Rural Renovation Records and Revelations
Our journey through time with a 1786 Cape Cod in rural Vermont.

Continuing on with the tour – The next room is one of the two additional bedrooms on the second floor. 

Complete with baseboard heat, a floor vent that connects to the den below which supplies a large amount of heat from the wood stove below, and a built in shelf which I assume was for a TV since it has an outlet in it. 

The lovely wallpaper, curtains, and carpet were all “gifts” from the PO’s. The bunk-bed was given to us by a neighbor. We figured why not put something in there for the time being, for when guests come to visit.

I don’t think too much will change in the room unless we do decide to add a second bathroom to the floor. As it is now, you’d need to use the Master Bath or go downstairs if needed.

All images clickable. More in the gallery.

This is the view from the window. Obviously this photo was taken a few months ago.

Well, it was a slow blogging weekend with Shalom up here in Vermont for Memorial Day and work keeping me away from the computer. I did not however forget to find a humorous list for this weeks edition of “The Weekly List”.

I’ve got a few other posts to catch up on so I’ll get them out as I can, and don’t forget, if you’ve got a great list you’d like to share, let me know about it. 

Betsy Bird’s Top Ten Things Every Home Improver Should Know

10) All home improvement projects involve the modification or removal of a previous home improvement project that didn’t improve anything. This is particularly true if the previous home improvement project was undertaken by the husband of the woman living in said home. Tip: Should your spouse announce plans to replace your gutters himself, immediately seek a restraining order.

9) Home improvement is actually a euphemism. The real name of what you are doing is Making One Decision After Another. I can make pie crust, curtains, and spreadsheets, but I have a lot more trouble with decisions. If you do not like to make decisions, you should learn to love the house you already have.

8 ) Here’s a handy formula for determining the cost of the additional furniture you’ll need for your improved space.For each additional 10 square foot of living space,count on spending more than you can possibly afford for the whole room.

7) Human life expectancy may increase with each passing decade, but today’s appliances live on borrowed time. The dishwasher you buy to replace your 20-year-old one will develop a terminal illness before it reaches kindergarten age.

6) HGTV is not reality television. It is a fictional dramatic series written and acted by the same people who brought you imaginary friends.

5) Porta-potties can blow over in heavy winds.

4) When it comes to electric sockets, three things matter: location, location, location.

3) You know that pest control guy you’ve been paying to come to your house each month and spray for termites? That’s all he’s been doing — spraying. You mean you wanted him to actually prevent termites? Geez … you should havesaid so. That costs extra.

2) Laura Ingalls Wilder lived in a little house on the prairie. Surely we can all live in houses without granite countertops.

And Just for fun you’ll have to get the number one tip from it’s source Emptying Our Nest. Enjoy!

Normally the house is pretty quiet, even with two dogs, two cats and a potbellied pig; there isn’t much noise at night except for the TV and an occasional car that drive by. Tonight that was not the case. The two cats usually hang out in the “formal” living room, and suddenly tonight there was a commotion. The cats were banging into things and practically screaming. This of course got the dogs barking and running around trying to figure out what was happening. 

I ran into the living room to see what was going on. The first thing on my mind was the pig got loose and was running around the house, but there’s a double paned glass door keeping her in her room so that couldn’t be it. Then I saw it, well I didn’t really see it at first, I felt it fly right by me. Yup there was a little bat flying around in circles giving the cats some much needed exercise. 

Eviction:

Since the bat was pretty active and would land (is it landing even if it’s on a ceiling?) I took out a sheet and blocked the doorway into the dining room. Then I got some photos and video (the important stuff). I originally tried getting the bat to fly into a laundry hamper, but even my smallest bit of bat knowledge told me this was stupid as they can sense an object in their path. So I grabbed an old kitchen trash pail that was left by the PO’s. It had a lid on it which I knew would come in handy. With the lid off, but in my other hand I waited until it finally took a break. I slowly lifted the bucket up to the ceiling and the bat dropped right in. Slid that lid on and off we went to the backyard for more photo ops, and off he went to go take care of the horrible black flies we’re having here in Vermont.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get a good enough view to see exactly what kind of bat it is, but I’m assuming it was a little brown bat (Myotis lucifugus), or maybe a very fortunate Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) which are endangered and lucky I’m not the type to kill an animal.

Got any animal “visitor” stories of your own? Please share!

More photos are available in the gallery, and on my blog.

The cats’ version is in the Pets Blog, HERE and HERE.

Hey there house bloggers, I’m cross-posting this from EasyGreensy.com because I think it’s an easy simple program we can all participate in. Thank you for taking a look into the challenge.

When most people hear things like “support us” our first thought is, “Great, another way to spend money I don’t have”. No matter how strong your feelings toward an effort, sometimes there just isn’t enough money to support it. 

Well, sometimes you don’t need to spend any money to make a difference. Brighter Planet’s 350 Challenge http://350.brighterplanet.com/ is one of those ways. If you keep a blog you can participate too. All they ask is that you add their badge to your blog, and in exchange they will offset 350 pounds of carbon in your name. If you don’t keep a blog, don’t despair, why not ask your favorite bloggers to take part in your name?

Keep you eyes open for programs like this. Not only are you offsetting your footprint, you are helping to spread the word about being green.

Do you know other programs like this? Please share them with us.

Did your lawnmower come without a bagger? Is your mulching blade not doing its job? Well I know how you feel, and have I got the solution for you!

Meet Sweet Pea our potbellied pig. She sure loves to snack on the bits of grass that go un-mulched. Be sure to check out Sweet Pea’s Gallery, and blog.

Sorry I just had to lighten things up here on the house blog a little bit. Tell me that’s not a face you wanna kiss. If she likes you she’ll give you a kiss back too!

This week’s list comes to us from This Old House and is a comprehensive list of simple tasks every homeowner should learn how to do. The article includes tips and information to successfully master these tasks.

After my first read of this list I really didn’t think the tasks were things the average homeowner would do too frequently. After I thought about it for a minute I was able to come up with a project on my “to do” list for each and every tip. So I guess there is some good information there.

I’m always looking for new and interesting lists please send me your ideas.

About a month ago I told you about UtiliKilts and that I wouldn’t mind getting one. Last weekend Shalom and I went to New Hampshire to see what shopping options were available, and so I could get ProBlogger: Secrets for Blogging Your Way to a Six-Figure Income. As we were walking into a sporting goods store I saw a guy wearing a UtiliKilt! I’d still like one someday, but the cost is a little prohibitive. 

Technically I guess saying New Englander’s Like UtiliKilts is a bit of a stretch. At least two (myself and the guy wearing one) New Englander’s like em!

Before Shalom gets upset, it’s not a toy. Sometimes riding it can be fun, but we really needed to start mowing the lawn. Otherwise there would have been a lot of raking to clean up the mess.

Last weekend we went to our local Husqvarna dealer and purchased a new(ish) garden tractor. It’s actually about five years old, but was in fairly good shape, and very well maintained.

When I started researching the right mower for us I noticed the Husqvarna name repeatedly coming up as a top of the line product. I also learned that they manufacture several of the other brands on the market, and are a great value compared to the “Professional Brands”. I’ve just recently learned that Husqvarna is the official lawn care and landscaping equipment of NASCAR, so that’s an added incentive to buy one. 

Because cost was a significant issue to us we settled on a used riding tractor. A regular push mower would not do the job for us, we have several acres to keep trimmed. It takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to do the job with a rider, just imagine a walk behind. The model we purchased is a YTH1542XP. It’s not the biggest most powerful mower around (it’s got a 15HP engine and a 42″ cutting deck), but it get the job done. So far I’ve been pretty impressed with the way it handles our rough terrain, but I think it’ll take a few more weeks before I can give a proper review.

Gallery love:        

Shalom getting “first tracks”.

Our neighbor’s home, the grass between (undeveloped land), which we will maintain so both houses can enjoy it. 

Last week while Shalom and I were taking a scenic route home from Curtis’ BQQ, I quickly slammed on the brakes much to her surprise. I threw the car into reverse and backed into a driveway where there was a sign and a table that said, “Free Stuff”. This is very common around here. I often see things put out for others to take. 

Normally I wouldn’t pay much mind to such a thing, but as we were flying by there was just what we’ve been looking for on the ground besides the table. Two shutters! If you’ve looked at any of our previous house photos, you may have noticed that there was an imbalance on the front of our home. 

For some reason there are two shutters missing. I was hoping to find them after the snow melted, but unfortunately they are nowhere around. After a closer look at the siding, it’s obvious those two had been missing for a long time. There aren’t even holes in the siding where the shutters would have been mounted. (Another PO mystery.) 

They never exissted.

The existing shutters are the black plastic “decorative” type, and so were the two that I found for free. The “new” ones are a little bit shorter than the rest, so I’ll have to play “musical shutters” to make everything look symmetrical.

Sweet Pea checking the new shutters out.

Normally I wouldn’t repair something half way, but the house will look much better for the time being. One day the front of the house will get a full makeover, and the plastic shutters will be a thing of the past, but for now free will do! The weather forecast is indicating rain for the next week, so I’ll try to get these up over Memorial Day weekend. 

Have you ever “found” a home repair item for free? Tell us about your great deals!

Last week I asked you to help us choose where to plant our new Herb Garden.

 Loading ...

Unfortunately a large majority of our readers choose not to vote, but I took the advice of those who did, and planted the cauldron. Thankfully the majority choose that option because as it turned out Shalom really wanted the herbs there.

For the first gardening attempt we have basil, cilantro, dill, and oregano. 

If all goes well this year I’d like to cultivate a portion of our property and get some real gardening going.

Any ideas on what I should plan to grow? What’s in your garden?