The joys of home ownership, part 27

[catherineldf]

So I have to say upfront that I didn't want to buy a house. My people are apartment dwellers, nomadic and living more or less lightly upon the cityscape. But my beloved comes from a long line of settlers, folks who put their roots down in the soil and stay put. And I was prevailed upon.
The house is question is an antique structure in the lovely southern Minneapple. Not merely antique but in fact the survivor of a fairly hard life. We are in a state of continual remodel and fix up eight years later. Our realtor, a sensible lady from the wilds of western Minnesota, tried to persuade us to pick something less labor intensive. We, on the other hand, really liked the fact that we could afford it and the light from the many windows (back to these in a moment) and the way it danced over the decaying mustard yellow carpeting and the possibly 200,000 nails in every surface of the rotting gold textured wallpaper. And since our realtor had recently been introduced to the notion that "Homosexuals fix things" (one gets this alot in the Minneapple), she allowed as we could make something of it.
Which leads to last Friday night when the window salesguy, who was dressed as an American flag, dropped by for 3 solid hours. We said yes, probably due to battle fatigue, then Jana chatted up her dad the contractor and we canceled on the grounds that it was way too much window for us. I'm glossing over the agonizing, the trips out to the BBB website, the trip to the suburbs to cancel and the realization that, yes, we really do need to replace the windows. Sigh. Added to giant list of things to deal with soon.
The kitchen is coming along slowly but steadily. We are, at my insistence, turning it into a giant lemon. Every oddly painted room is due to some moment of eccentricity that I had at the paint store. The areas people hang out in are all amiable dull tans and creams. The closet is magenta, my office is Easter egg purple and now the kitchen is becoming a giant lemon. I probably shouldn't be allowed near color strips but I do like the weird combinations.
And tonight when we out for a walk, a hummingbird came down to check our hostas about a foot away from where we were standing. Which completely made up for the garage (newly repainted by Baptist missionaries -a true story!) getting egged last night. There's also a small flock of what appear to be escaped parakeets in our trees. No idea where they came from but I suspect we'll be trying to come up with ways to keep them going this winter if possible.

Comments

[eroticjames.livejournal.com]

You may have Nande Parrots. There are flocks of the damn things in So.Cal... one of the few imported species that seems to be able to go feral and survive with great persistance.

Snerk. Weird Paint. Living Room and hall: Walls=Painted Desert (think really deep burnt orange) and the ceilings and above the molding= Potato Chip

KenDoll's room: Forest Green walls, blue sky ceiling and red molding.

Princess: Lavender and bubble gum (Where the F did I get a girly girl from?????)

We need to paint the exterior. So far it's a toss up between Copper Penny, Moss and Rust accents or Grape, Charcoal and cream accents.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

These are little yellow sparrow sized birds with dark heads. Yellow mutant sparrows? I can completely see those in our yard!
Lavendar and bubble gum? Bet that was a shock to the system. You definitely got us beat. Left to my own devices, each room would be a different color but I am only she who paints a little bit, while terribly butch artistic girlfriend is she who paints a lot. At a certain point, I'm banished from the proceedings; I gather the office and the closet were a bit of a shock. :-)
I'm thinking your house should go black with silver trim. Bound to make you popular with the neighbors!

[mr-bad-example.livejournal.com]

Your freshly-painted garage got egged? What the hell? Not cool.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

But our sweet Lord Jesus has laid hands on the garage and the eggs, they did wash away like our sins in some other vaguely Biblical metaphor. In other words, the paint job held up beautifully. :-)
Wanna go to the Arts and Crafts thingy on either the 22nd or the 23rd?

[gismonda.livejournal.com]

Did Hermoine summon canaries in your backyard?

Good luck with the home. Yellow in the kitchen sounds cheerful and lovely. I'm still happy to be renting, mostly, although my landlady has been irritating of late.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Alas, no. Though that would be interesting. :-)
Hope the landlady calms down!

[sacchig.livejournal.com]

A house with a good deal of charm, as i recall. (Probably thinks it can get away with anything.)

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

And it generally does. :-)

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

a person can put up with a lot for charm.

[catherineldf.livejournal.com]

Charm is perhaps overstating it. Once we finish the kitchen, we're having a Sylvia Plath party to help move the stove into its rightful home (it's been living in the living room for 2 years now). You will of course be invited and may judge for yourself. :-)