Character Building

First and most important - We have chicks!  Two beautiful little dark grey ones so far with one more on the way (it's just now pipping).  We're not too sure about the status of the 4th egg but we're hoping the peeping from the other chicks will be the necessary encouragement it needs.

We spent the day yesterday sanding.  Sanding and sanding and sanding.  And vacuuming.  And sweeping.  And dusting.  While we worked I thought about this old house (the one I'm living in - not the TV show).  It's not the house I would choose, given a reasonable selection - but I can see promise in it. 

In an effort to look at the bright side I decided that all these things that aren't perfect with it are really just character and they add to it's charm.  Much like a character actor in a movie.  You know - the actor that has a patch over one eye, has missing teeth and walks with a limp?  That actor will never be the leading man - the seemingly perfect person who get the part on looks alone.  A character actor can still win an Oscar.. so can this house!

Instead of a patch over one eye it has a hump in the floor.  Instead of missing teeth, it has cracks in the plaster.  Instead of a limp, it has a piece of tin nailed to the floor for reasons I will NEVER understand.  It also has crooked walls, creepy sounds in the middle night, broken windows and cobwebs.  My house oozes character.  But I like it and it has such huge potential!  (That's the Pollyanna in me coming out).

Just as a reminder.. Here is the floor before we began sanding, complete with black goo:

Here they are after:

We still have one more pass to do with the fine grain sand paper - then we have to put the finish on them - but it's looking good I think.