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Out of Town
We’ve been visiting two of our boys and their families this month. I love my kids! And it was so good to be with them. One is in Omaha, Nebraska, and one in Washington State. It was the most challenging part of leaving Washington, many tears. The funny thing is we thought we would get out of the Texas heat in Washington, but it was in the upper nineties. Our neighbor, before we left, asked us if we were coming back; they worried we might not. As they keep telling us, it has been unusually hot, over one hundred degrees for several weeks. And I was thinking; I wonder if…
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Uncovering the Past
Just when you think you’ve found the original layer, you find another. As I’ve said, all the walls and ceiling were constructed with a 3/4 inch shiplap in 1925 [the year our cottage was completed]. They didn’t have sheetrock. The finished surface is a cheesecloth material tacked up with upholstery-like tacks, then wallpaper with paste is smoothed over it. Incredibly, you don’t see the lines of the shiplap at all. This first picture is a wallpaper that was on the ceiling. Moving into the kitchen while removing the sheetrock off the walls that they eventually put over the wallpaper, we came across many layers of wallpaper. We found the original…
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Over 7,000 Vendors
Our first trip to Canton was the first weekend in April. My dear friend Jan who moved to Texas, I believe, last November, called and told me about Canton. It’s the largest flea market in the world. Canton is located just southeast of Dallas and puts on the event the first Thursday through Sunday of each month. We met Jan. She is a pro in flea markets and showed me how it is done! She asked me if I was looking for anything in particular. I told her I had been looking for an old drainboard sink. When we arrived, she said, “I have found two!” But when we went…
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Tony Has a Question
Do any of the plumbers out there see a problem with the drain under the bathroom sink? Yes, you’re seeing the drain coming down, across the cabinet floor, then back up to the drain. Mickey mouse was here.
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Focusing On The Kitchen
Our heads were spinning at first, trying to address the most critical issues. The popcorn ceiling was first. Of course, Tony focused on ensuring everything was functioning correctly and safely. All I could see was painters tape blue walls and brown painted kitchen cabinets. I started by purchasing two five-gallon buckets of neutral white paint for the cottage and carriage guest house. Believe it or not, I didn’t paint the blue first! I started with the kitchen cabinets. I would send Karlee pictures of what I was doing, and she would laugh and say, “mom, I can’t believe I can still see blue walls!” Looking at the cottage’s layout, you…
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Our First 3 Months Continued
It was a 70-plus page inspector’s report we were handed before we made an offer on our home. The previous owners had received and accepted an offer from someone else that bought it online. When they came and saw the house in person, they backed out two days before the closing date. The reason they gave was that the house was too small. Who knows? Many of you know I’m married to the man who trained MacGyver. He even has a t-shirt saying this very thing [thank’s Cindy]. He combed over the report, plus we had our own also done. There was nothing that showed up that he felt he…
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It’s Been a Busy Three Months
Before I show you what we’re doing in the kitchen, I thought I’d start with what we’ve done since we moved in. We moved into the guesthouse above the carriage house to the rear of the main cottage. The ceilings in both had popcorn ceilings that we wanted to be removed; not sure if they had asbestos in them or not. They removed the carriage house first so we could stay there while they did the cottage. It took them about a week; they did a fabulous job, and yeah, no asbestos! They had issues removing the popcorn because it had been painted with several coats. We were sure the…
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What Brought You To Texas?
“What brought you to Texas”? is the first question we are asked by those we talk to here in Waco and across Texas. We always answer “our kids”! But here is the more detailed answer. After Tony was released from the hospital recovering from pneumonia, he was told he could not continue working the very physical job he had always done. Living in Washington State was no longer an option for us. This is a simple direct answer.