Tour Guides

I cannot tell you the number of folks who have "toured" the house, but it is a bunch. With ten indoor rooms, a front and back porch along with a basement, there is a lot to see. Keep that in mind when you think that the photographs will never end! The good news is that all of the furniture has arrived and we love it all! Waiting those 45 days to get into the house felt like forever, however it did allow us to take our time buying what would both fit and we liked. 

So, there may be ten rooms, as a refresher, when this house was built in 1925, there were public rooms and all of the rest, including bedrooms that were meant to house beds. How the upstairs bedroom became so crazy big is still a mystery. You will soon see what I mean.

Let's begin the virtual tour, shall we?

The back porch, overlooking the deep backyard lot is home to this fantastic color of petunia. Seeing it in a downtown shop, I could not resist its' charms.

I showed you the living room before, but let's do it again, first with the empty room.

Before I move along, my friend Pam is questioning the stained glass and the painting over the fireplace and she does have a point. I am questioning the pale yellow, but so far have not come up with a better idea. Which means there is more thinking to be done! Here are the gorgeous windows and the wonderful light that I am dying over. Oh yea, she is also not a fan of the cornice boards!

And here are four fine folks enjoying the space. Well, make that five with Bruce in the foreground.Let me explain. Karen is in red and Jim has his walker in front of him. Those would be the folks that first moved to Murphy about 11 years ago and made us aware of this sweet town. Both are retired teachers and friends from church long ago. We visited them at their beautiful home, not far from here, the first time we came to Murphy which I wrote about here. 

Karen has many interests, one of them being genealogy and what you see above is British cousins who are visiting America. It is a familiar story, an American soldier in WWII falling in love with a British girl and raising the family in the US. Over the years she has found countless relatives that were previously unknown, although between the tour and chit chat about their travels, I neglected to get details. Who me? Yup it is true. Anyway we had a delightful visit and they very much understood the small rooms and the tiny downstairs bathroom.

One must walk in and turn sideways to shut the door. That is the original bathtub, however, someone must have painted it over the years because it is pristine! 

Here is my sweet honey at his desk, another find from the local, as in two streets away, antique store,  in what we are calling the office. Both of us have a desk and there is a small bookcase and another small table I will show you on another day because it is crazy cute.

Although he is wearing a brace in the photo above, his wrist seems to be much improved after a friend did a massage on it. We shall see how long it lasts, but speaking of him using his wrist, he could not be any more thrilled with his basement workshop. He's doing great things down there.

Both of us are learning to make things work with whatever space we have.  He decided to modify the existing workbench by expanding the top in order to accommodate his beautiful tool cabinet he built back when we lived in California when we were 25 years old.

Whether he's ever cut a piece of plywood with a skill saw before, I don't know for sure, but he sure made it work.

He also built the shelf above the bench. So not only did he do the addition but he added a new two-layered top. Just like days of old when he would stay up late building something. I love it!

I believe I mentioned that not only is the bathroom small, well, let's face it all rooms are small, but anyway the kitchen, while roomy enough in floor space, is sorely lacking in counter space. Nevertheless, I am making the best of it and it is working just fine.

Before we moved in we had ideas about how to make it more functional but honestly it is not bad at all.  Yesterday, while eating lunch after church, the doorbell rang. Because the door was open, (screen door closed), hearing the voice I thought it was Hank, however, it was Mr. Vespasian. He had been driving by and upon seeing the un-mowed lawn, he wanted to offer his guy's name. For three weeks in May the front yard grew naturally because we were doing the "No Mow May",  which you can read about by clicking on the link. Not great when you are new to a neighborhood and if we do it next year a sign would be good! Anyway, he sat down at our new dining table and, if you can imagine, I peppered him with questions and he answered them to the point! It made me chuckle. He's 86 btw. Apparently his wife Ruth cooked many a holiday dinner in that kitchen, so why shouldn't I be able to? We learned a lot including a ghost story that I will get into next time. That will keep you guessing I suspect. 😀

Speaking of the furniture, on Wednesday this happened. 

Yup, two deliveries! One way I figured I would manage my lack of counter space was by using the dining room table so I was very happy when it finally arrived. The guys were great.

Honestly it had been about a month since we ordered the chairs from a catalogue, so I'd forgotten what they even looked like. I could not be any more pleased. View towards the living room.

And the view towards the kitchen.

As if Bruce were not talented enough he is adding floral arranging to his skill set! I bought the "flowers" while we were in Orlando but then I am stymied as to what to do next. I ran over to the antique market place where we bought the above dresser/sideboard and found the vase for $10. The very next day we bought this there for $100.

There is something to be said for having separate rooms because they are so much fun to decorate! Not the style these days, but I am kind of like it. Well let's get real, we are loving it!

The other delivery was our new box springs and I do mean plural. A few weeks ago when the mattress came, it was impossible to get the box spring up the staircase! Try as they might, it just wasn't happening. The queen mattress was a pretty big struggle as well but with the two guys and Bruce pushing like a lineman it finally went up. The folks at Bellview furnishings were great and offered to order two that would fit upstairs. We have since moved upstairs ourselves.

Speaking of upstairs, both of us have lost weight managing a three level house! The above is a huge room for unknown reasons with several other rooms as well. Bruce set up my sewing machine in one of them.

I am tired of the red quilt, red not being a favorite of mine, so soon I will get going on something new for our bed. 

Down to the basement I go to do laundry. 

We have a walk-in cedar closet in our bedroom and there were probably 200 or more hangers in there. Plenty more downstairs too! 

We picked up the pieces from David and Randy including the piece under the mirror above.

In the little alcove there are two nods to home, the plant is in water as it has been since Matt put it together while visiting Orlando. The books are both gifts.

This morning we would normally be playing pickleball but the rain kept us indoors giving me time to write this account and give you, my dear readers, a tour. Now the sun has come out and I'm going to head to Ingles for some groceries. Randy and David are coming to dinner. 

More outdoor stuff to show you next time as well as a few other inside goodies. I've gotten a library card, paid a water bill, and we've made ourselves at home here in the house on Campbell Street. Not to mention giving tours sometimes twice a day!

Hope you enjoyed the tour. 

your friend,

Gail

As is Common, A Smorgasbord

Good grief things are getting interesting around here!! Wow is popping out of my mouth seemingly every hour. Maybe a slight exaggeration, but not by much. Flowers are popping up out of the ground and trees are one day bare with some buds, and the next day--flowers.  As promised though, plenty more to discuss. Beginning with a super fun photo of a Pine Sisken holding on for dear life in the rain. Note the feet which is something I only just noticed. No wonder they can hang on!

Unfortunately we have had a casualty. On Tuesday of this week, I noticed some unusual behavior from this little one who had just been drinking from the collected water in our sweet sundial given to us by Jonathan and Alissa for our anniversary.

Do you notice anything unusual. I kept my eye on it and the next day I noticed this outside the window. 

I became even more puzzled. Unfortunately yesterday Bruce buried this little one in spite of us taking it indoors with the intention to nurse it back to health. Actually it didn't last long at all.

Perhaps there are some amongst you that have already identified what I was seeing, but it was all new to me. Apparently when a bird is sick or injured they ruffle their feathers. If only I had known perhaps we could have saved it. So that is one piece of sad news.

As we were heading home from practicing pb last Sunday afternoon, I asked Bruce to stop the car, not for the first time as you well know! Anyway, I was dying to get a shot of a huge blooming tree. This, my dear readers is the last photograph I took with my six year old trusty Olympus OMD. It has been by my side for lots of adventures and it is a wonder it didn't conk out when I fell on it and broke my wrist.

Literally I pushed the shutter button and it never opened again. Naturally I was diappointed, but fortunately I was able to order a new camera and the wonderful folks at B&H and FedEx got it to me in less than two days from New York. Now that is some fine service! Below is the first photo I took with the new camera,  an updated version of the old one. I believe these are plum blossoms?

I'd learned of the bush from our friend Angela and actually by the time I took this, if you can imagine, loads of the blossoms had fallen off already..

That my friends is the very definition of "pretty in pink", or maybe this is more your idea of that term?

Maybe two or three weeks ago I photographed this tree and wondered what the buds were going to be and now I know in spades as there are actually four of these Pink Magnolias lined up in a row! 

Here at Charlotte's Cottage, where the lucky Pecks are living, we've had one Crocus so far,

one of the trees has begun blooming,

as has the Forsythia. 

I've begun seeing Forsythia around town and it is going to be pretty spectacular, probably before we know it! 

And, of course there are the birds.

I believe I counted 25 in the shot above, a fraction of who was in attendance at the time as there are another thirty or forty on the ground.  Those are the Pine Siskens and Goldfinch that hang together for now, but I'm thinking I read somewhere that the PS will be moving on. Of course where else will they get this kind of treatment?? 

The Dark Eyed Junco are another bird that I believe will be migrating, so I am enjoying them while I can.

Hey you, get off of my perch!!

The weather has been mild with rainy days and sunny days in equal measure. We are good with either. I was surprised when we saw the spider webs come out in full force the other day.

Had enough of nature have you? Well let's do some people stuff, shall we? 

My sweet friend Brittany, the fab book editor and fab Christmas gift giver, whom I had not seen since Christmas. She is a woman on a mission and has no idea I am taking her photograph!

I love playing with her not only because she is so good, but she is equally as good to me when I make bad shots. Sadly, way more than I like. Let's put it this way....I do almost everything better than I play pickleball. I still try though. :)

Last Thursday we met up for lunch with our friends Jackie and Mike in Blue Ridge, GA, about twenty or so miles away. We ate at the General Ledger and it was delightful.  

We had so much to say, catching up with everything happening at church in Winter Park, that I nearly forgot to get a shot of them. As it was, I had to holler and ask them to pose for a moment! 

So, that was a good time, as was our dinner over at Hank's house. He served his favorite beef stew and we had round two of the day for good conversation.

He is loving it here in North Carolina and if I had to describe his life it would be that he is thriving in his new environment. Not that he still does not miss Carol that's for sure. But he is learning to live without her. 

Tuesday, because it was not raining, we went for a walk on top of the Lake Chatuge dam. Overcast and slightly chilly, the scenery is so special whatever the weather, it is still beautiful.

One thing I have been loving is the appearance of very tiny wildflowers, mostly on the ground. So tiny that I put my shoe alongside them to demonstrate the size. 

Aren't they adorable? While I may not describe the yellow one below as adorable, cheery comes to mind instead. I am seeing these in abundance as well.

While we were at the dam, it won't surprise some of you to learn that we had a nice long chat with Kim and Missy pictured below.

I'll have you know that we did not initiate the conversation, but we sure did jump in with both feet! Or, make that sets of feet. Turns out we had a lot in common. Missy on the left was a carpenter, so there's that. Kim loves photography and birds, and she also has twins! That's one thing about being retired, you can stand there and talk for 45 minutes and it is all good!

Mr. Peck has begun working on the chicken coop.

Per his conversation with John, we will have four chickens and they will be free range, thus Bruce is removing all of the wire that encased the framing. According to him, they will march in at nightfall. This is going to be an exciting new experience for sure.

On the new experience topic, Senior Games is very popular here and most folks we know are participating in one way or another. For example: Bruce is playing men's doubles with Cobby. Bruce and I may pair up but that will definitely not be to Bruce's advantage! See above. Anyway, there are art categories including photography and writing. Now we are talking! Yet, having never entered, I have no idea what to enter. There is a popular photographer around here who usually has that category sewn up. Her photographs are very dramatic with heavy editing that I just can't compete with. I think it was just yesterday that I thought perhaps I could enter something in black and white? What do you think?

This, of course, would tie into my newfound obsession with mushrooms, right?

Just an idea. My other idea is that there is a category for life experiences and for that I am thinking about writing an piece on what it is like to blog for so long. Does that sound interesting? I've got time to ponder on it, but seriously, the days are speeding by. It is hard to imagine that we have been here nearly eight months. What an experience!

Let's do dramatic ourselves. To God be the glory, great things He has done.

I don't know, I do love color photography. 

your friend,

Gail

An Impromptu Makeover

An alternate title could just have well been, "With a Lot of Help from My Friends" because that is how this little makeover was accomplished. The joy of willing friends is one of life's true treasures, isn't it?

Well, let's get started, shall we?

Sunday night, following Hill's Happy Hour, I received a message from my friend Mary Whited, a queen amongst the garage sale/estate sale/auction, crowd. This note was a follow up to a recent visit she made here with boxes of fabric she'd accumulated from the above sales. During our conversation I mentioned I was looking for a little dresser for the guest room. She said she'd keep an eye out for me, however, as my last post detailed, I was fortunate to find one myself. Unaware of my purchase, she and Sam, while attending an auction Saturday, purchased not one, but two dressers, AND a matching corner desk for $65, about half what I paid.

Show me what you've got Mary!

Her email with photographs showed up early Monday morning, and I was smitten. Now what? How can I make them work, because it was just too good a deal to pass up? Thinking to myself, I will find a way to make them work. Calling her immediately about when I could pick up the goodies, she replied, "we are home now." On my way....

Sam and Mary have lived in a modest home in Winter Park for more than thirty years; what they affectionately called, a house in the woods. Well, not having been over for a few years, I was STUNNED by what their street looks like now. Oh my goodness! Winter Park is filled with tear- downs, and their street, after finally being paved, is no exception. In fact, there are now only two other hold outs amongst the large new homes. Before, looking from their front yard there were loads of trees with very modest homes nestled amongst them. Now it looks like this from their driveway.

Looking down the street, the new homes dominate the landscape where once it looked like a mini forest.

So, I guess this qualifies as a giant makeover, right?

Inside their lovely home it is warm and cozy; I dare say, more so than the new places! Creativity runs wild in their family of four daughters, but it didn't just come from nowhere. Sam is a crazy talented woodworker who is now on a table building run. Taking down a Golden Rain Tree, a nuisance tree for most of the year I might add, he told me once the bark dried, it stripped off like magic.

There is a pretty good chance the Mission chairs were purchased for a song, as were these beautiful tools Sam cleaned up.

Everywhere you look there is a story attached as to how and where each item was procured. I am in heaven in that kind of environment! Another table by Sam, loaded with garage sale finds.

I know my son Matthew will surely recognize this look on Sam's face as he was showing me around his workshop.

While I'm thinking about men with beards, I convinced B to let me photograph him on Sunday evening, and doesn't he look as cute as can be?

Plus, he got rave reviews from everyone! However, yesterday morning he shaved off the sides of the beard, instead going for that front patch look! I'm keeping my mouth shut this time around.

So, back to the find. The three of us loaded the back of the Pilot with the pieces, and I could not get home fast enough to see what I could do with them. Realizing the larger dresser was more than I could handle alone, I called Pam asking for a hand. "Sure, I'll be right over." In the meantime I carried the smaller dresser in, finding an ideal spot immediately. Arriving she expressed her approval at Mary's find, and we carried the second drawer in, finding another ideal spot! Curious are you?

Unreal, right? These pieces have had a long life judging by all the previous paint colors, including yellow, white, green, and now this very soft blue. I never mind furniture with a history! Actually the photo above is after all the tidying up which included Pam sorting all of my fabric pieces into color groups! This is what the table looked like during the sorting process:

Check out this miracle!!

I got rid of my printer and the little table it sat on, moved the file thing, as well as a tall bookcase, and things are looking mighty spiffy around here. The dust I referenced in my last post is a thing of the past in this room after Pam insisted on dusting everything! Here's dresser number two:

Isn't it amazing? Chairs had to be re-arranged, working out beautifully as well.

Please note the pile of fabric on the ironing board because there is a story connected to that as well. Remember earlier I mentioned Mary brought me some fabric? A good deal of it was far too fancy for what I do, however, I nearly gasped when I came across some striped fabric. I bet you want to know why, don't you? A few weeks ago I'd committed to being a part of the Quilts for Pulse movement, organized by the Orlando Modern Quilt Guild. The theme is hearts and rainbow colors. Well, here you go for some perfect striped binding fabric.

Furthermore, in the earlier photograph showing my table covered in fabric, the red fabric, courtesy of Mary is covered in little white hearts!! Using that instead of the red pin dots pictured above, the top is now pieced in a very simple design, and after purchasing some batting today, I will put it together. I don't even need to buy backing fabric as that was part of the stash Mary brought over!

Don't you just know I'll show it off when it is finished?


I could not do a thing without my friends and family,

Gail

p.s. The darling corner desk is still in the back of the Pilot, looking for a good home.