Window Reglazing

All the windows are being reglazed today. They need it badly! I applied for and got a grant that is getting this work done for us! Here are the guys working on the old windows.

Old Girl, New Paint

The colors going on the old girl are historic. The brown is a Mark Twain Oak common in old houses. The red is matched from the windown casements and appears to be the color on the windows in 1894. The green is historic as well and will only be on the front door.

The old girl sure does look pretty with her new paint.

The Rest of the Porch Comes Down

As much as we hoped to just rebuild the first level of the porch, it was not going to happen. Whoever had built it had not built it up to any modern code. So the whole old porch came down. Talk about making people stop and stare!

Tiling is DONE!

The jetted tub has been in for almost 3 years, collecting dust. Last night, I was able to climb in and sit while the water filled the tub. Then I got back out just in case some spiders had moved into the jet holes, turned on the jets and sat in my very own jetted tub enjoying the jets for a nice warm bath!

Now for wainscoating, drywall work, paint, toilet and sink...

Turret Rebuilding

Here is where the corner started. We have labeled the bricks to help us with the reconstructing of the corner. On the other side, there were no bricks and it had to be done by guessing.


The hole is where there was an old grate for circulation. There is a sump under the turret now and we have been using the hole there to drain it. We are going to fix that this weekend too.


Seth and Ben were underneath working on digging out a better hole for the sump pump.




Bailey and Teddy had to crawl under to make sure things were up to par.

Before it was all said and done, the second corner had to be taken out too.

Seth enjoys the masonry work. I think he likes the detail part of it and is challenged by not having to clean off the face of the bricks. With this project, he has decided he is no longer a mitten mason and is starting to feel pretty confident with the tools.


By the end of Labor Day Weekend, the wall was rebuilt, the vent is in and the sump has successfully been rerouted.

A Second Full Bath-Soon??

This will, some day, be the master bath. It is a small space, but has all the necessities...a whirlpool tub with shower, potty and sink with storage.


We are going with a neutral tile. They will be on the wall and floor. They are 12 x 24" subway tiles. We will add wainscotting to the lower walls and paint it the same color as the trim in the rest of the house. The tile was purchased at TNT Surplus. The wainscotting was on the rafters in the barn. The sink cabinet was a piece that was painted blue and was in the house. When I get it done, I will post a pic of the before and after. The top of the walls will be painted the same green (a color my sister decided was too dark for her kitchen) that the bedroom is. It should be a really nice room when it is done! I can't wait. I have never had a whirlpool tub before and love to take baths!


As with every project in this crazy old house, we all pitch in to make it work. The boys sure will have a lot of skills when they are done!

Storm Cellar-Treasure Hunting!

Not long after we bought the house, we put a piece of plywood over the entry to this storm cellar. We had briefly looked in and knew it was in good shape and was full of jars. For some reason, this weekend, we decided to venture in - probably because the storm halted us from what we intended to do - which was to make more garden space for next year. This is the entry into the storm cellar. Charles is on the steps, Ben is almost in and Seth has already cleared the spider webs with a stick and ventured inside.


Here is the view of the floor. There are probably a couple hundred jars on the floor in there. Most are canning jars with the lids rusted away, but there are a few odds and ends jars remaining. It will take a while to get these all cleaned up. I need to find a person who knows about these jars to tell me if I should just try to use them or if they have any value.


A view of other side of the floor. I wonder who would leave this house and all these canned goods here? It would seem that after all that effort was made, the jars would have been collected and boxed up when the family moved on. All these jars kind of tie the past to the present as I patiently wait for the tomatoes to turn and put up the peaches with my lips smacking at the thought of the taste of fresh peaches in January pulled off the shelf.


Check out the view looking up. Can you imagine how much time and skill went into this structure. It is a thing of beauty really. We hope to get it cleaned out and fix the stairs. We will probably use it for the same purpose it was meant for. It will once again be a place to go if dangerous weather approaches and it will be the perfect place to store our wine and canned goods from our harvest.