Random Scandom

If it seems like my blog posts are getting further and further apart, it's probably because they are. Most likely it's because we have left behind the new-and-exciting and gotten down to the old-nitty-gritty. Until we do something different like "buy animals" ....... inspiration may be a wee sparse.

The lack of bulk-material, also makes it difficult to fill a whole blog. We are mostly dealing with small or tedious things. So I've decided that every once in awhile I will fill a post with just random, assorted stuff :) 

Closets.

They say when looking at prospective real-estate property you should always check for the amount of closets/storage space. Well, I did notice that three out of the four bedrooms had closets but I failed to notice there wasn't any, anywhere else! No linen, no coat closets, no shelves..... nothing. The fact that the previous owners had stuff EVERYWHERE should have clued me in don't ya think?! So one of two things are going to have to happen ... We either have to narrow down our belongings (again!) or we'll have to add more work to our already long to-do list and build storage places. The decrepit mud room is coming off in the spring to build on a new, sturdy, insulated one so I am going to make sure a coat closet is included! Being we are gutting the bathroom to have a fresh start, hopefully we'll be able to carve out a place for towels etc. But where to locate a linen closet, that'll be a tough one. Maybe we'll all get a "personal" linen stash to store in our rooms.

Wallpaper

Word of advice to anyone considering buying and restoring a very old house. Wallpaper is a great way to hide the imperfections that the walls are covered in, just don't buy wallpaper with lines/stripes. NOTHING is straight in antique houses and pasting lines on the walls will only show that to be the case to everyone who looks at it. 

Sigh, here's hoping everyone will be so busy looking at the wood cook stove they won't notice the askew wallpaper. It's like the leaning tower of Pisa around here. But it still suits "old-country kitchen" don't you think?

Speaking of ....Wood Cook Stoves.......it's been a challenge but we have risen to meet it..... I think. That is if we aren't too frozen and cocooned in blankets while watching a movie.  We have some learning to do yet, some fans to buy for moving hot air from the kitchen, some weather stripping and insulation to install but we are starting to wonder if another heat source may be needed to keep the far edges of the house warm. A neighbour suggested a heat-pump for the large open concept living and dining room so we are going to look into that.

Bathroom

Now that the kitchen is mostly functional - stove, sink, fridge and counter-top (no cupboard doors or a floor yet) 

Geoff has started gutting the bathroom. Ick. Not a fun job. 

You just never know what you will uncover when you start taking walls down in an old house. First came off wood paneling that was glued on, not nailed. Then drywall, with wallpaper on it. Next, sheets of plywood, lastly the plaster. Under the plaster was a bit of insulation but there were plenty of gaps too so it was off to the hardware store to restock up on pink fiber-glass. Geoff has discovered where a front door used to be. When this house was built there was no indoor "water-closet" (or really any closets for that matter, see above :) so one had to be "carved out" as the dandy-COOL!-we-don't-need-an-outhouse-anymore-inventions became available.  Guess the loss of a front door, which was mostly used only for company, was a sacrifice worth making. Now the guests would use the first side door, family used the second.  Our guests can't come in the "guest door" as the skeleton key is busted off and it's permanently locked. So, for this winter the Man-Son covered the whole thing up with plastic and it's stopped the howling. Come spring we'll do something about making it accessible, but for now, if you visit, you are family and you come in the back-side door, OK?! 

One final thought on the bathroom, I noticed that Geoff first took out the vanity, then the shower and now it's the walls he's working on, while the "throne" sits there waiting patiently for it's removal. 

I joked and asked, "You saving the best for last?!"

.......... which he didn't think was funny...but can you blame him?

  That's hazmat-suit material right there!! 

Well, I was going to also talk about our new-to-us wringer washer (which is probably a post in-and-of- itself).....

......the garbage we are discovering all over the property now that the foliage has died down.....

............. our water-treatment system........

and how it's not all-work-and-no-play, (Case in point - we were invited to a neighbour's birthday celebration which consisted of his 85 year old mother making him a yummy cake and us helping eat it!! Any excuse to eat cake is a good excuse!) 

....but alas.....my blogging time is up, time to stop playing with words and pictures and get back to work. 

Stay tuned for more random scandom to be posted sometime in the near future!!