The Cross House

Golly. I thought y’all would be excited about my pondering about a pergola over the entry deck of the Carriage House. But…yeah…golly. The big complaint is this: “pergolas can only be used in a backyard.” I pointed out that this was not true. But the complaints keep rolling in. Thus, I offer:      …

        Today I woke from a nap with a surprising thought: What if, instead of a shingled roof, I installed a pergola? This thought was just sitting in my head, sipping some wine. But what, you may ask, is a pergola?     I will be installing two pergola’s behind the Cross…

The end of 2016 was the darkest of my life. My despair and shock was overwhelming. I absolutely did not understand how to get through 2017. But the year ended up being my best. All due to the Cross House. I ‘enhanced’ the exterior colors and this proved vastly satisfying. I, too, finish the Great…

A year ago I thought: I would finish the Library in early 2023. I would finish the cat fence summer, 2023. I would move into the Cross House at the end of 2023. Oopsie. Only one of these three wishes happened. In late April I was hit with a Violation Order by the city demanding…

Drum roll, please: This is my final post on the Violation Notice work the city imposed upon me. While often tedious tedious tedious I have mostly enjoyed the work and attendant pride and satisfaction in taking something SO battered and making it look 1,000% better. I am even proud that I…who would have believed it…

You will note a new title. This is the first post of what may consume all of 2024: finishing the interior of the Carriage House so I can earn some money off it. At long last. The plan (!) is to do one room at a time, beginning with the foyer. Each blog title will…

    And…drum roll, please…I have made a decision! I have long pondered replacing the upper door (a non-original change made when the Carriage House was converted into 3 apartments) with a window or with shingles. Today it popped into my slow head that I could replace the ugly door with a beveled glass door…

  It was lightly drizzling when I arrived. As soon as I finished painting the trim the drizzle turned into rain. It is now 6 hours later and still raining. I went inside and started the process of cleaning so I can get started on the Next Big Project. Happy holidays to all of you!…

      OK, everybody. 1, 2, 3…SQUEE!!!!!!!! I love the tiny bit of historic colors, a hint of What Will Be. This hint helps me to tolerate the vinyl. The roof work (left) will be done next week. So, I anticipate that the Violation Notice work will be complete in 2023. Over the weekend…

        Redoing the vent was a sudden decision. Poor Eric. But today, with great gallantry, he smiled at my can-we-do-this thought and dived into the task. The effort proved somewhat comedic as we kept having to hunt for the right screws, the right bit, silver duct tape, metal strapping, and more vent….

            It may prove possible that…drum roll, please…the Violation Notice work will be done this weekend!!!!!!!!