Love in a Time of Hanta

Just so our parents' don't worry - yes, we are wearing masks and gloves. Hanta-be-gone! (There actually have never been any cases of Hanta in Minnesota, but we could be the first!)

Full of Surprises

The bathroom, like much of the rest of the house, is unfortunate. First of all, it's small, and it's off of the kitchen (which I swore I would avoid when house hunting, but oh well). Second of all, the former occupants decided to decorate in an underwater motif. Green ceiling, blue walls, fish border, and stupid stickers of fish and other sea creatures. I've actually torn the stickers down, because I didn't like them. You can still see their stupid little ghostly images though.



After we tore the siding off, we discovered that there actually used to be a window to this bathroom! I wonder if the former owners said to themselves ones day - you know what would make this bathroom even worse? Removing a window! Needless to say, we are putting window back in!

Better than a black cat...

The previous occupants of the house "finished" the basement by putting in a drop ceiling, and wood paneling over the cinder blocks. We decided to unfinish it - so that the electrician could correct all the do-it-yourself wiring, and because it was hideous and smelled of cats.
Scary wiring, scarier paint job.

Not sure if Pepto-Dismal pink is ever going to come back....

While pulling down the ceiling, I discovered why drop ceilings are bad. Because you create a large dark habitat for mice and rats. There were years and years worth of droppings and old poison bait cartridges that people had been shoving up there. Under the drop ceiling, plywood furring, and asbestos wrapping, we found this little gem - a single specimen of a very old deck of girly playing cards. I have blacked out her goodies in order to afford her a modicum of modesty. Just thought I'd share the bounty.

Don't Call this Number...

...if you didn't pay attention in school. Because you can't read it.

Even if you did pay attention is school, and you CAN read it, you won't be able to remember this number. Worst advertising idea...ever.

One thing they can agree on...

The couch is super comfy.

(Sorry mom.....I meant to say, "On which they can agree...")

Bringing Down the House (or the siding, at least)

Before:

They tore off the yellow asbestos siding! The original wood lap is under - (it's actually very uncomfortable to sit in a wood lap). The next step is to wrap the house in a cozy fiberglass sweater and put new siding on! I know some folks think siding is hideous, but I doubt those people have to see what Minnesota winters do to wood siding. More to come!

After:

And just for fun - more pet fotos!

We got Whiskey a little bed when she was little. We knew she would outgrow it soon, but we figured the cats could then sleep in it. Now that she has a new, bigger, size-appropriate bed, well, you can see what's happened....

The Rockette-leg Whiskey always does when held.

Dangerous Games- holding Caspian. Extra credit for stealing a kiss, stitches not included.

Sock Fairy

I saw this when I was out walking Whiskey the other morning.

Why, what's that under the windshield wiper?



It looks like a sock. How odd! And look - there's writing on it! What does it say?


Hmmmm.....it appears the sock fairy is attempting to return a lost sock to its mate. Too bad the sock fairy didn't feel the need to also wash and darn the sock, or merely attach a note instead of writing on it with a Sharpie. I'm sure there's a story in here somewhere...

Deconstruction - It Begins!

Ahh...other people's interior decorating sense. In our house, they decided it would be best to cover up shabby plaster walls with wood paneling, paint it white, and then put a border of angels on the top. Oh, and put a drop ceiling in to make the room smaller.



First we took the tile ceiling down.


Then we pulled off the wood paneling. Yup, that plaster is pretty bad.


So off it came - which I felt bad about, because it was so old and seemed to have a lot of history in it. But there were so many holes in it that it would never look good even if we patched it.


It looked like at some point someone had taken the plaster off one of the walls, put up drywall, and wallpapered it. At some point, this was plastered over again and painted to match the room. I can't imagine why that wallpaper ever went out of style.


So, here's where we are. We're going for the post-apocalyptical meets cold war Russian Industrialism. Let me know if we are getting close. (In an unrelated matter, is an "apocalyptical" something that the Four Horsemen exercise on? You know, an Apocalyptical Trainer? Har har)
So, we are waiting the for dumpster so we can get rid of this stuff, and for the contractor to put up drywall.
You know what they say, " He who laths last, laths least"...or something like that.

No really - come visit!