Friday, September 28, 2007

Time for a change!

This is the current state of our entertainment center (please excuse the fact that I forgot to rotate the picture) and its really annoying. It doesn't fit the house in any way. I bought the entertainment center when I had my first apartment and we have outgrown it.
So we upgraded to this...
I love this! It fits better with the house and while there isn't room for all the movies and CD's it will hold the DVD player, VCR, XBox, and a stereo (I'm switching out the big one). I got the media situation under control though. I am going to mount a victorianish (is that a word?) bookcase above it to hold all the movies and stuff. I just have to refinish it first. And I got a shelf to hold the unity and memorial candles until we find something more appropriate to put them in (they shouldn't be on the t.v. any way)

In other news:

This is Lucky. He was a rescue kitty. I love how big and fluffy he is and he's so sweet. (BTW...he's going to get fluffier as it gets colder, this is his summer coat) He also likes to get into trouble...
Thats right...one paw is orange! I had to post this cause its just too funny! I had canned ravioli last night. I forgot to put the can in the trash and left it on the stove. Lucky helped himself to it and now his paw is dyed orange! He's been cleaning on it all morning and it won't go away! I figured out it is ravioli sauce because the can was in the dining room when I woke up. Maybe he learned something from this...probably not though.

Sunday, September 23, 2007

A victorian closet

I thought while I was showing off the woodwork in the living room today, I'd also show off my closet. I absolutely fell in love with this when we toured the house the first time. Its a floor to ceiling armoire-style closet, with tons of detail.
The inside is basic and its barely deep enough to fit the hangers, and I have to have a ladder to get into the top half...but I still love it! And all those clothes are mine...there's no room for any of James in there!
This is the latch. I really want to clean it up. Both locks still work, and the detail is beautiful. We are going to have this closet replicated as close as possible in the second bedroom where there is currently no closet. We need something in there and figured why not go with the same thing we already have.

I hate this wall!

I just realized I didn't post a picture showing why the wall needs new plaster. Here it is. I had to take the picture in sepia because the damn walls are so bright white it didn't show anything on the regular setting. This is the only wall in the whole house that needs any work. The paper plate looking thing is to cover the hole from where the botbellied coal stove vented. The original heat in this house came from 3 botbellied coal stoves...one in here, one in the kitchen, and one in the front bedroom. I have no idea what the little eye hooks are for. You can also see the wall is rippling, its like that all the way across and down. You can't really see it, but there is also a hole on the ceiling (above the cover) that has been plastered over. It looks like a flaw in the plaster in this picture. The PO's said that after the stoves and before the central heat they had some kind of wall heat. I don't know if that hole had something to do with that, or if it came from somewhere else. Oh, and those are cobwebs...I really need to take care of that!

And about the stoves...I wish they were still here. Even if we never used them, I think it'd be great just to have them. And eventually we are going to add period appropriate wood burning stoves where all the coal stoves used to be. But we have a teeny tiny (virtually nonexistent) budget right now so it's going to be a while.

Look at all that beautiful woodwork

I decided to post some pictures of our living room today. This is one room that really doesn't need too much work, but I love all the woodwork so I thought I'd share. Just ignore the mismatched hand me down furniture and all the clutter (I'm working on it)
The door on the left goes to the front bedroom, and the door on the right goes outside (obviously) and has the original doorbell. Both have the transoms with original hardware and are fully functioning. The ceiling fan is going to be traded for something more appropriate.


The door on the left is for the bathroom (used to be a porch thats why the door has a window), the middle door goes to the dining room, and the door on the right goes to the bedroom. Again, all transoms work and have original hardware. You can also see the tall baseboards with spindles.
This is going to be the biggest project in this room (besides redoing the plaster on the wall behind that couch). The wood is 2 colors because the floor was stained a deep brown to match the door and window framing, but there was a linoleum rug in here (actually in all the rooms) and the stain is faded in a huge square in the middle of the room. All the scratches are thanks to Cledus and Socks (Lab and Shih-Tzu) running through the house.

I really can't get a picture of the entire room because the ceilings are about 12' and the doors are about 10'...and the room is about 15'x15'. There is also a window on the only wall not shown and it matches the rest of the framing and is nearly floor to ceiling. I didn't take a picture of that wall because of the t.v., kennel, and chair...you can't really see anything but that. And it is annoying to have 5 doors off one room...it really limits the furniture placement and there is only 1 outlet so that doesn't help much either.

The plans for this room are to refinish floors, redo the plaster on 1 wall, replace ceiling fan, and add at least 2 more outlets. And maybe paint it something other than bright white. Also, down the road the window is going to be restored (stripped, glazed, and stained...we are keeping all the original windows but they need a LOT of work)

Friday, September 21, 2007

Socks and his kennel

I had some one tell me that its cruel to keep a puppy in a kennel and that we should give him away if we can't take care of him! We take great care of our pets and they are incredibly spoiled. So I just wanted to let every one know that Socks is handling the kennel well. Its set up in our living room. He spends a few hours in there depending on work schedules. The most time he's in there is 1-3 hours. I hate doing this, but there have been no accidents on the floor and the litter box has been peaceful (as in not looking like it exploded). And the kennel is not the same as a crate. Some people leave their pets in crates (small boxes) for that amount of time or longer and I would never do that. His kennel is designed for a large dog (he's a Shih-Tzu, they're small) and is about 5'x4' and about 4' high...and he's only about 2' long and about a foot and a half tall. He's got water, food, a bed, and toys in there and plenty of room to move around and jump all over. He goes in there on his own, we don't have to put him in there. And since we've started doing this he's actually starting to housebreak! Hopefully we won't have to do this long. He's a little over 1 year old and it takes about 3 years to completely housebreak a Shih-Tzu. Oh, and the lady that told me I was cruel...she was buying puppy pads for her 2 year old dog that refuses to go outside and said that she keeps it locked in the laundry room when she's not home! I think thats cruel! I would never keep an animal in a confined area with no windows or doors and poor ventilation! She also said that when she tries to move the puppy pad outside the dog brings it back inside and does its business! I think she's doing something wrong there.

On the home improvement subject...James reminded me that its been 2 months and the dining room floor is still not done. I reminded him that he can do it too. I've been in so much pain lately that I just can't do hardly anything. Maybe we'll get started on it again soon.

Thursday, September 20, 2007

T.R.A.I.N. Meeting was a joke!!

So there was another t.r.a.i.n meeting last night at the Robert Green Auditorium at Vincennes Universtity last night. We were told that the petition would be there and so we went. With no other goal than to sign the petition. Turns out that the petition was MIA and this was not a meeting where they wanted opinions, instead just support. It was a joke. They had the auditorium broken up into stations and you had to visit each station and then fill out a questionaire at the end that left no room for protest, just support. This meeting was not meant for us country folk that want to keep our homes. Instead it was meant for the city people that, after purchasing their home next to a railroad track, have decided they don't want to live next to one. They were pointing out the benefits and there were many upset people. One had owned his property for nearly 60 years and they couldn't tell him anything other than "we are considering the community as a whole". There was a homeowner in the paper today that stated they owned their home in town for 30 years. Their house is near a set of tracks that was there when they bought the property. They feel they shouldn't have to live next to the nusiance of the trains any more. HUH?? They chose their home next to a railroad and have lived there for 30 years. We chose to live in the country no where near a track and now they want to put one there and we are told to deal with it. Makes no sense. And we saw the advisory board...15 farmers, 15 teachers and a lot of city people. Not one actual rural homeowner anywhere. I really think thats not fair. We should have a say too, not just the farmers and people who live in town!

There is one other option that they are not even wanting to talk about...overpasses. This was supposed to be studied too, and not one person last night really wanted to talk about it. An evironmental scientist was actually trying to tell a rural homeowner that its actually better for the environment to remove all these houses and all the farm land and some creeks than it would be to have the tracks in town. Thats insane...I bet they pay her a lot, because I can't see any way that all the construction and destruction can be good in any way!

We are looking into the possibility of applying for National Historic Register for our home. It should be there any way, and if we can get it then we will be saving our historic home, along with a lot of other homes because they would not be able to build the track here.

A little note...we are in a potential (and the most likely) corridor for the new tracks. If they do this, we (along with hundreds of others) will be forced to lose our home. If they put it in the next corridor over, less people will lose their homes, but ours will end up ruined anyway due to 30 60mph trains per day running about a half mile from our house with its 130 year old brick foundation and plaster (the house is ALL original)

And yes, I realize I am ranting on and on, but I want everyone to understand how much we are against it. And how upsetting this is...to all us country people involved. I haven't met one person that lives outside of town that is for this.

Monday, September 17, 2007

No tile, but solved the case of the litter box bandit!

On my last post I stated that the bathroom floor would be tiled this weekend. Did not happen. I also mentioned the litter box being emptied onto the floor...it happened 2 more times over the weekend, but we finally got to the bottom of it. Socks! Our adorable little Shih-Tzu decided to play...and then sleep in the freakin litter box! He got in trouble, got a bath, and got a kennel! We put a kennel in our living room for him for when we're sleeping or not home. I hate to do that to him, but thats disgusting! I have no idea why he's doing that! And it just started...he never did that before! So now that we have this massive kennel taking up our living room I'm hoping this doesn't happen again. The floor didn't get tiled because it was wet most of the weekend. I'd clean it up, we'd leave for a while and it'd happen again. So maybe it'll get done next weekend.

In other news we went to a housewarming party this weekend. One of James friends just got moved into his house and had a party. It was a lot of fun, and a beautiful house needing absolutely no work. I'm a little jealous! Actually it needs one thing...a wall between the master bedroom and bathroom! There is no wall at all...its like having a toilet in the bedroom...kinda disturbing. The owner named it the "voyeur room" because when you sit on the toilet you see everything in the room and when you are in the bedroom part all you want to look at is the toilet. Weird. As you can imagine it was the topic of many discussions. Mainly the advantages (number one being when you're drunk you don't have to leave the room or mess with doors) and us girls pointed out the bad (there's so many I won't list). And we donated our vacuum to him since he has carpet upstairs and no vacuum, and we have a vacuum and no carpet. The weird thing is I almost looked at this house before we bought ours. Decided not to see the inside because the asking price at that time was just way too high. Instead we decided to buy a house that cost a ton less, but we're probably going to have to invest as much money into as what that house cost. Oh well...we love our old house even though it needs a ton of work. It'll be beautiful again some day and until then we are living here just fine.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Can I Get Some Tile PLEASE!?!

I hate our bathroom. Its so bad I won't even post a picture of it. We ripped out the carpet the first night here because out of curiosity we pulled up a corner and saw blood on the underside. A LOT of blood. It had to go. Immediately. Since them we have had a bare unfinished hardwood floor, with the whole "I'll tile it next weekend" from the hubby. Its been 11 months almost to the day, and still no tile. We have the tile. But its still in the boxes. Not very productive, huh? In the meantime, our wood floors are being destroyed and I hate it. The shower leaks, the cats keep throwing litter all over the floor (I think they're trying to tell me something and I can't figure it out) and we walk all over it every day. I decided I am going to make James tile that damn floor this weekend. One way or another he's going to do it. (it probably won't happen but I like to think I have that kind of power) I decided this today when the shower sprang a massive leak and when I got home from work the litter box was emptied all over the floor yet again. I am tired of mopping and slowly scrubbing the floor with a brush to get the kitty litter out of the cracks ( I can only work for about 10 minutes at a time) If we get the tile down all that will be soooo much easier to clean up. I would like to do something with the shower and get the litter box out of the bathroom, but we don't have the money for the shower and there really is no where else for the litter box. If I can figure out why they're throwing the litter then it won't be so bad to have it in there.

We do have a plan for the bathroom, but a massive lack of money. The shower is going to be replaced by a tub, the floors are going to be refinished, and a lot of other things are going to change. Pretty much the room will be gutted...but until we win the lottery (or get vehicles payed off) I'll just have to settle for tile over the wood and continue to search for an effective way to keep the water in the shower and the kitty litter off the floor. By the way...I'm open to suggestion on either.

I'll make sure to post Monday about how it went. And maybe pictures if it does get done. They'll be pretty scary though...I have nightmares about the blue Formica walls. And the flooding on the floor. And the litter box exploding. Yeah, its that bad!

Thursday, September 13, 2007

I don't have anything to post about the house today. I am a little frustrated though by a comment left. On my last post some one, actually a website, left a comment. Its all in spanish! I have no idea what it is. I took spanish in high school (which was a long time ago) and I have no idea what its about. It looks like some kind of spam but I'm not sure. The thing that frustrates me about it is that at the end its in english...wtf?? I don't get that. Its like they don't want me to know what its about. If any one can tell me what its about that would be great. I can still speak and read some spanish, but I can't tell what this is about.

And to the person that left that comment, I will not be adding you to my blogroll. I don't even have one yet. If you actually looked at my blog you would have seen that. And if you want to comment in the future please do it in english! And if it was spam, please don't comment on my blog again. I don't have time for that.

Thursday, September 6, 2007

Interior Stain vs. Deck Stain

I came up with a crazy idea last week...using deck stain and seal indoors. I think this would be great, but I guess I'm the only one because I can't find anything about it anywhere. I would just do it, but safety wise I'm just not sure. Here's why we are considering it

Water resistant...it rains and snows here and wet shoes in the house are common. I also spill things and we have a puppy (meaning sometimes he has accidents)

Fade resistant....This room has 3 large windows and 3 doorways, which means a lot of sun

Scratch/scuff resistant...Things get dropped, our pets drag their toys (and the puppy drags his metal food bowl for the fun of it), they also have nails that have pretty much stripped our living room floor already from running though the house, and this room is really high traffic since its the center of the house

Mold resistant...I can't figure out how to fix it yet, but we have a mold issue. Its the biggest problem in the kitchen (if a dish gets left overnight its got mold by morning), but we'll be eating in this room and I'm really worried about it. Plus a previous renter had a big problem with it on floors and walls (we'll probably be using bathroom/kitchen paint on the walls in all rooms because of it)

But the interior stain I looked at says its scratch and fade resistant, I'm just not sure how good it really is. I got samples to try it out before we go all the way.

I got plenty of time to think about it though. I've been in a lot of pain here lately so all work has come to a screeching halt. The carpet has been laid back over the floor (not held down, just there) to protect the floor until I'm feeling better again. It sucks, but I can't really do anything about it.