DUMPSTER DIVING

    As I sit here this afternoon typing this blog update, my dear husband is dumpster diving on my behalf.  Now that is love!

A little history...
    The house next door, which has been vacant for so very long, finally sold last month.  The new owner is "flipping" the house and lots of treasures are being discarded. 

The house next door

    When I went by my Hawthorne house this morning to drop off some tools, I noticed that original windows with old glass and large louvered shutters were being thrown in the dumpster.  Seeing the shutters in the dumpster pained me... thinking that the contractor was destroying the character of the old home next door.  At the same time, to see the shutters in the dumpster gave me a bit of a thrill.  You see, I have been admiring the original shutters and hardware on the neighboring house and have been looking for 2 shutters to grace the front of my own house.   Had I not been on my way to work in high heels and all white I would have made the climb to save the coveted treasure.  Instead, knowing that my husband was going to be working this afternoon at Hawthorne, I called him to ask if he would take the plunge.

Wallace took a dive a month ago to rescue some original trim 

     Plunge he did!

I just got a phonecall from Wallace saying he rescued the shutters AND 5 of the old windows!  

"Do you want more?" he inquired.  Surely he knew the answer would be "Yes, please!"

Windows with old glass and amazing brass hardware

So readers, time to weigh in with an opinion... 

Choice A : the shutter on the left (a paneled shutter) 

or

Choise B:  the shutter on the right (louvered shutter rescued from the dumpster)

Whatcha think?

(Click on the comments button below or email me to make your opinion known.)

99 BOTTLES OF 'BEER' ON THE WALL

   I have to admit that my husband has been taking on the worst jobs associated with this renovation.  Suited up and protected, he has been in the attic eaves extracting raccoon carcasses and 'associated debris' and in the dank basement and crawl spaces removing any and every thing he finds.

(Where's Wallace?)

To his credit, he has tackled each task with little complaining.  That would not be my M.O.  Just yesterday, while clearing the crawlspace off the basement in preparation to have it conditioned,  he unearthed DOZENS of empty old pint and half-pint glass bottles.

 So many, in fact he had to quit before reaching to the bottom of the stash.

We can only assume there was an inhabitant during the early 1900's (based on the type of bottle) who was hiding his/her habit of consumption.

   While prohibition  in the United States dates from 1920 to 1933, Richmond Virginia went dry in 1916. Virginia contained several cities which were reluctantly dry, most notably Alexandria, Richmond and Norfolk.
   So here's my hypothesis....The inhabitants of this Hawthorne house during prohibition liked their liquor.  So much so that the amount that flowed into this house required discreet disposal of the evidence.  Burial of the empties in the crawl space was logical.  It was also a fun find close to a hundred years later!
   Cheers!

RANDOM 'TREASURES'

Just a few random "treasures"...

IF WALLS COULD TALK

We pack the car again and arrive at Hawthorne House to find Donnie has appeared 2 hours before us.  How fortunate we are to have such a knowledgeable and devoted friend and worker.  Finding a complete woodpecker skeleton in one wall and later a 1950's era Pinocchio doll in another wall causes us to wonder what else is in store for us behind the drywall, plaster and concrete.

Wallace and Donnie work steadily to completely gut the kitchen area.  I work to remove interior doors and label hardware while simultaneously keeping Billye safe from the demolition and content with movies, computer games, and diet soda.

It is all so exciting.

ONE MAN'S JUNK

I have long believed that one man's junk is another man's (or this woman's) treasure.   My house and my studio here on Warren Road are a testament to that idea.

                                          

Those who know me or have had to live with me can surely vouch that this is true.  Broken furniture, oddball keys, discarded toys, rusty tools and trinkets somehow find their way into my world.

 Just as I had resigned myself to living with my family and my stash of "treasures" in this charming blue house for always, along came a pretty Saturday, a cheerful car ride, and one man's junk!

 .