I'm Dreaming of Porches

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the renovation of the front entry of our house.  As it is now, the porch isn't anywhere close to the homey, welcoming place I dream it could become. 

Here is what it looks like, as of this morning.

Temporary cedar posts and a seriously ugly, but code-compliant and safe, railing made from 2x4s and 36" grade stakes.

We rebuilt most of the porch in 2005, because most of the structure of the old porch was deteriorating. The roof itself was solid, as was the floor framing, but everything in between (the beams, roof joists, posts and flooring) was replaced. The columns and post brackets that were there were not appropriate to our Gothic Revival house. We replaced the posts with plain cedar 4x4s, to hold up the porch temporarily until we could decide on a new post, bracket, and railing design. 'Temporary' has lasted for almost six years so far.

I took this photo with my ancient digital camera in 2002, on our first visit to the house with our realtor.  The handyman hired to spruce up the property did a good job of using wood filler to hide the rot on the front posts.

Water had infiltrated the ceiling because there was no flashing where the roof met the brick structure.  Those 'lovely' brackets were styrofoam.

This is my favorite photo that I have taken of our house.  It is the view I saw one day in the sideview mirror of my Jeep.   I took this photo right before we started to rebuild the porch.

Notice how the porch posts are a little bit bow-legged from rot.

This morning, to celebrate the Inspiration Party at Modern Country Style, let's see what kind of ideas I have to finally finish our porch.

This is the oldest photo we have of our house.  We figure that it was taken sometime around 1940.  Notice how our house still wears its Gothic barge boards on the gables and the dormer (the dormer and the trim were removed in 1967.)  These are not the original porch posts or railing.  The ladder on the right was being used by painters (I have another photo of painters working on the front door), and I am guessing that the porch was new at this point.

In order to design new ornamentation for our porch, I am trying to look to similar houses in the area for inspiration.  The only other Gothic Revival house in our area is Idlewild, which was built about 12 miles from here in the 1860s.  It sat abandoned and deteriorating on a large tract of land slated for development. 

Photo from the Free Lance-Star newspaper in the 1990s.

Most of its ornamentation was still intact when I took these photos in 2002.

(Pretend you don't see that No Trespassing sign.)

Look at the level of detail in this porch!

I love the design of the balusters.

While The Husband and I were there photographing, we found a heap of ornaments that had been gathered into a pile.

I can't believe this stuff hadn't been stolen!

I came on this mission fully prepared with a Sharpie marker and some poster board.  We picked through this pile to find balusters and brackets in good condition, and we traced templates.

It's a good thing that we made this visit to Idlewild when we did, because this is what it looked like early one morning a few months later.

Photo taken by a firefighter and published in the Free Lance-Star.

I got a phone call from a friend of mine, telling me that Idlewild was on fire.  I immediately felt nauseous.  It was arson, and no one has yet been charged with the crime.

Photo published in the Free Lance-Star.

This beautiful building was now a charred shell.  Engineers determined that the walls were sound, and that the building was restorable.  Idlewild is owned by the City of Fredericksburg, who paid to remove the debris from the inside, sifting it to make sure that nothing important was lost, and to reinforce the remaining structure to keep it from further deterioration now that the roof and most of the floors are gone.

Photo from the Virginia Department of Historic Resources.

Some of the beautiful porch ormaments are still in place, and can be used by a future owner to replicate what is lost.

Through the tireless efforts of volunteer researchers, and the cooperation of the planning department of the City of Fredericksburg, Idlewild was recently listed on the Virginia Landmarks Registry and the National Register of Historic Places.  The city's goal is to sell the property to someone who will restore it.  Our current economic climate makes this very difficult.

My dream for Idlewild is that it will one day rise from the ashes,  and once again be the beautiful, graceful manor house that it was in the past.

For our porch, I plan to use my tracings and photographs of Idlewild as inspiration to create a graceful Gothic porch to crown the facade of our old house.

Auction of Rare Roses in Southern California.

If you love roses and are convenient to Thousand Oaks, California, you will want to attend this auction on Saturday.  (that's March 12 ... like two days from now!)  The Ventura County Rose Society works all year to collect rare and unusual roses for this auction, which is their major fundraiser for the year.  The selection is always stellar!

The enormous arrangement of roses in this vase contains only three stems of Morey's Pink.

The society members and volunteers work with nurseries and individuals to gather roses that are usually not widely available.  The auction CATALOG reads like a wonderful encyclopedia, and contains beautiful photos of each of the roses in the auction. 

Baby Cecile Brunner

Camellia Rose

Each year, there are always roses in this auction that I cannot resist.  For those of us who live on the complete opposite side of the country, the society has an online bidding program.  A member on site will bid at the auction on behalf of online bidders, and any roses won will be shipped to the winner (shipping charges are additional, but reasonable).  The online bidding rules are HERE.

Sneezy

"Grandmother's Hat"

I have my eye on a few of the auction roses this year ... but I'm not going to tell you which ones until after the auction is over and I know if I won them or not.  (My checkbook will appreciate it if I have as little competition as possible during the bidding.) 

Smoky

Star Dust

Here are all of the pertinent details:

VCRS Rare Rose Auction

March 12, 2011 - 10:00 a.m.

Stagecoach Inn

51 South Ventu Park Rd

Newbury Park, CA

Click HERE for the map.

Click HERE to go to the catalog.  (It's a .pdf, so you must have Adobe Reader installed to view it.)

(The photos in this post are some of the roses in the auction that I already have in my collection and that I really enjoy.) 

More Roses in Bags

I went to Big Lots yesterday to pick up a few things.  It was not a surprise to find bare root roses in bags thrown onto a shelf in the garden supply department. 

These poor things were in unbelieveably awful condition.  Take a really close look at the canes on the roses in the photo below.  Look how many of them are dead or damaged.

This rose received particularly rough treatment while it was being cut back and processed.  Its skinny little canes were shredded.  No one in the 'quality control' portion of the process thought to remove it from the pile.

Usually I find mostly hybrid tea roses in these displays, and this was the case here, too.  I was surprised to find Reine des Violettes, a lovely hybrid perpetual under different circumstances.  I guess nothing is immune to this sort of treatment.

There ARE standards for the grading of bare root roses, as set by the American Rose Society.

Grade 1.  Hybrid teas and grandifloras must have three or more strong canes, two of which are at least 18 inches (45 cm) long.  Floribundas meet the same standards, but the canes need only be 15 inches (38 cm) long.  Polyanthas must have four or more canes at least 12 inches (30 cm) long.  Climbers and ramblers must have three or more canes 24 inches (60 cm) long.

Grade 1 1/2.  Hybrid teas and grandifloras must have two or more canes at least 15 inches (38 cm) long.  Floribundas must have two or more canes 14 inches (35 cm) long.  Climbers must have two or more canes 18 inches (35 cm) long.  Polyanthas which do not meet Grade 1 standards are not graded.

Grade 2.  All classes must have two or more canes 12 inches (30 cm) long.

This is what a bare root rose SHOULD look like, with healthy green canes and abundant roots.  There is no way that a decent root system could possibly fit into these little bags.

Notice that there is no indication of Grade on these packages.  These are absolutely the bottom of the barrel, being packaged and sold for whatever paltry amount the sellers can get for them.

As I finished my shopping and got in line at the register, I noticed that the man in front of me had four roses in his cart.  I asked if he was familiar with how to grow roses.  He told me he wasn't, and I gave him some advice on how they should be prepared and planted.  I also told him to save his receipt, and reminded him to be sure to bring the plants back if he has a problem with them.  I didn't have the heart to tell him what I was really thinking.

My View of Friendship

There are a lot of syrupy sweet emails going around cyberspace that talk about love and friendship.  With most of these, you read them and hit delete.  I got this one over the weekend from a friend, and it TOTALLY sums up our friendship ... and it demonstrates why I love her like a sister. 

Darlow's Enigma, Hybrid Musk, found rose

"Here is a series of promises that actually speak of true friendship.  You will see no cute little smiley faces on this ... Just the stone cold truth of our great friendship.


1. When you are sad, I will help you get drunk and plot revenge against the sorry bastard who made you sad.

Awakening, Climber

2. When you are blue, I will try to dislodge whatever is choking you.

Alba Meideland, Climber

3.  When you smile, I will know you are thinking of something that I would probably want to be involved in.

Basye's Purple Rose, Hybrid Rugosa

4. When you are scared, I will rag on you about it every chance I get until you're NOT.

Jean Guichard, Wichurana Rambler

5. When you are worried, I will tell you horrible stories about how much worse it could be until you quit whining.

"The Bishop", Hybrid China

6. When you are confused, I will try to use only little words.

"Peggy Martin", Multiflora Rambler

7. When you are sick, stay completely away from me until you are well again. I don't want whatever you have.

Little Buckaroo, Miniature

8. When you fall, I will laugh at your clumsy ass, but I'll help you up.

"Puerto Rico", Hybrid Tea, found rose

9. This is my oath .... I pledge it to the end. 'Why?' you may ask ~ because you are my friend."

Banshee, Damask Hybrid

My wish for you is that each of you has at least one true friend who is as dear and honest as this.

(All of the roses in the photos in this post are among those that were just added to updated inventory on my Hartwood Roses web site.  Click HERE to go to the catalog.)

Sunday Snapshot ... Sunshine

As the sun gets higher in the sky as spring approaches, the sunshine through the windows in the house gives things a warm glow that I appreciate ... because spring appears to be dragging its feet, arriving much slower than usual.

This was the sun hitting one of my favorite chairs our living room bay window.  I don't usually find myself attracted to Victorian furniture, but I love this chair ... and we have had it for a long time.

This photo also shows a snapshot of the condition of our living room.  It is the only room in the house that is still in its 'deconstructed' state.

Anyway, I think I love this chair so much because the size is perfect, and it still retains its original wood finish.  Look at the detail on the crest!

In the family room, at the same time, Maggie was napping in the sunshine in the cat bed on the window sill.  There is almost always a cat in this bed.

On the lamp near Maggie, the sunshine made a terrifying shadow on the lampshade.  What appears to be a huge spider is actually the shadow of the lamp's harp and finial.  This sure gave me a shock, though, when I first spotted it!

Today is cloudy, and the weatherman says that we can expect to get a LOT of rain.  I plan to spend the day working on a presentation on climbing roses ... and maybe a bit of sewing this afternoon.  (Speaking of sewing, have you seen the link to my Greyhounds Rock Etsy store on the sidebar?  I quietly put it there the other day, and it's been getting quite a bit of attention already.  Thank you, everyone!!)

How are you spending your Sunday?

Sure Signs of Spring in the Greenhouse

As spring approaches, longer days mean more sunlight ... and more sunlight means that things in the greenhouse are happening fast. 

If this little plant of Mutabilis was outside, this tiny bud would make you think that it was early May instead of early March.  In the greenhouse, it's not at all unusual to see buds on the roses in March.  I want the roses to be producing new growth and healthy roots, not flowers, so I snapped off this bud right after I shot this photo.

Almost all of the roses are actively putting out healthy new growth.

Shiny new leaves on Alberic Barbier.

Thick, healthy, TINY leaves on Happenstance.

New growth, back lit by the sun, on "Sumerduck Cemetery", an unknown polyantha.

Willie Winkie, a miniature rose I'm growing for my garden from cuttings sent by a friend in California, is a bit chlorotic.  I'll have to check the pH in his pot.

I only have three flats of cuttings left on the propagation bench under the mist, hoping that they will still produce roots.

Healthy, new roots on White Pet.

The greenhouse is also a great environment for pests.  Look at the aphids I found yesterday afternoon!  They're practically shoulder to shoulder on this rose!!

and on this cutting of Ispahan! 

My last task yesterday afternoon was to give all of the roses a quick spray of insecticide. (I do NOT use insecticide in the garden, because there are plenty of predators outside that keep the pests under control. The greenhouse is a different story, however ... aphids like this will quickly weaken a tender cutting, and I must react with the judicious use of chemicals.)

The roses on the bench are looking a lot less like sticks these days.

Though last summer was a disastrous time for propagation, and most of these cuttings are much younger than I would like them to be, it looks as if they are responding well enough to be ready to go to their new homes starting next month. 

It Started With a Little Pinhole

One of the harsh realities of living in an old house is this ...  other people have lived here, 163 years worth of people in our case, and some of the things these people did while working on the house were stupid.

Yesterday afternoon, a pipe in the wall of our basement workshop sprang a leak.  Fortunately, The Husband heard it, as the stream of water was spewing from the pipe onto the basement floor.  Please forgive me for beginning the photos of this adventure somewhere in the middle ... we were too busy scurrying around and sopping up water to fully document the beginning of this story. 

Here is the offending pipe.  When this process started, the pipe was buried underneath a layer of plaster and metal lath.  We had to demo all of this to get to the pipe.  (After we shut off the water to the house to help stem the spewing.)

The arrow marks the hole in the pipe.

The hole was caused by a stupid mistake made by a plumber 40 years ago.  He must have run out of copper pipe brackets (the ones used to secure the pipe to the wall) and he used one made out of another metal in this spot.  Since that time, the dissimilar metals have been cooking some sort of chemistry experiment in this spot, wearing away the copper until a hole formed.  If this hadn't been really thick old-school copper pipe, the hole probably would have taken a lot less than 40 years to develop.  Look at how the bracket is all corroded and barely recognizable.

Anyway, we had demo work to do to expose this pipe.  There were three layers of plaster on this wall.  The first two layers, the original lime plaster over the brick walls and another layer of plaster installed when the kitchen was brought into the house and plumbing was installed in the 1930s or 40s, weren't a problem.  The topmost layer of plaster, and two layers of wire lath installed when the house was remodeled in the 1960s, embedded the pipes into the wall and made it very difficult to access the pipe.

We had already removed the plaster on the wall below the level of the pipes last year when we took out the remnants of the basement kitchen to convert the room into a workshop.  What was left at that time was the difficult part of the job, removing the plaster around the pipes, so we decided to do it another time.  (To see photos of what the room looked like at that point, click HERE.)

 

Hopefully, this little diagram helps you understand what I'm talking about.

 In order to expose the pipe, it took me about two hours with a hammer and a flat bar, chipping and prying plaster and wire lath off the top of the wall and the edge of the ceiling.  It took me so long, because I had to work very carefully around all of the other pipes.  After I finished, the floor looked like this.

Towels to sop up the puddle, a bucket to catch the spewing, and lots of plaster debris.

With the pipe right against the brick wall like it is, we couldn't use a regular tubing cutter to cut the pipe.  Couldn't use a reciprocating saw either, because the other pipes are too close to the one we needed to cut.  Sometimes when working on an old house, it's important to think outside the box ... so The Husband cut the pipe with our trusty Dremel tool.

I'm standing below, spot-lighting the area so he can see what he's doing.

We had to cut out a seven-foot section of the pipe, because there was one other spot on it that looked a bit questionable.

It would have been really difficult to do a traditional fix on this pipe (sweating on copper coupler fittings), because the pipe is right against the brick wall.  This is where technology came to our rescue, in the form of the most wonderful press-in-place fittings, called 'sharks'. 

We cut the new piece of pipe to fit, and used a 'shark' on each end to patch it into place.

Left side.

Right side.

And now we have  nice new run of bright, shiny, and hole-free water pipe!!

All that was left for us to do was to turn the water back on, pray our fittings didn't leak (they didn't!!), and sweep up the mess.

I checked numerous times during the day today, and The Husband did too, and everything has remained completely dry.