Photos! Progress in NC, and awesome family things in AL (long)
Been a whirlwind of travel. Yesterday I succumbed to mild fevery illness from trying to make caffeine substitute for sleep for too long; my mind was very unclear and V had to herd me to bed via the phone. Today is much better. The kitties continue to work towards peace though no group cuddle yet. I remain hopeful.
Note the windows on the right! Looking fabulous! Getting started on a greenhouse area, using the Lifecycle windows. The tree on the left is an old dogwood, infested with some asian honeysuckle that I've been hacking away on. The tree on the right is another old dogwood, with a thick poison ivy vine wrapped around it. The lattice running horizontal in a somewhat funky fashion is the first terrace that that is coming along quite nicely, V drags downed trees to fill it. I hope to have a row of gardenias through there, one of our favorites. Beautiful evergreen foliage with a heavy perfume when those lovely flowers come out. My hope is that the scent will be detectable from the porch just above. A long term project, as we have several gardenias, but they are very young and small. Might have to pick up a few that are specifically cold hardy.
There's insulation and a radiant barrier installed in the floor to help hold heat for the plants. The table area is constructed of windows that were accidentally broken while moving, repaired, and used to help provide light to plants on the ground, and later space for plants on them, depending on the time of year. Still deciding how to construct the systems, but the idea is that a drain will be installed in the far end of the floor, for excess water from plants will drain into a composting area below, which will conveniently also provide heat. But, still in the works and will probably be changed and tweaked many times.
The garden tub, liberated. It will be coated with dark blue paint and used outside in the garden in some capacity, perhaps as a pond. Or maybe a natural pond installation like this? - http://pinterest.com/pin/176695985350169549/ - except much much smaller, of course. We have some water plants... Oh and the drain for the garden tub was just a hole in the floor, the water drained to underneath the house. Seller told us it was a "greywater system" Ha!
The kitchen. The purpley stuff is mildew/mold resistant sheetrock, for my breathing benefit while living in a humid place. The walls on the left are also covered with this sheetrock, but it was painted over with primer by V's mother. She's been working on sanding down and painting the original far wall. We're keeping the original kitchen sink, seen on the right, it's quite nice. It's being held up by giant metal brackets, once again found at Lifecycle. Talking with V last night on the phone, he was working on sheetrocking the kitchen. The current plan is that until we find some cabinets (apparently rich people will just rip out old ones when they get tired of their kitchens, even when they work fine) is to use a combination of V's growing used bracket collection and all the glass pieces that we've scavenged over time. I've taken apart his desk here in ATL, which was made of glass and brackets, and have been moving the supplies up to NC. Bit by bit...
V is doing amazing work up there. In addition to the house, there's chainsawing old/sick trees, and setting up the terraces. The previous owners really didn't do much forestry care but there's trees that need to come down before they smush structures. I'm working on improving my tree identification skills; V is much better at it than I am. We have lots of Tulip Poplars and Virginia Pines, also some Hemlock (Eastern or Carolina, not sure which), American Beech, American Sycamore, Eastern Black Walnut, Linden, and Southern Red Oak. The area was obviously logged not too terribly long ago, it will be interesting to see what woodland ephemerals, if any, made it through that trauma.
Now to awesome old family things that will eventually go in the NC house, photographed during recent brief trip to Alabama:
Oak table, that is a great/useful size, from the 1800s. My grandparents had this table in their kitchen, and it was the "children's table" during big meals. Lots of fun memories, I've eaten countless Eggo waffles and slices of salty ham over it. It has a considerable plexiglass top (0.75"), which means I think it will be able to handle our household. Rumor is the table was once much larger, but cut down to present size. It is curiously reinforced, on the underside. Definitely solid now.
The barrister bookcase, from no later than early 1900s. Each layer is a separate piece, so transporting, when the time comes, can be done in unlikely moving vehicles like Hondas. When you lift the knob up, the glass slides to the top, inside the case, it's pretty neat. I'm hoping that some of the sheet music collection can go in here (some sheet music is printed on overly large paper), but that's subject to change. One of my earliest memories involves this bookcase, where I was admiring the lovely shade of blue of a particular book in it, before my younger brother was born, before I could read. I still like that shade of blue (deep, saturated turquoise). When I could read, I learned that the book was a mechanical engineering text from the 1960s.
Sorry this photo is so awkward, none of these really do justice to the furniture as it's really quite beautiful but kept in a small space. Anyway to the left, under the white, is the family melodeon. I have been chomping at the bit to get this musical instrument. It's quite delicate and best suited for music involving long chords (hymns). The chair is one of two remaining pieces of a group of 12 chairs. Mom told me that the Wilson men were apparently so big and heavy that they broke the others! A cousin has the other chair. Not certain if the seatcover is original, but Mom thought that it was probably filled with horsehair, and wood itself is Walnut. Both of these items are from the mid 1800s. I haven't seen either of these in many years, and my memory had embellished a bit, I recalled the chair as more intricate and uncomfortable. Actually I don't think I'd seen any of these things for about 20 years.
I also learned that a piece of art that I loved as a child, bright red velvet with a delicate magnolia flower on it, was actually created by my Aunt during a 7th grade art project! Mom keeps it carefully out of way of the cats in the apartment, Justice Hugo Black and Miss Rosa Parks. Had a great trip, looking forward to going back sometime sooner rather than later.
Note the windows on the right! Looking fabulous! Getting started on a greenhouse area, using the Lifecycle windows. The tree on the left is an old dogwood, infested with some asian honeysuckle that I've been hacking away on. The tree on the right is another old dogwood, with a thick poison ivy vine wrapped around it. The lattice running horizontal in a somewhat funky fashion is the first terrace that that is coming along quite nicely, V drags downed trees to fill it. I hope to have a row of gardenias through there, one of our favorites. Beautiful evergreen foliage with a heavy perfume when those lovely flowers come out. My hope is that the scent will be detectable from the porch just above. A long term project, as we have several gardenias, but they are very young and small. Might have to pick up a few that are specifically cold hardy.
There's insulation and a radiant barrier installed in the floor to help hold heat for the plants. The table area is constructed of windows that were accidentally broken while moving, repaired, and used to help provide light to plants on the ground, and later space for plants on them, depending on the time of year. Still deciding how to construct the systems, but the idea is that a drain will be installed in the far end of the floor, for excess water from plants will drain into a composting area below, which will conveniently also provide heat. But, still in the works and will probably be changed and tweaked many times.
The garden tub, liberated. It will be coated with dark blue paint and used outside in the garden in some capacity, perhaps as a pond. Or maybe a natural pond installation like this? - http://pinterest.com/pin/176695985350169549/ - except much much smaller, of course. We have some water plants... Oh and the drain for the garden tub was just a hole in the floor, the water drained to underneath the house. Seller told us it was a "greywater system" Ha!
The kitchen. The purpley stuff is mildew/mold resistant sheetrock, for my breathing benefit while living in a humid place. The walls on the left are also covered with this sheetrock, but it was painted over with primer by V's mother. She's been working on sanding down and painting the original far wall. We're keeping the original kitchen sink, seen on the right, it's quite nice. It's being held up by giant metal brackets, once again found at Lifecycle. Talking with V last night on the phone, he was working on sheetrocking the kitchen. The current plan is that until we find some cabinets (apparently rich people will just rip out old ones when they get tired of their kitchens, even when they work fine) is to use a combination of V's growing used bracket collection and all the glass pieces that we've scavenged over time. I've taken apart his desk here in ATL, which was made of glass and brackets, and have been moving the supplies up to NC. Bit by bit...
V is doing amazing work up there. In addition to the house, there's chainsawing old/sick trees, and setting up the terraces. The previous owners really didn't do much forestry care but there's trees that need to come down before they smush structures. I'm working on improving my tree identification skills; V is much better at it than I am. We have lots of Tulip Poplars and Virginia Pines, also some Hemlock (Eastern or Carolina, not sure which), American Beech, American Sycamore, Eastern Black Walnut, Linden, and Southern Red Oak. The area was obviously logged not too terribly long ago, it will be interesting to see what woodland ephemerals, if any, made it through that trauma.
Now to awesome old family things that will eventually go in the NC house, photographed during recent brief trip to Alabama:
Oak table, that is a great/useful size, from the 1800s. My grandparents had this table in their kitchen, and it was the "children's table" during big meals. Lots of fun memories, I've eaten countless Eggo waffles and slices of salty ham over it. It has a considerable plexiglass top (0.75"), which means I think it will be able to handle our household. Rumor is the table was once much larger, but cut down to present size. It is curiously reinforced, on the underside. Definitely solid now.
The barrister bookcase, from no later than early 1900s. Each layer is a separate piece, so transporting, when the time comes, can be done in unlikely moving vehicles like Hondas. When you lift the knob up, the glass slides to the top, inside the case, it's pretty neat. I'm hoping that some of the sheet music collection can go in here (some sheet music is printed on overly large paper), but that's subject to change. One of my earliest memories involves this bookcase, where I was admiring the lovely shade of blue of a particular book in it, before my younger brother was born, before I could read. I still like that shade of blue (deep, saturated turquoise). When I could read, I learned that the book was a mechanical engineering text from the 1960s.
Sorry this photo is so awkward, none of these really do justice to the furniture as it's really quite beautiful but kept in a small space. Anyway to the left, under the white, is the family melodeon. I have been chomping at the bit to get this musical instrument. It's quite delicate and best suited for music involving long chords (hymns). The chair is one of two remaining pieces of a group of 12 chairs. Mom told me that the Wilson men were apparently so big and heavy that they broke the others! A cousin has the other chair. Not certain if the seatcover is original, but Mom thought that it was probably filled with horsehair, and wood itself is Walnut. Both of these items are from the mid 1800s. I haven't seen either of these in many years, and my memory had embellished a bit, I recalled the chair as more intricate and uncomfortable. Actually I don't think I'd seen any of these things for about 20 years.
I also learned that a piece of art that I loved as a child, bright red velvet with a delicate magnolia flower on it, was actually created by my Aunt during a 7th grade art project! Mom keeps it carefully out of way of the cats in the apartment, Justice Hugo Black and Miss Rosa Parks. Had a great trip, looking forward to going back sometime sooner rather than later.