Starting to look like a home!

I went out by myself on the 10th and stayed until the 14th. It was the first time I got to see the house since the exterior painting had been finished. I'll tell you, it changes the whole neighborhood!
Here are a couple of before photos:

And some "afters"

The house painters faux-painted the garage door to look like wood and match the front door and courtyard gate. 

I concentrated on cleaning out the garage and put all of the kitchen cabinets in the storage room so that when we get a car, we will have room for it. Heather came over on Saturday and helped me paint the living room. We got one coat done in record time. It will definitely take two coats because of the previous purple color. Here are a couple of before photos. 

And after: 
(keep in mind it still needs another coat and some cutting in).

I also had a visit from one of my neighbors who is very involved with the Historical Society. He had lots of photos of our house over the years. He even had a couple interior living and dining room photos from when Elizabeth Rothschild owned it. It was really interesting to see how the home has changed over the years.
I found a great walking route for early in the mornings. It is just under four miles and takes me over two bridges and down Old Town Daytona's main street. This is a sunrise on my walk. 

I also see lots of people out rowing and paddle boarding on the river. I stopped into Three Brothers Paddle Boards on Beach Street to sign up for a lesson but the morning class was full. These guys make gorgeous paddle boards that are truly a work of art. Definitely on my list for the next trip.
Richard (tile guy) had torn out the bathroom in the garage apartment (remember how pretty it was? 

He uncovered TONS of wood damage. The Stucco was basically the only thing holding it all together.

Never fear, Jimmy is here! This guy can fix anything!

There is a lot more work happening in the garage apartment but I will save that for my next post. The boys are going camping with Boy Scouts in October so I am going to go out for a few days. I will catch up with you then.

Thanks for following along!

Exciting things are happening...

The last time I posted, we had left just as the roofers were beginning, so a lot has happened since then...
Luke and I headed out again on Thursday the 28th. We weren't going to get in until about 11pm and by the time we got the rental car (actually a F150 truck) and got to the hotel it would be midnight. I thought I would just get a cheap hotel close to the airport since all we would be doing was sleeping for a few hours before heading out. Let me just say: DON'T EVER STAY AT THE TRAVELODGE IN ORLANDO, EVER! We got to the room and it was pretty disgusting. The air didn't work, the blow dryer didn't work, and we kept our socks on just to be safe. Luke woke up at 5am with diarrhea and vomiting. We were supposed to pick up a couple things off Craigslist at 9am so around 6:00 we headed out. I stole the ice bucket in case he had to throw up in the car. We went to Wal Mart and bought a blanket and pillow so Luke could lay down in the back seat. No one was home at the first stop so we headed east to Costco to pick up a dresser. Then the first guy called and he was home so we went back, and then finally headed over to the beach, arriving at 1:00 in the afternoon. The painters were hard at work power washing the exterior of the house, I picked up some more furniture, and a t.v. and then met with the roofer and the building inspector for our AC units. Reed got in around 2am. We had Direct TV arriving at 8am. The painters also arrived early and started painting the exterior. What a difference a little paint can make! Reed and I worked on lots of little inside projects over the weekend. Here is some of the progress.

  

There were a dozen guys working steady for five days.

Then the power washing and painting began...

They are still painting for another couple of days but it is really coming along. The neighbors keep stopping by to say "thank you." It has been such an eyesore for so long. I spoke with the director of the historical society and they are interested in doing a fundraising tour when we get it finished. There is lots of work being done over the next couple of weeks so I will post photos as I get them.

See you all soon,