This Old (Minneapolis) House

Wanted: Cool New Neighbor

Kassie — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 16:35:00 +0000

You know how, at the beginning of Mary Poppins, Jane and Michael put together their requirements for a new nanny?

[Spoken]
Wanted a nanny for two adorable children

[Sung]
If you want this choice position
Have a cheery disposition
Rosy cheeks, no warts!
Play games, all sort

You must be kind, you must be witty
Very sweet and fairly pretty
Take us on outings, give us treats
Sing songs, bring sweets

Never be cross or cruel
Never give us castor oil or gruel
Love us as a son and daughter
And never smell of barley water

If you won't scold and dominate us
We will never give you cause to hate us
We won't hide your spectacles
So you can't see
Put toads in your bed
Or pepper in your tea
Hurry, Nanny!
Many thanks
Sincerely,

Jane and Michael Banks

That's how I feel. The home immediately next door, in which we share two porches, is finally for sale. It has been vacant since before we moved in.

Wanted: A new neighbor for two adorable homeowners, and a dog.

Basically, we are pretty confident that if it sells, it will sell to someone a lot like the rest of us who live here. It takes a special type of person to want a 115 year old townhouse. At least, that's what we keep telling ourselves. We know that the woman we bought it from was totally goofy, but she is the exception that proves the rule, right?

That is, if it sells. The market sucks, and I think it is overpriced. While the inside is very nice, the outside needs some serious work. They seem to be just ignoring that.

So, please, please, please come check it out if you are interested (and a cool person). If you know someone who is interested, tell them. We will gladly talk to anyone and give them the real scoop on the place and the neighborhood.

Outstanding

Kassie — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 15:10:00 +0000

The weather was amazing on Tuesday. The sun was shining, the snow was melting, and kids were skateboarding in tee shirts.

I couldn't help but bring our lovely puppy out on a walk. He could sense the nice weather and couldn't wait to get outside. And since our tiny yard is covered in doggy doo-doo, we headed West.

We first ran into our lovely neighbor Marsha. She was outside getting her mail and we had a nice little conversation.

At Bryant, we ran into a man on a jog with his lab. Jeff and the lab became fast friends and the jogging man stopped to let them sniff each other.

On our return trip, two blocks in front of me I could see the unmistakable view of my brother and his wife walking toward me. They were out shopping. We talked to them for awhile also.

A couple blocks later, I ran into my friend Kris from college and her son and husband. I hadn't seen her in 7 years! I guess she is our new neighbor. Sweet.

It was so great to see the neighborhood out and enjoying the sweet, sweet weather.

coincidence? or: if at first you don't succeed...

nimbleboy — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:14:00 +0000

I rolled out of bed just before 4:00 this morning, let Jeff outside, gave him a snack, and sat down at my computer to check my email, etc.

Naturally, it's usually very quiet early in the morning. But right around 4:00, I heard a loud "WOOT! WOOT!" or "WOOP! WOOP!" outside on the street. I looked outside but did not see who was yelling. Kassie and Jeff heard it, too.

I went to the bathroom. Apparently, Kassie heard a loud sound that sounded like "someone hitting a dumpster."

A few minutes later, we heard sirens, and they stopped close to our house.

There's a small building at the end of the block across the street. It houses a Mexican bakery, a hip-hop clothing shop and an empty store. There's a really nice mural on the south end put up by our neighborhood in anticipation of the Wall Dogs coming this year. Here's a pic I stole from our neighbor Tisha.
The fire engines were in front of that building.
It didn't seem like it was a real big deal. The fire engines were there for about an hour. The firefighters had their speakers turned up loud; we could hear them through the window. Apparently, the fire hydrant at 34th and Nicollet needs to be fixed. Also, they may have said something about vandalism.

Anyway, I drove the 18 this morning, and the bakery was open when I drove by.

I got done driving and came home for a nap. I was asleep for about an hour when the sound of fire engines stopping nearby woke me up.

What the ???
This time it looked bad.

I guess the fire hydrant in front of our house works.
Metro Transit provided a bus for warmth, but I don't think anyone needed it.
I went to the doctor at around 1:15, and when I got home, there was one fire truck left on the scene. The street was still blocked off.

It's 4:30. I'm trying to get this post finished. And what's this?
Yes, they're back again. I don't know what's going on, but you can see a ladder on the front of the house next door to the burned-out building. I saw some firefighters go into the house.

It's a sad day in our 'hood. Kassie and I never got to try "the best pizza in town," which is what the Mexican bakery promised they made. That clothing store had its share of problems, but it sounds like they were finally doing pretty well. And the beautiful mural is probably history.

I hope they remember to put down some sand on those sidewalks or they're going to get a letter from the city...

In the papers:
Southwest Journal
Star Tribune

***Update: 8:00pm and they are still out there dumping water on the building. They have put up barricades on the streets. They seem to be in it for the long haul. -Kassie

***Update #2:
It's coming down.
It's too cold for me to get any more photos tonight. Maybe I'll see what it looks like in the morning.

I Fought the House

Kassie — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 16:11:00 +0000

...and the house won.

This fine morning I stepped outside to catch the bus, which I thought I was early for, to see people lining up at the stop. Clearly the bus was coming.

I quickly shut the door, and, well, I didn't shut it. The doorknob fell off, again. Panicking, I put the doorknob inside the house and tried to shut the door, but couldn't. (It was early; I don't think my best before 10:00.)

The bus went by, I had missed it, so I started to put the knob back on. I've done it a few times this week already. But it wouldn't go on. I think the threads are now stripped.

As I played around with it for a few minutes, another bus went by. Damn. It seems the bus I missed wasn't my bus, but the bus before running late.

Well, I ended up jamming the knob on. Who knows if it will stay? I ran/walked down to Lake Street, on unplowed sidewalks, to catch the 53. No big deal, but I was annoyed.

But, on the bright side, I had a much better morning than the guy sitting near me on my bus. He realized he didn't have his wallet in his pocket. Freaking out, he went through all his pockets, his bag, his suitcase (he was on the way to the airport) and the back of the bus. He called the coffee shop where he last was to see if they had it (they didn't.) Last I saw, he was getting off the bus to try to check out the bus stop where he caught the bus. He probably missed his flight. I feel really bad for him. That would be a terrible morning.

Disappointed

Kassie — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 03:09:00 +0000

When a not-so-great business closes, I always hope something awesome will go in. Awesome like a sushi restaurant, an upscale (but not too trendy) bar, or a stationary store.

The old Yukon was a club with a wide array of patrons: prostitutes, drug dealers, random locals, and transgendered Latinos. Not a place I was itching to hang out, though my brother liked it.

So, when it closed, I had high hopes. Wouldn't it be nice to have a bar, in walking distance, where we could watch the game, or hang out for a beer, or get a meal?

When I went by yesterday, my heart sunk. Someone put a furniture store in their. A stinkin' low end Lake Street furniture store. Like Lake Street, or this neighborhood, needs another furniture store. I just hope this one isn't another drug front...

Happy New Year

Kassie — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 02:13:00 +0000

As we were getting ready to have a few people over the tension was building. In a few hours, people were going to arrive and dinner wasn't even close to being ready. CJ was upstairs taking a shower and I was in the kitchen. I walked into the dining room, and noticed, it was raining... inside.

"CJ, CJ!!!"

"I can't hear you, I'm in the shower."

No crap he's in the shower, that's why it is raining in the dining room.

The crack to the right has always been there. The two right angle cracks are new.

Right, just what we needed when guests were coming. Or really ever.

It seems, when I was scrubbing the shower, I scrubbed a little too hard. As the caulking between the first and second row of tile came out, I thought, "who caulks tile? Shouldn't it be grouted?" Well, I guess the person who caulks tile is the one who doesn't like water in the dining room.

Anyway, it is fixed now, it just took a little caulk.

Well, happy New Year.

DONE(ish)

Kassie — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 04:29:00 +0000

It only took 11 1/2 months.
Pretty, isn't it?

One of the big things we did was all new trim. Getting around the windows wasn't easy, but "we" did it. Thanks Dad.

The biggest, biggest thing we did (aside from all new walls and ceiling and insulation) was making this entry much bigger.

We still need to decide exactly what we are doing with the fireplace. We know we want a simple mantle and to tile the rest, but we don't have anything picked out.

We also haven't picked up outlet covers yet.

We also haven't finished the entry way. We need to touch up the paint and new trim and paint all the old trim and door.
CJ is hanging some art. It is so nice to have art on the walls again.

It sure is pretty though. I'm so glad it is finally done.

Deep Breath In

Kassie — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 15:32:00 +0000

Here at TO(M)H, we have committed ourselves to hosting NYE. See, the TL has to work on NYD, so we want to stay home. But, we don't want to be alone, so NYE at our house it is.

We have a lot to do in the next couple days, but it seems it will have to be done by Monday.

Sooooo, we will be eating on a real table by next week. Goodbye TV trays.

Pictures soon, I promise.

FAIL!!!

Kassie — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 06:20:00 +0000

Truth be told, TO(M)H is really enjoying the season. That means not working on the house.

So what if we didn't meet our goal of having the house back to normal by Christmas Day? I watched the whole second season of Big Love in the last two days. I also managed to loose my glasses while playing with the dog in the park. THAT is a great weekend.

Anyway, Merry Christmas Eve from your friends at This Old (Minneapolis) House.

WOW!

Kassie — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 22:04:00 +0000

They said it couldn't be done. They said we would never finish. But we did. We finished painting the living room, entryway, and stairwell.

The living room is a pretty blue:

The entry way and stairwell are different colors of tan, very exciting:

Taking over 8 months to paint, Jeff is not impressed:
Little does he know, he will be losing his kennel soon.

We still need to put up the trim and do something with the fireplace, so we aren't quite done yet:

Hopefully we will have people over again by Christmas.

We would have finished a week sooner if we wouldn't have done this first:

Good thing we decided against that. This picture doesn't do the green justice, it was much more neon than this.

ART!

Kassie — Mon, 05 Nov 2007 01:18:00 +0000

CJ steals all my thunder with this post about our weekend.

Basically, we went to a cool housewarming party, met some local house bloggers, and bought some cool local art.

Goofy Dog

Kassie — Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:05:00 +0000

We Did Something

Kassie — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:56:00 +0000

Ta-da!
We started to trim in the living room. We didn't finish, but it was a start.

We saw, what I'm afraid is, our annual mouse. Well, we saw two, so it may be an infestation. Neither of us has seen any since, but we cleaned the hell out of the house. Well, the kitchen and TV room. The places with the food.

CJ also installed some shelves in the basement. We were able to move a ton of stuff from the kitchen to the basement, making room to actually store things. Unfortunately, the good dishes are still on top of the fridge. We really need to do something about that...

Hostages

Kassie — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 22:00:00 +0000

Those of us living in TO(M)H, and other parts of South Minneapolis, are being held hostage this weekend by a highway.

Yes, a highway.

See 35W is our main highway. This weekend it is closed. As in, totally unusable. As in, we aren't going anywhere. There's the bridge collapse to the North and they are closing down the highway starting a few blocks to the South.

I guess that means we will have to do some work on the house, or something...

amusing

nimbleboy — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 03:54:00 +0000

We got this from a reader. We were ready to let Mr. or Ms. Anonymous go, and I think lolcats are kind of dumb, but this did make us laugh a bit.

Thanks, Dave!

Neighborhood Stuff

Kassie — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:29:00 +0000

Last night was National Night Out. I had Lyndale Walker duty, meaning I put on my bright yellow hat and badge and walked around with another Walker. We visited a lot of block parties. Some had lots of kids, some had lots of adults, some had games. They were in yards and streets and parking lots. One even had the mayor. It was fun.

The best block party was the one I was invited to attend. It was the largest of all the parties. It had really great food, pinatas, karaoke, games, and tons of people. It was nice to see the diversity of the neighborhood represented.

Meanwhile, CJ and I joined the local gym. It is less than half a block away, which makes it really convenient. I've been swimming and CJ has been walking.

Scary

Kassie — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 02:54:00 +0000

This Old (Minneapolis) House is okay.

Puppy Pool

Kassie — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 02:51:00 +0000

Neighborhood News

Kassie — Tue, 31 Jul 2007 00:12:00 +0000

First and foremost, I haven't blogged in a while because nothing is really going on. It is hot. CJ has had weekends off, so we've been spending time with family and friends. It is summer, and we have been busy. All this equals us not working around the house, or even spending much time here.

But, somethings have happened. I was elected as President of our homeowners' association. CJ and I have been getting involved in the neighborhood Crime and Drug Committee through the Lyndale Neighborhood Association. I'm going to start being involved in that association too.

As part of the Crime and Drug Committee, I've joined the Lyndale Walkers. They are a group that walks around the neighborhood with bright yellow hats and badges trying to deter crime. I haven't actually gone on any walks yet, but I'm excited to be involved.

Today, the neighbor's gas was turned off. They had to tear up lawn to turn it off because they couldn't get into the house.

Afterward, it didn't look as bad as we thought it might.

In the end, they installed this thing.

They told me what the thing was and what they were doing, but I didn't understand exactly. I was just glad they didn't take down the fence.

Vacation Day One

Kassie — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:45:00 +0000

I've taken today and tomorrow off of work. The whole purpose is to work around the house. Today, I painted the ceilings in the living room and entry way. Since they are white, and the walls are primed white, pictures are no good. Soon, my dearies, soon there will be pictures of the completed rooms.

Meanwhile, here's my list of what I hope to be done by Monday:
1) Painting all the walls in the living room and all but one in the entry way.
2) Finishing the work outside on the flowerbeds.
3) Clean and organize the kitchen.

A lot of work, but I have high hopes.

Not Our Neighborhood

Kassie — Fri, 29 Jun 2007 01:50:00 +0000

As CJ and I waited for the bus after dinner tonight, we saw a man put his arm out his window and shoot at the car next to them. The car shooting went straight, the car shot at went left. We stood there stunned, again.

AGAIN!

This time, it wasn't in our neighborhood. It was close, but it wasn't ours. We called the police, but we didn't give a statement or anything. We just got on the next bus and came home. Unless someone is hurt, we probably won't hear about it again.

But, please Minneapolis, stop shooting guns near us. It gives me the creeps and shakes me up.

Year One

Kassie — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:11:00 +0000

One year ago today, we closed on the house. I moved in that day, CJ moved in a month later.

One year, and we still haven't painted the living room...

Fire In The 'Hood

Kassie — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 13:51:00 +0000

Two days ago, 4:30 am, we woke to this:

5:30am

6:30am

The house was destroyed. I wanted to take after photos, but the house was demolished by the time I got home from work. Completely gone.

There is a story here with video and here.

It is a really sad story. These are the neighbors we like and want to stick around. We met the artist who lived on the top floor at a neighborhood ice cream social recently. He lived there 20 years, and now he is not our neighbor. It is a sad story.

Primed

Kassie — Tue, 19 Jun 2007 01:18:00 +0000

Ha! Six hours and a gallon of sweat later, CJ and I got the living room and entry primed. That's two coats on the ceilings and walls. It only took four months, and for me to take a day off, for us go get motivated enough to start, but we did.

Oh, and we got the big air conditioner in upstairs too, with the help of Pete. Getting cool helped with the motivation too.

At Least It Is Something

Kassie — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:32:00 +0000

Did you know it is hot out? Actually, did you know it is hot inside? We did get the small air conditioner in the bedroom, but the big one is still in the basement. Anyone want to help put it in?

Meanwhile, the yard is really shaping up. After my mom scolded me, I moved the Hostas to the shade and replaced them with Daylillies. We also have two flower boxes out front and a small container garden. The garden has tomatoes, peppers, mint, and basil. I'm excited.

The yard was mowed and the poop picked up. So, I guess we made some progress this week, just none inside. We kind of suck.