Cue the music.....

The adventures continue as we search each corner and uncover each of the oddities of.....the house. While many of the previous episodes reveal the mix of old and new, professional and not so professional, this episode reveals a part - mostly unknown until now......

The coal room. Stuck in the corner of the basement, under the portion of the kitchen that is at a slight downward slant. One of the portions of the house we believe was an add on. Between the mold, the cover up paneling, the peg board and the variety of not so professional shelves, the interior of the coal room remained mostly a mystery.


With the light bulbs replaced in various odd light fixtures in the basement and the halogen work lights in from the shed, Patrick armed himself to enter...the coal room.

Behind the door, at first glance it just appears to be left overs from the previous owners. And yet behind each corner more of our house revealed its uniqueness.


A view to the left shows us that the base of the foundation was laid with huge rocks - similar in size to the ones Patrick likes to bring home from rockhounding trips. What's that green barrel you ask - an old water storage container. These vestiges are not from the previous owner, she was only in the house for 4 years. These must be left overs from an even older owner.


To the right of the door is a shelf of miscellany. Can you find...the candle, the molding, the coat rack, the cannon ball, the iron hook-thing, the electrical cable, the buffer wheel, the insulation?


Further to the left is a box labeled electrical. Without further investigation we are uncertain as to which decade these components belong. The halogens could not reach this far in. These curiosities will need closer investigation under the lights and away from possible spiders.


A few of the things that were excavated from the debris...the cannon ball. Not sure if this is true ordinance, but what else would you call a solid ball of iron-like metal?

A slow motion (only two pictures) shot of Patrick experimenting with the iron hook-thing. With a fairly easy turn of the back handle opens the two pronged hooks.


Opened...closed...abierto...cerrado...ouvert...fermé...geopend...gesloten...opened...closed...geschlossenes ...geöffnet...ανοιγμένος...κλειστός...閉鎖した開けられる...chiuso...aperto... I was lucky to get a picture of both and he tested the weapon possibilities.


Here is the coat rack - or at least part of it emerging from the coal room. Not one of those modern things - this one, while appears to be pieces that screw together, is still pretty solid wood.


Here is the collection of long pokey things that emerged from the room. Guesses anyone on the metal tools? Patrick's guess on just about anything of this nature almost always turns to...instruments of destruction.

And so ends today's adventure with Patrick off on another adventure...off to do some home teaching.

Stay tuned for the next episode of the House Adventures - when we display some of the curiosities discovered in the house. There will be a prize for the person who knows what the last item is. So come back and perhaps you'll win!

Just another day in Idaho

I thought I should update. This week we got word back that the mold is gone. They came and demolished and cleaned last week, but it took a week to get the results of the clearance test. The ducts, furnace and AC units have all been cleaned - man were they dirty. We didn't like running the systems because we knew it was dirty and didn't want to distribute the mold spores all over.

The house seemed to sigh with us as all these things have finally been taken care of. We still lots to do. The most important at the moment is fixing the foundation. Nothing major - but lots of cement repairwork to be done. Things are slowly being moved out of the front room, now that we can put some stuff downstairs. Another big sigh to more room and less feeling like we just moved in.

We've had a visitor with us the past month. Madi's class is doing Flat Stanley - a creative way to encourage kids to read and write. It is based on a book about a kid who gets flattened and realizes he can travel to his friends through the mail. We have "Flat Lisa" staying with us. So far she hasn't been to anything too exciting. I'll get some pictures up to share. My computer seems to not want to go look for pictures.

A Belated Christmas Present :-)

Due to a variety of things, my Christmas/Anniversary present arrived with the Kings - a few days later.

My once empty cupboard is now very full.


Here is my present all tucked away nicely.


The cupboard is a bit small, I do have to lift it up to get it out on the shelf - but it is very easy. And it has a place to hide away and not take up space on the counter!

THANK YOU!!! to my dear husband. Now on to baking and whipping!