The Cross House

  NOTE: This post contains bad words!   Today, when I arrived at the Cross House, the sun was shining, it was in the eighties, and I mowed some of the lawn. Then I went inside, sat in the dining room, drank some water, and read the latest news on my iPhone while sitting in…

          The first-floor round window is restored. Next week, I am picking up the second-floor round window which has has new stained-glass inserted. The window will then be glazed, then painted. This will take a few weeks. The second-floor big window frame needs painting, and then I can install the restored…

  I have previously mentioned that working on the Cross House would so not be possible without my #1 indispensable tool: audible books. Currently, I am listening to a podcast! It is a great podcast about Hollywood with well over a hundred episodes! If you love old movies and glamorous movie stars from the 1920s…

I have not posted an update on the stairhall niche in a while as I have been focused on painting the NE corner. The walls are primed and ready to be painted. The Stencil Library in the UK has agreed to make stencil versions of the original wallpaper, frieze, and ceiling paper. But I have…

  At the strong recommendation of several readers, I have been listening to A Gentleman in Moscow for the last week while working on the Cross House. The book is very long, which I like. It is well written and full of interesting characters but I had trouble connecting with the book, which I had anticipated…

When I purchased the Cross House I knew that it originally had gas ceiling fixtures. Later, I discovered that it actually had gas/electric fixtures, and the house may have been the first in Emporia wired for electricity. Later, I discovered that the house also had gas/electric sconces throughout. So, this meant that the gas fixtures…

          Today, save some touch-ups, I finished the upper upper NE corner. And today, and during the last two afternoons working on the upper upper NE corner, I experienced a Zen-like calm about the work. Arriving at the house each day, I clambered out onto the scaffolding, got to work, but…

    I could not do anywhere near as much work on the house as I do without Audible books. While I sand or scrape or hammer or screw or paint I am almost always listening to a good book. This makes time fly, and most enjoyably. Today, I listened, again, to Amy Snow, which…

  Then Stewart wrote in, wondering how I was able to contain myself in NOT painting the wall to the right. Well, the impulse to do exactly that did almost overtake me. Then I summoned my mantra: No. No. No, no, NO! With all restoration projects, it is easy to get sidetracked. Recently, I had my…