Necessary Evils

 

Most things we do around project house, these days, are scattered and with no purposeful direction. It is still freezing cold, inside and out, and we try to do whatever moves us... to move.

 

We tore out the full bath, downstairs, a while back. Everything was covered in mold and beyond saving. We tore out everything; walls, wood, shower, sink, lighting, everything... except the toilet. Tonight, we took out the toilet. We thought it might be salvageable, but it was corroded and nasty (toilets are way too cheap to waste your time).

 

Now, it's definitely a blank slate.

 

Terry is trying to figure out a better wat to run the electric and plumbing. This will take some time...

 

Eww. There's where the toilet came out.

 

Last night, we went to the Home Depot and bought some "organizational items".

 

Terry needs a workspace in the basement...

 

Because we have realized that a garage is great... 5 months out of the year, but the rest of the time, he needs somewhere above freezing to work on projects.

 

Today, we worked on that space; hanging shelving, and organizing tools.

 

I tried to help, but I wish I knew more about tools and stuff. It's hard to organize things that you don't understand.

 

It's like Terry trying to help me organize my cake decorating stuff...

 

Now we're gettin somewhere.

 

Moving on to electrical. Terry added some much needed outlets, in my workspace, and his.

 

I love that he has his space and I have mine, and we work on our own projects... but together. Sometimes, I just look over at him, and feel happy.

 

Evening surprise.

 

 Mom called and said her refrigerastor was dying, so we ran over and checked it out. Cleaned all the mechanical insides, but still no pulse.

 

Gosh, this guy never stops being a hero. I called "time of death" before we even got to the house, but he keeps trying. He wants to save an appliance, but I want to shop for beautiful new stainless steel...

 

This kitchen needs to step into "year 2014".

 

and I am just the appliance girl to make it happen...

 

Carry on...

Busy Work

 

Ooh, so happy with how this address sign turned out...hope the recipients are happy.

 

The new nightstands are coming along nicely, almost done.

 

Now it's time for me to get on with my own new address sign.

 

I would really like to do this for a living...

 

I don't know, it's pretty labor intensive, and expensive supplies would result in a too high priced product. I'll keep thinking on it.

 

 

 

 

Now is the Winter of Our Discontent

 

I've been AWOL. There hasn't really been much going on here lately, so there hasn't been much to report. Terry is still working on our new nightstands, but it is just too cold, in the garage, and the basement... the work is slow.

 

I started working on a new address sign for the house. I did not like the original one I made, just didn't like it. Working on "blockier numbers" and better colors...

 

Not quite sure of the day, but it was Saturday, or Sunday, or maybe Friday, I don't know, but it was warm enough to emerge from my cocoon for a few minutes. I surveyed the compound, and found this sunken sidewalk (Ugh, must take care of this!!!), mud, garbage, dysfunctional gutters, a disintigrating roof and missing flashing, and a whole miscellaney of crap that made me sad...

 

Then, I saw this tiny little Crocus poking up from the frozen ground... Ahh, my faith restored.

 

Then the wind picked up and I went back into my den of hibernation.

 

Well, I tossed aside my own address sign project (for a while). My Nephew and his new bride have bought a house, and they will be having a housewarming party soon, so I decided to make them one of my famous address signs for a housewarming gift.

 

It's coming along nicely.

 

A little warm-up is coming again, and then another Wintry hit.

We will carry on... for...

 

Now is the winter of our discontent,

 

“It's so much darker when a light goes out than it would have been if it had never shone.”
― John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

 

“I shall revenge myself in the cruelest way you can imagine. I shall forget it.”
― John Steinbeck, The Winter of Our Discontent

 

 

Terry & Robin Get Out of the House

 

Actually got out of the house tonight. Terry bought us tickets to "Rain", the broadway production of Beatles tunes, at the Fox Theater. (Thank you sweetie-pie). This is our "selfie", taken just before we left. Really, we took about ten pics; blurry, closed eyes, etc.

 

Here we are... driving by Tiger Stadium (oops, I mean Comerica Park), still covered with snow mounds,.. sad face.

 

I have never been to the Fox before, so I was really going to check out this iconic piece of Detroit. I also wanted to see Rain, the Beatles tribute band, so it was all good. We bought tickets way in the back, on purpose; I like a fast exit, and I really didn't care about the band, just the music (didn't need to see them up close). I really wanted to see the theater... and here it is....

 

We went up to our upper seating area, and took this shot looking down over the balcony, at all of the people streaming in.

 

Hint: If you're in the upper deck, find the elevator, what a nice trip.

The ceiling, in the theater, pretty amazing. It looked like you could fly up into it. A giant stained glass chandelier hanging down in the middle. All I could think of was a Titanic moment; giant ball crashing down, people running, chaos. Why do I think these things? Too many movies...

 

I was glad I was sitting under a plain old plaster ceiling, (right next to an exit).

 

It wasn't just the giant glass ball, it was also plaster relief hanging everywhere, from the ceiling.

 

Lion heads, monstrous faux tassels, Egyptian Queens, and elephant heads...  

 

It was hideous, and I loved it.

 

(This pic is waiting for the show to begin).

 

One of the perks of being in the nosebleed section is a quiet bathroom. I couldn't help but take notice of this old bathroom that reminded me of "project house".

 

The giant Black baseboard tile is exactly the same as we have in our upstairs bath.

 

I don't have a sitting room like this though...

 

*

Anyhoo... now that I've talked about the Fox Theater experience, I must talk about Rain...

 

Rain is a tribute band. They play Beatles tunes (perfectly). They show old clips on a big screen, they change from Black suit & tie, to Nehru jackets, to Magical Mystery Tour...

 

They also mail it in...

 

The songs are great, and we love them, but the boys come off as blase' about the whole experience. The show that we are seeing for the first time... they have played a thousand times, and the audience feels it. We knew they'd finish with Hey Jude (as an encore), and we left, as did eighty percent of the crowd.

 

Blah, blah, for a fifty year old, it was a big night out.

 

 

Magical Mystery Tour

 

All of these little pieces of wood are the parts to new nightstands that Terry is building. I can't wait to share the progress on this project. We have had the same old "Sauder" nightstands that I got 25 years ago. Can't wait for new, nice, nightstands.

 

I guess... that says something about "Sauder" furniture... if it lasted that long, right?

 

Here is the gutted bathroom downstairs in the basement. Upon closer examination, you can tell that were walls here, and there was a full three piece bath; shower, toilet, and sink.

 

The walls were full of mold, so they had to come down. The shower was not functional anymore, and the sink was an unfortunate victim of demolition. But, there's the toilet...

 

We have a plan, but this is going to be a big project for us. Major plumbing and electrical jobs that will haveTerry screaming curse words, and me, coming up with my standard half-assed ideas for cheap completion of the job.

 

Today, I finally put sealer on the front door entryway flooring...

 

and the back door entryway flooring.

 

Nothing like a forty degree day to wake me up.

 

*

 

Tomorrow, Terry is taking me to see "Rain" at the Fox Theater in Detroit.

 

It is a Broadway production of Beatles tunes.

 

Can't wait.

Two Weeks Until Spring...

 

Roxy looks how we feel...

 

This is really how all Michigan natives feel right now.

It is only a couple weeks until Spring, yet it is 7 degrees and there are towering snowpiles everywhere. People are impatient, ugly, and downright mean around these parts.

 

Hence, my neglect of "Project House".

 

I eat, and sleep, and watch TV, and then I eat, and sleep, and watch some more TV.

We can't seem to find the energy, or the motivation, to do anything around here.

 

Today, I washed my bed comforter...

 

That sounds good, except that I looked at the sheets that haven't been washed (won't say how long it's been), and decided they were too much trouble. So, the sheets we actually lay on are grossly neglected, but the over blankets are "Downy Fresh".

 

I also washed a load of clothes, which is sitting in the basket on the coffee table, waiting to be put away. I'll get to it, but "American Idol" was way more important, and now I'm just too tired.

 

We did have a half hour spurt, somewhere between after dinner, and "American Idol", when I went down to get the blanket out of the dryer, that we had a very serious discussion about re-doing the basement bathroom.

 

Plumbing challenges, electrical issues, and gas lines...

 

Oh my God, too much. We went upstairs to our rockers, and reclined.

 

*

 

It's funny, when you think about it, that a year ago, at this time, we were running ductwork for a forced air furnace, in frigid temps. Installing a water heater, painting, plumbing, and roofwork.

 

Proof... that we rise to the occasion,

 

and fall back when no one is looking.

 

Two weeks until Spring.............