Annie's favorite thing to do lately is to spend the evening working with her dad on the attic/man-cave...
In fact, I've even heard her nag him into working in the attic when he didn't feel like it.
Which means that the man-cave is (after three years) coming close to completion.
When we bought this house, the attic was a scary place, with knob and tube electrical wires dangling everywhere, thousands of rusty nails sticking out of the ceiling and old wooden floorboards that wreaked of cat pee.
And when he tore out the floorboards and started cleaning the area beneath them, he found old school calendars that dated back to 1907, church bulletins that were over 100 years old, an old world map drawn in pencil by a kid named Elmer, an empty box of tire-tape for Model-T tires, a small leather journal filled with spelling words in the most beautiful penmanship you've ever seen, and a plethora of other cool, old finds, amongst the dust, dirt, debris and bird carcasses. (The place was so nasty that every cut and scrape that came into contact with what was under those floorboards became infected.)
And it took him forever to clean out the space because he was so worried about vacuuming up something important.
And every time he'd collected a small pile of cool finds, he'd give them to me. (I've saved them all.)
But now it's all clean, with new 2x4's (For support.) new electrical wires (He's re-wired the entire upstairs, but the downstairs still has the old knob and tube wiring.), new windows (There were only screens before.), tons of insulation (There was no insulation before.) and thousands upon thousands of screws. (He didn't use a single nail.)
And he's even throwing a man-cave grand-opening party in September, but you can't come unless you grow a mustache between now and then. (Mustaches are required to enter the man-cave.)
So I'm considering skipping waxing a few times so I can make it to the party.
Wow Karen! So glad you are holding on to those vintage finds. Would love for you to post some pics of those. And Josh has the cutest little helper.
Posted by: Libbi M. | August 02, 2012 at 07:49 AM
what great finds! i suspect you'll do something wonderful with them and maybe he can hang up his findings in his man cave!
karen what are you using and what ISO for these low light photos? Beautiful, beautiful!
Posted by: martha hernandez | August 02, 2012 at 07:56 AM
I know how it is Karen! We also have a Man Cave in our attic (we have a 100+ year old house too that we totally redid), along with my oldest son's bedroom. It was so much work to change it from the dumpy room that it was (and figure out how to move the stairs to a better place -- had to add a dormer). But now it is where all the boys here spend most of their time. Even though it is hard to regulate the heat/cooling up there, they love it! I am sure it will be a welcome addition to your home. Aren't you glad we have men that can do those things? It so wonderful that Annie can spend time with her dad like this. :)
Posted by: Cari | August 02, 2012 at 08:11 AM
I could work on that mustache thing....have you looked at my profile pic lately?? ;-)
So glad to hear that you kept all the cool finds...how wonderful that you married a man who is so considerate and took such care to protect what might have been there. That speaks volumes about BOTH of you! You are both very blessed with one another.
Posted by: LaVonne | August 02, 2012 at 08:41 AM
Hmmm...I am officially concerned. I have been reading your blog for awhile now and I think I am starting to fall in love with your family. The fact that I am realizing this while reading a post containing details of cat pee scented floor boards, dead bird carcasses and man cave parties is even more disturbing. Hopefully it has more to do with your lovely photography, beautiful people, and the love that permeates all of your stories. Happy Thursday to you!
Posted by: Paula S. | August 02, 2012 at 08:46 AM
What a cool space! I hope you'll do a blog post with pictures of your cool finds!
Posted by: Melanie | August 02, 2012 at 09:39 AM
Karen, I so enjoy reading your blog every day and this one cracked me up!!!
Posted by: Colleen Barron | August 02, 2012 at 10:33 AM
OMG I can't beleive you just said that about the waxing!!! LOL!!!!! You're perfect Karen and I would have never thought you needed to do that! :) But I think you should go print some of those cute mustaches that everyone is using for photography props at weddings right now, and put them on sticks that way all the beautiful girls can enter...and wait...Coley is too young for a mustache too!!!!
Posted by: Nicole Campbell | August 02, 2012 at 01:14 PM
ROFL..... I'm sitting in the doctors office with my MIL and your last comment made me bust out laughing!! I love that you came across some amazing treasures during your renovation and that Josh took such care to preserve them!! We found so pretty cool items when we remodeled our old house too, and the kids still enjoy looking at them and reminiscing.
Posted by: ❤Debbie | August 02, 2012 at 02:28 PM
I've always hoped we'd find good interesting, old things in our attic. Nevermind that it's more like a crawl space above us. I always ask if Kerry found anything good up there.
That's going to be an awesome space!
Posted by: Kelli | August 02, 2012 at 03:08 PM
Hey Karen, I've learnt that visualising can lead to huge disappointment. I've learnt that life isn't like it is in the movies. I've learnt to take each day as it comes, to live in the moment and not wish the days away. They go so fast anyway, why wish them away even faster (that's something I have to constantly tell myself). I've learnt to not sweat the small stuff - something my husband hasn't learnt because we are in two different places - I'm a Christian and he's not (yet :D). Bless you Karen, thanks for sharing.
Posted by: Nike Air Max 2012 | August 02, 2012 at 06:39 PM
hahaha! How about you and I go on a girls only trip as my hubby will be going on his men only hunting trip about that same time! We can go somewhere that waxes mustaches!!!
Posted by: Monica | August 02, 2012 at 06:57 PM
My folks house (where we live) is from the 1800's and they un-earthed some really neat stuff like clay pipes and leather shoes that are now displayed in the library. We are still waiting to find the money buried in the yard ;D
Posted by: Marlene | August 02, 2012 at 07:57 PM
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Posted by: Cori | August 03, 2012 at 08:48 AM
Dang, I wish you were still making scrapping products, can you imagine the 12x12 papers that journal could make?
Posted by: Pam | August 04, 2012 at 02:55 AM
A. Your a crack up.
B. jealous of attic space-no matter the condition. All cool houses have one.. Why dont they make me anymore? And basements... Those are a Midwest south thing I envy! My 1300 sq ft no attic no basement no garage self clearly has storage jealousy.
C. I can't imagine being in closed space with cat pee reeking havoc on my nostrils.
D. Annie never looked happier. Well, the bowl of strawberries to herself runs close tie.
Cool finds, love old handwriting, classic
Posted by: Ada | August 04, 2012 at 08:18 AM
You always have the most interesting stories!
You'll have to get Annie a fake mustache so she can go to the party too! And they need a photographer, so I'm sure you're hired :)
Posted by: Jacki | August 04, 2012 at 10:42 PM
Wakati sisi kununua nyumba hii, Attic alikuwa mahali inatisha, na Knob na tube waya wa umeme dangling kila mahali, maelfu ya misumari Rusty sticking nje ya dari na umri wa floorboards mbao kwamba wreaked ya paka pee.I nina uhakika itakuwa Aidha kuwakaribisha ya nyumba yako. Je, ninyi si njema tuna watu kwamba wanaweza kufanya mambo hayo? Ni ajabu sana kwamba Annie unaweza kutumia muda na baba yake kama hii.
Posted by: converse all star | August 06, 2012 at 01:32 AM
LOL. Crack me up. Yes, fake mustaches must be available on opening day.
Posted by: Penny Jane | August 07, 2012 at 08:16 AM
Love reading your blog karen! Where's annies tie dye shirt from in this post? my daughter loves it!
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I love it! You have such a creative eye and make everything you put together work.
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