The Current Owner

Did we tell you that we're buying the house from the Keeneland bugle player? He's even got his own bobblehead doll.

Sunday Update

It's been raining all day and we haven't done much of anything. We're hoping the tenant will be out by tomorrow. If not, the current owner will have to start the eviction process.

Sorry for the short post today. The Wife is in a grumpy mood due to the tenant and her excuses.

Closing....A Quick Update

The crazy tenant has decided to stay in the house until the end of the month. This, of course, has screwed up our plans to close on the house on Thursday 4/27. We're now hoping she gets out without having to be evicted. The closing will be rescheduled once we know she's completely out and gone.

Some Fun Photos & the Sunday Afternoon Update

We want to go to Ireland again - but won't be going due to the money pit project.

Our bathing beauty at the dog swim!!!!

What's Up?
Well, we had some friends over for a cookout last night on the newly cleaned grill. We devoted a good portion of Saturday afternoon to the cleaning process. Not the most pleasant task, but even so, it was better than working on an appeal brief.

Since Wife took a much needed rest from lawyerland yesterday, some billable hours will have to be devoted to work on Sunday afternoon. Time, tide and appellate deadlines wait for no one.

Brewmaster is preparing to bottle the latest quaff. Assistant may take a break from billing to put a few caps on the bottles.

The Girls are eagerly anticipating a walk in the sunshine since they did not have their regular morning jaunt. We like to give credit where it is due, so we should point out that The Girls have a very successful record with their home security duties. They are batting 100% when it comes to getting rid of people walking by the house and UPS delivery men.

As usual, the Brains of the Operation has disappeared to a quiet corner for his umpteenth nap of the day. Or, he's hacking up a hairball that we'll find later. Ick.

Tomorrow begins the final countdown to the closing...maybe. The tenant may or may not be out. We'll see.

Husband's first post...the neighbors' house

This is a picture of our new neighbors' house. It and the "money pit" were both built by the same family during the early 1890's. It has been meticulously restored and is now a lovely bed & breakfast. We're hoping to do as good a job renovating the "money pit" as the neighbors did.


Unfortunately there's not much more to report. We're still waiting for the tenant and the owner to get their stuff out of the house. Hopefully they'll be done before the closing on 4/27.

A Kingsport Weekend

Wife got her Pal's fix this weekend. The Easter Bunny delivered: 2 Big Pal's, 2 large frenchie fries, 2 sweet teas, and 1 peanut butter milkshake. The calorie count must be enormous. Some time will be devoted at the gym this week.

The Renovators and Wife's Parents trekked around east Tennessee on Saturday. More research was conducted on Vikings, Wolfs, Five-Stars, and Dacors, and much was learned. The troupe also hit the local bike and outdoor stores in Abingdon and Damascus in southwest Virginia. Damascus is just so neat. Too bad the morons who want to pave over everything and homogenize the world are going to ruin the town. :-(

In renovation news: The tenant appears to be making progress in vacating the money pit. She was supposed to remove some things from the back yard this weekend. The Renovators conducted a reconnaissance mission to see if tenant accomplished this task. As promised, the stuff was gone. Everyone needs to cross their fingers, pray or do whatever else is needed to call on a higher power to make sure the tenant leaves in the next few days so we can close!!!!

Let's Eat

Since its Sunday night and nothing is on TV but re-runs, Wife is fooling around with this silly blog.
So what do the Renovators like to eat? Well, Wife is quite desperate for a Big Pal (with cheese, of course) from Pal's. Obviously (see the map), there is not a single Pal's remotely close to central Kentucky. Thus, no burger for Wife.

When it comes to Lexington, we are big fans of Pazzo's Pizza Pub and Brooklyn Pizza. Not surprisingly, Wife could eat an entire pizza pie right now.

We won't be able to afford sushi once we close on the money pit, so we'll just have to drive by Seki or Tomo and wave. The closest we may get to Oriental food could be ramen noodles. Ick. And the Girls just may have to eat Ol' Roy.

A Lazy Sunday

Since there is little news to report about the new house (tenant still there; appraiser taking his sweet time setting up the appointment), here's a quick rundown of the weekend:

We researched kitchen ranges on Saturday. Wife really likes Thermadors (mainly because the knobs are a nice shade of blue); while Husband seems to be quite taken with Wolf ranges. However, we will be taking a close look at FiveStar since they are of similar quality, but more economical. Wife is also pleased that they are made in Tennessee.

We watched a couple of good movies this weekend: Wallace and Gromit in The Curse of the Were Rabbit and Good Night and Good Luck.

As you can see from the photo, the girls declared war on the dog bed pillow when the cover was removed for a much needed washing. We made the mistake of letting them supervise themselves while doing some much-needed yard work. The result is almost as bad as the "great magazine and catalog shredding incident" from earlier this year.

The Brewmaster (aka Husband) spent much of his morning preparing a new pale ale while the Assistant provided moral support from a reclining position on the couch. This will probably be Brewmaster's last effort until the new house is complete. Brewmaster later replaced Assistant on the couch while Assistant went out for a spin on the old Cannondale.

Stained Glass

This is one of two stained glass windows in the money pit. It has suffered some damaged, but can probably be repaired. Hopefully we can find matching glass to replace the missing pieces.

The Brains of the Operation

Vincent is, of course, the brains of our operation and the senior member of the animal farm. While not as vocal as his canine sisters, he meows with authority.

Think We'll Have Time to Climb?

We've only climbed once since last summer. Pitiful. Maybe we can work in a day of climbing at the Red every once in a while....

The Doggies

We are not expecting much help with the renovation from the girls. They prefer paper shredding and tennis ball chasing. They will, however, help us to fertilize the currently barren backyard. The girls' feline cohort will have plenty of new napping spots and window sills to perch in and observe the birdies.

Welcome to our blog!

We are in the process of buying an old Victorian house in central Kentucky so we can renovate and return it to its former glory. Several steps remain before we can really get started...getting the appraisal, finalizing the insurance policy, the departure of the current tenant and removal of the current owner's..um, we'll be charitable here... belongings....and finally, closing the purchase. We have a lot of work ahead of us after we finally close, but that's an entry for the future.

The house was built in about 1890 and has a neat staircase and beautiful fireplaces and mantels. Its in need of lots of work and TLC. It also has two stained glass windows, both of which need some repairs. It looks like we'll be learning how to patch plaster and refinish hardwood floors this summer.