OTHER COOL THINGS is the blog page where I go off topic. In other words, this is a page where I ramble about a wide variety of subjects which have nothing to do with the Cross House restoration or Emporia.
OTHER COOL THINGS is where I might suggest a great new restaurant. Or a movie I enjoyed, or book. Or a favored blog.
OTHER COOL THINGS may — fasten your seat belt — open discussions about dangerous subjects such politics or religion.
OTHER COOL THINGS will, in short, be a page where I ramble about anything which captures my special attention. Like, perhaps, a nice moment I had with my favorite cat Gilda.
I love comments, so please do not hesitate to toss your two cents in, even if you disagree with me.
My blog posts are below. Enjoy!
Gilda. My favorite ever cat.
NEW THEATER POSTS!
I posted two new 1900 Theater posts! Here! Here! Enjoy!
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA DUPLEXALITE Before After!
Today, I listed an extraordinary brass Duplexalite! But what, you may ask, is a Duplexalite? The Duplexalite Company had a standard model (from top to bottom): Ceiling canopy. Chain. Socket housing. Three thin arms which hold a metal shade and a glass shade. Large metal shade. Bottom glass shade. This shade hangs below the metal…
Continue ReadingAstonishing Sconces
There was a lighting company during the 1920s and 1930s called Riddle. Of Toledo, Ohio. They sold a LOT of lighting. But I know almost nothing about them even though I have sold a lot of Riddle fixtures over the years. I thought I had seen all the fixtures Riddle produced over the decades so…
Continue ReadingInching Along
I finished repairs to the rotted lower left corner, and reinstalled the original siding. Sounds easy, right? Alas, no. Each piece of removed siding sat in a stack, so I could put each piece back in the right order, bottom to top. But first I had to (I had to!) disk sand…
Continue ReadingWhoopsidaisies!
My plan for today was to prime and paint this last bit of the Great North Wall! My plan however was thwarted. For, see the siding under the window? Well, on the left side, I noticed that the bottom two feet of siding was loose where it met the vertical corner trim. No…
Continue ReadingSee-through Brilliance
My friend Eric, and his partner, Jim, have an old barn-like structure on their property. The siding on the structure was ancient, full of holes, and with missing pieces. But Eric loved the look of the structure, its patina, and its only-time-can-create aesthetic. So, how to make the structure weather-tight while preserving all this? Scroll…
Continue ReadingA NEW THEATER POST!
I posted cool news on the 1900 Theater blog! Enjoy!
Continue ReadingThe Dining Room…Begins!
Today though, I moved the sideboard away from the east wall, in preparation of repairing some of the bomb damage!!!!!!!! Stay tuned for breathless updates!
Continue ReadingReturning to the I’ll-Do-It-Later
When I began painting the exterior of the Cross House in the spring of 2014, I “overlooked” certain aspects which needed more work than I could focus on at the time. I’ll do it later. One aspect was small pieces of trim above the column capitals. ALL of these needed attention. Some were missing. None…
Continue ReadingInching Along
See the curved dining room window? See the water table trim just above the foundation? I wholly rebuilt that, and finished painting it today. Previously, I added a black pinstripe just above the water table. Today, I taped its upper edge and repainted, creating a more precise edge. Mmmmmmmmmmmm, precise edges. I also…
Continue ReadingI HATE ROSS. A Guest Post.
[Ross: I present this first guest post. By Doug.] I HATE ROSS And If You Are Painting A House You Secretly Do, Too. “I hate Ross.” There, I said it. You see, for third-four years I’ve lived in a 1902 George Barber-designed home listed on the National Register of Historic places. This summer I…
Continue ReadingNew Kitty Goes To Work With Daddy!
While feeding the stray “front porch” kitties one morning, I saw a pair of eyes looking at me between the deck boards. The eyes were under the deck. As I continued sprinkling dry food on the deck, a small gray paw reached through the boards and clawed at some food, which disappeared between the crack….
Continue Reading