Scheudenfreude

September 11, 2010

It seems as though we are providing a public service. On a daily basis, I am told that our money pit makes other people feel better about their minor house repairs. This is called scheudenfreude, which also happens to be a song from my favorite musical, Avenue Q (you can see it here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XmZIcmRKkc).

So, over the past few days, several things have been accomplished. First, we got most of the window re-framed for the stained glass window:



We also had the closets in the upstairs yellow bedroom partially re-done:


Basically, a lot of the wood there was so weak that it was about as strong as paper. Most of the leaks have also been sealed, although that was tested during last night's rain and a few still exist.

We also worked today on pulling up ivy. Here it is before:


And after:


The ivy pulling area looked more impressive before someone threw a holly tree on top of it.

My mom worked on the curb appeal. Here it is before:


And after:


Alok also finished ripping up as much of the deck as he could, while still allowing people to reach our front door. Here it is before:


During the process:


This hole is against our foundation... I wonder why we're getting water in our basement?


Cinder blocks used to prop up the deck... I wonder why it's sinking?




Ant colony.... hopefully



Mummified opossum


Mummified squirrel




Major tree roots growing under there


Lovely nail holding it together

And after:


I hope no one tries to step out of the apartment door



Another major accomplishment was getting rid of the spiral staircase/tree coming up in the middle of our front deck. Here it was before:





And after:




Bye-bye spiral stairs!

It really opened things up.

We also had another visit from the Brown sisters. They brought by some of the wedding pictures from the early 50's that were taken at the house. Here were some of the highlights and a comparison of what the house looked like then and now:


Leaving after the wedding. The front of the house then.... and now:




Back patio then.... and now




This is the area where our kitchen was added on. That back porch led from the kitchen and into the apartment. Here it is now:



This was also on the back patio

Pretty cool, huh?

The Browns lived in the house from about 1927 until the late 1980's. The house was then bought by the Kaufmans. We're trying to figure out the ownership between the Weems and the Browns. Hopefully, I'll have time to make it to the library in the next few weeks to figure this out and look a little more into the history.

Jessica