ourselves of it!<br /><br />And the process has begun. The first day, Jason removed almost every scrap of wallpaper from the living room and dining room. It peeled like a banana. He simply grabbed a corner and pulled, and it came off in sheets. Not so in the hallway, he found. that stuff is the texture of newspaper. The glue has penetrated both the paper and the plaster it seems. Same with the upstairs bedroom (the largest one, our future office). No amount of DIF will pursuade it to loosen its hold. So I, of course, chose that first night to tackle the most stubbornly wallpapered room, the office. It is AWFUL. I have not managed to uncover a complete wall. I have spent at least 20 ours scoring, soaking and scraping, and during 5 of those hours I had my sister's help! Yet such little progress! How depressing.<br /><br />In taking a break from the office, however, I curiously entered our bedroom to find that the wallpaper in there is quite peelable as well, and that after only an hour or so of peeling, it is almost completely de-papered. Just what I needed to lift my spirits! At last! One completely de-papered room that I can take all the credit for!<br /><br />This process will be long and arduous, but by move-in day, we are determined to have completely painted walls throughout our home. I remember when painting was such a chore... Now it seems like the icing on the cake!<br /><br /><strong>__Things to Do__</strong><br /><strong>By May 1, 2009:</strong><br />-strip all wallpaper<br />-patch all plaster<br />-prime and paint all walls<br />-repaint kitchen and guest room<br />-remove kitchen cabinets as necessary<br />-install gas stove<br />-repair and/or install refrigerator<br />-sand kitchen cabinets for painting<br /><br /><strong>As Soon as Possible:</strong><br />-start vegetable garden<br />-screen attic vents (there are bugs coming in!)<br />-do SOMETHING about the landscaping<br /><br /><strong>By Autumn:</strong><br />-scrape, sand, prime and paint entire exterior of house and garage<br /><br />Some immediate problems we've noticed include:<br />1. There is nowhere to plug in an electric dryer, so we have to install the proper outlet.<br />2. We have some kind of mold in the plaster in the corner of the breakfast nook.<br />3. The coal chute (to nowhere) needs a new door/ possible insulation.<br />4. We have cable lines coming in through the strangest places, a dining room vent and the fireplace, for example, which need to be removed or relocated.<br />5. We need a new mailbox.<br />6. We need to repair or replace some of the window screens.<br /><br />Nothing too major thus far, thank God!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0