Cruising into Summer

We have been all over the place over the past couple of months. Working on various projects in the building (story of our lives) as well as starting to make a projected short term and long term business plan. I wanted to make this post really quick to share some things we have done in recent weeks.

We won a battle against a wasp nest we discovered in the space between the wall and window in the stairwell between the second and third floors. They must have been there awhile or were hibernating because we started noticing wasps on the ground in the stairwell that weren’t dead but couldn’t fly. Anyway, Atom was able to take the window out and put his little bendy camera into the open space and gasped as there were hundreds of dazed wasps inside. He was able to get them out (without getting stung once!) and seal up the open space as well as restore the window in the process. One window down, 69 left to go!

One thing we noticed while pulling another window out to fix was that the wooden sills on the side of the old windows are numbered with carved roman numerals. Pretty neat!

We are a fun and silly family (at least I laugh at my own jokes so I think I’m funny) and as far back as I can remember in my childhood my grandparents always had a mannequin or two at their house and they’d dress it up for lavish parties they hosted over the years. I told my grandpa I wanted to follow in his footsteps and get a mannequin for the building. He surprised me last month when they came to Indiana for the summer with a mannequin he had from his collection! I was so stoked! We let the internet decide her name on our facebook renovation page. Her name is Tilda (after the actress she looks like, Tilda Swinton.)

A few days after Tilda joined the mansion family I found another mannequin for sale and of course had to buy it from a really neat guy. We named him Manny the mannequin. He’s missing an arm and part of his nose but that gives him character.

For fun, we put them both in random windows and had them under lit for some nighttime fun for passers by. Not going to lie, they look really REALLY creepy when it’s dark outside.

Here’s what Tilda looks like inside at night. I need to find her a really fun retro glam dress & faux fur shawl to get her into time period appropriate clothing. Atom just threw an old T-shirt & hat on her for the time being.

Now that the weather has warmed up a bit we got our entryway put back together so we can have a mosquito free area to have “porch time” with our neighbors! Mosquitoes love me for some reason and I react to bites very badly. What’s nice about this area is no matter how warm it is outside it’s always nice and cool in the entryway.

In a past post I shared some weather photography which I have recently found a love for. We had another wicked thunderstorm a couple of weeks ago and I was able to capture some awesome lightning photos from our parking lot.

The basement is coming along and we have some fun things planned for it (including a bungee harness workout area!) Atom has been working on power washing the bricks which is a long and labor intensive process to get the rest of the plaster off to get the bricks and the bottom concrete sealed with some fancy waterproofing paint that I forgot the name of.

Here’s what the walls looked like once the plaster was all taken off.

And here’s what they look like now.

Talk about a HUGE difference! I seriously love how industrial the basement is looking now! We can’t wait to hang out in our 6,000 sq ft living room! It is going to be such a fun space with so many possibilities!

Yesterday Atom made two triple berry pies to take to a cook out with our church small group. They turned out as amazing as they always do!

Last but not least, our first two (of many) lilies bloomed! Stargazer lilies are my absolute favorite flower and Atom surprised me by planting three different types in the front of the building last fall. Within the next week or so we will have a TON that should open up around the same time! I cant wait!

Ok I lied. One more photo I have to share because it is so funny. Our son’s dog Stewart was neutered yesterday and came home in a “Sputer Shirt” instead of a cone. It’s pretty hilarious and he looks so darn cute. It’s basically a cross between a hospital gown and a onesie.

Hope y’all are having a super week!