Totally off Topic......

Ok, we all have heard that Comp USA is closing, right? Well, I was looking around in there today and come across a couple of desktops I have coveted before...and now that my current computer is really nearing the end of it's usefulness, I was a little excited to see the reductions in price over there. I am toying with either getting something as inexpensive as I can do with the computing needs I have, or......getting either an HP Touchsmart........which seems really neat or a Sony Vaio all in one (also really neat). They are both marked down enough that they would compete with the less expensive models I was considering; but of course, the less expensive models are...well...less expensive. Any technical gurus out there who can go beyond the "really neat" synopsis and offer some guidance? Trying to be frugal here.....but they're just so...neat!

A Neighborhood in Mourning

Last night started as one of those nights here in the neighborhood that makes you proud to live here. The Dickens Carolers sounded sweet, and neighbors were gathering from all over to hear, and also gather for some sweets at another neighbor's house. What I love about these events is that once you have been here for just a short while, you seem to know almost everyone you pass in some capacity. It's a real neighborhood, as opposed to one thrown together with a homeowners association which forces you to participate in things. These people gather because they like each other, and they all have at least one thing in common; they love Seminole Heights and the history behind it. One of our greatest assets in that department (and many others) was Steve Gluckman. He was the first person I started talking with before I even moved here, he was very welcoming and by the time I met him in person at my first preservation meeting, I felt as though I already knew him. It's hard to say what our neighborhood would have been without him, but fortunately, due to his hard work, we do know what our neighborhood will be in the future because of him. I guess I am grateful I was able to chat with him for one last time last night. Still, it ended all too soon. I am still a bit in shock over Steve's passing, and it will be hard to pass his house without knocking when I am out delivering bread to neighbors for Christmas. But we are all fortunate to have known this man, and we will continue to reap the benefits of his work. Rest in peace, Steve....

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish everyone who happens upon this a Very Happy Thanksgiving.....I have so much to be thankful for, even though it seems sometimes that there is more bad than good......it feels good to step back and say "wow, I'm so fortunate!". I'm sure many of us who are extremely busy and stressed feel the same way. Don't forget to take a step back and relish all you have to be thankful for........you deserve it!

Some New Old History on my House

We attended the neighborhood meeting last night, it went very smooth....there was speculation that a group of people against the Hampton Terrace historical designation would raise a ruckus. Only one question arose in relation to that and it was handled quickly and appropriately. We were sitting across the table from Jeff & Helen Harmon, who are very active in our community (Jeff is Vice President of OSHNA). He was talking about our house and mentioned COW RUSTLERS. Apparently, as many towns had in earlier times, Seminole Heights had a population of cows, and they were led down to Lake Robert to graze, and on their way back from this task, the cow rustlers stopped by our house for some........um.....appreciation. This reinforces the "bordello" rumors floating around, although I thought they were always referring to the "crack/boarding house" era when the house was home to many businesses, including drugs and prostitution. This is way earlier.....I don't know when the cows ceased making their trip to Lake Roberta, but I suspect it was way back.....the 30s, maybe the 40s...maybe not even that late. Everyone who has been in the neighborhood long term knows about the spring and the spigot out front....and a few know about the water tower in back there between 1915 & 1928. This was the first I had heard about the house being an actual Bordello. I'm dying of curiosity over who built it and for what.....could it have been built as a bordello/saloon? Records are difficult to lookup prior to 1920, so we may never know. I have some hope with the neighborhood documentary in progress, someone might remember some more history......I may have to grill Jeff some more......in the mean time, what an inspiration for a Halloween party!!

OMG! It's October!

Wow, Time flies even when your not having fun! I haven't got many house items to report, been really busy driving kids around and working.....there are not one, but two truckloads of mulch on our driveway, I guess we got a little ambitious and figured we'd have all this free time to shovel much.....we'll get it moved, eventually. The weather has finally cooled down a little so it should be a more comfortable job (if moving a mountain of mulch could ever be comfortable). The mornings have been absolutely beautiful and the house actually cools down to a level below our thermostat setting. That great news for the electric bill, which became a complicated matter after fixing the A/C hot water leak sprung up under the house.....creating high electric AND water bills.....eventually, the entire house will have been fixed or replaced, so when we do go on the market, we will look good! The market is so horrible right now, we are holding off officially going up for sale.....I can't bear the thought of having to keep the place "show ready" for over a year.....
We started Halloween decorations on the front porch; nothing fancy.....one of the great things about living in an old house is the fact you can pretty much just throw up some cobwebs and put a black bulb in the porch light and VIOLA! Creepy Old House!

Weedwacker and Friends Come Home

The police released our stuff to the pawn shop yesterday, and there was no trouble when we went to pick it up.......the stuff was at two different Cash America stores on Nebraska, and according to them, it is their policy to return stolen items to their owners as soon as the police department faxes them a release. The guy did mention not all pawn shops have that policy; so I would have to thank the alleged thieves for doing their business at Cash America. At least we know that this chain works with the police on matters such as these. Guess I'll do some yard work this weekend, the weeds need mowing and edging.

Getting Our Stuff Back

Now comes the frustrating part......you don't just "get" your stuff back......you have to wait for the suspects to be tried (our stuff is evidence), then you have to convince the pawn shop owner where they sold our stuff to give it back to us. According to the detective, some will just hand it over, some will offer to sell it to you for what they paid for it. Sounds terribly unjust, but really, the pawn shop paid money for this stuff, so they will be out if they just give it back, and they did comply with the law by holding and reporting all new acquisitions to the police dept. I guess sometimes you have to file suit against them in order to get your things back. We will see.....it will be a while anyway until we can entertain re-acquiring our stuff...the edges will have to wait to get edged.......I'm just thankful all the more that nothing more serious happened with these people........
Tampa Trip News Story

(Alleged) Thieves Arrested!

Wow, Kudos to the Tampa Police Dept. for finding our stuff and the people who (allegedly) stole it! It's actually a little bigger than some kids grabbing stuff to buy beer or a dime bag.....This couple was implicated in a slew of burglaries and much were ARMED. That really kind of freaked us out because we have kids, and if one of them had been home and interrupted the act.....VERY scary. I'm, positing their pics here......they (allegedly) stole firearms and committed several thefts. (Thank you to anonymous, who pointed out the lack of conviction thus far; everything at this point is ALLEGED) This is the first time for her, but he has several arrests showing on The Sheriff's Office.
The names are Randy & Patricia Parrish.

Break In

I would like to alert immediate neighbors that we had a break in on Tuesday, during the day; not the house (thanks, Sally) but our backyard. Our gates were forced open and a few tings were taken from the shed. We are missing a pressure washer, a weed wacker, a saws-all and a can of gasoline. We filed a police report Wednesday night, I'm sure we'll never see any of the stuff again (although I keep peering into pawn shop windows). Just a head's up....padlocks on everything!

Not Anytime Soon

Ok, we may be looking to sell.....but our to do list is huge! I don't know when we'll be ready......and since the market is so bad right now, things have to be in good shape. Not that we are falling down or anything, but sprucing up is definitely in order. So I guess we will be around for a little while anyway......but still...if you know anyone interested in a larger house in OSH.....point them in my direction....there might be a reward involved...like....a six pack or a case of cheetos.....(on a budget, you know).

Sad News

Well thankfully the AC is fixed for good....and the bills should be drastically lower! That's the good news. The bad news is that after our hard work (well, Mike's) and being totally in love with this house, we are deeply saddened to have made the decision to sell......not a decision we take lightly, and not one we had planned on doing this soon (the tax bill just went down for crying out loud!) but other commitments and circumstances beyond our control have facilitated this decision.
Do me a big favor-Pass The Word Around! It will be a special kind of person who will fall in love with the house as I did.....big old houses are not for everyone. It is a commitment of both time and money. I know there is someone out there who will love this house as much as I do.....I just hope I find him or her soon.....I want to sell soon.....I hate having a house on the market for extended periods of time, I'm not that neat! The house still needs a little bit of work, the previous owners did a lot, we did some, including the new roof last year......but nothing major.....we had an extremely thorough inspection done when we bought in '05, and nothing really bad was cited.....just the expected, replace some wood here and there.....most of the problems in the inspection were fixed by replacing the roof......the landscaping is not finished....we will continue to work on it. I think the biggest selling point will be the size of the house (3,036 sf). Not a lot of choices in this neighborhood if you want a big house, particularly on a double lot. Heck, my neighbor's house is for sale for $650K.....granted, it's beautiful and much more "done" than this house, he really did an extensive and quality job on it. Size is the key factor here.....4 bedrooms, 3 full baths, huge living room, dining room, den, office, front parlor, laundry room and kitchen with a walk in pantry. An interesting history doesn't hurt either......an elevated water tower in 1915 looked to have provided water for the newly platted neighborhood.....people were coming up to the spigot in front by the "Water 10 cents" sign up into the 70s. Boarding house, bordello, halfway house and back to an awesome single family house is quite an interesting life. Plus it is the homiest, most comfortable, welcoming house I've ever lived in except for maybe the cottage on Sebago Lake up in Maine that my papa built just shortly after this was built. Now I'm getting emotional (again). Forgive my rambling......it is an awesome house, please let someone know it is available; I am asking $500K....we'll see where that goes......I'm happy to talk to anyone about the house....but I will only show the house by appointment; I have dogs who need to be stuffed in the car and taken for a ride when I show it......bad vibes for potential buyers to be mauled while looking at their potential next house.
Thanks for reading my rambling........and please pass the word.....

Hot Enough For You??

Not much has gone on around here...its been sooo hot! We are trying to get more mulch delivered so we can continue the back yard, and we finished the side door installation except for the paint; we are thinking over a new color scheme so we will probably wait on painting that. We have also been busy watching our new sod die out....not sure whats going on there, but we think it may be chinch bugs; we did spray for them, but the rains may have washed the application away before it got to work. I am not laying one more piece of sod until we figure out what is killing everything, the other side (the driveway side) is completely grassless-weeds only, at least they are green.
Also occupying our minds has been our latest electric bill...and this will make all of you bungalow owners happy with your bills.....$702! We think (we are actually praying) that something is wrong, the bill or usage have never been that high, and it is substantially higher than last years bill. We have not added any energy munching appliance or a pool....and I actually bought some drapes just for this reason, to save some energy. The highest bill we have seen was just over $500 last September. We are trying to get an AC guy over to give us the once over...we have checked what we can check, the water heater, the thermostats......I really hope something is out of kilter.....who has $700 electric bills??

Kitchen Floors

We have a really colorful kitchen; "atomic tangerine" painted walls.....black tile counter......pretty jazzy. The floor is a slate-like tile, which I thought for sure was slate until I saw an unused tile.....I personally think the room is screaming for black and white tiles....not that there is anything wrong with the current floor.....besides a little missing grout and cracked tiles.....I just think black and white would look sooooo good in there. I guess I could say "well, there are cracks and some missing grout, so we really need to replace the whole floor", but I guess I'm not ashamed of the fact that I want to do something which is not an emergency, not necessary for the integrity of the house, not paramount to good health, just something I want to do. I have seen so many older homes with the checkerboard floors, they look so nice, and with the splashy colors in our kitchen, I think it would be awesome! I guess the only thing standing in the way is demolition of the existing floor (we are used to the house self-demolishing before we fix), it would feel weird ripping up a perfectly good (almost) floor....and it is also very labor intensive (to me anyway). I also am not sure it I should go with black and white ceramic tiles, or black and white linoleum squares...I think a large percentage of the floors I've seen like this are linoleum. I guess I will have to do some research......

Teenagers in My Area??

I am wondering aloud (or should I say-in print) if there are any young teenagers around my house...I have a daughter who just does not have anyone to hang around with, and we really thought that since we were so close to the schools there would be droves of kids here.....but alas, I don't see any. I'm really hoping whomever buys and/or moves in across the street will have someone in this age group. Any OSH neighbors who know about anyone....(I know that's cheesy, but hey-it's my kid) let me know...my daughter would KILL me if she knew I was asking.......

Slow Times

Not much posting lately; some personal commitments, minor surgery and inability to charge my camera have prevented me from posting anything monumental. I am feeling better, but still I have little to update.
The rotted side we have been working on is almost done.....some finish work and paint and it will be history, and the last of any outside work until fall...too darn hot! We will forever and ever have siding replacement to do, one section at a time, the most rotted and nasty looking gets first priority. Due to the scourge of time and weather, this will never be completed. This particular job was really overdue.
I do think I will push forward on the backyard project......it's mainly free, so that fits right in with the budget. I hope to have the entire back mulched this summer so we can stat planting stuff this fall. I'm not sure on when the walkways will go in, I figure the mulch and plantings will form some pathways to some extent. Probably within a week or two, the mulch piles will reappear on our driveway.
I am really frustrated with the front yard; just as we get the "bad" side sodded, the "good" side goes and dies......I think we may have some sort of infestation.....even the new sod we put in the corners died, and the plugs we put in last season which were doing great are dead now too....only the weeds prevail. Pretty unbalanced yard....starting to think strongly of doing the mulch thing in front too......why waste time, money & water on an impossible task? A couple of my neighbors have very nice front lawns, but I think that is not the norm in Seminole Heights. Plus these lawns are so small, I could afford to re sod them every season, which is probably what they do..(I'm not bitter). I'll think on that for awhile....maybe draw up some plans, look at some pictures of glassless front yards.......it's got to be pretty!

Vehicle Break In

Yesterday morning I noticed a police car down the street; when I got closer, I saw the back windshield of the car at the corner of Giddens and Branch had been smashed in. I have not seen much criminal activity on my end of Branch save for a few of my neighbor's doors getting kicked in a few months ago; I think it is because my house is very visible from Hillsborough. I knock on wood in hopes this continues.

More Progress

It has been so busy, I have not had a chance to post...I finally uploaded the pics of the progress on the side of the house.....another weekend or two and this will be done. The top two show the new siding in place....the third down shows the sorry condition of the wood behind the siding on the "bad" side and the bottom shows the new door installed. It should all look pretty good once everything is painted....We'll probably remove the iron railing once we're done with the siding-it is not appropriate for the house and it is rusted beyond repair. Things for once are going along as quick or even quicker than I figured....yay!

Progress Made!

Busy week! At work anyway......over the weekend we got siding up on the side we tore up a couple weeks ago (I would post a pic if I remembered where I put the camera). That's one side down, one to go.....the other side is falling off the house in chunks, so I'm assuming it is in worse shape. Side one was good practice! We are ready for whatever awaits us under the rotted clapboards of side two! We also put the new/old door in on the side...it had been on the front porch for some time. It is a good fit for the house, better than the fan-lite door that was in there, and in much better shape.....the rain still came in, but not through the cracks in the door! We still have to put the door sweep on, that should help. That door is so exposed to the elements....I wonder if we should build a little roof thing over it; the name escapes me. It's a *mini* roof just for a door. We also got the new kitchen faucet in; we were waiting on that until we were ready to do the sink and counters, but the faucet we had was in bad shape and was leaking water under the sink. We tried to repair it but there were too many leaks; it was old and cheap. So there's a gleaming new Kohler "Forte'" faucet in there now.....looks very nice....works very good...all is well in the kitchen. Makes me want to do the sink and counter now so they will be good enough for the new faucet. Soon enough.......
I saw a lot of granite counters on the home tour...I love granite, had it in our last house....but I think I want to do tile in this kitchen; I think it would suit it better. It's a little artsy, a little cozy.....the problem is the number of choices is mind numbing; so many colors, sizes, textures and materials. I will be looking over pictures of counters for months to come......

Think Tampa's Market is Overpriced?

I got this from my eBay "widget" at the bottom of my blog page. A professionally restored 4,000 square foot bungalow in Dilworth, NC for $969,900! I wonder what THEIR taxes are....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150110578499&category=12605

Tax Reform (Lengthy and Somewhat Wandering)

I wanted to throw out there the tax cut proposal outline released Friday (after hours no less) and see if anyone here locally felt strongly one way or the other. I will preface this with the disclaimer that I do not wish to have a political blog; I just want to document our time here in the big old house, and maybe share a few stories of wood rot and preservation. There are several other blogs out of Seminole Heights which do an awesome job in calling out politicians, building neighborhood support for causes affecting us, and I worship these people...ok, maybe not worship, but I'm a pretty big fan, ok? Therefore I leave that aspect to them.
I personally am in awe of what has (or has not) been done with the landslide of tax revenue which has poured in to the cities and counties over the past several years, riding on the huge housing boom tsunami. Where is it? What extra funding has gone to the schools, the police/fire departments, the roads, neighborhood services; and if it hasn't been spent on these necessities, then where is the rainy day fund? I would *hate* to think that all of that money went to salaries and fringe benefits for people who should have been allocating these funds where they were needed most. That couldn't happen, right?
That being said, I think the officials have had their chance, and I think the homeowners need a break....I realize that some folks have been living in the same place and have no intentions of moving anytime soon, so this is a non issue for them. When we moved to Florida from Maine 5 years ago, the boom was really not in full swing yet, and Florida seemed highly affordable comparably. We were able to get twice the house for less money, and the cost of living seemed lower overall. I wish we had purchased in Seminole Heights right off the bat; the house prices would have been more affordable, and we would not have the tax bill we have. We were warned repeatedly about Seminole Heights-not the place for children...not safe, etc. So we ended up in another area until we had finally had it with subdivision life and moved here-drove by the house at lunch, walked through it after work, made an offer that night. We were in love. We realized values had risen steadily, so taxes would be more than our prior house, but we weren't thinking they would rise much, the house had changed hands a few times in the few previous years and had gone up a bit each time. When we got our TRIM notice last year, the house had been reassessed for $100K higher than the previous year, and the homestead exemption was not in place for us yet, so out taxes went from a slightly uncomfortable $6K to a really painful $9K. Talk about insomnia......Many people are affected this way, and many more are unable to upgrade or downsize because they will lose their exemption if they move. And the school/public programs are still being cut due to lack of funds.....
I was disappointed by the "right now" plan, but hopeful over the "next year" plan. they were talking about rolling taxes back to 2001 or 2003 levels, but they are "rolling them back" to 2006-2007 levels, which is not really rolling back, so to speak. Then there will be 5% cuts to county & local authorities, that plus an additional 3% cut from special boards like water and so on....it amounts to a couple hundred for us....although maybe it is more balanced with the huge "super exemptions" they will propose for next year......75% for the first $200K of your house's value.....then another 15% off the next $300K.....we would be taxed at $220K.....saving us approximately $4K......so because of that and the fact that government has not shown any responsibility in handling all that money they have been receiving lately, I support the proposal. It will benefit anyone who has moved into our neighborhood over the past 3 or 4 years, who have probably assisted in making the neighborhood more family friendly. I know from reading "Seminole Heights " blogspot that there are some people who have been here for many years and do not like the direction the neighborhood has taken, too gentrified, too Starbuck-y, they think the neighborhood has lost it's identity with all the "yuppies" and "DINK"s moving in. I really disagree with that; Seminole Heights has character, the kind of character many of us grew up with in our old fashioned neighborhoods, the kind of character you can't find in "Edward Scissorhand" kinds of neighborhoods; People from all walks of life enjoy this type of neighborhood, and if they want to be a part of one, and possibly help with the revitalization of said neighborhood, I don't think they should be boo'd off the stage. This neighborhood was not meant to be a sea of car lots, dilapidated houses and once beautiful houses modified & "improved" beyond recognition. this was a middle class, working neighborhood with commerce within walking distance, trolley service to downtown, and tons of neighborhood pride. We are very close to being that again (although thanks to I-275, we will probably never be 100% again). I have never felt a sense of community more than I feel here. People should not be repelled from moving here because of taxes OR residents who enjoy the Seminole Heights of the 70s and 80s and hate to see houses coming back to life. But-I digress.....the tax proposal....what do YOU think? Will it benefit you? Will it be a non event for you? I'm curious how this neighborhood would be affected if it pulls in 60% or more of the vote next January.....I suspect there will be a great divide over this. I just happen to be on the pro side......perhaps a bit self preserving...but $9K in taxes can be crippling and I see no streets paved in gold as a result of the tax revenue windfall, heck I don't even see some streets paved at all......

Speaking of Termites......

Guess what I saw flying around my house? It freaked me out a little, the last thing I want to see in my big old wood house is a termite.....but I understand it is swarming season; Mike has reassured me that they are not the "dry wood" type which would settle in to our floors, windows and doors and start multiplying. I looked at pictures on the internet of both the subterranean and dry wood types, and I can't for the life of me tell the difference, but Mike is certain......for reference, this is one of the many websites I used to attempt identification
http://pasco.ifas.ufl.edu/ent/comparison_of_termites.htm
I will keep my fingers crossed......

Termite Damage of Days Gone By

Ok, it got dry enough for Mike to rip off some of the rotted siding; it's not as bad as it could have been, but it's not pretty.....we will need to do some sill work as well as replace some 2X4s before putting the new siding up. It's sad to think the previous owners did all of this pretty stuff to the house, but didn't touch the stuff that really matters. Pretty paint can only go so far. We have seen some termites flying around, but we had Termidor applied when we bought the house, so we should be safe. It's hard to believe bugs can be this destructive....I'm posting a few pictures of the area....one side is just about stripped, keep in mind-this is the GOOD side.....the other side is literally falling off the house.

Oh Well......

Although we are happy to be able to take the new sod off life support with the coming of what appears to be "rainy season", it does present some challenges in our outside projects. It has been a little wet to start the siding project......if it clears up enough today we may start pulling some wood off, but chances are we'll have to wait until next week. Of course the weather may pose some scheduling problems for the next several months...but we will just have to work around it the best we can...this is one of those "have to do" projects that will soon affect the inside with water damage if not addressed. Yeah, we should've done it over the winter......hindsight is 20/20, eh? We will continue to plug away at other stuff we've been working on.....my daughter *had* to paint her room yesterday, and that didn't get finished, so we will tie that up today while she enjoys a birthday party (sucks to be 13).
On another note, I noticed that the house/apartments across the street went up for sale (5309 Branch), no sign yet, but I'm on "ziprealty.com" quite often watching the neighborhood real estate scene and this popped up. This is a bungalow with an apartment carved into it (in law apt?) and two really odd back buildings which contain rental units; one appears to be a garage with an upstairs apt, the other could possibly have been a storage/shelter unit with another apt. The bungalow was built in the twenties, and the other units were build in the 40s/50s. They want $375K for it....I don't know if that's good-they seemed to have had a really hard time getting and keeping it rented, but in speaking with a former tenant, we were told the owners were not willing to make any updates or even let the tenants make updates, and they wanted a pretty steep rent for the condition/size. The main house has been vacant for some time now, and the other two back units just vacated last week. I hate having a vacant property across from us. I think it needs some major updating, but I'm sure the main house could be converted back to a one unit pretty easily. I've been in there once, and the floors are in great shape, and it has a fireplace(a sore spot with me as I feel I have the only house in Seminole Heights without one.I have a charming indoor industrial style sprinkler system, but no fireplace!) If your looking for something to buy...take a look..we would love to have some decent neighbors across the street!

Rain!

Welcome rain! Even if you do leak a little into our office through the bad door.......

GE Washer Rant

As mentioned in my previous post, we have had a problem with our new GE front load washer. thanks to fixya.com, we have taken care of it......the problem is/was this;

These things work very differently than the top loading variety; the kind of "spill" water onto the clothes, toss them around, drain, and repeat....until the final rinse/spin cycle. Not too long after we bought it, the machine stopped going all the way through the last spin cycle; it would either stop with time left on the timer or finish, but either way, the clothes were dripping wet. We looked through the manual, called the store, talked to GE customer service...no one had ever heard of this (yeah, right) and said I needed to call a repair person, it should be under warranty. The sales person (at Famous Tate's) thought it might be a chip dislodged during transit, or we were using too much soap. I finally happen upon a site called fixya.com. You can type in a problem or an appliance and you will usually get several "answers" to the problem; I can't vouch for the credibility, this is consumer run....but this issue was widely discussed here. Apparently, there is a filter down below the tub in front which has to be cleaned out fairly frequently; everything which is not laundry goes in there, change, hair ties, pocket fodder...even socks. The issue I and many other people have is this-WHERE IS THIS FILTER MENTIONED? The answer is *nowhere*. Not in the manual, not on the GE website.....no service reps can tell you about this....are there any labels on the machine alluding to this filter, which needs to be cleaned? Nope. Is this filter easy to find and access by your typical consumer? Nope.
You have to access the filter by unscrewing 3 screws at the bottom of the lower front panel. You pull the panel off then unscrew a cap......a gallon or two of water comes out, then you can pull out the filter attached to the cap. You take out the crap that was stuck in there, impeding the water from properly draining and the put it all back together. How would anyone know this with no reference in the manual? Some of these people on the site had paid hundreds in service calls and blown pumps, and still no one had told them about this. that's HORRIBLE! Something which obviously needs to be cleaned (like a lint filter, only wet) fairly frequently should be a little more accessible.....and marked!

Could this be a Class A lawsuit?
Maybe it's just Monday, but I'm really ticked off over this.......we could have blown our pump, we could have paid a serviceman to come "fix" it, and probably never say what it was because he wanted to get paid for another visit.......and crap stuck in your filter would not be covered under warranty.....

Weekend Spoils

For our "holiday weekend", we
1) finished fixing the water supply pipe over the laundry room.

2) pro actively knocked out a section of ceiling in the downstairs bathroom, as it had suspicious water marks on it like the laundry room, and it was right in line with the leaky supply line.No Leaks, dry as a bone....tee hee, silly us.

3) Hung the art deco light fixture in the entry hall; it looks gorgeous, although the bulbs are too bright, we couldn't find the globe lights with the cut glass pattern in lower than 40 watt, so we will install a dimmer.

4) Finished putting the master bedroom back together after switching the bed from one area to another; now it looks like a bedroom instead of a construction sight. Except maybe for the really ***rough*** floor in the larger portion......it is not in as good shape as the smaller part which we sanded and poly'd. We will consult with a historical flooring specialist on whether or not it is salvageable or not. Hey! There's one right around the corner!

5) Fixed our NEW GE front load washer....more on that in another post; this needs to be shouted about!

6) Mowed the new sod for the first time.....it felt good to mow grass....but the other side is struggling so badly, I'm beginning to consider a "reduced grass plan" for the front as well as the back; may not without grass at all, but we have better things to do and spend out money on than providing constant life support for our lawn. Then the rains will start and we'll be dealing with fungus.

7) Strongly coerced (ok-yelled)the kids into cleaning their rooms...it was either that or call in a haz-mat team to do the job. Mission *almost* accomplished......a lot of trash bags came out of those rooms....I'm still missing many of my glasses.....

Wow, we got a lot done...and I have to credit Mike for doing most of it.....Thanks honey!

I will add if I think of anything else.....we ended it all with a rib & corn on the cobb dinner.
Happy Monday!

Flying the Flag

We have been flying our flag all weekend; it's something we had always done while I was growing up; my father was a marine in WWII, so it was never an option not to. It's kind of a tradition, we have the same flag pole holder which was on my parent's house in Bath, Maine for over 30 years. I'm sad to see that there are not all that many other houses who put a flag out; and I can't tell if it's due to lack of time and resources, or a personal preference. I can't say I am happy with all that is going on in our country, but it is our country, and I'll keep flying the flag as a symbol of my patriotism. And I'll barbecue ribs today too! (a symbol of my hunger from being so patriotic) Enjoy the day, if you are lucky enough to have it off.......

Drip......Drip......Drip......

The tip off, the discovery and the ceiling on the floor.

Well, the plan to do nothing but tie up loose ends has failed already, and it's only Friday! The suspicious "get to it later" water spots on the laundry room ceiling got really wet and started dripping today. We thought it might have been old water damage from before we replaced the roof, but as it was dripping water, it was obviously not old.It wasn't raining, so it couldn't have been the roof at all. Mike cut into the ceiling to locate the source of the water, and found not a leaky drain pipe from our master shower like we thought, but a leaky supply line. Since we did not plan on replacing the piping at this point, (it's fairly new, for a really old house) we will just use some fiberglass tape which goes on wet and completely seals itself around the pipe. This shouldn't be a HUGE project, but anything not planned for is a pain....although in old houses, the unplanned is a way of life. I have looked at the stains and felt uneasy over them.....so in a way I'm glad I know what it is. The crap on the floor is old insulation, scraps of bathroom tile (from the upstairs bathroom from when it was "remuddled") and some scraps of old newspaper...hard to read off such small pieces, but there was an ad for circus tickets-$5.50 a piece (not that old?). There was also some nasty looking stuff I can only deduce is a rat/squirrel by-product. Wish us luck!


***UPDATE:
Ok, the tape didn't work...who was I kidding? The elbow joint was too far gone and needed to be replaced. I'd like to replace all of the galvanized steel piping we have (that orange/brown water in the morning is so nasty) but we have so many other things to do. Hopefully, this will take care of it; time will tell-if everything's still dry in the morning, we're good.

Memorial Day Weekend!

A three day weekend! Sounds good to me.....I noticed very light traffic today, so I'm sure many people out there are taking a four day weekend. In Maine, this was the traditional opening of the outdoor activity season....planting, yardwork, even the beach.....BRRRRR......I guess the thermometer hitting 65 in Maine is a little different than it hitting 65 here. We don't have much planned this weekend-we won't start the side of the house until next week so we can finish up some assorted items around house & yard and let our backs recuperate.....
We are making some progress in the battle against the "nuthedge" (spelling?) weeds overtaking our sidwalk strip...we spent some serious time and money digging, planting, mulching & even installing landscaping fabric. this stuff comes right up through the fabric, comes back after being repeatedly pulled, and does not respond to even extra strenght Round Up (double strength). There is an herbicide sold especially for this weed, it's not cheap, and it's not instant, but it seems to be impacting the pesky things. It will take a few applications; the good thing is that it is safe for other plants, so we did not have to remove everything before spraying. I've also heard that placing several layers of newspaper will impede the stuff for awhile before it breaks down. But for now, I really want to kill it...I'm so mad at it!
Any big projects going on in the neighborhood and beyond?

The Grand Entrance

It's not the best picture, but this was as close as I could get with the current state of my back and the pesky iron handrail in the way. This is where my little buddies, be they rats or squirrels enter my house. Entry has just been made a bit easier as a big chunk of rotted siding just fell off the house there (note the small plant growing out of the house close to the door frame). We thought it was through a little hole up where the roof meets the siding over our laundry room, but this makes more sense-and we fixed the other hole, and I still hear them coming and going. I hear them back up in the ceiling, after a long period of only hearing them in the walls; this makes me think they may be nesting, preparing for some bundles of furry joy. This weekend we start on the repair of this side of the house; the bump out which used to be a wrap around porch and is now an office. We will get some siding from Rome Lumber, and start tearing off the rotten stuff...hopefully the sill is ok, but it is probably not. Yes, we still have the backyard to do, but this is a priority.....the backyard will resume when the rodents have lost their access. The door has to go as well; I got a great door for $20 bucks off craigslist; it is perfect for the side door. The current door not only does not fit the style of the house, but it is so badly rotted, you can see daylight through it when you are in the office or foyer and when it rains, we have to put a towel down in front of the door. So if you drive by and see us outside staring horrifically at the side of the house (facing Hillsborough) give us a wave of encouragement.

I Found it on eBay!

I stuck a link to eBay on the blog.....not that no one else knows how to get there; just a convenience. I picked up an art deco light fixture for my front hall...haven't received it yet, but here's a picture of it.......and don't I feel smart learning how to paste an url right into my posts! I have been hitting eBay a lot lately.....they just don't have a lot of good antique/salvage shops here with the selection I want. There is an architectural salvage store in Sarasota, but that's a drive.....I go to the Habitat "ReStore" sometimes........good place for doors (if your patient) and kitchen/bathroom cabinets it you aren't concerned with the period style. I think there used to be a salvage store in Tampa.......

Antiquarian Books Closing?

I have heard some rumors that the bookstore on Central Ave is closing......one of my kids has said a friend went there and recieved a free book becasue they were clearing inventory out. Can anyone confirm this?

Police Called

Last evening, shortly after the preservation committee left my house(about 9:30pm) we heard some screaming outside our house. Just outside, in the street a white car had pulled over and a couple of doors were open. There was obviously a struggle going on inside; there were at least 3 or 4 people in the car. From time to time we saw someone get out and get back in; a couple of times we saw legs coming out of the passenger side door, kicking; it was obvious someone was holding this person inside (by the neck?).....one person got out and ran south on Branch.....the two people fighting in the front seat got out(it was a young man and a young woman) and were fighting in the street, him throwing her around (yes, we had called the police by now) and stuffing her back in the car, blocking her exit. He kept trying the close the door and she kept trying to get out. We felt pretty helpless-we made out presence known by standing directly in view in front of the window (lights on)....we were afraid to go out as we did not know if this person had any weapons. We called the police 2X, telling them it looked like one was beating the other pretty bad......their response time was a little slow; I have called them once before on something much less urgent and they had been here in a few minutes-they took closer to 10 or fifteen minutes this time,and after finally getting the girl in the car, the guy drove off, south on Branch. We gave the police a description of the car (we couldn't see the license plate) and the people, although it was dark. Up in Maine, there would be no hesitation to go out there and try to help.....here, it is a little more scary. We really haven't had much along the lines of this happen here.....it's fairly visible to a main street, and what we see mostly are the people who run the light at Florida and Hillsborough and get pulled over...our street is a natural for the police and drivers to pull onto. We have had a skateboard stolen from our front yard....a couple of suspicious people, but really nothing like this. I saw the police car several minutes after he left us turn back onto Branch from Hillsborough and drive down pretty fast, so maybe someone else saw something. I hope the young lady was ok......we try not to speculate what other people's business is, but it looked like something a bit beyond a boyfriend and girlfriend arguing. Please let me know if you live around here and saw anything....

Preservation

The OSH Preservation meeting is tonight at my house; I hope you can make it! If you have never been, it's really not pretentious at all-it's a very informal gathering of people who are interested in preserving the neighborhood's rich history through research and documentation-and we put on shows! I am not able to participate in every meeting and event, but I do what I can, and I enjoy being a part of it.
7pm tonight
5310 N Branch Ave

Porch Parties

I attended a porch party this evening; for those who are kind enough to pop onto my blog from other places, this is a Seminole Heights tradition-I'm sure there are similar events in other neighborhoods; each month a neighbor hosts a pot luck gathering at their house. It is a way to meet neighbors, visit with neighbors you might not have seen lately and continue conversations started earlier in the day/week/month. What I like about these porch parties we have here is the fact that no one who attends feels like they have to because the association says they have to...these people gather because they want to chat with their neighbors. They want to meet the people who moved in down the street, or a block over.....they want to relax with people who have at least one thing in common with them-they live in this great neighborhood! (plus they are probably a little curious about their neighbor's houses.....nothing wrong with that!) I think these events may be a little more common in historical neighborhoods because most people who live in these places have the same interests, concerns and hobbies (fixing their house) as everyone else. We lived for a while in a newly built neighborhood and there was this pressure to do "neighborhood things".....have a community barbecue, yard sale......anything to get everyone together, and unfortunately it quite often turned out to feel more like a chore than anything else. "We MUST participate in this because these are our neighbors and the association says we must....this is a friendly, family oriented neighborhood so we must enjoy ourselves at these events". It just wasn't the same........not that we hated our neighbors, on the contrary, we had some very cool neighbors- but there was something very artificial and forced about the whole thing. I was happy to note that I knew almost everyone there...if I didn't know them, I certainly tried to meet them and introduce myself. Suzanne's house as usual looked lovely, and her backyard was awesome.She has done the same thing I am planning for my backyard.....no grass; mulch, paths, and lots of plants along with some statuary and wood structures. Candles everywhere and places for people to sit and chat abound. What a great evening! I will plan on hosting a Porch Party after summer.....surely the backyard will be done by then...and maybe the sod out front will still be kicking....
For those of you not in my neighborhood...I hope you have something like this where you are..if not...start! It's not expensive or pretentious....just nice.

Happy Friday!

A long week is ending! Not much work done around the house this week.....I had two ARC hearings, and the last one (Wed) went until midnight, which rendered me pretty much a zombie yesterday. Not Much is planned for the weekend; move more mulch into the backyard....the usual cleaning up after 3 teenagers and 3 dogs....(yes, I am the owner of the vicious, barking dogs of Branch Ave......no breakins though!), and we will probably be rearranging the bedroom a bit, there are two rooms that make up the master bedroom, and I think we are going to move the bed into the smaller portion and the dressers and such into the larger portion. I'm a little nutty about arranging furniture......just ask my husband; the furniture must be moved around from time to time, and when I get inspired by something, it must be acted upon quickly!
Some who drive by my house may have noticed the door on my front porch, leaning against the wall; it is to replace the side door on the Hillsborough side-which I can see daylight through in some places......Craigslist-$20....I LOVE Craigslist! I could have gone to an architectural salvage store and got something similar for a couple bills......ALWAYS check Craigslist 1st! I've bought and sold on there; just be very cautious when going to someone's house or having someone come to yours....
I will be attending the Porch party at Suzanne's house around the corner, and I will be donating blood at Merino's Deli too.......other than that, nuthin.

Kitchen Color-Should it Stay or Should it Go?

I'm posting pictures of my kitchen to possibly invoke some comments-we are really not sure of the color. Granted, this is part of what drew us to the house (it certainly drew us into the kitchen), it is a REALLY bright color in a house painted mainly in more natural, muted tones. The name of the color is Behr's "Atomic Tangerine". I thought it was a hilarious name for a color, but it is pretty accurate. I can tell from older pictures and old paint smears under the new that the kitchen was once dark red; there are a couple other traces as well. I can see why it might be hard to find a good color for this room; the cabinets are of a medium tone which requires the wall color to be either very light or dark (or bright) to create a contrast...otherwise it could look a little clashing. I have thought about a softer yellow or maybe a red again......hard decision, this color is so...funky, it exudes character, as many of us want in our homes in the area. We don't want a "new construction cream" anywhere....
We will probably do a whitewash on the island as the wood is a bit worn and does not match the cabinets anyway. The counters have black tile on the island, and "stone" laminate on the rest. We are planning to retile all counters for uniformity, plus the island has a "garbage hole" on top, but with kids & cats, it has become more of a black hole.....lots of stuff as fallen in there from sunglasses to wine glasses (and a cat from time to time). That will be going, as a family of five, a small hole leading to a small receptacle is simply not adequate.
Any comments for or against the orange would be most welcome......the other colors in the downstairs are-Terra Cotta, Mustard, a watery blue (really beautiful-Ralph Lauren's Faded Silk), a medium teal, dark wood walls in the den and a vanilla in the dining room, which may be going sometime as well.

GRASS!!!

This morning; DIRT











This afternoon; GRASS


Thanks to my dear husband Mike for working his butt off. I like it......it's so.....green! Much better than dirt......I just hope we can keep it going. Mike also installed irrigation, as there was only one sprinkler head on that side of the lawn, and it didn't work. We also have some antique & David Austin roses planted along the brick wall and side of the house, with some lavender thrown in for good measure. We struggled with the possibility of putting in some sort of patio off the side door stairs, but we just couldn't find a concept we liked, so we went ahead and did all grass...maybe sometime in the future we will add something to that spot.

Disturbance in the Hillsborough High Area?

Last night two of my kids, along with several friends were participating in the "Relay for the Cure" at the track at Hillsborough High; there were at least 100 other people there, it's put on by the American Cancer Society. I participate in several similar events and I was happy to see my kids doing so as well...although the event was to run from 6pm Friday to 10am Saturday and I wasn't crazy about letting the kids stay overnight there, but there were so many people there, including other parents, tents set up, activities...so I was OK with it. (and no I wasn't inclined to participate-I walk, I bowl, I paint, I take telethon calls for all kinds of great causes...but I don't camp!) We got a call around 9:30 that we had to pick them up; someone was in the direct vicinity threatening suicide....I didn't hear if this person had a gun or not, or exactly where. I drove down there and found the track closed off by police officers, I parked up in the lot above the track. When I got into the track area, I was told to tell them when I was ready to leave so they could escort me back to my car. Of course some of my kid's friends parents lived much farther away, so I ended up with a few "extras" back at my house. By the time I was back on the road home, there were police everywhere directing traffic, checking IDs for those who wanted to get into the track area...probably 6 or 7 police cars in all. I could not find anything on the news.....online or on TV about what was going on....does anyone know?

Got Mulch?

The mulch for our backyard project has started arriving! This is the first of several truckloads we will be receiving to complete the coverage. This is where having teenagers comes in handy. I was hoping they could dump in the backyard, so we would not need to move the mulch more than once; but they did not want to go over the edge of our driveway for fear they would make cracks in the concrete (and there are certainly no cracks to speak of now, lol). This is the best kind of mulch, because it's free!

Bathroom Befuddlement

I have been thinking about my downstairs bathroom lately. These thoughts kind of pop in and out of my head, there are so many things I want to do....for the most part, the "have to dos" come first. This bathroom is so small, I'm contemplating tackling it anyway. It works...the toilet flushes, the sink provides water, heck-even the door closes, which is pretty good in an old house. It's just a little ugly, not so much because of what the previous owners did, but how they did it and the fact it is undoing itself a little now. The bathroom is very small, there is a shower stall (tiled), a toilet, a pedestal sink and a window. The tile is on the walls as well, halfway up with dark brown paint on the walls above. The previous owners tried to update the look by doing a two or three step faux finish on the tiles, in a deep brown. It looks a little (and I mean a little) like stone. This was done with regular paint and is now coming off in some places. The color is......aqua! I don't know if I mean that in an excited good way or an excited horrified way; I figure there are really no period bathrooms for 1915 houses except for in the wealthiest of households. Most bathrooms in houses from this era were done in Art Deco style as that was the popular style when bathrooms moved inside. I somehow think the aqua was originated a couple of decades later. I might not mind the aqua tile if there was perhaps a contrasting color such as black...but of course this wouldn't be the case....the border tiles and entire shower stall are *pink*. To me that's just a little too much. Not only do I need to strip all the faux paint off the walls, but then I'd have to live with aqua and pink? I'm not sure I have what it takes for that......I'm starting to think this will not be a simple redecorating, but a sledgehammer job. I have uploaded some pics of the bathroom...the 1st is looking in from the door, the 2nd is our shower (with a very old multiple head set up), see the pink preview with the soap dish? The last is a closeup of the failing paint job with the aqua showing through. Any guidance would be appreciated! What would YOU do? I just wanted to brighten up my cave-like bathroom!

Living on a Busy Street

I live on the corner of a very busy street; it is a major east/west through way here in Tampa. When our neighborhood started out in the late teens, it was still considered a main street, but much, much smaller and nowhere near as busy (how fast could they go on a sea shell paved road?). I find the aspect of this location that bothers me the most is not the noise (except maybe the sirens), not the lack of privacy and not the street people coming up to us offering to do work for money, or just flat out asking for money; I knew all this when we bought the house. What bothers me the most here is the road dirt. If you live close enough to a busy street you may know what I mean-it's a fine, black dusty dirt which blankets everything, particularly noticeable on the front porch. We have to hose the porch off weekly, but even then, it does not completely go away. It clings to feet and travels inside, even with a door mat out front. I suspect the dirt is composed of tire/rubber dust and brake dust. It makes my white window trim black, and is a B**CH to get off, the water only moved the top layer, the rest clings. It makes it hard to enjoy the front porch, although we usually do...we just make sure we're not in our "good clothes" while we are sitting out there. I wonder how many other people are dealing with this...or maybe we are just in a "special" spot which receives the brunt of the dirt. Who knows?

What's Happening at My House Right Now

Well, after being in the house just over a year, we have done a few things (new roof, repainted front porch, added a few plants, ripped up most of the remaining carpet upstairs and replaced some of the tons of rotted siding (the house was a boarding/halfway house and the termite situation was neglected for years).
At this time, we have killed off the predominantly crabgrass front yard (the side abutting Hillsborough) and installed some irrigation; we will now back fill that, measure and order sod. The other side of the front lawn is still mostly grass, so we are trying to save it...weeding, plugging and watering.
We are also getting ready to replace some majorly rotted siding around the side door facing Hillsborough, complete with it's own squirrel sized hole. We have listened to this squirrel (or rat, but I don't want to think about that possibility) grow up in our walls, from a little pitter-patter to some disturbing shuffling about, and perhaps we will feel a little bad about wrecking the habitat, but I pay taxes, the squirrel/rat does not, so I win.
I had the pleasure of consulting with Nikki Couture regarding my back yard, which, besides the bamboo, banana trees, giant bird of paradise and the big wrap around deck, is a bit pitiful right now.....full of overgrown weeds (the kind with sticky seed pods that follow you and your dogs all through the house), and lots of nothingness. Nikki has designed an easy to implement, self sustaining plan for the backyard which will be interesting, pretty and full of birds & butterflies. We will start working on a few things shortly...Thanks Nikki!

Hello!

This is my first foray into blogging. I enjoy reading many blogs from my wonderful neighborhood and from people with similar interests (wood? copper piping? termites?), so I thought I might try this out. Please bear with me.....I'm a newbie! I will start posting some more info on myself, my house and my neighborhood shortly; stay tuned!