Wall Lights Anyone?

We went on an antique mall excursion last weekend and scored 4 wall sconce lights that were in dire need of some TLC (tender loving care for the overseas visitors). Three of the lights are matched so we have a pair and a spare. The fourth one doesn't go with anything and was already stripped of paint and missing some parts. That is the one we want to keep of course though I have no idea where we can put it without putting in a new electric line and wall box. The set of three looked like this and I have already done my painting magic on the third.



Any way, I am in the process of stripping the last two and I have some light parts on order to refinish these (and to complete the "Steampunk" ones that I threatened to make a few weeks back). I have to replace the switches and have already rewired and soldered the original plug outlets so that they can be used. The patent on the back of the plug is pictured below and gives us an earliest date of 1928 though the cream color and sprayed flowers of the originals wreak of the 1930s when bright colors could be manufactured cheaply and thus were in "Vogue".



Here is what I have done with the one that I have painted. I plan to do the same to the other two.



There is no reason why we need to keep these. We have all the wall lights we will ever need for this place. If anyone is interested in these let me know. I will consider any reasonable offer otherwise they will go on ebay and you can take your chances. They will all be finished and ready to install in the next couple of weeks. I am waiting on parts. I can forward pictures to interested parties when the things are done.
For those DIY people who want to know exacly how I painted these you can leave a comment and if there is any interest I will type up a post and maybe show a picture of the light we are keeping!

Houses in the "Hood"

Here is an interesting house;




It has a double bay section in the front. It was bought by a couple who lived across the street from our residence about the same time we bought the "Crack House." They are the third or fourth owner of this place I believe and I know they have a picture of it from about 1900 on their wall. It has been slowly getting painted. Every time I drive by it a new bit is done. I guess this would be catagorized as an Italianate cottage style.
There is another house just like it up the street that could use a little TLC.





Don't look at me! I've got my hands full with the two houses we already have....

Another Reason to Move to Dayton

This was posted on an AOL News bulletin and I thought it was good general information. I used to sell insurance between 1987 and 1994. It was an interesting experience. It taught me a lot about people. The official site is here if the link is still active.

Homeowners in some coastal and hurricane zones are about to see their home owners insurance premiums as much as double this year, according to the Insurance Information Institute, an industry information group. But you don't have to take the full hit. If you haven't already asked your insurer for discounts you may qualify for, now is the time to do so. If your home owners and auto insurance policy are from the same company, for example, you could get 5% to 15% off your homeowners premiums. So could membership organizations like the AARP or AAA, or even your alma mater's alumni association. And if you live in a hurricane or wildfire zone, improving the strength of your home -- by installing special protection on your windows and doors so they're more wind-resistant, for example -- could also get you a premium discount. (For details on the specific hazards in your area and suggestions on how to strengthen your home, use the ZIP code search of the Institute for Business and Home Safety Web site.) Regular cost: Homeowners insurance premiums are expected to average $776 in 2007, according to the Insurance Information Institute, up 2% to 4% compared with 2006. But coastal communities and hurricane zones will see premium hikes of 20% to 100%. Smart savings: Special discounts can save you as much as 20%, including discounts for disaster-proofing your home.

In Time for Christmas

I've been playing with some gift related stuff over at "Zazzle" and came up with a few new items that would be perfect for the single guy or gal in your family! Here is a preview!
I wonder what Freud would have to say about this?

So many women Hat
by

wgnetwork

Get this custom hat
at Zazzle

Natural Progression

I guess it was inevitable really. After finishing umpteen doors, hundreds of feet of trim and molding and a crap load of windows I couldn't be happy. There had to be a void that needed to be filled. I mean, after all it has been several months since I held a heat gun in my hand or whiffed the aroma of shellac. What could I do to fill the void? There had to be something staring me in the face that I was missing. Then I realized that there was! About 4 years ago Deborah stripped the paint off an old chest of drawers then stored it in the garage where it has sat ever since. Every time I get in the car I would see it and say "One day I'm gonna finish that thing." Well that day (week) finally came. Since Elizabeth's grandparents have been sick for the last two weeks I haven't been able to get them to play the role of toddler sitter while I work on the "Crack House" so I was itching for a project that I could complete during the day while Elizabeth played in the front room. She played with her Barbies, ponies, puppies,crayons, did a jigsaw puzzle, chased the cats up and down the stairs (wait, she promised she would stop doing that), recited a score of nursery rhymes, read a couple of books and begged me to give her some Halloween candy. All this within a 15 minute time frame! Then I would get to play Candy land a dozen times followed by Saggy Baggy's Circle of Friends, Feed the Kitty, and the Dr Seuss Green Eggs and Ham Game until Elizabeth won and a couple more times until she won again, before being allowed to continue working on the chest of drawers.
It didn't need much in the way of stripping. The edges and corners of all the panels needed some attention and the mirror and arch needed to be stripped but that was it. It did need some sanding and of course a pass over with alcohol to remove some of the original shellac. Anyway, after much sanding, at least three coats of shellac and two coats of wax polish I present the chest of drawers which has been moved to the second bedroom where there is no room for it, just like there was no room for the stuff that it displaced and that will be hidden within its drawers.



I did get to do some work at the house on Sunday though. The back splash for the sink has been ground, polished, installed, grouted and slurried. All in the same day! Here is the current picture. That plumbing on the corner is a prototype for some side lights. Those plastic tubes on each side of the water valves will be replaced with copper that will hide the electric cable that supplies the side lights. Stay tuned for more, later!

Spreading the Love

I finally did something that I should have done a long time ago. I have added links from this site to many of the ones that link to me. So, if you are reading this and have a link to this site check and see if I have found you out and added a link back. There are some 30ish new links below the one to HouseBlogs.net on the right side of the page. If I missed you, let me know and I can add you. If you are reading this and haven't updated your blog in a while (and you know who you all are) you might want to do that too!

It's All About the Money!

Like many other HouseBloggers out there we entered the Remodelling My Space blog competition in the hopes of winning some cold hard cash that we could use to help offset the cost of supplies (after paying taxes of course!) In order to move closer to completion of the "Old Crack House", which will soon be a seven year long project, I had hoped that we had a chance of winning the popularity contest portion for $1000.00. However, after getting an unlucky amount of votes in six months while others accumulated mounds of votes in minutes I realized that being popular was futile! Who needs to be popular anyway? Now the competition is over and the judges are off doing their thing this week and results will be posted in a week or so, but in the meantime I got this message from the site owner;

To kick off the Christmas season, we're going to have a little mini-contest that will end on Sunday night (December 2, 2007) at midnight....
Here is the contest criteria:
$100 will go to the blog who writes the most creative post about our 'Christmas Tree Decorating Ideas' pictures on this page (link to this page required):
http://www.remodelingmyspace.com/christmas-decoration-ideas/christmas-trees/pictures-decorated-christmas-tree-themes.htm
You know how much we love creativity, so be very creative with your post (no hints)!
Once completed and posted, send me an email with a link to your post, so it can be reviewed. Post must be entered by midnight Sunday December 2, 2007.
Judging will take place Monday and will be announced on The ideaBlog on Monday evening - we'll also send you an announcement.
Judge will be: my Mom. :) (Isn't Christmas about family?)
Who's up for a little Christmas tree decorating?!

So, since this may be my last chance at some $$$ for a while I have carefully thought about what I needs to be told.

There are a lot of people out there who will do crazy things for $100.00. In fact, I have been told that there is one particular woman on Third Ave who will do ANYTHING for $100.00. So if I win this I plan on going to seek her out, give her the money and get her to paint my house! Anyway, I digress.

I checked out that link about Christmas Trees and I realized a few things.
The first thing I realized is that people who have Christmas trees are loosely followers of one particular religious group. I doubt that devout Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, Druids, Atheists or worshippers of the Flying Spaghetti Monster would decorate their homes with Christmas trees.
The second thing I realized is that people who are contestants in the Remodelling My Space competition who got the same email message as me would have to believe in Christmas trees and be willing to put one in their own house before they would give up a link on their blog (and lose blogshare value). That means that some people may not bother to post anything and try to win a measly $100.00 especially if their blog share value would plummet from the added link. So maybe I actually have a chance!
The third thing I realized is that I really didn't have anything else to write about this weekend and most importantly ............ besides the fact that I am out of beer, I am now fully confident that with that $100.00, a couple of cases of beer and the help of that woman on Third Ave I can produce a thing of beauty like this

from my Christmas tree.