Would You Buy a House Where there was a Murder?

I would….in a heartbeat…if the house is beautiful.  And in this case it is.

21 Howard Place in Park Slope was recently sold (asking price 1.29 million). Four months ago it was the crime scene where 31 year old Ryan Devaney stabbed his mother and father. Devaney then ran into the subway and jumped on the tracks and was struck by the G train.  

The place has been cleaned up and it’s beautiful inside and out.

People joke that perspective buyers deserve a discount since a murder happened here. But it’s actually someone’s lucky home because if circumstances didn’t happen the way they did, they won’t be able to own this beautiful place.

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Peace behind my home

It was beautiful out tonight so I decided to go sit by the area.

And discovered it isn’t as peaceful as it looks.

Because this red monster crunches everything here.  All of the tulips which are ready to bloom have crunched leaves.

Some things look better from afar. It’s still my peace….even with the red monster. 

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Spring Garden in Brooklyn

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Margaret, the Movie

The movie Margaret was filmed in this house in 2005. I purchased this home in 2009. The movie was not released because it was help up in court lawsuits, but finally the movie is set to be released sometime this year. I had seen the question: When will the movie Margaret be released? all over the web.

Anna Paquin, Matt Damon and Mark Ruffalo are the main characters. Matthew Broderick, Krysten Ritter (Veronica Mars), Kieran Culkin and Jean Reno are also named in the credits. The movie was directed by Kenneth Lonergan.  I can’t wait to see the movie and see who was in my house.

They used several areas in Brooklyn to film. Besides here, they shot near Fort Hamilton High School, on 4th Avenue and on 12th Street in Park Slope and the Metropolitan Opera House.   12.6 million dollars was spent on the movie.

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DIY trumeau mirror

Sneak peek of our current project in the works……we don’t know if we should paint or stain it.

Trumeau mirrors are quite expensive, but this one cost under $20 to make.

I was inspired by Susie Harris’ blog and the directions for a trumeau mirror.

It’s a fun and quick project. I love building with Lee. When we are done, I’ll post a completed pic.

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DEP visits my home

 We received a large post card explaining that the DEP was installing AMRs (automated meter reading) devices in our area, Bay Ridge – Brooklyn. These devices make it possible to see your water usage online. It also allows them to give an accurate, rather than estimated bill because no one needs to visit the property to read the meter.

About a month ago, we signed in online at http://schedule.constructamax.com but then decided to call Constructamax 1-888-317-2808  for an appointment since they didn’t have this week on their online calendar yet.  We talked to a clerk at Constuctamax who was able to schedule us for today 4/19.  We were offered the 8 am – 1pm slot or the 2pm – 6 pm slot. We choose the early slot. Although they have weekend times, I didn’t want to wake up early on the weekend for a water meter appointment.

Yesterday a clerk called to confirm and this morning the technician called to let us know he was five miles away. He arrived around 11:00 am and was done by 11:20 am   The tech went into our garage and installed the water meter to the outside of the garage. We tried logging into the DEP site  http://nyc.gov.dep to see if our meter was activated yet, but it hasn’t been.

For as many things that are disorganized, Constructamax seemed very organized and are doing a good job in upgrading NYC’s water meter system.

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Spring Break is Here

Finally!  I like school – really I do. But I have been waiting for Spring Break for awhile. It’s a time to replenish and rest.What am I do?

• Putting up molding
• Visiting Friends in Connecticut
• Flying lessons three days…..racking up hours!

11 Days of Relaxing!

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It takes me time…..

Some things I will do with vigor.

Others take me more time.

I purposely keep very busy by overbooking my life with activities just so I don’t have to do some things.

Mourning is one of those things.

I’m just not good at saying goodbye or letting go. So I don’t. Of course the sands of time pay no attention to my reasoning about mortality.

And I don’t give much time to death and funerals. Even when I am present in the room for one, I’m not really present.

Ten  years ago, my friend’s mother died. At the end of the funeral mass as my friend was walking up the aisle behind her mother’s casket, we locked eyes. I felt her deep sadness and cried so hard. I never wanted to feel that amount of pain or emotion again.

Today I mourned. It took me almost a year to just feel the sadness. There are plenty of good memories…but death is just so absolute.

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Rugs and Glass Doorknobs

We just added the grey rug below to the office room. It took me forever to find this shade of grey. It is so beautiful and feels great!Of course no home renovation projects are complete until I drive Lee crazy! I bought these amazing glass doorknobs, but they didn’t actually fit our doors. So he had to make some wooden pieces to fit inside the doorknob so they would work. Lee is amazing. Pics to follow.

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Fire and Ice

I was singing angsty teenage songs with a friend tonight.

When I was a teenager, I sang Fire and Ice by James Taylor to this guy, Chris C. And because I was such a dramatic and angsty teen, I would be bawling, red-faced and full tears by the end of this song. Yup, I was that dramatic. And Chris C. moved away and went on to be a movie director, just as he planned.

Tonight my friend and I sang the song and we fell over laughing. Good times.

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Weekend Plans

My weekend  plans:- Flying Lesson – I have actually took the controls of the plane and it is so exciting.- Planting peony bulbs – I love these big puffy flowers- Decorating for Easter – St. Pattys Day decorations must come down.- Hanging out with Lee……Life is good :)This week was filled with fancy doorknobs. More on that soon as I must retell how I drove Lee crazy this week.March 21st Edit: None of these things happened because I had a terrible cold. I was in bed all weekend, except late Sunday night when I ordered some shrubs online. I didn’t want the entire weekend to be ruined so I figured I would get that done.

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I dreamt of releasing chlorocarbons

Saturday was a gorgeous day in Brooklyn. It was the type of day that you could go outside without a coat. Usually we are pretty bundled up with scarves and winter coats. Yet, the sun warmed over the borough and it was time to do what I had been dreaming of for months!I have been dreaming of chlorocarbons. I’m sorry to all the greenies and the green earth for my actions this weekend, but it had to be done. My fence was rusted and I needed to paint it. I popped open a can of hammered gunmetal grey and sprayed. Hammeredgrey is a matte color (as opposed to a shiny color). Chlorocarbons flew into the universe and I was happy. I ha d been waiting for this moment for months. It was the perfect time to spray paint the top rusted bar of the fence because there are no leaves in the way.

Afterwards I stood back and admired the freshly painted fence. Then I went upstairs and looked out the back windows. Ahhh beautiful.I absolutely love it’s new finish and after waiting so many months for good weather, I am glad it’s done!  The rust was driving me nuts.

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