Phase 1 of the Bathroom Restoration -- Done!

Ted's dad was over recently to help with the finishing touches on the bathroom restoration. We are not doing anything with the old cast iron tub at this time, except to clean it. We may, in the future, convert it to a walk in shower as Mom gets older, or we may just add more support bars, we're not sure yet. Whatever we do, that will be phase 2.

This is the bathroom cabinet that was under six coats of thick, enamel paint when we moved in. It took me an embarrassingly long time to strip all the paint off because I also decided to strip the paint from the walls as well. Yes, you read that right. We stripped the walls down to the original plaster as much as we could. Old plaster walls are much more sound-insulating than drywall, and easier to break into and repair, too. So we're making an effort to keep everything original when we can. The crazy thing? The bottommost coat of paint was THE EXACT SAME SHADE as the color we selected to paint the room. How weird is that?

The bathroom is tiny, so is kinda hard to photograph.

The light fixtures were original, but rather plain. So I found these vintage 1920s fixtures on eBay, and saved the ones we removed to place elsewhere, maybe in the basement. Ted rewired these for safety and installed them.

The sink we inherited with the house was a 1970s monstrosity, not worth saving because damp and rot got to it from behind. We found this vintage-inspired one online.

The vintage-inspired faucet set.

And my very favorite bit! The pillbox toilet, a perfect centerpiece in a 1920s bathroom.

What you don't see in these pics is all the work Ted did behind the walls, replacing the old cloth wire, rerouting the plumbing, and replastering the wall after he broke into it -- yeah, he went all old school on that last bit, researching how old plaster walls were constructed and building the three layers up himself. Now that he's got it down to a science, I'll photograph the process as he makes a repair in the tenant unit later this month and post it here. What he did discover is that there were very few good tutorials on the process, so we hope to encourage people to consider replastering as an alternative instead of tearing out and dry walling. We still have some work we'd like to do here, for example, Ted needs to cut some new decorative trim pieces to replace the ones we couldn't salvage, and I'm working on a new stained glass window for the door, which currently sports plain privacy glass. I'm working on a pattern to match the vintage stained glass in the living room, carrying the theme through the house. Maybe by next spring I'll have that done.

The Guest Room -- Done! (Sorta)

This was my least-favorite room of the house. It is the guest room off the kitchen, which back in the day may have been the maid's room. Even apartment-dwelling families in Chicago and Evanston sometimes had maids, so I've been told, and the bedroom by the kitchen was often set aside for them.

When we moved in, the trim was all painted blue. Baby blue. The walls were three different shades of yellow. It dawned on me that, after three years, I still hadn't found the time to strip off the paint on the trim, and with all the other projects backing up, probably wasn't going to get to it anytime soon. So, I bit the bullet and bought a gallon of white paint. If I have to strip off six layers of paint from the trim in the future, what's one more? I consider it a temporary solution, but one which allows me to have guests stay with us without being embarrassed where I put them.

The antique bed is one I found at an estate sale, as is the quilt, the doily is one my great grandmother made, and the table I found in an alley! The cat I got in Guatemala when we took my mom there to climb pyramids a few years ago. The room has become a great place to take an afternoon nap.

The Porch -- Done!

Now that phase 1 of the bathroom restoration is done, we were able to reclaim the back porch, which had been sort of a staging area for the project, the place where we stored the new sink and toilet for the last year until we were able to replace the old cloth wire and replumb the lines in the bathroom. But, it's done. There's room for a desk out here now, and a few comfy chairs. It's turned into a fair-weather office, where I can work on client projects and overlook the garden. Much of the artwork on the walls has been done by family members.

This perspective shows the stairs leading up to the tenant unit, as well as the stairs to the back door. The pink doll house is the one my dad made when I was a little girl.

All in all, the porch has turned into quite the cozy spot, a perfect place for a cup of coffee with the morning paper.

Looking to Purchase a VW Vanagon / Westfalia

We've decided to get a VW camper van! Like we need another restoration project, right? But now that the ol' brick garage has nearly been cleared of the previous owners' possessions, we have the room  to store and work on one.

We started the vehicle search today. Unfortunately, this one that Ted is sitting in has been sold. So if you have a water-cooled camper from 1985 and up--more or less in the Chicago area--let us know. We're willing to get one that needs engine work, as long as the body is in good to great shape.

Bathroom Preview

It has been a sad year for blogging, but now that the busy summer is winding down to a close, I should have more time to update you all on some of our projects. Here's a sneak peek at what we've done to the bathroom:

I'll be posting more pictures of the transformation shortly, but was so excited to have a working toilet and a door that closes (actually, a door, period) that I couldn't wait.

Freelance Editor

I think I found the color combination I want to use for the portico. Columns in that creamy color, with trim in the dusky red and blue.

Where The Quilts??

It's been brought to my attention that I haven't posted anything since September, last year, about my quilting. Sorry. I've been wrapped up in a special quilting project. I don't have but a few pictures of what I'm working on but here's a teaser. I hope to have pictures soon of the completed top. The quilt has a Native American theme. It's machine applique and pieced. I've been having such a great time, putting this one together, that I'm actually making two at the same time. Which is why it's taking so long. I knew if I finished one completely before starting another I would never do a second. One quilt is for my brother-in-law who painted my late husband's portrait for us. I had to do something for him in return. It should fit well in their family room that has some Native American decor. The second quilt is for me although it's too big to hang on a wall and doesn't fit the decor in my bedroom I had to make one.


This in one of 9 blocks in one of the quilts, it measures 22" X 22". Finished quilt should be 83" X 83." Not quite a twin and larger than a lap.

I hope this makes up for not posting any quilty news. I'll try to be better in the future.

Boxhouse Mom

Deck Repair Fail at the Ol' Rental Unit

I've been sitting on these pictures for a while, because frankly, I've been a little embarrassed about the whole thing. But a few months have passed, so I can laugh about it now. Kinda.

It started with the previous tenants. They were good guys, this was just one of those things. Ashes from their grill spilled onto the deck, burning a hole in it. (This is why the city of Chicago forbids such grills on wood decks, although everyone does it anyway.) The guys fessed up and agreed to pay for the damages.

Although we've never done a deck repair before, it didn't look like it would be that big a deal. Certainly not worth hiring a contractor for. Just pop out the old boards and nail the new ones in place.

First board off, no problem.

Second board off, just as quickly and cleanly. Both were taken down to the dumpster, broken down, and tossed in.

New boards were put in place.

 

So did you catch it? Did you see where we went wrong and somehow completely failed to notice it, even though I'm snapping away with the camera?

Yes. We took out the wrong board. I wish you could see the look on Ted's face at this point when we realize it, but our light was fading fast and I didn't use the flash.

In our defense, I'd like to say we were overtired. Tenant transition is always a hectic time, and between that and our day jobs we hadn't slept much the couple days before. But still, really. What kind of home improvement aficionados are we?

We couldn't even go downstairs and get the old, undamaged board, because we had already broken it down. Back to Home Depot we went, and eventually sorted it all out. And it looks great.

Replacing deck boards really is very easy. But I can understand now why people will write on their bodies in Sharpie marker which body part is to be operated on before going into surgery. You just never know.

Electrical Fire Hazard -- The Unexpected Discovery of Old Wire

The electrical breaker boxes for our house were updated in 1973, according to a receipt we found in the basement. Conduit to power extra outlets / light bulbs was strung along the basement ceiling at the same time. While the boxes were professionally installed, it looks like the previous owners added the conduit themselves. (It looks like a hack job and wasn't on the receipt.)

We're considering upgrading the service and having the basement rewired. So we peeked into some of the connecting boxes and were horrified at what we discovered. Our best guess is that the electrician left behind a pile of old cloth wire that was removed during the breaker boxes upgrade, and the previous owners decided to reuse it in new connector boxes. That's 1920s wire going through 1970s  boxes.

Old cloth-wrapped wire going through sharp-edged conduit.

Old, uncapped wire, held together only with old tape.

Oh, yeah, we're going to have to remediate this sooner rather than later.

Basement Decluttering

I never thought I'd see the day, but Ted has decided he can finally part with all of his physics and astronomy homework from college. (He was a double major.) I've helped him move those big, heavy boxes of paper three times in the last nine years.

Hello, extra storage space!

Rabbit, rabbit!

I think I'm going to have to take the camera away from Ted...

I had flopped down on the unmade bed in the spare room for a nap and at some point while I was sleeping all the critters had joined me, including the new guy, Sebastian Blue.

Well, Hello There Pretty Boy

Look who has decided to come out to play.

I guess Sebastian Blue has determined it's far more comfortable to sleep on the bed than under it.

Gift from My Father

My dad died in 2004, a fact I still have trouble coming to terms with sometimes. I miss him so much, particularly around the holidays. We occasionally wonder what life would have been like if he had lived; we might not even be in the Box House, who knows. My parents' plan was to retire somewhere warmer. But things happen, and now it's sometimes hard to remember a time when the three of us--me, Ted, my mom--weren't living in this drafty old two-flat.

Thinking of Dad and the holidays tonight leads me to thinking of his best friend, Jack, and some pictures I had wanted to post a few months ago after a visit to see him and his wife, Alba. We had spent nearly every Christmas Eve and Three Kings Day with Jack's family. I don't have a childhood holiday memory that doesn't include them. They're more like kinfolk than friends, and I had grown up thinking of their kids as my cousins. We haven't seen much of each other in recent years, unfortunately, but we've been working to remedy that.

Anyway, I was at Jack and Alba's house not long ago, right around the time they were cleaning out their century-old farmhouse of the stuff they had accumulated over the thirty years they had lived there, as well as items from previous owners that had been left in the basement.

And among the many treasures down there--including a set of Amelia Earhart bookends and a 1920s stove--was a homemade, Pepto-Bismo pink dollhouse. Jack asked me if I wanted to take it home with me. My heart almost stopped at the sight of it. It's a dollhouse that my dad had made when Alison, Jack's daughter, and I were kids--I think I was seven or so, she was four.

I hadn't even remembered that this dollhouse ever existed.

But when I saw it, it all came rushing back. I remember playing with that dollhouse for hours; I remember the texture of the carpet on the floors, the patterns on the wallpaper, and the furniture made by one of my great-great uncles. And I actually remembered my dad building the house.

Dad wasn't always the handiest of craftsman, I think it's okay to admit that, and I don't have anything that he built with his own two hands because there simply wasn't anything left over the years. So when I saw this dollhouse, I just teared up. My "Uncle" Jack had given me a gift more precious than he could have imagined -- a gift from my father, and a forgotten memory of him revealed.

The Very, Very Last Plant of 2010. I Mean It This Time.

It's nearly December, and I'm still puttering in the garden. I went to Home Depot yesterday to get lawn bags, as the last leaf pickup is this week. I swear, that's all I intended to get. The garden center is filled with Christmas trees and holiday greenery, but in one sad little corner was a pile of shrubs at super markdown prices. And for two dollars, I picked up an Amethyst coral berry.

It has white flowers at midsummer, and pretty hot pink fruit in late summer.

At least the ground's not frozen yet, and I was able to get it planted. But that's it, I promise. No more plant purchases for the year. I even disconnected the garden hoses today, too, to prove it.

Introducing Sebastian Blue, Our New Maine Coon

We brought our new cat home on Saturday. He's a 16-month-old Maine Coon we've named Sebastian Blue. (And if anyone out there notices that our cats' names are now Bella and Sebastian, it was not inspired by indie Scottish band Belle and Sebastian, although we do like their music). He does remind me some of his brother, Seamus, but his face looks more feral. I hope to get a good picture of him this week.

I forgot how stressful it is (for me) to introduce a new critter into the house. I worry about the fact that he's been hiding for most of the last two days, has barely eaten, and seems really scared. Even though these are all normal symptoms for a cat in transition, I worry that he'll always be nervous.

We've set up the bedroom off the kitchen and the kitchen itself as "his" area, and put up a fence to keep Bella and the dog out. Sebastian spent most of Saturday under the bed, but sometime Saturday during the night decided to do a bit of exploring. We found him under the ice box in the morning. He didn't want us to scritch or pet him, it made him really nervous, so we pretty much left him there on Sunday, although I did set up the laptop in the bedroom and read to him out loud from the book I was reading so he could get used to my voice.

Sebastian under the ice box.

Later on Sunday he was back under the bed, still wanting to be left alone, although he did poke his head into the kitchen at one point when he heard Bella chirping. However, he was a little surprised to also see Maggie, his first dog, on the other side of the fence.

Sebastian sees Maggie for the first time.

Maggie and Bella, for their part, have not been happy with being left out.

Bella and Maggie look at me with disapproval.

Bella eventually said the heck with this fence nonsense, and came to see what the fuss was about. She jumped to the top of the refrigerator so she could watch Sebastian, who was in the doorway to the bedroom. The cats have been curious about each other, but aside from a little bit of growling in the first few minutes, have just been staring at each other. Last night, they had a fifteen-minute staring contest. I'm not sure who won.

Bella is up and over the fence in no time.

Bella, watching from the top of the fridge, wonders who the new stranger is.

 
Sebastian eventually went to the top of the refrigerator himself after having seen Bella do it, and from there, somehow managed to cram himself into the narrow space about the cabinet. At this point, I think he became overwhelmed, because we were all in there cooking dinner and Bella was hanging out. From what we can tell, he didn't come down at all during the night and didn't want us to go up there.

Sebastian hunkering down so we won't see him hiding on the cabinet.

I was pretty much worried about him all day today, and had placed his food and water dishes up there with him. Still, he hasn't wanted to eat, and I don't want him getting dehydrated. So I went to PetSmart and picked up some Catsip, which every cat I've had in recent years just loves. I also got a tube of GNC Ultra Mega Relax for Cats, which has chamomile and other relaxing herbs in it. I asked the store vet about it, and was told chamomile will work to calm some animals.

It is a gel; you squeeze out a strip up to an inch long and put it on the cat's paw. He'll lick it off. I figured if it didn't calm him, maybe it would at least stimulate his appetite. It tastes like chicken. Sort of.

I then left him alone for a while. When I checked 10 minutes later, it was still on his paw, but after half an hour I could tell he had eaten it. Fifteen minutes after that, I climbed up to the top of the refrigerator myself and sat down on it (we have high ceilings). This time, Sebastian let me reach up and scritch his ears and head, leaning into it. I did that for about 15 minutes, talking softly to him and stroking his head, and then went back to my computer where he could see me. Maybe the stuff does work to calm him. It only took him a few minutes after that to jump down and follow me into the bedroom.

So that's where we're at now. I've decided to cut his two rooms down to this one, until he's more comfortable with me and more confident overall. Perhaps the two rooms, with the view of the rest of the house, was too much for him. As I type this, he is slowly exploring the room, looking back at me to see what I'm up to. He keeps coming by for a finger sniff and a brief scritch, but it's all on his terms. If I approach him, he goes back under the bed, even if just for a minute, before he's off exploring again. He's sniffing at his food, so hopefully he'll eat soon.

I think I'll keep him in here another day or so at least, banning the others so he can chill; thank goodness I get to work from home, and can just drag the laptop around with me.

The stare down.

Early Start on the Spring Garden Plans, and Yes, We're Still Blooming in Chicagoland

Lest you think we're all Maine Coons, all the time around here, rest assured that we have been doing some work around the ol' Box House.

Last week we had some freakishly warm temperatures in Chicagoland and actually still have some things blooming--and green, yes, green! So I took on the challenge of extending the wraparound shrub border from the corner to our front walk. I had killed the grass using Roundup a while back, but didn't plan on doing any digging until March or so. But, since the weather has been sunny and springlike, and shrubs less than $5 at Home Depot, we planted up a storm. Here, I'm standing on the sidewalk that leads up to our door, looking toward the corner. Ninety-percent of what you're looking at went in this week. Some of it is perennial divided from other sections of the yard; most of it is new shrubs of the four-to-six-foot when full grown variety. What you don't see are the 100+ spring bulbs.
Let's hope the squirrels don't see them, either.

I've taken three steps closer to the public sidewalk for this pic. The dead grass at the sidewalk's edge will remain until next spring when I edge it properly. For now, it's to hold the dirt back over the course of the winter.

This picture was taken about halfway to the corner. Note the Weeping Norway Spruce at right -- my $5 Home Depot bargain. (It was originally $49.)

When full grown, it will only be 8-10 feet, and look something like this (I hope):

Looking back; there is an 8x10 foot unplanted section in the bulge. Next year, I'll plant my herb garden there and, hopefully, the neighborhood dogs won't pee on it.

View from the corner. What is hard to see unless you enlarge the pic is all the ground cover plants I added along the sidewalk; it's a mixture of ajuga, moss, and creeping myrtle meant to hold back the dirt and keep down the weeds.

In fact, it will look like this section that was planted in August. Enlarge this one and you'll see the creeping myrtle is blooming again, for the third time this year.

All in all, it's a delight to be able to actively garden in November! And because I have a few things growing, I can't believe I actually have a November submission for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day.