Adele had recently read an article stating that certain successful people claimed they owed their success to having the spelling of their names changed by numerologists so that the numbers that went with the letters were lucky for them. An…
CATEGORY: MRS. ANDERSON In late May, 1972, Bob and I took a canoe trip on the Owyhee Reservoir in southeastern Oregon. I had seen pictures of the Owyhee River and the Grand Canyon-like country surrounding it and I was excited…
When Bob and I were hiking at high elevations, we would sometimes hear a long, high wailing sound.
I just celebrated my 40th birthday and I am now in feverish anticipation waiting for life to begin.
At one point, laboriously catching up with him as he sat waiting, I said, “I can’t even pedal this bike down hill.” He looked at my red, sweating face and got serious.
We were tootling along through North Dakota when up ahead in the distance we saw a black and white Holstein cow standing on the top of a hill. I got a dizzy feeling. It must be an optical illusion: either…
While we were there the snow melted completely. Around every tree on every block was a doughnut of dog poop.
Minneapolis is one of the world’s great cities. Its early designers had a feeling for the prairie and for open green spaces. The city site is blessed with the Mississippi River on its east. A north-south row of lakes on the…
Having access to great gobs of prairie wheat and other produce, Minneapolis started right out cashing in. It ended up having the world’s largest flour mills and food preservation plants—think Pillsbury—think General Foods. From the beginning, that wealth purchased some…
CATEGORY: MRS. ANDERSON PHOTO: COLWELL'S HOUSE This photo is a flyer from Restore Oregon, highlighting the Colwell House in Lake Oswego, Oregon. The text reads: "STILT HOUSES - With buildable lots becoming more scarce and costly, Bailey began to develop a…
He obediently sat down on the equally grimy chair, and as he sipped his coffee the view straight ahead was of a wall on which was nailed a flat mouse and a flat cat. Both had been long dead and…
At some point in time Bob started doing sculptures. They were all very unusual. My favorite one was entitled THE SHRINE OF THE LAST SALMON. It has approximately 750 dimes for salmon scales.
CATEGORY: MRS. ANDERSON PHOTO: BOB WITH ARCHIPELAGO A card that Bob made. The large heart says, "CALICO CATS ARE BROWN BLACK AND WHITE, CALICO CATS ARE RATHER SMALL, CALICO CATS ARE MERRY AND BRIGHT, AND PLEASANT TO HEAR WHEN THEY…
Charles was a chiropractic student whom I met when I was living in Portland. I was having problems with my back and neck and went to the chiropractic college for inexpensive treatments. He was sharing a rented house with three…
Shortly after our marriage, Bob thought it would be a good idea to buy a house in Port Townsend.
After the whole thing was gutted, Bob said with a grin of satisfaction, “NOBODY is gonna rent this house now!” Things were looking up! It was time for remodeling.
Bob and I had already decided that when we did start remodeling, the first step would be to add a basement, so after removing the east section of the porch, a basement was the next step.
One interesting thing that happened during the basement construction was that the old plumbing waste line wasn’t deep enough to service the basement, so a new one was required. To do this, there had to be a new deeper ditch…
We called the city utility office and asked if they knew where our water line was. They said that they would send someone over.
As soon as the basement walls were completed and the basement floor slab poured, with the bathroom still suspended in space off the kitchen, I added two new bathrooms: one in the walk-in closet adjoining the master bedroom, and the…
I like big porches so I didn’t attempt to restore the original porch.
Kitchens and their related spaces have always been my favorite part of a house.
In the early years I couldn’t afford to build the inglenook of my design, but I wanted a fireplace in the kitchen, so I installed a metal “unit” fireplace across the northwest corner.
There is a story about the fireplace tile.
When I put the stairway to the basement inside the original back porch, there was about two feet of space remaining between it and the kitchen wall. I decided to use it as a bar opening into the kitchen.
CATEGORY: PORT TOWNSEND HOUSEPHOTOS: FINISHED INGLENOOK AND INGLENOOK CONSTRUCTION LOOKING STRAIGHT INTO THE INGLENOOK As stated before, I turned the original six foot wide back porch into a kitchen inglenook with a fireplace in the middle and upholstered sofas on…
I had not supported the roof because the porch was in a corner and I assumed the end roof joist was nailed to the side of the house.
Clif performed another helpful miracle.
The only base cabinets I wanted in my new kitchen were across the east end of the kitchen. They were made of cedar and had antique details.
After finishing the kitchen, I replaced the original walls in the living part of the house so the entry hall, dining room and parlor were restored.