Corbels corbels corbels

Here's another great then and now shot of the Odd Fellows Cemetery (and our house!).

The picture below shows the house around 1900, with some volunteer workers lined up outside ready to take care of the graves:

Can you spot our house? 

Here's a shot taken by Andrew this morning:

Finding old pictures has helped us get an idea for the original look and feel of the house. In the old photograph above, you can see that the porch most likely had 8 corbels, or Victorian gingerbread brackets, on it. 

When we bought the house, the porch only had 2 corbels (reproductions, unfortunately). Here's another recent shot of the front porch (taken before we moved in):

This started a search for the *perfect* corbels. Was there a way to get a carpenter to recreate the ones in the picture? Could we find a better shot of what they used to look like? Surely this warranted being a top priority. Forget the water in the basement and the lack of a working shower. I must have those corbels!

I told Andrew I was going to learn woodworking and make the corbels myself. He explained that it was very intricate work, and continued to handle practical concerns, like purchasing the floor supports we would need to keep the living room floor from caving in. 

As I developed plans for the shed I would need (to build, of course) for my woodworking, I discovered unopened boxes of corbels in the closet of our master bedroom. 

I guess Thomas will never get to be an elf in my workshop.