Our Next Big Project

While we had planned to finish painting the trim work on the upstairs balcony and pain the porch floor, the weather has not cooperated. It's rained (or sleeted) nearly every weekend since December.

So, we decided to start on the next project since we're not ones to sit around twiddling our thumbs waiting for the weather to change. We both agreed that we were ready to tackle the downstairs bathroom.

Today, we tore out the light peach or beige tile above the tub. (I never could tell which color it was supposed to be). We also dismantled and removed the old toilet, dated July 10, 1984. We thought for a moment about reusing it in the new and improved bathroom. Then, we recalled that the home was a rent house for many years with many different tenants (No offense, Krista!) plus, it was previously an antique shop, so we decided we would go ahead and splurge on a new one.

We have decided to keep the old sink. It has a lot of character. Plus I like how big it is. We will just replace the fixtures and hang it sturdier.

Now, for the tub. Gary is a pretty strong guy, if I do think so myself. However, the current tub is either stuck like glue in its place, extremely heavier than we expected, or Gary is losing some of his strength. I retain my trust in Gary and his abilities, so I vote for one of the first two. I'm sure that he will come up with a plan to get it out of the bathroom and out of the house. If you remember from a previous post during the summer, we pulled out the antique cast iron tub from the old upstairs bathroom. (I use "we" lightly... our contractors did it, actually). It has been in the backyard all this time, but we believe it will fit in the downstairs bathroom in a new location next to the sink.

The new toilet will be placed where the current tub is with a shelf or closet next to it for more storage space and more privacy for the toilet area.

Next steps...

* Figure out how to get the old tub out
* Pull up the old linoleum flooring
* Caulk all the cracks in the beadboard (about as much fun as being poked in the eye with a stick, but much more tedious)
* Decide what color to paint the walls (Anyone have any ideas???)

Wish List Updated

I recently updated our Wish List to see how many items we have gotten that we've been wishing for. I was quite surprised at the progress we're making.

I wonder... does this make me...

a. Spoiled
b. Impatient
c. Extremely blessed
d. All of the above

I think the answer is probably d!!!

Oh, the Weather Inside is Frightful

Since Sunday morning, our heater has not been working. Two repairmen later, and our heater is still not working. Two parts have been ordered and due to arrive tomorrow. We do, however, have the upstairs heater working, but we're not running it constantly because we don't want it to run itself down trying to heat the whole house.

Gary went to Wal-Mart Monday night and bought us an electric blanket and warm caps to wear to keep our heads warm. We stayed under the electric blanket all day yesterday, only bundling up to venture downstairs to what we now refer to as the "freezer." We can literally blow and see our breath!

In addition, we had 6 plus inches of rain over the weekend, and the lovely built-in china cabinet located in the dining room began to leak down the middle, and leak, and leak. We filled several bowls and soaked up several towels with rain. It also leaked in the downstairs bathroom, but thankfully only over the tub, and down a corner of the utility room. We've called all the roofers in the phone book. One was promising, but he never showed up. Besides the leak, the tin roof over the upstairs bathroom blows up and flaps every time a strong wind blows. We've been asking our contractor to come and fix it for about the past 3 months. (Sigh...)

As if that weren't enough, we also have have no local phone service since Sunday, but a repairman is scheduled to come on Friday. Thank goodness for cell phones.

Oh the joys of living in an old house!

Schools are closed today, so thankfully, we do not have to worry about driving out in this mess. We stayed home yesterday even though my district was open. Our drive to school is 45 minutes away, and it was very icy along the highway between here and there. So, we will spend another day under the electric blanket. That's OK because I'm in the middle of a good book! Too bad for Gary, though. He finished his last night.

The Kitchen is DONE!!!

It's not as done as it's gonna get. It's not done for now. It is DONE! Here are the things we have done to finally complete the kitchen that we've been working on since last summer (or really since we moved in last February):

• Built and installed a new shelf to go alongside the cabinets on the sink side of the kitchen, as well as one to store my spices for cooking above the stove.


• Added crown moulding to the tops of the cabinets. Gary did the carpentry work, and I did the painting.


• Put in new matching countertops for the sink and stove areas.


• Intalled new white porcelain one-single tub sink along with a new Victorian-style fawcet.


• Added a new backsplash. I don't know what it's called but it's kinda like vinyl, but it looks like tin.


• Finished painting the dreaded brick wall. What a pain, but well worth it.


• Lastly, finished hanging all the tin signs, antique pots, vintage utensils, etc. I've been collecting on ebay, antique shops, etc.

I feel like I have the kitchen of my dreams!

Follow the Red Brick Road

A couple of weekends ago, Gary (with a little help from Camryn and I) put in a new brick walkway that leads from the front porch to the street. Our neighbor had told us that there was a Texas-shaped path stone that must have been covered up with dirt and grass at the foot of the porch. We dug and dug and found it. It is now at the end of the walkway where the walkway meets the sidewalk, right where the new gate and iron archway sit.