Spanish Town Mardi Gras: The Aftermath

One of the benefits of living at 765 is its amazingly close proximity to the Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade route, the largest parade of the season in Baton Rouge. Known for often being inappropriate and getting out of hand (this year's theme: BP Blows and Wiki Leaks), it's not exactly the family friendly parade.

Even with severe thunderstorms and tornado watches in the forecast, 100,000+ people were still expected to come downtown for the festivities. The morning started out dark and only got darker, but at 7am you could smell jambalaya cooking and crawfish boiling from anywhere in the neighborhood - rain can't damper this crowd's spirits. The parade rolled out a little early in hopes of beating some rain, but instead landed right in the middle of the storm. Our party stood in a truck bed, screaming for beads as the wind batted the rain into our eyes, while severe weather conditions damaged houses in other parts of Baton Rouge. We were drenched to say the least, but with neck-fulls of beads and a drink in hand nobody cared.

I wish I had more pictures to prove it, but our first Spanish Town Mardi Gras Parade at 765 was one to remember.

{post-spanish town mayhem}

1896 Fruit Jar

Since nobody was able to guess what exactly we found in our yard....

Our little piece of history found in the dirt is: the lid to an old fruit canning jar. It sounds like these jars are dating sometime between 1896 and 1908 when the Illinois Glass Company (or De Steiger Glass Co.) produced their last of that style. So, at the very youngest this lid is 103 years old! The advertisement says:

          "For ease in sealing and opening without wrench, its absolutely hermetic joint, durability 

           and elegance, this package has no peer. "

It's pretty crazy to think the dirt we just turned over has been hiding an object for over 100 years. If only we could dig a little deeper...

Moving Dirt, Finding History

There hasn't been much action at 765 as far as house projects go as of late. Any extra minute seems to be spent doing something for the wedding.This isn't much exception. A friend of ours that has a landscaping business happened to have a job on our street that included a dingo, a machine that turns ripping out grass from a day-long job to just a few minutes. Major score.

In place of grass? Flowers for the wedding. At least that's the plan, but for now we're waiting for a few days of no rain to lighten the load of the dirt.

{Cosmo wanted to help}

In the midst of tilling up the dirt and adding some good soil 'eagle eyes' spotted yet another historic treasure in the mound, but what it was exactly we were all stumped. After a bit of google research we found out not only what it, but also how old it really is. Before I post what the gem is I'm interested to see everybody else's guess is... (But please not cheating, googling or phoning-a-friend!)

{mystery object}

Fire(less) Place

On a frigid night nothing seems more enticing than sitting next to the fireplace with a cup of hot cocoa, falling asleep to the crackling as it dies down. We've got the fireplace, but the fire? Not so much. A previous owner broke down the chimney in attic - lighting a fire would make our house smokier than a Louisiana bar. Not only does it lack a chimney, but it's also an original coal burning fireplace. While this could have some advantages (longer burning time & more cost effective) it's also a hazard when burned because it releases carbon monoxide.

So instead of risking our health we'll just have to get creative with the space. Maybe some homemade logs, a plethora of candles or even some books to fill the space?

{fireplace inspiration}

Images: 1, 2 , 3

What's in your fireplace?

Knock, Knock

We're staying warm, for now.

After a servicing our 45-year old water heater seems to be running better than ever.  It's back to a steaming (literally) hot shower that wakes me every morning for work.

But then one night we were in the kitchen cooking dinner, and there was a knock. We looked at the door - nobody. Another knock. Still, nobody. Then a light bulb flashed on over Travis' head and he remembered what the repairman had said: when the water heater starts to go it will start knocking. It was knocking all right. So its back to researching water heaters while we cross our fingers this antique can last us into a warmer, post-tax-return season.