Microdermabrasion for That Old House

Okay -- I am not sure I spelled that right.

But our old house is getting a major beauty treatment this week,

as a painting crew scrambles all over her, 

scraping, sanding, repairing.  Dermabrasion.

 Yeah, they had to stand on the conservatory roof to do this section.

I was nervous; I don't think the painters were.

Finally - priming!

 We can get an idea of how the white paint will look

by just checking out the primer.

Storm windows used to be made of wood, and attached to your house with little wing nut thingies
or even small wood turnings.  Back in the old days.  Not surprisingly, we still have them on some of our windows.. 

 And guess what?  They used to be painted dark green.

Howard and I finally made our decisions on which old shutters will be rehabilitated, and which will be permanently retired.

We are only restoring 6 pairs of shutters, and eventually -- when our bank account recovers

from the home projects and The Wedding -- we will get replacement shutters made to match the originals

for the other windows.

Here are some of the shutters that didn't make the cut. 

Let's take a closer look at the ends of these 3 shutters.

They are, from top to bottom. . . Shutter #27, Shutter #24, and its twin, Other Shutter #24.

We know this because many decades ago, the carpenter who fashioned them marked each shutter with a Roman numeral,

and its opposite side shutter with the same, so they'd always stay together on the window they were made to fit.

How romantic.

Why would a 19th century carpenter use Roman numerals?  Especially for a Greek Revival house?  :-P

Well -- it's the straight lines.  Roman numerals are easily made with just quick taps of a chisel.  Practical, no?

*********************************************************

It pains us to ditch any of the shutters, and I wish we could restore each one, but some are just too far gone.

Others are in restorable shape, but only 1/2 of a pair is fixable,

or maybe only two windows along a stretch of 5.  We think that it's best then to replace with made-to-match new.

We are concentrating on restoring and keeping some of the first floor shutters, the ones

seen up-close-and-personal, and only replacing 2nd and 3rd floor window shutters.

That's the plan, anyway.  I am not sure what we will do with the shutters we don't put back on That Old House.

Christmas card holders?  Funky wall art?  Garden sculpture?  I know I can't throw them out.

 And just to have something prettier to look at this morning . . . .

The upper border's daylilies are beginning to kick into gear.  They should be in full swing by The Wedding.

Howard and I walked around the house this morning before 7, coffee in hand, before the chaos of the painters began.

It was so peaceful, clear and cool.  But the piles of rejected shutters made us sad.

However, despite our compromises with the shutters, and our knowing that no solution is perfect,

we do feel good about restoring That Old House to her original color scheme

from so long ago . . . pure white and deepest green.

But wait till you see the front door.  -- Cass

P.S.  Happy 36th Anniversary to my sister Peggy and her Bill.

I remember your wedding . . . I think I was the flower girl . . . .

Link parties today!

Three or More Tuesday at The Gypsys' Corner ... click here!

At Sugar Bee, it's Take-A-Look Tuesday ...  Click here!

At A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words, it's 2nd Time Around Tuesday.  Click and go here!