Magnolia

From the Backyard.
I love all the shades of white and this morning it glowed.


Yesterday I completely finished the porch ceiling, with touchups and a little caulking in spots.
Today I picked up and put away all the supplies including some of Chris's tools that always find a resting place on the porch. I moved it all to the basement, where all that stuff should belong.
I also painted the other rocking chair. I still need to do something about the seat, but I will figure that out in time.

We are also eating squash tonight, fresh from the garden.

Other than that, not much else to report on.

Take Care and Happy Friday.

Does the Header look all out of wack? It does on my screen.

Vege Garden Update

Does anyone know what vege this flower will turn into?
( I know, I just like to test my readers knowledge every now and then.)

Hint: The vege is in the same color family.

Yes, Karen I re-worded the post after your comment.

Crud, Cobwebs, Cuts, and Caulk

While painting the ceiling of the front porch. I notice behind the dirt, crud, and cobwebs.




That someone cut the wrong angle, but they decided to use it anyway.




Then I wonder what may be down inside the column...
But, I was too scared to stick my head close enough to look in.


That's where a digital camera comes in handy.




Sigh.......Nothing exciting. I would have kept my eyeballs. I like them.



and....




Since the area was clear, I moppped the slate and rinsed it down. Then gave the porch floor a blow dry, with a leaf blower.


Last week, I used the wire brush on the rusty metal railing (that I hate) and re-painted it a black. Even if I hate the style, the railing looks better painted than rusty. One day we will change it out to something more craftsman-ish.


Finally, I caulked the area between the floor and the front wall of the house.


I used normal caulk in the tube. I have never had a plastic tube of caulk dry out. (Paper tubes, yes. Plastic tubes, no)There has been a lot of hype of the new single use caulks lately. I just can't see the point of the product for the price. A whole tube of paint able caulk is under $2. The only part that I have had to dry out was the tip, so I re-cut the tip and it works just fine months later. Just my opinion. I have read some good caulk stories from the caulk contest.

More progress!!!! At Last...

Look....Actual progress taking place.

Yes, Progress on the house. Something is being done.


Confession Time.....

After searching the archives right here on this site. I found out that I last worked on the porch ceiling Aug. 14, 2007. That is the date I rolled tinted primer above the location of the where the light fixtures were to be installed. I had one gallon of tinted primer, and that would have been enough for the entire ceiling if I were not wearing 1/3 of that oil based gallon.

Okay.... I am not too good at rolling ceilings and removing all that paint from my hair was even a worse experience. So.... I procrastinated actually painting the ceiling. The ceiling looked like this only with the fixtures installed for 10 months.

Blogger tells me, that the number one reason new readers find this site is because they are searching for blue porch ceilings, Haint Blue, and colors of blue for porch ceilings.

I start feeling guilty. People are visiting to check out the porch ceiling and it is not even finished yet.

On Friday....

I open the can of Benjamin Moore 2049-60 Forget Me Not, and got busy. It is a good shade for those looking for a Haint Blue. Not too light, not too dark.



This is a paint that color that Chris had used on a client's house. A 1880's Victorian influenced farm house. He really liked it and sometimes he gets to make decisions on the house.

Since I am not too good with a roller, I used a brush.




I did leave one little spot, where the beaded board need re-installing a little better. It was removed to try to see where the ceiling joists were located a few months back. Remember?

And no, we don't have the porch swing installed yet. But we have a plan. The porch is going to be installed about the location where I am standing only centered. I will run that plan past you in another post.

The reason I left this spot is.......if the paint were to gum up the area where it needs to pop back in, the board wouldn't pop back in, causing more grief. I was waiting on Chris to work on this, but I may take it on myself.

In the pic above, you can also see that I have the second rocker sanded and primed. Also the mailbox is re-installed. If you want to see all the dirt and cobwebs above the moulding, click the image. Eugh.

One step at a time.

Oh ! One last thing.....
As I was scraping away a couple of areas where the paint was chipping, I find that the porch ceiling was originally stained. Other than the floor, the porch ceiling seems to be the only wood in this house that was ever stained. Go Figure........... I had a picture.... but when It was downloaded it was really bad.

We are almost officially safe from Haints and Hags.

Take a Time Out..

From your painting, sawing, and BBQ-ing...

And remember the purpose of Memorial Day...

I do not know the identity of these men, or if they made it home or not. I think the men background of the first picture knew my grandfather because of the way they are looking into the camera. The second picture I think are of some of my grandmother's brother's friends. Her brothers were sailors.

Sunday Walk: Part 19

Pull up a seat...




We will have a glass of cold iced tea...

or maybe.......mint juleps.....

We can share small town gossip.

Chat about the weather.

and dead head the geraniums.

I can't help it, I just want to dead head any and every geranium I see with dead heads.

Oh........and I hate I missed this yard sale.

I like the use of paper plates for signage. :)

I hope each of you have a wonderful evening and a safe holiday.

A Tank or a Toilet.

$4.04 a gallon it is here.
Right down the street..

(Picture from our local on line paper.)

How much is gas in your area?
__________________________________________

Due to a comment my grandmother made to my mother the other day.... I did spent a little time with Google and found this......

• The middle-class and poor stopped buying things with installment credit for fear of loosing their jobs, and not being able to pay the interest. As a result industrial production fell by more than 9% between the market crashes in October and December 192948. As a result jobs were lost, and soon people starting defaulting on their interest payment. Radios and cars bought with installment credit had to be returned. All of the sudden warehouses were piling up with inventory. The thriving industries that had been connected with the automobile and radio industries started falling apart. Without a car people did not need fuel or tires; without a radio people had less need for electricity. On the international scene, the rich had practically stopped lending money to foreign countries. With such tremendous profits to be made in the stock market nobody wanted to make low interest loans. To protect the nation's businesses the U.S. imposed higher trade barriers (Hawley-Smoot Tariff of 1930). Foreigners stopped buying American products. More jobs were lost, more stores were closed, more banks went under, and more factories closed. Unemployment grew to five million in 1930, and up to thirteen million in 193249. The country spiraled quickly into catastrophe. The Great Depression had begun.

Read the entire article from this link...Here.

Also this..........

• 3. Reduction in Purchasing Across the BoardWith the stock market crash and the fears of further economic woes, individuals from all classes stopped purchasing items. This then led to a reduction in the number of items produced and thus a reduction in the workforce. As people lost their jobs, they were unable to keep up with paying for items they had bought through installment plans and their items were repossessed. More and more inventory began to accumulate. The unemployment rate rose above 25% which meant, of course, even less spending to help alleviate the economic situation.

With all the money we are pumping into our tanks, we have less money to spend on other items. We are cutting back and buying only the necessities. However because of the cost of gas, the necessities cost more every day. Thus less spending and more cutting, meaning more products stockpiling in warehouses, meaning people getting laid off, meaning less money to spend.

See the downward spiral....not exactly the same as the 20's and 30's but there is a strong similarity.



This is a house blog....and how is this related to the house?


Lets look at the necessities....

• Is it necessary to have crown moulding installed this summer ? We've been living with out crown in this house for 9 months. And actually this house may have never had crown. There is no evidence of crown anywhere. So it can wait........
  
• Is it necessary to buy the sink and toilet for the 1/2 bath. It would be nice, but is it necessary? Well no, there is just the two of us and we've never lived in a house with 2 toilets. Since there has be a "we"-that is.

I am sure most people in the middle of home improvements are looking at ways to save money and limit the spending on the house.

If 50% of the people who were planning on buying a new toilet decide not to, that means there are 50% more toilets stockpiling in warehouses. Meaning production is decreased, meaning people are being laid off. Jobs are being lost in retail and manufacturing.

I guess the real question is what costs more, a toilet or a tank of gas?

Project of the Day...Mailbox

Giving the mailbox that is beside the front door a little TLC is the project of the day.

Vintage?...Yes.
Original to the house?.... I am not sure.

My gut is telling me no. I listen to my gut a lot. I call my gut Ms. Cleo. Or is Ms. Cleo my instinct? Or is she a gut instinct? What exactly is the difference or is it the same thing? I've never really thought about it until now.

You do remember Ms. Cleo, right?


" Dis de mailbox." Spoken, of course, in my best Jamaican accent, which is not very good.

The tools gathered are the wire brush and some steel wool. (And a camera.)




I forgot, I needed some gloves. I gotta try to keep the hands youthful and all. Gloves also keep some of the grossness out from under your nails. After brushing a bit, I decided I needed a little sandpaper.

The box's metal actually has a pretty nice finish with out any paint. I thought about polishing it up and giving it a clear coat.



I decided against it. I found the Kilz oil-rubbed bronze paint that I bought on sale a couple of months ago. It was $2. I knew at the time I would find a use for $2 oil rubbed bronze spray paint. It is that good Kilz paint that sprays on like a dream. If you dream about spray paint. I don't.




The big reveal..........



There is a little dent near the window area.

Total time = about 2 hours. Total money = about $4. I did use steel wool and a sheet of sand paper. Total if I had to get in the car and buy supplies......about $30. Yep, most of that would be gas.

The days of the mailman using this box are long gone in Townsville. He uses the box on the curb. Once I find some new screws, I am re-installing it. The old screws stripped out when I removed the box. But now.....I need to figure out what's for supper.

Don't forget about telling your Lucky Pet=Lucky People story. We would love to hear about it.

Lucky Dogs = Lucky People

This is Lucky, the black and white Little People dog with a yellow collar. He was found under the house.

This is Puppy, the black and white dog with a red collar. He too, was found under the house, our old house. Really, he was. Someone dumped him there when he was just a baby.

A tiny, crying, shivering, dirty, flea infested, little puppy was dumped at our old house.

"Do not give the dog a name."

"If you give the dog a name, you will keep him."

I did give him a bath because our other dogs did not need fleas. We did give him food because he was hungry and no one should go hungry. We did do our best not to get attached. He did not come inside like the other dogs. ( Chris had a Border Collie, Max and I had a Cocker Spaniel, Beau. ) We did try to find him a home. Months go by.....Nobody wanted a black lab mix dog.

He did start answering to.... Puppy.

However Lucky, would have been a good name.

If were were going to name him and keep him and all.

Sometimes I wonder just who is the luckiest.

???

Do you have a Lucky Dog=Lucky People story?

Remember the Gardenia

The Gardenia that was tossed as trash onto our yard.

The one that was "junk".

Well .......look what my Aunt and I saw this morning while walking in the yard.

It smells nice too.

Thousands and Thousands

Are hatching daily...




















I can't keep up with the stomping.
I sprinkled out flour as suggested from last week.

sigh.................

The Awkward Adolescent

Remember those gawky years?

Braces, zits, glasses, and odd hair experimentation. Spending hours and hours in the bathroom coming out looking something like this.......

Okay, so maybe not quite like this.

Poor baby, so homely. But one day he will develop into a beautiful regal Cardinal.

This little one’s parents, yes the mom and the dad, were busy making sure he had plenty to eat and was safe since he jumped out of the crowded nest in the azalea.

At least his awkwardness will be just a couple of days not years, and years, and years, and years..........

I had the wrong date....

After scraping away with a wire brush I found out I had the date wrong...
on What is it?















See, clearly that says FEB 24 1925
and there is a PAT and what looks to be NO. 45 ?















On the flip side it looks to say Akron Brass






MFG Something? maybe Wooster, OH ?







Was this used by a fireman? Akron Brass made stuff for fire hoses. The house shows no evidence of fire, however with all the bricks and bricks set in concrete in chunks turning up in the yard along with the random concrete slab, my gut is telling me something else was built here.

I spent some time at the Patent website... Feb 24, 1925 was a big issue date for patents. I gave up for now on the website. I need to go back and see If Akron Brass was issued a patent on that date.

2 Days

More

on

the

Kudzu.

It only took two days for this to grow.

Also.........
At some point today, I am going to post new pics of it.
Maybe someone may actually know ....
What is it?

What is it ?

It reads on the handle....

FEB 24 1928

I found it n the yard while uncovering some rocks.

Yes....more rocks.......... and bricks.

It may say something else?.. I will have to hack away at the rust.

Oh and it is about 12" long.

*EDIT*

I looked and tried to make out any other letters on this thingy.

I can make out an A K _ _ N . There is a small word beside it. It appears to be 4 letters.

Akron, Ohio? Maybe ( The _ _ are letters that I cannot make out)

I tried to get a close up pic of this. But they were not good.

Do you think it has something to do with the delivery of coal and these things on the outside of the house? (click images on link to view larger)

*EDIT x2*

I got it.....Captain Hook was here...

Sunday Walk: Part 18

Tudors....

Photo from Vanishing Georgia




Since these houses were built in the 1900's I guess they would technically be Tudor Revival or Medieval Revival. Or is is Tudorbethan?




Some houses just have a little Tudor influence such as decorative brick and stone work..


Others are show offs in their Half Timbering techniques.









And a few just have a detail here and there.









Have a good Sunday evening, and type to ya next week.

Critters from the Underworld

An Invasion of Devil's Horses

In the early 70’s, my father's parents lived in an old house while they were building their dream home a couple miles down the road. This home had typical old house characteristic like squirrels in the attic and leaks in the roof. Oh, and um....... a ghost named George.

I clearly remember hearing George’s footsteps. Thinking my grandfather was home from work, I ran to the door…. no Gramps. "George again." George ended up moving to my grandparent’s new home, opening doors and walking heavy throughout the house. Once, George even startled house guests in an upstairs bedroom.

When Grandpa would finally get home from work, we would walk around the yard and admire the marigolds, the buttercups, and the hydrangeas. I also recall stepping on these large black grasshoppers. Hissing, popping, red, striped, giant, grasshoppers. I am sure some of these were the size of my sandals at the time.

Until late last summer, I had forgotten about these grasshoppers. I grew up about 2 miles from here and they were never in our yard there. However, they popped up everywhere at ThirteenEleven devouring all my perennial transplants.

When they started showing up about a week ago, I thought I would see what the Internet had to say about these shiny black creatures with the red or yellow stripe. Maybe there was an easy way to rid our yard and save our plants.

The adult Eastern Lubber is resistant to many insecticides. Birds do not eat them, and those magic lizards that I allow to hang out on the deck leave them alone.

Oh…So that is why the stomping worked best.

They are small now, but they will grow to 4"-5" long. Eugh!

I have squished over 100 so far.

Double eeeeuuuuugh!

I read where these were called Devil's Horses by ol'timers.

Saturday Nite...

There was an event.

At Townsville College.

A Free Event.

There was this band. A band that we listened to in the late 90's.

A band that college youngsters listened to when they were............9 or 10.

This band actually was right down the street. A short walk away.

This never happens in Townsville.





I don't even think we were the oldest folks at this event. (Close, but hopefully not the oldest.)

I elbowed my way to the front, supported a few crowd surfers, and was able to take some pics. (A little blurry because they would not stop the concert and stand still long enough so my old digital could take a clear shot with out a flash)







Chris stayed behind. He really did not want to get up there with that crowd.

When the band left the stage, for the encore, I left to find my husband.

Guess where I found the husband? Go ahead, take a guess....





Backstage.


HUH!!......... He knew the drummer in the opening act and was able to get backstage.


Ok, maybe this band is so 90's. Maybe that is why they came to Townsville. Maybe that is why the event was free. Maybe that is why Husband was able to get back stage.


Maybe, I do still like their music. And..........I do.