Greg and I went over to Sunnyside yesterday afternoon to scope out the place. The last time we were there, Greg and I took measurements of every wall so that he could make measured drawings of the house. Greg has been working on a downstairs design of kitchen placement, new stair design, and small downstairs powder room placement and we wanted to go peek in the windows to see how the plan measured out. I've been through the house about six times, but we never really went over alone and talked about stuff. Even though the cottage was locked and we had to peer in through the windows, we got a better sense of where we had to go. We also talked about the exterior quite a bit...new paint scheme, etc. The nice thing about Bayside is that there are dozens of photos of how the houses used to look and there is a good historian who can help us find any and all photos of Sunnyside.

In typical Bayside fashion, we were descended upon by neighbors, eager to ask us what our plans were for the place. One gentleman came over and started telling us what we needed to do to the trees out front. I finally told him not to worry, and that we had everything under control. Also told him that by the time he returned next season, the cottage would be "spruced up." One woman asked us if we were going to "bring it back" and when I told her the outside wouldn't change much, she was crestfallen and told me that the house used to be so beautiful in the period photos. I would love to put it back to the original, but that would mean taking off the back of the house and the addition...something I am not willing to do, but will try my hardest to blend into the rest of the house.

I was turned down for a home equity line of credit to do the renovations. Apparently, contrary to what the news tells us, banks still aren't lending. Because I am self-employed, I pretty much deduct most everything I can so that I don't have to pay such crushing taxes. Since the art market collapse last year, I haven't had much luck in that department, so my two years prior tax returns can be described as a roller-coaster ride at best. I provided the bank with what I thought was a pretty good statement of my assets, including the real estate and the fact that almost everything I have is paid off...they were not impressed apparently, so we have to do some creative budgeting for materials for the cottage. I believe we have to sit down and make a list of priorities that need to happen immediately so that we will be able to rent the place next year. Some projects may fall to the "eventually" category like replacing the sliding glass doors with more appropriate ones, or replacing the bay window on the second floor with a door leading to a deck. Renovations will have to paid for in cash. I am determined to sell off a few things to help pay for them.