66. A Change of Pace

Perhaps you've noticed things have slowed down a little.  This is due to several factors, not the least of which is the fact that the purchase of the lot next door has eaten into the funds that I would have spent on the house.  Not to worry - work will continue, just at a less-than-breakneck pace.  Another reason is that the house has also reached a point where I can actually enjoy it - so I am doing just that, much earlier than expected.  So... I am changing my original strategy, which was to give it a year (which would be up in June), tally up all the expenses, and then get an appraisal to see how well I did on my investment.  I've decided to wait until June of 2012, two years, and celebrate on my 50th birthday.  Save the date:  June 23, because I'm gonna have a party!

With not much left to do besides trim and paint, one of the next projects is to tile the kitchen back splash and bar top.  This is how it looks now, with the concrete backer board in place, all ready for tile.  The problem is - what tile?  I had some I purchased cheap at the Habitat Home Store months ago, but now I have decided it is much too beige for my liking.  I'm leaning towards a glass tile mosaic with all shades of blue...  once that's in I can decide what color to paint the cabinets!

Meanwhile, a lot of work is getting done outside, because it's spring here, and the weather is so pleasant, and that lasts about a week in Florida.  We formed up and poured concrete to repair the front steps which were chunked up after the chain-link fence was removed during demo.  Also here you can see a couple of posts anchored to that concrete wall, ready for gate installation.

This gate was finely crafted from a Home Depot fence panel that I've had in the garage since the first month I owned the house!  One of the first to-do items on the list was "put up gate" but it's taken six months.  I've been thinking about it for so long it's almost like a dream to see it actually up and working.  The street view is already vastly improved, but soon we are going to pressure wash the front walls and fences on both properties and paint it all white, which will look very beachy I think.

Here is the view of the gate from the inside - there are still a couple of slats and the post caps to be put on.  I spent one day re-grading the front yard so the water from the roof doesn't run right down the sidewalk - after every rain storm there was a big washout of dirt in front of the house to deal with, but no more.

And now for our side-yard update:  Here you see about 25% of the debris remaining, and the foundation of the house in the foreground.  It turns out that the cheapest quote we got (about 1/2 the price of all the others) turned out to be a great choice.  I was a little concerned since you usually get what you pay for, but at that price I couldn't pass it up.  These guys sifted through every scoop of that stuff and pulled out all the metal and concrete to take to recyclers, which probably earned them a few bucks, and impressed the heck out of me.

They also were very easy to work with and listened when I asked them to preserve a couple of trees on the property, and pull the coquina chunks out of the riverbed they were using as fill dirt, so I could use them as landscaping stones.  They got a big kick out of that, but they cooperated.  Here you can see the fill almost complete.

Here is the view from the back street up towards my house, after four pallets of sod were laid.  At the right you can see an old mulberry tree they saved for me - it was literally growing up through a crack in the foundation, right next to the building, but the guy on the loader managed to work around it, at my request.  What a difference in the view!  The whole neighborhood is excited about it, as you might imagine.

Now you are standing in my driveway, looking at the row of posts we installed for the fence that will be put up next week.  Coincidentally it fits exactly between my little retaining wall and the fence of the next yard down, with a small leg up to meet the side fence I installed a while back.  Like a glove.  See that pile of beautiful stone there?  I got a call from Don, the loader operator, who was on another job nearby and unearthed all these stones.  He didn't want to see them get crushed, so he called me!  We loaded up a whole truckload and brought them home - I'm sure that's at least $500 worth of landscape boulders right there, which will be distributed throughout the yard over time.

My parting shot was taken on Sunday morning, after a sunrise walk on the beach.  Coming back home it was so nice to see that ugly building gone.  I like the feeling of caring for a property - somehow I think it appreciates the TLC.  I know for sure this one little spot can be a happy place - a little piece of world peace.

65. Construction / Destruction

You may think I'm a little weird, but I like it when a word has a nice, neat antonym.  Recently I found myself disappointed after searching my brain for the opposite of the word "escalate" which should have been descalate or unscalate.  When I finally resorted to the Google I found the antonym to be "de-escalate".  With a hyphen!!  What a complete cop-out.

But today, we're talking about two nicely organized antonyms:  Construction means putting a structure together, Destruction means taking a structure apart, and I've experienced both in recent weeks.  I'll start with the construction part.

I hadn't realized that I bought a house in the middle of what was essentially party central from January until March.  Dave and I have been getting a little bit done in between Speed Week and Bike Week and Spring Break.  Here you see some lovely PVC trim that sweetens up that inside corner of the front porch.

We continued with the work on the cap for the short wall in front of the porch, which really took some thought.  You may remember all the shimming we had to do to get the top level - but this weekend we were ready to put the top on.  The first long piece was cut from a 2x10, notched to fit around the 4x4 posts that give the porch that craftsman style.  The two smaller sections around the entrance were a bit more complicated, but after making a template out of cardboard we cut this funky puzzle piece that worked just perfectly out of a 2x12.  A bonus was that when the cardboard was flipped over it exactly matched the other side - I'd call that a miracle considering the fact that nothing still exists in this house that is square or even in any way!

Here you can see the cap installed.  There are a few little pieces still needed to fill in beside the posts, and then each post will be trimmed out in a special way (ask my trim guy) to give it that finished look.  It is ready for setting a margarita glass on, or sitting, or even dancing on - that thing is solid as a rock and we're convinced that if a hurricane washes the house away this part will still be standing.  Won't it be awesome once it's painted!

The view from the front may not look so different to you, but I can tell you it's 100% better - and actually level!

I also did a bunch of landscape clean up recently - the weeds had absolutely overgrown the place and I had lost sight of all the little things I planted last fall.  Spring is here and stuff is already starting to grow and bloom.  We installed this little pathway along the parking area using concrete blocks that were salvaged from next door.  It's a great path for rolling the trash down to the street, walking on if you happen to be in heels, or most importantly getting your motorcycle into the garage without a dangerous climb over a rocky mountain!

And now for the destruction portion of our episode, which can also be called demolition!  I expected the wrecking company one Friday, but the permit was stalled.  When they finally got the permit, it was Bike Week and all the streets were clogged with vrooming two-wheelers and the whole town took the week off.  The next Monday I guess the guy with the big crushing machine was hung over or something - Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday too.  Which brings us to last Friday when I had a hair appointment that I couldn't possibly miss because of an issue with my roots that was just unbearable, so I didn't witness the actual demo!  I am so sorry I promised video... I hope no one is too disappointed.

Here is what was left of the Misty Shores Apartments by the time I got there on Saturday:

Monday they were back with the loader/claw machine and I got to watch it chomp away at that pile all day long.  They took away four huge dumpsters (I'll have to ask what the size is) of trash and one dumpster full of salvaged metal.  I told them if they found a bag full of money it's the one I left in there and they would need to return it to me.  He said if he found the bag of money he would be taking the rest of the day off.  Nice, huh?

So after an entire day of hauling this is what was left - from my bedroom window (at the top right of the pic) you can't even tell anything is missing.  They will be at this for a couple of days so I stayed home today and will be back on Wednesday.

I can't even describe how the view has improved - it's as if a gross icky 3-story rat-infested building with seepy air conditioners and chipping stucco were replaced with a beautiful blue expanse punctuated with cute little cottages and a 100 year old church at the end of the block. Or maybe that is really what just happened!

64. Back From the Great Beyond

The fact that the holidays are a huge distraction is only part of the reason for the lag in blog posts... but let's start there, shall we?  My lovely sister Kathleen came for a visit from Christmas through New Year's Eve - she was officially my first visitor to enjoy the newly remodeled guest room!  Unfortunately the weather turned cold on her arrival (very cold) and we had to stay bundled up the whole time.  We ventured out on to the beach on a sunny day though, just to say we did.  Aside from that we did a lot of reading, scrabble playing and of course, the obligatory tour of Daytona Beach's finest thrift stores.  Needless to say I didn't do any work - it was supposed to be a little vacation for me as well.

Now here, I'm going to make mention of an incident that actually happened prior to Kathleen's visit.  I really hate to talk about it - it was a shameful mistake on my part, and I feel like a total jackass about it, but I'm going to tell you all about it in hopes that someone may learn something from it.  Roscoe actually found and ate some rat poison that I had put out.  There had been a critter in the house at one time, and I was determined to 'evict' it, so to speak - so one day when the dogs and I were leaving for a week I put a chunk of bait in one of the cabinets.  When I returned I began by cleaning out that very cabinet, and set the drawer with the bait on the floor and a moment later my goofy dog was giving me that innocent look with crumbs all over his mouth.  Needless to say I had to fight a state of panic to figure out what to do!

I called two emergency vets (only open after 5pm, duh) and three regular vets who were all at lunch!  By this time I had Roscoe on a leash and in the truck headed to what I thought was the closest one.  My heart was in my throat and I begged the woman who answered the phone to please find someone there who could tell me what to do.  When she got back on the line she gave me the information that I want to pass along to you - so simple and I believe it saved Roscoe's life:  GIVE HIM A QUARTER CUP OF HYDROGEN PEROXIDE AND IT WILL MAKE HIM VOMIT.  Why didn't I already know that!!  I whipped the truck back around towards the house where I had some in my first aid kit.  Within minutes I had him puking all the poison out of his tummy.  A half hour later I did it again, and then there was nothing to do but wait.  I conferred with that vet twice more that day, just to make sure there was nothing else to do, and she recommended I get some vitamin K for him which is an anticoagulant to counter the effects of the poison which can cause internal bleeding.   I went to CVS where they told me I needed a prescription, but I might try the local health food store.  I found the closest one - thanks Peggy at Whole Foods Market! - and got him a bottle of K-2, and organic form of Vitamin K.  Roscoe never did exhibit any symptoms of the poison thank God - played and slept just like normal.  The next day he ate some grass and threw up a little pink stuff - but I kept up with the vitamin K and he lived to tell about it!

There I feel better now that I got that off my chest!

By New Year's Eve, the weather warmed up beautifully.  There was a huge street party that night on Main Street which was only two blocks from the house - so Dave and I actually walked to the New Year's Eve festivities!  I think it's going to have to become a tradition, it was so much fun. The next day we were riding our bikes on the beach in shorts - when a week earlier Kathleen and I were freezing our butts off wearing every piece of clothing we brought with us!

During the month of January we spent a couple of weekends at the house but didn't do much work.  Dave is a race fan, and I guess I'm destined to be the same.  We spent some time at the Daytona International Speedway, introducing me to some fast (and very loud) sporting events.  You may recognize this particular racer who participated in the Rolex 24-hour race: yes, it is Patrick Dempsey.  I've never watched the show but my friends tell me he's pretty hot so this picture is for them.

After all that intro, finally some more work pictures!  The next project on the list was to straighten up and finish the half-wall around the front porch.  The existing wall had quite a lean to it, and a real drop towards the corner.  It took a lot of discussion and someone (not me) with a real vision for what needed to be done - and the final framing looked like this.  Solid as a rock, level, plumb and ready for siding. It's amazing how hard someone will work for a place to stay during Race Week!

Here you can see the first long wall with the siding on it.  Later we finished the smaller sections by the door, and next time we go back, we will be installing a 2x10 cap on top which will make a lovely place for Roscoe to rest his blockhead for his favorite pastime:  people watching.  Makes a nice seat too!  After that there is only a tiny bit of trim to do on the porch and it will be ready for a little (ha ha) caulk, primer and paint.  Yes folks, I am almost at the point where I need to pick the exterior color for the house - any ideas?  The ceiling of the porch as well as inside the house will be the same blue I already put in the kitchen, and the roof is green, if that helps.

And now for the grand finale:   May I have a drum roll please!  Anyone remember the building next door that burned out in July and has been standing there looking hideous ever since?  Well I bought it.  The third time the Realtor contacted me about it I finally threw them a bone and they took it!  Now I am getting prices on having the building torn down and guess what:  THERE WILL BE VIDEO!  I'm not going to miss that day - I will be a neighborhood hero.  My plan is to keep it a vacant lot - fenced as a nice big yard for the doggies of course.  One day down the road I might like to build on it, but there's no hurry.  This project has really evolved and changed in ways that I couldn't have anticipated back in June - and I love it!