We're Floored!

The dining room floor is revealed! After filling two mugs to the brim with nails and producing a large scrap pile of vinyl, linoleum, and paneling on the porch, we are down to beautiful bare wood. The coloring is very uneven due to wear, sun, and finish differences, but other than the mysterious dark spot, the floor is in very fine shape. A light sanding and new protective coat should be all that is needed. Thanks to my darling husband ("the nail whisperer"), we knocked this project out in just a few sessions. Now it's on to the kitchen, which appears to have all the same layers plus an additional sheet of linoleum or two directly on the wood!

(You can scroll down to last Monday's post and see the same photo angle as above showing the "before" floor)

Partial Answer...

Several readers and I were all wondering why someone would cover beautiful hardwoods with any other type of flooring. Well, we may have an answer (at least in this particular case)!

Jeff and I worked several more hours at the farmhouse and got a good rhythm going on the underlayment removal. Jeff is quite swift at enticing those little rusty nails out of the floor around the perimeter, and then I can wedge a flooring scraper underneath and pry up, popping nailheads free as I go. With this method, we got a much larger area of the floors revealed.

Our first surprise was that the floors had been stripped, almost as if in the processes of being refinished. But there was no stain or protective coat. Then, we discovered a patch of aluminum foil taped to the heart pine floor. What could that possibly be doing there? As we removed more underlayment and more foil, we found this...

We have the following theory: something badly stained the original floor; the owners decided to refinish the floors in the dining room in hopes of removing the damage. When it became evident that it was still quite visible, they felt the need for new flooring. To keep the stain from penetrating or wicking up through the new floor, they sealed it with aluminum foil (of all things)! If we can determine the staining culprit, it is possible we can neutralize and bleach the wood back to its original color, or at least disguise it.

There is one living elderly member of the family who grew up in the house. I'm hoping to find out from him what this dark menace could be and take steps to tame it!

A Lovely Past-Thyme

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend an all-day workshop on herbs. It was held at Burritt on the Mountain, a "living" museum on the 167 acre estate housing a 1930's eclectic mansion. The grounds also feature many reconstructed historic structures depicting life in the 1800's.

We covered herb uses (both historical and modern day) in culinary, medicinal, and landscaping applications; propagation by cuttings, layering, and seed; and preservation methods such as drying, freezing, cooking, etc. After the lectures, we had a fun time making scented sachets and Victorian tussie mussies with many of the herbs we had discussed.

As a bonus, we also got to enjoy the view over Huntsville from Round Top Mountain on a pleasant walk after lunch.

Hard as Nails!

We spent several productive hours at the farmhouse yesterday. Through applied archeology (i.e., searching for clues, doing a little digging and detective work, etc.), I had determined that there had to be heart pine wood floors in the dining room.

The question was, in what condition and under how many layers of "modern" materials?

The answer to the latter, just a measly four layers!

One of the ancestors of the home was bound and determined to preserve that beautiful hardwood for us, and in doing so we now are faced with over 400 sq ft of small, old, rusty nails every 4 inches in 4x8 panels of underlayment! Mind you, this is under two layers of stick-down vinyl tile and old linoleum and over a still fourth layer of some sort of tarpaper-like substance printed to look like shag carpet!

After about half an hour prying up nails with a hammer and cat's paw, we revealed a small 2 foot square section of finished #1 premium grade quartersawn antique heart pine! This very inspiring "after" view of the hidden treasure will serve to spur us on whenever we tire or lose patience. But if anyone knows of a miracle tool for digging up embedded nails, please let me know!

Busy, busy week

We were out of town for Mother's Day until Monday night and hit the ground running on return. This is after having to take lengthy detours to reach and return from our destination, given that a major stretch of I-40 was closed due to flooding. Our new upstairs heat pump was installed while we were gone, but we arrived home to find it not working. A service call Tuesday had it running fine, until we heard a very worrisome, noisy "drip drip" in the walls that began at about 9:30 at night. Jeff ventured into the attic to check the air handler and found a few problems that required another service call the next morning!

I had a two hour riding lesson in the blistering, humid weather (already 91 degrees F!) Wednesday. It's the first ride this year where I've had to fully wash down Flame after, and I certainly didn't mind the cooling overspray. Then Thursday was my last Master Gardening class (held at the regional botanical gardens), followed by our final exam. Today Jeff and I worked at the farmhouse all morning tearing up linoleum. I have an appointment late this afternoon and still have to prepare a snack for church tomorrow. Jeff is not feeling well and the dog appears to have an upset stomach and possible fleas from the boarding kennel. All in all, it's been a full week of productive pursuits, so I can hardly complain. I look forward to a rest from our daily cares!

His proposal had a nice ring to it.

Ten years ago today Jeff proposed! He created a series of poems, each leading to another event or destination. It all started the evening before on a Saturday night with the first poem and concluded on a Sunday morning in a peaceful park in Longmeadow, Massachusetts with Jeff on one knee and a ring box in hand. I still have all the poems and photos of the location (which is unusual for me since I'm not a "keeper" of things or sentimental items).

Record breaking!

Well, it's confirmed. The tornado in our area was the longest major one in history. It was EF 5 strength for over 130 miles non-stop. The winds were around 200 miles per hour and the path was about a mile wide most of the time.

You can see the computer generated marks showing the Alabama tornadoes and their paths below.

And here is the untouched satellite image showing the scarring left behind from The Big One.

We survived...

This was the worst tornado event in Alabama history, so storm forensic experts are saying. Maybe the worst in US history. I don't think I've ever heard the sirens sound so many times in one day. We woke up to and just about went to bed to it last Wednesday. Thankfully, our city was not damaged directly, but just north, south, and west of us had destruction. The storms affected the regional nuclear power plant, so we were without power for five days. That means no lights, no appliances, no chargers, no hot water, nothing! We also didn't have cell service for a few days, and our landline was out for six days. Our perishables all perished (fridge, freezer, deep freeze goods, etc.), but other than that we were unscathed.

It was a surprisingly relaxing time in the neighborhood. We had beautiful weather on Thursday and Friday after the storms, so everyone was out in their yards sunbathing, reading, playing, grilling, etc. We walked the dog twice a day, got some outdoor chores done, washed my hair in a big storage tub in the backyard (I say "we" because Jeff was definitely instrumental in helping me accomplish that), enjoyed candlelit dinners every night, and generally unwound. Life is back to normal now (with a much cleaner fridge and freezer than usual ;-), but we will have fond memories of the "unplugged" lifestyle.

A time to work, a time to rest

It isn't quite from Ecclesiastes, but it has a similar ring. Several months this winter were slow and relaxing, even occasionally boring. But no more of that! It has been a very hectic month. This past week alone, we've had overnight guests, formal dinner for nine, major church responsibilities for three separate days, floral arranging, a vocal solo, heavy baking, garden transplanting, intensive house and car cleaning (three cars, one too-big house, and an extra set of appliances (long story)), and all the other responsibilities of regular life to handle.

Our upstairs heat pump finally went completely out, so I'm getting estimates for that. The Neon has a hole in the manifold, also necessitating several estimates. When I was in the middle of a big fresh flower arrangement, the realtor called and needed to show the house in 45 minutes. We have been about the first to arrive and the last to leave at our new congregation for the past month, with all the duties that come with organizing that. I had the responsibility of making bread for the Passover, which is a new and rather nerve-racking duty. We are the early crew, late crew, and every crew in between at times (sometimes without even a minute to visit the bathroom)! We've fallen into bed well after midnight, only to awaken early, too many times to count lately.

I can more deeply appreciate the cycle of agrarian life this year; the ease of the winter months disappearing into the ever-escalating pace of spring. This break-neck speed surely will subside a bit in another week or so. I hope. ♫Just keep swimming, just keep swimming♫

Landscape Design

We had a fantastic lecture on landscape design in the Master Gardener class by the state specialist. It was such a good fusion for me of my growing love of horticulture and my existing passion for interior design. This is just exterior design! She pulled in several concepts I'm already familiar with such as flow, simplicity, rule of three, etc. They were presented in a new context that sort of clicked for me.

She very organized, and I'm glad she emphasized having a plan. We discussed how to map the property and come up with several templates that designate conditions, positive and negative features, needs and desires, etc. Most gardeners start with a plant and then try to decide where to stick it; her method was the complete reverse. It's such a logical process when done that way. I'm looking forward to implementing this knowledge next week when we design the landscape for a Habitat for Humanity house.

She highly recommended the title "The Southern Gardener's Book of Lists" by Lois Chaplin. It's not a picture book, so you might want a pictorial reference or the Internet handy; but it has lots of categories of plants for specific purposes, such as low hedges under windows or flowers for poor drainage, etc. Between this and several other gardening materials, I'm starting to grow my personal library.

Bloomin' Bushes

Our red tipped Fraser's Photinia bushes are going crazy with blooms this year. We had the same bushes as a tidy hedge row at our bungalow in Arkansas and I'm quite sure they never bloomed there. This is our third spring in this house and I don't remember ever seeing these put on quite such a show. It almost made me second-guess the type of bush, until I looked it up and confirmed that Photinia do flower. We have a very large screen of them at the rear of the property, and it's a nice treat to see flowers all the way up the top no matter what back window from which I look. I even went out and cut several to add to my Friday evening flower arrangement for the dinner table.

Mantel Madness

Though it's certainly not guaranteed that we will be able to buy the farmhouse (since selling our current home in this real estate market will take a miracle), I couldn't pass up buying a little "gift" for our hoped-for home. The farmhouse originally had three fireplaces, but two were closed up. They would have disappeared entirely to be utterly forgotten if not for the solid hearths evident in the wood floors. Though inordinately expensive to restore chimneys, opening up the walls and installing vent-free gas logs is within the budget.

I had already concluded that I wanted one Arts and Crafts era mantel in quartersawn oak, and I was prepared to strip multiple layers of paint off of one given that stained mantels in good condition are over $1000. The second mantel I was picturing would be smaller and simpler, a paint grade specimen that would suit the bedroom.

To that end, I had to jump on the deal I found on eBay. An individual less than two hours away was selling two original mantels for a steal. And, you guessed it, one was a stained, quartersawn oak Arts and Crafts mantel and the other was a chippy white Victorian/Edwardian piece. A breathless, last minute bid and a whirlwind trip 100 miles north with my everloving husband resulted in these two beauties stored in the shop at the farmhouse!

If we don't get to buy the farmhouse, I can clean these puppies up and resell for at least twice (maybe three) times what I paid. Even Jeff was swayed to take the risk by that return!

Delight in every bite!

Jeff took me on a date yesterday evening. We had purchased a Living Social coupon deal to a little Mediterranean/Italian place a few months back, and it was nearing expiration. So we spiced up a mundane Tuesday with dinner followed by ballroom dancing.

The food was fantastic! This place is a bit out of the way from home, but not too far from Jeff's office. I had the grilled sea trout and Jeff enjoyed the lamb. It was a very elegant presentation, but, sadly, you won't get to see that part. I am not much of a photographer and didn't even think about taking a photo until it was too late. Instead, here is a much rarer sight than an elegant presentation of fish set before yours truly:

A completely empty plate! I could have licked it clean. I can't think of the last time I left a restaurant without a take-home box. We really enjoy these elegant restaurants that prize quality over quantity. As Jeff says, he would rather leave an eatery wanting more as opposed to wishing for less. This was the perfect amount for the entree (allowing me to indulge in the rustic bread served with olive oil beforehand without feeling guilty about spoiling my dinner). We were free to savor every morsel and not be too weighted down to samba, rumba, waltz, and swing our way through the remainder of the evening.

Sesquicentennial

Today is the 150th anniversary of the first shot fired in the American Civil War. Jeff and I watched the Ken Burns documentary series on the war last week on PBS. It is really such a huge piece of our history with so many facets. I came away with a much deeper appreciation for the way those four years really shaped the history of the South. I think many of the less than desirable aspects of the South (as I see them; attitudes, habits, education, poverty, etc.) all have roots directly or indirectly in that conflict. It will be a very interesting next four years as Civil War events all over the nation are reenacted and remembered.

Battle of Fort Sumter
April 12-14, 1861

On April 10, 1861, Brig. Gen. Beauregard, in command of the provisional Confederate forces at Charleston, South Carolina, demanded the surrender of the Union garrison of Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor. Garrison commander Anderson refused. On April 12, Confederate batteries opened fire on the fort, which was unable to reply effectively. At 2:30 pm, April 13, Major Anderson surrendered Fort Sumter, evacuating the garrison on the following day. The bombardment of Fort Sumter was the opening engagement of the American Civil War. Although there were no casualties during the bombardment, one Union artillerist was killed and three wounded (one mortally) when a cannon exploded prematurely while firing a salute during the evacuation on April 14.

Excerpt from www.civilwar.org

How men and women see color...

This is so true, at least for us! Jeff and I joke about this all the time; he insists that he sees the color variances but just doesn't know what to call them. If colors had numbers instead of names, I think he might actually remember and use each one correctly ;-)

But we still have the issue on whole color families. He will see something the shade of Robin's Egg and call it green (I would say blue); he sees Wine and says purple (I would categorize it as a red). It really does make me wonder, is it only the vocabulary or is our color experience truly that different?!