October 1, 2012
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Odds and Ends
It’s been a hot second since I’ve done an Odds and Ends post. Time has been slip, sliding away. Here we are on the first day of October. September really flew. This is how I’m feeling this morning:
Home ownership has been pretty good. We’ve run into a couple just general “old house” issues, which is to be expected with a 100+ year old house. My favorite has been the light without a light switch. We don’t really know if the house had electricity when it was first built. I’m not wholly convinced that it did seeing how some of house is wired. The light switch for the dining room is in the front hallway. There’s no light switches at all in the dining room. A weekend or so ago, Phil went to go change a burnt out light bulb in the front entryway that had been out since we moved in. He changed it and then tried to find a light switch to turn it off. We tried all of the light switches in the hallway and apparently, there is no light switch to that light. We now see why that light had been left burnt out… sigh.
Saturday was pretty busy for us. Phil and I got up early and drove to Congress Heights, which if you’re familiar with D.C., you may know that area of the city is not the best place. Congress Heights is one of the poorest areas in the city with quite a bit of crime. We participated in the DCBIA Community Improvement Day , which is basically a day where a lot of different architecture firms, construction companies, and anyone else associated with the building industry in the Greater Washington Metro area descend on a pre-determined place to fix it up. It is awesome. There were probably about 200 people who descended on this community center to improve the grounds. The playgrounds were repainted. Paths were paved. Fences were mended. It was really an amazing effort and I’m so happy that we could help out, at least a little bit.
Saturday night, we drove out to Charlestown, WV to meet up with my family for my uncle’s birthday. We went to the casino up there. Let me just tell you that I’m about the worst gambler ever. I just don’t get it. I hate losing the money. I’d rather be assured that I was going to get to keep my money and just spend it some other way. Lady Luck was unfortunately not on our side!
Sunday was spent around the house. I did a bit of cleaning and organizing. I also did a good bit of gardening. The garden we inherited with the house is still doing great. The tomatoes and green peppers are still doing great. The green beans are monsters!!!
How is life in your corner of the world?
(this post was also posted at http://abookishaffair.blogspot.com/2012/10/odds-and-ends-back-again.html)
Comments (5)
Old houses keep things interesting, huh? I’d love to buy/restore one some day, but know it would come with many challenges! Oh, and thanks for telling about your community improvement experience. What a great thing, and how great that you participated.
What a great adventure to go into DC and help restore the area along with other people. That had to feel most gratifying.
Old homes have such a charm about them. You can almost visualize the gracious living that went on withing their walls. I am glad the garden is still producing. Next year you have to plant some roses.
Revisiting the old neighborhood again I see. =)
With such an old house, perhaps they got a bit creative on the wiring. There could be a switch in the kitchen, living room, or bedroom that might control the porch light. I you find a switch that seemingly does nothing, that’s likely the one.
Let’s see some backyard harvest pics! =)
There will always be something to do with a house, esp. an old one! Would love to see some garden pics, too! Good to hear from you!
They have a similar fix up project here in the Iowa called Habitat for Humanity. I worked in a project this summer. Crazy rewarding, back breaking miserable work