House of Horrors

Well I am really getting over this house. June will be 10 years and there is still so much too do. Yes it is my fault all of this was put off, but experience beat out practicality. I want to tackle the bathroom first. My original plan was to tear out a wall and extend it into the back room of the house, but I think that may be way too big a task for little ol’ me. So I am having my neighbor Jeff come over and take a look at the mess and give me some ideas. He is a craftsman carpenter. Yet, I am divided with doing it all now bit by bit or just making do with the space I have and repainting, removing the wood and retiling with new fixtures to spark it up. He will know and I can figure out the cash later. Plus I want to get a new fence for my yard so Finn can run around on his own (not right now since he is so small and hawks and osprey will see him as lunch.)

I’m really not against my house. It is a quaint little hole that I appreciate with red oak floors, lots of light, a kitchen that though small still has space for me to cook and entertain, a bedroom that brings me sweet dreams and a working shower. I guess I am just anxious since Ronn is redoing his house and I see how far he has come (and know how much he has spent) and I am envious. This is when I wish I was married so I could have some help with getting all this done (or at least cohabitating in a loving relationship), but for now it is just me.

The house itself is sturdy and though old and things will happen, but at the time it was all I could afford and I have come to call it home. I looked for homes for about six months visiting empty shells four or five times a week and finding nothing that suited me. I came across this place and I was a bit over it, but the price dropped, the plants called to me and I hoped it had potential. In fact, when I walked around the perimeter I touched a gardenia bush that was in full bloom and felt something magical go through me. My mother loved gardenias and whenever I catch their fragrance I think of her. So I took that to mean that this was my home. So I can’t leave it, at least not yet, and since I am staying I might as well get moving on remodeling. Let’s hope these garage sales hold out – I may have nothing left in the house to pay for the new design.

So for now I stand it and make do, wearing my rose-colored glasses and keeping an eye on the potential each piece holds.