Our Old House Project

We got busy last week and over the weekend, so I didn't get any motorhome modification blogs done.  Instead we were taking care of a few things around the house...

Our Old House Projects are always a bunch of fun.  We fondly refer to our 104 year old home as Our Old House. We always try to make it nicer, but try to keep the original features and restore things that were changed over the years by the previous owners.

The back side of our house has three doors!  One is up on the back shaker porch for the second story.  The lower portion has two entrance doors. One on the right leads into the lower back hall and down to the basement, the other door on the left goes right into the kitchen from a walkup porch.

(pic from last summer) 

We don't often use the door on the right, because we prefer to enter the house up the back steps right into the kitchen.  Steve does like the door on the right for getting things up and down to the basement.

The back hall area was kinda sorta yucky with hokey white paneling from the 70's with brown streaks.  We pulled up one small section to peek behind, and there was cracked plaster behind it.  That is why they put it up in the first place. We are not about to tear it all off and re-plaster or sheetrock/drywall it.

Nope, not for a back hall, we never really see this part of the house much unless we were going down to the basement.  The underside of the servants stairs to the upper level had been painted a soft yellow....  but at one time it had also been deep rich brown stained and varnished wood!  The ceiling right by the back door also was lovely old stained and varnished beadboard.  I wish they were still that way.  Sigh.  I hate when people paint wood!

We keep our coats on hooks along one wall and our shoes and boots laying on the floor under the coats. It's kinda cluttered and messy, but hey, we don't often go in and out that way, so it didn't matter.  Or so I thought.   Steve thought otherwise! 

This photo was taken after we already straightened up a bit, and Steve removed a large yellow cleaning supply cabinet that had been resting on the ledge to the left.... 

He hung the cabinet down in the basement which made a lot more sense.  I keep all of our cleaning supplies, extra light bulbs and dog grooming stuff in there.  It didn't matter if it was down in the basement or on that ledge.

By moving that cabinet, it opened the space up nicely now with room to the left of the coats. Once we get the painting done, we can move the shoe rack, (really a bookcase) over to that ledge.

Steve had a day off driving the Old Fart Party Bus, so he cracked the whip and said "Git on yur paintin' clothes woman!"  and we were off and running before a second cup of coffee! He removed the coat rack to save for later.  It was still original wood work and original hooks, so we didn't want to get paint on it.

Steve hates painting and usually has me do the cutting in with a brush.  His knee was bothering him so he let me do all the down low cutting in and he did the standing up stuff.  He doesn't even need a ladder, so it was not too bad for him to do that part.  Once I got all the bottom cutting in done around the stairs and baseboards, he was ready to roll the first coat.  Ahhhh a soft buttery cream yellow (like our laundry room).

We had the first coat of paint on and drying before breakfast.  Steve took a break to cook up some eggs and bacon and his famous thin american fried sliced potatoes.  What a multi-tasker!

While he was doing that, I grabbed a brush and roller and went into our laundry room.  Last summer I had painted the entire laundry room, but left the backsplash unpainted. It is a sheet of Formica glued to the wall as a backsplash.  I didn't know if should paint that or not.  Steve said I could.  hmmmmm  I did paint one small section last year to see how it holds up, and it does.   Now was a chance to finish it up and complete my job from last summer.

BACKSPLASH BEFORE

BACKSPLASH AFTER 

I also re-hung the "HOME" print over the washer and dryer.  

This had been left by the previous owners and I like it. 

This room used to be her tiny kitchen, and we made it into a first floor laundry.

I was done with this quick project while Steve finished cooking our breakfast.  I think it looks much better with all the walls and backsplash matching.  We are not rubbing on the walls or really walking near the wall where the new paint is, so I think it will last.  I do have extra leftover paint to use for touchup if we need it.  Maybe someday we will rip down the Formica and replaster the wall?  For now, good enough.


After breakfast we got the second coat done.  I did a few touch-ups here and there afterwards. Before we knew it, we were removing our floor tarps and hanging the curtains back up.

 These pics look kinda white from the sunshine coming in,

but really it's a soft buttery yellow color. 

Steve put the wood strip with the coat hooks on it back into place. 

This had originally been in the half bath when it was a closet...

now we have it in the back hall for our coats. 

The shoe rack was moved to the flat area where the cabinet had been. 

DONE! 

That's it for today...

maybe tomorrow will be some more motorhome modifications

 or perhaps a cute adorable little granddaughter doing some sewing?

Here is a preview of why we were busy this weekend: 

Stay tuned! 

MOTORHOME MODIFICATION - *F* - Electrical Modifications and Painting, Grandkids & Valentines Day

I am going to start off the new year with posting some of our motorhome modifications, a few at a time. I will post repairs, modifications, or neato things we have found for RVing.  I have lots of pics in my files so I will do them in alphabetical order.

Underneath that stuff, I will post my regular daily stuff..... kinda sorta fun, eh?

MOTORHOME MODIFICATIONS 

STARTING WITH THE LETTER F

Fans:

We try to conserve on our power consumption, even though we do have solar panels and four big 6 volt storage batteries. Sometimes we like air circulation in the motorhome, whether it's to move the heat around during cold temps, or to blow at the front windshield to remove foggy moisture in humid conditions.

We found some of these wonderful fans called O2 Cool, available at Walmart, Amazon, or many home improvement stores. The fan can be operated three ways. It can be powered by a normal 120v AC household current hook up, or it can run off 12 volt plug-in via a cigarette lighter, and the third way is to run on D cell batteries. We have the 10 inch ones, but they also make a smaller 5 inch size.

What is nice is there is a handle on top with a hook and we hang it from a looped piece of rawhide shoestring from a cabinet handle overhead and it can blow warm air towards the back of the rig.

They are so handy that we have two of them and they are reliable and have lasted a long time. They are pretty quiet to operate and have two fan speeds.


Fantastik Cleaner for Ceilings:
This next modification really is just something we found that works out really well for cleaning the ceiling in our motorhome. Whoever thought that putting white carpet on a ceiling is a good idea?? The designer of this is absolutely nuts!???

If we keep our windows open, which we often do, campfire smoke can cause grey sooty streaks across our ceiling. Anytime you see a bug and want to squish it you cannot, because you will get bug marks on your carpeting! You have to be very careful while squishing a spider or a bug and Steve has to do it in a tissue in a downward motion.  Slapping flies with a swatter against the ceiling is another no-no.  It leaves marks showing the exact location where the murder took place....

If you do not seal around your roof vents, air conditioner access holes, antenna openings, or just re-sealing the entire roof, you can get water intrusion and leaks. These leaks show up as brown splotches on that beautiful white carpeting.

This is the only product I have found that takes off any water stains on the carpeting. It works like magic. This bottle in the pic is their older version offered by Fantastik.... they have reformulated it some and the label is now different, but similar I think in composition. Be sure you get the one with Oxy Power. Spray it on and saturate the area good. Wait 10 minutes. Then scrub with warm water and a brush or a clean white rag. As soon as the warm water hits the oxygen based solution along with the other chemicals, the stains just disappear. You look up 20 minutes later, while drying, and the stains are all gone! Seriously!

Here is a blog post about using it on a friend's ceiling:

https://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2015/11/motorhome-maintenance-getting-rid-of.html

Fender Riveting Repair:
This next modification is due to a design flaw. Many people with Safari motorhomes in our vintage age range have noticed the fenders will rattle loose from their brackets.  It starts making a horrendous vibration noise while going down on the highway. It sounds like something is seriously wrong! Not only does it make an irritating sound but it could very well damage the look of the beautiful stainless steel fenders if they ever get bent from the wind. We were camping one weekend and Steve decided it was a good time to reattach them. He used a rivet gun with stainless steel rivets. That is important so they do not rust. He riveted the fenders back and reinforced the material with more tin.... securing to the bracket so they no longer rattle when we drive.

~~~~~~~

We were absolutely delighted this weekend to have the opportunity to babysit our youngest granddaughter, Claire. She is only a few months old, so this is really special bonding time for us. 

Her mommy and daddy came to have lunch with us, and then they entrusted her to our care while they went out antique shopping. We got her for four or five hours all to ourselves! 

We snuggled we cuddled we played. She became fully educated about a lot of things, including:

Mathematics with the1 2 3 4 5 fishy song

Meteorology with the sun rising in the East setting in the West when making rainbow sparkles on our floor--- which is also Science and Physics.

Reading comprehension with our favorite Brown Bear Brown Bear book, which also satisfied our Biology course about animals.

we did a stint of Gymnastics and Physical Education with the little game I play making the little legs do walking, marching, running.

Dietary Education while she had a nutritious lunch of her baby bottle,

Mediation with a rest period of a wonderful nap,

Socialization was a joyous reunion with her mommy and daddy when they came back to get her.

I think we wore her out!

On Friday, we finished up the painting and the back stairwell, and the servants stairs that lead from our hallway down to the laundry room. Steve took care of most of it as I was feeling a bit under the weather that afternoon.  Here it is from the top of the steps facing downwards to the landing.

We have no idea why the house was built with this shelf type ledge along the staircase, but we put a bookcase there to store all of my weaving and quilting books. 

Here are shots from standing on the landing, 

aiming both up the stairs and down to the door 

to what was originally the pantry,

 but we made it into a laundry room.

When I woke up it was wonderfully completed. He did a great job. The ceilings are so high from the lower landing but with his extension pole he was able to paint the entire thing. 

So all-in-all, using four and a half gallons of paint ---  for the entire foyer, the front staircase and ceilings, the hallway that runs the entire length of the upstairs, and the back stairwell plus all of the ceilings. Not too bad of an investment for a great improvement in the decor of Our Old House. It really freshened it up and brighten the hallway, especially during these dreary winter months.

Sunday morning we decided to finish up our painting stint with redoing one full wall in our guest room. During our electrical rewiring we had to knock out a hunk of plaster and we just spackled that area. It had never been painted since then and it kinda of bugged me.  I did the lower portions and my tall guy did the upper sections.

So we hauled the rest of a gallon of blue paint from our own bedroom and painted that single wall. The color is slightly off from the original blue that the previous owners had, but since it met at the corners, it is not noticeable to the eye --- unless you really look to see that they are two different blues.

Monday we packed up and ran out to Waupaca to help Dad P with some doc appts. and also Steve replaced an entry door on his house for him. He also installed lever type knobs to make it easier to get in and out to the breezeway. We will head back out later this week to finish the trim and I will paint it for him. 

Our two dogs came along and got to visit with Millie (who was wriggling with joy to see us again!)   They all shared treats after our lunch---  had to make it fair and give all three the same! 

Millie shared her spot on the couch with Finney and Binney,
who kept Pops and I company while Steve worked on the door.
They are like two bookends and do not stray too far from each other.

Dad P is getting around pretty well since knee replacement surgery.  The doc appointments are filling up his days. With all of the therapy and chasing around Millie, we hope he will be back up to snuff in time for a Canadian Fishing Trip with all three sons and some do camping this summer! 

Today, being Valentine's Day, is pretty special to us. 

21 years ago today 

Steve asked me to marry him! 

Yes, after I treated him to a romantic home cooked lobster meal in my diningroom, he came around to my side of the table to lean over and give me a kiss.  RRIIIPPPP!  He pulled a velvet ring box from underneath the table that he had secretly taped under there with DUCT TAPE!  (I am NOT kidding!)  He bent down on one knee and asked me to marry him!  I was flabbergasted and speechless... yes me... speechless....  as we had not even discussed marriage.  Yes, I fell for him and we have had 20 years of wedded bliss coming up this June. 

Steve and I bought some very UNromantic gifts for each other this year. 

 LOL .... 

TWO FRY PANS!!!!  

See, for Xmas we had bought a nice set of Cuisinart ceramic pots and pans for a combined gift for each other.  It was a standard set, but Steve missed the large flat griddle of our old Tfal set.  I missed the large "Chicken Fryer" pan with lid of our old Tfal set.   We found the matching pieces to our new set on sale --- one at Kohls and one at Wayfair.  We decided in lieu of short-lived flowers, disappearing candy or occasional use of silk boxer shorts---- we would get these fry pans and enjoy them for many years to come!  I guess we are comfortable in our love after all these years. 

And as a last note:
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!