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Happy Halloween from Westview Bungalow!
Looks like we're making progress compared to two years ago...
Westview Bungalow on Halloween
Westview Bungalow Carved Pumpkin and Mums [Read More] 

About a month ago, I was in trouble with the US Postal Service. They stopped delivering my mail, even going so far as to return at least a few items to the senders. I called the local post office to inquire, and the man on the phone, after a qu [Read More] 

The entry light arrived from Rejuvenation and I put it up. I chose as simple a fixture I could find that had a little bit of style so that it goes with the transitional look of the rest of the house. I am happy with the fixture but the in [Read More] 

I work at night, so Greg and I usually see each other for a few minutes in the early morning before I hit the hay. When I went to sleep this morning, these stairs did not exist. Greg and John worked all day long building the front porch steps out of [Read More] 

I haven't updated in a while because things over here have been pretty hectic lately. The pressure is on and we are definitely feeling it. We are also feeling this hot, hot, hot North Carolina heat- almost 100 degrees yesterday. Greg's working non-st [Read More] 

In the house painting entry I mentioned the unsatisfactory experience we had with getting our front steps redone, so I wanted to elaborate about our experience.
As I previously mentioned, since we were on a roll with getting the house painted we t [Read More] 

we have more room on the porch so i've been wanting to add a glider for a while now. i can picture me lounging and gliding...gliding and lounging. i'd like this one. it matches the rockers we have already so we'd just have to stain and assemble. i [Read More] 

this weekend will be five years since we moved into the house. it's hard do believe that this is possible. minus the groovy wallpaper and layers of old dirt, irvington bungalow virtually looks the same.that is not the point of this post. over the wee [Read More] 

Well, we started this project a little over a year ago. Anytime I ever feel slightly overwhelmed or as if we aren't making much progress, all I have to do is look back to old photos on our blog and I immediately feel world's better. I seem to be doin [Read More] 

During the months of contemplation, of weighing the pros and cons, of going back and forth about removing the porch screens, there was one factor that never even crossed my mind. I opened the front door today to find an unexpected visitor making hims [Read More] 

Well, I did it. After much debate about whether or not to keep the porch screens (mostly for the sake of the kitties), I decided to grab my tools and go for it. The driving reasons for removing these screens were:
1.) They were not original t [Read More] 

Maybe it’s the sub-zero temperatures and subsequent cabin fever we’ve experienced this week. Maybe it’s my typical post-holiday eagerness for sun, warmth, and yardwork. Whatever the reason, lately my attention has turned to front po [Read More] 

Click for a larger view...
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The weekend was a disappointment. On the positive side, I did finish scraping the porch, though in much colder temperatures. Luckily the sun did shine and there was a little warmth.
On to the belt sander. Now this was my first eye-opening disap [Read More] 

I was gently reminded by my most faithful reader last week that it really had been a long time between posts. In spite of little reporting progress continues. br /br /Since we expanded the back porch this summer I needed to make two small columns to [Read More] 

The stone work is underway, and it's turning out better than I had hoped. It's certainly more art than technical skill. Once I figured out the proper mix for the mortar things started going pretty smoothly.
I'm using "manufactured stone" which i [Read More] 

(yes, we hate the siding too) br /br / note the slope from water eroding the ground under the porch and around the house, and the lovely green carpeting. the railing will just get a coat of paint for now, as we need to raise the porch, fill in the d [Read More] 

If my kitchen was stew, it would have been tasteless and bland. I did not have the finances to remodel the room like I wanted to. One day I could not stand the stark look and bad lighting anymore. A friend had creatively and inexpensively redecorated [Read More] 

I finally moved to working on the outside of the house. Exiting to the outside of the house is easy since I have five outside doors, two upstairs and three downstairs. When I had a locksmith rekey all the deadbolt locks, he had a box of skeleton keys [Read More] 

em"Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason."br /br /-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations ix 33 /embr /br /On Saturday I finished nailing down the porch floor. I got out the a href [Read More] 