Rooms with a view

Sometimes even I think we are crazy. Well.... uh... I guess you should take Phillip out of that equation and just say that I am crazy. The hinges arrived and oooh were they purty, that is if you like white marble statues, blue carpeting, and gold curtain rods. If you need the reference for that list of  items please see Southpark episode "D-Yikes" season 11, episode 1106, hee, hee, hee, one of my all time favorites! So there I was faced with 69 vibrantly glowing, greeny brass, super shiny, grab you by the throat, shake ya up and throw ya down, brass hinges. I put on my sunglasses and accessed the problem.
The first issue... a thick coating of spray lacquer, ouch, and all that brand new brass. So out came the chemicals, our favorite products that we have to keep in a dark, hidden place away from prying Prius driving, vegan eyes. Not a single thing green about them, but if you want to get the job done there is nothing better. I was going to title this post "Get out your furs for stripping" but then I would have Vegans, Prius drivers, and PETA members out to get me.   :-)

The hinge on the left is shiny and new, the one on the right has been stripped of lacquer, scrubbed with detergent, soaked in Selenious and Phosphoric acid until black, lightly scrubbed again with a scouring sponge and detergent until the black gives way to a darkened multitoned brass with slight copper overtones, buffed dry, and finally lightly rubbed with super fine steel wool to add a slight sheen to the finished piece. Nothin to it. quick as pie and leaves your hands as beautifully antiqued as the hinge.

After hours of scrubbing and adding a new patina, the new look is very acceptable next to the 130 year old door hardware. We could have come even closer but that requires hot processes or fuming, and even I have my limits.

The antique door hardware that is waiting to be installed and that which the hinges need to have some sort of color relationship with.

---NEWS FLASH---

Passing by 227 North Street one will notice a strange occurrence that has been taking place. Windows!

The reconstructed back of the house is now sporting beautiful double hung windows, with glass and everything. It is an amazing site and the house is beginning to look like a house. There is still many steps ahead to complete the windows, more sanding, priming, and painting, installation of pulleys, ropes, and weights, inside trim, and outside trim, and a serious cleaning, but at least they are in and getting us one step closer to weather safe.

Somtimes a sad story must be told to light the way

As we move forward making the right decisions can be difficult. Difficult and expensive! No one told us to "beware the little things". A quote of three thousand dollars for door hinges made me have a sit down. And these are just reproduction, pseudo period hinges off a production line. Antique hinges are out of the question as it is virtually impossible to find enough of the same hinge to do the entire house. Sixty nine hinges, custom made to match the door hardware at one hundred and fifty dollars a hinge... OMG put me out of my misery now! I can think of better ways to use ten grand than swingin a door on it.
The door hardware, outside of hinges, is antique. We have found a great company on the East coast that is collecting period hardware for us, that does not cost and arm and a leg.... a leg perhaps, but not both. The hardware is very pretty, a small bit later than the house, 1880 instead of 1870, but its beautiful and give or take ten years won't be noticed... I hope.

Beautiful, yes, but one drawback. Phillip will be wandering around the house with a huge ring of skeleton keys attached to his belt, like an old prison matron with a deep voice and a "don't %*?# with me fellas" attitude, locking the doors as he moves down the hall after dark. So guests beware of locked doors whose keys go missing in the middle of the night, or a subtle click at your door as you are nodding off to sleep. If we have to start bricking up doorways to cover the aftermath, you know we're in trouble.

And now a sad story. One I have hesitated to discuss. A few months ago during one of my internet excursions into the realm of research, this particular search was on gas lighting to be specific, I came across a gentleman and his wife who were losing their circa 1870 home to the bank. This in it's self is a sad story, but they were feeling a sense of relief at their decision and were ready to move on. They were selling off architectural pieces of their house before they left it. This too is a sad story and it made me feel bad for the home and it's losses, but we were not going to be able to talk them out of stripping it and we are in need. We purchased four gas ceiling fixtures from them, that had hung in the same home for one hundred and forty years. Although they needed work to return them to their original state they were an affordable option, and would get some true period lighting into our house that has none. 

A matched pair of this fixture above for the living room. The shades, sockets, bobeche (the brass bits cupping the shades), and the finish are all incorrect, but workable.

This fixture, although needing the same things as the others, has great structure and will hang in the Library

 

And lastly this small fixture, in the same condition, to hang in the center hall.

Remember up above when I said "they were an affordable option"? The light fixtures were paid for and picked up, in Michigan, by a dear friend who in turn took them to a frame and packing company for packaging and shipping. A packing company that packs art for worldwide shipping. You know those moments in life where you just put too much trust in others that you do not know? Well this was one of them that will cost a handsome ransom to rectify. Oh, if we could take it back. Oh, if we were not so trusting. Oh, if we could go back in time. Lines of communication broke down. I thought I was very clear about packaging the fixtures in new containers for secure protection. Protect and support the metal, the gas valves, all the small pieces, wrap, cover, enclose. I thought I was clear, specific and concise... I thought

After a long wait the fixtures finally arrived in Healdsburg. One look at the four old, beaten and abused boxes and we knew we were about to see the worst that long haul shipping can provide. The opening of the first box gave way to broken, bent and destroyed metal. One hundred and forty years these light fixtures had hung in the same home, and in a matter of days poor packaging had obliterated them.

 

  

  

I have only photographed one of them. I could not bring myself to photograph the others. All four fixtures have broken arms and bent gas valves. Due to misunderstanding there was not any insurance and even if there were UPS would have taken one look at the packaging and denied the claim. I wouldn't blame them. All four need major restoration. By the time we pay for the restoration on top of what we have already paid, which wasn't a drop in the bucket, we could have gone for the really expensive pieces that I drool over. The funny tag to the whole story is that a week ago we received a bill in the mail from the frame and packing company. A bill for packing services.... HA!

The light at the end of the tunnel comes by means of a gentleman in Grass Valley California by the name of Paul Ivazes. Paul's Company, Quality Lighting, specializes in gas light fixtures and he has had the graciousness not to yell at me for what happened and will restore the fixtures to their original appearance. He has even gone so far as to provide us with pictures from a catalog for Mitchell Vance and Co in New York City, the Company that made our ruined fixtures in the 1870's, showing what the light fixtures looked like when they were new,  and what they will look like again. Paul is a font of information and really fascinating to speak to, he loves gas lighting, he loves his work, and it shows.

The two fixtures in the center are two of ours. The one center right is the matched pair for the living room. The one center left is the fixture for the center hall, it has been somewhat changed over the years.

The fixture in the lower left is the fixture for the Library. It will be really exciting, someday in the future, when they all hang proudly in our house looking like their former selves.

One year and a Night visitor

Its true folks. We have been living in Healdsburg for year... My how time flys... and it's still raining.
I don't think the rain will ever stop. I am thinking that we should simply build a large boat around the house and float it away to sea. We spend our weekends working in the pouring rain as our fellow Healdsburger's (hee, hee, Healdsburger's) rush about to find tasty snacks, and rental movies so they can snuggle in by the fire as the storm rages on. Jealous you may ask? Damn right we are. You made your own bed, you say? yes we did sign up for this sentence, but it does not make it any easier. I want to snuggle in, drink toddies (what ever they are) and watch bad movies by the fire.  -Sigh-

We are still in mechanicals hell. The wiring goes on and on and on. Phillip is on the second floor and has done some of the third floor as well. By the end of this month, come hell or high water, we will be ready for our first big inspection. We can't even begin to think of closing in walls until the mechanicals are approved and signed off. We must finish the wiring, add smoke detector lines, add phone and cable lines, and add gas pipes. Then we get the pleasure of sealing up the sewer line at the street, and filling the entire system with water by putting a hose in the highest vent pipe on the roof. Then quickly run around and check for leaks. We need to do this once without the inspector, so we can make sure we are water tight, and then do it again with the city inspector present. I hope the pipes can hold the pressure of that much water.

I was going through pictures looking for interesting things to post, and I came across this picture...

 

How quickly we have forgotten the decrepit and sad state the house was in when we bought it. We get lost in the slowness of what we are doing, anxious, depressed, and frusterated, but a quick look back brings things back onto focus.

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A few "visual" and "moving forward" things have been taking place inside the falling down wreck we call home. A beautiful set of pocket doors have been set in place between the Library and the Study.

  

The set of doors came out of a house in San Francisco built at the same time as ours. After removing the original wall between the two rooms (it had to come out as it was only 2 x 3 construction and would not accommodate the new doors) we then constructed a new, much thicker wall and created pockets to the left and right for the doors to slide into. We have had a terrible time locating a floor track for them, but as soon as we do, we can add the top guide and the doors will be ready to slide.

The floor in the center hall has been preped for tile. No easy task! the old floor was taken up and the floor joists were shaved and leveled. New floor joists were then sistered to the old for added strength and stability. The old front door sill was removed, and finally plywood was laid down in preparation for cement board and tile. The toughest part was the staircase. Was it possible to cut the old floor away from the staircase without it collapsing into the abyss below? 

Brent (our part time carpenter) carefully cut away the old floor upon which the staircase had been built. Everyone crossed their fingers that it would hold.

Phillip was underneath and held the whole staircase up for hours while we built around it to give it a new support structure.

Well, maybe not. Perhaps he was faking the whole thing for the camera. Perhaps the stairs were never really in danger of collapsing into the earth from the get go. But it was a cute picture and he felt so manly holding them up.

Our wood floors are finished at the Mill and await our "go ahead" for shipment.  We are looking forward to bathroom fixtures, tile, and creating showers. I have been doing a lot of research on the new high tech methods of creating completely water proof spaces that never leak, mold, or mildew. The windows for the back of the house are primed, glazed, and ready to be installed, and Brent and I will tackle them this weekend.

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The side note for today. In my last post I wrote of people that we do not know, who just walk into the house to have a look around. Well, last Saturday we were not able to put our front door back into place so we had to cover the opening with stapled down, black plastic. When we arrived on Sunday it was very apparent that someone or something had been in the house the night before. The plastic at the door was completely loose, there was a cigarette that had been put out on the floor at the top of the stairs, and a few small things had gone missing. Seems like we now have crossed the line. On top of everything else there was no floor inside the front door leaving a six foot drop into the cellar. Whom ever was in the house managed to walk the floor joists to the stairs. I would have rather shown up on Sunday to find the intruder moaning on the dirt floor of the basement after having fallen through the open floor, then at least we would have known who it was and find out why they had been in our home. I am one hundred percent positive that I would not have accidentally kicked them in the head a few times as I helped them out of the dirt, no really, I would not do such a thing... I promise! On the other hand, with the way things are today, who ever it was probably would have sued us for damages as we did not have a floor inside our front door and they fell into the basement. Ironic...

Lucy.... we're home!

The past few days have seen a miraculous change in Healdsburg... no rain! The tree in a neighbors yard has burst into bloom with beautiful salmon colored flowers and the sun keeps peeking out from behind the cloud cover. Is it really possible that spring is knocking on our front door? The weather change has brought joy and positive energy back to 227 North Street. The evenings that we spend working, although still in the dark, are pleasant and productive. And things are finally moving ahead.

    Magic water supply lines, in "ya cant make no mistakes" red and blue... for those who are not trained in the art of PEX plumbing, that's red for hot water and blue for cold, are snaking all over the house.  Pex tubing and Sharkbite fittings have been a boon to our restoration. We installed the water supply for the entire house in three days, just cut the tubing, push on the fitting, and move onto the next. It is hard to believe it is that easy, but it is. The fittings are expensive, but I believe we spent a thousand dollars in materials, and saved twenty thousand in labor to install copper.
    Waste lines and vents for the sewer system are virtually complete and almost ready for pressure testing. We plan to test it ourselves for any leaks before we call for inspection so that we can pass with flying colors! The fire box has been placed and its flue runs straight up the old chimney chase next to a flue for the water heater and the exhaust pipe for the ground floor furnace. So many mechanicals, and it seems they will never end. Phillip is on the verge of completing electrics on the first floor and is moving skyward to the second and third, which only leaves gas lines, telephone, television cable, and perhaps wiring for sound, and we can finally begin insulation and interior shear walling. Someday in the near future all of these walls will be sealed up and we will forget the torture of the magic that lies beneath them.

 

The photo above left shows a wonderful invention called adust-a-box. They are electrical boxes that allow you to adjust their depth after the walls are sealed closed. With the turn of a screw the box will move forward or backward up to an inch and half either direction. Gone are the days of box extenders or longer screws too apply switches and cover plates to electric boxes that are embedded too deep into finished tile or plaster work.  

  

Garry has graciously returned to Healdsburg to give us a hand. He has taken on the restoration of the windows in the Living room, the gallery, and the first floor bathroom. Slowly he is working his way through a hundred and forty years of paint and crap that currently graces each window sash. Once stripped, repaired, glued, and sanded, he will add them to the stack of recreated windows  for priming and glazing, roping and weighting. 

With decent weather and a little luck on our side, 227 North Street may actually be water tight for the first time in who knows how many years. 

If you are wondering about the title of today's post I will share with you a fascinating occurrence that takes place at 227 North Street on an ongoing basis. On the weekends while we are are working the days through, folks are often found standing outside on the sidewalk looking up at our house. If we happen to be near by it is a welcome break to meet the friendly faces and have a chat about what we are doing. But then there are the others who simply walk in and start having a look around. It is quite astounding to be up on a ladder hammering and drilling away, and notice person, or worse a group of persons wandering by inside the house. The most common expression from them is "don't mind us, we're just being nosy!" All you can do manage to do is stare at them in dumbfounded wonderment at the nerve. And then try to steer them gently toward the front door. I guess I missed the "public property, come on in" sign on the door, or perhaps that is just how it is in Healdsburg. We have decided to give it a try ourselves, so if you happen to see us open your front door and walk in to have a look around, "don't mind us, we're just being nosy". 

 

Winter Blues

I have been trying to figure out why I have not been inspired to write over the last couple of months. It would seem to be the winter blues. This is our first winter in Healdsburg and it is an odd little town as the days grow shorter and the the weather changes. When November rolled in and the holidays loomed on the horizon it seemed that everyone left town. Off to warmer climes, second homes in the big city, or to hole up with family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It became really apparent to us at Christmas and New Years. The sidewalks were not covered in a blanket of sparkling Christmas snow, but were rolled up and wrapped in tarps to await the return of the sun, longer days, and people. Even the stop lights seemed to just sit and sit on red waiting for someone to notice them so they could leap to yellow and green. Having come from two very large cities, and thrilled to be back in a small town environment, we are used to big gatherings and celebrating at the holidays, but found ourselves alone on Christmas Eve and New Years Eve. All of the friends that we have made here were nowhere to be found. So the holidays passed unusually quite for us and we concentrated on our house instead.

Now we find ourselves more than halfway through January and it is raining. Its been raining for more than two weeks with no sign of the sun in the near future. The rain and the blues have taken me by surprise as I grew up in weather like this. Oregon, where as they say "you don't tan, you rust". Of course if we could hibernate in our little shack, cook spaghetti, play cards and watch movies for the winter I might feel differently. But we spend our weekends at the house, and at least three evenings during the week. Those evenings are the hardest. Cold, wet, damp, dark, and quiet... with the exception of the cars honking at each other on the corner... But we suck up and carry on. There was a time a month ago that there was no end to plumbing. Now I am convinced there is no end to electric. Electric goes on and on and on... and we are still on the first floor. I don't think any of us truly appreciate what is behind our walls and how it got there. Every electric box that is placed requires thought about its position, not only where it falls on a given wall, but also it's relationship to other boxes and everything that surrounds it. Add to that the fact that we are placing things for our own home. Crazy rounds of discussion about what ifs. What if we decide to put a lamp there, or what if we put a chair here, or perhaps a sofa there? Room by room these discussions happen and room by room we have worked our way through. The kitchen and breakfast room are finally done and everything else is a piece of cake after that. The dining room and living room are also almost complete, and soon we will have the library and office wired and move onto the second floor.

Adding electric to our house has also spawned a nasty rumor around town. I feel like I should address it here and now. I hate to admit it but, It's true. We have joined the ranks of tract housing and we are installing recessed lighting. We fought and fought against "canning" a one hundred and forty year old house, but we finally gave into the pressure. Granted with the exception of the kitchen, the cans are art lighting placed along appropriate walls, but they are cans nonetheless. We both feel dirty, unclean, used, abused and so... average, so cross your fingers and hope we can downplay their appearance and when you see them don't torture us too much. By the way, all of this art lighting brings up a small problem... ART... lots of wonderful pools of beautiful light bathing walls that will hold, well, um, art? If you happen to have any lying around that you don't need be sure to let us know.

Who are "They" anyway?

I grew up with three monsters that I lovingly refer to as my brothers and sister. I of course was the angel of the brood and never caused a moment of trouble...  Sorry I was remembering my halo and how it glowed! Well, in my mind it did anyway. Our Mother is a woman with a mission, but always with a sense of humor. I remember as a kid, chores being dealt out on a daily basis, and when ever I would pass by one of my siblings I was reminded of my current chore. "She, told you to take out the trash", "She, told you to vacuum the living room", "She, told you, or She, said...", and it did not matter where you were, in the house or out in the back forty, that loud and clear voice would ring out true, "Don't call me 'SHE', I'm your Mother!"
This memory visits on a daily basis at the house. It is only a shell of a home with no insulation or interior walls. No windows on the East side, and poorly fitting ones everywhere else. Folks walking by on the sidewalk don't realize that we can hear every word that is said. We overhear all kinds of conversations about our home. "They, are doing such and such", They, are doing this and that", "They, are making huge mistakes...", They, are...". It's kind of crazy, and kind of fun at the same time. "They", "She", now I understand. Some times I want to run out the front door into the yard and yell out "we are not 'They', we are Mark and Phillip, and if you are so curious come on up and sit a spell". But fear not, we are recording every conversation for future reference.

We spent 9 days working our butts off at the house over the Christmas break. Rough plumbing, wiring, and earthquake retrofit were the name of the game. Lots of earthquake retro fit, cause ya know, that there hunerd-n-forty year old house might fall down if a big one comes along. Hmmmm, let's see, I guess that means that the 1906 and the 1968 were just little bumps in the night. Oh well, suck up and bust. So my right arm is killing me from holding the nail gun ten feet in the air as I added block, after block, after block, of two by ten lumber between all of the floor joists.

Hi everyone and Merry Christmas. I know it has been quite a few weeks since I have written, OK, more than a few weeks, and I apologize! I have been in sort of a dark mood with our house and it's not easy to write when you are in a dark mood. Maybe it was the short days and the rainy weather, or maybe it was too many people making decisions on our behalf that they should not have been making. Needless to say, we have made a stand and taken back our Casa. I am putting my foot down from now on and insisting that every choice, option, or decision goes by either Phillip or myself. So if you see folks strung up by their heels, and hanging from the third story windows, you will know that they done crossed us.

Things have been progressing, albeit incredibly slowly. I have numerous pictures of interesting and fascinating internal workings that I will post over the next few days. things like plumbing all done with "Big boy, tinker toy" fittings called Sharkbite, with red and blue plastic water pipes. Heating and air conditioning duct work, flexible duct work on the second and third floor and hard metal ducts on the ground floor to keep those critters out. But I will keep it simple today and share a couple shots of the new skin that the back part of the house has been getting.

I happened to catch these two shots early this week in that one sunny moment.

 

I promise to get my fingers back to typing and bring you all up to date on our progress, but for now accept our best and warm wishes for the new year!

Fashionable Dress for Winter

Quote from a local Fashion Critic: "For Healdsburg only the finest fashions are acceptable on the streets, and we present for your consideration the latest and hottest attire in rain gear. Note how the garment hugs the models body and yet allows ample space for air circulation and movement. Chic in its brown with a hint of green coloring and subtle striping that shows off the natural curvature of the form. This new rain gear is sure to become a staple in every home's wardrobe, and no true fashion forward Healdsburgian would be caught without it this season"

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But being the true fashion whore that our house is, as soon as everyone is wearing "it", "it" is discarded for the next hottest trend. The newest and most creative underground winter wear to come along in years... a Roof!

Its true! After all these years of a disintegrated and leaking covering, and two thorough interior soakings in the past month, 227 North Street is finally getting a new roof. And now a word from our sponser...

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Do you have buckets sitting around the inside of your home as extra precaution everytime it rains? Are you worried that little Johnnie or Sara Beth are having emotional trauma due to bed wetting only to discover large gaping gashes in the ceiling above their beds, does dinner seem moister than usual because of the dripping water of the dining room table when it rains? Have no fear, Leo is here!

Call Leo's Roofing 707-894-8909

Leo's Quality Roofing-The preferred roofing company for 227 North Street

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And now, back to our show... With a new roof comes a new outlook. Something finished! That is an amazing feeling in a house that does not have a single item that does not need to be fixed, resurfaced, restructured, or rebuilt. But we have a new roof! Granted it will not be finished until this weekend, but a new roof nonetheless. We are thankful and grateful to everyone who perched precariously 35 feet in the air to make it happen.

In the "let's revisit it for a moment department"

My Iphone camera caught the following images last weekend, as our dear friend Josie Gay was having a discussion with Phillip on the merits, or lack there of, of a toilet facing a window.

Yes indeed, the illustrious Miss Josie Gay is perched upon an imaginary toilet as she tries to decide how visible she is to the windows of the neighboring house.

Phillip then joins her in optional position two, which is much less visible to the street.

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And lastly I want to thank all of my readers for the lovely comments and emails in response to my last post. The heartfelt support and acceptance is overwhelming.  I promise not to get out my soapbox very often, it actually takes a lot of pushing for it to appear, but when I do, I hope you will continue to comment and let your voice be heard.

PS, To Ray Holly who wrote to me...

Hi Mark,
I just took some time to catch up on your blog, and enjoyed reading about your remodeling adventure. I have a thought about the new disabled access ramp that will go in soon on your corner. The yellow stuff is referred to as "truncated domes" and it's intended to provide a visual reference for visually disabled folks that they're entering a transition zone from street to sidewalk, or vice-versa. The law requires this tactile surface, but the law does not require that it be yellow. Most cities specify yellow because it's the most common color, but (check out this website http://www.armor-tile.com/truncated-domes_info.html) it comes in more colors, including gray. It might not be too late for your corner to switch to another color, especially if you offer to buy it yourself. You might want to ask on one of your many trips to the building department.

Ray, you better believe I have looked at the website and will be making an offer to the city to purchase a nice subtle piece of gray "truncated domes" for the forthcoming ramp. At least that way after all of the work we are going through to restore our home we wont have a glowing brighter than the sun, neon yellow, alien landing pad, out front. Thank you so much for the info.

Well, I knew it would come at some point... A Soapbox and the answer to life in the Universe, -42-

The line in the sand has been drawn longer after the narrow margin (52% to 48%) passage of prop 1 in the State of Maine yesterday.
Is my blog only a place where I post cute and fun pictures of our home, and write amusing anecdotes about the people that surround our endeavor,  or should I occasionally pull out my soap box and make a stand? As much as my house is part of who I am, it is only one facet, and I will take a brief moment and step aside from the magic of 227 North Street.

In the "guess what folks" department

Phillip and I are legally married like every other married couple in this state, and I love my husband more than anything in life. We were married after the Supreme Court of the State of California overturned the ban on gay marriage  in May 2008, and the passing of proposition 8 one year ago. However our legal union (Marriage) stops at the border, and is not recognized by almost every state in the union or the federal government, and although we now enjoy some of the benefits provided to married couples, there are many we are denied.

The line has been been drawn in the sand by those of the "Religious" faith, and those that are not. By those who are conservative and status quo, and those who are forward thinking and live and let live. Marriage, historically is not a religious based joining, but a union of necessity, a joining of two clans to produce more grain, and children to harvest it. Somehow along the path, marriage became a "God" based joining of two souls.... a male soul and a female soul... why is that? where does that come from? based upon who's translation and interpretation of the bible? Is the Bible the ultimate answer to life in the universe?

I proposed the question on Facebook not too long ago... A country divided down the center, completely in half, how can it survive. And again I am thinking of that question, and am throwing it out to my readers. Please respond, comment, tell me what you think! But I will ask one huge favor... before you come to quick or gut inspired conclusions... go out there on the net, research, study, and learn with an open mind. Take a look at the lies and horror the proponents of Prop 1, and prop 8 have unleashed upon the world.

And now for the  très amusant part... I read a response to a newspaper article announcing the triumphant win of those in support of Prop 1 in the State of Maine, the writer claimed that this was the will of the voters, well at least the umpteen multitude of 80+ voters who wonder what ever happened to George W. and the glory days... ooops, that was meant to be inside voice, can I really write that on my blog? The writer also claimed that it was the will of "God" and the gays should leave the state because they were not wanted there.... OM(which ever god you choose to insert) can you imagine? How would anyone get beautiful flower arrangements, or dress designs, or amazing graphics and art? What about interiors, fabrics, shoes, purses, belts or jewelery? Architecture, sculpture, ar landscapes? yes some "Normal" folk do these things just fine... but think about it.... no gays? What is the world coming too?

PS.. No offense is meant to anyone of my readers of a religious faith. Religion is a personal choice and I respect and accept your choices in life. Remember my mantra, "Acceptance not Tolerance"

Halloween and a Room with a View

Halloween was great fun at our spooky old home. As 250 to 300 kids roamed the sidewalks, many crossing the street to get away from our house, we seem to naturally fall into the creepy haunted house category.

We stood quietly behind the closed door with a small Jack-O-Lantern in hand, who's face moved around behind the glass panel, beckoning the small, mid, and older children to dare to come up to the door. Phillip stood waiting behind it in Grim Reaper robes to greet them. Many decided not to approach... once a rumored haunted house, always a rumored haunted house. On occasion the front door was wide open and at the approach of would be trick or treaters, the door would suddenly slam shut... that one was good! I commented on how much I love the sound of children screaming in fright, only to be overheard by a couple passing by in front of the house, they found it quite ammusing and chuckled their way down the street. So welcome to the holiday season of 2009, we will do our best this year with our limited time and resources, but promise that the holiday season of 2010 will be our foray into big holiday celebrations. The neighborhood is fairly safe this year, however, next year you won't know what hit you!

The weekend, aside from Halloween, was spent hard at work on 227 North Street. Phillip spent Saturday, with plans in hand, laying out the new bathrooms, closets, and laundry room on the second floor. I, unfortunately, decided to do some digging in the front yard around the front door area.  I broke down the temporary ramp, and dug away at the mounds of dirt on either side of the entrance to our home. I guess I forgot how much work digging is, and boy was I sore Sunday morning, or perhaps I am just getting too old for this kind of work. Sunday we started building walls for the afore mentioned new rooms, and a discovery was made that makes you really hate the term "historic". The third floor bathroom has a dormer window being added to it so that it will not be cave like. The city is allowing the dormer windows because they are not visible from the street as they face west toward our next door neighbors home. But if you happen to look directly east there is an amazing view of Fitch Mountain. All we would need to do is build the dormers on the other side of the house, facing Fitch Street, to open up the view of the Mountain. But no! Dormer windows were not common on a home of our style in the 1870's, and as such the beautiful view will be walled up and covered over. As they say, buck up and get over it... count yourself lucky if you do not have to deal with term "historic".