I have been restoring vintage lights since I was a teenager in the mid-1970s. An Interstate highway was being rammed through the city where I lived, and I ran (steps ahead of the bulldozers, and with my shag haircut flying) from one incredible building to another, and from one incredible house to another, and salvaged everything I could.
My poor, bewildered parents. Their garage was soon chock-a-block with what I thought were treasures beyond compare. But which they thought was just useless flotsam. I did though once overhear my mom say: “Well, at least he’s not out doing drugs.”
However, when all their boring lights were systematically replaced with the most stunning lights they had ever seen – and all for free, rewired, and restored – they soon had second thoughts about the flotsam. (I paid for new parts by mowing lawns!)
Fast forward many decades.
One day I realized I had a pile of old lights rusting away in my basement. I hauled a few out, restored them (bringing back many old memories), and listed them on eBay.
At the time I had no idea, not a clue, that I had just radically changed my life.
Within months my life was unrecognizable, and I was working full time restoring vintage lighting and selling the fixtures across America.
My new e-commerce website is now online. Whoee! Please feel free to shop and purchase here:
My blog post are below.
My Sad but Necessary Vigil
I thought of them as Calico 1 and Calico 2. These were two stray cats that, for at least the last 15 years, I fed twice daily on my front porch.. They were part of the “Front Porch Kitties.” None of them were mine, but all were in need of care. Eventually, things got really…
Continue ReadingMason & Hamlin Arrive at the Cross House!
Susan and Harrison Cross built the Cross House. Their granddaughter, Mary, lived with them. She was nine-years-old when the house was finished. Mary later married, and moved to Seattle. In January, 2024, the great-grandson of Mary, Peter, reached out to me. I was thrilled! But it got better. After moving to Seattle, Mary purchased an…
Continue ReadingMy “Schedule”
Note how I put schedule in quotes in the title? Today, in another post, Monika asked: “One thing I always wonder but haven’t really wanted to ask until now: You are renovating/fixing 3 houses… Do you see the end of the tunnel or are you going til you no longer able to do all this…
Continue ReadingWanna Meet My OCD Diva?
On several occasions, after giving a tour of the Cross House, my guests said: “You have OCD. Like me!” “What makes you think that?” “Because the house is immaculate. I’ve never seen a construction site so clean.” “Ahhh. But, that’s not OCD. That is learned management. Long ago I learned how vital it was to…
Continue Reading2024. The Year End Review. The Ross
Well, my fellow flying monkeys, it is time for the annual Ross Review! Overall, it has been a good year. Slow. Steady. But with a catastrophic shock on November 6. Yes, that. The primary shift in 2024 has been the ever-dawning awareness that I am not the Ross I always have been. As I wrote-in…
Continue ReadingAre Ya’all Out There?
Last nighted I posted a very long Year End report. Here. This morning I woke to not a single comment. It is now lunch time. And still not a single comment. Have ya’all been kidnapped by aliens?
Continue Reading2024 Year End Review. The House.
2023 proved unexpected. And I mean 2023 and not 2024. 2023 began with finishing the library. It turned out great. I mean, really great. Then, in April, I was hit with a Violation Notice from the city regarding the dilapidated condition of the Carriage House exterior. And there went all my plans for the rest…
Continue ReadingDecades of Ross
The other day, while washing the dishes, a thought occurred to me: A pattern in my life is that every decade, my life proves unrecognizable from the previous decade. Really, it is uncanny. 1968 I was eleven. Very scared. Living, obviously, with mom & dad and 3 siblings in our home in Westland, Michigan….
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingInchin’ Along
In short: Very little progress this week. But….there was progress. And that is all that matters to me. Baby Steps™ in action.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingAnd…back to the Carriage House!
Early in the year I was working steadily on the inside of the Carriage House, with the hope (fantasy?) of finishing the interior by the end of the year. But then, in April, I decided to take a hiatus to work on some long-delayed projects causing problem on the Cross House, and the infamous cat…
Continue ReadingPoison Update
In August of 2023, I got my blood tested for lead. I learned that 3.5 is normal. Anything above 5 is considered a concern. And mine? 13.4. I abruptly stopped scraping off old lead paint from the Carriage House. A month later I had another test. The number had dropped to 11.6. In December, 2023…
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. I knew what the missing parts looked like because I’ve sold the fixture many times previously. It’s by Virden, and from their Stratford Line. And, now…drum roll, please…all back together: My online vintage lighting store.
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