Curb Appeal...

Saw this house while in Plymouth, MA. It has a very similar exterior to ours - short end faces road, bumped out bay window with one window above.
It also had the brackets that have been removed from ours. Don't they look nice?! I also love the shutters and the curved piece above the window. I wonder if it's too late to get one of those...???!!!
I wish I took another picture of the full front...

Jenga anyone?!

So, one of our first projects is to replace the north-facing bow window on the front of the house. Just for fun we removed a piece of plywood to see what was under there and this is what we found...

Lots of crumbled bricks and Jenga! style supports which really are not holding up much of anything.

We really are not quite sure why this is still attached to the house and certainly will not be jumping on that floor!

Supporting beam...what supporting beam?!

We actually hired someone to come a pour new footers and replace the plywood with weather resistant materials that will not rot. He will have to trim out the new windows once those go in. It should look nice when it's done...now if we can just get him here before winter!

Shrubbery!

Before...

Note the large overgrown yews obscuring the window...

Now you see them...

...and now you don't!!!

We did plant a new hydrangea to the right of the door. I think we will have to wait for spring to plant the rest...and no! I have no idea why they did not side that one little piece to the left of the window!

Upgrading the thermostat...

Who would think you would have enough to blog about replacing a thermostat? Easy, right?!

Well, two days of no heat and after sneaking in a phone call to Dad... I at least realized that we didn't blow up the furnace (phew)...

Did a little Internet research and found someone else with a similar situation who had purchased a defective NEW thermostat. Decided to return that one to the store and try again. What do you know - the new one was defective and the next one installed very quickly!

Words of wisdom...

• Sometimes it really isn't you!


• There are only so many wires and so many slots




• 




• It really is okay to cross low voltage wires and start up the furnace - sparks aside!!

So we are back to having heat - and we can program the settings for energy savings and the town will refund us back $25 so it's win win all around.

The only downside is my husband's little temper tantrum where he took his frustration out on the poor wall - which is when I took over... Luckily it's small...just one more thing to fix I guess...

Kitchen Dreaming...

Don't you just love the arch over this kitchen? My current kitchen is just so horrible that I have tacked up images of kitchens that I like to the wall. This is one of them. I love the windows and the fixtures and of course the apron farm sink. Not sure about the white cabinets...with little kids white scares me. I have seen some very pretty green or blue ones.

Our kitchen renovation is many dollars and time away. We first have to deal with some basement structural supports, dampness, replacing the existing leaking bulkhead and jacking up and leveling the floor. The floor right now is a big mix of plywood, rock maple, some kind of oak and tile that juts out way too far from where a wood stove once was (the chimney crumbled so we won't be putting that back!). Then we need to deal with the ceiling (water damage and some horrible patch job) and moving the hot water heater out of the kitchen and into the basement where it belongs!

After that we need to address replacing the windows and the slider to the back yard, tearing off the faux brick, moving the plumbing, updating the electrical and buying some new fixtures and cabinets. I haven't figured out the overall design - sometimes it's good to live in a place for awhile first, but I know I want one of these:

I love the built in bench seating that would be great for a family of five (plus a few more). I can so see us eating and doing homework and even playing a game at this nice light-filled spot! Again, I am afraid of white and I need a table that will not get scratched and beat up too easily. I love the chairs - they come in other colors too...

Someday...

From there to here....

From This:

Just to gain perspective...here is where we lived - 1920s colonial in the city, 1/3 acre lot on busy street. Beautiful woodwork and fully updated kitchen!

1500 sq' feet, 3BR 1.5 BA





To This:old neglected farmhouse in the country on a 2.5 acre lot in a great small town with fantastic schools...

2000 sq foot 4BR 1BA

Need I say more? Do you feel hubby's pain?

Closet Squirrel!

It was a rather exciting start to my day...rummaging around in my closet for something to wear I heard a noise. I stopped to listen and heard it again.

Doing what every self-respecting wife would do I called on hubby to investigate while I removed myself to the hallway. What do you know, out jumped a little scruffy squirrel. He gave me quite a dirty look as he scampered across the room and under my bed.

At that point he disappeared. This is a bit more worrisome as he apparently has some sort of escape hatch and probably explains the nighttime wall noises...

I did some research on squirrels in the attic (and closet) and this is what I discovered from
http://www.batguys.com/images/back/squirrel.jpg

What type of Squirrels are in my attic?

Our area is home to 2 types of attic-dwelling squirrels- flying squirrels and gray squirrels. Both species will generate a considerable amount of noise in ceilings and walls. As a general rule of thumb, noises at night are usually from flying squirrels and noises during the day (or at dawn and dusk) is from gray squirrels.

How many Squirrels could possibly reside in my attic?

It is common for us to find 1-5 gray squirrels residing in an attic. In the spring when the juvenile gray squirrels become mobile we often see 5-8 squirrels in attics. Flying squirrels are found in much greater numbers. Most flying squirrel infestations we see have between 6-12 flying squirrels. However it is not uncommon for us to find upwards of 25 flying squirrels in an attic. In February of 2005 we removed 41 flying squirrels from an 1100 square foot attic in Medfield Ma.
I am getting a little bit worried now! Apparently we have to evict them all and then seal up all the holes. I might get a quote from the bat guys - I can see me and hubby being slowly driven insane trying to get them out (who knows how many are up there?!) and you should see all the potential access holes.

Antique Farmhouse 101

This is the story of a lovely farmhouse...the issues as we know them:

1. wet basement - moisture seeps in via old leaky bulkhead, via porch roof that is no longer there, via peaks and valleys. Furnace has a concrete moat (never a good sign)
2. critters abound - lots of holes in roofline which allow attic access to furry friends - lots of scratching in walls, especially in living room remuddling - yup I'll be getting to that
3. kitchen - ugh - patched ceiling, patched floors (flooring is hardwood, tile and plywood), hideous light fixtures - old school track lighting with florescent bar and art deco -
4. crap rooms - unfinished rooms - originally a porch built with scraps, workmanship amateurish think 3rd grader - live wires - bouncy floors - gaps in walls and roofing but a new roof!
5. ONE bathroom. Upstairs. Hot toilet (seriously, the tank water is hot and makes lots of condensation), salon sink with sprayer, no ventilation, awkward layout...need I go on. You could stop me at the word "one"
6. Living room "project" - must see to believe. I think this one deserves an entire post. Let's just point out the basics here... Hard wood floors cut up to make tile hearth (tile not secured and broken in more than one place). Plywood firebox?! Flue to nowhere with collapsible stovepipe that goes up to 2nd floor and stops. Load bearing supporting wall removed not sure if there is a beam...
7. Access to fourth bedroom is through another bedroom's closet and a "z" shape so you cannot get a boxspring or any other large furniture through.

I am going to stop now before I get depressed...to be continued...

Moving to the country...

This is the blog of a family of five who have sold their comfortable 1920s updated colonial in the city to move to a neglected antique farmhouse in the country. This is the story of a family and a house as they all adapt, change, modernize and accept the inevitable.

Let me just preference this with my husband did not want to move. At all. Ever. A third baby, lack of space, subpar schools, major road construction and Asian Long Horn Beetles managed to loosen his grip and force him into this life-changing situation. It hasn't been a smooth road. The move has been fraught with hurdles - a sluggish market, dropping home prices, tears, yelling, a mental breakdown and the assuming of a septic upgrade to name a few. Through negotiations, home inspections, appraisals, revised financing escrow holdbacks, delayed closings on both ends, and hell and high water we have made it in. Now we are there. Now the fun begins...