Discovery Beneath the Stairs

Holidays at the House

The day before Thanksgiving we put the partially reassembled kitchen corner to good use- the espresso machine is back online.

The dining room preparing for the big day...

The day of

The Spa

We had been living without a real bathroom floor since the asbestos guys removed the old tiles. Our old American Standard toilet used a ton of water and was constantly running. It was time for an update to our own personal spa.

disassembling the toilet...another great use for the wet/dry vac.

here you can see the floor where the old hardwood was cut out and plywood was put down, probably for a previous plumbing fix.

layers of paint behind the old toilet tank

old sink pipe that was obviously ready to go- so much that it cracked.

making the template for our new floor

the sub floor was leveled off with a thin layer of concrete

cutting the new floor to the template. for the floor we went with a relatively affordable ($1.50/sq ft), somewhat temporary option. we may renovate the bathroom more in the future and did not want to invest in nice tiles yet. this thin foam-like fiberglass flooring is actually made to last around 20 years. it's incredibly easy to cut and lies down flat. we were going to get a pattern that did not try to resemble anything else; but this one, a faux cork, was one of the cheapest selections and we thought could actually fool someone (compared with the faux wood or stone).

the next day our plumber, Bruce, came and replaced the sink pipe

and the next day we had our new toilet installed! it's a TOTO toilet that only uses 1.28 gallons per flush. the style seems to compliment our other bathroom fixtures well. plus we gave in and got the quiet close lid- mostly for novelty sake. you can picture it closing slowly, and quietly, in these pics:

Cleaning Out the Museum Archives

This was an important day. We had started to try to organize the basement. It was and is going to be an ongoing battle. However, on this day Tim tackled two areas of the basement that had previously been boarded up for a preserve cellar and coal bins. Taking out a few wooden walls really opened up the basement and allowed for organization and storage space...along with a few more basement discoveries....

PRESERVE CELLAR

ancient crates moved into the sunlight.

Red Label Golden Kernel Bantam Corn from S.S. Pierce company in Boston.

South facing window into the preserves archive.

the cellar wall coming down and letting in light.

Blue Diamond hood River Pears.

The priceless preserves.

Spring Water?

lock from 1914

the uncovered preserves:
Rhubarb, no sugar?, 1943; Cherries, 1942; Applesauce, 8/43; Watermelon Pickle 9/69

Apple Sauce Cinnamin 8/42; Rhubarb, 1943; -; Beans 8/20/43, Rinse + cook

Pear Harlequin Mincemeat, 10/23/43; Cherries, 1939 (the oldest jar); Spanish Pickle, 10/63

Jar originally filled with Mrs. Chapin's Mayonnaise from Boston, Mass.

Ball Sure Seal Jar; Double Safety Jar, and Mrs. Chapins

Watermelon Pickle, 9/69; Garden Special, 10/58; Chili Sauce, 9/77; Spanish Pickle, 10/63

Atlas EZ Seal jar with green beans.

COAL BINS

the new boiler and hot water heater are in one bin, old house windows in another...

...and the wall comes down

one of the old storm windows, with one pane able to open.

usable space!

in pencil, and initially gone unnoticed, there are dates with amounts of coal burned and comments on severity of the winter.

old box for a seventeen inch flat TV, that apparently came with a handle for transportation...

the Lyfords were the owners of the house before the previous owners.

Directions for using our old boiler and others...