Category Archives: The House

Sketch of Front Door

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I’m feeling a bit under the weather so the only thing getting done around here is a bit of sewing, reading, sketching and light housework. (And if truth be told – watching a lot of youtube videos.)

I thought I’d share a few sketches since one is of our front door. The cityscape is of the Clock Tower building on E. Beverley Street in Staunton. The sketch of some of my toiletries and the door was done for an online sketching class I’m taking. I’m purposely focusing on sketching (and not drawing) because I’m not interested in trying to perfectly render what I see.

I’m having fun playing with my pens and paints and seeing a little bit of improvement with each sketch.

It’s time to start thinking about a vegetable garden. It has been too rainy to do any prep work. Right now we are just hoping for a few good days in early spring to get things started and then just planting some of the seeds we already have. No real planning – just doing what can get done.

I should mention here that on February 5 we had our precious goldendoodle, Duke, euthanized.  It’s such a hard thing to do, but we knew it was the right thing to do. He had a good long life – 15 years – and was a great dog.

I think these photos are from 2015.

Random Stuff

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This is my best effort of a bluebird in watercolors. I see room for a lot of improvement but it is much better than the one I painted about 6 weeks ago. I’ve been drawing and/or painting most days and taking an online class – all of which has helped so much.

We are finally painting the family room/Dave’s office. I chose Benjamin Moore’s Bruton White paint color. It’s what they call a greige (a greyish beige or beigy grey).

I’m thinking of taking a watercolor class focusing on skies so I’ve been looking for interesting skies.

Above and below are photos taken from our front porch one early morning a few days ago. Above is facing southeast and below is facing east.

While taking the photo below I’m facing north/northwest. In person the trees almost looked like they were on fire. This happens often and I’m not sure what causes it.

Fog and Flood

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A soggy mess. The lady ferns don’t seem to mind.

A lot more rain since Sunday and some very heavy rain late yesterday.

These photos were taken this morning and the water was still running this evening.

Foggy this morning – almost like the earth was giving off some of the excess moisture.

The birds have been all over this dogwood tree.

Finally, some beautiful sun today.

Tomato Cream Sauce Dining Room

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It’s not done yet but I had to share.

This color is a bold one for me.

I love it!

I’m planning to make a quilt out of 18th century dutch reproduction fabrics for that empty wall.

I think I’ve found my go to plant for my front porch – caladiums. They get just a little bit of sun in the early morning. They are already putting out new leaves and I planted them less than two weeks ago.

Three Layers of Wallpaper in the Dining Room

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I just couldn’t take it any longer. Last week we started taking down wallpaper in our dining room. I knew there were at least two layers and we found that there were actually three layers.

Wallpaper doesn’t hide cracked plaster.

Seeing this 1920’s wallpaper for the first time.

We found a razor blade stuck to the wall beneath the chair rail. I’m confidant this chair rail isn’t original and it isn’t going back up.

I made the first rips and then Dave got out his tools and got to work.

We’ve filled many bags.

Isn’t this gorgeous. It is a block print. The ink runs as soon as we spray it with the warm water and vinegar solution.

Some evidence of plaster repair over this paper.

circa 1970?

There used to be a stove here and they did an awful job of patching. The area around it bows out noticeably. Fortunately, we have a plasterer coming out this Friday about some other work so we will show him this too.

doggie break

This is a good pic of all three wallpapers. I think the top layer was circa 1990.

Just as I suspected – the crown molding wasn’t original. We can tell because the first two layers of wallpaper go to the ceiling, but the last layer stops short. It seems to me it was around 1990 that chair rails and crown molding became popular again.

I thought the crown molding was overkill with these beautiful french doors.

This wall needs a lot of love.

Fashion might not be the only reason they put up the crown molding. Looks like they had to do some plumbing work here. This will have to be patched because the crown molding isn’t going back up.

Dave uncovered some patterned wallpaper on the ceiling. I think I’ve seen that patterned wallpaper is back in style.

I’m excited to get the walls repaired, primed and painted. I’m going to get a test pot of paint called Tomato Cream Sauce – a little bold for me but I’m going for a warm, cozy color as this is the room we gather most often with family and friends.

Christmas

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We put up the Christmas tree the weekend after Thanksgiving. Samantha and Luca were here to help.

The weather was mild which was nice for putting up the outside lights.

Damian helped, too.

Making cookies the Saturday before Christmas.

Erin (aka Soupy) was here for computer help and was happy to roll up her sleeves (and don an apron) to help with the baking.

A special Christmas Eve

The Home Stretch

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Dave has spent the spring and summer painting the ceiling and trim and priming the walls of the foyer, stairway and upper hallway. A little bit here and there. Now we feel like he is on the home stretch by starting to paint the walls. I chose Benjamin Moore’s Green Tint. It’s a greyish green. We’ve been using their Simple White throughout the house.

Weekend Update

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Friday afternoon these big chicks finally let me get close to them.

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They are so goofy looking!

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Emmylou had her little chicks in the barnyard.

Above she scratches and below…

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she pecks. Over and over again. She has her work cut out for her with 10 chicks.

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The pullets and cockerels.

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A candy onion from our barn garden.

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Wednesday, Thursday and Friday all had period of heavy rain. The landscapers were still here when it rained on Friday. They got soaked laying out these tarps. Above you can see the concrete from the old flag pole that they pulled out of the ground.

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The landscapers didn’t come today because they were forecasting more rain. Sure enough it started raining around noon and we had periods of heavy rain during the afternoon.

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Saturday Dave got out his new toy. See the water sitting in among the paw paw trees in the middle of the photo.

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He was hoping to make some progress on removing this willow stump but the ground was too wet. You can see the tracks he is leaving in the grass.

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Late Saturday afternoon we finished cleaning up the mess from the fallen ceiling.

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Now we are looking for a plasterer.

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Sam came over for Father’s day and helped us hang our local artists gallery. We wanted to hang the photos before finishing the paint job in case we wanted to change anything. I love how it turned out.