An Irony of Antiques It was time for an antique door installation at White Rock.  This meant that another project would be completed but it always means that we were about to face another set of problems, challenges, and issues!  That is the way it is with antiques. The irony of antiques is that they tend to flock together. When we started this adventure, several people said that when people find out that I like old things, they will start giving antiques to me.  I didn’t doubt the person, but I was surprised when it started happening.  So far, we have been gifted pew benches from a local church, the…

Once upon a time, we had a plan.  We purchased vanity lighting for all of the bathrooms and had them installed by the electricians.  And then Jerry said “we are purchasing the vanities today” and everything fell apart. What Happened? What happened was that the plumbers were coming soon to install all of the fixtures.  That started a chain reaction…the marble counter top had to be installed before the sinks.  Before the marble could be installed, there had to be vanities.  Jerry announced that we had to purchase them that afternoon.  He said he would be home in 30 minutes to pick me up and that we were leaving immediately…

Twelve Feet, Three Inches 9/11 is a number we will never forget.  Likewise, December 7, 1941 really is a date that will live in infamy.  Not even on the same planet is the number 12’3″. I am absolutely not comparing any part of our house renovation with the tragedies that have occurred throughout history, but isn’t it funny how some things just stick into your brain?  Like maybe your childhood phone number or your locker combination from high school?  Come to think of it, it may be more of a miracle that any numbers stick in my brain…I remember vividly not being able to recall my locker combination while I…

Vision I am 53 years old and I need to go to the eye doctor.  It used to be that I had trouble with distance vision.  Now, I can’t see at a distance.  I can’t see up close, and I benefit from lenses that help me see at the mid-range distance.  It is an enormously frustrating part of getting older. Unfortunately, I can see well enough to know that there are huge stacks of lumber in our backyard.  I can clearly see that the mess is horrendous.  And I can see all of the possibilities and those endless possibilities prohibit me from burning everything in one big pile. 20/20 Vision…

I May Hurt Someone’s Feelings Someone, probably someone in my family, gave me the picture frame above.  It had a white background and the cute little wire with clips you see above.  I opened it up and placed photos in it several times.  I knew that there should be a theme…there were four clips, we have four children.  Baby pictures?  Didn’t resonate.  And then I thought, “well, how about pictures of a specific location, like a family home that isn’t there any more?”  I didn’t have four pictures of any of the houses that were no longer standing. I was at a loss, but, like so many times before, I…

Nowhere to Hide Anything People come into a farmhouse with muddy shoes or with jackets…it is unavoidable.  We purposely built a mudroom so that all that mess could be dumped by the door.  Heck, the washer and dryer are only a few steps past this room in case things are really bad.  Up until this week, the mudroom has been a full on storage closet.  We stored all of the old doors (to include the red screen doors from the old house) here, while they patiently await their turn to be useful again.  We dumped tools, shoes, ladders…you name it here.  There is even a 10’X10′ tent stored in here.…

My Grandmother, Carrie Jean Ferguson My Nana was a collector.  She collected family history, friends, flower seeds, and rolling pins.  The rolling pin thing stemmed from her love of family and family history.  The pins that she collected belonged to family members.  I think that nobody wanted rolling pins when they were breaking up a home after someone died.  I mean, they are just rolling pins after all.  I never asked her why she asked for rolling pins, but knowing Nana, I am willing to bet that it was because of their lack of value and importance. The rolling pins she collected seem very valuable to me because they are…

What do weather, history, and being a pack rat have in common?  Evidently, my kitchen.  It didn’t really start out that way.  I mean, when the tornado hit, my first thought wasn’t “kitchen shelves!”.  However, when you get lemons, you do better when you start at least thinking about making lemonade.  This week, we made lemonade from seven year old lemons.  Let me explain.  The lemons are really 2″ thick black walnut planks that we made into kitchen shelves after hauling the wood around for seven years.  Sometimes lemonade takes a while… The Kitchen Design We designed the kitchen to have open shelving on either side of the range.  Ronny…