New Hampshire – Page 6 – New England's Narrow Road

Getting Ready for the Winter Season

I can barely bring myself to say “winter” these days. I guess we are all a bit like that – unless you were unscathed by last year’s horrible weather. The chore of changing over to the cold season never ceases to amaze me. Apparently my mind shut down after dealing with last February’s difficulties because I couldn’t find half of the winter clothing I thought I had.

It’s true that I had half been planning to move, so de-cluttering was on my mind in spring. The first things to go, when moving from the northeast to the deep south, would be heavy winter clothes. I am not a clothes hound by any means, but there is something about coats that attract me. I found myself with far too many of them, so they went to Goodwill. I only kept the 4 or 5 that I really love and do wear often. Most are only good for the cooler fall days, and one is my heavy, hooded winter coat.

Somewhere along the way, I inadvertently disposed of my son’s only winter coat. It is nowhere. So I had to splurge and buy him a new one. It had no hood, and he really needs a coat with a hood anyway. And even though we plan to only spend one more winter here, my son needed good mittens too. Mittens are one thing I never needed when living in Florida!

This past weekend I got out the snowblower (another nasty word I hate to speak out loud) and started it just to make sure I could. I’ll have to fill the gas can soon. Add it to the to-do list.

This year I will fill my metal bucket with sand before the weather gets bad. The town I live in offers free sand to it’s residents, which I only found out about last year. But getting it, is another story. I’m not exactly super-woman when it comes to strength. My son will have to do the lifting out of the car.

Thanks to the yard sale a year ago, my basement is very sparse. All it will take is a little organizing and it will make me happy to go down there. I still have far too many holiday decorations, so those must go to the swap shop soon. Lightening the load always makes me feel good.

By the way, if you plan to view the foliage here in northern New England, you’d better do it soon. It should be looking good for the next week or two, but there are no guarantees after that. I’m taking my camera out this week. The weather is going to be wonderful. Norway Hill apple orchard, here I come!

My Bathroom Fixer Upper, Before and After

bathroom renovation before — My Bathroom Before

I sometimes watch the show Fixer Upper with Jo and Chip, and it always amazes me at how much they can do in such a short amount of time. Of course they don’t do it alone, they have lots of help. It’s a tv show. The houses are so affordable, and they end up looking so darn nice – it almost makes me want to move to Texas. Almost.

Jo’s tagline is “are you brave enough to take on a fixer upper?” And my answer to that is, “Did I have a choice?” Not only did I buy a fixer upper, but like those of us living in the real world, I had no team of contractors (or a handyman husband) to make the fixes. And, I had to live in the disgusting house while the work was slowly completed as I had the money to hire people to fix it. I did what was most necessary, one job at a time. I lived in a cold and leaky house and was just happy to finally have my own home.

This summer I had my own little bathroom renovation done. My daughter’s boyfriend is a carpenter, and he suggested putting beadboard on my bathroom walls. As you can see from the before photos the walls had ugly paneling on the lower half. This is nowhere near being a big bathroom renovation, but it’s an example of what a big difference a small change can make.

The wall next to the toilet was covered with duct tape (that was my own handy fix!) after the plumber had to cut it to access the tub / shower plumbing right after I moved in. There was old, gold and white tile on the walls behind the paneling. That big green shelf came with the house. In fact my house had an all-over, dark green and bright yellow palette. Hideous!
As you can see, the bathroom needed help in the worst way. (By the way, I’d already had the tub re-finished after I moved in. Talk about disgusting.)

bathroom before and after pictures — Modern beadboard replaces the ugly paneling, and a new shelf provides storage.

Scott did a wonderful job on my bathroom walls. He had to remove the toilet for the weeks it took to finish the project. He even took off the heater and stripped off the layers of gross paint, and I then repainted it white. As the beadboard went up, and the new trim was added, I painted it. My daughter and I painted the upper part of the walls a pretty blue color. Then I painted a little bookcase to put next to the sink as additional storage for towels. As you can see, the green shelf is gone. It’s been replaced with an over-the-toilet shelf that was in the upstairs bathroom.

The bathroom is not done yet. Soon it will have a brand new window! Then I will put up a new window shade and my bathroom fixer upper will be complete. It’s not perfect, but it’s so much better than what it was.

Yes, Jo, I am brave enough.

bathroom renovation before and after — New beadboard, blue paint, and towel & tp holder, gave my bathroom a cleaner look.

Repurposing My Little Heart Bookcase

I’ve had this unpainted bookcase for years. The carved hearts in the sides give it a unique look. Recently it was used in my kitchen as a place to put the phone and store cookbooks.

unpainted furniture — Bookcase Before Paint

When I had my bathroom walls re-done I couldn’t afford to buy a new vanity. The bathroom is so small, that a large vanity wouldn’t work, but I wanted storage space.

I decided that the heart bookshelf was the right size for the job, but it would have to be painted white to look nice in the bathroom. Since my daughter and I had been painting walls this spring, I had some leftover paint and I put a couple coats on the bookcase.

bookshelf bookcase painted white — Bookcase Painted White

I began painting outside on my deck, but the bugs kept getting into the paint so I moved indoors to finish the job. Luckily I have a big, open kitchen where I could let the shelves dry between coats of paint.

Now this pretty little white shelf is part of my new bathroom, and it’s the perfect place to store towels and act as a little counter next to the sink.

The Winter From a Frozen Hell

winter snow 2015 — Freezing temps. and tons of snow – in one month – make this one of the worst winters ever.

I’ve lived in New Hampshire since 2005. Not very long compared to many residents, but no winter has bothered me like this one. Maybe I’ve just forgotten the problems that winter brings to a run down house that still needs a lot of fixing, but this year has given me nightmares. I don’t think I am alone.

Once February began, we got snow. And then more snow. And on and on it’s gone. The kids are always home from school. Roofs are caving in, and the temps. start out below zero nearly every day. When it hits 15 degrees we are thinking it’s balmy! On the bright side, I’ve become an expert with the snowblower.

I was doing well and getting my house in order. Much of the siding had been replaced, and the front has all new windows. I’ve invested a lot of money. Then, unexpected personal problems came into my life and my savings evaporated. I wanted to replace the siding on the back of the house so I wouldn’t have to spend another winter frozen in my kitchen. And now I’ve discovered the hard way that I desperately need a new roof!

winter bird feeder — Feeding Birds in Deep Snow

But it was not to be. There was no money, and as the winter approached, I knew it would be a cold winter inside my home once again. At least the living room and my office are not too bad. But money is still tight and the thermostat is kept at 65 most of the time. The leaky roof has made me switch gears and instead of siding, I will need to save for a new roof.

At least I am not living outside like the wildlife. I always wonder how they make it in such unbearable cold. And it’s been horribly cold all of February. I don’t see deer tracks in the yard now, as the snow is probably too deep for them to walk. I imagine they stay to the woods. I can only get around by shoveling a path or wearing snowshoes.

The other day a robin was outside my window eating something off my burning bush. A robin? Aren’t they spring birds? It was below zero, and there is no place to find worms this time of year. I’ll have to look that one up. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a winter robin before.

I know I need a new roof and all the snow we’ve had was making me worry. I finally hired 2 guys to shovel off the roof, but that brought new problems. All that roof snow goes somewhere on the ground and must be shoveled. The guys did snowblow by the front door (see photo below) but now I have tons of snow all around the base of my house. I can’t get out of the basement or the front door and the deck is mostly covered except for a path I made so I could bring in wood for the stove.

winter snow piles — The Roof is Shoveled

It seems that winter is dragging on forever. I think we will all be grateful for temps over 20, and we are praying for no rain and a slow melt… please. But any day it doesn’t snow is a relatively good day at this point.