The Cottage Updated

It is still winter and we can't do much on the Cottage till spring. (March) Some progress has been made and we are now in the process of lining up people to do some electrical and plumbing work. Since it is a summer cottage there are certain times we will need some kind of heat. You know, like early spring and late fall when it is chilly. We found a great deal on a propane fireplace with fake logs. It has the remote control to turn in on or off, up or down. It looks like real logs burning yet it will give off a great amount of heat and take any chill off the Cottage. My wife found it at Lowe's and it was marked way down to $249 from $700. We met my brother and sister in law at Lowe's as they had to be consulted. They are our partners in the Cottage. They loved it and agreed to get it. I told them I would get the price down more as this was the last one in stock. Most large retail stores would rather get rid of any left over stock than have to pay inventory taxes and/or store it. It is cheaper to sell it for less in this situation. I talked to the clerk and asked very politely if it could be reduced more. He checked his inventory price list on the computer and told me we could have it for $200. Later my brother in law said to me, that he never would have thought to ask for more of a discount. He knows that my wife and I are great shoppers for just about anything we buy. When we find something we really want and there is no discount, then we pay the price for it. Many times if you ask for a better price it will be reduced. If you don't ask you won't know. That is from us being in the retail business for so many years. We also bought a very nice Loveseat and Chair for the Cottage at a great price.

On Tuesday and Wednesday of this week my nephew and friend tore down the kitchen and back porch of the Cottage and hauled it to the dump. We will be building another bedroom where the kitchen was and a new screened in porch where the old one was. It has a great view of the open property, the large Oak and Maple trees, then the woods in the distance. The Deer are everywhere as is many birds and other animals.

We are building the kitchen in a more convenient place with new appliances etc. We are upgrading the electric to 240 so it will accommodate the Electric Jennaire Stove and Wall Oven. A new bathroom will be installed also. My brother in law and I can do a lot of the work and we are looking forward to doing it. Of course our main thrust is to get the kitchen and bath in this spring, and the rest can be done whenever and not be under any pressure to get it done in a hurry. All of the painting has been done inside and out except for the big sliding doors and windows. I still have to take them to work and strip the paint off. I have done so many doors for other people and now I will get a chance to do my own.

The sliding doors and windows I am talking about are original to the Cottage and is made of wood and glass. The doors still have the wavy old glass and are attached to a track above the doors. The top of the doors have the rollers which fit into the track and roll from side to side to open and close. All of the original Victorian like hardware is still there. I would like to get up there this coming week and remove the doors and windows so the work can begin.

There is going to be a lot of work to do and I am looking forward to get started. We are not under any kind of time frame and that makes it a pleasure. I have been taking photos of the Cottage as we work on it, and as soon as I learn how, I will post some.

The Big One

As much of the year 2006 has been a mild one, last night and this morning we were slammed. We have about 15" of snow all around us and it is still snowing very lightly. The driveway have drifts that are much higher. The first thing I did this morning was to dig a area out on my patio and lawn so the double dogged Westies had a place to do their thing. As I was shoveling they were watching me with their legs crossed. It was funny to see them in the shoveled out area as all of the unshoveled snow was above their heads. With that done, I can relax and not worry about the driveway till later.

The wife and I are going over to our good friend and neighbor tonight for good food and wine. She is a great cook and the wine is always good. It is only a 5 minute walk to her place. We always get together when it snows to chill out, eat, and drink the grape of the vine.

In my back yard where our pool is, the diving board is how I judge how deep the snow is. It juts out over top of the pool and gives a good prospective of the depth of snow. I don't have to go to work today being Sunday or Monday or even Tuesday if I don't want to. By Tuesday I will be plenty tired of this snow and will be glad to get out. Till then I will kick back, chill, and have some fun doing what I like to do whatever that is.


Update: I am now completely shoveled out. I am free to go when I want to. It's a good feeling to have it over and done with. Time for a hot cup of Black Raven Tea.

Sometimes I don't Get Things On E Bay, Become An Informed Buyer

I buy quite a few reference books. Books about Antiques, books about Geneology, books about Baltimore and Maryland. Many of the books I get are on E Bay as they are out of print and they are not available through other sources. When I find a book on E Bay that I want, I will check out some other sources to see if they are available and at what price the seller is asking. Many times I can buy a book that was on E Bay much cheaper through other book sites on the internet.

I will try and buy through E Bay then check out these other booksellers. Abebooks, Alibris and Amazon. Bookfinder.com is a meta search engine for books and will search all book sites. These are all dot com sites. By checking out these other sellers, it will let you know if E Bay is cheaper or if the internet sellers are cheaper. I have found some great prices either way. At least it gives you a heads up on the market.

This also works for just about anything you would want to buy. Electronics, Cd's, Dvd's anything. You get the picture. This is a great way to compare prices on any product you want. You become an informed buyer and can buy with confidence and that you are in the ballpark price wise.

I just bought a Digital Camera and I saved $133 by doing my home work. Doing a comparision on Cnet and checking all other sources, including E Bay I was able to make an informed decision. The reviews by professionals on the internet for my camera gave me some insight and helped me make a decision. The company I bought the camera from was great. No shipping charges, no tax and it was at my door the next day. They had a high customer service rating and it was right on.

Knowing what things sell for is what helps you become an inform buyer no matter where you find it, whether on the internet or your local stores. Try it, it will only put more money in you pocket.

I Must Strip The Paint Soon

I will be going up to the Cottage soon to remove the 2 large wood and glass sliding front doors and about 16 windows. I will take them over to my place of business and start stripping the lead paint from them. I will have to put plastic up where the windows and doors are just to keep the birds or any critters from coming in. The 2 front sliding doors have the original wavy glass and ornate hardware still on them. I will polish and lacquer the brass hardware at work then return everything back up to the cottage for caulking and then painting. It will be nice to have bare wood to work with instead of the paint that was chipping and in bad condition.

In the next few weeks the back porch and the room that was the kitchen will be torn down. Both were in horrible condition and couldn't be salvaged. We are going to have a new kitchen in a different area of the Cottage also a new Bathroom. We are going to replace the room where the kitchen was originally. Our main objective is to get the kitchen and bathroom up by summer. It will need a lot of work, but it has been fun working on it. We did get the Cottage painted on the exterior and interior before the cold weather set in last November.

My nephew and his crew will be tearing down the porch and kitchen. It is nice to have someone in the business that can do that. Yes, he will be paid and we are going to have to get a large dumpster for all of the debris. We all are actually looking forward to spring so we can work on the Cottage. Spring is just around the corner.

Food Fun And The Super Bowl

Today with my buddies, I will be watching the Super Bowl at The Dock Of The Bay Restaurant on Millers Island in Baltimore County. This is a nice place to be watching the game with all those nice TV's everywhere. Today they will be serving raw Oysters 3 for a buck during the game. Drinks are reduced and they will have other food specials. In a sea of purple, I found this to be a pleasant place to watch The Ravens when they are playing out of town. This sounds like a commercial for this place, but I don't have any affiliation with The Dock Of The Bay of any kind.

I will predict that the Steelers will win the Super Bowl in the first time ever overtime. Wow, that's going out on a limb! Well, anyway I believe that the Steelers will win and make my favorite Steeler Fan, Jennetic, a happy camper.

I am a true dyed in Purple Ravens Fan without a doubt, and want to smash the Steelers every time we meet. Of course, during regular season, I want to see the Steelers lose everygame they play. Today, though, I just think the Steelers and jutted jaw Bill Cowher will win and the Seahawks and Mike Holmgren will lose. IMHO