Tearing out the last of the Chain-link fence

2+ years after we purchased the house, we have completely rid the property of the old chain-link fencing. Below is a shot of the last remaining panel as of yesterday morning, 8am. I had already removed the panel & post that went down the hill to the sidewalk.


By 9am I had removed the actual fencing and the post at the top of the hill. As that post was at the top of the hill, I could just dig into the hill to reach the concrete and then pull it out. Mighty heavy, but it didn't require my usual technique: the sledge-hammer. Seriously, provided you don't need to be certain of getting all of the concrete base out, a sledge hammer works wonders. Dig around the post base some, then wail away. It will either loosen up the whole post so you can pull it and its base up, or it will crack the concrete base so you can pull up the post itself. OK, so it's not quiet, and it does dent the posts so they aren't very usable, but I doubt many people plan on re-using old chain-link posts.

After Mary and I hammered this last post into sumbission, we sank the new fence brackets and BAM! We have a new front fence and are 100% chain-link free.

Fencing on the cheap

On a trip to Lowe's yesterday Mary saw some metal fence panels which resemble the vintage wroght-iron we have across our front yard. It's not a perfect match, but the tines profile is the same, and it has gates, too! $300+ later, we had purchased enough panels and gates to enclose our front yard, meaning we can sit out there with the dogs and not worry about them making a dash to the park across the street!

The only new part in the photo below is the gate, which blends in nicely.


On the left is the antique fencing, and from the gate to the right is the new.

We still have to complete the west side of the yard, but that will entail removing a stretch of old chain-link fence and posts and also drilling into concrete, so that will have to be done another day!

Summer Push

I put together a list of projects which I hope to complete before summer. One of those is to bury the gutter drain line which lays across our walkway around the house and across our yard to the hill in front. This is not as simple as grabbing a shovel, since the gutter downspout is above our concrete walkway and I have to get beneath a 6 foot stretch of concrete walkway.

So below shows the story in pictures. Using a concrete blade on the ciruclar saw, I cut the one large concrete piece in half (so each was light enough to move...with help... barely). Then cut a notch for the drain pipe. Then dig, dig, dig. Oh, since I was under there I also dug out an extension of the French drain I ran up to the concrete walk.

Once done digging, I laid new drain pipe out the the edge of the hill. Backfill with gravel and move the ungodly heavy concrete back into place and done!

Gone batty

Below was a small project from last week. We have a Bat House! Being so close to the river, our neighborhood has more than a fair amount of mesquitos. We see a decent number of bats at night, so I thought I'd put out the welcome mat for our flying friends with the hope they will do what they do: eat hundreds of mesquitos every night. Using a plan I picked-up from the Ohio Dept. of Natural Resources, I built it and mounted it to the back of our shed. Cross your fingers that some bats move in!

It's not easy being green

With all of the construction over the past 2 years, we had zero grass in our backyard. 100s of nails and 1000s of concrete bits, brick bits and other construction debris, but no grass. I was able to get some to root last summer/fall. But to give you an idea how much, here is a photo from this past March: Only a few tufts of grass survived the winter.


Ahhh, and now a photo from this morning: ITS GREEN! OK, it's not fairway quality, but this was no easy task, given our 2 dogs and the fact we often invite friends with dogs to visit. I love Spring and having a green yard makes me happy.

Polishing a Turd

Below is the shed in our backyard. Its foundation is not level due to the large tree you can see growing right next to it. Even if it was level, it is simply ugly as sin.

So I decided to polish the turd with a new coat of paint. Of course, brown hides flaws better than "empire gold," so once done, I realized it needed more help.
So, I cut some trim pieces to hide the seams of the siding and to run along the roof-line. It's still a more shack than shed, but I did have 3 different neighbors say they liked it!

Returning to the woodwork

Here is the result of this weekend's efforts. This is the coat closet off the dining room.
Before, with the unstained woodwork:


After, including the quater-round along the baseboard molding.

I also spent a couple of hours scraping paint off the door jam to the closet and the edge of our mantel. It's a big improvement, but not one that shows up well on camera!

A rough draft

I assembled the bricks into a rough version of the outdoor fireplace we are planning to build. I wanted to see the dimensions and get a feel for how much space it would take up in our yard. The outter-ring of bricks is the apron and base, which will probably be 4 bricks in height.

The reality is it may be a long time before this gets built for real, but when the time is right we should be ready to go.

And since it was the weekend we went brick-hunting again, coming up with 25 or so pavers and a few other salvaged pieces of stone.

Our New Obsession

Inspired by our recent purchase of 140 or so antique paver bricks, over the last week we have been collecting additional pavers and bricks to incorporate into various yard projects. We found a place where old pavers had been dumped many years ago, so while it takes a good deal of effort to dig them out and transport them home, the hunt is fun. (No, we will not divulge the location!) In addition, during our hunt we have found a stash of old firebrick. These are similar to the pavers in that most are stamped by the company that made them (A.P. Green, Davis Hi Grade, etc.) but they are not as tall as a paver, instead having the shape of a traditional brick. But we found a pretty big stash of them, so now we are designing an outdoor fireplace! It is a bit of a sickness, as the more we find the more we come up with projects to use them. I'm pretty sure we won't brick up our whole house, but we do get a bit obsessive, so somebody stop us if we start to wall-off our house.

Here is the current haul:

Brick Paver Haul

With the temperature above 50 today for the first time in months, I thought of the backyard and our patio plans. A quick search on Craigslist and I found a listing for some granite edging stones. I arranged to look at them around 5pm. Turns out that in addition to the great granite pieces the guy was also selling antique paver bricks. These are the bricks that most Ohio streets were built using before asphalt took over. Historic districts still have the paver streets (and any section of town before 1940 probably has the brick under the asphalt). These bricks are all different makes, including Nelsonville, Hocking, etc. and even some Ohio State Penitentiary blocks which read "convict" since that was who made them.

So here's our haul. Please don't tell our VW mechanic as we might have stretched the weight limit of the Eurovan.

We were very lucky in that the seller had a dolly to move the bricks close to the van. And once home, our good neighbors Clinton & Becky (and Wyatt) helped unload the bricks. In thanks, we gave them the "Clinton" stamped brick. Sorry, no Becky or Wyatt stamped bricks.

This is the project I've been working on for a few weeks. It started as a 10-speed left out for the trash. I've converted it to a single-speed (no, not fixed gear. I love my knees too much).

It isn't finished yet as I'm planning a few upgrades, but the drivetrain and wheelset are done so I have been riding it the past couple of days. It's been fun and I've learned alot in the process.

How does this relate to the house? Now that I have the workbench set up and a room to work in, I get to tackle fun projects like this. I love me an organized basement!

If you ever need a special gift....

My very talented friend, Anne Simon, is an amazing glass artist. She's been working in stained glass and creating her own unique designs for more than a decade. She "recently" (well, recently in the time I've known her, which probably means in the last 5 years....or more) has begun working with fused glass. The combination of her gorgeous fused glass panels incorporated into her stained glass designs is stunning. And now others are recognizing her genius. Anne was just featured on a well-known craft blog: Found-Handmade: Flowers , Water, & Sky
And she's got a terrific etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5672973 should you ever need to buy your your wife/girlfriend/sister/favorite aunt/ or me (Mary) a unique, beautiful, affordable gift! If it's too much to shop online (or you're the type that needs to touch and feel things before you buy them) I suppose you could just wait until the last weekend in June and track her down at Community Festival in Goodale Park. Anne and I have been ComFest booth neighbors/partners for the better part of a dozen years. And it's all good unless we're experiencing one of those notorious ComFest monsoons. In which case we'll be happy to offer you shelter (we create quite the rain-preventitive-but hardly rainproof -bunker) but if you try to shop while we're holding onto our tent for dear life you'll likely find yourself cast out to fend for yourself. We'll be in Goodale Park June 26-28 on the park side of Park Street about 12 booths north of the main park entrance. Look for the yellow Wish Art Glass flag flying proudly over our booth!

Valentine's Day Projects...

Ever since we purchased our rolling library ladder earlier this week we have been eager to fully install it so that we can climb up into the loft without damaging the wall (as we would if we tried while it was just leaning there). Which is not to say we didn't think it wasn't uber cool when we were just sitting in bed admiring our awesome find. We weren't sure how difficult the task would be, but were delighted when it all came together in under half an hour. First I removed the extended bracket pieces while Eric drilled out a piece of dowel rod that was stuck in our rolling bar. Then I climbed up into the loft (carefully using the library ladder) and held the bar in place about where we thought we were going to hang it. Once we decided on the spot I threaded the brackets onto the roll bar (it's hollow and has a slit on the back).

In retrospect, we're extremely lucky that we found both a roll bar and the hardware as we certainly could have rigged something up, but it would have been a little more difficult not to mention not as secure as the existing system. Eric used the stud finder to determine the best spot to anchor the bracket that would be closest to the ladder. Once that was in we checked level on the bar and anchored the other end. From there we used the stud finder to locate joists in the center to attach the other two brackets, and we were in business! Here's a view of the ladder's roll bar:

And the full view from across the room (obviously we won't be rolling it at all with the lingerie chest and TV in the way, but we could if we wanted to move everything!)

Eric looking gargantuan from below tests the ladder:

And a view from the other side of the room: We are quite pleased with the result! Eric also wired the Max and Erma's lamp:

We still have to figure out where we're going to hang it, but in the meantime it's ready to go once we make the decision!

A last stroll (and souvenir seeking) through City Center

We received notice that City Center Mall was starting a fixture clearance sale yesterday. City Center was "The Mall" when E arrived for law school in the early 90s. At the time it boasted Henri Bendel, Coach and Gucci stores among the ranks of other highly regarded national brands. Since around 2000 it's been on a steady decline. As of last night Mark Pi's seemed to be the only place still in business (ironic given the chain's performance elsewhere). But we'd been patrons of the place, have an affinity for it and decided to go on a final nostalgic tour. The neighbors joined us as Clint's always looking for fixtures for his art studio. We hit the main parking garage and scored spots 20' from the entrance - if you are a former CC shopper you know what a jackpot that would have been in the heyday- now it's open season on spaces. We took a memorabilia shot at the entrance (putting on our sad faces- well, except Clint who's beaming in anticipation of finding cool stuff):

Not far from the entrance we discovered a corral of strollers perfect for securing one squirming toddler for the first leg of the journey:

Then the tour began. It was downright amazing. Almost every storefront was completely open (many had been boarded up with the scenic store facades long ago), many had fixtures pulled out into the aisles for inspection, some had lights, some you wandered through in whatever haze was left from the main mall lighting (if you go, I recommend taking a flashlight). Clint was enamored of some lighting and shelving almost immediately. We tracked down the folks at the staged "main office"/checkout (1st floor right outside the elevators) to learn what the deal was if we were interested in anything. It appeared that anything not attached: props, mobile fixtures, mannequins, etc. was fair game to ask for a quote or make an offer. If it was "attached": light fixtures, wall shelving (even on brackets), etc. they were going to try to sell it as a "whole store" and that game was likely out of our budget/aptitude. We wandered the whole first floor and - I hate when people use this word- but it was really surreal. We had a guessing game of "what store did this used to be"? And based on the dregs of what was left: literally the color of the walls in some cases, we'd try to peg the place - we were pretty poor at it in most cases (although every former Limited-brand store is still readily identifiable). Clint was innocently snapping pictures on the first leg of our journey until we were scolded by a security guard and informed that was not permitted (?!).

I think it was on the far half of the first floor (a big empty mall is disorienting) when we rounded the corner and Eric and I laid eyes upon something we've been wanting, weren't looking for last night and would never have expected to discover here...a library ladder laying in the aisle outside the former Lady Footlocker! Alas, it was marked SOLD.....but wait....there's another one lying in the store and it is unmarked...awww, but it's cracked....but we're handy people, we can glue it! And so I jetted off to find one of the "people with the clipboards" who were roaming the mall writing up tickets for the dozen or so gawkers/shoppers. While Eric was pondering the ladder fix I found "Doug" (so said his name sticker) who immediately knew the ladder in question as well as its shortcomings (structurally speaking) which we discussed as we made our way back to the shop. Upon consultation with Doug we decided we could make it work and then headed back to the stockroom to see if, by remote chance, the brackets and roll bar might also be about. There was hardware attached to a tall shelving unit, but better yet...Doug spotted a completely unscathed ladder for us! We were giddy at the prospect and giddier still when we uncovered brand new brackets in a tub of random hardware and a 9' long section of roll bar just leaning in a corner. All right! We've got our goodies, now comes time for negotiation..."What do do think this is worth?" Queries Doug (who in conversation we come to find is an IT guy who's on vacation and just here helping out an uncle). "Um, I have no idea" says Eric. "Well I think $1,000 is too much," Doug says. To which Eric laughs and responds "And if I paid $1.00 for it I'd feel bad, so we'll have to come up with something in between." Then Doug says the magic phrase, "How about $50?" Eric doesn't even have time to respond as I jump in "That sounds fair!" Knowing my complete bargaining nature my husband is a little surprised by my quick acquiescence, but I'd researched library ladders awhile ago and while I didn't remember exact figures that sounded like a great bargain to me! Eric went to the main office to pay, then we hauled the ladder, pole and brackets off to the car (oh wondrous Eurovan) and returned for more exploration - there were 2 more floors to go! I'll interject here with photos of the ladder which we promptly staged for display at home this morning. Here's the ladder in its intended ultimate vicinity which we'll use to access the loft in our bedroom:

It's even got really cool retro-looking wheels:

It's also stamped Putnam Rolling Ladder Co. (to whom I have emailed for a quote as they don't have pricing on their website- I'll update here when I receive it...and the price estimate says: $1,956.80!!!):

The brackets which will mount it to our wall:

I did a little internet research this morning and the similar ladders I found start at $779 for a kit on Ebay! I used the estimator on another company's website, put in our specs and it gave me the whopping sum of $1,809!!! That makes us muy content with the $50 price tag! (The cracked one and some brackets were still there if you're in the market. And if you take a phillips head screwdriver you can always salvage the ones still hanging).

After stashing our ladder we rejoined the neighbors on the hunt. Baby neighbor was having great fun running about the vast empty storefronts while we scavenged for goodies. We came out with a nice little haul from the old Po Furnishings. We picked up these mod cubbies (and a big roll of bubble wrap for my crafting) for $20:

We're not that mod so they may become black one of these days. Neighbors found a cube wall unit (not attached and thus available for picking), a cool mod square table, some drapes and signage display stands. While paying for our second load of stuff I noticed that the woman in front of us had a gorgeous Tiffany-style lamp shade that she hauled off. "Was that from Max & Erma's?" I asked the cashiers. "Yep! They're selling it all!" C'mon Eric it's time for another nostalgic tour as we shared at least a few meals in the CC M&E! We walked into the restaurant and it was contentedly familiar with its massive dark warm wood fixturing and brass railing (albeit covered in a not-so-fine layer of dust). There were at least a dozen of the stained glass lampshades still hanging over tables that used to occupy congenial casual diners. "So what's the deal?" I ask the clipboard-carrying Doug who appears from across the restaurant where he's been helping another couple. "Any lampshade is $75." There are a dozen light bulbs scattered on tables around the room, most blown. Find a light bulb that works (even if you have to take it out of another lamp) and put it into any lampshade you're interested in. Check it thoroughly- some of them are marked SOLD on the glass - those are already paid for and not up for grabs. But if you find one that's unmarked and you like it, it's yours for the sum of $75. Eric and I aren't much for fussy decor. While I love the whole notion of the Tiffany (or in this case Tiffany-style) lighting, it tends to be too Victorian for my taste. So while I admire the fine craftsmanship and the artistry of the details, they're not my cup of tea decorating-wise. Still, it seems like kind of a steal at $75 and it would be piece of City Center history and my nostalgia is beginning to override my rationality. There were lampshades with dragonflies (which my sister loves - maybe in honor of her?) and irises (hey, mom used to grow those in our back yard) and other lovely floral patterns....can you see me talking myself into this? And then in a little nook next to the bar we found the one. It was still Tiffany-esque, but it also had a nice craftsman aesthetic. Mother-of-pearl-y quadrangles framed a border of copper glass squares. That's it, we're buying it...and then we're done! We paid for the last of our bounty and headed out of the once-grand mall. When we got our lamp into the "bright light" provided by the glaring parking garage security bulbs as compared to the semi-dusk glow of the restaurant the rich colors really perked up (not that you can tell in this shot on my dining room table):
It occured to me on the way home that the lamp nicely complements the fixture that is on our front porch....and that was a Valentine's gift to each other just a couple years ago:
And so on our slightly melancholy (for the loss of City Center) but totally geeking (for the really cool treasures we found) trek home we declared our shopping spree's unexpected bounty our early Valentine's Day gifts to each other...and it looks like we just picked up a couple projects to complete on the holiday this weekend!

Sunday's small project

Now that the work bench and tools are a bit organized, it is way easier to tackle other projects. One project that has been on the list is to re-hang the mailbox, but to do so in a way that makes it more useful. Below is the vintage mailbox we have for our house. But "back in the day" they apparently didn't get Crate & Barrel catalogues and junk mail, so it's too small for most day's mail volume. So, using my jig-saw and work bench, I cut a frame for the mailbox to rest on and I removed the back. I'd say it's interior volume was increased nearly double. Exciting? Not really, but I'm sure the mailcarrier will appreciate not having to fold our mail like origami and jam it into the mailbox... at least most days.

Just a bit of paint and caulk and it's done. But it's too cold out right now for that.

The workbench

Eric worked really hard over the weekend and the last few days to finish the workbench. The crowning achievement of the basement organization. As you recall here's the space before:
For more drama, and an overview of the room another "before" shot (with the now-relocated doors):

And after:

All that remains is to hang our gazillion random screwdrivers, wrenches and random tools on the pegboard and to put in the lower shelf for....more storage!

Back to the basement!

...on the continuing tour of our overloaded basement. I didn't take this pic last time:
The comic book stash. It greets you as you enter the basement. We spent the majority of our Saturday down there and felt mighty accomplished. First, a glimpse at the space "before" the multi-boxed cabinet goes up. That concrete wall is holding back lots of dirt, and not very well.

In front of the brick wall above all of our leftover doors used to reside leaning up against the wall. First order of business was to move them to the middle room:

Eric assembled a nifty support system and voila! Lots of storage.

As I was emptying boxes and filling the cubbies with hardware parts I discovered that it was originally used in a hardware store after all! On the side of each box is a space where the description of what it used to house (nails, screws, etc) and the sizes are written!

The man and his masterpiece:

For "fun" we then put up a shelf for our supply of spray paint:

The shelf came from an old JoAnn Fabrics store that used to be in the neighborhood but went out of business years ago. I have a small obsession with retail fixtures (thanks to my first "real" job as a manager at a Department Store) so I scavenged the place when they were having their going out of business sale and thought I could use it to house my craft stuff (specifically coasters at ComFest). Instead it gathered dust and took up space on a shelf at the old house, but it seems to have found the perfect use at this one (thus encouraging me to continue to keep other stuff I've not yet found a use for). It's an odd assortment of colors that I really keep meaning to weed out and donate to some artistic cause (we have 4 cans of dayglo orange and 4 of boring gray for instance), but in the meantime we just move it around. The shelf really JUST FIT every last can of spray paint we own, so if we acquire more we'll have to get rid of at least a few cans!

Simple but satisfying

Here's one of those ridiculously simple tasks that once done makes you feel silly that you are so excited about it. Hanging the curtain and rod in the upstairs hallway:
Hypothetically the neighbors, if their timing was impeccable, could have been catching glimpses of skin as we dashed from bathroom to bedroom as one is occasionally wont to do. This was a dual project. Eric "fixed" the curtain rod we'd purchased on clearance somewhere. By the time we were ready to used it the cute crackle-glass globes that were the finials had genuinely (and dangerously) cracked. He replaced them with these industrial knobs that we'd acquired and intended to use for our kitchen cabinets, but they just didn't work out. The curtain may have originally been a sheet that someone else converted to a shower curtain that I found at a thrift store and loved the leafy green pattern. Its varying shades looked to be a good match for the hallway's trio of greens. Once Eric had hung the rod I grabbed some shower curtain hooks (it was even grommeted already!) and put up the curtain. Magically, it hung to the precise length and didn't even need hemming. We giggled with glee!