This Little Old House
March 17, 2007
For years many of you have heard Liz and I talk about the ‘little old house’ we were fixing up in Crescent City. Last year we completed the restoration (kind of), sold our big house in Orlando and moved permanently to Crescent City.
To illustrate our progress I have assembled a series of ‘before and after’ shots of our little house.
All in all, we spent almost ten years renovating the little house as it was to become our home-base retirement address. There is probably not one inch of the house that we did not fix, change or demolish.
Structurally, the house was remarkably in pretty good condition, although many leaks in the roof had caused ceiling and wall plaster to disintegrate beyond repair.
The little house originally was built in 1928, and was constructed from ‘heart of pine’, most likely cut and milled nearby. 
The exterior had many boards that needed to be replaced, and overall, the lack of painting over the years had caused what little paint that had been on the clapboards to peel down to original wood. Wiring and plumbing was not up to any code, and most likely had not been changed since they were installed some time in the 40’s. 
I was still at Disney at the time we bought the house and first started renovations. As I worked on it, I found myself thinking that while the workmen were sawing and hammering this Florida cracker house together in 1928, at the same time in California, Walt was making ‘Steamboat Willie’, the first Mickey animation.
AFTER
Liz is resposible for most of the color selections…Paul for most of the manual labor.
(above) Parlor with imported ‘window coverings’ (It’s a private joke we will tell you someday!) (below) Den/Paul’s Office
Liz’s ‘Full-Kitchen’-No more washing dishes in the Garage, although we still like to occasionally cook on the old gas stove outside, so we don’t loose such primitive skills to modernization!
No ‘Out-house’ here. This is a real bathroom with hot running water and everything.
Our favorite spot in the house…the Front Porch.
Informal Dining Room
Our This Little, Old House ‘Mascot’
Sun rising…
Come by and see us sometime for a personal tour-it only takes 7 minutes!
Winter in Ludlow
January 19, 2007
Hello world!
We have been traveling in the frozen North since December 29th. After spending a week in the Ohio Amish country we arrived in Ludlow, Vermont to visit Liz’s brother, Roger and his wife, Lynne on Saturday, January 13th. It took the ol’ four-wheel drive to go the three mile drive up the mountain to get to their house. It was easy, just turn at the only traffic light in town.
James and his girlfriend, Ellie, arrived late that night. It was a full house with all 7 of us here until Tuesday night.
Outdoor activities included hiking on the snowy, icy roads and in the woods; sledding down the hill in their front yard; gathering and splitting wood; taking video and digital-stills; and barbecuing on the frozen front porch. We had left a bottle of wine on the porch which popped its cork (lesson: don’t use wine for antifreeze in your car)!
Indoor activities included relaxing by the non-stop blazing fire in the new stone fireplace while playing an assortment of games such as Phase 10, Uno, Scrabble, Rummikub, Solitaire and Dominoes; playing “World of Warcraft” and doing other assorted computer activities.
WE ALSO ATE A LOT OF FOOD!!
But most of all, we had a great time visiting!
We have enjoyed the fabulous weather that arrived the same night that we did. We had it all – snow flurries, snow showers, rain, sleet, frozen rain; sunny days, cloudy days and windy days too. Temperatures ranged from highs in the 30’s to lows of -10, with temps. averaging in the teens and 20’s. 
Highlights of ‘day-trips’ included Weston, Vermont where we had lunch at the Bryant House, then shopped at the Vermont Country Store where Liz made her usual impression.
We drove two hours for dinner at Silo’s Steakhouse and two hours back in sub-freezing weather, to meet Ellen and her husband, Doug for dinner in Merrimack, NH. A total of 9 people enjoyed fellowship and great food. After dinner James and Ellie had to drive back to Conn. late that night for a family emergency (Ellie’s dad). 
The week was capped by an elegant meal with the four of us (Paul, Liz, Roger and Lynne) at ‘The Castle’ for a fabulous, unforgettable dining experience. Our waitress, Mindy will be opening up her own restaurant, ‘Urban Café’ in
Quechee, VT. We will be on our way to visit friends in Connecticut. We hope to see James and Ellie too. From there we will track back southward through Georgia where we hope to meet more family and friends.We should arrive back soon after, in hopes that there is something left of our old homestead.
It was another overall wonderful traveling adventure.
