Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Some comparisons from when we first moved in

The first area we started working on was the landscaping. Decided people might not notice the beast of a home if the outside was looking good.

The previous owner had some rather strange ideas when it came to gardening. They had planted blue spruces directly on the foundation and the greenhouse at the back of the property was apparently doubling as speak easy. No plants or seedlings to be found, just empty vodka bottles. Interesting.

Anyhoo, here are some before and after photos.


After some sprucing up

Before

After

Before

After

posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 4:42 PM | link | 0 comments

Seriously long time

I actually forgot about this blog. Doing some cleaning up on my system and rediscovered it. I should probably update, cause stuff has been done to the house since my last post.

Our 5 year plan to renovate this beast of a home has now turned into a 5 month plan since we found out we are expecting a baby in May. I'm thinking the baby, along with us, would probably enjoy a functioning kitchen and bathroom. So its balls to wall for the next little while.
posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 1:21 PM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Claiming my blog

3dmrhw9zx5
posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 9:33 PM | link | 0 comments

Renovating a 130 year home

My fiance and I decided to purchase a home that, well, needs a little work. The previous owners had lived there along time and at one point decided to only live on the main floor, closing off the top level and letting the dust collect...literally. When we moved in there had to be at least 2 inches of dust everywhere, along with some over unidentifiable particulates. Even with the need for extensive renovation we both saw the potential.

I have always wanted a Victorian home. They don't build homes like the use to and the older homes have such character and personality. From its beautiful staircase to its pocket doors, this house spoke to us and we had to have it.

It is going to be an extremely long process in reviving it, but we are in the for the long haul.

This is what the landscaping looked like when we purchased it in October

This is what it looks after many blisters.

Now that the landscaping is in order we are moving on to the interior. We had a plan, but that went to hell when the upstairs bathroom began to leak into our downstairs kitchen. Yikes.
This is what the bathroom looks like now.


Under all that plaster was a beautiful claw foot tub. Why the previous owners chose to cover it up is anyone's guess. We are planning on restoring it (needs a little work done to the porcelain)and putting in a dry sink with a basin on top. The back wall will be opened up to accommodate a stained glass window. Will post more photos when we finish it. Warning....it may be a while, cause we are also working on completing the guest room in the basement. It appears that at one point the room doubled as a greenhouse....don't ask.

I am so keeping those curtains....NOT!

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 8:50 PM | link | 0 comments

Sunday, December 31, 2006

Ok, so he is a serial killer....no one is perfect.

I have got it reeeeaaaallllly bad. I am crushin' again. I always seem to pick the wrong guys. Bad habit of mine, deadbeats, drunks and well this time I hit the motherload. My newest crush is a serial killer. Albeit a fictional one. No, I am not one of those crazies that writes to convicted killers in prison in the hopes of catching their eye, with the possibility of marriage. EWWWW. My crush is on my newest TV boyfriend Dexter. Smart, good looking, charming and yeah, just a little bit deadly. But I can over look that little fault. I mean no one is perfect and he only kills bad guys. If you haven't caught Showtimes latest adventure into gruesome humour check this link out.

Dexter on YourTVLinks

You can watch the entire first season. This is not for the faint of heart of weak stomached as some of the content is pretty out there. But if you are slightly twisted....in a good way...you might just like it. I truly believe it is the most daring show out there at this moment. Michael C. Hall, who previously starred in Six Feet Under stars in the leading role of Dexter and it is quite an outing for him. He perfectly portrays an emotionless deviant struggling to convince the rest of society that he is normal. All the while going about his bloody hobbies in his free time. He works for the Miami Police during the day as a blood spatter expert and well at night, well you know.


I would also recommend the books the show is based on. Darkly Dreaming Dexter and Dearly Devoted Dexter written by Jeff Lindsay. I did not read the books before beginning the show but have since picked them up and found them to be an easy and funny read. Yeah, I am in the category of slightly twisted cause I find myself giggling at the most inappropriate moments, but I really can't help myself and that is the genius behind it. You find yourself amused by what would generally be found offensive. For that I would call the books and the show brilliant. We have all seen the the serial killer theme done to death. I did not think it likely that someone could breathe life in the genre....I was wrong.

5 out of 5 bloody thumbs up for Dexter. My new TV boyfriend.

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 2:48 PM | link | 0 comments

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Dumb moment number.......

Honestly, I've stopped counting.

It happened in slow motion and as it was happening a little voice inside my head said "STOP"! Did I listen....no. Anyhoo, came home from work a lunch to pick some stuff up for my next appointment. Walk in the door, get distracted by the cat and place my keys down. Feed the cat, grab my keys and head out the door. I am looking at my keys and just as the door is about to close I realize I have grabbed the wrong set. AARRRGH!! My mother has my spare, but is out of town. Figures. I have NEVER locked myself out of my house, the one time I do no one with a spare is in town.

I call my manager and explain what has happened and ask if she can get me a number of a locksmith. Within this time I see that I have left a window unlocked, but it is too high for me to get through. The ladder is in the house. I find a rather large but not too sturdy rubbermaid container and jump on......with heels on and it has just rained. I wasn't on the box too long. Now covered in mud I climb back up and find out the window is too small for me to get through, I have no other choice then to remove all 4 pains and the screen. YAY! Got the screen off. BOO! Now I have to buy a new screen. Pop out the 4 windows and take a good jump to try to launch myself through the opening. It was only half successful. Good news...I was in the house, bad news...my ass end was hanging out the window. With my make-shift ladder kicked on its side, my legs are flailing around. At the same time the local kids are just getting off the bus from school and are greeted with my ass end. I heard a few giggles.

I wiggle around a little more and work my way through the window landing without a bit of grace on the bed. And so it goes. Another dumb moment. If I had a dollar.....you know the rest. Somedays I feel like I need to be wrapped in bubblewrap.

Somewhere between my dumb moments I put together a new montage for Clay Aiken's A Thousand Days from his new CD A Thousand Different Ways. Enjoy!

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 7:25 PM | link | 1 comments

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Right Here Waiting

It appears I have been very neglectful of my little home in the blogosphere. Sorry bout that. Real life and a raging heat wave have worn me out. It is seriously hot. The kind of hot that just makes you miserable. I am getting a remote starter for my car. Screw getting into and cold or hot vehicle. The hot being the worse of the two. At several points in the last few days I have felt like I was going to combust.

And now things get a little hotter. I don't mind this kind of hot.


Clay on Entertainment Tonight. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! It is official, the drought is over. Bring on the clack.


And while I'm at it. A little offering. Got some new software and decided to try it out. Enjoy.
Consider This A Warning

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 8:57 PM | link | 1 comments

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Another Desktop Theme

Download Theme (Right click and save as)

Theme includes:
Wallpaper
Icons
Sounds:
Windows Startup: Tears of a Clown
Windows Shutdown: I Can't Make You Love Me
Empty Recycle bin: Oh, yes
Asterisk: Grunt
Default Beef: Grunt
Critical Stop: I doubt it
Exclamation: huh huh, what?
Mail Notification: Never a dull moment

After you download the theme. Double click to unpackage. To load theme up, right click on your desktop and choose properties. From the pop up choose the themes tab and browse to where you saved the file. Select apply.

More to come!

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 8:26 PM | link | 3 comments

Clay Aiken Desktop Theme


Download Theme (right click and save as)

The desktop theme includes:
Wallpaper
Desktop Icons
Sounds:
Windows Start Up: Tears Run Dry
Windows Shut Down: Alone
Empty trash: Ok, you're done
Critical Stop: Mm, no
Exclamation: I'm sorry what?
Default beep: grunt
Thank you to bestofclay.com for the wallpaper.

After you download the theme. Double click to unpackage. To load theme up, right click on your desktop and choose properties. From the pop up choose the themes tab and browse to where you saved the file. Select apply.

More to come!

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 12:36 PM | link | 0 comments

Saturday, June 17, 2006

A little correction

DOH!!! I messed up the code on my website and the links were wrong for the montages. The links have been fixed. Sorry about that.

Shades of Clay

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posted by Arquen_Mahtala at 11:46 AM | link | 0 comments