Run, Jump, New Year and New House...

Wow, how to even begin to catch up. Life has been roaring ahead over here in this little part of the world. I am beginning to learn that I somewhat like that—in fact I crave change—of course, only good, wanted, purposeful change.

To start we managed to sell our dreamy home we left behind in California. This was a huge step, in that it enabled us to find a new settling spot here in the city of Portland that we love.

To be honest, I had my eye on this house before our California place was even on the market. I dreamed about it, I held my breath about it, I waited to see about it, I didn't even let myself check up about it... On and on for six-whole-months. The second our place in California sold I had my phone in my hand and was calling our realtor to request to go see it. It was love at first sight again! I say again because this was the same reaction I had to the first house we bought in California. It was right in a place inside me that is not really possible to describe.  

  

I should back up and explain we did drive by it when it first came on the market and I knew it was the place then too, hence the holding breath and dreaming. But the very moment of stepping up onto the porch was such a resounding feeling. It echoed "yes" and I could here my husband's mind saying the same thing.  

The amazing part was, as we stumbled through what we hoped would become the newest member of our family, was that no one had put in a real offer on the house yet, our offer would be the first legitimate one, or so we thought.  The price had come down—which was of absolute importance to make the purchase possible—and it was truly like the house sat waiting for us. But, as stories like to go, hours before our offer went in another couple had put in a higher offer and the owners accepted it. I was blow away. Six months of patient dreaming, hoping all ducks would align, to come to the last three hours? The silliest part being that we had the chance to put in an offer the night we saw the house and me, trying to be "reasonable and less urgent then I usually am" agreed to wait until morning to put our offer in. I tend to have ideas and want to jump on them that very minute before I have time think or let the daisies grow. 

Well it was a harrowing few weeks as we once again waited, hoping somehow our back up offer would make its way to first position. Each phone call I received I would pounce, hoping there was a 303 in the number which would mean it was from our agent. I swept back and forth between frustration of wanting to make it happen and regret that we had miss-stepped, to the satisfaction that if it didn't happen it was for the best, because how could fate have left it to depend on the last few hours unless somehow "fate" was involved. On a mellow Thursday, when I had finally given way to the fact it really wasn't going to happen, I got a call. I didn't jump, I was past the "jump because it might be" situation, and on to the stage of "we're not getting the house, what's our next plan." I had been looking at houses in this area for over two years. This was the first place that had the essence of what we wanted. Portland, being a "green city" tends to have small yards. There are rules about not pushing the boundaries and causing sprawl into the wilderness. The reasonable thing to do is keep splitting larger lots up into several smaller lots to add more and more houses. Logical? Yes, but truly heart breaking. I like space. I like to stretch my arms and know that I am not going to elbow my neighbor in the noes. I like to look out and see trees and flowers. We, as a family, like to host parties and play in the dirt. And so, when I received the call, the one that after I said hello I hear "congratulations!" on the other end, I took a second to let it absorb.

All those months of waiting. And then all those weeks of trying to let go. It was a wonderful moment. And what a feeling, as I have been pulling up carpets and tearing down old mirrors, I have taking the first steps to get to know this new place.  A place that someday will feel so much a part of me that as I said before, it will be a family member. 

Many, many more pictures to come.

                                                         Cheers,

                                                                        Marica

Getting ready to say goodbye…

Sometimes a house is a friend, not just a passing, useful, rain deterring
tool, but a connection you will have and keep dear forever.

Four or so years ago I found a best friend, or how I more often phrase it—my baby. This was a house that held my deepest dreams and my most practical desires. I remember explaining to the realtor on the phone "I want a house with a huge yard, the house can be small, I want something that needs to be fixed but has good bones. I'm not in a hurry, but if it is the right one I want to know about it." I wanted a house I could call a home. Her quick response was "I know of a house that just came on the market, it may be way too run down for you but go by and check it out." She gave me the address and I immediately dropped everything to go look.

I drove up the long driveway lined by a mowed lawn that was mostly weeds and Bermuda grass. All I could see from there was a dilapidated garage door and the peak of a roof that may or may not have been the house. I parked and walked around the garage to a covered patio (really a carport, but I refused to call it that) with an outdoor fire place, right beyond was giant yard that swept back until it ran into a grove of oak trees. I was in love. I stepped up onto a concrete patio that ran along the house and peeked in through a very filthy window. A massive brick fire place stood immense and dramatic in a large living-room with wide, old oak flooring. I called her then and there. "I love it! It's perfect. What to I do now, I definitely want it as long as the structure is sound." 

I can't portray how excited I was. Here was a rough gem, so rough that all my fantasies from childhood could finally be filled with this old house. As a kid one of my biggest dreams was to find an old abandoned Victorian house and slowly but surely bring it back to life. This wasn't a Victorian, it was better, it was unique in ways I couldn't expect.

It took about five weeks to get the house into my name. A harrowing five weeks I must add. There was many a moment I doubted my decision; the smell alone made me wary enough to ask to see several more homes before I was clear this was the right one.

I had a handful of friends and friends of friends come check it out with their contractor eyes turned on. All had the same thoughts:  It looks sound but you never can truly know til you buy it and start working, it would take loads of money which they knew I didn't have to put into it, and lastly, they loved the house too. It truly was special.

We moved in with only a toilet ready to go, we slept in the hall and had no kitchen for at least a month.  The first night I knew, I really knew, I was finally at home. I felt more settled and at ease in this musty, unkept set of walls then I had at the lovely suburban house I had been renting the year before. Cement driveways and well kept lawns made my skin crawl.

Thanks to the help of a team of guys and my parents loan of some cash, we made the bathroom and kitchen the way we wanted and lived with the rest of the house as it was. I remember my friend telling me, "Now what used to be the worst part is the best, and what was tolerable before is now the worst." She was so right.

I designed the good spaces just how I wanted them, so that although it cost more than if I had used Lowe's cheapest ceramic tile, it came out better than I ever could have hoped. I have learned, and this is only for myself someone else may prefer a different plan of attack, but I have learned to make what you can fix  as wonderful and tasteful as you can, and then the rest follows, maybe slowly, but at least you know where you are headed.

Sadly, my perfect house is not in my perfect town. After only a couple of years in the house, we realized we needed to move to a place that had the same impact on us that that house had had on me when I first met it. Southern California has never been a place that speaks to me, and it took two tries to get us up and out to where our heart truly lies-- the Pacific North West. But I miss my friend, my baby, the deep shutter of connection I felt as I lived under that roof.

It was an incredibly hard decision to part with this baby of mine. But I have worked hard to let go and am ready, getting ready, to say goodbye for good. Hopefully the new family that moves in will love that house with the same immense passion that I did.

THE HOUSE

BEFORE AND AFTER

Outside the house in the first few days of ownership (pictures from this post):

The incredible yard:

The patio fireplace:

An old chicken shed in the back, so rotten we had to tear it down:

Sleeping in the hall:

Old kitchen, far worse than the picture shows: 

Wall of the kitchen to the living-room that was removed:

 Bathroom in all its beauty. There was even a spot of blood on the floor. So gross:

The carpet that smelled so strong the whole house was saturated:

The redone kitchen from the living-room:

The amazing fire place:

Open bar to the kitchen that was used all day long and was the best way to hang out with friends and the kids while I cooked:

The brilliant stove we found on Craigslist . . . (Two ovens, a  dream I've had since I was a kid!!)

We eventually put in the back splash, I had poured the concrete counter tops myself and had botched a couple of places. We decided to have the person who had laid our tile come back and fix up my funky spots and put in the back splash properly. He did such a nice job. We used ceramic coasters as accent tiles to bring in more color.

Onto the bathroom, gutted and loved . . .

 The stone sink was a bit of a challenge. It came from just a few streets over, at a small shop where the husband and wife import them from China. The wife is Chinese and either her family makes them, or they help select them. Anyway, I had told the guy helping us with our bathroom that we were going to have a drop in sink. I didn't know the plumbing changed entirely depending on what kind of sink you use. So part way through the bathroom creation I showed up with this baby. The guy was horrified, but had to agree it was pretty amazing. Usually they are used for fountains, but hey, the walls were all slate, and it brought the feeling to the bathroom I was searching for. 

 He suggested a copper faucet. Plumbing fixtures are far from cheep, and once he realized 

we had no intention of trying to stay in the box, it felt like a burst of interest came in. He

 was ready to experiment. 

The patio where we spent most of our time:

We had all our parties and holiday meals out there. The ten foot table fit almost everyone:

And at night even if it was just us, a fire made the whole space incredibly cozy:

We'll have a few more tune-ups to do before we set sail and beckon a new family in. I will post those pictures in a few weeks time as they are ready.

For now, I will love this house just a little bit longer and work to have it finished.

To read more about this house and see more pictures check out these posts and these.


                                         All my best to everyone

                                                            ~ Marica

This post was inspired by Compass's"Starter Stories Project". They asked me to write about my first home, which, anyone who has followed my blog would know is a very irresistible subject for me. Thanks for reading. 

Today...

Was one of those rare gaps in time where it was only one of the kids and me…

My six-year-old and I spent from the early morning all the way to late afternoon just us.

 It started a little earlier than I might have aimed for, but we had lovely tea… Twice!!!

The second time round we devoured giant cookies...

We stopped by a yard sale and found a couple of very perfect things...

Which opened the door to a large size project...

Including using up some perfectly purple corduroy...

This young man was quite the help I needed, and a bit of a photographer too…

 His photos were numerous...

 And I always appreciate the unique prospective…

There was no time wasted in using the new addition… 

And with the momentum going, it was quick to fix this other needy piece of furniture… 

All in all, it was nice to spend some time with just one sweet kiddo, and realize how 

smooth the time can be when it's just one relationship to cocoon in.

Happy Saturday to you all!!!

                    

                                              ~ Marica

Little bits of the lots that happens...

Days are always so packed… 

I have yet to learn not to try to fit more in than each day's fair share…

Most days I end up adjust my expectations…

I don't believe in races and yet I find myself racing…

I love all these things I want to do…

I just need about a thousand more pounds of muscle and a million more hours…

Or a wee bit more patients…

                                                     Cheers ~ Marica

In the kitchen...

There has been a lot of cooking lately…

The kids have been on a cake baking spree… I think there were five cakes baked in two days...

 I made baked macaroni and cheese with Parmesan, sharp cheddar and aged Gouda…
 I can't wait to make it again...

We had a lunch of fresh sauteed ahi tuna made into salad, as well as egg salad with eggs from my parent's hens. We ate it with multi-grain bread just out of the oven and lettuce from the garden...

 I think after a couple weeks of counter top building madness (that will be another post…)
finally having the kitchen back and finally having real surfaces that can so easily
be wiped clean, we are extremely happy to be in the kitchen...

                                                         Cheers ~ Marica