1/24/2016 - 12:45 PM Update
The live feed is still going down below, so be sure to scroll down to catch the latest look out our front window. However, it's been up and down this morning as the power and Internet has been on and off. Fingers crossed our flickers are behind us.
Here's the full timelapse of the storm through 1/24 at 3:29 am.
VIDEO
This storm was truly no joke. This morning people are trying to dig their cars out under the bright and sun filled blue sky. I'll tell you one thing, things are already getting a little bit testy between some of the diggers and those either looking for parking spots or trying to make some cash by digging people out.
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If there's one thing I absolutely love about old homes, it's their plaster!
Before we get started, this is the first of a series of blog posts about Master of Plaster's Lime Restoration Plaster. Be sure to check out the rest in the series for our progress and more of our thoughts on the product.
With all of the beautiful details that fill any home of a certain age, my love of a traditional lime wall covering may seem a bit odd. Given the more modern trend to rip out old walls in favor of modern gypsum drywall, I feel like plaster walls are one of those things that give an old house its soul. The slight irregularity to the finished surface, thicker feel, insulating qualities (both sound and temperature), smooth finish, and ability to withstand centuries of use with regular upkeep make keeping and restoring plaster walls a no brainer if they can be saved.
If you've read our posts on plaster in the past, there's no doubt you know the lengths I don't mind going to in order to retain that classic plaster look. Whether we're restoring our own plaster or detailing how our friends decided to go with new plaster instead of drywall in their old house, we have no shortage of plaster shoutouts in our blogging past . In fact, we've gone into enough detail over the years that one of our favorite magazines, Old House Journal , actually contacted us to see if we minded if they include us in a DIY plaster repair article they have in the January 2016 issue.
Their article features several of our favorite tips and even a few of our photos, including that awesome photo of me sanding while sporting a mustache. That photo was taken during the one week in my entire life where I had a real mustache (we go all out for our Halloween costumes), and much to Wendy's dismay, it's now immortalized as part of a magazine article. She's a lucky lady, y'all.
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Wednesday, January 13, 2016
To say that the first 15 months of owning our new home haven't been what we imagined would be an understatement.
Between last year's whole house freeze and subsequent replumb of the entire house, installation of a new HVAC system, and generally the feeling of one step forward, nineteen steps backwards, the endeavor has been expensive, time consuming, stressful, and exactly the opposite of what we envisioned. For this reason, when something fun, interesting, or positive happens, we're making every attempt to make the most of it.
We jump for joy each time we discover a "new" antique bottle in the yard or washed up on the sand.
Through our "treasure hunts" we've amassed a small collection of eclectic bottles, and I'm having a great time working them into several rooms of the house.
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Things have been a little hectic of late, but our 12 DIYs of Christmas are nearly complete.
I started this goal of accomplishing 12 nagging tasks with every confidence I'd finish them all of without issue. But as DIYs tend to go, several little things got it in the way of successfully completing all 12 prior to Christmas January 6th, the official 12th day of Christmas.
A very rainy week of weather kept me from making adjustments to our garden gate to allow it to close without sticking. This was supposed to be DIY #12. I'm waiting for a bit of dry weather that's over 40 degrees for a little while, which may not be for some time. And frustrations with our attic furnace have kept me from finishing up DIY #9, the install of our new thermostat. At this point I've even replaced a few parts on the furnace in an attempt to resolve the fact the thermostat isn't getting 24 volts of power over the common wire as the wiring diagram suggests it should. Let's just say, I'm very familiar with this diagram now.
It's been a frustrating couple of projects to say the least. However, and this is a big however, we were able to get DIY 10 and 11 wrapped up before the January 6th deadline. These were both located at our new house, and both were shockingly boring in comparison to a major event that happened when we were there last weekend working on these projects. That's because, we officially met our neighborhood pig!
Yes, it's true, she's amazing! We don't know her name yet, but we're going with Petunia until we learn it. I'll let Wendy fill you in on more details about her next week.
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Thursday, December 31, 2015
Though I realize we're already beyond Christmas, we're in the home stretch on my 12 DIYs of Christmas nagging project goals.
The holidays bring so much joyous fervor and enjoyable obligations that it's often tough to squeeze in the time necessary to check projects off your list. In the past this has always been our excuse for why we don't get much accomplished during the month of December. I mean, when you have amazing traditions like the Scottish Christmas Walk...
...the neighborhood Gingerbread competition...
...and what seems like an endless stream of get togethers and holiday parties, it's not hard to come up with some good excuses.
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