June 28, 2011

We are always getting the finger


That is the finger we have started to notice a lot lately. Groups of two or more in cars, or walking by our home, and if you happen to look out a window you get the finger. I can only imagine the conversations that are going on behind the finger. Sometimes I do hear snippets of the chatter.
"Sure looks like things have slowed down, they must have run out of money"
Ah, come on folks... we are working solely on the inside of the house, the part you can't see from the street, but I know you want to! 
or...
"they raised it 20 feet in the air because it was collapsing in on itself"
Well, kinda but not really. Every finger seems to know all about us and what we are doing, or at least they think they do. Not one single finger ever comes up to the house to ask what the true stories are, they just point and jabber away.  On the other hand I suppose its nice to be a topic of conversation, I think...



We continue progress inside the house. We are focused on preparing the remaining rooms on the first floor for plaster. One more window casing and completing the crown moldings and we will be ready. The casing moldings that are to be reapplied around all of the doors and windows can wait, but baseboards are virtually all reinstalled along with their decorative cap. We plan on returning to the world of veneer plaster the middle of July, so we need to shake some proverbial legs!

Remember the Dining room before?


Now we have this...



You can see the beginnings of the crown which is made up of five different moldings. Two have been installed so far in the dining room and the living room. The other three are being made as I write and will soon be added to the stack.

Bay windows and Crown molding... not my idea of a good time!
The baseboard and the doors have gone back into the center hall. We are currently so enamored with the five doors that we keep them closed all the time so that when you enter the house from the front door it all seems so mysterious, hmmm, which door leads to where? At any moment you expect Scooby Doo and Shaggy to run out of one and into another, followed by a group of maniacal monsters chasing them.


Phillip has been hard at work of a medicine cabinet that was recently given to us by our friend Clifford. The cabinet was built in 1901 and came out of a home in San Francisco. It also had been painted ten to twelve times. Slowly he is removing one hundred and ten years worth of paint. I hope this cycle does not begin again once the cabinet graces the first of three guest bathrooms.



So many pictures for this post.
Here is one more for the record. A few days ago I was bored with the projects I was working on and I had that itch. You know the one. The Itch that makes you want to do something that you know you shouldn't do yet, but you have been dying to tackle it. With hammer and wrecking bar in hand I headed for the center hall. I took one look at the staircase, and started prying away the trim, slowly and carefully I removed the first sixteen spindles, that's when Phillip walked into the hall. Ouch. Lets just say he was not very happy with me. We have a slightly different view of what needs to be completed within the year so that we can refinance our mortgage, and the staircase did not fall into his  scope of the needed items. 

The single spindle has had its finish removed.

Now I am only allowed to work on the staircase on my own time, whenever that is.
So next time you drive or walk by, using the finger, and you see me working on the staircase, you will know it is "whenever that is"
hehehehehehe

11 comments:

  1. Looking awesome!! :)

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  2. Why do you even care what others think about your life and your home? People don't come here to read your negative bitter rants, we want to see and hear about your progress the good things. People talk, if it's not relevant just don't listen. You sound just like everyone you go off on.

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  3. To Anonymous...
    heheheh hahahaha Bitter party of one your table is ready.
    I read many, many home restoration blogs and for the most part they are B O R I N G!
    "today we dug a hole, with a thing called a shovel, a marvel of the modern world... while little Suzie, the precious angel she is, made a mud pie"

    I prefer to find funny little bits to incorporate into my writing to make my readers laugh. Humor is the only way to survive what we are doing and quite a bit of humor comes from outside our doors. It would seem that you have not read much of my blog and if all you want is progress, well, walk on by and point a finger or two.

    By the way as I have said to a few others who post comments i n the past... you know who I am, you know where I live, so, man up and at least give us your name.

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  4. Love the Blog and the house is fantastic!!!
    Jacqueline

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  5. You two are amazing! I love your blogs & your magazine article. I am so proud of you both! Good job!
    Patti LeBlanc
    Albany Oregon

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  6. I love reading your blog and seeing the pictures. I'm a local(Graton)historian and am so pleased at the time and care you are taking with your wonderful house. You really respect its history and your painstaking work will pay off not just for you but for generations to come. Thank you!

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  7. I'm hoping to stop by when I'm in the "burg" later this month. The dining room looks great!

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  8. I haven't stopped by your blog in a while. You've come a long way! I love seeing the rooms enclosed and starting to look closer and closer to the home it will be.

    I am in awe at how much you guys do on your own. Awe and envy!

    Probably not a good time to ask this question, but do you think you will go through withdrawals once the house is done? What will you do with your time then? Relax and enjoy or take on new projects like refinishing furniture to fill the rooms?

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  9. Dear Anonymous...
    After this house is done there will be no withdrawals. We are going to sell the children and buy an apartment in Venice Italy... a fixer!
    hehehe
    thanks for the kind words
    Mark

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  10. What? You covered up those gorgeous wall studs and ceiling joists. The naked bones in your house were spectacular; now just a licentious memory.

    No, seriously, everything is looking fabulous. So much progress and care is evident and you are obviously moving forward. Love it.

    And don't stop with the humor, even if those who need it most don't get it. It's always spot on! Your blog is an authentic chronicle of life viewed through wavy glass on the corner of Fitch and North...and fun too!

    Tom K.

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  11. BRAVO GUYS! Having sold my Hollywood Hills home and moved to a 1900 vintner's cottage in Saint Helena across from Spotteswood.. I will certainly be attending this blog for pointers and most likely sympathy!

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