Recreational Renovations

Odysseus was a Wuss (A Fountain Folly II)

Odysseus was a Wuss (A Fountain Folly II))

A Destroyed Back Yard
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.

 When I last posted here I left you in my rather thoroughly destroyed back yard... where I was imagining aqueducts, fountains and bird villages.  It was early September.  The days were only beginning to be noticeably short and there was only a slight chill in the air.  I wrote about my latest folly: A Fountain Folly.  Over a month later I am back to (hesitantly) report my progress (if what I have been doing is progress).  Regardless of what you might think of the many images that I am about to show you — or about me, for having ventured down the paths I am about to illuminate — you should recognize one clear truth: I am a Grecian Hero!  Sound the horns and beat the drums!  Heracles¹ was a weakling and Odysseus² was a wuss next to me! 

A Fountain Folly

Fountain Idea II
Flickr Photo originally uploaded by The County Clerk.
This is not my photograph

The problems with insanity are simply too numerous to enumerate here.  Regrettably, I have an intimate understanding of most of them.  The one saving grace that makes my life possible is that (somehow) I manage to hold down a "job" and thereby reduce my burdens upon "the system."  Thankfully I have found a niche in the marketing milieu where oddities are celebrated (and rewarded).  Thankfully.  (This may be the single reason I have not pursued a career in the fields for which I was trained (engineering). If I were a tad poorer I would almost certainly be certifiable.  But alas, as it is, I overhear descriptions of me laced with the terminology like eccentricity.  I simply cannot allow these people into my back yard... yet.  I like to believe that everything was under control until I spied the "X3 Fountain" somewhere on the web.¹  But that would be a lie... to myself.  In truth, this fountain has always been a folly.

Building a den with Alexander Pope

The work of a lunatic: I can't let anyone in here...
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.
... or else they may lock me up someplace.

Another room, another set of rafters to write upon.  I decided to take a little journey with Alexander Pope.

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South West Room Wiring

SW-ROOM-Wiring
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.
Sorry about this one. It is more of a "note to self." I don't want to forget what I've done here. Circuits. This is the "next" room after the Southeast Room

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Lighting The House - We Live And We Learn

Lighting The House
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.

Among the very first things I did when I started working with my front gardens - an admittedly over-enthusiastic undertaking - was buy landscape lights and run low voltage cable.  It was, at the time, a peculiar visual (see image below)... but I had such high hopes for what I was building.  Last night, over a year after I first ran the cables, I was finally able to turn those lights on.  I spent some time driving up and down my street... checking it out from all angles.

Bottom line: I believe I still have some work to do.

Catching Up: The South West Room

House Dec 20, 2006
Flickr photo: Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.

 OK...  I've been a bit busy and have neglected this space.  As I have high hopes for this little site being a record of my adventures in remodeling, I need to ctach up.  I thought I'd do it in one post... with lots of images.  The subject today is the South West room.  It was one of the standard house bedrooms.¹

Two Simultaneous Projects: Inside & Outside

INSIDE: My study (a guest room also, but only in cases of dire need).  It is the room boxed in red, above.  (Photo is from the home inspection and does not accurately depict what the front of the house looks like nowadays (there are gardens... EVERYWHERE!).

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OUTSIDE: The back courtyard.  A mess.  (Photo is from the home inspection and does not accurately depict the real mess which the back has become.)

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The foul weather has broken.  It is time to get to work.  Aside from some window work (and a french door here and there) I have 6 months to get a couple of major things done.  It rains here.  Often.  My hope is to do both jobs in concert, using demolition debris as clean fill for some outside construction.  Good weather = outside work.  Rain = inside work.  Here's the situation (but not a plan... there are no plans... plans are for smart people and wimps (I realize I am not the former and hope I'm not the latter... I shoot from the hip, baby... Wild West Style: Yippee-Kye-Yeah)):

Closet Developments

The Hook
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.
This is really all I wanted... a hook to hang my jacket as I tie and untie my tie.  It also holds the thing together.

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The insanity continues.

More lunacy

Upper ballusters in and primed
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.

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I'm hitting the bed now.

A Closet Built By A Lunatic

A Closet Built By A Lunatic
Originally uploaded by The County Clerk.
In Progress - nowhere NEAR complete.

Have I ever mentioned that I love wood? And moulding?

(I MADE all of this moulding. There is 80 feet of "cove" in here so far.)

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A little tease.