So glad you like! One caveat is that the quality is beneath my standards as I took them with my iPhone. Still they are decent! The ones in the front aren’t as detailed as the sun had gone down quite a bit. Perhaps a reader can identify the shrub in the photo titled “unknown shrub”? The utility company lopped the top off a month or do ago as it was near the wires…grrrr. I when left out a number of uncovered gems but I’ll do more next Spring after we have pruned and really fixed things up. The back of the house is up against an alley with a 50’s strip mall and there is a wood privacy fence there and along the neighbors to our west, but the fence is still up all around. We were cutting crap out last weekend and discovered rounds of the original stuff cut at the height to protect beds just as if they had sat there for YEARS! We have a huge backyard…somehow it didn’t rust one round, but the other got a little rusty.

I met a neighbor through Retro Renovation who has become a friend and he just gave us a vintage set of wrought iron patio furniture his neighbor had just put on the curb! Retro Renovation equals Social Networking site! Wait til he sends pix of his ranch interior!!! Holy moley.  I posted about trying to remove my vintage antenna from my chimney and I mentioned we lived in Colonial Acres. Well, Lee is an avid reader and follower of your site (as is evidenced by his time capsule home) and he lives 5 blocks south in the same newly-popular neighborhood! So he posted a response and he invited us to several parties, none that we’ve been able to make yet! But he came to my yard sale and then we became Facebook friends and there ya go! Well, it is just amazing how much stuff in his house was untouched!  He has the original metal cabinets, porcelain sink, formica countertops, linoleum floor, hardwoods, all the doors are the original, unpainted wood including his pocket doors (mine were all painted white–any idea how to get that off?)…plus original crystal chandelier in the dining room, cracked brick tile mosaic add-on floor with brick fireplace….it is just a  little miracle!  Plus he has 1.5 baths all with original tile and the colored fixtures!

Looking around in out neighborhood at the houses for sale, I’d say we were lucky to get what we got as far as it not being chopped and remodeled  to bits.  My only dismay is the Home Depot tile over the lino in the kitchen, the Home Depot stainless sink and ugly replacement faux wood countertops in there and the thick white paint over every door including my fantastic pocket doors on all closets.

Thank you, Kristin! To heck with our houses, all. Let’s get out and garden!

 

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Memphis Kristin sends this photo of her awesome Memphis ranch – I love it, it’s perfect!

Here’s what she has to say:

We just purchased a 1953 “mini-ranch” in Memphis, TN and are in the slow process of bringing it back to some glory (it is in pretty great shape to begin with; one family owner from 1953-2007). The current beast is a MASSIVE metal antenna that is affixed to the chimney with an aluminum strap with a wire leading from said antenna grounding it to an old exhaust pipe on the roof.  How do we safely remove this?  It looks like the wire from the pipe leads to more wire at the back of the utility room where all the wiring for the phone/cable/etc seem to collect.

If you or any one you have known has ever done anything like this, let me know.  I want it gone before winter even if I have to pay someone! And if you recommend hiring someone, who should do it?  An electrician?

Due to the oak foliage of our huge backyard shadetree, it is difficult to see the antenna, but if you look closely at the chimney and above, you can see it on there like a star on a christmas tree!

Can anyone out there help? Thanks, Kristin! Can you tell me, though, do they really call these “mini-ranches” down in Memphis? I am curious….

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