Friday, March 18, 2011

Reuse


Nearly three years ago
we planned to build a house
to accommodate G's continued physical decline.
What we didn't know at the time, but later found out (in spades)
was that we were actually already in a recession.

In blissful ignorance
I made some purchases for the new house
of architectural elements
from homes about to be torn down.

This beveled glass door with beautiful brass hardware
was one of those purchases, from a 1920's home in our village.

By the end of September 2008,
with the stock market crashing
and my stomach plummeting,
I put our house plans on hold.
And the things I had purchased sat, collecting dust, in our garage.

Two years later, we started a remodel of our house,
working within the existing footprint,
to accommodate G's continued physical decline.

Happily, we were able to use this piece for our new front door.

Because a new size opening was required,
and the opening was tailor made for this door,
the door is an excellent fit - which means little air leakage.
Good for our energy bills in winter and summer.


But that silver lock! Has got to go.
The lock needs to be replaced
to fit the same key used by our other locks,
and the locksmith tells me he can get it in brass,
to match the original hardware.

Oscar likes the new door, as he can still look out the window
(as he did with our old front door) at passersby.
Good for barking at passing school buses.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Good medicine




Despite it not being used to store any, it's still called a medicine cabinet. We had it built between the studs and asked for adjustable shelves. Though I'll have to get out the pliers to remove the shelf holders - using my fingers hasn't budged them.
It will never look this neat again.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Our first sign of spring...

is always the small clump of snowdrops. One year they appeared as early as March 1st, but mid-March is more typical. Now that they've shown themselves, I'll start looking for the 50 crocuses (crocii?) that I planted in the fall.