The bust of Ricardo watches over us.

Another Bust of Ricardo watches over the entry to the kitchen.

Entry way light fixture. It's a punch bowl! Without the punch. But with a light. Score? TIE. 

I frequently take pictures of my feet when I'm shooting because if nothing else, it will be an interesting (to me!) collection of images over time. These are my favorite winter boots that Ryan surprised me with at Christmas this past year. Thank you Ryan!! xxxooo

We drink a lot of tea. And this is the kettle we used before we got the super-fast electric kettle that Ryan adores as he is a tea freak. (Read: he is British.)

Ryan stripping wallpaper and discovering "ART"!

We later discovered "B.W." And "P". 

A wall in the midst of being changed. 

And below it, one of our very first giant construction-grade trash bags! The first one seems like fun.  Look what we've accomplished! Get this stuff outta here...

Ryan with the dogs going nuts. There is an entertaining little video of this moment somewhere. Gemma, you've seen it!!

 

From Back In February...(the very beginnings...)

Hi. So remember how I said this blog might (would) be a total mess? Well chronologically it is definitely an (excuse my language) total sh*tshow. Already! And I just started. So yes. Let's embrace this together. These photos will potentially (probably) annoy you because you'll be like, "DID they PUT the drop ceiling in and CHOOSE THAT WALLPAPER?"

No. We just put photos on this blog in a horrible disarray with no respect for order or time.

So yes, here we are, back at the very beginning. The carpet. The wallpaper. The drop ceilings. The fluorescent lights. The ladder, a gift we appreciated, left in the house. The three bikes with flat tires, a gift we have yet to use, now in the basement. (The handlebar streamers are pretty cool...Gemma, you can have those. Or that whole bike actually. And yes everyone, we will probably end up donating these to Bikes Not Bombs but figured we'd see if any nephew or niece-cousins could get on them first...because we all know that I will let them sit in the basement for ten years just for that reason.)

Oh yeah, so you believe in POLTERGEISTS? GHOSTS? Yeah, well me too. But guess what? THOSE ARE TWINKLE LIGHTS! At least the ONES WE CAN SEEEEEEE....

               

By now you are wondering if we moved into a funeral parlor. Yeah, no, we didn't. They did want to put a beauty salon in on the first floor though in the early 20th century. So cool! But they didn't. Still cool. 

  

Too much blue for my tastes. But somebody liked blue a LOT. And I bet they were really happy in here. Which is cool. Actually though, it probably was cozier with furniture and people in it. Minus that, it's just a lot of blue. 

Rico on blue.

Rico napping on blue.

Jussssst the beginning of ripping out a whole lot of carpet. I really like the colors in this though. Need to put those in a painting or something. 

This is a handle on one of the drawers in the closet. I like the detail. It needs to get stripped.

I like that they left this gold tassel hanging from brass rod on the blue bedroom's closet door. 

Things like this make me just want to sand them down a tiny bit more, draw some characters in,  sign it and then put a coat of polyurethane on there and call it my artwork. And since I haven't stripped or repainted it yet, I MIGHT JUST DO THAT. hmmmmm....

Mouse poison shouldn't be this pretty.  We found it in the closet like that. 

There were (and still are a few) all these moments around the house just like this where there the skin of the wall is just peeling a tiny bit, ITCHING for you to pick at it and peel it all away. And usually I am a total sucker for this and just pick and pick and peel and peel, eventually going to the more efficient steamer. I guess I could say the same for a bad sunburn, but that would be gross. (But honest!) 

I love the wear and tear moments that are an anthropology exhibit dedicated to the past actions of the occupants of this house...seriously! I like this kind of stuff. 

If this were art school, I would get criticized for taking a photo that was too obviously based on the female anatomy.    

Ryan and his first scraper bit thing. I can't remember what this was bought specifically for (the linoleum tiles?) but it has long since been shredded by pure grisly elbow grease.