SUNDAYS WITH CELIA VOL 27
Hello there and thanks very much for visiting Sundays With Celia Vol 27.
This post is going out much later than normal today because, well, life and giant snow storms, and power outages, etc. have seemed to get in my way. And that doesn’t even include the fact that I literally spend every waking moment, even at times that I really should be asleep, (like at 3:00am) thinking about, planning for, shopping for and doing hard labor at my latest fixer upper. So, speaking of my latest fixer upper…
A SUNDAY UPDATE ON THE HOUSE ON COTTAGE GROVE
We are moving full steam ahead on the renovation of The House On Cottage Grove. Demolition began and was completed this week.
It’s a dirty, dusty, nasty business but it sure is fun too. It’s fun because once all the old, decrepit things are out you can begin to really see what you’re working with. For example, below is a photo of the “BEFORE” kitchen.
And here is a photo taken during the demolition of the same area. Do you see what I mean by dusty? But in this photo you can also see that when we began to remove the paneling on the ceiling low and behold I found beautiful wood beams and a hardwood ceiling. You can bet I plan to leave the wooden ceiling exposed.
We also uncovered very old electrical wiring that will need to be completely replaced. And there’s a lot of old galvanized plumbing that will have to go as well.
But the really exciting part is the discoveries. In the living room we removed the horrible, dirty brown carpeting…
and found old, ugly linoleum tiles.
But when we removed the linoleum we found hardwood floors! That’s when I started jumping up and down! We will have to remove a layer of adhesive that stuck to the wooden floor. This will mean a LOT of labor, but it will be a labor of love with a beautiful result.
We made the same discovery in the Dining Room. After removing the carpeting…
we uncovered yet more hardwood floors and a beautiful wooden ceiling.
The entire cottage is covered with wallpaper, every room and almost every wall is covered with the stuff. While wallpaper is making a comeback which I fully endorse, the walls in The House On Cottage Grove were somebody’s idea of 1970’s chic. I’m sure it was wonderful in its day, but today it has got to go. So, we have spent hours and hours stripping the walls of the stuff. Below is a BEFORE photo of the staircase leading to the upper floor. How do you like the multi-colored stairs?
Here is what that same staircase looks like today.
Well, that’s it for my cottage demolition for today. Much more will be coming very soon. Now let’s turn our attention to the Lake Arrowhead weather report.
IT’S A VERY SNOWY SUNDAY!
It’s snowzilla around here! Mother nature has decided to put an end to California’s drought and is doing it in a BIG way. Today is our 5th day in a row of snow and there is no end in sight. Our electricity can’t decide if it wants to stay on or go off and the resulting power losses and then surges have wrecked havoc on my computer. I had hoped to work on this blog post yesterday but the photo library on my computer was corrupted and took me many nail biting hours to restore it. Believe me, this is a blogger’s worst nightmare!
While I enjoy shoveling snow (it’s great exercise) it is now becoming a bit overwhelming. Let me show you how the snow has been piling up. Below is a photo of my fountain last Sunday morning.
Here it is yesterday afternoon.
And here it was at nightfall last night.
Below is a photo I showed you last Sunday of my back terrace.
Here it is this morning.
I showed you this picture previously of my motor court.
Here it is again this morning.
As I sit at my desk right now it is like blizzard conditions outside! My desk looks out onto my vegetable garden which is currently blanketed in a couple of feet of snow. This birdbath is its centerpiece. The photo below is the birdbath last Sunday.
This was the birdbath this morning.
Below is my greenhouse last week…
and here it is today.
Yesterday there was a brief calm between storms, at which time I hustled over to the grocery store at Lake Arrowhead Village to pick up a few groceries. Every other living human in Lake Arrowhead had the same idea so it was a mad house! As I got out of my car I could see the storm clouds looming in the distance, just waiting to attack.
So for the time being I’m staying snug inside, hoping and praying we don’t loose power again before I can publish this post. I hope you are enjoying a wonderful, warm and cozy Sunday. I’m going to go make a cup of tea…
And sit by the fire…
My Chimney Caps Covered in Snow
So there you have it: SUNDAYS WITH CELIA VOL 27
Thanks so much for dropping in!
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All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Unless otherwise noted, all photos are the original property of Celia Becker @ www.AfterOrangeCounty.com and may not be reproduced without specific permission.
