Wall-ee World

I've been working on the walls in the dining room and library, and removing the layers of paint from the woodwork. The walls are turning out nicely.

There is an area of cracked plaster in the right upper corner of the doorway, which I will have to either reattach to the wood or, yank out and replaster the area. The area is only about a foot square so I shall ponder the repair for awhile. I have plenty more walls to work on before having to tackle the corner. Besides, I need the scaffold assembled in the library at the end of May for the ceiling repairs and can fix the corner when the scaffold is available in the room.


Most of the books for the library have been moved to 'The Beast'. My sister helped me lug boxes, and boxes, and boxes of 2,000 books. It took us two days. We even hauled a lot of them upstairs and put several boxes in each bedroom. I have decided to have bookcases in each room.

Ohhhhhh....BIG BOOK SALE at the Memorial Hospital annual book fair in Belleville, IL this weekend. My sister is coming for the book sale and we are going on Saturday when you can fill a paper bag full of books for $2. They supply the bags. I am printing out my revised book list and we will prepare to add to the collection on Saturday.

Last time my sister was here she carted home the collection of Janet Evanovich books (Stephanie Plum...bounty hunter series) to make sure she has read them all, and my brother in law is now reading them, too. He decided he liked them. He used to just read westerns, however my sister is easing him into some other types of fiction. I sent him my James Burke books, which I though he would like because some are set in Wyoming and the characters are pretty rough and tough.

Don't whisper a word to my nephew, but he is visiting at the end of May for his son's high school graduation, and when he is here I am going to kidnap him to 'The Beast' and have him move the refrigerator from the upstairs 'kitchen'.....to the actual kitchen downstairs. I am also going to have him haul the stove down from the 2nd floor and stick it in the alley with a 'FREE' sign on it.... and hope someone needs it. My sister is in on this plan and she is bringing the dolley for the move.

The upstairs kitchen is going to be made into a bedroom again and the appliances and kitchen paraphrenalia has to go.

Cleaning Up

It's time to get serious. Spring has arrived and the weather is gorgeous. I spent last night at The Beast and it was very comfortable even though I used the electric blanket for sleeping. I got to The Beast later in the afternoon on Saturday....around 2 p.m. I spent about 4 hours in the back yard burning sticks, leaves and tree leftovers from previous tenants and owners. The city allows for yard waste burning on the weekends so I had to take advantage. I eliminated about a third of the pile. Some of the pile turned out to be a mulchy mixture of rotten leaves and dirt so I moved that back along the stone wall and around the redbud tree. It's going to take another couple of Saturday burnings to get rid of the whole pile but all I have is time.

Later in the evening, after changing into my pjs (because I smelled like yucky smoke), I started cleaning the dining room and library walls, patching holes and slight cracks... and resurfacing. It is coming along quite well and The Beast feels so good now that the walls are beginning to look fresh and clean.



Here are some before/after pictures. I used my camera in my Eris Droid phone for the photos to experiment and gauge the quality of the images. I think they turned out quite well.

The walls are turning out nicely. I found a "tip" on some lady's DIY blog about fixing the hairline fractures in old school plaster walls and thus far her advice is working out nicely. After patching the nail holes and small chips (and large cracks) with plaster or fill in type goop... the lady suggested resurfacing the plaster walls with a mixture of joint compound and water. She showed a picture of her old walls before and after she had "painted" on the joing compound. It looked really great so I tried it and viola'. You stick a pile of joint compound in your paint pan and mix in water until the compound becomes thinner to a pudding consistency. Then, you just roll it on like paint. It gives you a nice, light texture (depending on the type of roller you use) and the compound oozes into the slight fractures and becomes one with the wall. It covers up the fractures and you have a brand new lovely surface. When working with this substance you MUST make sure the wall is totally clean. If there is any old patching plaster on the wall, the joint compound mixture will roll it off and make an uneven surface. The compound is pretty sticky but it rolls on easily and dries quickly. Depending on what shape the wall is in....you might need more than one coat before primer and paint. I have used two coats on most areas so far. Hopefully, in 6 months all the cracks won't suddenly reappear.... however, the lady I got the tip from was very enthusiastic and her walls looked fabulous.

Some Beauty to the Beast

It's definetly spring and I am back to "The Beast." I spent the day removing layers of paint from the metal frames of the crank out windows in the sunroom. I almost have the one by the porch cleaned up and ready for some new finishing/rustoleum. The color will be white.

When I was leaving for the evening I suddenly noticed that the tree directly in front of "The Beast", and in between the semi-circle walkway, was flowering. It's so pretty. It turns out that I have a magnolia tree in front of house, next to the oak. Thus, the picture of the flower, which I brought home for benefit of a new blogging attitude. I'm spending the night Sunday in order to get more work done.

Oh, I called Rick the Roofer to arrange a window installation for the window I have for the upstairs bathroom and also to consult about the plumbing. I really want some water flowing....without leakage....for the spring. I am waiting to hear from him.