And we wait...

26 days on the market with initially numerous showings and an open house...but no offers.

So we wait. I'm already coming up with renovations we can do to our house to make it more livable in case it doesn't sell. If we hit 90 days, I'll take it off the market and make preparations to hunker down until at least the following Spring.

Feedback from buyers is mostly: they like it, but need more space and location on a major road is a factor. Unfortunately, we can't fix that.

Our realtor also received an anonymous message that the tree in our back yard is severely leaning and we should have it removed before it falls. You have to wonder...is this a potential buyer, a worried neighbor, or a tree removal company looking for business? Whatever the case, it's now added another worry to my long list of anxieties keeping me up at night.

sell this house: on the market

It's official. We signed with a realtor and we've had a handful of showings so far. Sigh.

Now it's time to wait...

chincoteague snap shot: Sawdy the bird carver

I've intended to compile a Chincoteague visitors guide for years, but the charm of the island can't be conveyed in a top-ten list of restaurants or tourist destinations. So in the meantime, I'd like to share a series of snapshots and portraits with you – just a few of the many reasons I consider it my home away from home.

The business laws on Chincoteague are extremely lax in comparison to most cities, so walking down any residential street, you're likely to stumble upon a table piled high in konk shells just steps from someone's front stoop, adorned with a hand-carved sign and honorary lock box payment system.

Decoy carvers open their garages to the public and residents set up galleries in their living rooms. All one needs to open a business is a little ingenuity and a sign to stake in their yard advertising their goods (okay, I may be exaggerating, but I can assure you it's not by much).

So it was no surprise when Bobby and I were walking down Main Street, we passed a house whose sun porch was decorated in a colorful spectrum of carved birds and a plastic red sign propped up against the window announcing "open." We hesitantly opened the screen door, peeked our heads in and began surveying the abundance of crudely carved folk art before us.

Petite birds glued to plastic bottle caps. Ducks painted colors not found in nature. This was no ordinary decoy carver as a traditional mallard or wood duck was nowhere to be found.

A kind woman welcomed us to her home and gave us the history behind the carver - her husband Sawdy. Beads of sweat rolling down our faces in the stagnant air of the sun porch, we meticulously inspected each bird until we had a few picked out and ready to purchase.

A gravelly voice called to us from the other room, inviting us to look throughout the house for more treasures. We stepped over the threshold and there he was, grinning with the few teeth he had left and wearing only a pair of threadbare boxers. Approximately 80 plus years in age, he peacefully sat next to an open window listening to a Mexican radio station – the salsa melodies emanating from a little battery-operated radio he had propped up against his chair.

He sat silently watching us, whittling a new piece as we walked around his tiny den where he had hung more decoys on his wall and carefully arranged vignettes on every available surface. 

A familiar voice, with a strong Chincoteague accent, bellowed through the tiny home and interrupted our tour. In through the back door burst my late grandmother's cousin - Katherine.* Excited to see one another, we exchanged hugs.

She turned to Sawdy and pointed at us.

"Do you know who this is?" she asked. "This is your cousin Nelson's granddaughter."

Yes, so it turns out Sawdy was my late grandfather's cousin (no relation to Katherine) and the son of renowned decoy carver Doug Jester.

* Tangent: Just walking in the back door of someone's home unannounced is, or at least was common. Growing up, I can't remember anyone knocking on my grandparents' front door. You just walk in and yell out the inhabitant's name.

When I walk by Sawdy's house now, I'm greeted by closed blinds and bare windows. He passed more than a few years ago and his widow moved shortly thereafter. 

Before I even met him, I simply adored his birds. Each one beautiful in its imperfections. The marks are deliberate but softened by the feebleness of its maker's hand.

And of course, after meeting him, I appreciate the effort this man expended in his later years when most seniors are content watching soap operas and game shows. As makers, do we ever stop feeling compelled to produce works of beauty?  

I hope not.

sell this house: the final weeks

We're getting close to putting our house on the market, friends. Just a few final projects to complete.

We both have such mixed feelings about the situation – there are pros and cons to moving – so we've decided to list the house and see what happens. We'll make the best of the situation either way.

So for now, I'll continue to enjoy our little cozy light-filled home and tackle the project I've been dreading the most: reducing clutter.

I grew up in...

Available for purchase here.

shakin' it

Just another ordinary day in our little household...

project: sell this house - bathroom renovation COMPLETE

Ladies and gentlemen, we are finally finished with our mudroom/bathroom renovation project.

I present to you the view looking through the mudroom to the half bath. A shoe cabinet holds all our messy shoes we use performing yard duties and wooden hooks mounted above hold other accessories.

The image on the left is natural light while the one on the right shows the room when the light fixture is on. Admittedly, it was a surprise when we first flipped on the switch, but a happy accident we're thrilled about. When dark, the pattern is so strong it blankets the tiny room like wallpaper.

We special ordered the industrial floor tiles from Home Depot and arranged them in stripes to elongate the room instead of in the usual checker board pattern. These floor tiles come in a wide range of colors - you just have to ask your sales associate for swatches.
 

I was thrilled to finally hang my wooden bird hooks. I found the owl and parrot separately - one at a local thrift shop and the other in Austin - and painted them. When weight is applied to the hook, the wings lift up! Let me know if you ever see another because they could use one more to join their flock.



Here's the pocket door that separates the bathroom from the mudroom. It really came out more pink than the salmon/coral color I thought I had picked, but I'm dealing with it. A lemon yellow would make my day, but the thought of sanding and painting again turns my stomach.

 The mirror was discounted to twenty dollars at TJ Maxx and came in a faux rustic natural patina. Of course I painted it. Because I paint EVERYTHING. The light fixture above the sink is Martha Stewart and is from Home Depot.
 

Here are a few reminders of what the BEFORE looked like and the mess we had to deal with: BEFORE, THE DISCOVERY, and THE STARTING OVER.

What I originally thought would be a simple project turned into a year-long painful process. In total, the project could have been completed in a couple weeks, but balancing family, work, budget and fun time spread the project out longer than what Bobby would have liked, but we're thrilled with the result. We saved money on fixtures and materials, but we did have to hire a framer, plumber and electrician to build up the floor, fix the leaky plumbing which caused the mold and install new electrical lines. Bobby was able to install the drywall, beadboard, and doors/framing which saved us more money, but gave him more than a few headaches.

And in the end, our design choices have probably not made the house more sellable. We reached a point during the process where we abandoned the notion of fixing to sell, but turned it into a labor of love.

Norfolk prints and tote bags

Well, hi! Did you think I've given up on this little haven of craziness?

Since we last spoke, I went on a little joy ride selling the above print and tote bag at two local favorite shops: Studio Posy and Kitsch.

This little idea nugget had been swirling around in my brain for a couple years and I finally wrote it down last January when composing my list of resolutions. I worked on it occasionally during the summer months, but never felt any pressure to finish. So there it sat up until the middle of November and the realization was made that it was now or never.

I finished it and had the posters printed digitally at a local professional printer. Tote bags are hand-pulled by local screen printing extraordinaire Matt McKinney.

And just so you know, the print and tote bag are now available in my etsy shop.