Have a Safe July 4th!

Preparations for July 4th are in full swing at the Odd Fellows House. Here are some pictures to set the scene.

Hope you all have a safe and happy July 4th! 

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.    

A Ghost Story

Our first night at the Odd Fellows House, I woke up around 2am, my head shooting up from my pillow, "Oh no," I said. Andrew, who was still awake and listening to podcasts in bed, asked what was wrong. "I'm really sick," I said in a calm voice while standing up straight on our blow-up mattress and flinging myself into the bathroom. 

All of a sudden I was violently vomiting, over and over. My parents had taken us out to Braddock's Tavern for a celebratory dinner that night, but my thoughts didn't go to food poisoning, instead I thought: Oh no, the ghosts! People had warned us about moving next to a cemetery. But I had been so confident that everything would be okay. Here I was with clear evidence it would not. I remember thinking about whether I could withstand this sort of thing every night. 

As I threw up and cried in the bathroom of a strange house, wondering if I had made a huge mistake in moving here, I felt Andrew rubbing my back and holding my hair away from my face. "Everything is going to be okay, you're safe now. You're here with us," he whispered. 

Could I wake up every night, ridding myself of all food in my stomach, shaking on this cold linoleum floor? Would the house be worth that? I looked out the bathroom window into the foggy night. A feeling of being at home wrapped around me like a blanket. 

Yes, I could do it, I concluded.  It was worth it.

I went back to bed and slept peacefully the rest of that night. The next morning, as we sipped our coffee on our front porch, I thanked Andrew for keeping me company and comforting me while I was sick. He looked puzzled. 

"Babe," he said, putting his coffee down, "you locked the bathroom door. I couldn't get in."

A look back

I've been feeling a bit under the weather so not much progress has been made at the house, but I thought you all may find these pictures fun. 

Rear view of the entrance to the Odd Fellows Cemetery in 1889:

2013: 

Andrew and I had fun researching the area and finding old pictures of the cemetery and our house. We'll share them in the coming weeks, along with present day photos.

But for now, that's all folks! 

The Good Life

Everyday folks ask me, Gina, what is life like at the Odd Fellows House? 

Well, Andrew is not just the tile-man. He's also the grill-man. Check out last night's steak!

And because I know my audience, here's a video featuring the always popular Thomas Jefferson. 

I took this on our walk this morning. You can see where Odd Fellows Cemetery ends and the Rancocas creek and surrounding park begins. It is so quiet and peaceful. And makes for a very happy pup!

I think its a very good life, what about you?

Ugly Things and Pretty Things

Andrew is making great progress in the bathroom, although things still look a bit ugly if you ask me (do you see that orange wall color with the black tile? The house is already next to a cemetery, let's not drive the Halloween thing home tooooo much). 

I made great progress in picking out pretty (non-Halloween) tile. We're using U.S. Ceramic 6x6 tile in bone from Home Depot and allen + roth 3x8 Emperador Espresso Marble tiles as an accent from Lowe's. 

We were able to get a flat of the bone colored 6x6 tile at Home Depot for $100 (that's over $1,000 in savings for those of you keeping track!). We'll be using it for the kitchen back splash as well. Oh,  you haven't seen the kitchen? Don't worry, you're not missing much!

Our plan is to try out the Rust-Oleum tub refinishing kit on that pink monster of a tub. The customer pictures on Home Depot's website are really encouraging (how do you like that lime green tub?!!). 

Due to my work schedule, I don't get a lot done during the week but I was able to hang 2 curtains yesterday. At 10pm, wearing heels, and cursing very loudly as they fell on my head over and over. 

Yeah, that's nothing to be proud of, but it gives us some privacy for the time being. I don't think our view is that bad, though, what do you think?