Month: November 2009

Wallflowers

~ thedailydish ~ 11 Comments

And swirls.  Gilded geometric patterns.  Trees sprouting from the minds of men long gone. Welcome to the third *wall* post of the week.  It couldn’t be helped.

Like these forms, my husband & I have fallen into a pattern – not of shapes or colors, but of morning conferences.  Once the kids are off to school, we commune w/ the house & each other, laying out plans for the day (and ensuing days to come).  We were up in the attic an hour ago, when we came upon this cache of wallpaper.  Hidden beneath all that wood!  In the bottom of a cooper’s barrel.  We were searching for trim for the dining room.  The former owner – God bless him- was a collector, and saved every scrap we’d need.  They’re flaking, still w/ the hand forged nails of the Georgian period.  We’re not sure where each of them goes, but thankfully the peeling paint matches, and piece by piece the puzzle takes shape and the picture begins to emerge.

The writing’s on the wall.

~ thedailydish ~ 12 Comments

Today we’re going to continue the wall theme — w/ a tribute to Dole House graffiti.  A mixture of old & new.

attic writing 1

attic writing 2

Upstairs in the attic, scrawled on the chimney plaster.  And on the attic beams.

writing on attic beam

Downstairs in the keeping room.

writing - keeping room

more writing - keeping room

behind the fridge

And in the kitchen.

kitchen graffiti

Downstairs in the basement there are signs.

basement signs

And yesterday – in addition to the dead rodent, I found writing behind the wall.

writing - dining room

What I found when I ripped down my wall.

~ thedailydish ~ 16 Comments

I’d planned on discussing more chimney stuff today, but I got too involved w/ work, it’s now 8pm and time for wine.  So I’ll just show you what I found in the wall.

BACKGROUND: A major reason John & I were able to buy this house is b/c two rooms on the first floor need to be restored.  One room is more complete than the other, but basically both need floors. and either partial or full reconstruction of the walls.  We have sketched out a plan for the first of these two rooms – which just happens to be the one needing more work.  Of course.  I spent the bulk of today working on Room #1.  This will be our dining room, once it’s restored.

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The Mystery Flue.

~ thedailydish ~ 9 Comments

One of the most striking things about our new (olde) house is its original heating system.  Not oil, not gas, but CHIMNEYS!  Downstairs in the basement you can see the bottom arches of these massive brick structures, rising from the ground like roman aqueducts.  Impressive in scale and beautiful in form and function.  This Book speaks at length about colonial chimneys and is a great read for anyone interested in the subject.

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Halloween Observations

~ thedailydish ~ 18 Comments

Hope you all had a great Halloween!  Me??  WELL. Saturday night I took my younger daughter Trick-or-Treating.  Being new to the neighborhood, I was on HIGH ALERT.  Paying extra special attention to everything.  Such as, Why do so many people here have curtains? And why do these be-curtained people not have their porch lights on?  Or answer their doorbells?  Even when we rang more than once.  I could see faint light through these window treatments, so they were obviously inside, watching TV or playing on the computer.  But they weren’t answering their doors.  Granted, I had to stick our candy out front in a bowl while we went trick-or-treating ourselves.  Long story short: my husband & our older daughter were out of town, so we didn’t have anyone to “tend” to the house like we usually would.  And our jack-o-lantern must have blown out (it was windy).  Our 250 yr old house doesn’t have a porch light, and we also don’t have a door bell.  And no one was home.  SO it may have LOOKED like we were not participating in Halloween, even though I spent $25 on candy that sat outside in a bowl, uneaten.  What I am saying here – is my new neighborhood is way quiet.

I have come up w/ 7 Levels of Halloween Participation.  I had lots of time between Trick-or-Treats to do this.

1) The Die-Hard.

Grown adults who retain the spirit of Halloween they had as children.  These folks go the full 9 yards.  They don costumes.  Their houses don costumes.  Put simply: Die Hards DO Halloween.  They spend months in advance preparing for the Big Night.  They assemble props.  They install theatrics.  They make constructions worthy of awards.  These are the houses all the children want to visit, though their spooky extravagance may leave little ones cringing in fear.

2) The Holiday Enthusiast.

These people like Halloween b/c they like holidays in general.  They do window displays.  They hang flags.  If they have a front yard, they own at least one large inflatable.  Often these inflatables cover multiple themes, such as Holiday + Local Sports Team (i.e., satan wearing an Eagles jersey).  The Holiday Enthusiast celebrates Halloween the same way they celebrate all holidays.  With eagerness and commercial support.

3) The Tepid Observer.

These people give out candy only b/c it’s expected.  They really do not want to, but are afraid if they don’t they will garner negative attention.  A few are secretly afraid of being egged. or T.P.’ed.  They never decorate for the holiday.  To do so would garner unwanted attention.  Mostly they just want to be left alone, but it’s hard to be left alone when people expect candy.  So on Halloween they answer the door and smile wanly as they drop a single KitKat into your bag.  Then they close the door and retreat into blessed solitude once more.

4) The Reveler.

This category covers those who like to PAR-TAY!  No need to elaborate.

5) The Non-Committal.

These Halloween participants are there in name only.  Not b.c they don’t want to celebrate Halloween, but b.c circumstance gets in the way.  These are the folks who leave a bowl of candy out on the front porch w/ the light on.  They may or may not decorate.  They may or may not have a lit jack-o-lantern.  Many parents fall into this category.  Also, older people.  Or the young.  Pretty much anyone who has a life and cannot stick around on a Saturday night to dole out candy.

6) The Hell Raiser.

This person believes October 31st belongs to the devil and trick-or-treating is akin to satan worship.  All who participate in Halloween ritual are pagans.  These people will not be home Halloween night b.c they are at church celebrating something not called Halloween but for which most of them are costumed and receiving candy.

7) The Unexcused.

This category encompasses the rest of the world.  Who say TO HELL! with Halloween – not for any religious reason, but for sheer (INSERT WHATEVER LAME-O EXCUSE YOU CAN COME UP W/ HERE).  These people cannot be bothered to buy a bag of candy.  They have more important things to do w. their time.  Like stay home on a Saturday night, watching TV or playing video games.  Behind their iron fortress of curtains. While the costumed stand outside ringing in the dark.  Treatless.