I am trying to show up here again, both reading and writing. I won’t get too long-winded with what has been occupying my time instead, but I will share my latest old home misadventure.
The husband and I have never broken free of the find out phase of choosing to live in a 124-year-old house. Though in our defense, it was only 102 years old when we bought it. It’s been a 22-year fix-up adventure, including adding missing gutters, getting rid of the dangerous knob-and-tube wiring, planting raspberries and pollinator plants, adding a carport with solar panels, and seemingly endless repairs.
Often, our next project choose us by announcing itself in dramatic fashion. The latest was back in May when we woke up to find a water pipe in the bathroom above our kitchen had sprung a leak overnight and dripped through the ceiling for hours while we slept. Then the shut-off valve at the sink broke when Mr. Damari tried to turn it. So whole house water shutdown it was until he could enact a temp fix.
We already had not been using the tub in that bathroom for similar reasons, thinking that repair would rise to the top of our to-do list at some point. Welp, might as well get it all done at once. Get the plumber in for an opinion, and then a second plumber. And then learn we had bigger problems — namely our main water intake was leaking and needed to be replaced at the foundation of our home.
Which required removing this neglected-for-years bush to provide access. I didn’t think to take a before pic until it we had it half cut away.
It needed to come out anyway. Why not keep adding project upon project?
Once the main intake was replaced, work could proceed on the pipes for the bathroom, which of course involved cutting away part of the kitchen ceiling. And then as the contractor followed the maze created by previous workers, also involved removing a bit of one wall in the kitchen. The spouse decided to add another light switch while we were at it, so holes in two walls. May as well replace the old, janky light fixture/ceiling fan in the kitchen while we were spending all our money and time anyway.
Meanwhile, this happened in the living room. I tried to clean the fan blades with an extendable brush, and it just…fell, missing me by inches.
We’re in the zone. Why not replace two light fixtures?
We experienced multiple delays for multiple reasons. Example: Hey, says the contractor, they don’t actually make valves like the ones in your ancient tub anymore, and I can’t find one locally anywhere. So we’ll have to wait until we can get one shipped.
But eventually, around mid-July, all plumbing was done, light fixtures replaced, ceiling and walls patched. Time to touch up the paint on the kitchen walls. The walls I had painted purple 19 years ago. Guess how much success I had finding a color match?
All right, I can roll with painting two entire walls. We’ll only have to unbolt and remove the rack for our pots and pans along with getting a refrigerator out of the way. And it will only expand a two-hour job into a whole weekend project.
Did I mention we have ten-foot ceilings? We have ten-foot ceilings. The good news is that I’m still well able to go up and down a ladder. I move a lot more cautiously than I did two decades ago. But I do take joy in a purple kitchen.
Now the only remaining detail is deciding what to plant in the bare patch in front of our house where the huge bush used to be. Maybe something large enough to hide the evidence of how much the sunroom that was added to the original structure at some point is now separating from the rest of the house.
Despite all this, the spouse and I talked it over and agreed we made the right decision moving in here. It’s a great location and provided a lot of space for our kids when they were growing up.
A direct quote from my husband: This has been a great house for us. I love hating working on it.
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Nomadic Noesis 