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Post by Chuckie on Dec 4, 2020 16:17:25 GMT -5
Monkey had been BUSY the last coupla days!! Her Mom made the draperies for us years ago, Lord-have-mercy-on-her! She also made the Rudolph sock head, and when she saw it hanging above the fireplace the first time, she exclaimed "how MACABRE!!" Then she rolled her eyes and laughed. Just trying to get y'all "in the mood"... CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by pooka on Dec 5, 2020 3:39:40 GMT -5
In these somber times, it's tough to conger up the appropriate jolly mood. Your festive regalia, especially Rudolph do invite some warm feelings & a chuckle. I fear this Christmas is going to be the lowest keyed holiday of our lives. There's no safe way around it. Once we get though the worst of this, I think next year will be extra merry to make up for it. Locally there's a house museum that usually decorates for the season. Reitz Home Museum does a Victorian Christmas where they have local decorators do different rooms in period style. The home was built by a lumber Barron, then gifted to the bishop, so it never got remolded, so it's a time capsule of Victorian times.
Holidays for me lost their luster a long time ago. More often than not, it's either just another work day, or a day I'm not allowed to work, so I lose hours & money. I usually end up saying Bah Humbug a lot. I still have two gift certificates from last year I haven't used yet. One for Lic's, a local ice cream shop. The other for Wolf's Barbecue. Both long time local fixtures. Wolf's is known for there home made pies as well as there sweet hickory pit barbecue. I keep meaning to stop for ice cream to use that one up, but I'm always more focused on getting home. Years ago, Lic's use to be called Loyd's Ice Cream Shoppe, but some time ago, they got hip by changing their name & look, & added a deli, with soup & sandwiches, so they wouldn't seem too old fashion. Right now, they have twenty one Original Recipe flavors. They've been at it since 1950.
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Post by karitx on Dec 5, 2020 18:55:46 GMT -5
I know there are some decorations in your pictures, but I am mesmerized by the hardware on your pocket doors!
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 5, 2020 20:46:55 GMT -5
I know there are some decorations in your pictures, but I am mesmerized by the hardware on your pocket doors! LOL, our house was built in 1882 by a dude named Isaac Newton Peppard, a Civil War veteran who died/was waked @ our house. If you look CLOSELY @ the doors,they don't MATCH! I'm sure they were prolly leftovers from another home he built, or were salvaged from different houses he may have possibly remodeled. The hardware is BRONZE is what an old local restorer told me. CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by dwayner2 on Dec 5, 2020 23:07:34 GMT -5
Wait.....your telling me he died in your house? 😳 I knew about the lady ghost but THAT’s a new one on me. So you now have 3 ghosts there, counting the one I gave you trapped in a bottle. Mmmmmmm?
BTW....tell Monkey she did a great job decorating. I have a 10 point Buck’s head hanging near my bed so I don’t think that Reindeer head is creepy. He just landed on the wrong Redneck’s house. 😜
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Post by mach12 on Dec 5, 2020 23:37:46 GMT -5
He just landed on the wrong Redneck’s house. 😜 He has that reputation.
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 6, 2020 11:39:08 GMT -5
I know there are some decorations in your pictures, but I am mesmerized by the hardware on your pocket doors! LOL, our house was built in 1882 by a dude named Isaac Newton Peppard, a Civil War veteran who died/was waked @ our house. If you look CLOSELY @ the doors,they don't MATCH! I'm sure they were prolly leftovers from another home he built, or were salvaged from different houses he may have possibly remodeled. The hardware is BRONZE is what an old local restorer told me. CHEERS! Chuckie We were @ KofC last night when you replied, so I couldn't take any more photos till today. Here's a closeup of the two face plates: They look the same on each side of the door of course, 'cept there is a keyhole in the one. Here's the inner workings--equally ornate: IF the doors are pushed ALL the way into the wall, you can push that little button on the bottom, and a handle pops out that you can reach & pull the door closed. I set ours so they DON'T push back that far, to leave the beautiful hardware exposed all the time:
And from all the lint and crud on the mechanism, you can SEE they don't get USED!! JEEZ we're PIGS!!
The second owner of our place--we're the third--bought it in the '30's and "messed it ALL UP!", according to his brother next door. He said it had a walk-in fireplace on EACH side of the pocket doors--think of the pix you've seen of an open hearth fireplace in Ireland, like they cooked on. He put in drop ceilings, and took the pocket doors OUT. Thank GOODNESS he used them for FLOORING in the barn loft, so they did NOT just get "pitched". We redid living/dining room in late 80's/early 90's, and had them refinished as best we could @ our local VA shop they had back then. The leader said they used an ACID stain back in those days, so that was a light as they could get the wood, even after BLEACHING it several times!! They are just old pine, so I'm sure that's why he used that mahogany stain on them. All the woodwork that wasn't pitched from the house had the same colour of stain. I had a buddy of mine w/a small woodworking shop replicate the original woodwork in red oak, and he finished it & installed it. As an aside, that same lead @ the Va said the old timers had "combs and other graining tools they used, that could make common pine or cottonwood or the like look like quarter-sawn oak!" They had talent back then!
CHEERS! Chuckie
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Post by pooka on Dec 6, 2020 12:46:29 GMT -5
Back then, craftsmanship & tiny details mattered. The looks mattered as much as how well built & how ingenious the mechanism was. Today, it's all bout how cheap can they make it.
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Post by karitx on Dec 6, 2020 15:21:57 GMT -5
That hardware magnificent! Thanks for sharing the photos. It's sad that the second owner didn't appreciate what he had. I'm sure to him it was just "old" not something worthwhile. It's a good thing you and Monkey came along and saved it!
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Post by nana on Dec 6, 2020 19:16:46 GMT -5
Wait.....your telling me he died in your house? 😳 I knew about the lady ghost but THAT’s a new one on me. So you now have 3 ghosts there, counting the one I gave you trapped in a bottle. Mmmmmmm? BTW....tell Monkey she did a great job decorating. I have a 10 point Buck’s head hanging near my bed so I don’t think that Reindeer head is creepy. He just landed on the wrong Redneck’s house. 😜 The doors are gorgeous, but if you want to talk about creepy let’s discuss that eyeless blind elf!!!
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Post by Chuckie on Dec 6, 2020 23:06:21 GMT -5
Wait.....your telling me he died in your house? 😳 I knew about the lady ghost but THAT’s a new one on me. So you now have 3 ghosts there, counting the one I gave you trapped in a bottle. Mmmmmmm? BTW....tell Monkey she did a great job decorating. I have a 10 point Buck’s head hanging near my bed so I don’t think that Reindeer head is creepy. He just landed on the wrong Redneck’s house. 😜 The doors are gorgeous, but if you want to talk about creepy let’s discuss that eyeless blind elf!!! Uhhhhhhhh, he's the result of 2.5 Boston Terriers left unattended!!! Blinded but otherwise "unharmed", as he made no "protests". The three of them have a "thing" for eyes AND the "squeaky voice box" in toys when they bite them--FIRST things to go!!! This might REMIND Monkey to buy/glue some EYES now!! LOL
Notice the "knobby" plastic on the couch in the fireplace pic? BRILLIANT solution given to us by Monkey's SIL. It's those runners you put down on high traffic carpet to keep from wearing it out. It has "spikes" on the bottom to "grip" the carpet so the mat doesn't 'slip'. Well, buy a piece @ Home Depot or Menards, etc, put it spike side UP on ANY furniture, appliance, etc that you DON'T want a pet ON, and voilà !, done!! They had torn up so many bedspreads and chairs, this was a BLESSING! Got quite a few pieces--including the pictured couch that was my Grandparents--that we feel "safe" to have reupholstered now... CHEERS! Chuckie
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