Whirlwinds...

Things have been running at whirlwind speed around The Bungalow.  There was the ready-ing of this garage apartment (one of The Old Girls).  I still have locks to change tomorrow... but, it will be getting a new tenant next week.  The wonderful thing about The Old Girls is that they always find new people quickly.  I am thankful for that.

Then, there was candy to be made this morning.  We are hosting a fundraiser party, with three other couples, for 50 people this weekend.  More work to be done on that project!

 

And, this shawlette came off the needles last night; it is blocking now.  More to be revealed...

 

 

Best of all was time with Miss Blayklee this past weekend!!  What a little doll (okay, I know a grandmother's oooohing and ahhhing must get old; but, I never tire of them)!

 

 

She was ready for a nap; and, I was lucky enough to get her to sleep in the "Noni bed (my arms)" and hold her the WHOLE nap time.  Pleasure.  Pure pleasure.  Plus, I will get the joy of keeping her a few days next week!  Yea!

 

AND, the Little Men are in flight to Texas even as I type.  We won't see them until Sunday, but I am soaring on Cloud Nine... looking forward to swooping them up in my arms!!  Lots left to do before then though! 

 

Wishing you all a wonderful week!  blessings ~ tanna

The Power of Love...

I fall in love with The Old Girls over... and over... and over...  For those of you who don't know, The Old Girls are our multi-family treasures in the National Historic Districts where we live.  This one is a duplex built in the 20s.  People frequently ask if they were originally single family; the answer is no.

There were some amazingly elegant duplexes and fourplexes built in Tyler during the early days of its growth... and the oil boom....

Then, there was the decline of this wonderful old neighborhood, just as in many others across our country.  Revitalization slowly began in the late 70s.

Even after the revitalization of this area and the designation as historic districts, the multifamily properties often languished... disdained by neighboring homeowners and bled out by uncaring investors.  I hated them too... however, I've always believed if you don't like something, you need to work to do something about it or quit your 'fussing'.  ;)

So, six years ago, this was our first Old Girl to "bring back".  The floors were sagging and covered in filthy carpet... the walls had cheap paneling... what paint there was was curled and flaked... F.I.L.T.H... and neglect. 

But her ailing bones were magnificent.

While we did have to add these things to modernize the kitchen, there are still the original cabinets, sink and countertop (had to add dishwasher... who wants to wash the dishes)... 

My one regret was the choice of this vinyl for the kitchen, bath and utility room.  Still hate it.

We had to replace the sink and toilet, but retained the tub and added subway tile for the shower surround.  We almost always add beadboard to the baths along with the sheetrock.

We added crown molding to every room (I cannot have rooms without crown molding), sheetrock to the walls, ripped out the carpets and had the floors stained and refinished.  We won't talk about the jacking up of the floors and adding piers or the plumbing issues or the electrical work.  ;)

As Evan and I walked through it last week getting ready to lease it again, he said he STILL can't believe how it used to look and how it does now... I just fall in love all over again...

Such a sweet, young couple... full of hope and dreams... bright and shiny stars... moved in this past weekend.  We have been so blessed by the people we have met and by the honor of being caretakers for these beautiful Old Girls. 

The power of love is a good thing.

blessings ~ tanna

Awards, Challenges and Focus

I relish the gorgeous splashes of hot pink fringe out my office windows!

I am a little behind in thanking Deborah, of Square Grannie, for this award.  Deborah's blog is new to me and I hope you will stop by and say hello.  I recognize her from Ravelry (a knitting and crocheting community).  I appreciate her kindness in passing this along to me.  Thank you, Deborah.

The rules are that you thank the person who passed the award to you; list seven random things about yourself; and then pass the award along to 15 other blogs.  I couldn't possibly pick only 15, so if you read this blog, consider yourself awarded!!! 

And, this morning on Ann, of Sutton Place's, I really enjoyed her post of a random 25 things about herself.  Soooo... I'm going to challenge myself to that (think it may be harder than one might imagine).  And, I'm inviting you to do the same... and pass along the award!  We are all versatile women!  LOL!  That falls under the definition of being a woman, doesn't it?

1.  I unexpectedly love the blog world!!  Never even knew about them.
2.  Came here almost kicking and screaming with my daughter (after a long distance move) with a six month promise.
3.  LOVE the people I have *met* here.
4.  I enjoy challenging myself...

5.  As a young student nurse, I was amazed while observing in surgery... the silent dance of surgeon and nurse.  No words, perfect moves, well executed operation.

6.  I felt, simultaneously, overwhelmed and fascinated... I challenged myself.  I studied hard.  I learned.  I danced.  Oh, how I loved the dance.

7.  For the years I worked in the operating room, I always said I that I would have paid to have been there if they had not paid me.

8.  I finally burned out.

9. I decided to switch to counselling... back to school for a psychology degree.

10. Midterm of junior year, feeling restless... not a good fit, took an aptitude test.

11. Switched to a finance degree... meant starting ALL over (who knew algebra and trig were NOT applicable to business math!  Did get to use statistics!!). 

12. LOVED business math and economics.

13. LOVED my computer classes!

14. LOVED my accounting classes!

15. Grew suspicious of investing in stock as I figured net present value, break even, stock valuation and reporting methods of a company's financials.

16. Developed a business plan of my own... involving historic multi-family properties. 

17. Bailed class again mid-term of my junior year to start the collection of The Old Girls.  Fortunately, I have a very supportive and adventuresome husband, who was and is on board with our plan.

18.  Have never looked back on that decision (especially in light of what COULD have happened to the monies we invested in the Old Girls had we left it in stocks like some of our other savings).

20. Am a firm believer that we are responsible for our own lives.

21.  And, like these photos show... a shift in focus can change our perspective.  If we only look close-up, we miss the waterfall.

22.  I can't throw or catch.  Failed every P.E. test that involved this activity; had TWO black-eyes trying to catch and/or bat; and (NOT on purpose) threw the keys on the roof when hubby dear insisted that I throw them to him one day.  He doesn't ask anymore.

23.  What I lack in coordination, I make up for in tenacity.  I've run four marathons and many, many, many long training runs... along with a few trail runs that would make any marathon pale in comparison of difficulty.

24.  I can't run anymore.  Left knee.  Today... at least most days, tears don't slide down my face when I'm passed by a runner.

25.  Now, I am a knitter, not a runner.

Hope to see some of you take up the award and the challenge!!

blessings ~ tanna

Restoring Vintage Apartment Buildings

If you live in an historic neighborhood, you know the buildings I'm talking about.  The big old rental properties... that the investors just let run down.  They, the investors, seem to take and take and never give back.  They used to be one of my pet peeves, being a homeowner in an historic neighborhood myself.   And, because I believe with all my heart if you are going to gripe about something, you should be willing to do something about the problem.  Thus began my collection of The Old Girls.  Now, I am "they."

Some of you may remember that before I left to go greet my new grandson, I was working on a unit in one of our favorite Old Girls, a very large fourplex built in the early 30s.  This was the last unit that had been continuously occupied by the tenant who was living there when we bought the place (June of 2006).   He moved out late this spring and these are the "afters."

This is a tired and sad "before" view of the same living room.

Leo Bolom's company does a magnificent job of refinishing the original hardwood floors and repairing any defects (two large pieces of plywood were discovered in each of the two bedrooms; bet you won't be able to tell where the repairs were done when you see the bedroom).   This is the way the floors were meant to look!!  Love 'em!!

A view from the dining room back to the living room.  I have an original chandelier from one of the other units and it is currently being rewired.  I will soon return it to this spot.

From the living room back into the dining room.  Aren't these Old Girls elegant? 

Same view dining room:  before.

Bedroom:  after.  Can you spot the defect in the hardwood?    I'm bettin' not.

Bedroom:  before.

Bathroom:  after.  Hours and hours spent with single-edged razor scraping up the linoleum adhesive.  I love the old tiles.  Love 'em.

Bathroom:  before.  You can't even see how disgusting the tub and cabinet was in the photo.   The tub was refinished.  Not something I usually do, but it had already been done once and was in terrible shape.  New sink.  New toilet.  Beadboard.  Better.  Still within reason cost-wise.

And, that's all for today.  I am happy to know that we have moved one step closer to restoring another Old Girl to her original beauty and elegance. 

I am linking to Kim at Savvy Southern Style's Wow Us Wednesday gathering. 

Blessings to all ~ Tanna

The Old Girls--A Labor of Love

Here is the latest progress on one of our Old Girls, a small collection of historic (OLD) multi-family properties.  We have had this one for not quite three years and we have finally gotten to her exterior. 

Here is her "before" exterior.

Here is the "after", that is the after BEFORE we worked on the landscaping yesterday.

Yesterday, we planted azaleas and sweet potato vines...  Thanks to one of our great tenants, Paul, who had the strength to dig up the snarly, scraggly, old holly bushes and roots!  The rocks were donated by a friend of ours who was changing their landscaping.  She is starting to look as good on the outside as she deserves.

Here are a few photos from the interior of one of the four apartments. 

The building is about 4800 square feet, with each unit consisiting of a living room, dining room, kitchen, bedroom, bath and "bonus" room that has been used as a second bedroom, an office, an art studio and a yoga room since we have had it.

I can imagine that in its day, this was a fine old apartment building. 

There is so much character in the Old Girls and I love them every one.

If you are interested in seeing a before and after of another of the interior units see this post.

I say, find one, love one, save one!  ;)

Another of My Projects...

No before pictures on this one...



But, believe me, this looks very different than it did when we started...



View from living room, through dining area to kitchen...



The arches and built-ins and the original chandelier in the dining room... all excite me!



The real reason for this post is to send pictures of the tile flooring to my daughter. =)

Here's to all of us who feel the need to "save" the old ones...

I just love the old tile floors.... LOTS of scrubbing!

One of the bedrooms...

THEN there is still the need for an exterior "make-over," all in due time... all in due time...

A little of what I do...

When we moved into this neighborhood four years ago, I was enthralled with the homes people had taken great care to maintain and preserve. I was less than pleased with the way some rental properties scattered throughout the district appeared. (Let me also say that there are those who have gone before me caring for some of the multi-family properties well.) But, there are still a great many properties that are in sad states. These properties are a part of Tyler's history and I feel they should be honored as such. Two and a half years ago, my husband and I decided to be a part of the solution, not just the complainers. We still have a lot of work ahead of us... it may never end. =) Here is an example of one of the units in a great old fourplex.

This was my last "project." You cannot imagine how filthy it was. Trash left behind. Fleas. We had to put of flea bombs for a month before I could even stay in for more than a few minutes. Then just to be able to tolerate it to START the project, I had to unclog the vacuum three times from cat hair and dirt! Disgusting!

This is what it looks like now. Please IGNORE the horrid little window treatment. It is gone!

This is one of the bedrooms. Yes, the flamingo paint was just like that.

This is the living room. Note the added crown molding and the beautiful old hardwoods restored to their natural beauty.

Dining room. Sorry, I don't have a before.

And last, the bathroom: