Little Red and Yellow House

It's been quite a while but I have attached the house with red paint photos. There is still a lot of work to be done but until the temperature returns to at least 47 degrees, the exterior painting is done. As you can see - the door trim, window trim, and awnings remain in need of paint

Before:


After:

But I miss the Ghosties!

2/3 of the way there...

Hello All:

I know that posts have been few and far between for much of this very busy summer but now I have exciting progress to report! After a weekend of hanging off a ladder to mask windows, doors, and facia, this:


has turned into this:

Now to take all the roofline masking down and add new plastic and tape for the peek colour. (Red like the door)

Photo Blog

I started a private photo blog. Send me your email address if you would like to access it. It will be primarily of sun. Any home photos will appear here.

Also, check out this photo. I think it is beautiful!

http://tinyhouseblog.com/tiny-house-landscape/tiny-house-in-a-landscape-13/

Thanks!

Mildred E. Jacoby, of County Road KW in Belgium, passed away Wednesday afternoon, July 22, 2009 at her residence. She was 94 years old. Mildred was born October 28, 1914 in the town of Fredonia, the daughter of Michael and Annie Kultgen Schneider.

She was united in marriage with John A. Jacoby at St. Nicholas Catholic Church in Dacada on November 21, 1936. The couple farmed in the Town of Belgium until they retired. John preceded her in death in 1986. Mildred was a long time member of St. Nicholas and the Christian Mothers group, of which she had been a previous president, as well as being a quilter for the mission group. She was also a past member of the Luxembourg Society and a sewing leader for 4H, and had enjoyed gardening and cooking.Mrs. Jacoby is survived by her seven children: Vernon (Marie) of West Bend, John and Mark, both of Belgium, Janice (Daniel) Stoneberg of Princeton, Joan (Ted) Block of Tifton, GA, Betty (Francis) Kleckner and Rita (Roger) Noll, both of Belgium. She is further survived by one brother, Michael Schneider of Random Lake and one sister Alice Jacoby of Random Lake, nieces, nephew, other relatives and friends. She is preceded in death by her husband John, grandson Michael Block, great-grandson Foster Noll, her brother Joseph Schneider and her sister Irene Mueller.

Cabinets and Dressers

Have you noticed that part of the mission of moving was to reduce?

Perhaps my only hope is to reduce the flow of items into the house... Fortunately/unfortunately, I recently acquired the following items that I love and fit well with little house:

Dresser for Sun's room. Cedar Grove Rummage $10. Very few signs of wear:


Dresser for me. One handle is missing a piece of decorative plastic and the top has slight damage but otherwise spectacular - especially when it if free:


My most coveted and essential addition - Metal Cabinet for the kitchen. Hopefully Polly will find time to sandblast it for me and I will paint it all black. In the meantime - a kitchen life saver for $10. Thanks to the Champagne Tuesday crew!!


An now for the most expensive ($40) piece and second most coveted:

I have been lucky enough to find some great pieces for the house. Perhaps only I would call my self lucky but I guess that's all right for now. (Catch that Al?)

Living Room Pictures

OK, it's not really a separate room - just a separate area, but here are the photos so far:

I got this couch eight years ago at a Gibson Girl Estate Sale - apparently, my "unusual" taste is not something that has developed recently.



The ottoman and rug are both Target purchases. The brown ottoman after Christmas and the rug about five years ago on clearance. I wonder why on clearance...



It will probably take me a long time to be satisfied with any drapes I may find. Luckily, I don't mind not having window coverings right now. Sorry, Barb.

In April we got digital TV

It is not that the TV was not digital, it is just that the antenna did not pick up signal. So, Polly got a new antenna and went to work on the roof. In fairness, he did indeed test it before he put it up.

1) Get the old antenna down from the ridiculous tripod that holds it:


2) Get the new antenna on the roof and into position:


3) Completely extend yourself, reach to the top of the tripod while balancing an antenna and yourself on both sides of the top of a ladder that is positioned to straddle the roof with nothing on which to brace oneself except that same rickety tripod fastened to the roof (by a man who could not hang a curtain rod) with 55year old roofing nails:


4) When the pipe is finally through the top hole, spend another 10 minutes jamming it into the second (larger) hole below when - inexplicably - it does not fit correctly.


5) Act as if it is inconceivable that anyone word worry about your physical safety during your project or be concerned that they would actually be taking a picture of your death. Laugh when you are asked about how that headline would read.

6) Take a two hour nap to recover from almost falling to your death.

Fish don't fry in the kitchen, Beans don't burn on the grill - But check out my kitchen table!

So I can not believe how long it's been since I have posted. But rejoice! (or not) I have found my camera cable!

We've been in the house regularly for over a month, and I have a lot of catching up to do to properly chronicle the chaos!

On the last episode we had finished the bathroom and were ready-ish to move more stuff in. I am moving everything here but in pieces. We didn't get this house to crap it up. The intent is to have a place that is set up to make a dyslexic home-maker as successful as possible! To that end, I am trying to take everything at a reasonable pace (the opposite of the first 3 mos of this year) while at the same time not being lazy.

One very recent addition is a table and chairs that I am ECSTATIC about - thank you Craigs list. I will let the pictures speak for themselves:

Table and chairs:


Table top


Chair and Leg Details


Perhaps Polly is right and I don't even really like nice things. Perhaps this is the 1982 VW truck of tables. Regardless, I love it and I think it is a work of art.

Enough! I don't want to send anyone into shock by posting too much. I hope to have more tomorrow!

To the same old place that you laughed about...

Welcome Back!!

Today I have added multiple posts so please continue on to the bathroom post. I have a brand new hard drive and - while I love it - I am mourning the loss of the old one. I feel like the blue screen of death has taken my soul along with everything after December 13th - My last back up. Christmas - Gone. Little House - Gone. Guess it's lucky I blog... Or is it?

Finished Bathroom

So, the bathroom is D-U-N (pretty much). I have attached before/during/after pictures...

Day one (you may have seen this before):


Begining of floor removal:


This was a really difficult period for me...



Progress :)


Flooring 1 and 2:




Tada! I can tell that Polly is unsure of the finished project because of the colour. I am pleased and feel it is accurate for both the era and myself. I would appreciate feedback so leave a comment if you have time - this is our riskiest room yet!

Just a note... The house computer is down and I am unable to update much until we get the computer back.

Additional Kitchen Photos

Below are photos of the kitchen today (w/o dishwasher and the microwave will move):

Counter Tops

I have been working on the kitchen cabinets and today we got new counter tops. I am extremely pleased with both the counter tops and the progress Polly and I have made (along with a cast of characters). I have added some photos below:

Remember these? Old counter top and original condition cabinets:


New counter top and refinished cabinets:


Old counter (close-up):


New counter top pattern (close-up):


It is very import to me that (within reason) we could keep any contractor hiring local. Accordingly we went with Random Lake's own:


I will add photos tommorow of the second counter top we had installed.

btw, I updated the to do list...

To Dos

This is my to do list for the house. I will update it periodically. I would like to be in by 3/15/09. Will that be possible for two people with full-time (and then some) jobs?

Bathroom floor

Just found out the bathroom floor tile that we special ordered is in at Menards - whoo hoo!

Bathroom Snapshot

I haven't posted in a while because we do not have a project completed. But who cares, right? We have at least one "in progress" at any given time.

I loose track of time but I think it was two weeks ago that Polly Anna put in the tub surround.

This is the bathroom on Day 1:


This is after removal of personal items and floor tiles (thank you Gandalf):


Work in progress:







This is the new surround:

The Rise of the Kitchen Floor

These are two photos of the kitchen floor when we bought the house:



Polly pulled up the floor tiles to reveal this:



He chiseled and scraped his way to this:



Then added black and white Armstrong vinyl tiles. Below is the mostly finished product:



Job well done Polly!