I have passed the Coldwell Banker sign on numerous occasions. Ok, I’ll bite. I looked up the information for this lot:
| Status | Active Listing |
| Type | Vacant Land (0-10 Acres) RESID |
| Price | $30,000 |
| Location | 2401 Monroe St Alexandria , LA 71301 |
| Country | USA |
But the kicker is:
Nearly one acre of land, suitable for construction of single family homes.
WHAT A JOKE!
If you are confused, click here to read about the house that used to be there and click here.
Andrea
My kitchen is to’ up. In a previous post, a waaaay previous post, we talked about redoing the kitchen this fall and we also showed the new flooring for the kitchen. Our goal was to have it all completed by Thanksgiving. So far, so good. Steven started ripping out the old flooring, you know, the one where we played puzzles with and that my dog liked to chew. I think I would prefer plywood to this ugly floor! Here are pictures of the realtor walkthrough and also what it looked like recently, before we started tearing it up: Click here.
Then he started taking the cabinets down. It started out as one cabinet and then it appears that it has been added to through the years until we had a wall of cabinets. After taking the cabinets down and pulling up the floor in the area, we discovered two things. 1) that there used to be a wall right there which was probably a butler’s pantry and it also had plumbing at one time, so it may have been a laundry room at one point to. For anyone who does not know me, or has not been to my house, we do not have a laundry room. The washer and dryer are in an alcove where my butler’s pantry is supposed to be.
The washer and dryer are where the cabinet is supposed to be
But my butler’s pantry is just floating over here.
Butler's pantry/cabinet
My heart’s desire is to put the cabinet back where it goes and create a laundry room.
This is kinda rough. But, it gives you a general idea of where I want to put the laundry room. We would frame up the wall floor to ceiling, the door would be on this wall. Then where you see the green original beadboard wall, that would be open so you can pass through that little hall easier. I will probably have a large chalkboard on that side of the new framed up wall. I also plan on exposing the original beadboard on that wall, as well as the wall that joins it to the left.
Right now I have to wash/dry and put all the clothes on the dining table to fold. It is very inconvenient and I don’t like it. I like being organized with a place for everything. Having all of my clothes out on the dining room table, all the time, just gets my goat. Oops, I forgot to tell you what the second thing we discovered is.
2) That our water heater valve thing-a-ma-bobbin (ask Steven) is corroded and is leaking behind the wall, which in turn was leaking into the kitchen, which in turn caused a lot of mold in the floor and wall. Yay! So nice to discover. We pulled up the flooring and plywood to discover that the original floor was soaked. I guess because it is wood, it soaked in the water and we never saw it. Good thing we are discovering it now! I am glad that we ripped up the old plywood too, otherwise, we may have put down the new flooring without ever discovering the water leak….until it ruined our floor that is….or we fell through on our way to the coffee pot….
Mostly gone
You can see in the lower right corner of this picture where there used to be a wall. We decided to put the wall back up. It won’t span the entire length of the wall. It will stop about 2 feet short to allow a little more room to pass through to the dining room.
Here is a closer picture:
Where a wall used to be in the kitchen
The original floors are covered in tar paper. Not sure why. But, that is what all that black is. It is not the mold I talked about previously. That was all in a small area under one cabinet. So, in the near future, I will have updates on us framing up a wall for the laundry area, moving the cabinet back to its original spot and new flooring for the kitchen. I am excited!
On another note, Vivian graduated from painting to using power tools 🙂 She wanted to help, so Steven let her use the cordless drill to take the pulls and hinges off of the cabinet doors.
What am I going to do with this child?
All the while, it appears that I was studying for midterms and then trying to take a nap. But, alas, there is no rest for the weary.
Andrea
Gyro Salad with Apollo Dressing, side of Grecian Dip...good stuff!
I love mediterranean/mid eastern food. Apollo is out of this world! You definitely have to like and understand the culture in order to eat there. I love their salads…the Gyro salad with the Apollo dressing is the best. The chicken schwarma is an awesome choice too!
3425 Jackson St
Alexandria, LA 71301
If you love gyros and Greek food, you definitely have to give this place some of your business. I plan on trying my best to eat there as often as possible. We need more places like this. I am tired of the run of the mill chains. Let’s keep these people in business!
I read a lot of ignorant things said in reviews about this restaurant most of it had to do with the culture or the ethnicity of the owners and NOT anything to do with the food. This makes no sense to me at all. The owners are very kind and I have had great service, with the exception of one blonde, very rude waitress who could not even pronounce gyro (yee-roh…yee-roh say it with me people yee-roh) correctly and then she proceeded to tell me that what I was ordering was not really what I wanted. That’s interesting…I had ordered it several times before, I am so glad she can read my mind. However, the owner came out and saw what was going on and recognized me and quickly took my order. Unfortunately, you will run in to people like that anywhere. So, I have no complaints. The food is awesome!
As far as listening to the different music and the TV being tuned in to a middle eastern channel….uh…you are at a middleastern restaurant. Do I really need to say more? Enjoy your experience and enjoy the good food.
The next thing we can work on is getting Whole Foods to open up a store….now wouldn’t that be something?
Andrea
PS: Some interesting facts:
1. Our numeral system (0, 1, 2, 3, etc.) are Arabic numerals. This numbering system we use today, originally developed in India, was taught to Europeans and in the Americas by Arabs from North Africa. Thus, the name Arab numerals.
2. Lebanon is called the “Paris of the Middle East”. Lebanon was under French Mandate until their independence in 1943. The official language is Arabic and French. It is bordered by Israel to the South and Syria to the North and East. It is a very popular tourist area due to its mountains and beaches.
3. Beirut is the largest city and capitol of Lebanon with a population of 1-2 million people. Beirut is named one of the ten most livelist cities in the world.
I thought this was neat. This was sent to me this morning. Thought I would repost. It is neat to visit the museum. Anyone who has not visited, it would be well worth your while and best of all — it’s free! My favorite time to go is when relatives come in. We make a round to the Kent House and the Museum, as well as other cool things.
“The photograph you are looking at is part of the core history of the Hotel Bentley. It is the Hotel Bentley Corporation Stock book. It has surfaced after spending almost 60 years in a box in the back of a closet, in Houston, Texas. It records the investors in the Hotel Bentley from 1919 to 1936. The names of the local businessmen who thought enough about Alexandria to invest their hard earned money in the Bentley.It paid off for them. All their names are displayed and the amount of stock they purchased and date of purchase are on display along with this book. A piece of Central Louisiana History, at the Louisiana History Museum. Come view the expanded Bentley Hotel exhibit. It’s free.”
Along with other preservationists, I had the privilege of touring this barn today. It is a pretty lady. Here are the pictures from the tour. If I did not have midterms and a host of other pressing things to do, I would give a narrative of the tour. Maybe another time. Here are the beautiful pictures.
This weekend Steven and I had the privilege of staying in Natchez Mississippi for a marriage retreat in the Natchez Grand Hotel. I am so refreshed, renewed and invigorated from the beautiful architecture, lovely gardens, cool junk places to shop, the hip stores and coffee hangouts and also from the wonderful time spent amongst friends. Here are a few snapshots from the weekend.
The only scary part was Snuggie. You would have had to have been there in order to understand this element of the weekend! Ha! I will post a pic and that is all I will say about the matter!
Andrea
Boudreaux & Thibodeaux
(BOO-drow & TIBB-a-dough)
“Boudreaux & Thibodeaux” jokes are popular in Louisiana Cajun Country.
Advice from Boudreaux and Thibodeaux:
Limit all U.S. politicians to 2 terms.
One in office
One in prison
Louisiana already does this.
Bannack, Montana
By Amy Stix | Online Only | Sept. 20, 2010
The town of Bannack, Montana, rose quickly from the parched, scrubby earth after the first major gold strike was made here in 1862. And though the fledgling territorial capital was named for the area’s original inhabitants, the Bannock Indians, local legend has it that officials in Washington mistook an “o” for an “a,” and Bannack was born. To read more click here.
I enjoyed this article. We plan on traveling to Montana in one of the upcoming years. I am putting Bannack on my must see list.
Enjoy!
Andrea
Check out this event. It will be this Friday at the Hirsch House on Jackson Street, Alexandria!
Andrea Warren
Perpetual Renovator 