Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

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oaktree
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by oaktree »

I'm a little late to this, but what a lovely house! The sink and kitchen cupboards are stunning! So excited to see your future progress! Congratulations!
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Lily left the valley
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

So today was the day we realized/remembered that our ladder is only a 6' and not an 8' when we tried to clean the gutters. If you stand on the top of the ladder (always a no-no safety wise), it can be done. We didn't finish because, well, we had a spat about safety and doing things at a certain time of day after I was reminded how easily I get vertigo when I haven't eaten and the noon sun is beating down on me (bad combo of having a fast metabolism with low blood pressure). Still, at least we got a third of it done before we decided it was best to stop where we were and do something else for a while. We definitely had a lot on our plate since today is Sean's only day off, and I didn't want him working on Beebe stuff the entire day.

We're debating between buying a taller ladder or me making one just for porch related things like cleaning the gutter and probably hanging lights for holly days. We did get some really lush moss out of the clean out we managed that I've got a fairly good idea where it will live. :D A lot happened today, so I forgot to take pictures of the moss we found. Maybe tomorrow if the weather holds, especially if I can start the creek bed regrade on the west side of the house. We're supposed to hear from the last two places we're waiting on by 3pm.

While doing errands today, we happened to notice a sign for free things due to a move nearby. It was on the way home, and we scored a host of plastic and not plant pots and under dishes, as well as a homemade (more functional than wow) bookcase, and some other household odds and ends. Definitely worth the stop.

Oh, and we dropped by PYCA yesterday, and found a stool that is perfect for my new craft nook. We've been trying to get that room together, as I have a lot of sewing I'm behind on and the room is still a bit of a muddle as to what's where. I still have to spot weld the one shelving unit we picked up, and I think next weekend we'll be painting both of them and hanging them if all goes to plan.

We did not get as far as we'd hoped with the cellar workshop, but now we have a much clearer idea of what we want to do, and since I like to plan well rather than redo, I'm happy with that progress. One of these days I need to take a picture of the workhorses that came with the house that currently flank the sump pit. They are unique in their materials, and I'll leave it at that!

oaktree wrote:I'm a little late to this, but what a lovely house! The sink and kitchen cupboards are stunning! So excited to see your future progress! Congratulations!
Thankies for saying so. We're doing our level best as time and budget allow.
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--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

I'm now leaning towards a finished earth floor for the remainder of the cellar which does not have concrete slabbing on it. I'll get into that more later when I have time, and dig up some old bookmarks.

I dug out a needleworking frame today that has a table top support on it. Thought of it when I was looking at Gibson's window support frame. I've been having trouble finding a way to secure the top of the roller shades for the weaving, and was hoping that might work. I think it just might. Should know for sure soon. Don't know if I'll get to that tonight. Lots of rain forecast this week, so I should get this done by end of week, depending on how the rain chain welding goes.

After I get the rain chain done, I'm still really wanting to finish the kitchen clean up so I can get the last of the boxes that aren't tools out of the dining room. I'm starting to go a bit bananas over only having a goat trail in there.

It also means I have no room to try to work on breaking down the chifforobe so we can get it upstairs. I'm also still eyeballing the railing and Newel post. I just don't want to dismantle the chifforobe if I can get away with it, but I'm worried removing the stair rail and Newel might be a bigger headache. Maybe if I haven't made up my mind by this weekend, I'll start a poll thread about which direction is best. :P
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Time is flying by, and although I know stuff is getting done, it doesn't always feel like it is.

We had an interesting heart attack the other night. We were both in the office, and we head a bizarre sound like a crash and something metal, maybe like the mixing bowls I've been using as drip catchers.

We got up and I shushed Sean when I heard what sounded like water running, and I thought, "Oh God, something finally went that was already on its way." I sort of stood between the doorways into the kitchen and downstairs bath, straining to hear the water, but it soon stopped.

We looked all over. Nothing stood out. No obvious pools of water. No sound of water hitting a wall. Nada.

Later that night, I was doing some catch up dishes and found the culprit. A modern rectangular glass vase we had "inherited" from someone's move had cracked. This same vase I was soaking because something icky had spilled over it that wasn't easy to clean. There was quite a temperature shift that night, and it was pressed a bit tight on the enamel drainboard against quite a few other bits that were soaking and such, like the drip tray from one of the stove burners. The crack split the vase almost perfectly in two, and I only noticed it when I tried to move it to clean it and it...came apart. We think maybe it was a combination of the pressure plus the temperature plummet. The sound of the running water, of course, was the water that was in the vase running down the drainboard surface into the sink.

Oh, and I found out yesterday that apparently my friend who gave us the chair is conspiring to get help for us to get the chifforobe upstairs intact, though it will mean taking apart the railing because her SO concurred it won't fit otherwise. I mentioned I have a motorized winch (she laughed, I laughed as I said, "of course I have one") so we could take it through the window instead. "But that stuff is still inside the post, right? Might as well do the rails." So...I guess I need to think about that sooner rather than later. :D

I did experience my first decision paralysis. I was gathering the wood bits for my crafting table when that horrid second guesser showed up on my shoulder. "Are you sure this is a good place for this? You might regret it later, and then you'll have put all these holes in the lathe & plaster wall. Shouldn't you just leave it as it is for now until you make sure you won't ever have sun in your eyes or something just in case?" So I have not secured it to the wall yet.

The good news on that, though, is that I allowed myself to get roped into making a few quilt panels for a fundraiser quilt. So that will give me an excuse to spend more time at that spot finding out if I like it or not before attaching the counter top brace permanently.

We also got a bit off track this week with our remaining five things we want to do sooner rather than later. I'm trying to get that back on track. Good habits are hard to make. ;-)

Getting there, bit by bit.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Gothichome »

Yes, fast approaching mid summer Lily, do I have time for my projects, well yes. Just have to give up work and work twelves on the home for the next three months. :think: Orrrrrr just shorten the list. Always a hard decision.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Finally got an ID on one of the mysterious discoveries: curtain stretcher. Thank you Neighmond!

I found this so far on a blog: "What I hadn't seen before was this lace curtain stretcher. If not stretched, the curtain would dry unevenly and wouldn't look good. The stretcher is adjustable for different sized curtains."
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Gothichome wrote:Yes, fast approaching mid summer Lily, do I have time for my projects, well yes. Just have to give up work and work twelves on the home for the next three months. :think: Orrrrrr just shorten the list. Always a hard decision.
Yeah, just not used to that yet, I think.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Gothichome »

A curtain stretcher, there is such a thing. Who'd of thunk it. I thought Neighmond was being funny, some thing similar to a pipe stretcher. :roll:

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Gothichome wrote:A curtain stretcher, there is such a thing. Who'd of thunk it. I thought Neighmond was being funny, some thing similar to a pipe stretcher. :roll:
Honest to gosh, I thought Neighmond was poking fun too until I read what they are for. Considering the lace back then was made with all natural materials, it makes sense to have such a thing to save on ironing. I can easily see how the lace would lose shape.

I think I read on oldhouseguy's site that back in Victorian times, lace curtains were the screens for many folks that helped keep the bugs out when the windows were open.

We don't yet have any lace curtains. They are on the future shopping list though. We're thinking the bee pattern for probably the parlor I found on the one site I think at least one other District folk has bought from.
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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Yesterday was Sean's day off, but he was really tired from all the Amazon Prime deliveries they've been saddled with of late. Very few carriers were making their usual times, in fact, let alone the subs.

So we mostly took it easy since he seems back to only one day off a week again for a while. His Post Master is still being firm on having to take one day off per week which I am grateful for even though the difference in his pay due to the loss of OT is significant which adds to Sean's worries. I'm glad he's resting a bit more, but he's more itching to get our debt paid up rather than rest. The USPS overall is still short handed, so there's plenty of sub work to be had, so for that we are grateful. One day of OT is better than none.

One bright spot of news was this Sunday he came home to let me know he had a buyer for all our G.I. Joe comics. Another postal worker who had them once upon a time, then got rid of them and later regretted it. So we have shifted a bit of our focus on weeding out all of those from our stash in the hopes that the funds made from the sale will help along some of the projects that have been sidelined due to lack of funds. This is taking a while because the comics really did get shuffled about when we had some of the boxes fall apart over the course of many moves, so we still hadn't fully re-organized them all. I only have these because they were part of a large lot I bought at one point. I don't dislike G.I. Joe, but I'm not a fan either, so I always knew these would be ones that wouldn't be part of our library long term.

Speaking of funds, it's one thing I've really been reeling about overall. Although in the past we both had reasonable savings from our respective jobs, we still are no where caught up to those days, despite the lower necessary household expenses since we stopped renting and started paying a mortgage instead. The unexpected costs we've encountered as new old home owners (in no small part due to that last minute mortgage rate jump which added another $100 per month to our payments) really has dinged our thrifty but reasonable budget we had set up before buying Beebe. I only mention this because I know there are many more folks like us, and it's a legitimate aspect to be considered with home buying.

I am still having trouble focusing on finishing projects. Some of this is money based, some was weather recently, and some is just still learning to not feel overwhelmed and want to go hide with a book for a few hours.

I am really glad for this site and all the pictures I've taken. Both really do help soothe the heart on fire and worried brain to see the progress we have made as well as see how other folks manage as well.

It's cooling off a bit, so I hope to get back outside and make some progress in the yard. I still haven't found my cold chisel, which is baffling me because it was in the bottom of a certain toolbox for many years. :crazy:

Later, I want to finish the first set of reweaves for the straw shades. Unpacking boxes at a steadier pace really has helped in that we are finding what is needed for certain things. Now if only I could find my rubber mallet so I could fix that one door under the sink. :D

HA! Just as I was re-reading this post to look for errors, a sunshower started outside. :sad-darkcloud: Never a dull moment. ;-)
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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Re: Beebe -- our 1935 Bungalow on Baker Street.

Post by Lily left the valley »

Even though I have managed to work towards a reasonable amount of small Beebe related things this week, it still feels like a lost week because of comics.

We have a buyer for our G.I. Joe comics that I got as part of a larger lot I bought a long time ago, and with all the box shuffling, they were/are now in lots of different boxes. So I've been spending time this week, as has Sean when he can, ferreting them all out for sale. The sooner we sell them, more funds for Beebe. :dance: I hope to have that side project done this weekend. Time will tell.

I have been wanting to finish fixing the stove with the parts I bought, but Sean's schedule has been rough with quite a few late eve returns. I need that oven fixed so I can bake with all my pans--I have a barter to complete! He's off Monday, but I want it done before then, and I'm worried he'll crash like this week. Maybe Sunday, since that's his Amazon day, and the Prime Day rush seems to have finally petered out.

Yesterday I finally had funds to get a few missing bits for projects that have stalled. Still need to pick up a few more things. It's nice to feel closer to done, rather than waiting on funds for parts. It's funny when you are in the hardware store, and all those gadgets start to lure you with their promises of easier whatever, and then you realize..."I can easily do that with X I already have." I managed to get out of there buying nothing I hadn't planned to...so...success? Even though I couldn't find the wire gauge I wanted for the last detail of the rain chain, and now I'm already thinking of a work around so I can get that darn thing done already. Yes, it's getting close to becoming that project. I don't regret taking it on, but it just seems to be taking forever. I'm still convinced, though, that I already have what I need if only I could find what box it's in. :lol:

The west side regrade is going to be bigger project than I originally thought. Not terribly so, just is what it is. I hope the weather holds so I don't get caught mid dig and have a mud pit going on. I just checked, and now they're saying no rain until late Wednesday, so we'll see.

Something else I finally did yesterday was call up the MassSave program about getting our free audit. I had no idea how popular the program was. The earliest I could get scheduled was for October 11th! By then, we were hoping to have the first layer of Roxsul down. I am on the "flexible schedule" call list, so if they get a cancellation, we may get seen before then. We'll see how that goes.

A mistake I made a few days ago was try to make a full list of all the stuff that needs to be done. :crazy: Too soon! There's still so many little easy fixes that they overwhelm the big picture items. I did it, though, realizing that there are some bigger picture items that are supposed to be on the docket for this year, so it wasn't a waste overall. If anything, it reminded me not to get caught up with the small stuff.

We're still trying to keep to the "sooner" five items from our short list we made. Closing in on two.

Oh, and another interesting thing...I tried to rake the glass area to get that done and all the broken glass picked up, and have discovered that what was once easy to scratch is now not as I get further away from the door. So either the water infiltration was somehow making that area to work in easier before, or maybe I just got lucky with a soft spot and now that luck has passed. I had to get out the shovel, and it was still not easy going. So I thought long and hard about whether my bright idea to "quickly wrap up a project" was still that...and decided it could wait.

Speaking of the cellar door (that leads to the stairs going outside), the more I use it, the more I want to repair it. Same goes for the side door on the garage. We'll see if I can hold out or not. Today I had a bit of a shock when I looked out the window to see the garage door ajar just a bit. I went out, and I guess I just didn't close it enough to catch. No kitties hiding inside or any other creatures I could find, so hopefully they won't surprise me later when I go to work outside.

I'm still picking up a handful of useful bits here and there on my walks. Nothing exciting, just...useful or will be for certain projects I know are ahead. Still, free is great right now. Thank you, folks who curb things. That reminds me..I think some of the CL freebie ads have run out. Need to check that.
--Proud member of the Industrious Cheapskate Club
--Currently pondering ways to encourage thoughtful restovation and discourage mindless renovation.

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