Walnut Hill Beauty

Driving through the Walnut Hill neighborhood today I saw the "Open House" sign posted for one of my favorite houses. Luckily, I had a few moments, so I stopped and went in. Very nice. It wasn't over-the-top in the way that some Victorians can be, but it still had enough of the historic elements to give it the charm I love. The bathroom upstairs still had the original subway tile on the walls and hex tile on the floors (it was also a good tile job, unlike ours!) There were 4 large bedrooms on the second floor, and an additional 2 on the 3rd floor/converted attic. The funniest thing I saw there was in the sunroom area, which was at some point a porch - they still had the exterior water spigot plumbed in - all enclosed in the piano-adorned sunroom!

The listed price was $799K. Can we sell our Plain Jane and buy please!!! Well, we still can't buy $799K, but that is a serious steal for that place! I would guess that a couple years ago or so, it would have been listed over a million. Just a guess.

So nice.

I'm Alive - I swear!

I'm totally alive... but swamped. Not much house happenings lately. We havve been in puppy madness the last few weeks. About a month and a half ago, we got Abbey, a goldendoodle puppy (now 5 1/2 months)



and then a few weeks later we got Oscar from Idog rescue group, a group that specializes in doodles. He's an 11 1/2 month old labradoodle.



They (Oscar, in particular) are wild and energetic and need lots of attention and walks/runs/playgroups. A considerable change from Taya!

I'm also back in school for summer semester.

So house stuff has been pretty much limited to trying to keep things cleaned up after the dogs. I've been trying to pre-paint some of the wood shingles for the peaks. And Jim keeps planning his future garage addition. But I really don't want to start anything major until the roof is paid for and we have money upfront - so that probably isn't going to happen for another year. The bank downgraded the equity line of credit - not surprising, considering the state of the economy - so there actually isn't really any other good option than frugal saving... which is what I'd prefer anyway.

Now, I've got to go walk a dog and maybe weed some flower beds...

Not a Mudroom but...

So here's my version of the Martha Stewart boot tray (see 2 posts ago):



The boots aren't as cute as the wellies & duck boots Martha had, but what can I say? That's what we (Jim) actually wear.

I think it looks pretty decent, though. I also got some indoor/outdoor rugs to help define the space and catch the snow, salt, & sand. The opening is just 4 feet wide, but quite long to the radiator, so I bought 3 of them and just put them together. It works pretty well.

They don't start at the opening of the door because the threshold at that point is too short, and they would get bunched up. But of course the house (or maybe the floor) is not level, so all I have to do is push it down a few inches where the threshold is higher and we're fine!

I splurged on the boot tray and got it from Smith & Hawkin, rather than buying a cheaper black or green plastic one.

I think Martha's had some smooth river rocks, but when I went to Homer, I could get a whole big bag of broken marble for $4, or several small bags of smooth stones for $7 each. Obviously, I chose the big bag for $4, and it was just enough to perfectly fill the boot tray. And I think it has the right effect.



Luckily (?), I have been able to give it the true test, as it snowed 9 or so inches on Monday - yes, that's right, we got a Nor'easter on March 2nd. It's not my ideal mudroom, but it works pretty well for about a $300 investment. One of these days, I'll make a little bench to go with it. But that will have to wait until I'm down to at least 2 night classes.

Rest in Peace Taya

Apologies for not writing very much lately. School started and took a lot of my free time/house work time and replaced it with HBS case study reading. blech.

The other sad news is that Taya's health deteriorated fairly rapidly since Christmas time. She had another surgery, but they found that the cancer had spread significantly. After the surgery, she wouldn't eat anything. We force fed her, hoping that maybe once she got stronger she might feel like eating. But that never really happened.

Unfortunately we had to make the decision to put her to sleep. She just was not the same dog anymore. You could tell in her eyes that she was suffering. So today we took her to the vet and had her euthanized. It has been a very sad and very emotional time for both Jim and me. We loved that little doggie to death.



Here are some of our memorites of her:

I remember when I went to go look at the pet store, I had no real intention of getting a dog that day, but when I saw you, you came straight up to the front of your kennel and looked at me with your big brown eyes, wagging your tail, and I was in love at first sight.



I remember there was a dog park we would go to very close to our apartment in downtown St. Paul. You loved it there! You mostly would go to the people for attention, but there was one dog you loved to play with. It was a little terrier named Digby. You and Digby would walk around together and Digby would pick up cigarette butts and you would look for trash.

I remember most of all taking you to Chrissy Field. This was a dog beach with all sorts of dogs running off leash. It was like you were in heaven! You loved the sand – you would shove your nose in it and throw the sand up. Then you would use your front paws to dig, dig, dig, until you got it just right, and then you would plop down and enjoy the feeling of laying in the freshly exposed cool sand. But then you would jump up and start running again. You were always a little afraid of the water, at first. You would run up to it and then quickly run away as the waves came in. But once you got your feet a little wet, you would cautiously go a little further. You never really did go for a full swim, but you certainly got yourself wet enough to become a filthy mess when you inevitably rolled in the sand afterwards. You would run after sticks (you were a little better at playing fetch by this time), chase the seagulls, and run up to the other people with this giant smile on your face. You would say hello to the other dogs, but you were really more interested in getting the people attention. And you were so adorable that you had no problem getting that attention. I used to call you an attention whore because you would almost immediately roll over onto your back to present your belly for rubs. You loved Chrissy Field so much that I tried to make sure we went almost every weekend.



I remember taking you to the local park to walk every day. We had to walk down a block and across Franklin and Gough streets (both one-way thoroughfares through the city) to get to the park. Pretty soon after we moved there, I was feeling quite confident with you, and let you off the leash to play with this little beagle that also lived in our building. Before I knew it, you and that beagle started running and running, and ran off! I remember my heart sinking and being terribly afraid and looking and looking for you. We finally found you sitting in the doorway of the apartment building, and the beagle wandering in the parking garage of the hotel across the alley. It amazes me to this day that the two of you survived what was probably a full sprint across Franklin and Gough – especially because it must have been right around 6:30pm.



You somehow knew exactly what I needed and were always there to give me youe unconditional love. You also had this way of sitting on the back of the couch, so that you could wrap your front paws around one side of my neck, while leaning your head onto mine. I like to think of it as your way of giving a hug.

I remember when I moved into this house, I wanted to avoid the trauma of San Francisco move for you, so I started by taking you to the empty house each night and weekend when I would go to do work on it. I still have the pictures of you exploring the place the first time, as you ran to the bay window, lifted yourself up and looked out. That spot would become your favorite in the whole house.



Jim remembers that when we first started dating, he thought it was the most ridiculous thing to have the dog sleep in the bed. Then when I went away and Jim watched you, guess where you slept.

I remember you running big wide circles in the back yard with Jim chasing you. That was one of your favorite games. You would run close – just close enough for us to try and touch you – before you would run far away, only to circle back again. Jim remembers you laying down in the grass after doing circles to rest. You would stare at him until he went and lunged for you, and then you would start the circles all over again.



I will always remember you sleeping in the bend of my knees and the comfort and warmth that brought.

Mudroom Substitute

While I want, want, WANT a mudroom, and it may - no, will - happen someday, dog surgeries and new roofs must be paid off first. In the meantime, snow, sand, and salt from the winter storms are getting tracked all over the house and defeating my cleaning efforts of the last post, so we really need to find an acceptable short term solution.

Jim mentioned a boot tray last night. I'd love it if it looked something like this Martha Stewart version



That's kinda cute - I could live with that. And maybe I could make a simple little bench to sit on while you take your snowy boots and shoes off. The only real place to put it would be under one of the kitchen windows. Not ideal, as that's where the door swings open to, but this is all a temporary compromise, right?

Then Jim suggested I combine that with a radiator cover I've been thinking of making... I yakked about it here last winter. Here's some pictures of ones I'd like to copy...





Before any of you think I'm ruining the look of old radiators - never fear, these kitchen radiators are hideous and plain - not like the decorative radiators in other parts of the house. And for any of you that think I'll be ruining the heating efficiencies of the radiators by covering them, know that we now use the pellet stove as the primary heat source, and only turn the furnace on when it is extremely cold out...

It's kind of hard to see, but this is the wall with one of the radiators (covered with project supplies). The window to the left of it is where we're thinking of possibly putting the boot mat, and the back door is just to the left of the window.



I think I need to come up with a serious design for this. I've been watching woodworking video podcasts... we'll see. I'm never at a loss for projects. What I really need to do is focus and finish the bathroom doors (2nd door is half scraped). Oh - and classes start back up on Thursday.

Cleaning Lists

I am a list person. For those of you who know me, this is no surprise. I don't feel like I got anything done (even if I actually did) unless I can cross something off of that list. Sometimes I even add things to my list after I've done them, just so that I can cross them off.

For some reason this weekend, I was getting disgusted at the filthiness of my kitchen and bathrooms. So I decided I was going to do a deep cleaning. I Googled cleaning checklists - and there are some fancy and pretty ones out there - but I just needed a plain old list. So I searched and combined and added a few items. Maybe I'll use this as a template for everytime I clean?

Here's my checklist for the Kitchen:
• Dishes washed
• Countertops and backsplash cleaned
• Cabinet fronts washed and wiped
• Sinks scrubbed and disinfected (including behind sink)
• Outside of appliances (oven, refrigerator, dishwasher, stovetop)
• Inside and outside of microwave cleaned
• Small appliances wiped
• Wash inside windows
• Window sills wiped down and cleaned
• Baseboards dusted or wiped
• Spot wipe walls and switch plates
• Fingerprints washed from woodwork and doorframes
• Clean light shades
• Clean pet dishes
• Trash emptied
• Wash or dust table and chairs
• Floor vacuumed and mopped and dried
• Wash area rugs
• Replace dish towels

And here's my checklist for the Bathrooms:
• Sink cleaned, disinfected and rinsed
• Tub and/or shower tiles cleaned, disinfected and rinsed
• Wall tiles cleaned
• Chrome fixtures shined and cleaned
• Toilet base, rim, inside and outside disinfected and wiped
• Vanity top cleaned and items organized and put away
• Towels changed
• Mirrors cleaned
• Window sills wiped down
• Dust & clean shelves
• Spot wipe walls and switch plates
• Trash emptied
• Baseboards dusted and/or wiped
• Vacuum and mop and dry floor

Everything on those lists was done for the kitchen and both the bathrooms this weekend. They look nice now.

I'm embarrassed to say, but I don't clean nearly as often as I should. I mean, I try and keep up with the dishes every day or every other day. But things like mopping - that hadn't been done since we had our party in November. There just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day to do everything... How often do you mop your floors? Wait, maybe I don't want to know!

One - One Working Door!

That's right - all the hardware is back on and the door is back up. Here's a look at the installed doorknob & backplate:



The plain hardware is kind of growing on me - now that it's all put together. It doesn't exactly match the rest of the nickel & chrome stuff in the bathroom... but I'll probably live with it for now.

We were pretty close to having the door fit, but had to chisel out a little bit at the striker plate:



Here's a picture of the door all closed from inside the bathroom:



It might not look very exciting - but believe me, our next guests will be very happy to have actually have the privacy! The only wierd thing is that the door was poor fitting for so long and people had sort of jammed the door closed, that the top corner of the door is literally bent out - so it still sticks out a little when the rest of the door is closed...

Now it's time to start work on the 2nd door. To better understand the issue and why I am scraping the doors down to bare wood, here's some pictures of the 2nd door...




Maybe I'm obesessive, but it really annoys me when there's giant paint chipped areas that have just been painted over. Or when it gets all gummed up and nasty at the edge. yuck. It's like those little "shabby chic" places that have peeling paint as a decorative element - blah! just makes me feel like scraping it off.

Anyway - here's a view at the different paint layers inside the bathroom:



From latest to earliest, the trim has been
-white (painted by me)
-lilac (the existing color when I moved in)
-mint or sea green (very similar to what is on the walls now)
-tan-like apricot
-mauve
-cream
-tan
-dark stain or varnish

What a crazy rainbow of colors! I have a personal preference for white painted trim but I'm pretty sure that the mauve, apricot, green, and lilac were all the work of the Fanaros (POs). When you're painting something lilac, why stop at the trim???




From the first picture you can see that not only was the beadboard painted lilac, but also the bottom of the tub. And then in the second picture (mid demolition) you can see that the trim and top of the walls were painted lilac also. Yikes. It was like a purple nightmare. That purple still peaks through now and again, and it still makes me have bad dreams.