Here's a view, looking toward the street, of the oak before removal of the volunteer trees:
Live oak Chickasaw by
James McInnis, on Flickr
The two trees just to the right of my neighbor's screen house, a Southern magnolia (
Magnolia grandiflora) and a camphor tree (
Cinnamomum camphora) are slated for professional removal on Monday. (They look spindly in the photo, but both are about a foot in diameter. I'm too nervous to tackle felling these trees given their location near my neighbor's building and also electrical wires. Besides, the oak needs a little pruning.) Beyond the live oak you can see a few trees growing up through the oak's canopy. I've removed them and planted Dwarf Burford hollies in their place. An "after" photo will require about five years to look like anything. Stay tuned...
The refrigerator I brought down south with me was not cosmetically the best of the three, but soundest mechanically. (The nicest-looking one had a broken section of interior wall close to the latch.) The drawers and shelves were harvested from all three fridges. It seems to be holding up well, keeps a good temperature and doesn't run all that much. With a gun to my head I might be convinced to replace another door gasket - it's a task that guarantees a spike in blood pressure.
Today I tried out the heat gun for stripping paint, moving willy-nilly around the house to see what was under that dreadful lavender paint. I'm pleased to report that the woodwork was probably natural originally; it's a handsome oak with a dark stain. Fireplace mantles are a different, more finely-grained wood. Originally, I thought I'd strip the thick paint from the woodwork and repaint, but now natural-wood trim and doors are a possibility - and a bigger project.