Be Our Guest...

Now that we have successfully hosted our first overnight visitor in the guest room, we are accepting reservations for the '08/'09 season. Ok, kidding. But really, we love visitors!

Small Details...

New treads for the front stairs...

New Arts & Crafts style cast aluminum door mat...

Weekend Update...

Another busy, project-filled weekend has come and gone. Here are photos of some of the progress we made.

Front Porch Before...

Front Porch Now...

Stairs with new trim pieces...

Front Steps before...

Front steps now, cleaned and with new concrete stain...

Walkway before...

Walkway now...

The shed, newly painted to match the house...

And yes, we painted the inside too. Here's before...

And After...

And here's the antique star roof ornament we found in the basement and installed on the shed roof...

And now for a couple of photos only my dad will appreciate (projects he helped us get started on) The stairs, railing and wall still need paint...

Decisions, Decisions....

We have decided to install a lamp post near the top of our steps. Below are a few of the craftsman inspired choices that we like. Feel free to comment if you have a favorite (they're all kind of the same, I know :)

Shed-tastic...

The new shed has arrived! The guys from Backyard Buildings in Bridgeville arrived on the scene yesterday morning to construct it. We are very happy with how it turned out. Now it just needs to be painted (it's primed now, but needs a final coat) and we'll be installing some shelves inside so it can be better organized. But I'd like to imagine the lawnmower is happy to finally have a home...

Oh I Wish...

I dare you not to smile at this.... The real Weinermobile up close and personal at the Grand Prix. That was a moment dying to be captured on film. Don't you wish you were an Oscar Meyer Weiner?

All Work and No Play...

Well, the big work weekend is over and we are forever indebted to my dad for his help around the house. I could not have imagined we could accomplish this much in 2 days. Seriously, we would have had to pay thousands of dollars if we had hired people to do all this stuff. I tried to keep a running list of the projects we tackled (ok, he did most of it, but we tried to help as much as we could.) Here are the things I can think of right now... this list may grow as I remember other things.... it's kind of a blur.

Moved porch swing from back to front porch
Covered open junction boxes in basement
Repaired loose switchplate in bathroom
Removed bathroom door lock and re-installed the correct way
Removed bathroom door strike plate, chiseled and reset
Removed studio door strike plate, chiseled and reset
Adjusted bathroom sink stopper to hold water
Capped gas line in basement
Removed old washer hoses and capped water lines
Filled hole in chimney from old hot water heater
Made and installed aluminum patch for duct work in basement
Tightened base plate of pendant light over sink
Installed new lighting fixture in mudroom
Rerouted cable line into den through basement
Installed new outlet box in den
Repaired damaged soffit on rear eave
Cleared out brush from around the A/C units
Cut back branches from roof and removed debris from shingle surface
Created brick border near basement window to contain mulch
Screwed basement windows closed
Caulked around loose glass panes in basement widnows
Installed wood trim around exterior of basement windows
Covered top of unused chimney flue with cement blocks
Prepped shed site for installation on 7/22
Installed new light fixture in bedroom closet
Repaired door knob on bathroom
Installed cap on radon system piping
Removed old/unused phone & cable wiring from basement joists
Removed old water filter from basement
Filled holes in basement walls with caulking
Installed new wood edging on staircase down to basement
Removed old phone line plate in living room and recovered with solid plate
Put tiles under all low-voltage lighting in kitchen to prevent overheating
Removed dryer vent screen cover and patched with aluminum
Installed door stop in bathroom

So it wasn't 100% all work and no play... We also had time to stop by the Vintage Grand Prix for a couple of hours. We managed to fit in a Primanti Sandwich as well. So it was about 98% work and 2% play :) Thanks Dad!!

A Red Letter Day...

Today is a big day... My dad is coming to visit us from Seattle! I know he will be a huge help with projects around the house because he is very handy. But the weekend won't be all work and no play. We have an outing planned to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix. I highly recommend going if you've never been and you are even remotely interested in cars. It is held at Schenley Park all weekend and there is a huge car show and races of vintage roadsters throughout the park. The website is http://www.pittsburghvintagegrandprix.com/. We also have plans for dinner on Sunday at Monterey Bay. Yum. Check back next week for photos from the weekend.

The Real Before and After...

We've shown you pictures previously of the "before and after" from the prior owner to us. If you want to be really blown away, take a look at these shots, taken by Steve, of what the house looked like 2 years ago when he bought it. Take that, "Extreme Home Makeover"!!

Like the bookcases glued to the wall?

Here is the current view....

More Before views...

Note the entryway into the dining room- no columns

New view into the dining room...

Check out that color! What is that- cantaloupe?

Now...

Their color choice bravery did not extend to the hallway apparently.

Is anyone else thirsty for tomato juice?

Now...

I think this is my favorite paint choice- pink sponge. This looks to be a baby's room- the poor child!

Now...

Happy Birthday to Jim...

Yes, today is Jim's birthday. He took the day off- lucky duck. If you'd like to send him a birthday wish, you can e-mail him at jimzahniser@yahoo.com or leave it here in the comments.

My Fifteen Seconds of Fame...

I thought yesterday was going to be too boring to blog about. Well, it was, until 11:45pm when we were watching "Headlines" on Jay Leno (we always TiVo that segment). A few weeks ago, I sent in a postcard from our local subway with a funny map that just showed a line with no cross streets or other landmarks. This was the first time I've ever sent him something and he used it!! And everyone laughed! I was so excited I watched it about 4 times. Here is a shot of him talking about it and then a close up of the postcard.

Jim's "Go or Don't Go" - August Rush

Sometimes a movie should get credit for trying to be different. "August Rush" falls into this category. The story follows an orphan, Evan Taylor, and his efforts to reunite with his parents. The boy, played by Freddie Highmore, (a really good little actor, BTW) grows up in an orphanage and we learn that he has an intense love for music. He discovers that his parents were also musicians and believes the power of music will eventually help him find them. Sound corny? Well, it is, but the movie is so sincere in it's belief that music can can connect people, that I found myself just going along with it. He eventually runs away from the orphanage and ends up in New York City. There he meets up with a group of street kids/musicians that are led by a strange character played by Robin Williams. Sure enough, Evan gets discovered as the prodigy that he is and even gets a cool stage name, August Rush. He eventually composes and conducts a symphony that leads to a less than surprising ending. The movie is certainly not perfect. There is some hokey dialogue, mostly form the parent's storyline. I never really bought into their love story, but the movie moves back and forth between their story and Evan's, so I was able to stay awake for the whole thing:). I could have done without the mumbo jumbo about "the musical/harmonic connection between all things" but I guess that was part of the movie's sincerity. I read in another review that the story is a loose adaption of Oliver Twist, so maybe it's not that original after all, but "August Rush" is definitely one of the most unique offerings that we've gotten in our red Netflix envelope in quite a while. I say "Go."

"Handyman" Dave...

Jim here...

Since we've been having so many contractors & repair people come by to give quotes on various projects, we've been trying to save a buck wherever we can. There probably is some truth in the old saying, "You get what you pay for." For what we thought would be an easy plumbing repair, we turned to Craigslist, where we happened across "Handyman" Dave... and I use the quotation marks with good reason. A red flag should have gone up when I saw his business card. Not only is he a handyman, but as you can see below, he also specializes in, "portraiture, art, graphic design (?), photography, troubleshooting (not sure what that's about), repair, remodel, computer tech, hardware, software, and networking." Not to mention, what is up with the tagline: "Concepts... of Diversity." What the heck is that supposed to mean?


So Dave shows up yesterday ready to fix our basement laundry sink issues (a leaky faucet and leaky trap). After an hour of holding the work light and helping him turn the water off and on in every faucet/sink/tub in our house, and locating the main shut offs, I get the feeling he may be in over his head, but I'm also sensing he does not want to admit it. He then states that he needs to leave to go to Home Depot (again) for more parts, and requests that I accompany him. At first I agree to go, but as I'm holding the work light, I think to myself, "What am I paying him for? I'm basically helping him with the job and now I have to go buy the parts as well." He reluctantly agrees to go alone to the store but tells me he "has no money" and I have to pay over the phone. Another red flag, but I go along with the plan.

He returns an hour later with a new faucet, and into hour 4 of the project, he realizes the faucet he purchased will not fit and he will need to go back to the store to buy more parts. At this point, neither issue we hired him for has been fixed and it is getting late. I decide to cut and run and I tell him just to fix the trap and not to worry about the faucet (otherwise he might have been the first to stay over in our guest room). So now we are the proud owners of an uninstalled faucet and we still have to call a plumber. All in all, I think he did the best he could, however maybe he should stick to some of the other eleven specialties he claims to have.

Mission Accomplished...

The work day was a huge success!! Thank you so much to everyone who came out to help us get these ugly concrete walls painted. We had 2 coats on everything in just a few hours and still had time to cook out. These photos might not look like much but this is a vast improvement over the previous state of the basement. It is well on it's way to looking decent. Now we just need to get the floors recoated and paint the stairs and shelves and we'll be in business.

Before (and this was the best part of the basement before)


With a new paint job

More Room Photos...

Here are a couple rooms I haven't posted yet- the kitchen and office. After looking everywhere for rugs for the kitchen, we finally found some this week at TJ Maxx. (What is it with us and the rug issues?) The office is still being unpacked but at least we have the desk set up now. It's really nice to be able to look out the windows as you work.