The weekend of April 17-18 was spent removing more wallpaper from the ceiling. It was a reinforcement of lesson #3: Sometimes progress is slow.
Removing wallpaper from the ceiling was slow because it was almost entirely done by Scott and I. There aren't many in our (volunteer) crew who are willing or able to be on the ladder or the scaffolding. I will admit, there have been times I have been a little nervous working over my head. The removal of wallpaper overhead also means you can't use a steamer. We used a spray mixture of liquid fabric softener and water. If you are patient enough, the liquid will soak into the paper and takes it off rather easily in most spots. There were still some spots that required a lot of elbow grease and scraping to get it off. By the end of the weekend, we had all the paper removed, except in the bathroom. Shew! My shoulders and neck were screaming from all the working overhead.
We had some visitors this weekend. Robin, Mom and Lynn stopped in to check out the progress. As you can tell, they weren't dressed for working. 😉 Even though they weren't dressed to work, we always love it when someone stops in.
I also made a second trip to the basement for cleaning out. I found a few treasures I will share here. I also brought up the box of vintage cleaning supplies and relocated them to the trash but I didn't take a picture.
Below is a yearbook from East Tennessee State University from 1967. It belongs to my Uncle C. There are several from our family who are graduates from ETSU, including Scott and I.
The plaque is engraved with "Coach Williams, N.S. Cowboys 1977." My Uncle C coached the Northside football team. Today, Northside is an elementary school.
I also found another plaque for Coach Williams. This one is for the A&C Team 1976-1977.
In 2016, My Uncle C was inducted into the Johnson City Parks and Recreation Wall of Fame. His contribution to youth sports in Johnson City is remarkable. You can click
here to read the write up about him (page 131). A little snippet: "Williams, a life-long resident of Johnson City, spent most of his life involved in recreational activities. He was a teacher in the Johnson (City) system for 32 years. During that time, he worked part time for parks and recreation for 22 years."
I am grateful for his legacy. I am glad to have found these treasures and returned them to him. I think he was glad to have them.
Over the years, there have been many craft projects completed at 411 E Myrtle. When I was a young girl, I remember several women of the family gathering for craft nights at Mamaw's. We made all sorts of things. I remember making necklaces out of church bulletins with my Great Aunt Mildred. I think she was the ring-leader for that project. I also remember doing plastic canvas and macrame projects. I think the photo below was one of those macrame projects that got started and never made it to completion. :)
This ceramic owl has the letter "W" and the year 1977 scrawled into the bottom. I don't know who "W" is. I asked mom, but she didn't know either. He's growing on me. I will probably keep him.
Behold, the old rotary phone! This was one of many rotary phones that lived at four-eleven. My Mamaw loved to talk on the phone. She wore out more than one of these old rotary phones. My entire life, her phone number was 928-5793. The area code changed from 615 to 423, but the last 7 digits remained the same. I will probably remember her phone number forever. This phone has the number 929-3682. I don't know whose phone number that was. If anyone recognizes it, I'd love to know!
I filled the trashcan with trash from the basement - broken light bulbs, old blown fuses, rusty broken tools and other junk. I kept the best of the treasures at the house. I will decide what to do with all of it when I finish cleaning it out.
I couldn't let the weekend pass without a picture of the work crew. It was a small crew for this weekend! You can see the bare walls and ceilings behind us. We finished the weekend satisfied and ready with a plan for the next phase!
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