Mimi Cat acting silly.
We have been hard at work this summer, restoring this old house. It dates from the 1880’s and we are the third owners. My husband decided years ago to design and build a two story extension, and until recently, it wasn’t finished, trim and such. Now? We ‘ve made great progress, but with each room there springs up another problem as soon as we finish. It’s to be expected with an old house, but I am grateful for the time he has taken from work to do this. We haven’t had a summer vacation in years, but this will do. He put in a lovely shower in the laundry room, and of course that involved moving a toilet and window 6 inches. It didn’t have to, but he’s all about architectural balance. Perhaps that is one reason this restoration has taken so many years.
We are also landscaping the back yards, and the best we could do this year is set in place 10 potted rose bushes along a brick walk and new outdoor furniture. I did design and build a stone walk myself, and it looks pretty lined with potted geraniums. The grass of two years ago is finally taking off and lush. Too bad that the mosquitoes are so bad this humid summer that we can’t spend any real time relaxing outside. That will have to await the autumn and the death of pests. We should have bought stock in DEET. As he takes more photos of the landscaping, etc…. I’ll post here. We have been living in squalor for two weeks because of the construction on the bathroom, and today we decided it time to vacuum and sweep. The 3 dogs thought this squalor would go on forever, and look relieved.
Lady Nyo
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Front door with new paint.
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“Token Rose” and out of control patio rose. They grow quickly and you have to plan for them.
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Construction with dogs….They have taken over the den couch and tv.
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More dogs in Den.
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-Front Garden….
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Spring tulips that have to be planted each year because it doesn’t get sufficiently cold in the South for tulips to regenerate.
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Great Room with ficus….
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Heavy glass top to new coffee table: Big Mistake. We don’t have little children here much, but both of us are wearing bruises from the almost invisible glass top. Cats like it, though.
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Kitchen. Husband made the table from 14 inch wide pine boards from NC mountains. He also constructed the new kitchen and the cabinets.
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Half of the front hall…..
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New Dawn actually. Have two and they are almost constant bloomers. They grow huge so you have to plan ahead which we didn’t.
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Unfortunately, we cut down this Peach tree this weekend. After 20 years, it was only going for squirrel food.
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Woodstove in Great Room….
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Painted Dining Room orange…..quite an eye opener in the morning.
New shutters in Dining Room. Still orange…
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backyard corner, can’t see but the grass is living.
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Front garden.
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Not even a hint of fall and cooler weather. But it’s been a productive summer, at least the plaster dust is gone (mostly) and soon it will be possible to walk outside and not be dripping with sweat by 9am.
Jane Kohut-Bartels
Copyrighted, 2015
Tags: Atlanta, Old house, Summer of 2015 in Photos
August 15, 2015 at 12:01 pm
Wow wow! What a completely gorgeous home. I am especially struck by your beautiful kitchen, great room, and those gorgeous wood floors. You both done good this summer, Jane. xo CS
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August 15, 2015 at 12:02 pm
ps that kitchen table and the cabinets hubby made are works of art.
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August 15, 2015 at 2:59 pm
Hey CS! Hope your summer is a good one. It’s hot down here, and our time is limited outside…right when everything is a’bloomin’.
Fred is really an incredible artist….and practical. Which is the best aspect of it all. That table (I had the legs already) has remained a great kitchen table: we carve on it, do pet surgery on it, beat it up, and every couple of years, a quick coat of poly does the trick. It’s a very thin pine…probably heart pine, and 14 inches wide, which you can’t find much anymore. The apron underneath is pretty, too.
He also made the counters: clad them in copper sheathing, and that was a BIG mistake. Everything stains it: so every week I have to scrub with brillo, and then polish with furniture polish. Works….for a while. I would like white or light marble or something instead….but that is not high on the lists. Too much here for this old house.
Thanks for reading. Am already involved in the research for “Song:II” I have an idea of linked verse between characters…or something like that. The story just isn’t finished.
xx…Jane
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August 15, 2015 at 3:13 pm
LOL! I almost didn’t see this comment, but I am so glad I did. The great room (probably misnamed: it’s really my sitting room…even Fred doesn’t come in there unless invited. LOL!~
The floor in the hall is original: never reworked, and the patina is lovely in most places….but I’ve kept it buffed with Mop and Glow. LOL! It works and is cheap.
Upstairs the original floors are painted: someday we will refinish, but that means a major disruption of the entire upstairs. A soft green paint (tobacco) works for now.
That ‘thing’ above the kitchen table? It’s an old iron bedstead, headboard we found (son and I) many years ago in a woods and brought home. It’s been great to hang utensils from in a once limited storage space. You just have to watch your head.
Well, Fred has been off for a little more than a month now….starting another movie in two weeks….and he knows that he has a lot to do in this old house, so we also did trim around windows and doors in the downstairs bath/laundry. That I never thought I would live to see. LOL!
Yep, summer has been productive….but we would have to live to Methuselah’s age to complete it all.
On a sad note, we lost Maggie (cat, 16, sister of Thumper) to Gally our mook dog. A trrible accident, she and Gally had bad blood for years between them. Son and Husband let the dogs in the front yard…the cat’s domain, and they know better. She was a quick 16 year old, but she shouldn’t have had to end like that. We miss our bed lump very much.
Love, Jane….and hope your doggies are enjoying the summer…and you, too.
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