Hope you had a nice weekend.   Mine was productive yet incredibly relaxing.   As I mentioned in previous posts, my wife and I own a 1920 Arts & Craft style house on Main Street.   We love the older architecture, but of course with anything old you have a little more up keep and fixing to do.   Our current project is the living room.   We've already stripped the wallpaper off and are in the process of repairing/replacing the plaster underneath.   We opened the one exterior wall in the room to insulate and found that at one time, there had been sconces flanking each side of the picture window.   The old tube & knob wiring had been plastered and wallpapered over.

I don't know if you've seen the show 'If Walls Could Talk' or not, but one of the real pleasures to owning an older home is the history that came before you.   I look at the staircase and I can picture young children running down it on Christmas morning ninety years ago to check for presents under the tree.   Old houses are full of those kind of wonderful memories.   But they also can contain hidden architectural memories as well.   In my current project - that relates to the sconces I found flanking the picture window.   Over the weekend I started opening up a six to eight inch wide strip across the ceiling so that I could anchor a nailing board directly to the joists (I'm putting up oak beams).   While doing so, I ran into the runs of old wiring from the sconces and found the definitive answer to our question about the light switch mounted on one of the columns that separates the living room from the foyer.   Ever since we moved in I figured the switch (which was dead) was for an overhead light in the living room.   Now I know it was for the flanking sconces.   I know it sounds simple and trivial, but to me it had meaning.   Over the years as things change, you can lose sight of where you started.   As in life, sometimes you can't appreciate how far you've come - without stepping back to see where your journey began.

Until next time, take a moment to reflect.  J/W