Uncategorized archive
June 26, 2008
the Victorians of Eureka, California
We recently rolled through Eureka, California, en route from Monterey to Portland. Our detour to see the redwoods surprised us with a chance to see some really amazing west coast Victorians…
May 11, 2008
in the media: no income, no assets, no debt
This week’s episode of This American Life, “The Giant Pool of Money” is “a special program about the housing crisis”. The intro piece is all about NINA loans (No Income, No Assets), which is how we initially bought our house while working as a substitute teacher and part-time at Starbucks, respectively. Another recent article in the NY Times, Don’t Hate Me Because I’m Solvent profiles a couple in Akron, Ohio, that slowly restored a house over 12 years without taking on an house-related debt other than their mortgage.
July 28, 2007
a realization
Our house is older than the states of North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii.
July 5, 2006
a bit of quick metal glider rehab
A while back, I grabbed an old glider that someone had discarded at the dump. With a quick spraypaint makeover, it is ok again (though it doesn’t glide, really).
June 30, 2006
ok, here we go…
School is mostly out and we’re gearing up to get some good stuff done on the house over the next few weeks…
April 28, 2006
what is this plant?
We planted a small garden last year and then pretty much didn’t do anything with it and most of it died when the real summer heat came. Something seeded itself and has come back strong this year, but we don’t know what it is…
April 26, 2006
the end of the porch next door
Two months after posting notice, the city’s contractors came in and tore off the collapsing front porch from the house next door.
April 23, 2006
Forest Hill/Springhill, Richmond, Virginia
On a perfect day, we went on a house tour of one of Richmond’s other trolley suburbs, Forest Hill.
April 22, 2006
towards really not leaking anymore
More than once we’ve thought that roof might not leak anymore. We’re down to one last persistent leak which we think that we’ve found by pulling down part of the ceiling.
April 20, 2006
remnants of Victorian wallpaper
In scraping the walls of the hallway, we find the ghosts of old Victorian wallpaper.
April 16, 2006
a few more plants
We’re still putting off starting any of the larger projects that we have planned for the season, instead knocking out some of the fun and high-impact things that we can do in a day or so. This weekend this meant planting and mulching out front.
April 14, 2006
installing a balustrade
We installed the balustrade that we bought a few weeks back. It is a dramatic change.
April 12, 2006
about glass doorknobs?
On our trip to New Orleans, we found a shop on Magazine Street selling great 20th century stuff, including a selection of glass doorknobs.
April 11, 2006
New Orleans, Louisianna
We’ve spent the past few days in New Orleans, mostly eating and looking at houses. This is, of course, a unique time to be in New Orleans, with vast stretches of the city still destroyed, powerless, and uninhabited.
April 10, 2006
we kick ass
We’ve just been tipped off that we’ve been named a Top 10 Houseblog by Top 10 Sources. (See also Abraham Lincoln, Celebrity Couples, and blogging librarians.)
