Home ownership has been pretty good. We've run into a couple just general "old house" issues, which is to be expected with a 100+ year old house. My favorite has been the light without a light switch. We don't really know if the house had electricity when it was first built. I'm not wholly convinced that it did seeing how some of house is wired. The light switch for the dining room is in the front hallway. There's no light switches at all in the dining room. A weekend or so ago, Phil went to go change a burnt out light bulb in the front entryway that had been out since we moved in. He changed it and then tried to find a light switch to turn it off. We tried all of the light switches in the hallway and apparently, there is no light switch to that light. We now see why that light had been left burnt out... sigh.
Saturday was pretty busy for us. Phil and I got up early and drove to Congress Heights, which if you're familiar with D.C., you may know that area of the city is not the best place. Congress Heights is one of the poorest areas in the city with quite a bit of crime. We participated in the DCBIA Community Improvement Day , which is basically a day where a lot of different architecture firms, construction companies, and anyone else associated with the building industry in the Greater Washington Metro area descend on a pre-determined place to fix it up. It is awesome. There were probably about 200 people who descended on this community center to improve the grounds. The playgrounds were repainted. Paths were paved. Fences were mended. It was really an amazing effort and I'm so happy that we could help out, at least a little bit.
Saturday night, we drove out to Charlestown, WV to meet up with my family for my uncle's birthday. We went to the casino up there. Let me just tell you that I'm about the worst gambler ever. I just don't get it. I hate losing the money. I'd rather be assured that I was going to get to keep my money and just spend it some other way. Lady Luck was unfortunately not on our side!
Sunday was spent around the house. I did a bit of cleaning and organizing. I also did a good bit of gardening. The garden we inherited with the house is still doing great. The tomatoes and green peppers are still doing great. The green beans are monsters!!!
How is life in your corner of the world?
hahaha..the light bulb story is funny, yeah we owned a 100 yr old home once. The bathroom was huge, because when it was orginally built there was an outhouse and the kitchen was a seperate building. When we bought it the back porch had been coverted into a kitchen and the floor was slightly angled downhill. Most didn't notice but you could roll and egg from the dining room to the back door.
ReplyDeleteI haven't actually tried it but we have some sloping in our house too. I bet I could find someplace to roll an egg too ;)
DeleteI love old houses, I grew up in one, but they can be a lot of work!
ReplyDeleteI am an awful gambler as well, I do not have fun gambling at all.
I'm wayyyyy too cautious to enjoy gambling!
DeleteWe lived in a house built in about 1900, with very old wiring. While renovating, we learned that the wiring was not original to the house; it had been lit with gas. We also discovered that whoever had wired the house with the wires running along the old gas pipes, had not bothered to shut of the gas in them....they were live gas pipes!
ReplyDeleteOne thought on your light without a switch, particularly if it is a ceiling fixture. It may be one of those old ones with a 'pull chain' and the pull chain broke off without being replaced.
Ooo, that's a good thought!!! It's a globe light so it's possible that it could have had a chain. I'll have to get the ladder out so I can get close and see if that is what might have happened!
DeleteOh my gosh, the house I grew up in had a bulb like that. You had to unscrew it just a bit to turn it off. It would get super hot, too. NOT fun.
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys are enjoying it, and what a fantastic effort to fix up the community center. I love participating in events like that. You always feel so grateful for what you have and at the same time, a good exhaustion from your labor.
Yes, within about a minute, the lightbulb was very, very hot. Also, it's on the ceiling and at 5'6", I'm not quite tall enough to reach it unless I stand on a chair or something!
DeleteGlad to hear you're enjoying home ownership. My partner and I are about to exchange on a house ourselves in London. It's Victorian, so the same period as yours, by the sound of it, and we're looking forward to similar "old house" complications!
ReplyDeleteLove the picture too. Just how I'm feeling this morning too!
Mike
Enjoy your new place! As strange as some of the things we've found are, I wouldn't trade living in this old house for a new one. There is so much character!
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