A Teasing Post
Usually, I can still do exterior painting in January. Not every day, but Kansas weather goes up and down almost daily. February? I hibernate inside. The Great Interior Plan for February is to get the Parlor and Library decorated! The infamous striped floors are now done, and I have most of the furnishings and all…
Continue ReadingA Furry Intruder!
Yesterday I wrote about the extraordinary arrival of Spot in my office. The poor dear is skittish to an extreme and spends her time in the house mostly hidden. But yesterday she appeared on my desk, and then stepped into my all-too-happy arms. Tonight I was working at my desk when I heard an almost…
Continue ReadingAnother STUNNING Porcelier!
The chandelier has so many outstanding qualities: The shade! Oh my! It is square! It is 14-inches from side-to-side, and 18-inches diagonally. It is also beautifully, stunningly molded out of thick frosted white glass, and with molded patterns. Wow! The finial is spectacular. It’s a glass sphere with a swirling design, like a miniature…
Continue ReadingMagical Tools!
Tools. They make all the difference in restoring a house. And one would think that at my age, and with all my decades of restoring houses, I would know about every tool there is, right? Nope. Justin recently pulled a tool out of his mighty arsenal and I was gobsmacked at its…potential. It is a…
Continue ReadingAttacked! By Furry Beasts!
I was working to finish the restoration of a 1960s crystal chandelier for a repeat client. It needed to be in a box tomorrow morning for FedEx. While working, Stevie cat sauntered across my desk and bonked against my chest. This, as he recently taught me, was the signal that he wanted my lap. Being…
Continue ReadingUnusual Beauties!
There is an antique store in Wichita that I enjoy stopping by every time I am in the city. Hanging high above were a really unusual pair of 1920s chandelier pendants. Quite $$$$ but just stunning. I yearned for them. I desired them. But I could not justify the cost because of my need to…
Continue ReadingSaving A Glittering Beauty!
I was in a antique store and stopped dead in my tracks when I saw a large crystal chandelier sitting casually on a sofa. This is SO not a way to treat a crystal chandelier! Horrified, I walked quickly to the mistreated beauty and VERY carefully picked it up. It just had to be damaged,…
Continue ReadingMy Marriage Proposal!
Jill and I went upstairs and she showed me something which was a concern, and asked what she should do. I knew just the person who could help and texted her the contact number. As we chatted my eye glanced at something which made my heart stop. OMG! OMG! I AM FREAKIN’ OUT!!!!!!!!…
Continue ReadingTa-Da!
On Saturday, after having (or so I had assumed) finished painting the paneling under the center triple window green, I was a block away and looked back at the house….
Continue ReadingWanna Meet My Servant’s Stair?
A few months ago Meg asked about the servant’s stair in the Cross House. The stair serves all four levels of the house, and is my primary up/down route. The previous owner gutted the stair as he planned to install an elevator. While I am grieved at the loss of all the original plaster I…
Continue ReadingA Bit More Done!
The newly milled water table (trim that goes at the bottom) is also ready, and I will be picking it up this week in Kansas City. Justin is scheduled to begin installing the trim (cedar!) the following Monday, weather permitting. Come April I hope to be able to paint all the new siding. At…
Continue ReadingFact Check #1
NOTE: This post is under the heading of OTHER COOL THINGS on my blog. This is where I reserve the right to post about things other than restoration, like about kitties or a movie I liked or, eek, about politics! During the 2016 election campaign I paid a lot, and I mean a lot, of…
Continue ReadingWARNING: A Temporary Danger!
All old house restorers know this: Because of a lack of time and/or money, one does a “temporary” repair. However, over the decades, I have learned that temporary usually becomes permanent. For example, let’s say you have an original window. The sashes are in very poor condition, as are the frame and sill, but all are…
Continue ReadingThe Oval Office…copied the Cross House!
I have done several posts about having the circa-1950 oak floors in the parlor and library of the Cross House refinished in…stripes. Some readers love the look. Some readers are…aghast! Me? I am incredibly, thrillingly in love with the look. Once everything is in place (area rugs, drapery, furnishings) the floors will be a subtle…
Continue ReadingWanna Meet My Limestone?
I grew up in in a cheap-as-can-be 1950s ranch and this engendered in me a passionate appreciation for quality. This is why, as I walk up/down the stone steps on the main porch I often think: I love these steps! This…
Continue ReadingThe Cross House…de-vexed.
One can be delicate. By the I mean that one is easily offended, and easily upset about small matters. One can be strong, but have, ah, some delicate sensibilities. These are two very different things. And I suffer, occasionally, from the latter. Or perhaps I have watched too many movies based on novels by Jane…
Continue ReadingA Yard Sale At The Cross House!
I am breathless to announce a yard sale at the Cross House! INCREDIBLE things are going to be for sale! Like a Studebaker Colonial phaeton! A Van range! Five pairs of damask portieres! And so on! Oh…wait…oops…I made a…mistake. There IS a sale…yes…but it was…113-years ago. This amazing discovery was forwarded to me…
Continue ReadingYou are going to be SO excited!
My temporary solution made the center window look like it was floating. It just looked odd. At first, with SO much else unfinished this did not bother me. Much. But after all the painting was done of this facade, and the roofs redone, and the tower finial restored, and a finial…
Continue ReadingWanna Meet My One Original Light Switch?
Recently, I did a post, inspired by a question Cody asked, about installing period-correct light switches in the 1894 Cross House. Then I did an update. When Cody posited his question I had not a clue what early 1890s light switches looked like. A day later I knew a few things, and what I learned…
Continue ReadingHandsome Justin…Tantalizes.
My briefest ever post: Today, I received a text from Handsome Justin, who refinished the parlor and library floors. I thought they were done, but Justin texted: More glossy for Rossy? What a caution! I replied: Can I get MORE????? Justin then called and explained that he had some unexpected time, and could put a…
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