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- Come On Down!!!
You're the next contestant on the Erwin House Guess Our Massive August Electric... - Flipping Out
Technically speaking, I am not against flipping. David and I have posted about it before,... - Happy Father's Day Indeed!
Baby Erwin was born at home, 4:27am Saturday June 17th, 2006. 8 pounds 3 ounces (give...
- Come On Down!!!
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Bloggity Blog
Feb
16
2006
3The video card on Christiane's laptop blew a gasket last night. It leaked electrons everywhere. We're still cleaning up the mess. Really, the screen went random, then white, then did this thing where it faded to black from the edges like burning film in a Nine Inch Nails video. If I had seen it in a movie I would have thought,...
Feb
21
2006
0Thanks to our lovely neighbors (and our contractor and site supervisor) for joining us this evening. I think we learned a great deal, too, and we are so pleased to see the direction this neighborhood is going in.
If you were unable to join us this evening, feel free to leave a comment with any questions or concerns.
We...
Feb
28
2006
2
One thing I did not expect during this project was the rash of petty crimes. Potty borrowing, dumpster borrowing, peeing with the lid down, raccoons in the toilet, shyster tree trimmers (not Ryan, Ryan's cool), and last night our Port-a-Potty was tipped. Exactly how bored do you have to be to push over a Port-a-Potty?
Feb
28
2006
0Dear Tile Guy,
I regret to inform you that I could not convince my husband to install hard tile flooring in the kitchen and dining areas. I have amazing persuasion skills, yet he was unmoved. I promise to give it one more go at the last minute on your behalf, but don't hold your breath.
Nevertheless, we are looking forward...
Mar
8
2006
0The Onion has a groundbreaking article on a new disease that is terrorizing our nation:
"At present, the IKEA epidemic is mostly limited to the coasts, but if the populace isn't educated about the very real aesthetic dangers of IKEA, more lifestyles will be lost all across the nation," Greeves said. "Just last week, we received...
Mar
14
2006
4Weldue Feuerbacher May 9 , 1951
This signature and date were on the floor under cabinets. (put your mouse on the image to see my tracing of the lines.) I'm pretty sure about Feuerbacher. Ancestry.com shows a concentration of them in Texas in 1920. But I don't know about the first name. Weldue? Weldese? Our house was built...
Mar
22
2006
0Our internet has been down at the house for two days. Grande was sending our bills to the wrong address. And now they must punish us. Hopefully they will send apology flowers and have us back online today.
Apr
1
2006
3
Our shed roof
Originally uploaded by daviderwin.
Our kids each have their own way of dealing with the renovation. Our eldest is fascinated with the nuts and bolts of it all--he's always had a head for engineering. He likes to write books about the experience and talk about the things that change on a daily basis.
Our...
Apr
10
2006
0I feel obliged to post something briefly about not posting, if that makes any sense. I've been feeling pretty crummy lately, end of the pregnancy aches and pains and all that, and sitting at the computer for too long really stresses out my hips and back. Plus, I've been spending what energy I do have running errands and doing...
Apr
18
2006
0Come on, Austinites! Treehugger has asked, "What is so great about Austin?" I've sent them my A+ list, now it is your turn to send them yours :)
Apr
22
2006
0One of the fellows working on the house is deaf. I haven't seen anyone use sign language on the site. They just get by with a lot of pointing and lip reading. This apparently works for almost every type of communication they need, except what to do for lunch. For this they write notes on the walls and studs.
There is also...
May
8
2006
0(from Saturday night, off-line)
A thunderstorm knocked out our power on Thursday night. I was telling Christiane a story about my old Buick backfiring. At the precise moment I clapped my hands and said "bang!" the power went out. Two more thunderstorms have come through, each delaying repairs and causing even more outages....
May
16
2006
0As we hit the pre-inspection mode, we started to accumulate advertisements inside the house. Business cards and flyers were nailed, screwed, and stapled to various studs inside the house.
I guess normally, a house at this state would belong to a builder, and they may be interested in hiring eager sub-contractors. But this...
Jun
18
2006
15Baby Erwin was born at home, 4:27am Saturday June 17th, 2006. 8 pounds 3 ounces (give or take an ounce of squirming on the scale.) 20 inches long. She and Christiane are doing well and finally getting some rest. She is all kinds of cute, and we are super-happy.
Jul
20
2006
8
Yesterday we lost our dear lissi. She was 14 years old, not as tough as she let on, and sicker than we new. She was my cat since college. She was the boys' first pet.
She moved 6 times. She had 14 roommates (11 human, 4 cat). She was bit by a dog and endured several horrible surgeries. She was hit by a car and had to have...
Jul
23
2006
3
Peter's House, Our Temporary Home
Originally uploaded by daviderwin.
Have I mentioned how awesome our rental experience has been?
A million times, I have wanted to blog about our rental. This place rocks. Hardwoods, ceramic tile in the kitchen, and a HUGE covered back porch that was a lifesaver for the kids on hot or rainy...
Aug
31
2006
28
You're the next contestant on the Erwin House Guess Our Massive August Electric Bill Contest Game Event!
Our first electric bill will be in the mail soon. How much will it be? Let's see who can guess the highest without going over.
Here are a few hints.
1. August in Texas is hot. The average high has been 101 degrees this...
Sep
5
2006
3
I suppose that it is inevitable that houses like these are being torn down. As neighborhoods change, generation after generation, so do the houses.
I sat staring at Toby Weiss' photos and wondered how to save these unique spaces. How could more people not appreciate the originality and creativity that it took to conceive...
Sep
19
2006
5The results of the Erwin House "Guess Our Massive August Electric Bill Contest Game Event" are IN!
Total consumption in KwH from Aug10 thru Sep11: 2,325
Total current electric charges: $253.46
With blurry eyes, the closest guess not higher than the total belongs to AUNT GAYLE with a guess of $249.99! Congratulations, Aunt...
Jan
20
2007
1This is the 5-things-you-probably-don't-know-about-me-from-my-blog thing. We were tagged by Prairie Box.
These are short, and they probably raise more questions than they answer.
1. I played drums in a heavy metal band.
2. I can juggle. Really. Behind the back, under the leg, inside, outside and all that.
3. I prefer vanilla...
Jan
22
2007
1
Wild Hair
Originally uploaded by cmwoodley.
Ohboy. My turn...
Five things you probably don't know about me and might wish you didn't after you do:
1. I'm pretty sure I could live on marinara sauce, coffee and chocolate alone. I would add fresh mozzarella to the list if I weren't allergic to dairy.
2. I wrote...
Jan
30
2007
1ME: *Dialing 311*
311: Hello, 311, how can we help you?
ME: I’m getting comment spam on my blog.
311: Goodness! That’s deprivation of free speech, let me forward you to the 911 emergency line. *click*
911: You’re reporting comment spam?
ME: Yes.
911: Ok, I’ll get you in touch with a detective. Do you have your IP address...
Feb
15
2007
15
I let the cat out of the bag in a comment on Ranch Redo on Monday. I'm starting a new company to sell a very narrowly defined, but otherwise completely unavailable style of front door.
The Company is called Crestview Doors.
I named the company after the neighborhood where I live. This is where I have noticed and slowly...
Feb
17
2007
10Thank you house bloggers for all the buzz and links to Crestview Doors. Many people are posting photos of their doors. It's really cool to see the regional differences in these doors.
Meanwhile Back at the Ranch has a "Madison". I highly recommend this placement of a devil tiki mask when installing a "Madison".
Ranch Redo...
Feb
21
2007
11
We had to cancel our vacation to New Orleans for Mardi Gras. One sick kid would have been enough, but we had three. So what do you do to make the weekend special? You get a dang dog, that's what you do.
We started out at our local animal shelter. They seemed to only have Labradors, which Christiane vetoed, and Pit Bulls,...
Apr
13
2007
6
We welcome Piper to the Erwin House. We got her about 2 weeks ago, and she has doubled in size going from fluff ball kitten with a hobby-horse run to fearless jumping adolescent cat with hints of the graceful adult to come.
She plays gently with the baby, reserving her claws for me and the dog. She follows the boys around...
Apr
26
2007
3Well, just when you thought there weren't enough residents at the Erwin House... along comes Frodo.
Welcome to our new neighbor, a juvenile Eastern Screech Owl, Frodo (who we named this evening while drinking hot cocoa on the deck) arrived this morning, much to my imminent surprise. I had just returned from dropping...
Jun
21
2007
3
Last Sunday was Baby Erwin's first birthday. Certinly the most meaningful birthday I have ever attended. The memories of her birth came flooding back. It was nothing like we had imagined, but it was an exceptional experience.
We woke up at 2am, and she was born 2 hours later at the foot of the bed. I, two midwives, one neighbor,...
Aug
24
2007
7We re-designed! Thanks for your patience as Erwin House goes through yet another renovation. This time, just the blog is getting a face-lift ;-)
Oct
14
2007
8There is a story about us in the Homes section of the Austin American Statesman today.
Best line in the story:
Its distinctive flat roof is now angled like the propped-up lid of a grand piano.
That's all. We'll let the pros do the writing today.
Jan
10
2008
8Erwin House was broken into yesterday. We were very lucky: only a few items were stolen, no one was home or harmed, and a neighbor witnessed the entire thing and was able to give a detailed report to the police. Our homeowner's insurance will cover the loss and damages.
I suppose I spoke too soon. Maybe this year we should...
Feb
2
2008
2A few weeks ago, the Modhouse family joined us for brunch, and I was telling Paul how I like that his houseblog isn't always about the house; he tends to blog about daily life too. It made me think there might be things about our fellow housebloggers we wonder about from time to time but don't ask because, well, the houses...
Apr
27
2009
1When we designed our house, we included a piano niche. So literally from the ground up, we designed music into the house. The piano in the niche is a 1973 Rhodes 88 suitcase piano. I bought it on eBay after wanting one for 15 years.
Austin is a music city. The kind of place where a Saturday afternoon gig at a book store...