A Limpy Update
A few weeks ago I posted about a very old, very injured stray cat I found in my yard. His left, rear leg was useless, and his right, rear leg was barely functioning. Something very bad had obviously happened, and the healed-over scar tissue on his legs was obvious. How he had managed to find…
Continue ReadingCody Scores Yale & Towne Hardware!
All the door hardware in the Cross House is by Yale and Towne. And it is all…F A B U L O U S ! It it all mostly…squee!!!!!!!!…in situ. Praise the Lord! Several missing door sets have now been acquired, and all that is still missing are 18 window pulls. A few weeks ago…
Continue ReadingRefinishing the Kitchen Wainscoting. Part II.
Some of you have suggested using tung oil or stain. But, my goal is to recreate the lost original finish, and this was just orange shellac over bare wood. This was an inexpensive finish and thus appropriate for a room only used by servants. The butler’s pantry was also painted. I was able…
Continue ReadingHallelujah!
A trick to unwarp wood is to, when it is hot outside, lay them on wet grass, warp side down. So, I have been doing this for a month now regarding the small shelf. But is has not been warm enough for most of this time, and there has been almost no rain. But…after…
Continue ReadingAn Assuring Kitty
So, y’all know that I got a blood clot in my left calf, and need to keep it elevated. Here, New Kitty is assuring me that everything is gonna be OK:
Continue ReadingRefinishing the Kitchen Wainscoting. Unhappily.
So…poo. I have no idea what to do. The wood would not have looked like this in 1894. I know because I have a section (behind a radiator) which retains its original shellac, and this looks consistent and quite elegant. So…poo.
Continue ReadingI’M BAAAAAAAACK!
Computer back from hospital. Will soon be posting again!
Continue ReadingA Forced Vacation
Well, it was bound to happen. My computer crashed. Luckily, I had a external backup so I should be ok. But, I am now without a computer. A new hard drive is on order and maybe I will have the computer back on Friday. Maybe. A new super-duper computer is on order but it will…
Continue ReadingA Limpy Update
Recently, I did a post about a stray cat with injured back legs. The left leg is useless. The cat can use the right leg but it is obviously an effort. I named the cat Limpy. The vet said it appeared to be tendon damage rather than broken bones. I asked if anything could be…
Continue ReadingWindsor Castle Restored
In 1992, a disastrous fire broke out at Windsor Castle, causing tens of millions in damage. A lot of people said it could not be rebuilt. But…it was. Under-budget and ahead of schedule. And with nary a cent of taxpayer monies. While people, understandably, focus on the royal family, what amazes me…and thrills me…is the…
Continue ReadingA Milestone!
The first two floors of the house had wall-to-wall carpeting originally, so random cheap pine was paid down. This was, it seems, replaced with oak during the circa-1929 apartment conversion. However, because the landing was raised up, its original random pine was extant when I returned the landing to its original height in 2014….
Continue ReadingHealth Update
So, y’all know that about three weeks ago I developed a blood clot in my left calf, which hugely swelled up. I was put on blood thinner (I keep wanting to write paint thinner), and the days passed. This past week my ankle and foot also swelled up, scarily. So, another trip to the emergency…
Continue ReadingWay Up…Gutter Top
The original mortar had been leached out by a failed built-in gutter (hidden inside the huge curved cornice). From Day 1, the gutter in this area had been badly designed, for it could not possibly contain the massive amount of water rushing down from the massive roof. (I will later show images of the…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingCody Scores Again. Bigly!
Yesterday, I received an email from Cody. It was marked EMERGENCY! Golly. It developed that he was in an antique store. He had found something. I scrolled down to the image. And gasped. Wanna see? Scroll down… This is an 1890s…
Continue ReadingCarriage House Leaded Windows
One is in the dining room. Two are in the expansive living room. All three are in terrible condition, and the image does not reveal how wavy they are. With a slight push, each would collapse. To each side of the fireplace are two 24-inch square windows. One has a single sheet of glass….
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