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.
A Multi-Colored Discovery
My online vintage lighting store. When I came across the set I was gobsmacked! And the set was undamaged! The three fixtures would look fabulous in a line down a long hall, hanging over a rectangular coffee table, or over a small dining table. Inside each glass shade is a perforated…
Continue ReadingPatience. Rewarded.
My online vintage lighting store. Years and years ago, I purchased a 1930s chandelier online. It arrived with one smashed glass shade. Sigh. Almost daily, I looked through new shade listings on eBay to find a matching shade. And several years later I found one. When it arrived…it was not quite the right color. Several…
Continue ReadingA Revived Moe Bridges
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingA Continuing Niche…as Fabergé Egg?
But then what? The niche is visually and spatially part of the foyer and 2-story stairhall. And these are years from being done. So, maybe just priming the niche will be OK? But…but…I am hankering to finish off the niche like a Fabergé egg, something precious and exquisite no matter what is adjacent. And because…
Continue ReadingN E X T
In my previous post I stated my plans post-niche. Next will be finishing the NE corner! Then I was thinking of finishing the east facade. A lot of the first-floor work is done. And the east facade lacks a lot of the time-consuming detail evident on the other three facades. Significantly, the east facade is…
Continue ReadingA Unique Rarity
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingN E X T
I am kinda 51% leaning to doing the east facade after the NE corner is done. The east facade is highly visible when anybody is driving west along Highway 50, which abuts the north facade of the house. So, by finishing the east facade, the house would look pretty fabulous to…
Continue ReadingWindex Pleasures
I love clean windows. For, it’s an easy task offering instant rewards. From inside the house, everything just looks better. From outside, the house looks so much better, too; so loved. When one walks or drives by, the windows sparkle. After buying the Cross House in 2014, the first thing I did was begin…
Continue ReadingA Continuing Niche. And a Question Answered.
A big question I have pondered for some time was: Did the niche have a picture rail? It seemed unlikely. For, there is zero place for a picture in the niche. It’s all windows and doors and a giant arched opening. Still, I had to be sure. So… Ah yes, the tell-tale…
Continue ReadingA Gray with Three Options
Three options: Gray is dead. Gray has had a really hard day. Gray figured out how to unlock the liquor cabinet.
Continue ReadingA Crazy Crazy Crazy Idea About A Mouse
Scott Mouse, Sr., purchased the Cross House in 1929, and converted the second-floor into apartments. His son, Scott, Jr., converted the house into the Palace Motel in 1950. These conversions almost certainly saved the house from being demolished as the once prime residential neighborhood had gone commercial. Today, little remains of the Mouse conversions….
Continue ReadingA Lightolier Dazzler
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingBefore. After.
My online vintage lighting store. My online vintage lighting store.
Continue ReadingAn Inching Along Radiator
Whoee!!!!!!!! Whoee!!!!!!!! Whoee!!!!!!!! On Monday, I will order the paint for the radiator. While waiting for it to arrive, my focus will be repairing the plaster and finishing the ceiling.
Continue ReadingA Not Quite Restoration
For two decades, whenever I visited the city, I would always drive by to see The House. I loved the house. It was brick, 1880s, and with an extraordinary turret rich with leaded-glass curved windows. Also of note was its condition. Which was terrible. The porch was decaying, paint peeled on every surface, and the…
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