I just realized...

...what it is that I'm watching. The blue jay family is teaching the young ones to fly. What a lovely thing to have a front row seat for.

Never thought I'd have to weed the patio

It was a good weekend, but I can't say the things I accomplished warrant pictures, really. Doing regular house things like, oh say, cleaning. Laundry. Weeding the patio. Filling in the dog-dug holes in the backyard. Potting cat grass. Dishes. Cooking. Grocery shopping. These are things people are supposed to do all the time-- whether they're renovating or not-- right? I wouldn't really know. Spending every weekend on this little "project" meant we let our other house go to shit on a regular basis. I'm trying to keep up with things at this place now, while unpacking (still) and preparing for the final inspection. Sigh. Never enough time or money. I'm pretty sure that an abundance of one or the other of those things would solve the above dilemma.

The good news? The roofer stopped by yesterday and told us they had already pulled the permit for our house. YAY! But then again, this only brings us one step closer to making a trim decision. I'm starting to think perhaps a nice warm, deep gray? Or a gray/olive green-- Something like Sherwin Williams Ruskin Pewter or Green Bronze. I really wanted to do red-- like the picture a few posts below, but leaving all the vertical slats white-- but I'm getting a lot of negative feedback, albeit, some of it's from people like my mother who says, "I HATE all light colored houses with dark trim. So I won't like anything you show me. It looks country." She's a designer, who is perhaps a wee bit colorblind, but maybe I should rethink the red. I'm wondering if my overwhelming desire for a balance of color (as in, not all white) has led me a bit astray. I don't know. It's all a moot point until we get a roof, so. Hm.

Meanwhile, I tried some organic "no dig" granules in the yard and seeded over some of the bare spots. The granules were white pepper, thyme and peppermint oil. I also added some cayenne to the mix. First thing Simon did? He ate it. Apparently, unlike most dogs, he loves him some pepper. Next step is the designated digging area. Beyond that, I just keep sweeping the dirt back to its proper location every morning. Oh well.

One step closer...

Looks like it is indeed a badged Eldredge. I found this:


From Sears, 1880s or 90s. So mine is an updated version of this, I believe, from 1910 and badged differently as "American." Same treadle and leg designs (minus the badge); same drawer hardware, and same case design (I understand many of these were very different). I think the badge would have been again located in that gaping oval in the center of the stand (there's little round holes, like it might have had something mounted there). Still don't know who branded this as the "American" model, but it would likely be Sears or Montgomery Ward, I think...I'll have to question my grandmother about where they ordered most of their things. She wouldn't have been born yet, but they may have only had access to one or two catalogs, as far out as they were.

I spoke too soon

I guess the quarter sized hail we had the other day actually did cause a little more damage. The HVAC inspector noticed some daylight coming through the roof yesterday. So I made Adam get up there and take care of it for me. I get vertigo, nausea. I can't get on and off the ladder at the top. Can't help but look down, and then it's all over for me. It's embarrassing.

But no worries-- we're supposed to be on the list to get our roof within the next week or two. The decking was plank, rather than plywood sheet, and some of the pieces that were broken by the hail have started to buckle, so whenever it happens, it needs to be soon.

And then we can get started on our new color scheme. I went to Lowe's last night and picked out, seriously, hundreds and hundreds of paint chips-- all the reds, greyish or olivey greens, and grays. I know they must hate me there, taking so many, but color corrected booths are the stupidest things I've ever seen. At any rate, I think we're now looking at a deep red with a very mid-tone gray (bordering on taupe, but more neutral) in addition to the existing white to accent the architectural features of the trim.

Can't decide much until the roof is on, but isn't it fun to dream?

Pat us on the back

We passed another inspection! After all the nasty things I've said about the city inspectors, I think it's worth noting that the HVAC inspector was one of the nicest people I've met here in town. He sighed and clucked about our hail damage and what a shame it is, and he told me about the people a bit further north who had hail go though their wooden lap siding, through the sheetrock, and into the rooms. Ouch.

He also oohed and aahhed over my sewing machine.


It's not a Singer, so I'm trying to do a little research. Maybe you sewing fanatics out there can help me...Perhaps someone will accidentally click their way here through Google...

It has a list of the patent dates, ranging from 1879 to 1909. I don't think it's much later than '09, simply because I know that this was the machine my great grandmother used-- my grandmother was the youngest, born in 1918, and the oldest who just passed away a few weeks ago, was born in 1910, I think. It saw a LOT of use, which is why it's amazing what beautiful shape it's in.


It seems to work, by the way-- it needs a belt, but the needle does indeed go up and down when you crank the fly wheel. The "American" mark is all I see that indicates any company or model name. It also has what I think might be a buttonhole overseam contraption:


This was my first thought, anyway. Then I discovered that there was a company called the American Buttonhole and Overseam company, or thereabouts, and they marketed a sewing/buttonhole machine combo. But I can't find anything about them producing machines past the late 1800s. So I'm currently stumped. I suppose I'll hit up the library or the Smithsonian's digital archives. But I thought I'd throw it out there in case anyone knows anything...

Here's a few more details.



"It leads the world"

Pretty elaborate for a farming family out in the sticks, huh?

Ideas?

or this?

The color keeps looking all wrong once I get it into blogger. It's a deep plummy red-- not purple, not brown, not burgundy. And not washed out grayish looking.

Regardless, the house just shouldn't be white. I just don't know if I'm mentally prepared to paint it another color.

40,000 Roofs

That's the number of new roofs being installed in Fort Smith. At least, that's what I overheard at Lowe's. Man. That's a lotta shingles.

We have picked out what we're going with. We decided on gray-- Owens Corning Oakridge Architectural shingles, to be exact, in Estate Grey. Well, we thought gray, as opposed to our current green 3-tab roof, would give us some more options in terms of trim color. Green basically left us with variations on green and red-- festive at Christmas, but I'd like something a little less seasonal all year-round, I think.

So of course, I couldn't resist some Photoshop time. I've done the trim with a gray/blue and with a plummy color...Next question will be, do we paint the rest of the trim one of these colors, too? And do we leave the house white? I think we leave it white but, I don't know!



That's a gable vent-- I just drew in a quick one; I start to lose my patience.

ALSO! I will gladly accept any other suggestions for trim colors and combinations-- all the help we can get!!!