1914 Kansas Bungalow

Open House for Delano Bed and Breakfast

2011-12-05T12:52:00.000-06:00

We decided to have our Delano Bed and Breakfast open house along with the Christmas in Delano event. With all the good press we have received lately, it seemed a good time and perfect fit.

We participated in the historic home tour, the trolley came by on Saturday and dropped loads of people off who were determined to get out and brave the rainy, cold weather. Despite the dreadful weather we had a large crowd all day and evening on both Saturday and Sunday.

We received nothing but good comments and encouraging words of welcome on our Bed & Breakfast in the neighborhood.

Please enjoy some of the photographs of the green room. We've been working hard to complete this room for our future guests.

Christmas in Delano

2011-12-05T12:37:00.000-06:00

Brent and I participated in the Christmas in Delano historic home tour over the weekend. It was a lot of work decorating the house and yard for the holiday season, but we met a lot of wonderful people and had a great time.

Here are a few pictures of the event.

Delano Bed and Breakfast

2011-11-08T21:21:00.001-06:00

Wow! What a fantastic article in our local newspaper a couple of weeks ago. Word leaked out that we're turning our bungalow into a bed and breakfast. We weren't quite ready to go public. We've been testing our recipes and stays with friends and family, and we're almost finished outfitting the smaller bedroom. I'll be posting photographs soon. Thanks, Carrie, for the great press.

Landscape

2011-09-10T21:40:00.000-05:00

This summer has been so difficult on everyone, and that includes the flowers. It was still cold in May so I couldn't even plant out the flowers that had been growing in the greenhouse until late in the season, and as soon as I did, it got hot! June isn't supposed to be hot. We hardly had a spring at all. We lost many flowers and even some trees. It's so very sad.

But now I have a few photographs to share of the yard. What has done really well in this heat have been the sweet potato vine, roses, datura, morning glory, and 4 o'clocks.
Enjoy.

Master Bedroom Update

2011-08-28T14:48:00.000-05:00

Brent and I have been trying to complete this room. With stripped walls and floors completely re-done (oh, and the ceiling too!) we're almost done with the room, but not quite. We still have trim on the walls by the ceiling and the fireplace mantel to install. But for what it is worth, here is what we have so far. We think it will make a nice bed and breakfast room. Eventually.

The Amazing Datura.

2011-08-18T11:09:00.001-05:00

I started about a dozen Datura from seed earlier this summer. It's about the only thing in bloom right now. It's amazing, with silvery-grey leaves, thick stems and flowers that bloom at dusk and releases a heavenly honey scent all across the yard. Ahhhh.... These photgraphs in sequence were taking over several days.

Bathroom Remodel Continued

2011-08-14T21:42:00.000-05:00

Here are a few additional shots. Brent is working on the floor trim. We've added a couple of nice touches (at least we think so) with new light fixtures and iron light switch plates.

We'll need a shower door, but will probably start with a shower curtain until we can figure out the best way. Might have to do a custom door because the shower seems to be an odd size. Hmmm. Imagine that!

Next we'll put the original medicine cabinet back on the wall. And we're going to have the wood frame (in one of the photographs) used as a mirror, by having a mirror cut to size. That should look nice, since it matches the wood work perfectly.

Brent's Been Busy...

2011-07-24T22:37:00.000-05:00

Brent has been putting in some sweat equity by working on the bathroom by the parlor. We have done nothing to this room for the past five years since we've lived here. It's kind of become the overflow room, a place to store our tools, paint, and ladders while working on other house projects.

Master Bedroom

2011-03-13T22:26:00.001-05:00

Brent and I haven't worked on the house together for a long time. Or so it seems! We spent a good part of the day sanding down the wood floors. It's interesting that so much of the room has a white/opaque substance on the floor, part of the wood itself. Strange.So, we have an antique head/footboard from the Delano Antique Mall and it will look nice in this room once it's complete

. Once we sanded the floor, cleaned that up, then applied oil to the floor. Clearly not all done, but made good progress.

Master Bedroom

2011-03-06T00:02:00.002-06:00

Progress continues to be made. Everything is now out of this room and Brent is busy on the floor. We'll need a new rug of course. But with the old wood bed frame he got today at the Delano Antique store, it will look fabulous in no time.

House History, Continued

2011-02-08T23:26:00.000-06:00

THE SCHOLLENBERGER'S:

The people who built the house, which according to the Sedgwick County Register of Deeds was built in 1914, were Morris H. Schollenberger and his wife Pearl Craig Schollenberger. Mr. Schollenberger was originally from Pennsylvania and Pearl was from Kentucky.

My research indicates that Pearl and Morris were married in Sedgwick County, Kansas in June of 1900. They had two children, Ruth and Morris, who were born in Kansas.

There were three Schollenberger brothers who owned and operated a bicycle shop located at 230 N Main in Wichita. The brothers names were Morris H., George H., and Harvey H. Schollenberger. The "H" in the brothers' middle name "High" reflected their mother, Catherine's maiden name. The name of their bicycle shop was Schollenberger & Company and was started in late 1890's as a bicycle repair shop.

Morris, Harvey and George Schollenberger are credited for bringing the first exclusive gasoline engine automobile to Wichita, Kansas. They sold their bicyle shop in 1900 and started what they called the Wichita Automobile Company. In 1901 they sold one car. In 1903 they had sold five automobiles. According to the Tihen Notes, the Sedgwick County treasurer reported there were 17,000 cars in 1922. Morris Schollenberger was president of the company and George was manager. I cannot find what position Harvey held prior to his death.

The Wichita Automobile Company that the Schollenberger's owned and operated were agents for the Oldsmobile manufacturer. They did not stock the cars. When a customer wanted a car, they ordered one. That changed in 1903 when they began to stock cars in their dealership. In 1906 there were selling the Maxwell cars. In 1908 they moved the dealership to Market and English streets. In 1909 the Schollenberger's purchased the "old Carey homestead at the southeast corner of Lawrence (now Broadway) and English..." (the Wichita Beacon, Monday, April 13, 1908). They started construction on a new building for their dealership.

Harvey Schollenberger died in the flu epidemic of 1917-1920. I have found conflicting dates from the Wichita Beacon newspaper and the Tihen Notes from Wichita State University. I have found several references that he died Feb. 3, 1920. Harvey was the younger of the three brothers. His widow, Maude Gowen Schollenberger went on to start what would become the Wichita Center for the Arts.

In November 1925, Morris H Schollenberger died. From all accounts the Wichita Automobile Company was in financial constraints. I have located several notations and articles about the "unexpected" death of Mr. Schollenberger. Morris's death was due to suicide from cyanide poisoning, "resulting from the deep financial troubles of his company." (Wichita Beacon, November 18, 1925.

In 1926 The Wichita Reo Motor Company took over the business of the Wichita Automobile Company from bankruptcy. George H Schollenberger stayed on with Reo Motor Company as General Manager. George died in 1961.

To be continued...

My House Research

2011-02-07T23:14:00.000-06:00

It's been a long time since I've updated this blog about the history of the house. I've spent a fair amount of time over the last several years doing research on who built the house, who lived in the house, trying to learn a bit more.

We know the Good family lived here, but we were given inaccurate information from Bishop Gerber at the signing when we purchased the house. He said the Goods were the only owners of the house. That turns out not to be the case.

After spending time researching online, at the Wichita Public Library, Wichita State University, Skyways, Midwest Historical & Genealogical Society, and Sedgwick County Courthouse, I have a LOT more information! If only these walls could talk! That would make it a lot easier.

THE EARLY HISTORY:

There were many speculators buying land on the west side of the Arkansas River, in the Delano area. This house is listed as being constructed in 1914. Now, I do not know exactly what that means. Is the house considered built when construction started? Or when the very last nail is set in place? When a city inspector gives the final ok? I don't know.

Here is what I have learned from the Sedgwick County Register of Deeds office: Going through big, heavy, old volumes of record books, this lot was granted to H. Smithson from the Junction Township in 1886. It then went from Smithson to Jasper Seiner in 1887. From Seiner it was deeded to W.S. Smithson that same year, just a few months later. At this point, Sedgwick County became involved (the area west of the river was not part of Wichita at this time). Sedgwick County deeds the land to Hutchinson & Smithson in 1895. Then J.S. Hutchinson deeds it to E. S. Hutchinson in 1898. E.S. Hutchinson deeds it to R.A. Sankey in 1901. Sankey deeds it to V.M. Dadisman in 1902. And finally, Dadisman deeds it to Pearl C. Schollenberger in 1908. Whew. It would be interesting to learn how long the Schollenberger's had the land before they started building.

To continue, the Schollenberger's had the home until 1926, at which time Pearl deeded the house to Citizens State Bank. Citizens State Bank deeded the house to Fammie & Floyd Brown Life Insurance Company in 1931. Then in 1933, the life insurance company sold the house to Fred J Friess. Mr. Friess was Mary Good's father, who deeded the house to his daughter Mary, in 1934. The Good Family lived in the house for many years. Then in 1979 Mary Good set up a revocable trust Mary Good died in 1990 and in 1991 the house went to Frederick, Bernice Stavniak (son and daughter of Dr. Fridolin and Mary Good). It appears that the house ownership was transferred to several of the children over time. The house remained in the Good family until Edna Good, one of the daughters, willed the house to St. Joseph Catholic Church in November 2005. Edna passed away in January of 2006. Brent and I bought the house in July that same year. So there we have it! The time-line of the house.

I also have learned that this lot, which is listed as three (3) city lots, were the last ones on this block to be purchased. This surprised me. I suspected that these lots would have been one of the first to be sold and built on because the house is the largest on the block. But it was the opposite of what I had thought.

THE SCHOLLENBERGER'S:

It's been an amazing adventure to learn about the Schollenberger's. I've consulted in a variety of areas to ascertain this information. I was very curious to learn about this house being in a woman's name. Pearl Craig Schollenberger. Not Morris H. Schollenberger, but his wife's name. I'd love to know the reasons behind this. I'm thinking that for a woman to own property would be unusual for the time period.

To Be Continued.....

Bird Visitors

2011-02-05T18:52:00.000-06:00

With all the snow from the big blizzard I've been wondering about my little birdie friends. Each mornning we sit by the big window in the dining room and watch our feathered visitors. I have wrapped myself up in scarf and gloves every morning and braved the winter chill to give them fresh water and seed.

We have tried really hard to create a bird sanctuary on the south side of the yard, fully visable from the dining room. We need to provide more shelter for them. They seem to love the lilac and crabapple bushes. But I think we need some evergreens nearby. I'd love to plant some cedars, but that will cause the crabapple to die so, we can't do that.

We've had two types of Flickers as regular visitors this winter. We love to watch the Dark-Eyed Juncos and Chickadee's. We only have one pair of Cardinals. And a pair of Carolina Wrens call our sweet autumn clamatis home. It is hard to discern the Downy Woodpecker from the Hairy Woodpecker. Found a little dove shivering in the snow the other morning, trying to keep warm. To our horror we have noticed a regular visitor, a huge, fat Sharp-Shined Hawk high in the trees, who are known for stalking backyard small birds.

They are so much fun to watch. Enjoy the pictures.

2011 Projects

2011-01-11T20:54:00.000-06:00

Ok, so we have secrets that we can't give up yet, big things in store for the house in 2011. We'll be busy re-painting the little bedroom on the main floor. Just never really liked the pale wheat color walls. We need color! I think I'll Laura Ashley this room up right.

So, my latest little project was to paint the interior closet of the master bedroom one day while Brent was away. It's not very exciting. Several years ago I painted it some bold yellow/gold shade, I think because I had the paint. Since then the bedroom walls have been painted a lovely dark shade that is hard to describe and the two kind of clash. Anyway, I got half of it done. At least now this will make a nice place to store the two window air conditioners without having to haul them down and up and back down again, from the basement twice a year!

We're finally going to get the master bedroom completly done. We did take down the heavy drapes, that do look period, from the dining room and installed them in this bedroom. A perfect match with the plum/eggplant shade on the walls. But what I really need is a rug, period accent pieces, lamps, bedding, sheets, pillow, reading chair. And I need it stylish, and comfortable, and it has to have a total and complete look to it!

Wood Burning Stove

2010-12-31T21:33:00.000-06:00

Check out the woodburing stove that we've added to the big greenhouse. This is the first winter for the big greenhouse and the little electric heater that had been used for heating the small greenhouse just wasn't going to do the job.

Poor Brent. He's outside several times a week chopping wood. It's his workout program.

But it's nice and toasty in there and the flowers don't seem to mind.

The Biergarten

2010-10-05T20:23:00.003-05:00

Brent spruces up the biergarten to get ready for our annual event. With the help of his father he added an arbor by the entry. We hauled in new gravel and timbers were layed out by the flower beds.

Staining the Kitchen Floor

2010-09-22T21:53:00.004-05:00

Remember when we bought the house? The kitchen was disgusting. There was yellow/black carpet in there. We lived in this house without a working kitchen for the first nine months, packed on a few extra pounds that neither of us can seem to get rid of regardless of the work we've done on this house, scraping, sanding and peeling the layers off.

Brent has never been happy with the original wood floor in the kitchen (once we found it, that is). And no matter how we cleaned it, what we cleaned it with, or how often we cleaned it, it never seemed to LOOK clean.

So for some time now Brent has wanted to re-do this floor. I didn't think it would be a huge ordeal, but still after four years of working on this house, I should have known better. Everything takes twice as long as I think it should. Drives me crazy.

We removed everything out of the way, rented a sander, and Brent spent two whole nights sanding the floor, especially the corners and areas close to the wall. One coat of stain, let dry overnight, sand down, another coat of stain, let dry. Maybe we can actually use the kitchen again in another day or so.

Exterior Repair

2010-09-15T17:05:00.003-05:00

That huge hail storm back in July 2009 was something else. We still haven't finished with the siding, gutters, windows,etc. The new roof is fantastic. We love the green. The new gutters were put on, but they still have the gutter tops to install. Here is a nice picture of Jason and Isabel helping Brent with windows.

Cottage Garden

2010-08-03T17:18:00.003-05:00

Just realized I didn't get any posting done here for the entire month of July. Sorry about that. Let's recap: The roofers are almost finished with the siding and gutters. The new roof looks great, and Brent and I really like the color (green) that we chose.

I'm still disappointed that the city of Wichita chopped down our perfectly good hackberry tree out front. Doing so has made the front porch too sunny and hot to be useful. We can't have our morning coffee out front anymore. The house is hotter, many of the flowers are suffering, since the flowers I planted were specifically for shade. I will have to move things around this fall. With all the travel, where will I find the time?

However, here are a few pictures of what has bloomed this summer. It's really hot now and Brent tells me things are looking sad and wilty, but he waters them faithfully.

Welcome to the Garden!

2010-06-21T22:06:00.003-05:00

Here you will find flowers that are growing in many areas of the yard. As we try to create a cottage garden to go along with the bungalow; you will see our progress. While, some areas are in dire need of a plan, we're getting there. Enjoy.

Delano Neighborhood Garage Sale

2010-06-07T23:03:00.002-05:00

We participated in the annual neighborhood garage sale. What fun. Other than the very hot temperature, it was a great time. We had the opportunity to meet some very nice people from the area, and we actually sold most of the stuff we had for sale that had been sitting in the basement since we bought the house three years ago!

We really appreciated all the nice comments people made on the house and the garden. Seems our work has been noticed since the house sat empty for decades. I think everyone should have a cottage garden, incorporate veggies and fruit into the landscape. Who wants to mow the grass anyway?

Finished Arbor!

2010-06-07T22:53:00.004-05:00

Brent's seemingly never ending arbor project is complete! Poor sweetie. He's been working, and re-working on it for so long. He changed his design, been delayed by weather, work, exhaustion, etc. The end result is fabulous! I love it. Can't wait to have climbing roses attach themelves to the trellis on each end.

More Arbor

2010-05-28T22:44:00.002-05:00

Brent's Arbor Project

2010-05-28T22:36:00.003-05:00

He started this last summer, then of course winter happened. Now he changed his design, and he's been working very hard on this, and I like it! It's not quite finished, but here are the pictures of his progress.

Need Help to Identify Rare Flower

2010-05-14T22:18:00.005-05:00

I need help identifying this beautiful flowering vine. I've taken a sample to the county extention, and they are having a difficult time identifying it also. They think it might be a 'wild clematis,' but I have doubts about this. The master gardeners told me it was 'a rare gem,' but I still don't know, without a doubt, what it is.

If it were really a wild flower, it would not have been planted in three exact spots, by portico supports. It seems like deliberate locations that it was planted in. It doesn't seem 'wild' and just growing randomly.

This vine was in the yard when we bought the house, almost four years ago. I think the vine is very old, and it probably is rare, but I would sure like to find out what it is exactly.

What I know of this flower:
* It is a vine
* It is aggressive
* Flowers appear like a star, in yellow, maroon colors
* Leaves are not like a typical clematis
* Stems become woody with age
* New growth has glossy green leaves
* Vine twine around each other
* Flowers bloom in late spring
* It's beautiful and unique

Old yard

2010-04-19T23:15:00.003-05:00

Take a look at the previous post. This is the same area, front and south yard.
What a difference!

Spring Flowers

2010-04-19T23:05:00.004-05:00

Well, Spring is here. We're trying to make our yard and gardens in the cottage style. It seems fitting for the bungalow.

The front and south yard are so different than it was when we bought the house just a few short years ago. Progress has been made.

Yard Work

2010-04-09T21:48:00.002-05:00

It just doesn't seem to ever end. The house with constant projects. Inside and outside. Brent's been working on putting up the black fence (weather permitting) to separate the south side yard from the back yard. He moved the arch and I'm trying to figure out what to plant on it. With the Burning Bushes on one side, it should look lovely as things grow around the fence and up the arch.

Sand in the Tables

2010-03-12T19:05:00.002-06:00

Well, it is almost complete. Dad and Casey surprised me by getting sand and filling it in my tables. Wow! That was unexpected and much appreciated.

More Live Plants in Greenhouse

2010-03-07T19:49:00.002-06:00

Greenhouse Tables

2010-03-07T19:40:00.007-06:00

My brother came over this weekend and we put the very heavy concrete fiberglass bottom sections in the table bases. I will need to get a lot of sand to put on the bottoms. Then I'll be able to determine how best to lay out the greenhouse, where the seedlings will go, the annuals, periennals, vegetables, herbs, etc.

I took all the flowers out of the little greenhouse and placed them on the shelving unit until I get the sand. I'll have to clean out the little greenhouse. An artist studio perhaps? It's too nice for a storage shed. Maybe we can make a screen house out of it. We'll see.

Next I will work on laying out the gardens and beds.

Gravel Flooring for Greenhouse

2010-02-18T20:50:00.004-06:00

The weather really cooperated this week to allow me to haul some gravel into the greenhouse for the floor. Several weeks ago I positioned some roof shingles left over from last years new roof that I found still in their plastic wrapping, and this will make excellent weed barrier. I hauled about 15 wheel-barrow loads into the greenhouse. I call this my "excelerated workout program." Haha! Now I have only the center aisle to do, as soon as I figure out what I can use for weed barrier in the aisle since I used up all the singles under the tables.

Today I positioned a rubber weather stripping section onto the glass ceiling part where the vent touches the ceiling. I just put it up and then closed the vent to see if it would work. It absolutely must be weather-tight and specifically rain proof. It's supposed to rain for the next two days, so this will be test before I actually glue the strip. And if it doesn't work, back to square one trying to find something else that will work. I think it will work though. Hope so.

I've left some open areas so I can plant right into the ground for flowers that like shade. I didn't do that in the little greenhouse, but it's a good idea.

101 Posts!

2010-01-31T21:17:00.003-06:00

I just realized that my last post was my 100th since we purchased this house in July, 2006. With the greenhouse addition almost complete, I thought I'd upload some photographs. I took a couple of pictures of the snow from last Friday. I checked it out yesterday and am happy to report, that the only areas inside the greenhouse where water from melting snow dripped, were in the areas that have not been sealed! Good job to Brent, my Dad, Brent's Dad, my brother Casey, and even Miss Lillian!

There are only a few things left to do. We need to haul in the gravel, place the bottoms in the tables, add sand in the tables. We just finished installing the electrical conduit, so we'll need an electrician out here. And then we will need to seal the edges, top and bottom and enclose the roof on the garage where we built up. We're waiting on the roof because with the hail storm last summer we'll be getting a new roof on the house and garage, so the roofing contractors will seal the roof. They said probably in February or March.

I think I will paint the case that houses the overhead lights, the fan and exhaust fan. We'll see if these things even work once we have electricity.

I want to install peg-board on the north wall so we can hang some plants, install a small table and a couple of chairs. I certainly want to be able to sit out there and have a cup of espresso!

This Old House

2010-01-27T10:01:00.003-06:00

Woo Hoo!!! Last week I submitted a "readers" project to "This Old House," one of our favorite magazines. They've posted it on their website. Check it out on the above link. It's the front porch project I did last fall. We are so happy to have that horrible blue outdoor carpet off of our porch Our curb appeal automatically improved on our lovely 1914 bungalow.

New Year, Lots Done in Old Year

2010-01-03T20:34:00.005-06:00

Happy New Year to all!

I'm happy to see the end of 2009. I look to 2010 with hope and positivity. After taking a look at the past year. Brent and I made good progress on the house, and outside of the house as well.

Brent surprised me while I was away on a business trip by putting in a new ceiling in the Master Bedroom. I didn't want to put up sheetrock, but I have to say, I am happy that project is over. Thanks to Brent and his father Vernon for doing that.

We got the handrail up the stairs (the stairs will have to wait for the new year). I finished the upstairs bathroom, plumbing, floors ripped out, windows taken out, stripped the wallpaper, primed, painted. It's such a cute little space and it looks great now.

The living room is now complete with the addition of a ceiling fan. It's not an old one, but it looks like it belongs in there. I re-did the front porch and it looks great. We put up the old door and it's so much better than the cheap aluminum one that was on the door when we bought the house.

And outside! Oh my. Who would have thought that I would have been given a greenhouse? I'd like to return the favor, pay it forward, so others' can also benefit from Mr. Lewis's generosity. I'd like to see if I can start a program to help children get interested in gardening, learning about flowers and plants. I'd like to partake in the Farmer's Market in Delano, and maybe doing some custom greenhouse growing and personal gardening. We put in walking paths and dug up the weeds that pretended to be grass. There's just a few areas left and we will be grassless and we can then trim trees to allow in more sun and we'll be incorporating vegetables and fruit into our landscape. I can't wait!

It's been a rough year for Brent and I. With my unemployment situation maybe I'll just have to figure out something else to do on my own.

Enjoy the pictures. I've done some watercolors, painted from the flowers in our yard. It's never too early to think about Spring and flowers.

"Study nature, love nature, stay close to nature. It will never fail you" - Frank Lloyd Wright.

Difficult Work on Greenhouse

2009-12-03T20:29:00.003-06:00

Oh it has been so cold on Wednesday and Thursday. We had to cover our ears, put on long-johns, triple layers of clothing, coats and it was very difficult to work with gloves on! But progress is being made, even in the windy winter conditions. Having the sun out helps. We have a couple of glass sections that needed to be trimmed down, and a couple of pieces that were broke that we replaced. So, we finished the west side! Woohoo! Got the bottom sections on the southside complete, and almost finished with the top south side and the east side.

Please note: I am actually helping with this construction, the tear down at Mr. Lewis's house, cleaning the old gunk off, and rebuilding. I'm not just standing around supervising the helpers. In fact, I'm exhausted from this project.

First Section of Glass Installed

2009-11-30T17:20:00.003-06:00

Well, I feel pretty good about our greenhouse progress today. The weather was warm (hope that continues) and Dad finished installing the door.

The tape adhesive that I ordered last week arrived today and it fit perfectly! I didn't know for sure that it would. What a relief. It's so easy to use. We measure the glass and simply cut a piece to fit. No mess at all like some of the caulking type butyl.

The bonus for today was the lead strip that goes between the glass sections on the gable ends also worked perfectly! I didn't know about that either. I just could not locate the plastic strip spacer that was used originally. Maybe they don't even use that anymore but this greenhouse is old so I had to find something! But all the glass businesses I called on recommended that I go to a local stained glass place, so I did and the lead strip has groves on both sides and a section of my greenhouse glass fit perfectly. Boy, it scares me when things work well like this.

The adhesive tape and lead strip were also very inexpensive, so that's an even better bonus.

More Greenhouse Progress

2009-11-26T19:41:00.002-06:00

Dad, Casey and Brent continue to work on the greenhouse. I feel a little guilty about not being out there working with them.

I've spent my time searching for adhesive sealant applicable for glass and aluminum, H-cames (whatever that is) for a spacer between the glass on the gable ends, and figuring out how many pieces of glass we will need to replace and/or cut since we're putting a door in on one end. Well, heck, I HAVE been busy working on this project!

Greenhouse project continued

2009-11-25T09:50:00.003-06:00

Check it out. The frames are up,exhaust fans are next, then the door, perlins for center support. Very exciting stuff. We'll be racing against the cold Kansas weather before too long; thus far we've been very lucky.

Greenhouse Frame

2009-11-21T19:53:00.003-06:00

Today was cool and cloudy. But the workers showed up anyway! It was great to have Brent, Casey, and Brent's father Vernon here to give Dad a helping hand.

Dad and Casey got the frame of the roof and south side attached while I was in Kansas City Thursday and Friday. They secured the frame to the cement on the ground.

Take a look at their progress.

Greenhouse Update IV

2009-11-15T13:04:00.002-06:00

Brent and Dad spent a couple hours Saturday mixing and pouring concrete for the trench that the greenhouse frame will sit on. They also started on the roof of the garage which will support the greenhouse as they build it up one foot high.

Greenhouse III

2009-11-14T10:49:00.003-06:00

Getting the last of the greenhouse pieces from Mr. Lewis's property. These tables are original to the greenhouse. One is eight feet long, the other 16 feet. I counted 75 pieces of glass sections. That's a lot of glass.

Brent and Dad have determined what is needed to get the roof of the garage ready. I've cleared the garden where the greenhouse will go. Brent and Dad are doing the cement work today. After that the next step is to build up the wall on the south side of the garage 13" and add some flashing. I hope the weather cooperates. It's much cooler today.

New Greenhouse II

2009-11-10T11:08:00.002-06:00

More pictures.
I have taken lots of photographs and labeled each piece of frame and glass and where it belongs. Putting this greenhouse back together, as Brent puts is, will be like working on a jigsaw puzzle! Check back for more updates as this project progresses.

An Unexpected Project

2009-11-10T10:47:00.003-06:00

As I was interviewing with Janco Greenhouse this past July, the owner sent me several pages of papers that listed former customers in Kansas. I made a few phone calls to see if I could get some feedback on the company, quality of products and general information about their greenhouses.

I called Mr. Lewis. He told me he did indeed have a Janco greenhouse and if I wanted to dismantle it, it was mine. Hmmmm. Why would anyone be so willing to give away an entire greenhouse, I wondered? Mr. Lewis is an older gentlemen who "bought the best greenhouse" he could find. He went all out too. He just hasn't been greenhouse gardening for a couple of years.

His greenhouse is a slanted lean-to. It's 10' wide and runs 18' in length. He bought the misters, coolers, shading system, heating, control panels, vents, fans, the works. He said it was a shame to have it just sit there, not having been used for two or three years. Someone should get the pleasure of using it as he once had since he bought it in 1978.

Dad came out and checked it over and determined that it could be broken down and moved. And that's exactly what we did. Working only a few hours each day for two weeks, we removed the screws and bolts of the aluminum frame and glass sections. The 16' long table, the 8' table, vents, control panel, everything.

This is still a work in progress. We've scraped the old glazing off of the frame pieces, and still have more to do on the glass. They're cleaning up nicely. We're digging a trench, and will add cement. We need to add a 12" section to the garage roof and in the near future we will have a functioning greenhouse.

At first I thought this would be too big of a project. But the more I thought about it the more I realized that it's not everyday a greenhouse is offered for free, other than ones time and labor. This one will make my original greenhouse look like a doll house. We're very excited about the possibilities.

Which do you prefer?

2009-10-17T20:34:00.002-05:00

Ok, so which do prefer? The hallway as it was when we bought the house three years ago? Or with a soft toffee color with art and lights?

Come on, admit it! Even with track lighting it's a hell of an improvement. That flocked wallpaper made our eyes dizzy.

Ceiling Fan and Lights

2009-10-17T20:15:00.004-05:00

Brent had a couple of projects of his own. We finally put up the ceiling fan in the living room. With the drapes hung in the entryway leading to the living room, this is a detail that will make the room complete. Gary Lindow, a friend pitched in and helped with some electrical stuff. That was nice. We have a room complete! We can celebrate!!

A lot of the magazines like "This Old House," "American Bungalow," and "1900" will tell you, oh, whatever you do, don't put in cannister lights or track lighting! The horror! The fact of the matter is, the house might have been built in 1914, but we're living in it in 2009. It's not a museum. Brent has an amazing collection of original artwork, and he intends to show it off. The track lighting is not intrusive. It's adjustable lighting in the long narrow hallway and from bright to dim, he can highlight his art collection. The lighting on the art is incredible.

So, remember, you can keep the integrity of your old house still make it live-able.

Upstairs Bathroom Update 2

2009-10-17T19:49:00.003-05:00

Here is the beginning process. Layers of layers of wallpaper stripped off, cracks repaired, primed and finally painted!

We decided to keep the fancy windows (and they are so cute with the wood inserts) off, because they open overhead, well the one does, the other one just opens about five inches before it smacks into the stupid wall that houses the shower pipes, anyway, the room is looking quite lovely.

I want the rooms up here to all flow together, so I used the same paint color as in the sunroom. It's a mix between a latte and chocolate milk. I now have shower curtain, sheers (which I actually did the sewing), towels up, but I haven't taken pictures of that. I painted the floor to look like stone, and it's almost finished.

It's actually quite difficult to get good shots because of the brightness from the windows and the smallness of the room. I'll take some and post soon. In the meantime, enjoy.

Upstairs Bathroom Update

2009-10-17T19:40:00.002-05:00

It's been awhile since I've worked on the little bathroom upstairs. It's just so horrible and wrong, it's hard to know where to begin. But in an effort to move forward on this project and get it finished before our annual Oktoberfest event, (which I came close to doing, but not quite) here is what it looked like before I scraped the popcorn ceiling wallpaper off, before I took the windows down for reglazing, before I stripped the wallpaper off, before I ripped out the old floor, before the bare wood baseboards were painted. Well, you get the idea. The room was a disaster!

Deck, Backyard

2009-10-17T19:23:00.002-05:00

Brent and his father worked on a small deck off the back steps. Vernon had tore his old deck and arbor down, so he "donated" the wood planks to Brent. They had to take out a gazillon nails, but the wood will work nicely. They're not finished with it, but here is what they have so far. The constant rain we've been getting of late has not helped this project.

Brent Removes the Outdoor Chickenwire Thingy!

2009-10-05T14:09:00.004-05:00

We don't know what the heck it was, but it had this old heirloom plant on it that becomes quite woody and it twines. Delicate little maroon and yellow flowers, very orchid like appear each spring. Nobody knows what it is, even the master gardeners can't identify it.

Brent got to work and tore the thing down. Now we have more light and we can see into the yard better and it feels less oppressive with this thing hanging over our heads every time we enter or leave the house.

Decking to Wood Planks

2009-10-05T14:01:00.002-05:00

My faux wood planking porch.

Finished Porch Project

2009-10-05T13:51:00.003-05:00

Please enjoy the updates on our porch project. We moved the wicker furniture down from the sunroom. It's nice and cozy to sit outside with a cup of coffee listening to birds and watching the flowers.

Front Porch Carpet Removal

2009-09-13T22:45:00.004-05:00

Removing this carpet was a pain. It didn't take that long and it was well worth it, but a mess. I then ripped up the carpet, then I had to sand the plywood. Now this wasn't ornidnary plywood, but rather nice porch decking. It was amazing how good of shape it was in. The carpet was tacked by nails along the edges, which I removed. The glue had stopped its stickiness many years ago, I'm sure. It was loose on the porch except along the edges where the nails were.

What remained after I got the carpet off the porch was a fine grit of dirt and dust. I shop-vacced that right up.

So a few yanks and it was done. Cutting the carpet into three sections made it more manageable, because it was heavy. So, not knowing the condition of the original wood planks beneath the decking, we had to get creative! What to do? What to do? I will post pictures of my process. Yes, this post is just a tease! For now.

Front Porch

2009-09-13T22:34:00.003-05:00

There has been two things that I have hated about this house. 1.) The hideous aluminum front door screen, which is removed now, and 2.) The blue indoor/outdoor carpet on the porch.

I am happy to report that this project is almost complete. It's amazing really. Who in their right mind would install blue, and I mean a bright royal blue on their porch? How very tacky. It is GONE! That's worth a celebration right there. Three years later, it's gone. It's also hard to believe we've been working on this house for three years. It's gone by fast.

So, here are some pictures, and I will have more once I apply the polyurethane, and install some new wood trim that I had to remove, I will post the final Front Porch Project Pictures! But enjoy these.

Porch Swing

2009-09-13T22:30:00.002-05:00

Sanded down and stained the old porch swing. Dad came over and hung it up for me. It looks great and is a great addition to the porch. It looks like it's been there all along.

Master Bedroom, Continued

2009-09-13T22:19:00.003-05:00

The ceiling is complete. Brent dismantled the ugly ceiling fan and has painted it. He'll get it installed this week.

Here are some progress photographs of Brent painting. The walls are now complete and I have removed the tape (that has been there for three years when we first stripped the layers of wallpaper) and believe me, even with a utility knife, the tape around the doors and windows were difficult to remove!

More Master Bedroom

2009-09-09T17:01:00.002-05:00

Master Bedroom

2009-09-09T16:45:00.003-05:00

While on a business trip to the Baltimore, Philadelphia region, Brent got busy with a surprise for me. Check out the progress of his newly installed ceiling and walls.

Camera Issues

2009-08-24T09:21:00.002-05:00

Aaauuugghhh!!!!

My Mac Notebook is on its last leg I believe. I'm running out of disk space and I will have to take it to the Apple store so it can be looked at. I don't know how to fix it.

We continue to rennovate the house, and we're making great progress. Unfortunately, my start-up disk is so low, the Mac won't allow me to download photographs from my camera. Boo Hoo!

As soon as I get this computer issue resolved, I will post pictures of progress on the Upstairs Bathroom (walls all sanded, primed and ready to paint), the fence and arbor that Brent has been working on (it's almost complete) and the wood trim along the stairs by my wallpaper project of last winter.

I'll keep you posted.

Fence Project

2009-07-19T15:41:00.002-05:00

Brent's been busy (weather permitting) on putting up a fence up front. He's very handy with power tools! He'll be making a gate and arbor also.

Porch Swing Project

2009-07-19T15:34:00.002-05:00

I've sanded down the old donated porch swing, stained and protected it. Now I need to find some heavy duty ceiling hooks and anchors and attach to the front porch.

More Hail Shots

2009-07-09T20:59:00.003-05:00

The Hail!

One More Before and After hail shot

2009-07-09T13:30:00.002-05:00

More hail damage.

2009-07-09T13:24:00.003-05:00

The vegetables are pulverized, the gardens destroyed. It's so very sad. The flowers were looking so beautiful. Check out the before and after Becky Shasta Daisy.

Hail Damage

2009-07-09T13:16:00.002-05:00

That was one hell of a storm. We timed it: twenty solid minutes of hail larger than golf balls. I don't have a lot of time right now, but here are some pictures. I'll post more this evening.

More Yard Transformation

2009-07-02T16:03:00.003-05:00

Outside Before and After

2009-07-02T15:58:00.002-05:00

We've put a lot of effort into the yard. Out front we are attempting to construct a "cottage garden," and out back a nature area alongside our "Biergarten" and vegetable garden.

Front Door & Windows Stained

2009-06-22T19:48:00.005-05:00

Okay. Finally it stopped raining long enough for me to stain the front door and side windows. Next up: Urethane. Then I will stain and urethane the old wood screen door and get that attached.

Front Door Progress

2009-06-15T13:47:00.002-05:00

Check it out. I've started to stain the front door and side windows. Nice picture of the original doorbell. Fancy!

Aluminum Door Gone - Old Door Almost Ready

2009-06-02T20:37:00.005-05:00

We moved an old wooden screen door out of the basement and up to the front porch. It's not the original. The original screen door is still with the house, in the basement, but beyond repair. This screen door is from the 1930's, maybe 1940's. But it's in pretty good shape. It even has a glass window pane that you can remove or replace, depending on the season. So, we have removed it, and I will re-glaze this fall and we'll put it back in before winter.

The front door is beautiful. The wood is all bumpy with tiny raised varnish or something that was applied at some point, but didn't take too well. So, I spent Sunday sanding the door, screen door and the two side windows. Brent removed the aluminum door and frame. So, you be the judge, it does look better doesn't it?

I will sand everything down one more time and then apply stain and protector and then the screen door will go on, and it will be complete. The old hardware is pretty cool. The side-windows are pegged. Enjoy the pictures. Don't say anything about the lovely blue outdoor carpet on the porch. That's another future project for me to tackle.

Original Wood Screen Door

2009-05-29T17:58:00.003-05:00

We found the original wood screen door in the basement. I have hated the aluminum door that was on the front door from the moment we first saw the house. It just looks bad.

So, starting this weekend, I'll be moving it outside to start to work on cleaning, sanding and protecting. I'm not sure if I can get the aluminum one down, and this one up by Sunday, but I'll try.

Original Front Door Screen

2009-04-30T22:12:00.002-05:00

Well, Brent's managed to get the original wood screen door set up in the basement. It's in pretty darn good shape. Since it's rained here for what seems like forever, this will be a good weekend project for me. A little sanding, Briwax, check out the hardware, does it need new screening, etc. Finally, we can get that tacky ugly aluminum screen door off.

Check back in on the progress. I'll try to get before and after pictures up soon.

Street Numbers

2009-04-28T22:15:00.003-05:00

I found these cool numbers online a couple of years ago. I finally got around to putting them up, last summer.

I'm not sure if they're Frank Lloyd Wright type, or style, but close enough. What makes them unique is that they are mounted on three inch risers, so they expose great shadows with sun. The second picture is my rendition of the house numbers in watercolor on 300 pound paper. Enjoy.

More Bathroom Potential

2009-04-10T23:22:00.002-05:00

Before Pictures.

Bathroom Potential Part Two

2009-04-10T23:07:00.004-05:00

Here is a major project I started working on today. The Bathroom windows. The wood trim has been painted several times and they're in bad shape. I started sanding, and then raised the one window and hooked it to the ceiling and realized that all the glass will need new glazing. I will have to remove the windows (I'll just pry off the paint over the screws, no problem) to do a good job. I'm surprised the glass is still in the windows at all.

Here is what I have to start with. The glass shapes are wonderful and I'm sure they will be beautiful once they are sanded, painted and re-glazed.

Upstairs Bathroom

2009-04-10T22:52:00.002-05:00

When you see things like this, doesn't it make you a little crazy? I mean, really! What was the idiot who did this thinking?

This little bathroom has a lot of potential. Please note: The windows face the north, they open up and into the room and attach to a hook in the ceiling. So, tell me why they put in a wall to house the bathtub plumbing that prohibits the window from opening? And opening three inches does not count!

And how about frosted glass so the neighbor to the north won't see me get naked and take a shower? Let me just get this spay paint and have at it! Good grief! Some idiot just used spray paint on the glass of one of the windows instead of frosting them properly. That will be fun to remove. What a moron! Of course, I am the one who will have to resolve these issues.

Don't laugh too hard when you view these.

Wood Floor Repair After Briwax

2009-04-10T22:31:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is, in all its glory!

After what seems like forever working on this hallway project, re-plastering, priming, wallpaper, painting, I finally made it to the hardwood floors upstairs.

The previous posts shows pictures of the floor after I filled in the cracks and gouges and here it is - after the miracle of Briwax! I hope you agree that there is no comparison.

The wood floors upstairs are now beautiful! Enjoy.

Repairing Wood Floor Hallway

2009-04-10T09:46:00.006-05:00

The floor upstairs, a continuing project, is coming along nicely. I finally located a place on-line that sells Briwax, after using all that was left in the tin that my friend David Kamerer had given me. You simply cannot make old wood look fabulous without Briwax!

I filled in the gouges, scraps and pits of the wood with wood filler paste. Amazing stuff. My knees hurt having spent so much time on the floor. Check back to see the "after" pictures and the transformation after Briwax!

Popcorn Ceiling Does Not Belong in a Bungalow

2009-04-05T19:33:00.003-05:00

One thing I do know is that popcorn ceiling paint was not around in 1914 when this house was built. It's awful. I don't know why this became so popular. It looks awful and is awful to remove.

Here I am trying to remove the popcorn ceiling (and the numerous layers of wallpaper under it) upstairs in the little bathroom. This bathroom has so much potential, but it is so awful. I'm trying to make it better without removing plumbing and walls.

Spring

2009-04-05T19:17:00.002-05:00

I spent a day working the yard, trying to get ready for some landscaping. I'm trying to design and develop a cottage garden so the yard will be in the period of the house.

It felt like a typical spring Kansas day, warm and windy. I did a little bird watching while digging up weeds, and transplanting perennials.

Carolina Wrens and Downy Woodpeckers are frequent visitors to the Bird Sanctuary I'm trying to create.

Upstairs Hallway Progress Report

2009-03-29T22:12:00.003-05:00

Let's see. Where did I leave off? Ancient wallpaper stripped off the stairway walls when we first bought the house. Crumbling lathe and plaster repaired. Primed Walls. New embossed wallpaper put up. Primed wallpaper. Painted wallpaper. I am truly sick of this particular project. I don't think it will never end. Now I have to repair the wood floors and rails. We need an up-wall light or wall scone of some sort. Switch plates will need to be given some thought. All the details take time. And then some photographs or artwork hung. And let's not forget the disgusting carpet will need to be ripped out (the very last thing) and those two soft boards? Who knows what kind of damage those are in and how to repair them! Ughh! I'm not looking forward to that.

Check out the latest.

Winter is Back

2009-03-29T21:53:00.003-05:00

Here it was just a week ago and the trees are in bud, my early tulips are in bloom. The robins are in the birdbath. I had started on the vegetable garden. And BAM! Along comes Old Man Winter again! A huge winter storm, blizzard warnings for the entire state of Kansas. 28 inches of snow in Pratt, 17 in Hutchinson and here in Wichita, 7. With three to four inches of ice under it all.

Killing Grass, Weeds Really

2009-03-25T15:50:00.002-05:00

There is no grass in the yard. In any of the yard. But we do have weeds. Isn't it lovely? As we attempt to incorporate fruit and vegetables into our landscape this year, I'm back to killing weeds with black plastic. Yes, the neighbors must love this. Looks pretty tacky, but it does work.

I've made a pea gravel walking path to the greenhouse.

Stair Walls Get Embossed Wallpapaer

2009-03-25T15:33:00.003-05:00

After striping off layer upon layer of wallpaper in every room in this house, it's insane to put wallpaper back on!

This wallpaper was purchased to go on the ceiling of the master bedroom, but I didn't like the way it looked, so that project is still on hold. Since I repaired the walls going upstairs and they have had many repairs over the years, still surviving with a few imperfections, I thought this tiny print embossed wallpaper would hide those imperfections with grace.

Here is proof of my progress. I actually like the final result. Hope you do tool. Enjoy.

Ready for Spring

2009-03-18T21:24:00.002-05:00

Take a look at this robin taking a bath! We're both ready for some warm weather. Winter on the prairie lasts way too long.

Play Room Before and After

2009-02-09T22:26:00.005-06:00

Here is the closet we converted to the Play Room. What a difference.

Play Room

2009-02-09T22:09:00.003-06:00

Our sweet granddaughter deserves a Play Room of her very own! So, I told her I would convert a walk-in closet for her in one of the rooms upstairs. I let her chose whatever color she wanted. Now, keep in mind that she was four when we bought the house. She wanted purple! All little girls like purple.

The challenge was, the walls again were not real walls, but some type of compressed cardboard material. So, what I did was attach artist canvas to the walls and then used gesso on it. It dries hard so it's paintable. Otherwise the paint would have just soaked though the cardboard-like walls. It worked really well.

Oh, we attached ribbons and flowers, fabric, wind chimes, tables and chairs, a bookcase with her books and toys, added a pad and green carpet. I found an antique baby bed and converted that to a day bed with pillows, stuffed animals and dolls. I placed a chalk board on one wall (she likes to play teacher to her animal "students), and she was a great helper getting this all put together. She loves her Play Room at Grandma's house!

Enjoy the pictures.

Master Bedroom Overhaul

2009-02-08T21:17:00.003-06:00

I've been working on the Master Bedroom for awhile now. It's hard to believe that this July it will be three years since we bought the house.

We've ripped up the carpet, stripped five layers of wall paper off the walls. Stripped off another four layers off of the ceiling. I've re-plastered the walls. I haven't decided on the color scheme yet. But I've been doing research on bedroom furniture, decor and colors from 1900-1920's. Anything between those dates will blend in fine with the house.

But, we found an antique cast iron bed which I painted. Check out the progress. I'll also post a picture of what the room looked like when we first saw the house. Dreadful!

Master Bedroom Original

2009-02-08T20:49:00.004-06:00

This is how the Master Bedroom appeared when we first saw the house. Here I am taking notes when Brent and I did the initial walk through with our realtor. Don't you just love that pretty carpet? How about that wallpaper? Yikes!

Bathroom Has Potential

2009-02-01T22:12:00.003-06:00

This COULD be a nice space.

Upstairs Bathroom Repair

2009-02-01T22:00:00.004-06:00

We believe that this bathroom was added sometime in the 1970's or 1980's. It's a disaster! The popcorn ceiling has got to go, and luckily, it's falling down! I've started the stripping process on the walls. Looks like there are four or five layers up.

Whoever did the room was an idiot. The vinyl floor they put in is curling up on all the edges. They didn't finish the wall tiles. They just stopped. The windows open and attach to the ceiling, but the far west window can't open at all because they put a wall up to house the bathtub plumbing. It's ridiculous.

Long term, my goal would be to rip out the plumbing, get rid of the surround tub, and find a nice claw foot or similar stand alone tub and place it directly under the window. The sink cabinet will be removed and replaced with a pedestal sink. Right now, I will be stripping the wall paper and popcorn ceiling, repairing and painting. I will rip out the floor, see what the original looks like under the plywood. Who knows. I've already fixed the leak in the bathtub. So now I'm a plumber too!

GOING UP!

2009-02-01T21:57:00.003-06:00

Stairs 2

2009-02-01T21:38:00.003-06:00

Here are some more pictures of the staircase walls after the wallpaper removal, and before the plaster repair. Note the first photo of the wallpaper in the hallway leading to the stairway. Dreadful! And yes, it was flocked wallpaper!

Staircase

2009-02-01T21:22:00.003-06:00

This is probably one of the most disgusting areas of the house. Remember, we have spent the last two years concentrating on the main floor before tackling the upstairs. Don't get me wrong. The upstairs has a sleeping porch, we have renamed "The Sunroom" which is a huge room, with twenty-one windows. There are windows on four sides of this room. It's fabulous!

However, there is the gross carpet that one of our cats has decided is a nice scratching post. There are fake walls, made of some kind of compressed cardboard materials in the south room. And that has four layers of wallpaper. I can't Dif it off because it's NOT A REAL WALL! I tried. The Dif just saturated the wall. Not good. So, I'm still thinking about that. The east room has some strange kind of paneling. Not the nice bead board that is period to the house. So, while I think about the obvious issues that I'm not sure how to resolve, I've moved on to the stair case.

Problem: The lathe and plaster walls are literally crumbling onto the stairs. In big chunks. There are cracks in the walls. There is an incredibly high overhead ceiling area, that I won't be able to reach (I'm 4'9") but I'm sure I'll have fun trying.

So, according to the "How To Repair Walls" in my handy-dandy "This Old House" magazine, I was a good steward and followed directions and "built-up" the holes in the walls with my plaster mud. The large areas took six layers. Allowing several days for each layer to cure.

Upstairs Hallway

2009-01-31T23:46:00.002-06:00

I've been very busy in January. I have several projects working, the upstairs hallway, the staircase going upstairs, the upstairs bathroom has had a leaky bathtub faucet, and I'm still working on the master bedroom.

Here are a few pictures of the cardboard walls with thin strips of wood set in between. They have four layers of wallpaper. I've been taking them off. We're thinking about removing this entire wall. Hmmm. Not sure yetl

The Fence, Continued.

2008-12-29T09:04:00.003-06:00

More fence pictures.

The Fence

2008-12-29T08:59:00.002-06:00

The house was totally exposed. The front will eventually get a white picket, but we started on the tall fence on the back part of the fence. While the neighbors are nice, and we've met most of them, the alley just didn't do it for us! Brent did a great job, mostly by himself. Check it out!

Bird Friends

2008-12-11T00:13:00.001-06:00

Bird Sanctuary

2008-12-10T23:53:00.003-06:00

More progress developing the Bird Sanctuary.
Enjoy!

Making the Bird Sanctuary

2008-12-10T23:34:00.004-06:00

With the help of Brent's mother (several years ago she gave me a book titled "Kansas Birds." I have grown quite fond of watching the birds come to feed and utilize the bird bath. In this house we set our rocking chairs (I know that makes us sound like a couple of old folk!) in front of the bay window in the dining room and read the newspaper and drink our morning coffee. This view would be a perfect place to set up feeders to attract birds for viewing. They seem to like the Lilic and Crap Apple bushes which are easily seem from this vantage point.

In a landscaping book I own, I saw a drawing for what looked like a ladder placed across two t-bars. On this, feeders and baskets of flower pots were hung. It looked great.

My Dad, the retired iron worker can build anything! With some old iron laying around his shop, he fixed me up. I can't wait until next year to see how everything has grown around the posts and birdbath. I have planted bird friendly flowers and berry producing shrubs. Enjoy the pictures.