Two Bits of Tantalizing News. And…
BIT ONE
After years of wanting to — years of yearning, years of longing — I finally sent samples of the Cross House kitchen to be analyzed in order to determine the original colors!!!!!!!! Frank Welsh is doing the work, and he previously determined the original exterior wall color (which I had not quite gotten right).
It is going to be interesting to see if what Frank ascertains correlates with what I have guessed. For, it seems like the original wall/ceiling color was a taupe with a slight green hue, and that all the woodwork was a kinda nutmeg color. I find indications of the latter in all the “service” areas of the house. But, was that the original color, or a later repaint?
Well, soon, the answer will be revealed!
BIT TWO
I have written numerous times about the huge curved glass window of the first-floor tower, as it was cracked in half in 2014. Justin did a lot of work to find a curved glass supplier, and a company was found in western Arkansas, within driving distance. Whoee! But, it developed that the sill was rotted, and much of the sash. These projects were soon put on the back burner as 3,962 other projects instantly overtook them.
By 2020, Justin had lost all the information about the window company. After much ado, today I found the company, and they still have on file the original quote!
As such, while it is hard for me to imagine (after looking through dirty Plexiglass for six years), soon I will be able to gaze through shimmering clear curved glass!
My excitement is considerable.
With everything so dark and overwhelming right now, and with no sign that this will change anytime soon, I am endeavoring to create some excitement!
While BIT TWO is part of the 2017 Heritage Trust grant, I decided that this really was the time to finally move ahead with BIT ONE. I need something to look forward to.
Other things are proving helpful to keep me from getting overwhelmed by the news and our new global reality. Like, my kitchen is immaculate! I even put new liners in all the drawers and shelves! My refrigerator looks new inside! It sparkles! Sparkles!
My office, which is often scandalously messy (Justin, when he comes by to get paid, often looks around my office with a distinct disapproving glance. I just shrug), is the cleanest it has been since I built it in 2001. And ALL the clutter is gone! For example, on a side table behind me was my old computer, which has not been used since 2014. Why was it still out? Well…it is now gone! The four windows gleam in the sunlight! Every cobweb has been eradicated! I got on my hands and knees and scrubbed clean the tops of the base molding!
Once upon a time I made my bed every morning. That stopped long ago, one more sacrifice to being overwhelmed 24/7 since starting my business in 2006, and then buying the big house in 2014. But now? The bed is being made daily, and I even vacuumed under the bed!
So, now, whenever I open a kitchen drawer, I smile. When I step into my office in the morning, I smile. Several times a day I walk into my bedroom just so I can smile looking at the snowy white sheets, snowy white duvet cover, and snowy white pillows, all perfectly made up as if Architectural Digest is coming by for a photo shoot.
A few days ago, Tura left this comment on this blog thingy:
I am on my front porch as I am mostly in a wheelchair and watch everyone pass. Many stop standing at the public sidewalk next to the walk to my 1926 craftsman bungalow to talk. I learn their names, kids names, and dogs names. So many more are out these days taking the breeze and the nice weather. They all want to know if I need anything. Do I need them to go to the store for me, do tell if I need something soon. I am in great appreciation of this kindness given to me by so many different people.
Really I am amazed by all this and never expect anything like this to happen to me. I do believe there are around 250 passing by my house each day. It is a regular thing who I see at each time every day. I count 50 and return to my small world inside the house to do whatever, then return to count and talk, enjoying the show.
Folks go by on foot, bikes, three-wheel bikes, scooters, skate boards, pushing single and double strollers, roller skates, and one golf cart. Many have a dog, some two, three, four, and two people with five dogs. I love the family of three each walking their own dog. The little girl has the biggest dog….both pull each end of the lease. A few wear mask, most do not. All groups do stay far apart.
It is like each day I have my own personal parade. Of course, I give the Queen Elizabeth wave to all. Yea!
I adored this. I reread what Tura wrote, closed my eyes, and could easily imagine this scene playing out. I thought: This could be a movie!
Which a makes me curious: What is helping you though these perilous times?
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Your blog makes me smile.
Thank you, Ross.
Today I made brown butter Rice Krispy bars, one of my favorite childhood treats. I will wrap them in wax paper and share with my neighbors and friends. Its the sharing that keeps me connected. Friends have dropped off wine and freshly baked bread.
Oh, yummy, Marcia!
The single best thing I have done for myself is turning off the news. I used to be keenly aware of “the count”. Now I am reveling in being at home. When it became evident that we would all be spending an extended time in, a friend recommended that I not waste this time. I made a list of all the little jobs that wormed into my peace while at home. I have painted this and that, rearranged this and that, decorated this and that, hung up this and that, cleaned this and that ( I vacuumed under my bed too!) had car work taken care of, etc. I take great pleasure in “crossing it off the list”. I feel accomplished and proud. Also, there is the possibility of peace in my mind because I don’t look at the bench and think, “Oh, I need to paint that.” Now I just look at that bench and smile. There are still lots of projects on the list, and I’m finding that “I don’t have time to get into that” is NOT the reason many projects have not been completed.
Spending time in nature is also a helpful way to clear my head, heart and body of stress and anxiety. It’s big out there and often I see no-one else. I challenge myself to find somewhere that I can see nothing man made. A bobbling brook adds to the joy.
Being helpful and useful are also pretty high on the list of ways to keep myself rolling along calmly. Mostly I avail myself to my sister by keeping my two nephews several days a week, and bring necessities (and donuts) to my parents. Oh, and I keep my ESL students steeped in opportunities for them to continue learning at home.
I just downloaded “Anna Kerenina” and am listening to that tome while puzzling and puttering. I, like you, have long enjoyed audible books. I wonder how long it’ll take me to finish this 40 hour long book!
Additionally, I look for the “Restoring Ross” notification for a new blog post. It is such an integral part of my day, Ross. I revel in your pictures and words. I am just so anxious to see what kind of progress you’ve made every day. It’s mystifying how much you can accomplish in one day. I can’t wait for the “CRoss house” book to come out so I can study each picture in detail. Your work really has a positive effect on me, Ross. Thank you for documenting it so thoroughly.
I agree with turning off the news. I figure if something I really really need to know about happens, someone will tell me, and otherwise I don’t need to fill my head with all the negativity and scare-mongering.
I applaud you Christine!! Ditto! I stay up on, but NOT hanging on the news.
Read Philippians 4:8- think on these things-true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think on such things.
This is what I do-dont always succeed, but I try. So, Bravo! At this moment we dont need fear, we need hope.
Likewise, I agree with you that, Ross, your blog is all that! Good things!
Tomorrow I will begin to lay the bricks for a patio, from my back kitchen door to the garden shed. I am excited to get this long awaited project done.
Ruth, you sound like my kind of gal, LOL!! Do you charge by the hour or by the job? We can even offer room and board while you work, my wife is a great country cook, but still cooks like all the kids are still at home, so lots of extra food, LOL!
I’ve never charged anyone for what I call “yard jobs” ! I laid 104 bricks in under an hour. Not my first brick patio ! Hopefully my last ! I will finish it tomorrow….that’s about 400 more bricks. I got lazy the other day !
Thanks for the offer of room/board and eats for work ! I’d head your way if I weren’t older than dirt ! Just the offer of someone else cooking for me makes me smile ! I’m a great home made everything cook, but don’t enjoy it any more.
You have a wonderful Spring…stay safe, blessings,
ruth
I started to respond to: What is helping you though these perilous times? with…..
…..I bought a parakeet for myself the day after Christmas…..
*After writing for a while in such an engaging, to me, way that I seem to have started a novella or maybe even begun a saga. I was pumped about how fascinating parakeets are and what I have done and learned about them in a few short months. I then realized that I do not have the right to take up too much of your site’s space, so I cut and paste my epic into Word and deleted from this comment.
*If you are interested in how I have gotten to the point that I now have a flock of seven, free flying parakeets in my bedroom, who are living freely without a cage, let me know and I will send more.
*Sufficient to say, their lives have been an engaging soap opera for me. I lie in bed and watch them standing around on top of my bookcase across the room.
*Each morning and at various times during the day, for no apparent reason that I can see, as if a starter said,
“on your mark, get set, GO!”, a group of them, often all seven, will suddenly leap into the air and fly a quick circuit in formation around the bedroom, fanning me with the air that their wings displace when they pass over me in the bed. I even keep my binoculars on the bedstead or the mattress beside me, so I can espy their interactions.
Observing them really gets me through the day.
*I could go on for a very long time, but I will spare everyone.
A total germaphobe in the BEST of times, the world out there scares me. In my self imposed seclusion I have completed 6 bed sized quilts! All are UFOs, many only needed borders or backing to be ready for quilting. I’m planning and cooking YUMMY meals. I’m cleaning like crazy, uncovering long forgotten items and releasing those that no longer hold meaning. I’m a homebody at heart, always have been. This enforced seclusion is a GIFT! Time at home… creating, nesting, enjoying the luxury of time off to work on my own projects. And of course, anxiously awaiting new posts from Ross about Cross House progress!
Hooray for 6 completed UFOs! (Unfinished objects for non quilters). That is a huge feat! Stay well aBell.
UnFinished Objects… Thank you, Liz. Thought aBell’s quilt designs were Unidentified Flying Objects. Hahaha
Your blog restoringross.com keeps me entertained and educated. You have an engaging way and a beautiful spirit.
This blog keeps me going. My university has sent me home and there’s word I won’t go back next semester either, so every morning before I start my work and every night as I finish I always check in to see if anything cool has been happening at the Cross house.
Best wishes to everyone from New York, I hope you all stay safe happy and healthy!
I’ve been watching the ducklings grow up from my near-daily walks to the park I’d too long taken for granted. Seattle’s 40-acre Volunteer Park is a sight to behold on its own, designed by the Olmsteads at the the turn of the last century and fabulously well-kept. This unusually sunny and dry spring has been a blessing to people cooped up, and seeing the ducklings grow and thrive makes everyone feel better. They are a joy to behold as they swim and splash around in their little pond without a care in the world. As happens every year, a few weeks from now, someone from Fish and Wildlife gathers them up once they’re healthy and strong enough to make it on their own, takes them out of the pond and re-homes them to Lake Washington. I will be sad to see them go, but know that eventually we will get out of the confines we’re all trapped in, too!
“a company was found in western Arkansas”
Oooh! Where in western Arkansas? I wonder if it is near my lovely wife and me.
Replying to what’s getting me through? Your blog is one thing I look forward to, Laura from Garden Answer does a very inspiring video just about daily and Dr. Brian May does videos from isolation… look forward to you all..music, flowers and possibilities…
My essential job offered 30 days off starting with high seniority folks. I am one of them. We have had 2 cases of the virus so I jumped at the chance to get out. So, I have started to clean things and rearrange things that I normally do not have the energy. Also watching things on tv that again, either I don’t have time or energy for.
I keep scratching off things from the to do list and it is very satisfying to know I am accomplishing things.
And always watching out for Cross house updates!
I am hanging on looking forward to my garden. Which isn’t easy because it is STILL SNOWING. Ack!
As an “essential worker”, I am putting in 50+ hours a week in my office, and quite a few more with my laptop when I am at home. Not a lot of time left over once you factor in 5-6 hours of sleep per night, LOL…but what time there is I am working on my old house. Our new in-law suite is about 75% complete now, as soon as I get a second coat of paint on the walls, the contractor will be back to install the hardwood floors, doors, and millwork. Then, I get to move my mother-in-law in…
I miss my grandchildren; we have not got to hug them now in over a month and it is killing us. We dropped off their Easter baskets on their front porch while they stood behind the glass storm door and blew kisses. We promised them that, as soon as this is over, I will take a week off of work and we will take them somewhere special. The one good thing about hard times is that they remind us of what really matters in this life…
Activities since quarantine began, you ask? Checking for your posts has become a necessary part of my morning ritual. Did Ross have time to update last evening? When 5 days go by without a post I become worried and restless :). I smiled broadly today to read about your snowy white sheets and duvet cover on a freshly made bed. Yes, that is truly a joy! I have cleaned and organized every crevice of the house (which my husband and I just moved to a year ago, so I thought my purging was complete). The newly procured tools and supplies for a stained glass workshop-a long desired retirement hobby- are stacked in the clean and now well illuminated basement work area- awaiting the completion of a new workbench. (imagine my scrutiny of your amazing stained glass pictures-they feed my soul!). I have completed every sewing project I had abandoned these past 25 years to clear the way for new endeavors. I tutor my 8th grade grandson in his now remote learning (ask me anything on US history, pre-algebra, the finer points of To Kill a Mockingbird or how to write a haiku). I walk the dog to admire blossoms and look for evidence of bursting-open buds. (April is the BEST month!). At the end of the day I sometime sit ( in the yard if it’s not snowing) with a glass of wine or vodka gimlet. I wonder often how that dynamo named Ross spent his day. Then the 8 PM gratitude for healthcare workers begins in the ‘hood and the dog and I commence a 2 minute howl.
Wine 🍷
I get through this crazy time by helping my students finish their online learning assignments and I really enjoy our 9:30 group meeting so I can see their smiling faces and talk about how their doing. They’re 4th graders with emotional behavior problems so letting them see each other (and their teachers) really helps them cope with all this mess going on. Between helping them, I’ve been organizing my cupboards, deep cleaning my house, and doing things I’ve been putting putting off doing. I’m planning on getting my stained glass work area cleaned up ( thanks for inspiring me Linda!) , and going through my depression glass bins to see what I’d like to sell this year. I’m also checking my flower beds to see what plants are starting to come up. ( My daylilies are doing GREAT so far!) I also look forward to reading this blog. It inspires me to keep doing my to do list!
*** the group meeting is an online meeting) ***
I agree with limiting the amount of news. I’m enjoying myself spinning mountains of yarn on my great great great grandmother’s spinning wheel, reading a lot, and planning my garden. This blog is a highlight of the day. I was doing a lot of hiking until the Blue Ridge Parkway closed last week.
Thank you to all of you who are essential workers. I really appreciate your efforts on our behalf. And thank you Ross for providing us with a community of people to brighten our lives.
Mostly business as usual out here on the farm milking my organic cows. Biosecurity for my dairy herd has always been a priority, but it feels quite different to so strictly protect me! So, I don’t get my usual chat with the milk hauler when he comes to pick up the milk. Any feed delivery or equipment service folks are scheduled and do their work without my usual assistance or in person questions. I’m used to working mostly alone anyway, and while it isn’t stressful, it does seem odd to further limit my human interactions. However, a late morning coffee break and time to check in on the Cross House has long been part of the schedule and that has not changed!!
Ross. Luv it! Luv rediscovering what WAS, and figuring out how to bring it back to life.
And, I think we ALL are looking forward to your NEW curved glass!! How Exciting!! Cant wait! 👍😁
And, to what Tura wrote-
It sounds like her lorch experiences are straight out of the Victorian era! Thats what they used to do! Look up Northville Michigan, downtown. Lots of great Victorian era homes. The proximity of front porch to sidewalk is great. If you sit on the porch, you can easily talk to person on the sidewalk. Visit there often. And being the architectural buff I am, that design was the 2nd thing I noticed after all the great houses. I love that people are reconnecting! Tura, so glad youre happy! Nice!
All that cleaning and tidying is good Feng Shui!
I’m still working from home, but with reduced hours. My husband is also working from home. We’re also chipping away at home projects. Currently painting some replacement trim pieces so our carpenter can install them. Also doing a lot of work in the yard. We’ve converted about half the yard to native plant gardens. Now that the weather is nice, we’re cutting back old stems and dividing perennials.
I also avoid the news and only check it briefly once a day. Getting rid of our tv 15 years ago was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Here in Houston it’s busy supervising 3 school kids with their online learning.
I manage to timeshare a PC to Skype dad once a week in the UK. We talk for about an hour, reconnecting and building new memories. He is more aware of his mortality than he has ever been but for that hour we share the things we have always had in common: travels, science, scuba diving. By the end of our chats he’s smiling again and I’ve learned new stories of my sailor, chemist, brewer, photographer, traveler 80 year old dad.
Evenings with kids in bed i do detailed needle felted creatures: dragons, horses, birds, snow hares, foxes and wolves. Creating lifelike wild creatures prancing and watching from multiple book shelves!
And today’s great pleasure, admiring a beautiful 1940s fire engine red light fixture that a masked electrician installed today! An early birthday present because right now carpe diem seems like words to live by!! Thanks Ross. It is perfect!
I’ve been so inspired by your blog Ross. But about 3 months ago, before the virus really became news, I complained that I probably would never be able to renovate my upstairs… getting too old and not having enough time. I still have my 26 year old son with me. Already he’s renovated his room and I am down to one room that needs the woodwork stripped and the wall paper removed. Then we will repaint all 4 rooms and when the quarantine is lifted I’ll have someone come into redo the floors. We pulled all the carpet up! A lot of work I would never have had the time to do while working full time. Then the weather will be warm enough to start my new pony in harness. It’s been 17 years since I last trained a pony so this is going to be very interesting! What was I thinking to buy a 2 year old last fall???
In the mornings I work in the garden. I’m trying vegetables for the first time. Usually I’m a flower gardener. But I planted potatoes, squash, tomatoes and beans.
In the afternoon I work in my studio. I rotate between stained glass, fused glass and mosaic projects. I hope to sell some someday before they overtake every available space.
In the evenings I watch TV and work on my “plague jacket” – an embroidered jeans jacket that gets more and more elaborate as time goes on.
In between I check to see if there’s a new post on your blog. It’s always so inspiring to see what you have accomplished. I also hope for pictures of your glass. Can’t wait to see the curved window in place!!
Ross, so glad you enjoyed my comment!!!!! I always enjoy yours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ross and David McDonald, yes, I do live in a porch friendly neighborhood. Most lots are 50 by 180 feet in Cooper Young Historic District in Memphis, Tn. About five houses were built in the late 1800, then 1900 to 1940 a building craze, and today vacant lots are filled with new homes ( most blend well architecturally). For several years our neighborhood association had a division that made loans happen for new homes to be built on these vacant lots. We have a book written about our neighborhood and a beautiful map of each street with houses with street address, listed correctly on each street, color coded to year built along with a list of US Presidents and major events for years listed. Map is large, lovely in frame. Cooper Young has a neighborhood association, business association, hand delivered to each home neighborhood news paper, garden club, annual garden walk tour, monthly meetings for different interest groups, only hostel in Memphis, farmers market, bars, restaurants, oldest bookstore in Memphis, House of Mews (cat adoption), becoming arboretum, Gay/Lesbian Trans Gender Community Center, nail salon, vet, Dogs Rule Day Care, physic, barber shop, watch repair shop, plumber, upholstery shop, and too many to list, and annual four mile K run the night before the largest annual neighborhood festival in Memphis. Over 2000 runners and over 100,000 attend festival with (I am guessing as I can not remember) more than 500 vendors. Look us up. Cooper Young is a fun place to live. I love all the runners going by my house. There is a contest for homeowners to decorate, party, hoot and holler to cheer runners on ward. Festival Day is my favorite, everyone looking for a place to park. Crazy! Just like Saturday use to be in small town America. And oh! what a people show passes my front porch.
I am at 1958 Young Avenue, 38104. Any paint suggestions for color to replace my white paint are welcome!
Wishing good health to all. And , thrilled ya’ll have made your projects happen!!
I’m working 60+ hours a week at a nuclear power plant so folks can plug in their devices. I do little but commute, work, commute, eat, shower, sleep. I have a rare weekend off so I’m doing the absolute bare minimum, laundry, some cleaning, some bill paying. And reading Restoring Ross! It’s great to be working, but I’m getting burned out. I envy your clean house and organized drawers. At this point I’m just happy to find a clean spoon.
Pat, thank you. I too am working, but not nearly as many hours. Hang in there. Your job is dangerous enough.