Found Treasures

When we first moved into the house it was easy to see all of the things that needed to be fixed. For everything bad we saw, there was always something good.

Bad: There was a huge pile of old grass and trash.

Good: My new beautiful Peonies!

Bad: These Horrible Fans

Good: New Fans!

Bad: Ugly stained carpet and worn floors!

Good: Amazing hardwood floors!

Bad: Blue and Pink bathroom downstairs!

Good: Huge bathroom upstairs!

We even found a good surprise in the bad walls!

Demo Days!

Let the Demo Begin!

It's been more like Demo Late Nights but days sounded better! Like with any old house, there comes a time when updating is desperately needed. Lucky for Erin, our new wonderful tenant and Doug's cousin, the updating will be done on her Kitchen and bathroom first! When the project began it sounded so simple; take a wall down here, put a door there, and put the cabinets, that have been sitting in my parents garage for many many months, back in. Well.... It's not so simple!

Doug and Mike are really good at knocking down walls and ceilings. In fact, it quickly became the answer to ever sticky situation! Whether it was because they just needed to get some stress out or it really needed to be done, the walls came down!

(Working very carefully to save the wall!)

(Scratch that! The wall in coming down!)

(Maybe we should save only one side.... One day later, that wall came down!)

(The ceiling was wavy! The Ceiling came down!)

I have learned that I am really good a scraping. Scraping brick off a wall! Scraping tile off the floor! Scraping wall paper off the walls! You name it, I can scrape it!

(Do you like my safety goggles? I think they make me look like I know what I'm doing!)

We have had some great help in the process as well. Michelle is great with pulling up tiles.

(She may have even chipped a perfectly shaped acrylic nail for the SPC and we thank her for that!)

Sean may show up in his street clothes but he can't help but pick up a hammer!

Papa Geno is a genius! I don't have any pictures because he has been there everyday while we are working hard to make the money to afford this! He definitely has skills from many years of remodeling kitchens!

Boy can Jean Clean! Without the 20+ dump runs and endless sweeping we would not be able to move around the house and our yard would look like the Rockland dump!


Last but not least, we can't forget the wonderful people that came by for moral support over the last week! Kara and John brought wall paper remover, that I used all weekend!(thanks a lot!) Kathy, Dave and Nikki brought beer!(can never go wrong there!) Di Di brought over a coffee cake last night that I know Doug will love on Saturday morning, if the workers don't get to it first. Prince Justin King has brought endless joy and laughter to everyone, even when he is sick!

Thanks for stopping by! See you soon!

Home Sweet Home!

It’s Official!

On June 1, 2009, after 3 hours of paper signing, Doug purchased his first home! A home that we (I) will be calling the Split Pea Cottage! This blog will follow a new chapter in our lives filled with triumphs, disappointments, laughter and love as we move into our new Split Pea Cottage.

The Split Pea Cottage was built around 1850 by the owner of one of the original Rockland Shoe Factory’s. The owner of the Factory built homes for his employees along North Avenue and one for himself. He didn’t want his house to be more luxurious or grand than his employees but he did add floor to ceiling Savannah Style windows and a tin ceiling in the parlor to set his house apart. Rumor has it from our neighbor; there is an old Underground Railroad under the house which means the house was probably built in the late 1700’s.

The demo and many sleepless nights have begun but we are definitely enjoying our new home! Check back soon to see how the new apartment is coming but for now, here are some pictures of the Split Pea Cottage!

Where Doug and I will live (eventually):

Not everyone can cook dinner and wash clothes at the same time!

Everything wood WILL be painted white!

I know, you're jealous!


The apartment: (Before Demo)

The Backyard that Tucker will LOVE even more with a fence! (wink, wink Mom)








I need to get back to pulling weeds and knocking down walls!