So long Log Cabin look!!!

After living in the house for about 2 years Cliff and I quickly grew tired of the log cabin look.  As we discovered after we moved in the walls weren't all covered with split logs, wood 2x4, yes it wasn't properly done.  We have just come to expect that with everything else in this house.  Since I have summers off, I spent summer of 2009 tearing down the wood, the plaster, the nails and the screws.  Then cleaning and oh my was their a ton of dirt.

Under the faux wall was wall paneling.  Ugh!  So being the creative one I am, I bought a ton of joint compound and plastered it on the wall, covering the grooves of the paneling and giving the walls a cool plastered texture.  Then I primed and painted with a warm yellow color, which Cliff picked.

Behind the wood stove the previous homeowners spray painted a faux stone look onto the wall.  Ugh again!  Our solution to this was buying white ceiling tiles, which were heat resistant, and also had a tin tile design to it.  We glued them to the wall and then spray painted the white tiles with heat resistant spray paint.   We bought a chair rail to edge the top of the tiles with the wall.  But we had a huge gap because of the way the previous owners cut the board that was behind the wood stove.  To fill in the gap I bought river rocks and joint compound and created a stone mosaic of sorts.  Then we put a new white shelf to replace the 2x4 wood pieces that served as shelves before.  We also moved the wood stove so it wasn't at an angle.   Moving it became a challenge as we had to cut off part of the pipe to the stove and then put it back together.  The only way that got done properly was thanks to Cliff's father!  But doing this gave us so much more room to work with.

The front room/family room still has this faux look and that is my plan for this summer. So expect to see that room too!

Flowers galore

Part of the reason I fell in love with this house was the large yard with lots of flowers and plants.  If you have ever met my mom you understand where this love comes from.  I love being outside working in the yard, planting new plants and enjoying their beauty.  So here are a few photos from over the years of flowers in bloom.  Enjoy!

This photo above is one of my favorties...Harley with some tulips from our yard.

Plumbing, err..what should not be done.

So what you see here is what was underneath our bathroom floor.  After about 2 years in our house we started having plumbing issues in the bathroom.  The bathtub was draining super slowly, so showers became baths.  Then one day the toilet overflowed, so we called in a plumber.  He cleared a clog that was between the house and fence.  Then we went under the house to see what was going on.  This is what he found.  Apparently the previous owners fixed their plumbing issues with car radiator tubes.  Yes car parts for home improvements.  And they weren't properly insulated so the froze and clogged and broke.  The pipe that was connected to the bathroom sink was even connected.  So everything that went into the bathroom sink just landed under the house.  Awesome!!!  Yes we had a home inspection before we bought the house, but as we have learned that doesn’t mean jack squat!  So $800 later we had proper pipes installed and now we know we need to re do the bathroom, probably floor up because who knows what condition the floor is in!

The wind

We get some serious winds living here.  Iron Gate is located in a valley between two mountains and we often see 60mph + winds here.  Our first spring, this happened.  We have 3 very large sugar maple trees in the front yard.  At one time someone, probably the power company, cut them back.  But they did it poorly, so the trees are not in the best of shape.  Eventually we will probably have to pay to have them removed.

Anyway, our first spring in the house this happened. Cliff was in the office and heard a large thud.  I was in the front family room and heard nothing.  But he came running in and we went outside and saw this!  Thank goodness it didn't land on 220 or any of the cars driving by!

Our wood stove

Here she is, I partially blame her for the reason we bought this house.  But I have to admit, Cliff and I do love her as she provides amazing heat in the winter and a great place to make dinner.  This is a photo of the first time we cooked in the stove.  We came home from Christmas in Baltimore and we had run out of gas for the stove, so this led us to attempt to cook dinner on the wood stove.  And tada! We now do this pretty regularly during the winter.

a few photographic memories...

Betty checking out her new surroundings.

part of the back yard, my car and the church next door

On the left is the tool shed and the red house is my art shed.

The backyard after 2 years of home ownership, so spring 2008

Betty and Charlie hanging out on the front porch, fall 2007

Unfortunately, we didn't take many photos of the house before or shortly after we moved in. Once the family had moved out, Cliff's mom and I went in and cleaned. Seriously cleaned, these people had just left garbage, trash, and junk stuff behind. It was nasty. We tore out the nasty orange rug, washed the floors numerous times and I painted the kitchen cabinets.

Cliff and I bought a new fridge, and a gently used washer. We also had to purchase a gas range. The local gas company had a store in Clifton Forge that also sold used appliances. So we bought a used gas range, which they were to deliver in a day or so.

When they arrived they had difficulty getting the range in the house and scratched and dented the side. Since it was their fault they told us they would replace it, fine we said. A day later they called to tell us they couldn't find any used ranges in that model so they would give us a brand new range at no extra cost. Sweet!

After 3 months or so from when we first looked at this house, we finally moved in. With the help of Cliff's father and brother we made numerous trips in our rented U-Haul, from Covington to Iron Gate.

The Beginning

It all began 6 years ago, when I first moved to Alleghany County, Virginia. I rented a small house in Covington, so I was in between the two schools that I taught at. Roanoke was about an hour drive from Covington, but I did it often, as I didn't have much socially to do my first few years here.
That is when I first noticed "the house." It was located in Iron Gate, the gateway to the Highlands. "That house is so cute!!! I could just see my students say, oh, my art teacher lives there!" I always checked it out when I passed it on my way to Roanoke.
Forward to 2 years later. I have met Cliff, my now husband, we were living together in Covington and he had a long commute to his job in Roanoke. It was during one of our trips to Roanoke that we noticed the house was at first for sale by owner.
"Oh look, if a realtor takes it, lets check it out!" we both said to one another. And it would shorten Cliff's commute so it is ideal!
Sure enough Action Real Estate, in Clifton Forge was listing it. So we called and got a house tour. Well at least that is what we thought.
We arrived early on a Saturday, as we pulled up I realized the house belonged to a student of mine, who was going on to middle school in the fall. We opened the front gate, not in great shape but still a fence for Betty, how awesome.
We knocked on the front door, a very lovely, but roughly cut ornate door. A middle-aged man answered and welcomed us into the front room, a TV/living room.   It had orange shag carpeting, a ton of furniture packed into the room. And on the walls the owners created the look of a log cabin. The wife nailed log slabs onto the wall and used some type of plaster to give it that log cabin look. There was also a large deer head with antlers, proudly mounted onto the front wall.
Ummm, ok this is ugly, but I can fix ugly. I thought to myself.
Next to the front door was a bedroom. With brown walls, green carpeting and a crowded bedroom of a teenager's belongings. We continued into the dining room, which had a wood stove. Oh wow! I grew up with a wood stove and thought how fun owning one would be. There was again a crowded kitchen, with old appliances; they were taking the fridge and washer. Yes the washer was in the kitchen. Next to the kitchen was a small bedroom, which was the master bedroom. On the other side was one of the kids room, my students bedroom in fact. His dog lived a crate in the room, it smelled, but I didn't think anything of it...it is fixable/cleanable. Well. I really don't know what I was "seeing" looking back at all this. I think just the idea of owning this home
From the kitchen it lead out onto a covered deck with a porch swing. The backyard was also fenced in with tall privacy fence, and lots of lush bushes and trees. There was an above ground pool, which the owners said they would remove if the buyer doesn't want it. That was one of the first things we had removed when we bought it...too expensive and too much upkeep for us, even though I would have loved to keep the pool. There were three sheds, ok actually two; one was a truck camper that was being used for storage. Later we found out it also served as part of the "fencing" in the back yard. There was also a homemade seesaw, made from a car tire, wood, metal and twp red tractor seats. Very quaint/country.
Cliff and I saw the porch swing, a fenced in back yard, a great, lush and older yard with huge trees and flowers and we both fell in love with the potential we saw in this house.
I wanted something we could play with. I wanted a house that needed some love and some repair. Oh, were we in for a surprise! And so this is the reason for this blog. To record and share in the many adventures Cliff and I have had with our first home.