Parlor Renovation, Part I

August 4, 2012... "OK!  I know it looks bad, but it looks worse than it really is.  I swear!" That's the only thing I could say to my wife when she came into the parlor.  It's only a hole in the wall, right?  A frown, and the look of "what did you do now" was the kindest of greetings one could receive... From the survey of our parlor, a rubber-cement glued wallpaper could be seen hiding the water damage plaster underneath...

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Rice Cakes

They're delectable, aren't they?  Unwrap the plastic bag, pull out this wafer of Styrofoam, take in a sniff of that caramel or that artificial sea salt scent and savor the texture and feeling of eating a rice cake.   Ok, most of us don't really do that.  In fact, if you were like me, you'd rather reach for any other treat besides flavored rice cakes... unless your a ravenous mouse intent on being an organic flotation device. Yes,...

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Nightshade

We've all been taught at some point to be wary of wild berries.  Boy/Girl Scouts teach the basics of wildnerness caution.  Parents who are aware of such things do so as well.  But what if your nature experience is limited, never having becoming one with earth?  Despite the commercials showing Wild Berry Passion as the flavor of the moment, there's nothing flavorful about poison berries. Several months ago, in glee, my wife and...

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Lead Poisoning

My son, a walking, talking little bundle of joy reached his first birthday on June 27.  The following week, we visited our pediatrician for his first annual check up.  It was at this time that a lead test was given for daycare and perhaps per state regulations.  A finger prick was all it took for the screening.  A reading of 5.4 micro grams per deciliter was found.  The fact that anything came back was a shock since we...

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The Art of Three's

Could it be possible that the "Art of Three" is a real occurrence?  Troubling events occurring in sets of three seems magical, doesn't it?  I mean, really, why would it happen in three?  Why not four or just two; or at all? Our home is still standing.... just wanted to get that out first.  My magical three events, in increasing importance are: Washing Machine Compared to the other two issues below, who cares about a...

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Photogenic

I can remember not too long ago, while laying in bed off of work with a pulled back, where just by chance, looking out our front windows, I saw a suspicious vehicle parked with it's driver pointing "something" at our home.  A flash of light and the convertible Audi left.   A quick photo of our tourist checking out her photos on her camera.  This photo was taken through our storm window's screen. This past...

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Hartford Turnpike

Through the hundreds of documents and maps that were sifted through while researching our home, the one lingering (of many) facts there were hard to find was our home's prior addresses.  It seems that addresses back in the 18th century were more of common knowledge of those that lived here.  Meaning, until the advent of the postal system, a person's address was more of, "o'er yer yonder", or perhaps, "a quarter mile on the right past the...

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Touring My Home - Possible Addition

This past month I had the pleasure of being taken on a tour of my own home by Edward Sunderland of Sunderland Period Homes.  Mr. Sunderland was showing me my home, yes, I was the tourist.  Nearly every room was visited by our tour group of two as Mr. Sunderland showcased the details of each room to his pupil.  And there were lots of details. Before Mr. Sunderland's arrival, my wife and I were contemplating an addition, containing...

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Stone Wall.

Sometimes I get bored.  I'll start one project and become frustrated with how long it is taking to finish, switch to another and at some point in the future, return to the first project (sometimes not).  So when I started to take apart one of our retaining walls, my wife gave me a scared look.  Call it "deer-in-headlights". My plan for this past Sunday was to take it easy, what with my squished foot.  Thinking of easy tasks,...

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