This post has been toned down from it's original rant. You read that right: this is the toned down version! "If you want something badly enough to whine about it you better be willing to do it yourself."1me, every damn day Backstory: The kids are constantly asking for things (toys, food, clothes, video games, liberty), … Continue reading Practice What I Bleat
While I believe this statement wholeheartedly, the damn things are also a lot of work. One1 of my favorite things about the house has always been the massive, old, original2 windows all over the place. That's a lot of windows. That's not even one side of the house. Unfortunately, the windows have not been re-glazed3 … Continue reading Wood Windows Rule
This is especially true during storm season.1 I'm trying to keep myself honest and post a little more frequently, so even though we have made virtually no progress on the house in the past several months I'm still going to waste a few minutes of everyone's quarantine time and publish a post. The excuse I'm … Continue reading When it rains it pours
So what has everyone been up to for the last four months? Anything new or interesting going on in the world? Part of the reason for my lack of activity on the blog was that I couldn't use my right arm for the last two months (slows down my typing speed!). Other than that little … Continue reading Quarantine Projects
Remember the gate? I was unhappy with it, but also just happy it was up? Gate looking shiny on its first day... before it started sloping downward into the mud. Well, over the following weeks/months it just kept slowly (not that slowly) sinking down to the point where it was pretty much unusable. I thought … Continue reading Gate part two!
First, I'm truly terrible at taking 'before' pictures - so you'll have to use your imagination a bit. Sorry. The following projects all competed for the moderate influx of cash that tax return season usually brings: rebuilding the chimney from the roofline upbringing the well riser up to/above ground levelreplacing/repairing the driveway Basically, the driveway … Continue reading Driveway!
This isn't going to be one of those quick easy projects. The first floor kitchen is one of the few rooms that the previous owner(s) did not start renovating: the electric and plumbing are older than other areas, and the walls, floor, and ceiling were last updated sometime before I was born. So we're sort … Continue reading The Kitchen – Big Project Post
The plan has always been to restore the house to it's former glory, while incorporating some modern luxuries (indoor plumbing, integrated networking, electricity, massive Ritz-inspired walk-in shower, etc). One of the early priorities, especially for a gigantic house like this one, was to get some less destructive power sources set up. We wanted to start … Continue reading Renewable Energy!
Still love the house, but it's been responsible for an awful lot of stress and financial pain the past week+. DAY 1Roughly 9 days ago I walked downstairs and heard gushing water. The drain pipes are mostly exposed at the moment so they tend to be loud, but even so this sounded particularly "exposed". I … Continue reading Septic Pipe (aka, it’s been a rough week)
It's like a dream come true. After 2+ months of lugging hot water from the kitchen to the bathtub every time I needed to not be gross anymore,* we actually have hot water in our bathroom now! Only 3 days after my live-in plumber** moved in, I have hot water in the bathroom! But that … Continue reading The Joys of Hot Water
The Wassaic Maison 