Chandelier update

STEPS TO UPDATE AN OLD LIGHT FIXTURE WITH A CAN OF SPRAY PAINT

Old brass light fixture, hanging in the pre-renovated kitchen

There are many you tube videos of people demonstrating this process.  

It is always helpful to watch someone do it before starting your project.

1) Take light fixture down

2)  Remove light bulbs and plastic candle sticks

3) Separate all parts that can be unscrewed

4) Place painters tape (or masking tape) over any electrical parts

5) Use sandpaper (meant for metal) and lightly sand down all metal surfaces.  Wipe clean of metal dust.

6) Purchase a can of Rustoleum (paint + primer)- takes less time than priming and then painting.

7) Cover or protect ground with newspaper, in a well ventilated area.  Wear protective mask.

8)  Shake can vigorously for at least 1 minute

9) Methodically spray with short back and forth movements (thin coats are best, as they prevent dripping) at the recommended distance on can

10) Allow paint to dry recommended time

11) Put light back together and attach candlesticks and light bulbs

* If necessary, touch up with 2nd coat and allow to dry

Rustoleum- Rubbed Oil Bronze

Moved light fixture from kitchen to dining room (due to very short ceilings)

That day I fell in love with spray paint!  Such an easy way to transform an outdated item, that would otherwise have been in the trash or donation box.

and it shall be called Redwoodshire

What's in a name?

Names are used for so many things... people, places, things, pets.  There are formal names and nicknames.  First names and last names.  Names are what we use to identify that which we are talking about.  Some people name their cars- my husband named his guitar "Rose" in college.  Why "Rose?" Maybe because of it's reddish brown, or maybe because he likes flower names.  I don't know that I ever asked him.  I named my Navy Blue 1969 Volkswagen Beetle, Marley.  Why "Marley"?  Because I liked listening to Bob Marley music.  Naming things feels good; makes me smile when I call something by it's name.  Coming up with a name can be a difficult process for some, and quite easy for others.  Places in great stories and movies have names that people remember.  And that name evokes visuals in our mind of that place.  So if a name can be so much more than an identifier, then why not come up with a great one?

Our name process took a little over a month.  The previous owners were devoted gardeners and loved plants.  We love plants and gardening too.   Much to our delight, the warm weather and arrival of Spring is unveiling all the wonderful plants and trees growing here.  Winter and fall leaves has been hiding so much beauty and life.  The previous owners took us on a tour of the land, orchard and perennial gardens, pointing out each and every plant they added- and yes calling them by their names.  Some we were familiar with and many we had never heard of.  A few fruit trees, flowering trees, shade plants, full sun plants, perennial herbs, rhubarb, and a redwood tree.  WAIT- a redwood tree?  Growing in Western New York, how is that possible?

A couple years ago, we took a West Coast Road Trip from Albuquerque, through the Grand Canyon, swung down to Southern California, and up the California coast to Big Sur, then Yosemite.  Both Big Sur and Yosemite are home to magnificent Redwood trees.  The different climates of Big Sur and Yosemite fostered different redwood trees.  Some tall and skinny- on the coast.  The redwoods in the Mariposa Grove of Yosemite, were big and fat and what I always think of when I imagined a Redwood Tree (based upon photos I had seen).  We are tiny people in the midst of giants, when we visit the redwoods.

Needless to say, this little puny tree pointed out to us didn't look anything like any Redwood Tree we'd seen.  But when we got a closer look, the bark & trunk had a reddish color and the foliage looked right.  Upon research, my husband found that Redwood Trees grow all over the country.  Who knew?  Ours is a Dawn Redwood.  Maybe it's a young tree.  It's a deciduous conifer- meaning it looses it's foliage each fall/ winter.

REDWOOD was going to be part of the name.  But what else?  We needed some descriptive word for the rest of the name... homestead, acres, meadow, creek, land, marsh, estate.  We searched high and low.  Then I was reminded of the scene from Lord of the Rings of the Shire.  I couldn't remember the name of the place, and asked my husband.  Thinking about the Shire, makes me feel good.  Wikipedia has an amazing description all about the Shire, and what I found sold me on the name.

"The Shire is described as a small but beautiful, idyllic and fruitful land, beloved by its inhabitants."
That description was absolutely perfect!  The lay of our land is a hilly meadow, surrounded by woods, marsh and 2 creeks.  The house is nestled in below road level- somewhat hidden from sight.  We hope to cultivate a grand garden, fruit bearing plants and trees, and possibly raise some chicken down the road.

From that day on, we have called this place not only our home; but Redwoodshire as well.

the story begins

Redwoodshire is the place we call home.

Early in my marriage, my husband always said, "When we look for a house, the land is more important to me, than the actual house."  Keeping this in mind, our list of desires grew to a short list of the things that my husband and I both valued.

1.  Acreage.  Needed to be >1 acre, with plenty of sun for a garden
2.  First floor laundry- my desire
3.  Proximity.  Because we owned 2 rental properties in the city, we needed to be within a 20 minutes of the rentals.
4. Reasonable price

At the end of 2011,  I found a property on zillow.com, that seemed to meet all of our desires.  It was a cottage-like 3 bedroom house, nestled on 5.85 parklike acres, with 2 woodstoves, first floor laundry, 2 1/2 car garage, a barn/ workshop, pool, 3 tiered garden, surrounded by a creek...  Looked great! My husband looked at the photos, and noticed that the ceilings were quite short- being the 1850 farmhouse that it is.  And the price seemed quite low, considering the land and location.  He figured that the house must be pretty bad, since it had been on the market for a long time, and was listed at what we considered was a low price.  In my house browsing, I was continually drawn back to this house.  The only problem was that we had recently purchased a 3 family rental property the previous spring, and were not in a place to purchase our final home.  We were quite tempted to make an appointment to go see the house, but didn't want to fall in love with it.  So we didn't.  But we continued to talk about it.  Back and forth.  After a few months, we decided we should look at it.  We expressed interest with our realtor, and he contacted to seller (FSBO).  To our dismay the owner had taken the house off the market.  WHAT!?  So disappointed.  They took it off the market.  So that door was closed.  And our perception of that perfect property continued settle in our minds.  We wrote a letter to the seller, expressing our interest in seeing the property if they decided to sell again in the near future.  No response.  

Fast forward to 2013.  We began our house search for real.  With every house we looked at we constantly compared it to the house we loved, but never saw for real.  One day I asked if we could drive by it again.  And as we did, the house 2 doors down had a for sale sign out front.  We looked it up online, contacted the selling realtor only to find that an offer was already accepted.  She agreed to show it to us, in the even that the deal went through.  A beautiful turn key house, that had potential to meet a lot of our desires, except that it was no longer available.  As we talked to the realtor, we told her our story about the house 2 doors down.  She offered to contact the owner and see if they were still interested in selling.  Much to our surprise, she actually got in touch with the seller and they were still interested.  My husband set his hopes very low, considering the price.  Because he thinks I am the type of person who gets turned off by messiness while walking through houses, he told me to prepare myself.  I had already fallen in love with the property 2 years before, so basically I had already emotionally bought the house and imagined myself raising my children there.  We had decided that "you can always change a house, but you cannot change the land." We finally got inside the house.  And we left feeling extremely disappointed. Low ceilings, poor lay out, old kitchen, small bedrooms-  basically a poor old farmhouse.  We left that day, having closed that door.

But we continued to look, and nothing met our criteria like the other house.  So we got some ideas and a contractor.  He gave us hope that almost anything could be done.  We considered the work... made an offer... and bought that property.  And that is where this story begins.