I complain about this place pretty often, but the truth is there’s plenty to love about Central New York. Like, for instance, the beautiful and historic town of Ithaca – home to a great non-profit salvage store, the Ithaca Hour currency system, and as of a few months ago my brother Cody.
Whenever I get bored with our little town, in about an hour I can be dipping my toes in this waterfall:
It’s hard to tell from this photo, but Ithaca Falls is very big and impressive in person. For reference, you can just barely see a person standing in the lower-right.
This is one of many waterfalls in and around Ithaca. The city is famous for its gorges and it’s Ivy League tenant, Cornell. (Every time I think of Cornell, I think of Andy Bernard singing acapella with Here Comes Treble and it makes me giggle a little.) The Cornell campus is truly amazing – it’s in the middle of the gorges and surrounded by the most beautiful landscape imaginable. It’s also very hilly; you could easily avoid the Freshman 15 just walking to class and back.
Cody and his lady showed me around their new hometown, and then they let me pet the goats that live in their backyard. Yep, goats. 3 of them in fact. This is very “Ithaca”… it’s a quirky town, in a good way. They also have a doggy obstacle course. Both the course and the goats owned by the landlords, who must be interesting people.
We’ll be visiting again soon – now that the leaves are starting to change, my camera keeps whispering to me about a photo shoot.
When we got a letter in the mail telling us to sign-up online for our NYS Middle-Class Star Rebate, a property tax relief program, I marched straight to my laptop to fill out the form. I mean, how often does the government throw us a bone and admit that maybe, just maybe, New York State property taxes are ridiculously high for all us regular peeps.
I was shocked when our check, in the amount of $401.62, came less than 2 weeks later. Hooray for online registration, which made the whole process very speedy. The money is going straight to the credit card debt we racked up during our last round of home improvements, so it’s not TOO exciting…. but making a nice big payment on a looming debt does have it’s thrills.
If you’re a NYS property owner eligible for the rebate, you should have received your letter in the mail. Think you might have thrown it out? Check the mailing schedule for dates: http://www.tax.state.ny.us/star/2007/mailing_schedule.htm
You must apply by November 30th, but why wait? The online application took all of 5 minutes.
Learn more about the program and apply for your rebate here: http://www.tax.state.ny.us/star/2007/
Anyone close to me knows I have a real thing for dinosaurs. Blame it on the Advanced Dinosaur class I took while at RPI – a stellar science elective. Definitely more interesting than Geology or The Physics of Computing.
So if I ever win the lotto and can afford cool wallpaper, I’m doing a “feature wall” in this lovely number from Walnut Wallpapers:
I love how soft and subtle it is… folks would hardly notice what a geek you were.
They have other offerings that are more traditional, including this cool paisley swirl applied very stylishly to a high ceiling:
For a gallery full of cool papers, visit Walnut Wallpaper’s website: http://www.walnutwallpaper.com/
I can’t live in my world of denial any longer…. it’s fall here in Central New York. The leaves are turning. Mornings are frigid. Fresh apple cider and craft fairs abound. It’s my favorite time of year, but with fall comes the threat of winter and a list of chores that prepare our house for the onslaught of snow and ice.
One of our pre-winter rituals is adding insulation to the house. When we bought the place, it was an energy There was some old blown-in in the attic and a few thin bats in the downstairs bathroom. That is all we have found thus far. For a 2,200 square foot house, that was pretty scary. You should have seen our first gas bills! The previous owner’s were apparently using one of those stand-alone propane heaters to keep the place warm, so when we saw their utility bills (which we asked for prior to buying) they looked deceptively reasonable.
The first year here, we ran around with “Great Stuff” (expandable foam in a can) and caulk filling as many cracks and gaps as we could. We insulated the pipes and hot water heater, and put rolled fiberglass insulation in strategic spots throughout the basement. We also fixed most of the big holes in our living room walls, since you could feel the wind blowing right through them from a few feet away. This was about all we could get to because we bought the house in November.
The next year, we had started major demolition on the kitchen, so nice thick r-22 batting went in every wall and r-38 went in the ceilings. We fixed some broken windows and added piecemeal insulating throughout the basement, a few crawl spaces, and the attic. This made a difference in our utility bills, but not a huge one.
Last fall, our most ambitious, we chose to use blown-in insulation on the coldest sides of the house and a few needy ceilings. A messy and tiresome project, but well worth it. We also gutted about half of the upstairs, so those walls and ceilings are newly insulated.
Because of our yearly efforts, we managed to cut our energy bill by over 50% – from over $430 a month in fall 2004 to less than $200 a month in fall of 2007 – and that reduction doesn’t even factor in the rising gas prices. (Note: We are signed up for National Grid’s “budget plan”, so we pay the same amount all year round whether it’s hot or cold. This keeps us from vomiting when we open a bill in February!)
This year could be even better, since gas is a wee bit cheaper than last year. If we can find any motivation, we might do some more blown-in. That seemed to make the biggest impact on our bill, and it’s very cost-effective. All the little efforts really do add up, and it’s fun to see our budget payment amount keep dropping every few months.
Looking to chop your own energy bills? Here are a few posts you might be interested in:
If you’re picky about color, it pays to “testdrive” a few different selections before you slap something on the wall. If you don’t, you just might end up painting the same room twice. Or, if you’re super anal, three times. Hypothetically speaking of course.
Every paint site seems to have their own tool, some more sophisticated than others. But not too many let you use your own photos, so it’s more of a “hey, that’d look good in this room that looks a teeny bit like my room, if you squint and tilt your head” scenario. But Behr’s newest tool, Paint Your Place, lets you upload your own photos. For $4.95 a year, you get unlimited access. It’s not free, but it’s not going to break your budget and that’s far cheaper than an extra gallon of primer to cover up the color you thought you liked.
This is great for those who want a good visual before they commit, but aren’t great with Photoshop mockups. Plus, once you hit on some combos you like you can order color swatches and 8-ounce paint samples for home delivery. Handy!
If you’re planning on painting anytime soon, you might be interested in our helpful Painting Tips post as well.
My friend Joe and I were walking around town the other day, snapping pics of my lovely little neighborhood. We just happened to notice this crazy old air conditioning unit outside of an apartment building on our main street. It sits upon two extra-strength, extra-fancy brackets – and as you can see, it’s a battle of old vs. new out there.
Here is a closeup:
I thought it was pretty interesting because the bracket and platform seem very old – and the air conditioner (if that’s what it is) does too. So I started Googling, and found that the first modern air conditioner was invented in 1902 by Willis Carrier. Then a little light went off in my head. Syracuse (20-30 minutes from where we live) is home to the Carrier Corporation, the world’s largest air conditioning manufacturer. And yes, the company is named after that Carrier. In fact, the University’s large athletic stadium is named after the company – you might have seen our football team lose 42-12 in it last week. Sigh…. Anyway, they didn’t sell residential models until the 50’s so it’s probably not as old as the brackets imply – but I bet if I could get up there, I’d see the Carrier name on it somewhere!
TA-DA!
A great and powerful light should be shining out from within that closet, because this is truly a hallelujah-worthy moment. We have a closet in the master bedroom! No more running from room to room to find my clothes.
(Note to Dad – that’s Cody’s flag up there, he left it at our house. Ours is proudly displayed! Note to readers – my Dad made a series of cool folky flags from salvaged wood and copper. How cool is that?)
I mentioned a few posts back that we were adding another closet. The first closet went into our craft/laundry room and was filled up within seconds so I couldn’t wait to add another. Old houses are notorious for having no storage, but I think we’re doing pretty good nowadays. Between the two new closets and the kitchen pantry we added a few years ago, we’ve actually got storage space to spare.
I was a bad documenter this time around. I didn’t take a single pic of this as it was being built. Shame on me. I think what’s happened is that I’ve grown so used to construction, it doesn’t amaze me anymore. I used to thrill at the sight of simple things – a new light switch, a doorknob, a fresh coat of paint. Now even big things like a framed up closet seem, well, common place. So much so that I don’t even remember to take photos of our progress. Sorry :(
Here is the closet head-on. We plan to trim out the opening eventually, and I’d like to switch out the knobs for something prettier. We went with the “upscale” bifolds that come pre-painted in white. I wanted the shutter-style, and couldn’t imagine trying to paint them myself. Well worth the extra money I think.
It’s not a gorgeous hardwood built-in, but it’s lovable nonetheless. ;)
When one stops mowing due to no-motivation-syndrome, marvelous things can happen. Your neighbors might despise you, but beautiful things will pop up all over your yard. Use this as an excuse to put off weed-whacking for a few more days:
Whatever that thing is, it’s cool – and about 4 feet tall at the moment. Kinda makes me want to throw out some native grass seeds, pack up the mower, and see what happens! Too bad there’s a town ordinance against that…….
I’m always drooling over Anthropologie’s feminine-and-antiquey-cool array of goods, from shirts to sofas. I’m pretty sure every female my age has a crush on that store, whether or not it exists in their city/state/universe. The closest one to us is in NYC, a 5+ hour drive, but the online shop is always open for window shopping. I visit the site often because they’re good at enticing me with pretty e-mail blasts and even prettier catalogs. As I browse, sad little sighs escape every so often over the fact that the prices are way out of our league.
But you know what makes me feel better? Seeing something like their Amelie couch, which sells for $2,898.00 plus $250.00 shipping and isn’t nearly as cool as our 1890’s parlor settee. The settee we payed $175 for at the Brimfield Antique Show last summer. Ours has much lovelier curves, a great patina, and all those buttons… it makes the Amelie pale in comparison.
See for yourselves. Here’s the $2,898.00 Amelie Couch:
And here’s our $175.00 version:
Even if we decided to upholster it with some fancy-schmancy fabric, it still wouldn’t cost us nearly as much as Anthropologie’s couch. And as an antique, it will continue to grow in value (unless one of the dogs decides to ruin it.) Every time I look at it, I remember how excited I was to find out we could actually afford it. After a full day of walking from tent to tent at Brimfield (an overwhelming experience, if you’ve never been), we had finally found something that was perfect for us and we were totally thrilled.
We decided a few years ago that we’d buy antique vs. reproduction furniture whenever we could because the prices tend to be comparable, and the real thing is always nicer looking. So… for everyone out there who can’t afford a $2,000 upholstered chair, don’t fret. Just hit the festivals and flea markets and keep your eyes peeled. This year’s fall show at Brimfield is September 4-9, and if you’ve never been I highly recommend it.
That said, if you absolutely have to have an Anthropologie piece, they’re 25% off right now ;)
Got about eight trillion hours to spend clicking around on the internet? Then do I have a game for you – Mansion Impossible. Go flip the little houses while the market is up to build wealth. So simple, so additive.
 http://3form.net/mansion_impossible/
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