Upon the Ridgetopstag:,2012:/52011-03-17T05:29:25ZMovable Type Pro 4.21-enRearrangingtag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2011://5.32412011-03-17T04:35:24Z2011-03-17T05:29:25Z I know I have been gone for quite some time. But as you can imagine taking care of a baby is a huge task. But add in dealing with a high maintenance 11 yr old, homeschooling the 2 boys,...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
I know I have been gone for quite some time. But as you can imagine taking care of a baby is a huge task. But add in dealing with a high maintenance 11 yr old, homeschooling the 2 boys, the baby having a 3 day hospital stay when she was two weeks old, hubby totaling the car around the same time {he was fine thankfully!}, taking a week long road trip when she was about a month old, overhauling our eating habits thanks to a milk protein allergy the baby has and you have a glimpse of our craziness. =)
I have to say I have been struggling with this no dairy diet since we discovered the lil girl has a milk protein allergy. She breaks out in a rash when I eat even a miniscule amount of a milk proterin. I LOVE pizza. I LOVE cheese, cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, strawberry milkshakes, cookies, cakes, puddings, macNcheese, lasanga, garlic bread, BUTTER...ok so I could go on and on. But they are all on the "Do Not Touch" list now. But I think I am finally making headway and discovering options. Thanks to places like godairyfree.org I am beginning to function in the kitchen again. And thank goodness for milk alternatives like rice and almond milk as well as Earth Balance's alternative but natural butter. Oh and these definitely help with the sweet tooth cravings. I would not have known I wasn't eating ice cream.
Eating out is very challenging but with the "Cheat Sheets" that godairyfree has it really helps to know what I can and cannot have. Of course I always double check before consuming. You would not believe the amount of things that have some form of milk protein. Things you wouldn't think like fried rice seasoning packets and vegan cheese just to name a couple of things. But on the positive side of things I have been losing weight.
Ok now onto news about the house. Previously I posted how we remodeled the hallway to house the washing machine and dryer. Well the day before we were to go into the hospital to have our little girl we found a way to rearrange the living room for optimal space. You see our living room is small. Very small. But since we no longer had a hallway to have to get back to using the living room we could now move the armoir to that side of the room and really open up the living room. And thats what we did. We have loved the result every since.
Hubby also built in some shelving for a mini pantry next to the wash area. He will eventually put a door on it and put some shelving under the stairs for more pantry space. I am slowly getting some space into my itty bitty kitchen.
And on a totally unrelated note I have been making my own laundry soap. I had been buying it from Crunchy Clean and I do love it. But shipping was killing my budget. So I found a recipe online to make my own. I used the following recipe:
1 cup Washing soda
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup Oxy clean
1 bar grated Dr.Bonners Tea Tree Organic Bar Soap (5oz bar)
I then grated the soap, combined all ingredients and ran thru the blender on crumble setting. It was quick and easy peasy. I still have the really cute wooden scoops from Crunchy Clean so I used that to scoop. Usually I use 1 scoop for a load - sometimes 2 if its a heavily soiled load. And if I had wanted to I could have added some essential or fragrance oils to the soap when I was making the mix but for now I'm sticking with the plain jane soap. Since adding the oils only makes the soap smell nice...not the clothes.
Well slowly but surely we are returning from our baby induced "stupor" lol. We are also beginning to return to working on the house again. Thankfully spring is on the horizon. So that means it will also be warm enough to get some outdoor projects completed.
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Our December Baby Has Arrivedtag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32402010-12-30T02:11:46Z2011-04-26T19:51:16Z Our little girl arrived at 1:43pm on Monday December 27th, 2010. She weighed 6lbs and 7oz and was 20 inches long. We are very much in love with our little girl. =))...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
Our little girl arrived at 1:43pm on Monday December 27th, 2010. She weighed 6lbs and 7oz and was 20 inches long. We are very much in love with our little girl. =))]]>
December Snowfalltag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32392010-12-08T14:16:59Z2010-12-08T14:34:30Z December 4 we had a doctor appointment and a baby shower to goto. That day we woke up at 5 am to check and see if the snow had started falling. It was just lightly snowing at that point....Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
December 4 we had a doctor appointment and a baby shower to goto. That day we woke up at 5 am to check and see if the snow had started falling. It was just lightly snowing at that point. We did discover our momma cat, 'Taka, had gotten into a package of donuts that had been reserved for the boys. That certainly didn't make my 5am very cheerful. Since the roads weren't bad yet we went back to bed and got back up sometime around 6ish. We then peeked out the window and the snow was glistening as it fell. I knew it was going to be a very wet snow from that. So on the road we went for our appointment. It was a slow and steady snow through the morning and into the afternoon. By time we got back home from our appointment and errands it was already almost 3 inches of snowfall.
A view from our front yardThe big cedar in the back yard.Snowfall on a baby cedar.Tufts of snow.Our indoor cat Huckleberry not sure what to think of the snow.
It continued to snow all night Saturday, Sunday, Monday and into Tuesday morn when it finally let up. It was very light snow so accumulation wasn't too much but wow that still was a lot of snow considering it's not even winter here yet. All told we saw over 3 inches of snow with this round.
This morning's view from the front door ~ it was only 7 degrees outside and still plenty of snow. The icicles fell off the roof yesterday tho.
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Washroomtag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32382010-12-08T13:38:40Z2010-12-08T14:13:35Z Well I guess it isn't exactly a washroom but we now have room to wash! We finished up the majority of the hallway remodel so that we could get the stackable washer/dryer into place. We found the appliance off...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
Well I guess it isn't exactly a washroom but we now have room to wash! We finished up the majority of the hallway remodel so that we could get the stackable washer/dryer into place. We found the appliance off of craigslist and paid only $200 for it. Not bad considering those stackables go for about $800 or so new. Even used a lot of them are going for over $350.
In the above image you can see the wall that had to be removed. It divided the hallway from the kitchen.
This is what it looked like with the above wall removed. On the floor you will notice the cavity for the water pipes. We had to re-route the plumbing to cap those off at the kitchen wall. Hubby also had to re-route some of the electrical wiring.
On one of the coldest days of the year {it has since gotten colder tho} Hubby had to crawl under the house to add some plumbing. Poor guy. The timing couldn't have been worse. But he did it just the same. Thankfully it was only one day devoted to outdoor plumbing. Once all of the power and plumbing was in place the boys helped their daddy move the unit into place.
So we now have a functioning washer and dryer just in time for winter...and soon to be bebe. It took the 4 day weekend plus a Sunday from the following weekend to get it ready and in place. We stayed up really late Sunday testing the washer and dryer. It worked fine so Monday and Tuesday all I did was laundry!
Eventually the area next to the washer/dryer will be the "pantry". Currently we are using an old toy box for our pantry. Once we get the shelves installed I can move the contents from the box onto the shelves to give us more room in the kitchen.
All in all I'm really glad we have a washer dryer inside now. It was a better use of space instead of one long hallway that didn't serve much of a purpose anyway. We don't have a lot of time to get to the laundry mat so it gives a lot of points in time management. Not to mention being able to stay on top of the laundry now means I can be more organized - something that had been driving me crazy.
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Fall Snowtag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32372010-12-08T13:26:27Z2010-12-08T13:38:21Z We saw our first snowfall of the season on the 26th of November. We had been up late remodeling the hallway and around midnight it started coming down. We awoke to the above scenery. That day we saw about...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
We saw our first snowfall of the season on the 26th of November. We had been up late remodeling the hallway and around midnight it started coming down. We awoke to the above scenery. That day we saw about 1/2 an inch of snow. It was more than the dusting they were expecting.
First snowfall of the year. Snowfall around midnight.
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Occupancytag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32342010-11-24T17:44:58Z2010-11-24T20:21:40Z It's been really busy lately - esp with so few weeks left with the baby getting here. But we have been getting things done on the house. A few weekends back hubby installed the risers on the stairs and...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
It's been really busy lately - esp with so few weeks left with the baby getting here. But we have been getting things done on the house. A few weekends back hubby installed the risers on the stairs and put the current rail back up and the newel post and handrail. The following weekend he installed all but three balusters since he was short three balusters screws. So a run to Lowes was made in order to get the scews and he put them in place that night.
This past Saturday we called the electrical inspector out for the final inspection. We anxiously awaited his arrival and he finally came. His assistant actually came in and looked the place over. it was short and sweet. The long awaited green sticker was handed over to us ~ which means we no longer need any more electrical inspections!
After getting the final electrical inspection we could now call out the building inspector. So we arranged for him to come out on Tuesday between 4:00 - 4:30. This was to be the last inspection of all the inspections. The grand finale if you will. So this one counted the most. Especially since we really have to get occupancy for the upstairs before we our baby gets here! And guess what? He actually passed us! Talk about a huge relief!
So this means that now we no longer have to pass anything by inspectors in order to make changes to our home. So from here on out we are free to remodel or change things as we please. And speaking of that we have planned this holiday weekend a small remodel job that will involve building a spot in the hallway for the washing machine and dryer. This was not in our original plans but became a necessary thing. So we will be up to our ears in plumbing, building and moving electrical lines this 4 day weekend we have coming up. ]]>
Shaping Uptag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32332010-10-25T04:00:00Z2010-10-25T12:33:26Z That row of 2 boards above the window was all that our room needed to be completed. Well I know its been well over a month since my last update. So much has been going on lately. First off...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.comThat row of 2 boards above the window was all that our room needed to be completed.
Well I know its been well over a month since my last update. So much has been going on lately. First off all is good with the baby. I can hardly believe there is only about 2 months left to go before she is due to arrive.
We have been trying hard to get things done around here. Over the past month hubby has been getting the wallboards up. He finished the wall in our room - as can be seen in the above photo. So our room is complete as far as wall boards go. Eventually we will add trim and paint the walls but it probably wont happen before we go to inspection.
The finished wall of the boys room - you can see the unfinished closet area.
Also recently he finished getting one wall in the boys room complete and Saturday he finished one side of a window wall until he ran out of boards. All he has left in there is the closet area, half of 1 window wall, all of the other window wall, and a few boards at the top of the 3rd wall. Now we are waiting to get some more boards to finish that out. We just bought the silicone to seal up the outside of the upstairs windows. They still need the trim boards for them outside. We still have to purchase the boards for the risers on the stairs and boards for the rest of the walls in the boys' room. These are the only areas holding us up from going to inspection and getting the final ok for everything so that we won't have any more inspections to go through.
We didn't see the prettiest fall this year. The heat dried everything up and leaves were parched and falling off earlier than usual this year. The grass died early too. Now we have been seeing some frosts and temperatures are ranging from highs in the 60s and 70s. The lows have been down to 34 but last night was hot being in the 60s. It's supposed to be getting very windy today. We are looking at gusts of 50mph with this approaching cold front we are getting today. Windy and rainy is the forecast today - ought to make for a cozy day inside.
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Cooling Down tag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32282010-09-09T14:36:14Z2010-09-09T14:36:48Z Well things have certainly been cooling down since I last posted here. That is a wonderful thing in itself. You can just feel fall in the air. A lot of leaves are on the ground these days making it...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
Well things have certainly been cooling down since I last posted here. That is a wonderful thing in itself. You can just feel fall in the air. A lot of leaves are on the ground these days making it feel like fall is fast approaching.
In the meantime we have been making some progress on the house. A few weekends ago hubby installed the wallboards in the stair hall. Then this past labor day weekend hubby put up one side of the staircase - the balusters and newel post. It turned out looking better than I imagined - since the balusters are really made for decking and were going to only be temporary. We are also using a 2 x 4 for the handrail - but even without paint I was surprised that it all came together and looked pretty decent. Unfortunately we forgot to install the risers on the stairs first so he will have to take it all down, install the risers and then put it all back. This past weekend we also managed to lay some temporary flooring in the kitchen. Main reason I needed to have something on the floor was clean-ability. Kitchens and bare plywood floors just don't ever look clean - no matter how much you scrub. The floors were too messed up for staining and I really didn't like the idea of a painted plywood floor - too many grooves from the wood - thus still hard to clean which I learned from the last painted floor we had. So we went with a vinyl {shudder} floor. I hated going with vinyl for its plastic-ness - but ease of cleaning wins now that a baby is on the way. Now my kitchen somewhat resembles a home and the floors are a million times easier to clean. Eventually we will do the living room floor as well. It will get us by until we have the budget for the hardwood floors which most likely will be available sometime next year.
Time is flying - I am approaching my third trimester in this pregnancy already. We have a lot left to do and get before this little girl arrives. We have been moving forward - tho very slowly but I think things are beginning to pick up again around here.
Yesterday our neighbor's horse whom we haven't been seeing out to pasture lately was up near the house. The boys enjoyed getting some petting time with her while she enjoyed the shrubbery. She is a fickle thing about being photographed but she didn't seem to mind yesterday. It was nice to see her out and about again. I had been wondering if she was ill or something. ]]>
Sweltering Summertag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32262010-08-04T19:21:27Z2010-08-04T19:45:23Z I do believe this is the hottest its been since we have been up here. We have a record high of 102! Our heat indexes are rivaling those of Southern Mississippi! Florida's heat index is cooler than ours...if a...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
I do believe this is the hottest its been since we have been up here. We have a record high of 102! Our heat indexes are rivaling those of Southern Mississippi! Florida's heat index is cooler than ours...if a heat index of 107 can really be cooler than 114! Hope all are staying as cool as can be with this heat wave.
I observed this year that things bloomed a little earlier than usual. The locust trees leaves turned yellow before Summer even began. Normally they do so after the beginning of Summer. Also the blackberries produced an unusual large size and in abundance. I am wondering if this weather pattern has anything to do with those things.
Well besides the weather not much has been going on. We are working on getting our fencing for the lagoon so we can be finished with that.
Last Thursday we went to the dr's and the baby is still healthy and active. The tech also said looks like its a girl! That would certainly be a first after having three boys! I guess time will tell.
We missed most of Saturday & all of Sunday of the DC because our oldest got sick with high fever, headache and throwing up. Monday K got the same thing. Hubby and I are hoping not to get it but it's not looking that promising since it starts with an innocent scratchy throat and runny nose - a lot like allergies. *sigh*
Well that about sum things up around here. ]]>
Absence Explainedtag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32222010-07-20T19:33:22Z2010-07-20T20:16:09ZI have a good reason for not having been around much for quite some time. We are expecting. I'm currently 16 weeks. Last year we lost our baby boy when I was 16 weeks. So I am at that pivotal...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
Hubby has been experiencing sympathy pains. I was exhausted the first several months. I haven't gained a lot of energy really. Sadly he has been unexplainably tired too. Which means we haven't been getting a whole lot done for upstairs like we had expected. But he does have the smoke detectors installed upstairs - which finishes up all the electrical for the entire house. He also finished putting up the boards on the hallway back wall. We have a few top boards to put up in our room on the South wall and the staircase walls have to be completely boarded. The boys' room also needs boards put up. The stairs still have to be "finished" which means just a real simple stair solution until later down the road when the real staircase can be finished out. Also we have to put some outside boards upstairs for the windows and I believe that will complete things to get the final inspection of upstairs. He has been slowly getting back into the swing of things. We have yet another deadline - hopefully we can make this one though. ]]>
Master Bedroom Almost Completetag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32162010-06-11T14:42:43Z2010-06-11T16:10:00Z Sorry it's been awhile since I have made an update. A lot has transpired and I have been really busy or just plain tired. That said, back in May we pushed and pushed and we still did not make...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
Sorry it's been awhile since I have made an update. A lot has transpired and I have been really busy or just plain tired. That said, back in May we pushed and pushed and we still did not make our deadline of final inspection on May 21st. That was rather frustrating and disappointing. We had company coming the 22nd so we needed an extra room for sleeping and so the inspector gave us the okay to use one of the rooms upstairs. Phew. That was a lifesaver.
The week my friend came to stay she had a lot planned. She arrived by train early Saturday. I saw a lot of Kentucky that week hehe. It was a full and busy week and I hope she had a good time despite dealing with our bipolar child.
We haven't done a whole lot on the house since she was here. We have been recuperating from pushing so much in May. We did move some things around. He moved the fireplace mantle into our room. The mantle was the one found in the house that hubby's Italian great great grandmother lived in down in south Louisiana. The house dated to the turn of the 19th century. Then he moved the antique dome top trunk of mine which I had bought when I was about 17. It dates to the early 1880s. Also for safety reasons we moved the butter churn that was hubby's great grandmother's {or was it his great great grandmothers - don't remember for sure now}. Eventually it will be relocated into the kitchen. But for now I have no place for it there. So in our bedroom it stays for safe keeping.
View from the doorway.
In the photo above you can see the walls and ceiling. Currently there is no trim on anything. That will come much later. A lot of people who see the wallboards think they ought to be stained. But we really want to paint the walls. I need color! The ceiling is v-groove boards that have no seam whatsoever. We will eventually stain the floors but I am researching a lot of options first. For downstairs I am going to be trying a solution of iron/vinegar to see what color stain it gives to pine. Our downstairs floor is currently a subfloor made of plywood and I am tired of a bare floor. I have painted a floor before {using porch paint} and I am not crazy about that with the amount of traffic my downstairs would receive. Our boys are extra rough on floors. So I want to try staining but I don't want any chemical stuff. Thus I am trying the vinegar/iron. I heard it gives reddish brown results. I am looking forward to trying it. If it works out I might be applying it to the upstairs floors. But time will tell.
In the meantime we got to finally set up our new bed! In the nearly 13 years we have been married we never bought a bed. So we figured it was time to do so. It's a cast iron bed and the finish is an antique white. We both love it. Eventually we will get real mattresses instead of the air bed thats currently resting on it.
The doors have yet to be installed in the rooms. I didn't show the opposite wall of the master bedroom because it's full of tools, ect. There are also a few boards that need to go up in order to complete the wallboards. Hubby plans on working in the stairway this weekend. He plans on putting the wallboards up for the stair walls. We will be moving things in the boys room in preperation of getting work done in there. A lot of wallboards are needing to go up in that room. Plus we have to get the stairs finished so we can eventually go to final inspection. At this point we have no deadline except maybe...December. But hopefully we will have it done long before that.
We didn't end up doing much with the garden. *sigh* We did plant a few tomatoes and the broccoli plants we bought. So we will find out how they do. The boys discovered a 2nd mulberry tree so we have two on our property that we know of. Also the black raspberries are coming ripe so we are in the process of picking them. I LOVE black raspberries. I think they are way better than blackberries!
Well thats really about all the news I have to share for now. Hubby will be most delighted to finally see this post lol. He drops me a line from work every other day or so asking for an update on ridgetops hehe. ]]>
An Insulated Housetag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.32002010-05-13T11:37:05Z2010-05-13T12:18:39Z Looking thru the master bedroom's doorway into the "hallway" and into the boys' room. Last Saturday we had a guy come over to do some yard work. We had just a few weeks ago moved these windows from upstairs...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.comLooking thru the master bedroom's doorway into the "hallway" and into the boys' room.
Last Saturday we had a guy come over to do some yard work. We had just a few weeks ago moved these windows from upstairs to outside against the front of the house. We had to make room upstairs to work. But unfortunately we were too busy to move them into the trailer, like planned, before the torrential rains came and drenched them quite thoroughly. So when we had the fellow over for yard & misc work he moved them into the trailer for us. That was such a relief. Next he mowed our yard. We hadn't mowed since spring so it was entirely needed. Hubby just didn't have time to devote to it. It doesn't help our mowers are down at the moment. After that hubby had him finish hoeing up the garden. Phew! So glad that has been done.
Now for the work we have been accomplishing upstairs. First came the insulating. While hubby was at work one day a few weeks back, the boys and I did the two outer walls. I cut the insulation and my 10 year old stapled it to the walls. You can see one of the walls in the photo above. He was a big help - even if he accidentally stapled {twice} the aluminum ladder he was on and now the staple gun doesn't work right hehe.
A blue ceiling of sorts.
Right before the boys and I did our job hubby had installed half of the entire roof's foam board which is blue. It actually should have been installed with the tin but we were not aware of it then so it gets added on afterwards. After hubby finished the other half it was kind of neat looking up and seeing a blue "ceiling". It almost looked like a blue sky.
Now once that was complete it was time to finish insulating. Hubby and I got to it and we got the ceiling completely insulated as well as all but one small corner of the entire upstair walls. We soooo hate fiberglass insulation. We would have much preferred the wool insulation, but we would have needed much more time to build the funds for that....something we don't have right now...time. But what a difference the insulation has made! Before when it rained it was so loud, esp if it was a heavy downpour, that we would have to speak loud, even downstairs. But now that it's insulated we no longer have that problem. Plus we don't have to worry about the wind blowing rain into the ridgecaps and down onto us while we are sleeping! I'll never understand why they make those things so open so that rain can drip into your house! But our inspector doesn't want us closing it up in any way.
The wallboards are "v groove" tongue and groove boards that are installed backwards for the flat side. The ceiling boards are the same except they are installed to show the v groove side.
Now that most of everything is insulated it's starting to feel like real rooms now. We have finally come to the point where we add the wallboards that we have been waiting forever to install. We are hiring someone to come and do the ceiling boards since we are running low on time. We are having our final inspection Friday May 21st so we have to get it done by then. Besides the ceiling and wallboards we still have to install the lights, smoke detectors, finish some electrical and get it all hooked into the panel, build the door frames and install all the stair stuff. I am sure I am leaving something out. ]]>
Upstairs Rough In Inspectionstag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.31982010-05-03T13:02:48Z2010-05-03T13:30:33Z Last week an electrician friend in the hall has been coming over to do the wiring of the upstairs while B finished building the walls. We are so grateful to him because otherwise we would not have been able...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
Last week an electrician friend in the hall has been coming over to do the wiring of the upstairs while B finished building the walls. We are so grateful to him because otherwise we would not have been able to have the rough in inspections this past Friday. Speaking of Friday B took off work that day because we had an appointment in the morning and then were home for the two rough in inspections he scheduled. First was the electrical. Thankfully that passed. Then came the building inspectors rough in, which we passed. I didn't think he was going to at first the way he was talking. So what all that means is we could begin to insulate and put the wall boards on.
So Saturday afternoon B and the boys moved over some of the ceiling insulation in preparation of installing that this week. B also installed the v-groove ceiling boards for the stairway....well all except one board, lol, as you can see in the above photo. Hopefully he will finish that today *hint* *hint*.
Looking through the master bedroom "closet" area into the closet area of the boys' room. That big box is our iron bed....can't wait to get into that!
And yes that is a crack in the floor in the above photo. We don't know why but the kiln dried boards we bought which sat upstairs in a dry environment for about half a year cracked horribly after being installed. We actually have to repair them and even replace some of them! We were so disgusted!
Anyway today we plan on installing the insulation that goes up against the tin roof. We don't know how long that will take but after that we will start on insulating the ceiling.
In other matters it's been raining like mad around here. We have received several inches of rain the past couple of days. Thats on top of the rain we had in the beginning of last week. Early this morning I woke up to it raining again. But today for the first time in awhile the sun is shining and the skies are blue again! So hopefully it will dry out some!
This is the virtually scentless bush honeysuckle that grows profusely around here.
And with all that rain our yard is far overdue for a cutting! But finding the time is hard since I'm unable to do it and B is busy with getting the building done. I guess we will sneak it in there one of these days. ]]>
I Housetag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.31922010-04-20T21:06:04Z2010-04-21T13:52:15Z You can click to read the article. I was reading the June 2009 Old House Journal magazine and ran across an article that pegs what form of house we are building. It's called the I house, how ironic since...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.comYou can click to read the article.
I was reading the June 2009 Old House Journal magazine and ran across an article that pegs what form of house we are building. It's called the I house, how ironic since we live in an iPod, iPhone, iWhatever world. However, the name I house is actually from the term Georgian I House. Now this is not a style...but just a form. This historic form has the basic features of two stories high with three "bays" and is one room deep.
But another common feature of this form is the two fireplaces, whether on the inside or outer wall of the house at each end or back to back in the center. In the deep South I had observed most of the old houses had them on the outer walls. So I had already thought to put two brick lined stacks one of each end of our house to give the appearance of two fireplaces. To me it would help make the house look truly old since almost every house had one in the past due to necessity. However, we have been thinking about a fireplace on the west wall but we are not sure yet.
Now our house would be considered a miniature since just one of their rooms is nearly the length of our entire house, especially since we cut ourselves four feet short when we started building. We have been attempting to build a "new old house". I actually have the book by Russell Versaci called 'Creating a New Old House'. So I think it's neat we are building an old form. Though I drew my inspiration from the designs of early pre-Victorian houses I had seen around Louisiana and some colonial influences as well.
In the book it says to build your house so that it tells a story. Well no problem there since when you are building as you have the money you end up building in smaller sections. In the olden times it was done pretty much the same, families started small and as their wealth and families grew they added on. That is what "told the story" - those additions. Our main house has two antique windows dating to probably about the 1860s. We had windows made to exactly replicate those originals for the upstairs. But on the addition - that will most likely happen one day - we have windows that date to probably the early 1900s. So it will help to give that "added on in time" look. It's actually pretty fun to create our I house's story.
Now speaking of the house we have been making a lot of progress upstairs. All four outer walls have been framed as well as half the ceiling {and some}. We have been organizing things to get ready to buckle down and run with it. We were storing a lot of our stuff up there, since we have no shed, but it had to be moved back into the old trailer on the property. Today I'm expecting a delivery of lumber so we can finish up the framing of the walls and ceiling. Hubby will be doing electrical work this weekend which means the first upstairs inspection will be coming up sooner than we think!
The PVA's office came by yesterday because they saw our permit for the upstairs, which probably means our taxes will go up. Blah. Hate taxes. In Louisiana we had homestead exception since our house was under a certain value, but not here. Here you have to be disabled or over 60 to get homestead exemption. {I miss you Louisiana!} This state doesn't do that and on top of that this tiny county really wallops you with taxes. School taxes are the bulk of it. {And I don't even SEND my kids to public school.} It's no wonder people move out right and left here. Seriously. There are not enough places for jobs and yet the county taxes are high. Sad thing is being from Louisiana and having homestead exemption we thought that was a federal based thing so when we moved up here we had no idea we would have to pay these kinds of taxes. They looked at us like we were crazy when we asked how to get homestead exemption. *sigh* I guess I now see what all the fuss is about "No more taxes". LoL.
Oh well enough whining I suppose, now onto some ridgetop news. I have already spoke about 'Taka having her 5 kittens, well last Friday Sara, another one of our cats, just had five kittens. She also had 3 black kittens and two grey - the exact ratio that 'Taka had! That was funny and the first time that has happened.
The bush honeysuckle has tiny flower buds on it as well as the blackberry and black raspberry bramble. I was doing some reading on the bush honeysuckle. I don't think they are native from what I was reading. They were brought over in the late 1800s early 1900s from Asia and its possible they put out a chemical to inhibit native plants from growing. That's interesting. At first I didn't object to them being there, but now I am not so sure. They don't even smell like honeysuckle they just have the look of them.I love honeysuckle for its smell not its aesthetics. I had already planned on getting rid of non-native species of plants unless they are in some way of value to the land. I noticed the red berries of this honeysuckle don't even get eaten by the birds around here. So they may have to go. Speaking of flowers native and non-native I find the Northwest Ohio Nature site to be quite informative. The Kentucky Wildflowers website has helped me in identifying the plants around here. Being from only the South a lot of things were quite alien to me up here. So these websites have helped me to familiarize myself with what's on my land.
Our little lane we had to make down to the lagoon last year is now fully grass covered and the pretty yellow flowers of common wintercress {also known as garden yellowrocket} have sprung up all the way down. I'm so happy grass has taken over down there! Speaking of grass we planted some native bluegrass on the ridgetop here.
As far as the garden goes, we still have work to do in it. We have three rows of it hoed up, but we need to finish it. I think our frost dangers are getting less and less. We will probably plant come the first of May. ]]>
Time For a Gardentag:ridgetops.victorianpassage.com,2010://5.31782010-04-09T01:58:31Z2010-04-09T13:25:49Z We have taken a brief break from working on the house to put in a garden. Last Friday hubby was off work so we, mostly he, put up the fence. Then Saturday we picked up the tiller and churned...Jessicahttp://ridgetops.victorianpassage.com
We have taken a brief break from working on the house to put in a garden. Last Friday hubby was off work so we, mostly he, put up the fence. Then Saturday we picked up the tiller and churned the ground. Thankfully it wasn't too rocky. Though Saturday it was rainy in the early part of the day so the soil, having a lot of clay, was being more difficult. But he still finished it. We have yet to plant, but I'm glad we waited.
Yesterday morning we awoke at midnight to the winds rattling our house. Our house and windows shook so badly that it knocked the board we keep for raising them, right out. Thankfully the storm didn't have the wind sheer or turning so there was no threat of tornado {sure thought there was one though}..but the winds were in excess of 60mph! We have seen a lot of wind here...but it has never shaken the house or rattled the windows like that morning. That storm blew in our cool front. So now we are looking at possible frosts. I'm kind of glad we didn't plant like we had planned to.
All of us have been sick this past week. It started the week of the memorial - on Thursday K ran a fever of nearly 102. But that was all since the next day he woke up perfectly fine. Well a couple of days later I start getting a sore throat, running nose, headache, ect. So I end up getting a full blown cold. I'm still not over it and now hubby is coming down with the same thing. A couple of days ago my oldest had a headache.....but that was all he got too. Amazing how little the kids got. I ended up going through 2 rolls of paper with my runny nose! My poor nose. My poor house. Its been so neglected. Its a major disaster. *sigh* We have our SA day coming up this weekend. I was invited to a "hen party" {you know no kids no hubbies} today but I am not going to make it *sniff* because I still have a sore throat, headache, chest hurting and feeling blah from this icky cold. I'll be doing good to get to the SA.
Here are some recent pictures of the kittens.
This is slate. I think he was the firstborn which was born feet first. This is Huckleberry Finn - Huck for short. He is really fluffy. He is very quiet and laid back.This is quartz. He's got such a cute little face. Quartz is a bit sassier than the rest. He can yowl a lot more than the others too.
And then there is Raspberry - Raz for short. She meows when she is wanting to nap because she wants to snuggle up to me. Hehe.
There were five kittens...one little girl died a couple of days after being born. Something was wrong with her at birth. So now we have three boys and one little Miss Priss...just like her mom too. And this morning I woke up to all but Huckleberry sleeping on me! It was cute. ]]>
I know I have been gone for quite some time. But as you can imagine taking care of a baby is a huge task. But add in dealing with a high maintenance 11 yr old, homeschooling the 2 boys, the baby having a 3 day hospital stay when she was two weeks old, hubby totaling the car around the same time {he was fine thankfully!}, taking a week long road trip when she was about a month old, overhauling our eating habits thanks to a milk protein allergy the baby has and you have a glimpse of our craziness. =)
I have to say I have been struggling with this no dairy diet since we discovered the lil girl has a milk protein allergy. She breaks out in a rash when I eat even a miniscule amount of a milk proterin. I LOVE pizza. I LOVE cheese, cheesecake, strawberry shortcake, strawberry milkshakes, cookies, cakes, puddings, macNcheese, lasanga, garlic bread, BUTTER...ok so I could go on and on. But they are all on the "Do Not Touch" list now. But I think I am finally making headway and discovering options. Thanks to places like godairyfree.org I am beginning to function in the kitchen again. And thank goodness for milk alternatives like rice and almond milk as well as Earth Balance's alternative but natural butter. Oh and these definitely help with the sweet tooth cravings. I would not have known I wasn't eating ice cream.
Eating out is very challenging but with the "Cheat Sheets" that godairyfree has it really helps to know what I can and cannot have. Of course I always double check before consuming. You would not believe the amount of things that have some form of milk protein. Things you wouldn't think like fried rice seasoning packets and vegan cheese just to name a couple of things. But on the positive side of things I have been losing weight.
Ok now onto news about the house. Previously I posted how we remodeled the hallway to house the washing machine and dryer. Well the day before we were to go into the hospital to have our little girl we found a way to rearrange the living room for optimal space. You see our living room is small. Very small. But since we no longer had a hallway to have to get back to using the living room we could now move the armoir to that side of the room and really open up the living room. And thats what we did. We have loved the result every since.
Hubby also built in some shelving for a mini pantry next to the wash area. He will eventually put a door on it and put some shelving under the stairs for more pantry space. I am slowly getting some space into my itty bitty kitchen.
And on a totally unrelated note I have been making my own laundry soap. I had been buying it from Crunchy Clean and I do love it. But shipping was killing my budget. So I found a recipe online to make my own. I used the following recipe:
1 cup Washing soda
1 cup Borax
1/2 cup Oxy clean
1 bar grated Dr.Bonners Tea Tree Organic Bar Soap (5oz bar)
I then grated the soap, combined all ingredients and ran thru the blender on crumble setting. It was quick and easy peasy. I still have the really cute wooden scoops from Crunchy Clean so I used that to scoop. Usually I use 1 scoop for a load - sometimes 2 if its a heavily soiled load. And if I had wanted to I could have added some essential or fragrance oils to the soap when I was making the mix but for now I'm sticking with the plain jane soap. Since adding the oils only makes the soap smell nice...not the clothes.
Well slowly but surely we are returning from our baby induced "stupor" lol. We are also beginning to return to working on the house again. Thankfully spring is on the horizon. So that means it will also be warm enough to get some outdoor projects completed.
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December 4 we had a doctor appointment and a baby shower to goto. That day we woke up at 5 am to check and see if the snow had started falling. It was just lightly snowing at that point. We did discover our momma cat, 'Taka, had gotten into a package of donuts that had been reserved for the boys. That certainly didn't make my 5am very cheerful. Since the roads weren't bad yet we went back to bed and got back up sometime around 6ish. We then peeked out the window and the snow was glistening as it fell. I knew it was going to be a very wet snow from that. So on the road we went for our appointment. It was a slow and steady snow through the morning and into the afternoon. By time we got back home from our appointment and errands it was already almost 3 inches of snowfall.
Well I guess it isn't exactly a washroom but we now have room to wash! We finished up the majority of the hallway remodel so that we could get the stackable washer/dryer into place. We found the appliance off of craigslist and paid only $200 for it. Not bad considering those stackables go for about $800 or so new. Even used a lot of them are going for over $350.
We saw our first snowfall of the season on the 26th of November. We had been up late remodeling the hallway and around midnight it started coming down. We awoke to the above scenery. That day we saw about 1/2 an inch of snow. It was more than the dusting they were expecting.
It's been really busy lately - esp with so few weeks left with the baby getting here. But we have been getting things done on the house. A few weekends back hubby installed the risers on the stairs and put the current rail back up and the newel post and handrail. The following weekend he installed all but three balusters since he was short three balusters screws. So a run to Lowes was made in order to get the scews and he put them in place that night.
This past Saturday we called the electrical inspector out for the final inspection. We anxiously awaited his arrival and he finally came. His assistant actually came in and looked the place over. it was short and sweet. The long awaited green sticker was handed over to us ~ which means we no longer need any more electrical inspections!
After getting the final electrical inspection we could now call out the building inspector. So we arranged for him to come out on Tuesday between 4:00 - 4:30. This was to be the last inspection of all the inspections. The grand finale if you will. So this one counted the most. Especially since we really have to get occupancy for the upstairs before we our baby gets here! And guess what? He actually passed us! Talk about a huge relief!
So this means that now we no longer have to pass anything by inspectors in order to make changes to our home. So from here on out we are free to remodel or change things as we please. And speaking of that we have planned this holiday weekend a small remodel job that will involve building a spot in the hallway for the washing machine and dryer. This was not in our original plans but became a necessary thing. So we will be up to our ears in plumbing, building and moving electrical lines this 4 day weekend we have coming up. ]]>
That row of 2 boards above the window was all that our room needed to be completed.
Well I know its been well over a month since my last update. So much has been going on lately. First off all is good with the baby. I can hardly believe there is only about 2 months left to go before she is due to arrive.
We have been trying hard to get things done around here. Over the past month hubby has been getting the wallboards up. He finished the wall in our room - as can be seen in the above photo. So our room is complete as far as wall boards go. Eventually we will add trim and paint the walls but it probably wont happen before we go to inspection.
Well things have certainly been cooling down since I last posted here. That is a wonderful thing in itself. You can just feel fall in the air. A lot of leaves are on the ground these days making it feel like fall is fast approaching.
In the meantime we have been making some progress on the house. A few weekends ago hubby installed the wallboards in the stair hall. Then this past labor day weekend hubby put up one side of the staircase - the balusters and newel post. It turned out looking better than I imagined - since the balusters are really made for decking and were going to only be temporary. We are also using a 2 x 4 for the handrail - but even without paint I was surprised that it all came together and looked pretty decent. Unfortunately we forgot to install the risers on the stairs first so he will have to take it all down, install the risers and then put it all back. This past weekend we also managed to lay some temporary flooring in the kitchen. Main reason I needed to have something on the floor was clean-ability. Kitchens and bare plywood floors just don't ever look clean - no matter how much you scrub. The floors were too messed up for staining and I really didn't like the idea of a painted plywood floor - too many grooves from the wood - thus still hard to clean which I learned from the last painted floor we had. So we went with a vinyl {shudder} floor. I hated going with vinyl for its plastic-ness - but ease of cleaning wins now that a baby is on the way. Now my kitchen somewhat resembles a home and the floors are a million times easier to clean. Eventually we will do the living room floor as well. It will get us by until we have the budget for the hardwood floors which most likely will be available sometime next year.
Time is flying - I am approaching my third trimester in this pregnancy already. We have a lot left to do and get before this little girl arrives. We have been moving forward - tho very slowly but I think things are beginning to pick up again around here.
I do believe this is the hottest its been since we have been up here. We have a record high of 102! Our heat indexes are rivaling those of Southern Mississippi! Florida's heat index is cooler than ours...if a heat index of 107 can really be cooler than 114! Hope all are staying as cool as can be with this heat wave.
I observed this year that things bloomed a little earlier than usual. The locust trees leaves turned yellow before Summer even began. Normally they do so after the beginning of Summer. Also the blackberries produced an unusual large size and in abundance. I am wondering if this weather pattern has anything to do with those things.
Well besides the weather not much has been going on. We are working on getting our fencing for the lagoon so we can be finished with that.
Last Thursday we went to the dr's and the baby is still healthy and active. The tech also said looks like its a girl! That would certainly be a first after having three boys! I guess time will tell.
We missed most of Saturday & all of Sunday of the DC because our oldest got sick with high fever, headache and throwing up. Monday K got the same thing. Hubby and I are hoping not to get it but it's not looking that promising since it starts with an innocent scratchy throat and runny nose - a lot like allergies. *sigh*
Well that about sum things up around here. ]]>
Sorry it's been awhile since I have made an update. A lot has transpired and I have been really busy or just plain tired. That said, back in May we pushed and pushed and we still did not make our deadline of final inspection on May 21st. That was rather frustrating and disappointing. We had company coming the 22nd so we needed an extra room for sleeping and so the inspector gave us the okay to use one of the rooms upstairs. Phew. That was a lifesaver.
The week my friend came to stay she had a lot planned. She arrived by train early Saturday. I saw a lot of Kentucky that week hehe. It was a full and busy week and I hope she had a good time despite dealing with our bipolar child.
We haven't done a whole lot on the house since she was here. We have been recuperating from pushing so much in May. We did move some things around. He moved the fireplace mantle into our room. The mantle was the one found in the house that hubby's Italian great great grandmother lived in down in south Louisiana. The house dated to the turn of the 19th century. Then he moved the antique dome top trunk of mine which I had bought when I was about 17. It dates to the early 1880s. Also for safety reasons we moved the butter churn that was hubby's great grandmother's {or was it his great great grandmothers - don't remember for sure now}. Eventually it will be relocated into the kitchen. But for now I have no place for it there. So in our bedroom it stays for safe keeping.
Looking thru the master bedroom's doorway into the "hallway" and into the boys' room.
Last Saturday we had a guy come over to do some yard work. We had just a few weeks ago moved these windows from upstairs to outside against the front of the house. We had to make room upstairs to work. But unfortunately we were too busy to move them into the trailer, like planned, before the torrential rains came and drenched them quite thoroughly. So when we had the fellow over for yard & misc work he moved them into the trailer for us. That was such a relief. Next he mowed our yard. We hadn't mowed since spring so it was entirely needed. Hubby just didn't have time to devote to it. It doesn't help our mowers are down at the moment. After that hubby had him finish hoeing up the garden. Phew! So glad that has been done.
Now for the work we have been accomplishing upstairs. First came the insulating. While hubby was at work one day a few weeks back, the boys and I did the two outer walls. I cut the insulation and my 10 year old stapled it to the walls. You can see one of the walls in the photo above. He was a big help - even if he accidentally stapled {twice} the aluminum ladder he was on and now the staple gun doesn't work right hehe.
Last week an electrician friend in the hall has been coming over to do the wiring of the upstairs while B finished building the walls. We are so grateful to him because otherwise we would not have been able to have the rough in inspections this past Friday. Speaking of Friday B took off work that day because we had an appointment in the morning and then were home for the two rough in inspections he scheduled. First was the electrical. Thankfully that passed. Then came the building inspectors rough in, which we passed. I didn't think he was going to at first the way he was talking. So what all that means is we could begin to insulate and put the wall boards on.
So Saturday afternoon B and the boys moved over some of the ceiling insulation in preparation of installing that this week. B also installed the v-groove ceiling boards for the stairway....well all except one board, lol, as you can see in the above photo. Hopefully he will finish that today *hint* *hint*.
We have taken a brief break from working on the house to put in a garden. Last Friday hubby was off work so we, mostly he, put up the fence. Then Saturday we picked up the tiller and churned the ground. Thankfully it wasn't too rocky. Though Saturday it was rainy in the early part of the day so the soil, having a lot of clay, was being more difficult. But he still finished it. We have yet to plant, but I'm glad we waited.
Yesterday morning we awoke at midnight to the winds rattling our house. Our house and windows shook so badly that it knocked the board we keep for raising them, right out. Thankfully the storm didn't have the wind sheer or turning so there was no threat of tornado {sure thought there was one though}..but the winds were in excess of 60mph! We have seen a lot of wind here...but it has never shaken the house or rattled the windows like that morning. That storm blew in our cool front. So now we are looking at possible frosts. I'm kind of glad we didn't plant like we had planned to.
All of us have been sick this past week. It started the week of the memorial - on Thursday K ran a fever of nearly 102. But that was all since the next day he woke up perfectly fine. Well a couple of days later I start getting a sore throat, running nose, headache, ect. So I end up getting a full blown cold. I'm still not over it and now hubby is coming down with the same thing. A couple of days ago my oldest had a headache.....but that was all he got too. Amazing how little the kids got. I ended up going through 2 rolls of paper with my runny nose! My poor nose. My poor house. Its been so neglected. Its a major disaster. *sigh* We have our SA day coming up this weekend. I was invited to a "hen party" {you know no kids no hubbies} today but I am not going to make it *sniff* because I still have a sore throat, headache, chest hurting and feeling blah from this icky cold. I'll be doing good to get to the SA.
Here are some recent pictures of the kittens.
