Weeks 5 & 6

We've had three roofers out to help us figure out what to do with the flat roof over the back room that was an addition in the 1950s. There are soft spots on the roof and water stains on the ceiling. Luckily, after all the rain we didn't have puddles on the floor. We decided to remove the sheet rock and insulation in an effort to track down the leak and, as far as I'm concerned, the more we remove out of the house, the more the bad smells and any lingering musty juju goes away. I'm all for it.

I had a gut feeling that I needed to get one more opinion, so we met with another roofer. It's likely we'll replace the back roof, get better insulation and won't have to worry every time it rains.

We got on a roll and decided to remove even more sheet rock in the living and dining rooms. All I could think was, "How many more tacks do I have to pull out of the wood?" In the end, though, it's worth it. We're liking how it all looks.

To top off our productive week Carpenter Rick finished finished the trim around the opening between the living and dining rooms, so we can really start to see our living room coming into shape. We also started priming the kitchen and doors. Seeing visible changes is keeping our energy up - for the most part.

I've had to tackle several of the things that I've been putting off - the nitty-gritty scrubbing and reaching into the floors of dark closets to pull fabric off the walls. I keep thinking every little step we do now, is one less step we have to do later. It all needs to be done. As I was removing shelves from the bathroom closet I thought about how we're undoing what someone else put a lot of thought into. The front part of our house is built well, and I know grandpa thought all these little things through - the coat closet bar that can't fall out of the grooves because of the shelf above it , the bathroom shelves, the kitchen shelves and cabinets. And here we are undoing it. And, some day, someone else will undo the things we did. Unless they just tear it down like the one around the corner and the one next door.

Next up - electricity and more painting!

Week 4

Not too much to report this week.
We had two dead trees removed. One was a deteriorating half-tree directly outside the back door and the other one the arborist called a "minor emergency." Fortunately, I got two chairs and a mini-table out of the deal.

I had to make a visit to our POD to retrieve some tools. We've been borrowing tools - thank you David and Grant! - from family and friends and it was time to get our own as our tasks increased. The PODS are stored in a humongous nondescript warehouse in Pflugerville. They require 24 hours notice and when you arrive you see your POD in the corner of the parking lot.

Last August we closed the door on the very packed POD and I was a bit hesitant about opening it now, wondering what was going to fall on my face. Nothing did. I pulled out our tools and a few within-reach items like our water filter and vacuum. We've been fine without all our stuff, of course, but there was something comforting about seeing all our crap stuff and knowing that we'll unpack it in a few months in our new home.

We're still exploring the flat-roof leak over the back room. There is evidence of a leak in the ceiling, but we didn't see drips after all the rain so that's good. Maybe the roof was fixed and the previous owners chose not to repair or paint the drywall and tacked cardboard on the ceiling to cover the hole instead.

Carpenter Rick started his work this week - moving a door by closing one doorway up and making a new doorway between the middle and back rooms, closing another doorway and enlarging the opening between the living and dining rooms.

closed up doorway with recycled shiplap between kitchen and middle bedroom

enlarged opening between living & dining

in the process of closing door on left and building doorway on right

It was one of those weeks where I vacillated between being excited about the small progressions and needing lots of breathers as I realized how much more work there is to. When I feel like that I grab my orange Home Depot bucket and pick up trash in the yard. It's progress poco a poco, little by little.

House Week 3

So much, so much!
On Monday Jose and John cleaned out the attic while I was shopping at Home Depot (again!) for lead safe respirators, because we managed to become thoroughly freaked out about lead. (So much so that John got his blood tested. His lead results were less than 1 and you don't start worrying until it's 25. I think we're okay.) After I got back to the house, I waited until they went to lunch to go through all the treasures from the attic. I now have several more mason jars with lids, a few old mayonnaise jars - they're a great size for storing too many dry garbanzo beans - and some vintage clothes. (Don't tell John.) There was also a ton of junk, a few old coffeemakers and a toaster, and two fake Christmas trees and decorations. After rifling through the goods, it was time to get back to work and more cleaning. We scrubbed baseboards, cabinets and windows.

My new shirt. Come and knock on our door; We've been waiting for you...

We met with Bruce The Bungalow Doctor, or Bruce Bungalow as I like to call him, about some changes we want to make including closing up two doorways and making a new doorway between the back two rooms. I think he was more excited than we were! He is passionate about these old homes and his work, so it's a good match.

On Wednesday Joel & Carlos, the plumbers, started their work to re-plumb the house. They are nice, quiet and move fast. Luckily, no big plumbing surprises were found and we'll be wrapping up this phase soon. We'll wait to install sinks, commode, dishwasher, etc. until all the painting and dry wall work is done. In the meantime, I've been googling bottom-freezer, french door stainless fridges and am very excited.

Saturday we had meetings planned with a window guy and an electrician starting at 9am and then planned to work a full day.  We made the mistake of running that morning in the humidity, so during our meetings John was yawning and I kept trying to find a seat on the step-ladder to rest. We were beat! We pushed our work to the next day.

Saturday night there were major storms and a tree fell inches from my car where we are staying. It was around 2:00 am and John and I heard the tree falling and I jumped out of the bed and yelled "come on! come on!" trying to run out of our bedroom where I was certain a tree was about to land. This all happened in seconds, of course. Luckily, the tree managed to fall between two cars in a parking lot.

Backing out under the tree. Not dangerous at all. 

Despite the long night of storms and the felled tree, I was pumped to get up and start pulling down the cardboard-like wall covering in the bathroom so that we can put up bead board or something purty like that. I got to work with the wonder bar and tried not to break too many pieces of trim...or tile. But, it wouldn't be a normal day in the Savage household to not break something. In the end John and I each accidentally broke some tile. A little spot of glue will fix it right up. We hope.

bathroom before

bathroom after

Working in the kitchen, John first took down one of the two little walls. We were going to call it a day when we decided to take down the second half-wall with storage to open up the kitchen. We were hesitant because we'd lose the storage space and grandpa who built the house put in a lot of thought and effort. In the end, though, I'm so glad we did take it down! Not only did it open up the kitchen, we found a rat's nest between the bottom of the cabinet and the floor. Nasty! Once we saw that we knew we had to take out the bottom kitchen cabinets because who could say for sure those weren't as nasty. We'd been debating all week about taking out the cabinets and this made the decision for us. Fortunately, they weren't as bad.

kitchen before

rat's nest

demoing in lead mask

kitchen after - see small window on left

We were both totally done at this point and ready to go home. Then John got fired up to create a window in the wall to let more light into the kitchen from the back room.  It's a work in progress.

Next up - get the two dead trees removed and figure out where the roof leak is coming from!
See all house pictures here

House Week 2

We started the week off strong as the foundation work started and John's friend, Jose, from Home Depot helped us one day. John and Jose removed nasty tile in the back room, kitchen cabinet doors, more sheetrock and cleaned. While cleaning, they found a newspaper from 1948 and some baby rats, which sounds shocking, but no-fear Jose scooped them up with some tile and got rid of them. I'm just glad I wasn't there at the time.

Instead, I was at Home Depot strolling around with my shopping cart like it was HEB. I searched high and low for a magic tool to remove the strings around the tacks on the shiplap. I've probably purchased at least 4 different tools and when each one didn't work, it took the wind out of my sails. Good thing Home Depot is so awesome about returns. The project seemed so daunting. Just when I didn't know what to do I found a 4" tack puller. I knew this tool and some tweezers were my last resort.  Luckily, they worked. Thanks to Kelly who came over and helped me with the task!

The neighborhood is great - we met some more neighbors who gave us turnips from their garden and told us how relieved they were that we weren't going to tear down the house. Over the weekend, I could hear the reggae fest from Auditorium Shores. Rasta. Rasta. Rise up! Rise up! 

We continued working trying to get rid of the odor in the house. We used a solution of hydrogen peroxide and baking soda with a touch of dish soap and an enzyme treatment from PetCo . Did you know they sell rats at PetCo? I told them I have some for free at my house.

We discovered that the attic had not been emptied after all. I'm certain there are lots of treasures up there, but I'm too scared to clear it out myself should I encounter the mama rat or any other rat. We also discovered a ouija board tucked in a closet corner. I think it was being used to cover up the rat holes.

Next week - plumbing starts!!

holes for new piers

I see storage space. 

Toilet shopping. The step before appliance shopping. 

See all house pictures here

Little Dream House Week 1

House Week 1 Goals

Assess. 

Clean out yard and clean up house to have a blank(ish) slate from which to work. 

Remove drywall and the underlying cloth and paper layers to expose shiplap in front and middle rooms. Try not to get overwhelmed by the amount of cheesecloth strings attached to the shiplap walls by tacks that need to be removed.  

Try to get rid of acrid odor. 

We went over the day we closed to get to work. We met some of the very nice neighbors and heard tales of the house and some good street gossip. :) 

At week's end, we were successful at most of our goals. Still working on the odor emanating from the back room floor. All in all a good week! See all house pictures here

Little Dream House

We signed the papers on our new house last week making the dream of moving into the Bouldin neighborhood come true. And when I say "moving into" I mean in a few months. We have quite a bit of work to do on our little dream house.

This is what we saw when we first looked at the house. Can you spot the five refrigerators?

Luckily, my husband has vision and could see past all the trash. I, on the other hand, wanted to curl up and cry. However, this house met our size and location requirements so we went for it with the help of our superhero realtor Albert. 

See all pictures here

Buenos Aires

"Here lived and were kidnapped..." This plaque is in the concrete outside an apartment building a block from our apartment. 

Buenos Aires is a grand city - in size and character.  Buses, trains, taxis, and an extensive subway system whisk the more than 13 million residents, called porteños, around the sprawling metropolis.

The city palpitates with a passion for soccer, food and community, as well as an economic nervousness. The Argentine economic collapse of 2001, when many lost their life's savings, is a vivid memory to porteños.

Another unhappy memory, more sinister than a faltering economy, is the military dictatorship that took place during the late seventies and early eighties.  Kidnappings. Torture.  30,000 people disappeared.  Los desaparecidos were alleged political dissidents. They were wives, husbands, teens, pregnant women - there were no boundaries. At the time of their disappearance, their families received no information about what happened to their loved ones.

We've met some people who will talk about this historical time and others who quickly and politely dismiss it and don't want to engage in the conversation. The wounds are too fresh. On an organized bike tour, we saw the excavation site of a recently discovered mass grave and torture site.

Site of mass grave - only discovered when the city began construction on an underground athletic center. 

Porteños managed to survive the hideous military dictatorship and recent economic collapse with scars to show for it. And despite their turbulent past, or perhaps partially because of it, Buenos Aires sophisticated denizens are passionate for futball and fashion, cafes and tango, spending hours with family and friends, and imbibing into the wee hours.

After reading about the varied and beautiful neighborhoods of BA - Recoleta, San Telmo, La Boca Retiro, Palermo - we decided to rent a studio apartment in Palermo.  Palermo Soho to be specific - a tree-lined neighborhood full of cute Anthropology-like shops, designer stores and cafes on every corner.

While the past hangs heavy here, Buenos Aires is also a city rich in tradition, culture and beauty and has much to offer its citizens and tourists. Here are our highlights:

1. Bike Tours with Biking Buenos Aires & Graffitimundo
a. Graffitimundo bike tour - Part political and part art, graffiti is not discouraged here. Instead it lends playfulness to community spaces and brightens up otherwise dull or dark areas. Some homeowners ask the artists to paint their houses. Graffiti brought color to a bleak time following the 2001 economic crisis and continues to be accepted and supported.

b. Puerto Madero, San Telmo & La Boca -  Tango started in La Boca. We saw the Boca soccer team stadium in La Boca. And we visited Puerto Madero which is a city within a city. It's only over the river from downtown, but feels like a metropolitan suburb worlds away with new tall buildings and fancy apartments.

2. Casa Rosada Tour 
Casa Rosada is Argentina's equivalent to the White House. President Cristina Kirchner works here Monday through Friday and it is open on the weekends for free public tours.

Inside we walked two feet from Cristina's desk! You had to walk fast but were allowed to take pictures. Imagine getting such easy access to the Oval Office. Not happening.

Today Argentina is very supportive of the right to free speech. In front of the Casa Rosada is the Plaza de Mayo, where mothers of the disappeared march weekly wearing white headscarves.

This captures Buenos Aires pretty well - Casa Rosada, a permanent activist camp, sun bathers on the lawn. Merry Christmas! 

3. The parks & plazas
One of my favorite places is the Rosedal located in one of the largest parks in the middle of the city. It's a huge expanse of different colors and types of roses. We also visited the botanical gardens (free) and the Japanese Gardens ($2 entry). There is also a zoo near these gardens which we didn't visit, but what I noticed is that all these places are very easily accessible by subway and bus and inexpensive.

Tango in Recoleta neighborhood

Typical weekend site in any of the number of green spaces

4. Graffitimundo Stencil workshop 
The workshop took place in a gallery upstairs from a bar owned by artists. I expected to draw up a stencil, cut it out and take it home. Instead, we learned about the history of the stencil and how to design one. Then we cut out pre-designed stencils and added our own touch and then spray painted them on the wall of the bar. It was so fun!

upstairs at the bar & gallery

my chicken-cat! 

spraypaint! 

My chicken-cat with John's blue pirate - he designed the body and legs. 

5. Seeing the Frida Kahlo painting Self-portrait with monkey and parrot at the MALBA (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires)
When I think of Frida Kahlo, I tend to think of her life story and marriage more than what a great artist she was. This painting reminded me of how talented she was.

I like living the big city life - buying vegetables & eggs at the vegetable/fruit stand a half-block from our apartment, taking the subway, drinking coffee at any of the million corner cafes, enjoying the plazas, taking the time to walk places, hearing a collective roar rumble through the neighborhood when the soccer team scores a goal. But it also takes a toll, so we headed to the town of Tigre an hour northeast of Buenos Aires for a tour of the delta.

6. Tigre Delta Tour 
We toured the small town of Tigre and the river delta just outside of Buenos Aires.  Pictures are here.


You can see all the Buenos Aires pictures here.
Next up...Uruguay!