Heart of the House

If you have every gone shopping for a house, it is always the kitchen and bathrooms that has to make the first, and best impression.  Well that is for 99% of the people looking for the right  home.  I have never had that desire to find the perfect cooking space or powder room, but rather the largest dining room.  This isnt to say that the kitchen isnt important, but after the meal is prepared, it's all about the food we eat and the people we share it with. Bathrooms are just for the necessities of preeming and grooming.  Im in and out fast.

Hubby and I have always shopped for the project house and overlook the decor that is the reflection of someone's efforts to satisfy their own life style.  We have the appreciation of a simpliar life style;  one that reflects a style more than 100 years or  more.  Seeing the Wolverton House on moving day was quite different than the way it is now and where it wil be in another three or so years.  On moving day, the crowbar was the first item out of the box!

With paper and pen in hand, we start with the list of where to start.  I wanted the kitchen, not because it was so important to have a pretty place to prepare food, but because it was a necessity to run a Bed and Breakfast.  We had a working kitchen in the lower level and another in the second floor that has the ensuite bathroom now.  It was easiest to keep the apartment kitchen in tact as it already had the appliances.  After at least two months of stripping wall paper and paint and crowbarring out excess ceilings, walls, doors, etc, I decided visiting auntie in the states was a great thing to do...and when I returned there was no kitchen at all, or bathrooms!  All the plumbing pipes were in the back of the pick up truck.  And the water meter seemed to be running up a large tab too. But I have told that story already. 

It seemed that Hubby decided, in my absence, to complete the plumbing for the entire house and work at three bathrooms at one time.  If any of you have ever had to build a washroom from bare walls to finished powder room, you know that it can be quite the under taking and very stressful.  Hubby insisted that I put the design to paper and do three at one time.  This way all the plumbing and electrical got done in one big project instead of three little ones that take more time in the end.

We had the 1891 Tub out for restoration.  I had my doubts.  It was quite the piece of crumpled alluminum and the rim was in a cardboard box in three pieces with the forth one missing.  Hubby tried several times to tell me what a gem it was.  Ebay supplied us with the original magazine advertisment and there was hope.

The 1880 footed tub arrived shortly after.  Another jewel from Hubbies family, I think.  I could see more potential for that one.  I purchased a paint kit for the inside and started with the little sponge/scrubbie and gave it a good cleaning.  Didnt do much, but at least it was clean.  I left the bottom for Hubby to finish.  I purchased my wallpaper as I needed inspiration and drive to start.  Hubby purchased the paint for the second tub.  He didnt ask but just picked a colour hoping I would be OK with it.  He was lucky and I spent months searching the purfect paper for the neighbouring room so the colour would work....as it was not ever close to the wall paper planned.

The main floor bathroom came with a different set of problems.  The door was too wide and when opening into the room, the 1890 tub didnt fit anymore.   The three papers were purchased and colour scheme established according to each level of this home.  Now the blue room and the red room had to flip flop.  How was this going to work when the red was only to be featured on the second floor and the main floor parlor and library were designed to be teal blue.  The tub was already in the paint shop with paint purchased and sprayed and coordinating perfectly with the teal and putty toile paper.  Too late to worry, just flip flop the designs and continue with plan B.  I had lost a bit of my incentive for design as Hubby continued to fix the joices and floors, and recycle baseboards and make new ones.  Everything, with lots of time started to come together.  Hubby made an announcement that I had 48 hours to find a vanity to fit a 24" space.  It was a funny little corner with not much room.  And with the way the "new plumbing" was installed, there was no way to put in a pedestal sink.  Again, luck was with me and my friend/antique dealer just happened to have a tiny oak washstand that would fit the spot.  We struggled with some of the next details of finding the perfect sink and fixtures, but again with lady luck on our side, we found a discontinued sink that was the right size and ordered facets to match.  The blue room-turned to red was well on the way to completion.  The Blue room was also close to finish, as well as the yellow ensuite.  I found two 'cheap' sink and vanities a Liquidation World and figured these would work just find until I had the time to hunt down what I really wanted.  Now that they are installed at their appropriate room, they will stay forever.  I refinished the vanity for the blue room and actually like it a lot.  It looks custom after a good scraping of paint, fresh new colour, new (expensive) fixtures and a scrubbing of antique wax...and costing less than $400. 

After eight months, we had three new bathrooms that all worked.  Curtains were sewn and hung and it was time to retire the chamber pot for ever!

The Library

It has been a very long journey for us to get the Wolverton House at a 'some-what' livable stage.  After all of our hard work, rooms are getting ripped apart, restored and decorated.  I am excited to say that the library is a well used and appreciated corner of this house.

At the onset, the library was the main floor bathroom.  It had a funny little hallway leading into it from the parlor and the ??office/computer room??  You will see from the first picture that there is an 'A' framed board that was the interior structure for the ceiling of the tub.

For the first couple of months, hubby and I stripped wallpaper from every room, including the library.  While in the Dining room, we discovered that there was a large built in china cupboard with open shelves on the top, large counter top, two huge drawers under the top and two more shelves under the drawers.  To this day, we are still trying to invision what they cabinet might have looked like. 

It was shortly after finding the outline of this cabinet when hubby announced that he found the cabinet.  I was horrified to discover that it was used to build the interior structure for the tub.  Downspouts were used for ductwork and wallpaper ontop of wallpaper and paint between layers.  Once the room was stripped of all excess materials, it was an interest history to be found on the walls.

To the left of the doorway was a clear outline of shelving with wooden blocks to attach a wall unit too.  There must have been a large, deep decorative header board to the cupboard which was obviously built before the plaster was put on the lath.  The top 18" of the wall showed no evidence of having any plaster on it at all.  The baseboards were painted mint green on that wall and only the original paint.  It was the original buttermilk paint as I could not remove it with my heat gun or paint stripper.  That didnt matter because, afterall, it was to be painted.

Hubby had to strip out several of the floor boards that were hacked from putting in the plumbing.   The original library (or study) had two entrance doors;  one came in from the main hall way and the other from the parlor.  Hubby and I made the executive decision to keep a main floor bathroom using half of the original library space and also add a doorway from washroom to library.  This way, the little room  10' x 9' would be used as a small bedroom if there became a need.  We had to drop the ceiling height by 12" as the plumbling for the master's ensuite is above.

At one stage of our restoration, while the room was stripped, we used it as the tool room.  It was quite convenient to store everything from drill to hammer, nuts,  bolts, screws and even ladders.  It was a catchall for everything including mounds of dust.  But that is all part of our life style these days.  And although the house is coming together, we are still tearing apart major rooms.

The day finally came when hubby picked the library as choice project.  Once the bathrooms were complete and there was a kitchen I could use, the library was the next construction zone.

Floor boards were replaced, floor sanded, calked, painted three times and ready for wallpaper.  The wallpaper came from California.  It was custom printed from the original printing machine, paints and paper.  The paper we chose was a strip designed in 1850 for the Netzley-Yender House, Lisle, Illinois.  The paper was printed 18 3/4" wide on a 29" wide paper.  That meant that I had to trim both edges of the paper before hanging.  I also had to make my own paste.  It was an original recipe of flour and water. 

That sounds really simple and basic, however there is quite the instructions to follow in order to make the right paste that is the right consistancy and without lumps.  I had to sterilize the water, flour, boil, strain, cool before using.  It had to be brushed on quickly and evenly and that was not as easy as it sounds.  The other inconvenience was that each length of paper took one batch of paste.  It took approximately five days to complete my task of hanging this paper.  But it looks great and I wouldnt have chosen any other paper for this project.

Once the room as dressed it was time to place in the furniture.  It is still a small room, but it works well with the computer, two chairs, and bookcase that replaced the built in bookcase.

The last item and most important is the drapery.  As this was the home that Asa built for himself, he cut corners and did not complete the trim details on all the windows.  In the Library, the window trim is nothing more than  1" round dowel.  So I concluded that there would have been a full formal drapery covering this window (or in the day, two windows).  However, this now being half the room, east window exposure with morning sun only, as well as shadowed by the roof line of the balcony, I decided to put up cranes and have a swing rod with simple embroidered linen panels.  This drapery is then able to open up and expose full window and allow full window exposure. 

I look forward to May, open windows and enjoy fresh smell of spring.  That is my favorite thing to do.

The Netzley-Yender House before/after pictures.  Painted in summer of 2007

Sad ending to a Happy New Beginning

For over 18 months now I have been storing over 50 wedding gowns, 50 or more formal gowns, at least 100 pair of white satin shoes and many little bridal accessories.  Anyone who has ever been on the Kijiji website, craigs list, ebay, or the likes has probably seen many of these items posted for auction.

Well today all of this stuff has been relocated to a new location.  I am sad but proud to announce that I have donated anything bridal related to http://www.thebridesproject.com/ "Fighting Cancer One Dress At A Time".  This is a not for profit organization that operates with only volunteers that dedicate their time to run a bridal boutique in downtown Toronto.  Their mission is to raise money and donate all proceeds to organizations that fund camping experiences for terminally ill children, children with cancer and the likes.  Last year The Brides Project was able to donate $15,000. 

Dorothy and Steve arrived at the Wolverton House today around 1:00pm and left by 2:30.  It took one and half hours to load their rental cube van.  Dorothy was crying when she was leaving...not sad tears by tears of gratitude to think that so many beautiful gowns existed for this donation.  She was telling me that they were praying for a miracle as they were running out of sellable inventory and afraid that they might not see another year with this venture.

I am so proud today that I too am almost in tears.  It is a sad day as I am closing a chapter of my life that was with me for over four decades; more than half of my life.  However Hubby is happy as we can now venture forward with the completion of the Wolverton House without brides trespassing on those weekends that are most precious as our working days for this project.  I have no more excuses and now have to settle down to work on the major rooms such as the dining room, parlour and most importantly, the front hallway.

From this day forward, I will keep a bit of myself involved in campagning to find other bridal shops that are willing to donate to this cause.  I believe that all children have the right to a healthy and happy future and I will do my part. 

Coming in June, I will be shaving my head again and raising money for Angel Hair For Kids. From 2006 to 2008, I was able to raise and donate $4,000 plus six hair locks including my own.  I am currently in contact with "rally for life" event in our community through the Cancer Society.  I am hoping that anyone who is reading this will reach deep into their pockets and donate for a worthy cause.  http://www.angelhairfoundation.org/hair_donations.cfm

For now, I will enjoy the empty house and the warmth of my hair until summer arrives.  Please join the cause!

Baby It's Cold Outside

Well it looks like winter has finally arrived.  I didnt realize until today just how cold it is. 

About six weeks ago, I told hubby I was on "laundry" strike.  I was not going to walk up and down stairs from the carriage house to the main house or in and out through the kitchen through snow to get to my washing machine in the other side of the house.  He promised to start my laundry room and that in a matter of weeks (or months) I would have my laundry/sewing/craft room.

Hubby said he had rehooked up the laundry tub as this would make it easier for me to have a convenient sink to continue to clean paint brushes, cleaning cloths and the likes.  This was my first clue that the laundry applicances would  not be sitting side by side for a while.  There was definitely going to be delays, as I had already predicted even before the tub was reinstalled.

We have part of our summer dining room floor being relocated to the laundry room.  It is still usable hardwood and would make for a nicer floor for working on.  I am anxious to see what the 160 year old floor looks like underneath too.  So far "it aint to pretty" but nothing in this house had that look of 'lota potential' when the project started. 

So by know we all know that laundry is still an ongoing career in this household.  Even though I have picked out my choice of applicances...the Kenmore 5 cu.ft capacity washer and matching dryer.  SIL was with me when we...I druelled over the dryer, practically juming inside to check out the interior space.  It will hold up to 28 towel...wooohooo!  The washer is big enough to double as a hot tub.  Speaking of which is my story for today.

As I was on my daily routine to do laundry, I remembered that I have guests in The Carriage House for the next three days.  This means that I have to do the outside run between territories in order to take washed laundry to the dryer in the main manor. I have not ventured outside over the past six weeks, at least not while the roof was being installed...and it was much to cold to take wet laundry out into such frigid temperatures. 

Today would be the first time and as always, on my trek through the snow, I stop and check the chemicals in the hot tub and make sure all is operating correctly.  To my horror, the tub was not running....not hot...not even cold, but frozen over and ready for ice fishing.  Did the roofers use my electrical power for their equipment...or how about the carpenter who caused leaking from the master bedroom window because of facia board missing through the rain storm.  Or was it just too damned cold and the artic winds passing by the river beating  against the side of the plastic tub.

Nevertheless, who ever or what ever I could blame was not going to change the fact that my precious tub was frozen solid and I had to do something to save it from it's death and possibly mine.

Hubby and I never did see eye to eye on the benefits of owning a hot tub.  He would never think to use one and I thought that it would be a great bonus for the guests that choice to pick their B&B destination because of the extra features.  Without hubby's approval, I went out and purchased a cute and practical tub that would seat four but easy to move if needed.  It takes little water and I can change it frequently, especially because it would be used by travelling guests. 

I called service to see what could be done.  I have to break the ice and empty the hub.  This was not as difficult as it sounds, although I was a bit nervous that it would be dangerously cold on my hands.  With quick thinking, I put on my "magic gloves" and rubber gloves overtop.  Took my bucket and shamwhow and off to empty the tub.  It only took two minutes!  Clean!  The service rep arrived on time and we both examined the situation.  We would have the tub removed to the service centre and they would thaw out the tub.  But I came up with a second plan to move it inside...and save money too.  I grabbed the tape measure and low and behold....plan B.

When Hubby finds out that we are going to move the tub through our kitchen doorway and set it on it's side to 'thaw' on the construction site, I will surely be dead by sundown!

There must be a positive side to this story...with it in the summer dining room, I can convert it into a whirlpool clothes washer closer to the dryer!

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Red Ribbon Day

We have finally finished the Master Bed Room and Ensuite.  It has been a very, very long time coming. 

When we moved in, in August 2007, this room as part of the upstairs apartment.   The largest room was the "living room" and the kitchen off from that room.  Now, as it was originally 159 years ago, it is the masters bedroom and the only bedroom of the manor.  The little room (10'x8") off of this room was a walk in closet or storage room.  There were definite signs of this room having the beaded boards with pegs, nails or hooks mounted on the walls to the right and the left.  Now we have a four piece ensuite.

The bathroom went in a year ago when we had the other two bathrooms installed at the same time.  This was hubby's way of doing all the plumbing at one time.  This is the most practical way for a contractor to work and plan construction, however not the most practical way for a family living in the construction zone.  I remember a time when I had to escape the mess and visited my aunt in the states.  In the three weeks that I was away, I assumed that hubby would have everything completed upon my arrival home.

He promised that I would have plumbing that worked.  It worked alright, however it was one step past using a chamber pot...and I didnt even have the bed yet to put one under.  When I arrived home, he was so proud to get the project advanced to the stage it was at.  However, I was not amused to find out that, although there was a toilet, there was nothing else working.  Water was not hooked up yet.  There were two buckets of water sitting by the edge of the thrown. One was for gravity flushing and the other for washing my hands.  Not trusting how clean the water actually was by the end of the day, and at times it was just an empty bucket used for the last flush.  I had bottles of water sitting on the tank with paper towelling, just in case.  The guys could have cared less, afterall, the trees in the backyard were just as useful to them.

We still had the "Carriage House" next door and that was a saving grace especially for showering.  We had a busy B&B season too.  So I had a great routine.  Guests would not arrive till mid to late after noon and would leave by no later than 11am.  So that gave me a window time of approximately 4 to 5 hours to clean the apartment and take a shower while cleaning that room.  However it became a bit awkward when our guests were booked in for more that just one night.  When more that three days, I would have to use the  Riverlane Suite.  We had plan 'C' as there was always a shower in "the Shop".  Not the most ideal conditions as this was an auto shop and not a very clean one, but nevertheless, a place with running water.

So when it came time to complete the rooms and install fixtures, I had the assignment to wallpaper, paint and complete the room's decor before toilet, tub and vanity were set in place.   The floor actually took the most time as some of the floor boards had to be replaced, then stripped and sanded.  We painted, caulked and painted twice more.  The floor was sealed and finshed.  The room was complete.  The plumber was called in for installations.

That was exactly one year ago this week.  It was like 100 years ago in my mind now remembering the day that Hubby and I arrived home from work at 5:30...opening the front door and finding our son standing on the stairs saying , "I shut every down.  It just exploded".   Looking to the left into the Parlor was a "rain forest"  The far corner of the room was 'raining' through the ceiling.  With quick reaction, we grabbed every bowl, pot, towel and covererd the electronics, floor furnishings.  I grabbed the mob and soaked the water drops from the ceiling cracks.  Within half and hour, all was ok.  The tub pipe burst.  It was a freak accident that should not have happened, but it did and thank goodness it happened this way and not at a time we were away for hours or days.  The water source is temporarily turned off now and only to be used when tub is used.  We anticipate that this will turn out to be a laundry hamper for the most part!

Now one year later, I am please to say it is the Red Ribbon Day.  The master room is painted, wallpapers, furnished and the TV works!  I love sleeping a my own bed.  The past years we have slept in every guest bed from here to the Riverlane Suite.  Sometimes on rare occasions sleeping on the sofa in the Parlor, or on a mattress on the floor in the master room or library when we had a full house B&B booking. 

Actually we could have moved in much earlier, however, I had this vision of the perfect floor cloth to complete my historic decorating.  This meant stapling a painters canvas 12'x14' to the centre of my newly stripped pine floor.  The project was going really well until I decided I didnt like the first pattern and decided to paint over and start again.  This was the first week.  The second week we had another set back when there was another freak accident and the rain entered in through an outside wall that was missing a facial board (carpenter didnt think this would happen, but it did)  The wall was soaked from attic to cellar.  I removed four strips of wallpaper, sash window and waited for the wall to dry and Hubby to fix the window.  The floor was soaked in an area too and had to unstaple part of the floor cloth and put a heater down to heat up the room. 

So floor cloth was on hold...and I cried for two days.  Floor dried quickly and started again on the cloth.  I had rolls of masking tape to grid off my pattern.  This took three weeks to paint my stencil on...and it was magnificant!  The day to verathane and then the bed to come in...very excited time for me.  At 10am the first coat of covering.  Ran out!  The paint store said it would give me enough to coat it twice.  I couldnt even get 2/3 covered.  I headed out quickly to the hardware store...and boxing day.  Picked up a gallon of something that was promised to be the same stuff.  Got home and finished the first coat.  Five hours later, put on coat number two.  I read the instructions (after the fact) and decided everything was as it should be.  It mentioned to put on liberaly and with a brush.  That seemed to be time consuming and I took the short cut of using a roller and smoothing it out with the brush.  The instructions said it would go on a bit 'milky' in colour...and it did.  Two hours later, it was still 'milky' and making me a bit nervous.  By morning, it was a mess.  Dried hard as rock and nothing clear about it. 

I had ruined my floor cloth.  How could this be?  I had to wait to call in the morning to the manufacturer.  Monique was quite nice and very knowleged.  She suggested that I put it on too thick and with the extra heat in the room, dried the top to quickly for the under part to dry.  She assured me that it would eventually dry...maybe in a month or so.  I didnt want to hear that.  She suggested I sand off the top to "crack" the top layer and get air to the under coat.  After days of watching, adding more heat, and crying some more, I decided to do a reverse stencil and at least see the red of the under coat.  That took another three days.

I used the same product and brushed on a top coat.  I used the brush and scrubbed in on until it was almost dry and not milky.   It is fabulous.  Not as good as the original but definitely an aged look...perhaps better...after the fact.

Hubby unfortunately has only shared the room for the weekend.  I have a nasty cold and kicked him out.  But he comes in at 7:00 and turns on Canada AM for me...and all is well  :)

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See Food Diet...First Party of 2010

 We are now four days into January 2010 and I dont want to see food for at least the rest of the month.   Christmas finally arrived in full swing on the 24th of December, just as I had predicted.    Our tree was a fabulous price especially purchasing it days before the big day.  I wanted to find a 9 footer, however settled for what I thought to be 8'.  By the time it arrived at the house still in the stretchy net bag, I carefully set it up just to the side of our front entrance.  Forgetting that our eave troughts were removed for the new roof construction, the roof dripped icy water on our tree coating it with lovely three inch icicles.  It was very pretty, if only we could keep these 'alive' for the duration of the holidays.  So hubby dragged it through the root cellar door and there it sat to defrost before bringing it into the dining room.

The 12 dozen cookies, six boxes of Ferraros, four boxes of marshmallow santas and snowman, candycanes, truffles, and 48 Kinder eggs and much  more landed on the dining room table.  It was 4pm on the 24th when our guests started to arrive and started  the dressing of the tree.  There wasnt enough tree for our goodies.  It was the oddest shaped tree with branches missing and the bottom was hacked off in the strangest configuration.  But it was our Christmas tree and all 6' feet of it was dripping with "sugarry treats".

We had a marvelous feast the same as everyone else would have and too much to drink.  It was the perfect party.  Christmas day came quietly with a simple breakfast.  It was a long quiet day, just as we wanted.  Son number one and wife left for the inlaws and then on to India for their three week honeymoon.

I was glad there wasnt that much food left and we had simple meals for the rest of the week.  Even new years eve can with quietness.  We had the usual munchies and left overs. 

The party was on the 2nd.  It was a birthday party for the twins, hubby, as well as celebration for the new year.  This is the party that we eat like bears getting ready to hybernate for the rest of the winter.  Im sure everyone of us could find a cave and sleep for the next six weeks. 

Im embarrased to tell the menu of shrimp, crab puffs, artichoke hearts, antipasta and crackers, king crab, lobster, double baked cheese potatoes and cake, cookies, tree goodies, profiteroles etc.  There was enough food for thirty people and there were only 8 of us.  Im pleased to say that we didnt eat the birthday cake...and pleased to say that we will not need to eat for the next four weeks.

The pictures are self explanatory....many empty plates!

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