Monday: Miracle and Mess

I love birds! I've always wanted to hold a wild bird, but . . . how does one catch one to hold?

Last week a bird flew into a picture window and knocked itself out, temporarily. While it was stunned I went out and picked it up. It was so calm, letting me hold it and stroke it, all while speaking as reassuringly as I could. His feathers were so soft! God knows our desires and will grant them in His own time.

Downy Woodpecker

PFCMom and the Downy Woodpecker

As for messes, we knew we had a small leak in a pipe from the main second floor bathroom. Suddenly it got worse! TopDad, smart man that he is, tracked it to the wall between the second and first floors. He and Mr. Movie opened up the wall and discovered a crack in the original cast iron waste drain pipe. Oh joy. Not! Sometimes we think we should have gutted the house to the studs so we could do all the rewiring and re-plumbing needed, insulate the darn thing and then put up nice drywall. But we didn't win the lottery, and haven't stumbled upon a cache of cash in the basement or attic. So we proceed with one little (or huge) project at a time. And wouldn't you know, it was the very wall Mr. Movie had spent three hours stripping of painted over wallpaper, prepping for a new paint job. This house is going to drive me to drink!

View from the staircase side (with mess)

Would you look at that crack!

View from the foyer side

This is what my mess looks like!

The good news is that I found the couch we've been looking for: blue leather, double recliner (at a nearby thrift store). Now if I could just get the room stripped and painted! But that's not at the top of the list yet.

So, what's new in your life?

Work in Progress Here

We're replacing an ancient and crumbling roof this week:

Stripping off the old layer.

One side almost done.

Meanwhile on the other side. Man in the tank top is our very own Dandylion earning some extra money on his day off.

Layer of new felt already on!

We had a brief shower this morning and wondered if work would have to stop. Prayers were answered as the storm moved on and the sun came out.

What's Happening Now

Well, Dandylion, our youngest graduated from high school in May, turned 18 in June and left for college in August. He's in a pre-nursing program as well as the Marching Band. So far he is enjoying himself. But he'd better get a job quick, and apply for some more scholarships or he'll be able to enjoy only one semester of this adventure.

I recently had a delicious vegetarian meal: fresh beets and beet greens, brown rice and Ratatouille, or as we called it Eggplant Stew. We never knew we were eating a French dish, but come to find out that's (about) what it is. I don't use any zucchini in it because I don't like the bitter taste of zucchini. This batch has eggplant (or aubergine), fresh and canned tomatoes, celery, onion, and bell peppers, I think I used red, orange and yellow. It tasted so, so good to me.

Next up for redecorating is the bedroom that Dandylion vacated.

View from hallway door into the room

Windows to the southeast

Double closets (notice the not matching doorknobs)

Inside wall - with leftover desk, the one I got at Salvation Army for $1.95

Detail of old, ugly heater vent cover and dirt, also the weird electrical outlet with (missing) night light

Gorgeous hardwood floors

And the only plain wall in the room.

The color, a pale robin's egg blue, isn't bad, just faded and very dirty. I've chosen a lovely warm tan for the wall as a neutral so I can put up all of TopDad's plaques and artwork from his time in the Marines. So this is my next big project, beginning in September.

Ta Da!! The (almost) Complete Living Room

My living room is (almost) completely redecorated. All that remains is hanging a few things on the walls, and bringing over from the other house four bookcases and the books. I am so happy with the colors, the remade drapes, the matching lamps, the clean floor! I am of the "Use what you have" school of Interior Decorating so I reused almost everything and retrieved from storage other things. I was blessed to find some really good deals for the new (to us) pieces.

This is the corner where the color changes. Note the new recliner for TopDad, purchased at a yard sale for $50. Also a new lamp, one of a pair purchased through Craig's list for $25 for both.

Before

After

Before

I took the existing drapes, unpicked all the pleats and reused them with rings (clips) for a more casual, cottage look. The ceramic piece on the table was made by Dandylion in his art class. Don't the matching lamps look great!! Our three adult children are on top of the piano awaiting a portrait of Mr. Movie.

After

Before

I am so pleased with the way it all turned out. I love color, none of that neutral stuff for me. This room glows with glorious light.

After

The entry way, waiting for installation of the new steel door, and new light switches and cover plate. Just a few little details. 

Entry way

Frugal Friday - Odds and Ends

Progress Report on floor: The old carpet must have been carpet and pad integrated and the pad must have been adhesive because it left a horrible residue on the beautiful wood floor. I used a paint scraper to get it up and in some places had to use an orbital sander to remove it. (Perhaps a chemical would have done the job, but I'm trying to be frugal here!) Now we are left with the decision "to refinish, or not". Even where the pad came up easily it left a slightly hazy residue on the floor. My feeling is that as long as the room is empty, let's refinish and then we can enjoy moving in to a room with fresh paint and a fresh floor.

Yucky residue.

Yucky residue scraped off.

Area where I used the orbital sander to remove the yucky residue.

 Now on to more fun things:

Bad photo of Tim with a piece of popcorn clinging to his side.

Calico napping in Dr. Hair's laundry hamper.

JET (purple shirt), Dr. Hair (white shirt), and two of JET's roommates
Occasion: JET's birthday on Sunday

JET, the birthday boy & PFCMom, the birthday dinner planner and provider

What's a young thing like you doing with a face like this? Where did my youth go?

Okay, now for some frugality:
What do you do when you find at the store a bag of bananas for a buck?

They aren't bad, just a little spotted on the outside. First we eat a few on cereal for breakfast, a few more in smoothies and then the rest . . .

These bananas are actually a few days after I bought them and yes they are really ripe.

are smashed up, measured and put in freezer containers with lemon juice for banana bread. 

Containers of 2 cups of mashed bananas and 2 teaspoons of lemon juice.

When I want to make some bread I take the container out of the freezer and thaw it overnight on the counter (or in the fridge, but it takes longer), then I can make bread in the morning and the house smells good all day.

Here's another little frugal practice of mine.
See that brown thing that looks like a trash can next to the night stand in my bedroom?

PFCMom's Bedroom

That brown thing is actually two paper grocery bags, one slipped inside the other with the top folded down, which I use as my trash receptacle. This one has lasted two years (see the autumn scene?). I didn't have money to buy one, couldn't find one I liked anyway, so I made one.

Repurposed paper grocery bags

A friend of mine repurposes tin cans for all sorts of things, sells them at craft fairs and gives them as gifts. These are two I use as "pencil" holders. She got the idea from a craft magazine that showed painting on terra cotta pots. She didn't want to spend money on pots and looked for an alternative. I think the cans are terrific. (When I get my Christmas stuff out I'll show you the one she made me that I think is absolutely darling.)

Repurposed painted tin can pencil holders

 And last on our tour today, a way to corral those water bottles:

Basket for bottles

I searched thrift stores for a basket deep enough to hold the tall bottles; I had tried short baskets but the bottles would topple and scatter. This one keeps them nicely corralled on top of the fridge. 

Neat and tidy bottles

Just a note on searching for things at thrift stores--Be patient and go often. Those are the keys to scoring treasures at tightwad prices. The other rule is to buy when you see it, she who hesitates is out of luck. The item won't be there next time. I have never regretted buying anything because if it doesn't work out I can always re-donate it. But I have truly regretted NOT buying items, thinking I'd go back for them later. Wrong.

Have a great weekend!

Pictures, as promised

See the old color here.

See my pretty pink room, with a sparkling white ceiling!

The view from the window; such gorgeous pink walls!

Later this evening, with the help of Topdad and PW, we'll pull up the yucky carpet, scrape off the pad, (which has fused to the wood floor) wash the floor and voila! All finished. More pictures tomorrow.

By the way, I was very blessed to have just enough paint to put on two coats with no leftovers. I prayed mightily for that tender mercy and was granted my request. Thank you Heavenly Father.

More Archeology

Every wall and ceiling in this house, built in 1923, is covered in wallpaper, up to four layers! Family and friends have asked why we don't just paint over it. Well, here are some pictures to answer the question:

Corner of Master Bedroom

Same corner with ceiling

Above the window in the Master Bedroom

The paper has separated from the wall in a major way in most of the rooms and the plaster underneath needs some repair too.

Besides stripping part of the wall in the bedroom I've begun stripping in the stairwell and upstairs hallway. Actually I got really sick of the paper one day and just started ripping!

Before I moved in my husband made me promise that I wouldn't pull up the carpet. I broke that promise after about a month. I kept smelling something foul and discovered it was the carpet. Noble helped me move furniture around and I did a section at a time until all the oak floors were uncovered.

This is the color of the 40 year old smelly, dirt encrusted carpet. When I pulled it up I found that the rubber pad was decomposing and had to be swept up (sort of like the black stuff in the bedroom). The stairs are the last part and I've procrastinated because it's so tedious.

This is the color of the wallpaper and the paneling in the living room, stairwell and upstairs hallway:

Dusty pink, mauve and blue/grey

Floral paneling that looks like it should be in a Doublewide

I began peeling off paper and immediately liked what I saw:

Warm floral - same shades as green carpet

The next layer was very nice too:

Tweed with tan, cream and green

But the earliest layer is my favorite:

Tan with white fern leaf pattern

Any of the three layers underneath would have been lovely. Why did she (the former owner, a little old lady) choose the incongruously cool pink and blue when she had a warm olive green carpet?

The pink and blue finally got to me and I started ripping. Some time soon I'll finish the removal. In the meantime I'm looking for information about repairing the plaster and preparing it for painting.