Andy Friedl.com

I have to make one of these now.

How to make a Tyvek wallet out of a FedEx envelope | Wonder How To.

This is my scratched up grunge desktop wallpaper. Just thought I’d archive it here.

The dinning room was the first rooms we worked on when we moved in, in 2000. The first layer was vinyl 80’s country and the next layer seemed to be a paper based 60’s era. The later was really easy to remove. The walls must have been papered when it was new. When I removed the last layer you could see plaster with grit and short random hair embedded within. There were also layout lines in pencil that I had got used to seeing until I started scraping near the kitchen door. I really had to take it easy when I was pealing away the water soaked paper. The pencil could have been scrubbed off if I wasn’t careful. After checking it out we saw it was clear it was signed by the installer after each install. They obviously stripped the old layer as they would add a new one. Very professional! I couldn’t see painting over it so I sprayed it with clear polyethylene and picture framed around it.

The oldest signature was August 2nd 1934. It was by far the most elaborate. It features an artist pallet with the words Union Job above. There is also a drawing of a man with a mustache and a derby hat. Maybe the installer?

The next newest was called the 2nd edition. May 15 1942 says “it’s still a union job”. 3rd Edition was signed January 15 1955.

The latest date was October 1961 and says the new order has arrived.

We also found one more spot of graffiti on the stair wall. I only painted around this area and clear coated it. Planning to do a better job later. Maybe some day.  This provided details about the current events of the day. The top part, as far as I can tell, is eligible. What I can make out is the middile and it says… “28 straight days of bombing over Germany to the low country”

Below that says…
“Repapered by GW Brown
March 23rd 1955 “eligible”
6 inches of snow on the land
came the 1st day of spring “eligible”
big drifts “eligible” we are really
isolated”

If you can read any of the eligible words or have a guess please leave a comment!

With it being winter we hear ” I want to put on my glubs”

Translation:

Glubs = Gloves

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I play the be-corder?

Translation:

be-corder = recorder

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“I love meow meow. Her name is Ga’loris.” Anna said. “It’s Delores” Dad corrected. “Ok, Ok, De-Ga-loris”  says Anna.

Translation:

Ga’loris = Delores

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“Daddy, carry you?” Anna asks. “No, no, sweetie, it’s carry me” Dad corrected. “Ok, carry me,you?”  Anna replies.

Translation:

carry you = carry me

Our old home in Beloit WI was built in 1900 and has had a few slight modifications to the layout.  One that bothered me is one of the two doorways in our foyer was closed off.  Not a big deal but it bugged me. It also made the foyer dark and confining, not very welcoming. The old wallpaper didn’t help either. I had ideas of opening it up for a while but opening it up would take up wall space in our music room beyond. So the idea I came up with is make it a window. Then you get the benefit of openness and not take up the wall space in the music room. I have a habit of rescuing old doors and windows on trash day. If I see an old door or cool old window it has to come home with me. I found this really cool window about eight years ago. it was the upper window of a double hung window that had old wavy glass in it.

First part and the fun part was opening up the wall. Since it was originally a doorway I didn’t have to worry about structural issues. The framing was just to support the drywall so I could cut the studs and install a nailer for the header and sill.

Test fitted the window and it looked good. It unfortunately stayed like this for a few months. This was the easy part trying to trim it out to match the rest of the old window trim was going to be hard. In the picture above you can see the window latch from the old window.

Finally figured out how to trim out the window. It is about 97% correct to the original windows. Most people wouldn’t notice what is off. I found baseboard molding that matched the profile and used other blank stock to trim it out. I had to mill my own sills with a table saw and sandpaper. I wish I had a router to do that. There were many trips to the garage to trim off a 1/16″ check it and trim off a 1/16″ more… Pre-drilled all the nails. Primed filled all cracks with caulk and finish painted. I also had time to strip the wallpaper in the foyer which also received a new light fixture.

The final result worked out nice. From the street you can see the window and with the lights on at night it looks very warm and cozy. Maybe the neighbor that used to own this window will see it reborn with a new life to live on for many more years.