Shiny floors, gardening

Last week the office/sewing area was cleaned out. Miraculously, it still looks pretty clean, despite sewing projects and moving furniture to continue painting that lovely pub green on the walls. J's color choice. This week the shed area (dining room) was cleaned up, as well as the thicket out front.
It's nice to see our shiny floors. I'd say there is no storage space in these old houses, but the apartment we just moved from, built in 1915, had 3.5 closets the size of our current bathroom. We're not really messy people, but our only box-worthy storage space is the attic, average humid temp of 103, and the closet with the attic door.








There was a tree under the vines! And I'm elated that the trash collectors picked up all that extra tree in one visit. We're only allowed as much rubbish as will fit in a pickup truck bed. And everyone 'round here should know how much stuff you can cram in a pickup bed. Are we talking Nissan? Dodge? Half-cab?

It seemed that much of the ungroomed tree was old suckers, which I didn't cut away because then we'd have no tree.

Then I planted 4 broccoli, onions, 6 pinto beans and 4 zucchini. I'm worried that it might not be cool enough for broccoli yet; spinach doesn't grow well down here because of the warm temperatures, in containers or otherwise. I bricked in the compost pile because dog-walkers could see rotting melons and tomatoes from the street, mmm, and continued with the shredded cypress mulch. I've heard it's better than eucalyptus chips; its shredded state doesn't harm plant stalks and eucalyptus somehow retards growth, which you'd want for your weeds but not for the useful plants. Plus, it's cheap (I'd get the free stuff but where do we have space to dump a pile of mulch?). Most landscaping companies around here use cypress. I gave up on the aluminum flashing edging, it wouldn't stay straight, and bought black plastic edging instead. In the butterfly garden (the grave-shaped plot closest to the fence where the bags are) will be strawflower, some sort of bushy shrub with red stems and white flowers that bees like, and sweet potato vine, amongst other plants as soon as I can make up my mind. Someday it will all come together. I'm just making it up as I go. More and more, I'm thinking, why not get a professional consultation? Or at least try a rental tiller.

Ranting and raving about people, that's what I do best

The house next door has been for sale for a month. It's a twin layout of our house, by the same builder in 1928 but with an 80's kitchen rather than 70's, plus a little laundry room and some of our swamp. However, I question its listing price for $60,000 more than our purchase price for Ralph's House, 5 months ago. The listing is $15,000 above Zillow's highest estimate for that house, which is probably $30,000 more than I would pay. At our other fence, that couple tried last year to sell their 1950s house for $224,000, left it on the market for 2/3 of a year, reduced the price twice, then turned it into a rental instead. In the past three months, five houses on our little block have been put up for sale. Four of the five don't even have logical prices; they're mind-bogglingly astronomical. This seems to be a current trend here in Jax. Do realtors bother to research the recent sales history of the neighborhood first? Anyone with a computer can do it on GIS mapping here in Jacksonville. It's fun to look up city-owned property. The land under Alltel stadium is worth $15 mil, apparently.

We received a form letter today from our recent realtor, and the first line read "it can take up to two years to sell a house now." Hm. Could there be a reason? Overvaluation? But like anything being sold, houses are only worth what someone will pay. Back in January every house we were interested in was under contract within a week of its listing on MLS, maybe because the prices still made sense. How does 8 months passing add tens of thousands of dollars? I thought the "bubble" was fizzling out.

These houses are just sitting... it's annoying how they're becoming rentals in a re-gentrification neighborhood as their owners become disappointed in the Florida boom. According to the city tax records, many of our neighbors purchased only in the last 2-3 years. This old, quiet residential neighborhood with broad streets and massive oaks was rumored to be the next big market in Jacksonville a few years ago, after urban neighborhood Springfield saw home prices spring 400% in the last five years. However, crack-hood Springfield's price spike coincided with the national rise, and also because of scads of free urban renewal money from city and state facade grants to people who bought those houses.

Aside from shaking my head at the crazy stupid prices, which were probably not set by the homeowners anyway, I'm sorry to lose our good neighbors. Maybe these otherwise sane, intelligent people who care about their property and have made the neighborhood a safe place, were just here to make money off a long flip, and fixed up their houses to that effect. Our great neighbors across the street told us as much about themselves. Which is sad - and they keep buying new furniture so I know their house is becoming smaller. I was hoping I'd moved into a community where people mowed their grass because that's what you should do, not because of future resale value. People are leaving in a herd, and renters with 4 cars and kids who hair-gel and flush our cats in their toilet are moving in instead.

Maybe I'm just bitter that my foray into buying my first house at an age when I planned on doing so happened to coincide with the real estate price boom. If I'd purchased this house last year when it was for originally for sale, I would have paid $44,000 less. It just seems so random to me. Zillow says our value is dropping $100 a month, but I don't care, I live here, it's not a piggy bank.
Please excuse my muddle and whining, and thanks for listening. If you made it this far you get a prize! kinda.
See the house next door.

Nice house. Pretty house. Sit.

I keep checking Ralph's House to see if there's anything new and then realize I'm the one who's supposed to be writing it. Like, everyday I do this. Well, here house, take our gift to you this week:



The office and sewing areas (same room) are absolutely livable now, and mostly green. Before pictures exist but I'm not willing to share them out of embarassment. I'll say we hadn't been able to casually cross the floor since we moved in five months ago.
I start new employment in the morning. I'm sure the house is hoping I'll buy it a tool shed.

Being at one with nature

Here is something interesting. For me, at least. Looking online for an older map of my neighborhood, one from around the time the house was built, I found this USGS one from 1918, pre-development. Holy cow, we're a swamp! Thus, the 12" of water to our front step is meant to be there and who are we to stop it?

X marks the spot.

Incidentally, the Florida Military Academy moved across the river into a hotel the year our house was built.

More photos of Door from a Dumpster

Here's the door, primed and hung. The deadbolt is a fake deadbolt. It fit the old hole.
















Here is a before-and-after. Notice how dark and cramped the little back-porch/laundry room is (that has nothing to do with all the stuff we've crammed in it) and then I open the steel back door (it opens all the way, there's just too much Stuff Meant to Live in a Shed behind it) . Voila! sunlight yet the animals and the AC can't escape. Dreamy fall afternoons here we come! It's like those 20's ads where the housewife is living in bliss because of the gloriousness of her kitchen.


















As awkwardly as that washer and dryer are positioned, this 7-years-long apartment renter does think they are the best thing ever. When we come in from a hard day under the house or bailing water from our car, we can strip at the back door and pop the clothing into the washer.

Someday we'll get an on-demand, wall-mount water heater, move the electric panel, re-do the walls because patching cheap paneling is ugly, and can then move washer/dryer to the left. Half of the wall behind the washer/dryer is a large window opening that's been closed over with concrete board. One of our fantasies is to knock out this wall as well as the adjoining bedroom wall and make one big room. We wouldn't be able to finance this before we become an historic area next year, though. Add some more months-long steps with reviewing comittees and application fees.

I was encouraging Pepper to try out the new door!

Today on Fine Woodworking: Make a plank doorknob!

Wednesday night we got lots of rain here. It seemed normal, like it rains sometimes and you don't think much of it. I went across the river to feed my mom's cat whilst she was away getting nursing continuing certification credits in Las Vegas (yeah, right, educational stuff in Vegas!). Fed the cat, got mom some groceries, came back and suddenly couldn't leave for the rain and lightning. I decided to stay and watch movies, and J called to say the yard was starting to flood so I might as well stay overnight with the cat. We've had some issues with our storm drain, so a little flooding wasn't unexpected. Two hours later he called to say water was up to the steps:
















and that the car had flooded, he couldn't start it, and a neighbor had to pull him away from the drain. Why let the car stay there when the street started to flood I don't know. Actors....So realizing he'd need a car Thursday morning to get to work, I came home and we toweled and mopped out his car until 1:30 AM. Its warning lights are on now, and four buckets of Damp Rid are on the floor. grrrrr..rrr













Here's a photo of one of the funnel clouds on the river that day, about 1 1/2 miles from mom. The structure just behind it is our longest cable bridge:










However, everything is nice and green now. I'm very proud of hanging the square door in the unsquare doorway this afternoon! It's this door. Check out the plank doorknob! It'll suffice until I can find something short and vintagy that won't hit the real knob when the two doors are closed. A stile was starting to crack parallel to the bottom hinge, causing it to bounce instead of close, so I used long deck screws to clamp it to the door. It's not like it's our real door.

When I grow up, I'm getting a shed

This is what I did this Labor Day weekend. I made my first dowel-assembly project, to see what I'd need to learn to build kitchen cabinets. I learned that I will need to build a guide for the circular saw. These shelves in the window of the laundry area/back porch are holding gardening stuff; the things that go in the future shed - lawnmower, power tools, paint, etc. are in the dining room, mostly on a shelf unit donated by my mom. Thank you, mom!


Here is the new retaining wall around the vegetable bed; the side closest to the house has a slight hill and I've been meaning to fix that for months. Now there is a two-brick high wall on two sides and I've been filling it with dirt taken from the leveled path. When I pull out this season's plants I'll add lots of compost and purchased dirt because our sandy soil isn't much good for vegetables. We're almost done with the mulch path, two more bags and it's done. I laid the mulch over weed cloth because without it the whole area would be weedy green again in two months. The path end will eventually connect with the driveway/deck concrete area.

This week's note in Florida wildlife (last week there was a 1/8" frog living below the bathroom) is a little white squooshy bead found in the path dirt. I thought it was leftover construction material or a large piece of vermiculite. I squooshed it for a bit and then it popped open and a baby lizard head flew out! I was traumatized enough and stopped the path for the day. It's really too hot to work outside anyway, and it will probably be so until October; it's the southern equivalent of our long winter months in Syracuse.

Despite the sunstroke, the garden's making great progress. The next garden plot, the weedy area closest to the camera, will be the same brick area but divided in half by a slight path, the half closest to the house probably becoming the compost pile. I'll take out the pathway bricks and use them for the bed, and try aluminum flashing bent in half for the path edging. Commercial aluminum is too expensive and plastic edging might not survive regular lawnmowing.

Way down at the end of the fence is our new back gate; we thought it would be a good idea to finish since we're babysitting my mom's dog this week, and the 5 next-door kids (most are old enough to know better) frequently come knocking at the back door... -WARNING! Rant!- At 8 in the morning asking to borrow DVDs...(we have maybe 10 total)...One even came by yesterday when I was working on the path and asked if I would buy him a movie. I wouldn't even buy movies for my own kids! They should be reading or playing outside. I suggested he go to the library. I wish the nurseries would put out the cypress trees so we could finish boxing in our "back" yard. We don't pester other people in their backyards! Just because you can see us outside, using dangerous power tools, doesn't mean we want to talk to you! Please stop breaking down our fence boards and kidnapping our cat!