The house with the blue door.

It's been so gorgeous and warm I finally got to work on the front door!

I got the door painted and got the screen door put up (if you're not over here from my Mommy Blog, I detailed the two itsy bitsy misfortunes we had there.) Unfortunately I don't have a finished pic from the outside since the door was a bit sticky when I had to shut it for the night and I had to do some touch-ups to the paint this morning. I'll get that to you soon.

Meantime, here's the door drying (told you it was blue!):

Please note the authentic Victorian plastic phone cord and Cat5 data cable stretched across the wall on the right (up by the ceiling). Classy!

I have a wireless network now so that won't be there for long.

Looking at this pic I can see that the blue door does kind of clash with the green room. Hmmm. Well it won't be standing open all that much. I did intend to repaint this room a deep red - I've had the paint for ages, I hate this washed out green - but never got around to it. That would compliment the blue, don't you think?



Here's the mounted screen door (my wee assistant is there minding the screwdriver).



Isn't that a lovely view? So peaceful.

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My next project (on a long list) for the house is the shelves in the library. I'll try to get some before pictures.

Waste not, want not, baybee!

*Alternate title: "Bwahahahahahahahahahahahah!" (accompanied by gleeful Ferengi-like hand-rubbing)*

Check out what I got:

I fished these two wooden boxes out of the dump (read my teensy diatribe on this over on my Mommyblog - those of you who just came from there have seen it - suffice to say that I'm a Dumpster Diver and proud of it!)

Anyway, both boxes had one smashed in side (no, I stupidly didn't take a 'before' pic. I'm kicking myself) - the one on the right had the lid and front splintered and the other had two sides caved in. I scavenged the lid off of the left hand one and pulled enough slats out to re-weave the front of the other one. Took me about 20 minutes (and some snapped slats and colourful cursing) and I had one like-new box. How cool is that?!

It's about 12 x 12 inches and the perfect finish to match my parlour. Score!

I found that dog crate in the background there as well and, I swear, it looks unused. I even found this for the babes:

Everything you see was there ... well, except Boy. (note: if anyone local reads this blog and these things look familiar, all I can say is: "Thanks!")

Not pictured is the Graco high chair (I'm washing the cover and donating the high chair to the Salvation Army) , and the large sheet of tin and half-dozen shelving boards destined to be incorporated into a goat/sheep run-in.

MAN, I love a good scavenge!

Itching to paint!

Well since I'm stuck inside with all the cold wet weather we've been having I'll just amuse myself by blogging about what I did get done.

Here's the bottom of the doorframe on the front door:

This is after I removed the upper board (which was nailed to the grey board in the pic with these HUGE nails - 4 of 'em!). I had to take it off because the door is very short and I couldn't have cut the new screen door to fit it, so I had to remove some of the wood from the doorframe.

I unfortunately couldn't get the top board off without splintering it to bits, as you can see in the pic. All of that kindling is the board I took off. This is the view from the porch BTW.


Here's the frame cleaned up a bit. See how I had to insert pieces where the uneven porch boards didn't go all the way up to the doorframe? That's where the screen door will 'sit'.


Here's the finished door. yeah, it's a crap pic. You can just see the new board I put on (scavenged off of a pre-civil-war-era barn). Yes, the door is that uneven.

I haven't installed the new screen door yet because I'm painting the front door (bright blue!)first.

Here's the new screen door on the back. Not a handsome a setting as in the adverts, eh? Man, I need to clean my aluminium siding! It's actually been painted that pale yellow (hate!) and I'm a bit trepidacious about trying to clean it without taking off that paint.

I am positively gagging to paint my front door! I need a warm day, though since I'll have to keep the front door standing open until the paint dries. I'm not certain as to how I'll keep eight wee baby hands off of the wet paint, either.

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And here's a quick bonus pic:

Yep! That's Brownie and her MicroDoe in the adoption pen. They both seem to be doing well and are hale and hearty (so far). Now to introduce her back out to the herd ...

Brownie is a Nubian/Alpine cross in case you're curious and MicroDoe's daddy is my LaMancha buck's baby (that's the reason she looks as if she has no ears ... she doesn't!)

Opening doors

Why is it that all the restoring-old-houses blogs and websites that I find have these things: two handy, into-it spouses/partners doing the work and money. Lots and lots of money.

I mean the people seemingly have gobs of money. They talk about redoing the bathroom in their 1920s bungalow and I'm all excited and I eagerly inspect the pics: Ohh, nice new tile, replace the seal on the toilet and a bit of rotten flooring. Ahh, there they've replaced the window since they discovered the extent of the water damage. Then custom paint, and new fixtures and ...

Then they gush over how they did it all - this 'tiny' job - for under five grand and over a week-end.

Five thousand? I don't have $500. I'm trying to restore my home running to the Lowes with a $100 gift card every now and then.

I also have no help. Not ragging on Evil Genius Husband: he's busy as all hell plus he's just not the handy/crafty/fixy type.

I have no animosity towards these other folks, of course. I love to read the how-to part and see the result. I'm glad they're remodeling these old homes but howcome I can't find someone else doing it a brick at a time ... on a shoestring? It's just depressing.

I hate it because I can't relate. I can't identify with 'getting someone out' to rebrick all the chimneys or put up the 1000 square foot addition. I'm never going to be able to get all new appliances for my kitchen much less decide then that - what the heck - I'll just replace all the countertops as well!

So help me out here. If you are restoring an old home (or have come across someone who is) on a tight budget, let me know. Show me the blogs and websites! I'll love you forever!

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Speaking of that $100 Lowes gift card ...

The babies and I went and picked up two screen doors for the front and back so that I can have the doors open in pretty weather without sharing my home with roughly 1200 flies and mosquitoes.

I wanted something really nice for the front door that would compliment the porch with it's Victorian woodwork and something sturdy for the back to hopefully save the screen from babies.

This is the front door that I got.

And the back.

They're by ScreenTight which is a South Carolina company (which is cool) and are solid white vinyl. I spent 20 minutes agonizing over which door to get and whether I should go with wood or vinyl. I loathe the thought of vinyl but decided in the end that it would wear longer and look better. The back door, especially, will get sun, rain, and baby hands on it all the time. I don't need to be wasting money having to replace these doors ... ever.

My only complaint is that the filigree on the front door looks really vinylly if that makes sense. I mean it looks like plastic. But I figure that since we come and go through the back door that the overall impression (like from the road) is of more value than any close inspection the front door will get.

Because both of these doorways are in the oldest parts of the house they are crooked and oddly shaped. I'll have to add a strip of wood to the back doorjamb and actually partially rebuild the front door opening.

I'm also going to paint the front door (not the new screen door, the actual front door itself) cobalt blue. Because I want to. Hah!

(PS: now that I look at these pics I realize that the back door came with different hardware than pictured. It has a latch and strikeplate and hydrolic door-closer. I prefer a traditional look so I'll need to save up to get handles and a doorspring. Great. Now I don't know when I'll get the danged doors up. *sigh*)

Caution: philosophical post!

I just have to apologize for the spotty posts. I know that almost no one is drifting by to read, but I'm sorry on my own behalf as well, LOL!

I need to keep this record to help me see how far the farm has come as well as be able to show my children what I did.

See, this is where I intend to live for the rest of my life. Here on this farm, Cool Shade Farm, and here in this house, The Burrow. I intend to raise my children here. I want to build something not only for me, but for them - if for no other reason than to give them good memories of their childhoods.

Of course, I hope that one of my kids will want to stay here and continue on farmsteading, perhaps raise his or her own kids here.

That would be cool.

Part of my problem with posting is that I really feel like this blog should be filled with pictures. Farmsteading and restoring a house (and raising four -hopefully five - children!) is a visceral pursuit. It's really hands-on and I feel like there's only so much a person of my limited writing talents can convey with just words.

So I resolve to take more pics and get them up!

I also have searched many times for other farm/homesteading/farmsteading blogs and haven't been able to find many. I often think that I'm obliged to make this a good one so that other folks who are interested in this sort of stuff will have something to read.

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So the news up to now is that I caught yet another opossum (after he killed my black white-crested polish rooster who'd stupidly decided to roost on the ground) and something got in and decimated my new pigeons.

I still haven't figured out what it was, but did discover how it got in: it pulled the door out at the bottom and slipped through. I've fixed the door and had no more problems but I've not caught the critter. The trap is still out there, after 3 days, empty. What the heck was it?

The Microdoe and her mum were let out into the herd yesterday and I'm keeping a cautious eye on her. Brownie is acting a lot less attentive since she's been out and I'm not certain she's feeding the Microdoe. They may have to go back in the adoption pen.

OK, I'm off to take some pics.