You can see the rest of the collection here.
Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with this company.
14 March 2009
Cristallo Lighting
My taste in lighting fixtures tends towards the Edwardian/Victorian end of the spectrum, but I just love this collection! Look at the beading on the shades. I think these would look great in any restored home.
08 February 2009
Kissed By A Feral Cat
This is Sibley.
He is a feral cat. I trapped him on the back porch last Spring, got him neutered, and then, not wanting to release him back outside to fend for himself, released him into my house. These pictures were taken several months after. He hides most of the time I am around--most lately under my bed, and when I enter a room I see a fluffy yellow tail leaving it. Sometimes he will lay on the floor in the kitchen with the other cats when I am at the kitchen table quietly reading late at night. I turn and speak to him and use his name so he will feel included. As soon as I get up he is gone. He has learned to play with cat toys, batting them down the stairs and in the bathtub, and he and the other cats play chase up and down the stairs and down the hall. He has always been a gentleman and uses the cat box and has no problem finding the food and water, as you can see by his picture.
I have not touched him since soon after he came here, when he used to cower in a cat house and I would touch his nose. When cornered he has said terrible things to me and rushed past to escape the horrible things I am going to do to him. All my other cats love him and get along just fine. I pet them in his presence to show him that I am not going to kill him. He has entered my bedroom, sitting just inside the door, to watch me as I am sleeping. I wake up and say Hi to him. He snuggles on top of my clothes on the vanity stool, and lately he has been sleeping on my bed when I am actually IN IT! Last week I woke to see him on the other pillow--just 12 inches away, and he didn't run.
This morning I woke up and, as is their custom, the other cats came and stood on me and started purring and getting their morning pets. I had one in each armpit and two on my chest, several on my feet, and one on the other pillow, and Sibley was on the far side of the bed. (A double, so I can reach both sides.) I pet Spot and got him all purry and happy and he went over and started washing Sibley's head and ears. Spot is my best ear washer. I reached over and pet Spot and started petting Sibley. He didn't object, and soon he was actually PURRING. This is the first sound he has made other than a hiss. Soon he was rolling over on his back, stretching out his feet, and giving my hand little kitty kisses. He didn't want me to stop. He found out that hands are good. I withdrew my hand to pet the other cats and then resumed petting Sibley several times. Each time, he kissed my hand and rolled over so I could scratch his chest. He was making little purry whimpery noises and then he rolled off the bed!
I dozed off and he was back when I woke up. I pet him again and got up. I haven't seen him the rest of the day.
W00t!! Progress!
05 January 2009
22 December 2008
Ebay - The End of an Era (Non House Related)
Back in 1997 when the internet was all new and fun I discovered eBay. What fun I had buying things and meeting new people--some bad, but most good. I slowly built up my feedback purchase by purchase--all positive, until that time I tried to be a seller. It only took one newbie jerk to ruin my 100% feedback rating. Of course, I negged them, too, and it wasn't long before they were gone for negative feedback.
Selling didn't work out for me. Out of 100 listings I only sold about 6 items--for about what I had paid for them initially--and the fees ate up all the profit. I didn't try it again, though I was "always going to". Now I never will.
Why, you ask? Well, I guess you haven't been buying recently. Or maybe you have and wondered why you can't find any auctions you can pay for with a check or a money order. Have you also noticed that you cannot contact any of the sellers directly anymore? There is no more personal contact. The great world marketplace is going paperless.* Sellers can no longer list any payment methods other than PayPal or ProPay, methods conveniently owned by eBay. If they do, they are kicked off eBay! I understand that if you contact a seller early in the auction, preferably through a non-eBay email method, you can arrange for a surreptitious check or money order payment, but I'm not sure how you can circumvent the Checkout procedure which requires you to use one of these methods.
My last purchase was for a local item and I drove to pick it up and paid for it with cash. Sadly, that will be my last purchase. No longer will I browse page after page of goodies I want to bid on and own because I refuse to knuckle under and have a PayPal account. I have resisted ever since their inception--hearing horror story after horror story about screwed up accounts, exhorbitant fees, and missing money. I just don't want to trust my money to a third party. I suppose this makes me a dinosaur in the eyes of some younger people who do all their transactions by card or electronically. Some of them probably have no clue about how to write a check or balance a checkbook with a bank statement. (Even my bank refuses to send me a statement any more. I have been forced to sign up for E-statements. The bank says they are going paperless. Ha! I still have to print it out at home, so where's the tree-saving? They have also put me on an allowance of 10 checks per month before they start charging me to process them.) I like the process of writing down every purchase and deposit. It keeps me aware of where my money is going and how much I have at any given time. If I miss recording a check, it is immediately apparent. I didn't even have a credit card until 1994 when I got married and needed to purchase some big ticket items for the house.
But back to eBay. Paypal, and it's parent, eBay, now has a double dip into every transaction on its site. They have also taken something that was fun and turned it into a chore. A friend of mine in Germany, who has sold on eBay forever, and has a PayPal account out of necessity for International transactions, is also upset with the change. In fact, it was he who drew my attention to the change in the first place. The fees associated with selling have gone up appreciably, as the market for collectibles of all kinds has dropped, making it not the money-maker it used to be.
Hopefully all the people who will leave eBay will go back to selling locally and we will see an upsurge in the collectibles economy, and more antique malls. Us dinosaurs still have spending power
*You may have to have an eBay account to read this article. It's pretty scary--full of YOU MUST this, and YOU MUST NOT that.
Selling didn't work out for me. Out of 100 listings I only sold about 6 items--for about what I had paid for them initially--and the fees ate up all the profit. I didn't try it again, though I was "always going to". Now I never will.
Why, you ask? Well, I guess you haven't been buying recently. Or maybe you have and wondered why you can't find any auctions you can pay for with a check or a money order. Have you also noticed that you cannot contact any of the sellers directly anymore? There is no more personal contact. The great world marketplace is going paperless.* Sellers can no longer list any payment methods other than PayPal or ProPay, methods conveniently owned by eBay. If they do, they are kicked off eBay! I understand that if you contact a seller early in the auction, preferably through a non-eBay email method, you can arrange for a surreptitious check or money order payment, but I'm not sure how you can circumvent the Checkout procedure which requires you to use one of these methods.
My last purchase was for a local item and I drove to pick it up and paid for it with cash. Sadly, that will be my last purchase. No longer will I browse page after page of goodies I want to bid on and own because I refuse to knuckle under and have a PayPal account. I have resisted ever since their inception--hearing horror story after horror story about screwed up accounts, exhorbitant fees, and missing money. I just don't want to trust my money to a third party. I suppose this makes me a dinosaur in the eyes of some younger people who do all their transactions by card or electronically. Some of them probably have no clue about how to write a check or balance a checkbook with a bank statement. (Even my bank refuses to send me a statement any more. I have been forced to sign up for E-statements. The bank says they are going paperless. Ha! I still have to print it out at home, so where's the tree-saving? They have also put me on an allowance of 10 checks per month before they start charging me to process them.) I like the process of writing down every purchase and deposit. It keeps me aware of where my money is going and how much I have at any given time. If I miss recording a check, it is immediately apparent. I didn't even have a credit card until 1994 when I got married and needed to purchase some big ticket items for the house.
But back to eBay. Paypal, and it's parent, eBay, now has a double dip into every transaction on its site. They have also taken something that was fun and turned it into a chore. A friend of mine in Germany, who has sold on eBay forever, and has a PayPal account out of necessity for International transactions, is also upset with the change. In fact, it was he who drew my attention to the change in the first place. The fees associated with selling have gone up appreciably, as the market for collectibles of all kinds has dropped, making it not the money-maker it used to be.
Hopefully all the people who will leave eBay will go back to selling locally and we will see an upsurge in the collectibles economy, and more antique malls. Us dinosaurs still have spending power
*You may have to have an eBay account to read this article. It's pretty scary--full of YOU MUST this, and YOU MUST NOT that.
14 December 2008
Second Parlor Picture Update
The sender of the wonderful pictures sent me the uncropped version of the second parlor/music room pic. This one includes the window treatment, the papered ceiling, and a ceiling gas light not in the center of the room. How neat is this! You can see the border better and I can locate the exact hole in the casing used for the tieback. Interesting to me is the use of simple lace curtains instead of fancy velvet curtains. This is about 1900 if the girl is age 15. They may have given up fancy curtains, but the piano drapery is pure Victorian! Rose, the younger, gave piano lessons in this room. Rose and Charles Hauser were her aunt and uncle and she lived with them.
05 December 2008
New Old Pics
Wow! Look at this! It's a picture of my second parlor and I'm sitting right now where the girl is, typing on my computer. The walls don't look anywhere near as nice as that and there is no carpeting. The sender didn't identify the girl, but the man is Charles Hauser, and they are in the music room, so labeled on the fuse box, or second parlor. She is probably his niece, Rose. The sender is her grandson.
He also sent me this picture of Charles' wife, Rosa. (update: After looking at this picture again, I realized it couldn't be Rosa, as she was born in 1855, and this is clearly a carte-de-visite from the mid 1860's. It has to be Rosa's mother, Mary Augusta Schmitt.)
And this nice picture of them out in the yard somewhere. This is undoubtedly on Union Street in Heritage Hill where the Hausers spent their last years. The clothing looks to be late 30's.
I was working on my history/genealogy program of the West Side's early German families when I ran across this great website. Since these families went to the same church, worked in the same factories, and lived in the same neighborhood, they were all intermarried. I have quite an extensive database on them and now I can add some more dates and pictures and fill in a few missing pieces on some of the families.
I will definitely be printing that top picture to hang in my music room. (If I ever get it done!)
He also sent me this picture of Charles' wife, Rosa. (update: After looking at this picture again, I realized it couldn't be Rosa, as she was born in 1855, and this is clearly a carte-de-visite from the mid 1860's. It has to be Rosa's mother, Mary Augusta Schmitt.)
And this nice picture of them out in the yard somewhere. This is undoubtedly on Union Street in Heritage Hill where the Hausers spent their last years. The clothing looks to be late 30's.
I was working on my history/genealogy program of the West Side's early German families when I ran across this great website. Since these families went to the same church, worked in the same factories, and lived in the same neighborhood, they were all intermarried. I have quite an extensive database on them and now I can add some more dates and pictures and fill in a few missing pieces on some of the families.
I will definitely be printing that top picture to hang in my music room. (If I ever get it done!)
25 November 2008
Fixing the Porch
I totally forgot to post about fixing the rotten elements of my front porch this summer and fall. It had been rebuilt about 1996, but water and snow had taken their toll on an exposed corner and several floorboards and trim boards were rotten. This is a pic from 1996.
Of course I had help!
It was due for a paint, too, so I primed all reachable surfaces. This corner is most exposed to the elements, and, as tongue and groove floorboards don't come in pressure-treated wood it is likely that I will be doing this again in 10 years. I removed the grille parts and replaced the boards chewed by squirrels and repainted them, too. The trim pieces nearest the ground were also replaced. Finished up and gave it one coat. Will do another in the Spring. It was a little difficult bullnosing that long board. I had to go get a neighbor man to "catch" the end of the board for me. Next year I'll build some adjustable rollers for long pieces of wood.
In case you're wondering why there is no railing, I don't have a picture of this corner of the house, so don't know what it looked like. I can just barely see a piece of it in one picture. I had hoped there was a carriage step on this side, but there is no evidence for it, which is strange, because the carriage drive is right here between the houses. Perhaps the Hausers got in at the barn. There was one stall in the barn, so I know there had to be a tiny paddock in the back, too. It would be nice to have a picture of the carriage and horse. (By the way, that gray paint you see on the bricks was not done by me! A leftover from the ex, who was a painter. Ha!)
How do you like the drainpipe? You can see that water had eaten my mortar for a long time before I replaced the gutters when I bought the house in 1994. Then there's that awful red and white paint and those horrible stoop piers or whatever they're called. But lets not go there.
Have a nice Thanksgiving everyone!
Of course I had help!
It was due for a paint, too, so I primed all reachable surfaces. This corner is most exposed to the elements, and, as tongue and groove floorboards don't come in pressure-treated wood it is likely that I will be doing this again in 10 years. I removed the grille parts and replaced the boards chewed by squirrels and repainted them, too. The trim pieces nearest the ground were also replaced. Finished up and gave it one coat. Will do another in the Spring. It was a little difficult bullnosing that long board. I had to go get a neighbor man to "catch" the end of the board for me. Next year I'll build some adjustable rollers for long pieces of wood.
In case you're wondering why there is no railing, I don't have a picture of this corner of the house, so don't know what it looked like. I can just barely see a piece of it in one picture. I had hoped there was a carriage step on this side, but there is no evidence for it, which is strange, because the carriage drive is right here between the houses. Perhaps the Hausers got in at the barn. There was one stall in the barn, so I know there had to be a tiny paddock in the back, too. It would be nice to have a picture of the carriage and horse. (By the way, that gray paint you see on the bricks was not done by me! A leftover from the ex, who was a painter. Ha!)
How do you like the drainpipe? You can see that water had eaten my mortar for a long time before I replaced the gutters when I bought the house in 1994. Then there's that awful red and white paint and those horrible stoop piers or whatever they're called. But lets not go there.
Have a nice Thanksgiving everyone!
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