Lori’s Stained Glass Window
When we were planning the guest bathroom redo, I though it would be nice to add a stained glass window like we did in our 1914 Bungalow in San Jose. I kind of handed that project over to Lori, letting … Continue reading →
Category Archives: House
The Parlor is Finally Finished!
When we bought our 1888 Victorian home in 2000, we knew we wanted to tackle the parlor as our first interior project. Parlors were the room Victorians use to entertain, and so they were the fanciest room in the house. … Continue reading →
The Back Bathroom is Back
For the first 12 years we owned our Ferndale Victorian, the back bathroom was used more as a closet than anything else. With the lack of closet space typical in Victorians, there wasn’t a good place to store things like … Continue reading →
The Rise, Fall, and Rebirth of Our Rose Arbor
One of the first things Lori and I did upon moving into our 1888 Victorian on Rose Ave was to plant some roses along the avenue. Logical right? We went to Miller’s Farm Nursery and selected enough Cécile Brünner and … Continue reading →
The Bedroom is Finished!
Today was a momentous occasion at the Knowles house. While we have done lots of work on our 1888 Victorian in the 17 years that we’ve lived here, I can finally say one room, our bedroom, is completed. We have … Continue reading →
Goodbye Facebook, Hello Toilet
Well I’ve had it. With the latest revelations about Facebook’s involvement with Trump’s campaign, I find I can no longer support their business, and I certainly can’t trust them with my personal information. So I’m going to delete my Facebook … Continue reading →
In My Own Backyard
It’s often true that people don’t discover their nearby attractions until relatives or friends visit from out of town and they become the tour guide. People travel all over seeking out the new and interesting, when sometimes the best places … Continue reading →
The Kitchenaid Bank
This afternoon I finally got around to tackling the biggest project on my honey-do list. I had to. I was running out of clothes to wear. For the last few months our clothes dryer has been making an increasingly loud … Continue reading →
How I Spent My Summer Vacation
One of the problems of having a camera that you can tuck just about anywhere, is that it can get tucked just about anywhere. So for a couple of months I’ve been without my take it with me camera, my … Continue reading →
The Front is Finally Done!
In May of 2008 I started the long process of painting the house. I decided to tackle the front first, because it is of course the most interesting side of the house, but also the porch was new construction and … Continue reading →
Repairing an Antique Rim Lock
Since we’re going to be hosting some out of town guests this weekend for the Bionic Woman Variety Show, Lori’s been hard at work cleaning the guest bathroom. Calling it the guest bathroom is a bit of a misnomer. It’s … Continue reading →
Honey Do List From Hell
This weekend Lori and I didn’t have to go anywhere, and the weather was really nice. I was very tempted to take one of the motorcycles out for a spin, especially since this is one of my favorite times to … Continue reading →
Painting Season Has Arrived
Growing up with San Jose’s dry weather presented some challenges when it came time to adapt to the humid coastal climate of Ferndale. Many of them emotional, but some practical as well, such as painting one’s house. Our house in … Continue reading →
Rain, Rain, Go Away!
I am really starting to hate the last two weeks of December, as it seems like the flooding just keeps getting worse every year. Our herb garden, our paths, everything that we worked so hard on this summer are now … Continue reading →
The Wall
At our house the effect of all the rain was also visible. Fortunately, the wall we built earlier this year keeps the water out. Just when it comes within an inch of the top of the bricks it crests the … Continue reading →
Major Progress
Here is the reason that there haven’t been very many updates this month, I’ve been too busy working on getting our parlour back together. We’re hosting the Splinter Group’s November meeting on the 16th, and then Thanksgiving dinner with the … Continue reading →
Humidity
In an attempt to deal with our mold problem that keeps cropping up in the bedroom, I decided to purchase a de-humidifier. So I went over to the brand new hardware store in Fortuna, found the isle that was tagged … Continue reading →
Coming up short
When we bought our house 5 years ago, there wasn’t a door for the parlor, but we did find a door in the garage that appeared to be the missing door. It looked like it had been used for paintball … Continue reading →
Woodgraining
While we were in San Jose, Larry Martin finished the woodgraining in our parlour. If you’ve seen our photography studio you’ve seen Larry’s excellent work, even though you might not have realized it. He’s pretty good at making paint look … Continue reading →
A View from the Heavens
Here’s the view of our house from the top of the steeple. I got to ride up to top today to take pictures. 140 feet is a long way up there. I could brave it long enough to take pictures, … Continue reading →
They’re Back
While some family members discourage our fine feathered friends from nesting on their house, we have accepted that it is easier to just go with it and clean up the mess the make. The only real downside is that on … Continue reading →
An Inside Job
Ferndale has been battered by one storm after another for the past week, and Sunday was no different. It was too wet to work outside, and everything was closed due to Easter, which I remembered after trying to make a … Continue reading →
Getting Clocked
I now know what it feels like to get really clocked. Today I had two projects that I wanted to complete. First was replacing the headlight that we lost on the way back from San Jose. I guess complaining about … Continue reading →
More Wall Paper
Philip and Diane came back to finish the wallpaper on the ceiling and also put up our Iris frieze. It’s looking so good in that room, we’re excited to get the rest of it done now. Next project in there … Continue reading →
Walkway Finished
After taking breaks for our vacation, and then being stuck at the fair for two weekends, I finally had a chance to finish the brick walkway in our front yard. Now that it is done we can do the final … Continue reading →
Drive on up
Here’s the completed driveway. Ok, so it’s not the most beautiful home improvement project we’ve done, but it is very practical. No more sliding in the mud during the winter months.
Pouring the Driveway
While we were gone Del Biaggio started work on phase two of our driveway. Today they poured the concrete for the driveway and the parking area. The next phase will be the new foundation for the garage, and phase four … Continue reading →
Building the Fence
What I am working on is building the fence and arbor in the front yard. I know it doesn’t look like much now, and at the rate I’m making progress on it, it might be awhile before it really looks … Continue reading →
Bradbury Ceiling
With all the work going on outside, I finally admitted that I wasn’t making progress on the inside, so we hired a friend to put up our Bradbury wallpaper. I didn’t order quite enough of one pattern, so he couldn’t … Continue reading →
Our Newest Neighbors
As soon as the construction was finished on our porch two little birds decided to build their nest under it. It’s a good thing we don’t use the front door very often, because these parents are very protective, and they … Continue reading →
Porch Restoration Completed
Aside from a paint job, our porch restoration is completed. Hopefully this summer we can get the house painted, while there isn’t any landscaping around it to have to work around. A pair of little birds have already made the … Continue reading →