Sunset Cat Bungalow

Moving the blog

2008-05-19T06:49:00.000-07:00

New yard pics!

2008-04-26T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here's a taste!

Shade garden aka the secret garden. We really didn't think anything would come of this spot and I have to say I'm so pleased with how it's coming along!

Yarrow and poppies.

Desert verbena.

Monkey flower.
See the rest at flickr!

Current Plant List

2008-04-09T19:02:00.000-07:00

Apple Tree Bed

Festuca idahoensis “Stony Creek”
Malacothamnus fasciculatus chaparral mallow
Penstemon heterophyllus Margarita BOP
Erigonum parvifolium
Verbena gooddingii Mojave verbena
Achillea millifolium (dark pink flowers)

Plum/nectarine Bed

Achillea millifolium
Verbena lilacina
Diplacus aurantiacus australis Ramona
Fragaria chiloensis
Artemisia californica Calif Sagebrush
Erigonum giganteum St Cath Lace
Zauschneria californica Catalina
Sisyrinchium “Rocky Point” Blue Eyed Grass
Rosa minutifolia Baja mini Rose

Shade Garden

Asarum caudatum Wild Ginger
Rhamnus calif. “Bonita Linda” coffee berry
Heuchara
Pink wave
Rosada
Dainty bells
Maxima
Iris “Susie Knapp”
Other Iris
Carpenteria californica
Ribes malvaceum “Dancing Tassels”
Fragaria (?) chiloensis (woodland)

Parking Space

Baccharis pilularis
Festuca idahoensis “Warren Peak”
Ceanothus “frosty blue”
Arctostaphylos hookeri x pajaroensis “Sunset”
Festuca idahoensis “Stony Creek”
Diplacus longiflorus Topanga monkey flower
Diplacus puniceus Otay monkey flower
Bouteloua gracililus
Poss re-seeded Deschampsia?

Treeless Bed

Zauschneria californica Catalina (or) Zauschneria californica Ghostly Red
Rosa californica

Peach/Apricot Bed

Artemesia nesiotica Channel Island Sage
Sphaeralcea ambigua Apricot Mallow
Ceanothus “Joyce Coulter”
Rosa californica
Zauschneria californica Catalina
Zauschneria californica Ghostly Red
Achillea millefolium
Artemesia “David’s Choice”

Dry Wash

Fremontodendron “Ken Taylor”
Ceanothus “Julia Phelps”
Trichostema lanatum Wooly Blue Curls
Calliandra californica Baja/Red Fairyduster
Abutilon palmeri Indian Mallow
Leptodactylon calif.
Manzanita (unk?)

Sunny Slope

Galvezia “Firecracker”
Salvia apiana White Sage
Arctostaphylos silvicola Ghostly Manzanita
Penstemon spectabilis
Salvia clevelandii Alpine Cleveland sage
Salvia brandegee

Flat by Window

Arctostaphylos la panza
Heuchera Old La Rochette
Wendy
Salvia Pt. Sal

Shadier (Less Sunny?) Slope

Salvia mellifera Black Sage
Penstemon heterophyllus heterophyllus
Penstemon heterophyllus Margarita BOP
Penstemon spectabilis
Salvia Celestial Blue
Lupinus excubitus
Salvia Gracias

Flat by Porch

Arctostaphylos manzanita_x_densiflora Austin Griffiths Manzanita
Calystegia macrostegia
Heuchara
Pink wave
Blushing bells
Maxima

Achillea millefolium rosea Island Pink
Achillea millefolium arenicola
Achillea millefolium californica

shade garden

2008-04-05T20:08:00.003-07:00

shade garden
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

You can see the free fountain in the background.

verbena

2008-04-05T20:08:00.001-07:00

verbena
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

I really like this verbena -- it's doing really well next to the rock. The flowers are a very pretty, subtle lavender (the other verbena is much brighter).

yarrow

2008-04-05T20:06:00.001-07:00

yarrow
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

All the yarrow is doing well -- flowering as well as spreading (I can see new fronds coming up around the main plantings). Most of the plants have white flowers but one has pale pink and the other medium to dark pink.

Artemesia "David's Choice"

2008-04-05T20:05:00.007-07:00

Artemesia "David's Choice"
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

This "David's Choice" is doing fabulously; the other died. They were only about 4-5 feet apart. I have no idea why the other died.

Katy Apricot

2008-04-05T20:05:00.005-07:00

Katy Apricot
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Front yard

2008-04-05T20:05:00.003-07:00

Nice view from the south side of the house of the 'dry wash' area and the nectarine/plum bed.

Heuchera

2008-04-05T20:04:00.005-07:00

Heuchera
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

"Apple Tree" bed

2008-04-05T20:04:00.003-07:00

"Apple Tree" bed
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

I've named all the areas of the yard for my own easy reference. Beds that include fruit trees are thus known by the fruit trees in them. (Beds or areas without fruit trees have other names that make sense to me.)

Front yard

2008-04-05T20:04:00.001-07:00

Front yard
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

This view includes, from the left side moving clockwise, the southernmost tip of the apple tree bed, the nectarine/plum bed, the peach/apricot bed, and the middle to northern edge of the slope.

Morning glory

2008-04-05T20:02:00.001-07:00

Morning glory
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Such a tease....

2008-04-05T09:21:00.000-07:00

....new pics of the front yard to be posted soon.

Dave and our friend Mike have made considerable progress on rebuilding the trellises, fixing the wood and stucco around the windows that was damaged by water due to the construction of the previous trellises, and painting the new construction. Hoping to be done this weekend.....

I bought a ton of heirloom tomato seeds and am going to pot them this weekend. Any extra seedlings I'm going to try to sell on Craigslist.

Our current veggies (leeks, snow peas, cauliflower and brussel sprouts) are happily growing in the side yard. The Katy tree and one of the apple trees already have fruit.

The rose bushes are doing fine as well (the ones I've decided to let stay as long as I don't have to do any huge maintenance with them). Actually at the location of the rose bushes I dug up new rose bushes are coming up (which means I must've left some bit of root?)....if they survive and look good, they can stay, even though they don't fit with the native plants. Dave loves roses.

Our native roses are doing fine -- the Baja miniature rose has at least one teeny little rose on it.

The yard is finally looking like it's on purpose, not a mishmash of mulch and decomposed granite and gravel and plants that, to most eyes, probably look suspiciously like weeds.

We found a nice fountain for free via freecycle for the bird bath/water feature.

Pics to follow....

Small progress...

2008-02-23T07:21:00.000-08:00

Dave painted the other living room window last week -- it looks great! Now I just have to decide what I want for curtains....

I'm starting to hunt again for rocks & boulders for the front yard. Eventually I'd like to have salvaged enough rocks for some sort of low fence.

Leptodactylon -- Prickly Phlox

2008-02-15T12:59:00.001-08:00

Leptodactylon -- Prickly Phlox
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Ceanothus

2008-02-15T12:58:00.005-08:00

Ceanothus
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Yarrow

2008-02-15T12:58:00.003-08:00

Yarrow
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Verbena

2008-02-15T12:58:00.001-08:00

Verbena
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

2008 Resolutions

2008-01-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

Ooh boy.

1. Windows. This includes finishing painting the new windows (no, not done yet); screens (scheduled for March); removing & repairing & replacing the trellises outside the bedroom & cat room windows (needs to be started before the screens); removing the blinds mounts from the insides of the dining alcove windows & repairing the plaster, touching up the paint etc; curtains as needed (includes installing hardware & finding/making/ordering curtains).

2. Paint the deck.

3. Continue yard stuff. Bird bath/water feature?

4. Paint the kitchen cabinets

5. Paint the breakfast nook. Contain the computer cords.

6. Paint the dining alcove (can get fancy with stencils on the wooden beams)

7. Tile the dog run (as practice for tiling the porch)

8. Tile the porch

9. Bathroom -- replace the vanity w/ the pedestal sink (which has been sitting in our garage for oh, almost a year)

I know there's more, but these are the major things.

Tree of Life Nursery

2008-01-06T07:58:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we stopped at Tree of Life nursery, near San Juan Capistrano, and of course bought more plants: a Baja miniature rose (okay, one of the few plants I've bought just because it is SO DAMNED CUTE -- one had a rose bud and I'm not kidding, it was at most .5cm long) to put near the 'dry wash' area; another iris & a woodland strawberry for the shade garden; a blue fescue for Dave; and a bluff strawberry for the sunny/near fruit trees area.

The nursery had a nice selection, including some plants from Baja California, and good prices. The staff was very welcoming (on a rainy muddy day to boot) -- both employees, on separate occasions, pointed out they had fresh hot coffee, tea, and cookies inside their book/gift store "Casa La Paz". The latter is a strawbale house, really lovely, with a wonderful fireplace (did I say it was cold and rainy?), stocked with a very good selection of books on native plants, California natural history, green architecture, and more.

Plants planted.

2007-11-19T16:52:00.001-08:00

007
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

We've planted most of the new plants that we got this weekend. In the foreground is one of the new ones, an Indian Mallow. It's in our 'dry wash' section, which includes some other plants that want good drainage or are more 'desert-y'.

Behind it but right before the mulch is our Calliandra, a fairy duster plant, also a new acquisition. (A manzanita is in between).

More plants! More! More!

2007-11-18T08:35:00.001-08:00

Dave and I did another jaunt to Theodore Payne yesterday. We came home with more Heuchara, various sages, sagebrushes, and more. Hopefully we'll get them in the ground today.

The native plant garden tour is April 12/13 of next year. I'm hoping (more hope!) that we'll be able to participate in 2009.

Rigel had an exciting day yesterday. He got chittered at by a very cute squirrel who was on a branch of the pine tree; Rigel was outraged. He's not too fond of our urban wildlife. He's seen a raccoon and a baby opussum as well. I'm sure as our plants grow we'll get more mammals as well as birds and insects.

2007-10-28T08:40:00.000-07:00

So far the new plants seem happy....

....as does all the grass and the nasty little clover like crap that's coming up like no tomorrow now that we've had more moisture in the air.

At least at lot of the poppy seeds seem to have sprouted.

The sky is finally blue today after all the smoke from the fires.

On the inside of the house:

One (yes, one) window is painted. Five more to go. We're going to try and get them all primed today -- four of the five windows are the double hung windows which aren't as hard to tape and paint (there's a lot less to them than the 9-paneled casement windows).

Today, then, is dedicated to weeding and priming.

Native shade garden

2007-10-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

Our shade garden is located on the north side of the house, contained by the dining alcove wall, the east wall of the garage, the oleanders that line the north edge of the space, and the stairs to the front porch.

We have an unidentified pine tree, two camellias, and the oleanders remaining from the original landscaping; I removed the jade plants and listed them for free on Craigslist and Redondo Freecycle.

Last spring we planted some Heuchara spp, and they're doing fine.

This week we planted more Heuchara, a hybrid iris, Rhamnus, Ribes, Fragaria, wild ginger, and Dutchman's pipe.

I would like to do a bird bath in this area, and maybe a mosaic or mural on the garage wall.

Eventually I'd like to replace the oleanders and camellias but I'm not sure if Dave will let me.

Yard Oct 07

2007-10-09T10:23:00.001-07:00

Yard Oct 07
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Quick update: We went to the plant sales this past weekend. Bought lots.

I also reviewed what made it, what didn't make it, and diagrammed the different sections of our yard for easy reference (not that I'm anal or anything).

I'll follow up with detaiils.

Native Plants Round 2

2007-09-30T23:31:00.000-07:00

Most of our native plants did make it through the summer.

We're still harvesting tomatoes and zucchini.

And apparently we didn't dig up the old roses as well as we thought, because some are coming up (I figure if they make it without water and fertilizer etc then they can stay).

However, it is fall.

I've sowed seeds for broccoli and lettuce and Swiss Chard and some Penstemon spectabulis.

And the big native plant sales through Theodore Payne and the California Native Plant Society are next weekend!

2007-09-11T15:04:00.000-07:00

The screen guy came out about a week and a half ago. He's gotten very busy so we won't have screens til January. Bummer. He was really nice, though.

I've been sick the past week so we haven't done any house chores.

On the list of to be done as soon as possible:

Prime & paint the window frames. This includes scraping & repainting the sills etc.
Install the new-to-us antique pedestal sink. This also includes filling in the non-tiled portion of the bathroom floor currently covered by the vanity.
Install the cafe rods so we can easily open the new windows. Hem the current curtains so they'll fit. This project can't be done til the frames are painted.
Paint the kitchen cabinets. This also involves cleaning & repairing the plaster walls behind the cabinets as best we can.
Paint the kitchen nook
Plant the veggie and native plant seeds so we'll have seedling for fall planting in the garden and front yard

Recent tomato harvest!

2007-08-17T15:59:00.001-07:00

IMG_2094
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

This is some of what I picked after we returned from a week's vacation in Sonoma (I did the Barb's Race half-iron distance tri).

window & weight/pulley system

2007-08-17T15:58:00.001-07:00

window & weight/pulley system
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Close up of one of the windows in the cat room showing the ropes for the pulleys. Nifty.

Yolo Air 2

2007-08-17T15:57:00.003-07:00

Yolo Air 2
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

We still have to finish painting the kitchen, but here's a pic with one finished wall.

New living room windows!

2007-08-17T15:57:00.001-07:00

windows living room
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Aren't they gorgeous? We still have to paint them, and I still need to modify the curtains. I have some antique swing curtain rods I'm thinking of using.

You can call me.....the tomato bunny.

2007-08-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

As opposed to the Easter bunny.

I left some Green Zebra on one of our neighbor's front steps, and Dave was quick to say, 'Look! It's the Tomato Bunny!'

I've also been bringing them to work. One of the clinics greatly appreciates them. The other clinic, well, one of the receptionists screamed (yes, screamed, and not in a pleased, happy squealy sort of way) at my 'alien' tomatos. Guess which clinic gets more tomatos.

We've been inundated with tomatos, especially the Green Zebra, to the point they're becoming Orang-y Green Zebras on the vine because they're so ripe and I can only pick so many at once. Still tasty. The Cherokee and the Brandywine are delicious but are scarily large. Part of one is enough for a tasty tomato and mozzarella salad.

The zuchini is still happily producing. The squash is doing so-so, which is okay because I realized I'm not especially fond of the pale green patty-pan type of squash. I like yellow squash.

I'm trying to decide what I want to plant for the winter. Brocolli? Chard? Lettuce? Winter squash?

Windows! and more

2007-07-30T13:26:00.000-07:00

The guys from the window restoration place are putting in our windows today!

Before I left for work this morning the guys were doing some initial placing of the casement windows in the living room (replacing the louvered windows that replaced the original casement windows (sigh)). The windows looked absolutely gorgeous! Pics to follow.

Also, we started painting the kitchen & kitchen nook -- Yolo Air #2. Very pretty cream color.

While Rosemary was visiting we started painting the old Ikea furniture that we had on our deck. In this month's Sunset there's a project for painting tables with stylized hibiscus flowers. Rosemary did the vast majority of the more artistic work as well as doing all the initial grunt work (sanding and priming). Steph did a little of the artistic stuff and some of the basic painting. Dave finished the basic painting and put a couple coats of polyurethane on the tabletops in hopes of protecting the design. They're all done now. Yep, pics to follow. (I'm at work now!)

Old info: housewarming party recipes

2007-07-28T18:22:00.000-07:00

I've cleaning up some of the documents on my laptop and found the list of recipes for our housewarming party. We kept to a Spanish theme, serving some Spanish red and white wines, several types of cheese, bread, olives etc, as well as a selection of warm tapas. My only main non-theme food was a flourless chocolate cake (decadent and delightful and always a hit -- friends have in the past requested it as birthday and Christmas gifts).

All the food was eaten. Rigel, of course, assisted (he ate a WHOLE hunk of aged sheep's cheese, my favorite of the ones I tasted, so I'd bought two wedges for the party, and was bewildered as to the whereabouts to the second for a brief time).

Here goes for the recipes:

Potato Saffron Omelet

2 large onions, chopped finely
5 tablespoons olive oil
3 baking potatoes, like russets (about 1 1/2 pounds)
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads
1/4 cup chicken broth
6 large eggs
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallion greens
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a 12-inch non-stick skillet cook onions in 2 tablespoons oil over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 20 minutes. Transfer onions to a bowl and cool.
While onions are cooking, peel potatoes and cut into 1/4-inch cubes. In a saucepan of boiling salted water cook potatoes until almost tender, about 8 minutes, and drain well in a colander.

Cool potatoes and add to onions. Onion and potato mixture may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.

Crumble saffron threads into a small metal bowl. In a small saucepan heat broth until hot and pour over saffron. Let mixture stand until saffron is softened, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, scallion greens, saffron mixture, and salt and pepper to taste and stir in onion and potato mixture.

In skillet set over moderately high heat, heat remaining 3 tablespoons oil until hot but not smoking and add egg mixture, spreading potatoes evenly. Reduce heat to moderate and cook omelet, stirring occasionally, until eggs just begin to set, about 1 minute.

Shift skillet so that 1/4 of omelet is directly over center of burner and cook 1 minute. Shift skillet 3 more times, cooking remaining fourths in same manner. Center skillet and cook omelet over low heat until almost set, about 4 minutes more.

Slide omelet, bottom side down, onto baking sheet and invert omelet back into skillet. Cook other side of omelet until golden, about 4 minutes. Slide omelet onto a platter and cool to room temperature.

Omelet may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered. Bring omelet to room temperature before serving.Cut omelet into wedges.

Tortilla Espanola

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons Spanish olive oil
6 cups thinly sliced Spanish onions
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon sugar3 baking potatoes, (about 2 pounds), peeled and sliced into 1/8-inch rounds
8 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup julienned serrano ham
Chopped fresh chives, for garnish

Heat 1/4 cup of the oil in a large 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, and sugar. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, until wilted, golden, and well caramelized, about 45 to 50 minutes.

Remove the onions from the pan and set aside. Wipe the skillet clean. Pour an additional 1/4 cup of oil into the skillet and heat over medium heat. Season the potatoes with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper. Add the potatoes to the hot oil and cook, stirring and gently turning, until tender and slightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the potatoes from the skillet and wipe the skillet clean.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the skillet over medium heat.

Combine the reserved onions, potatoes, beaten eggs, and ham pieces in a large bowl. Season with the remaining 3/4 teaspoon of salt and 1/4 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper.

Add the entire mixture to the hot oil and cook until the bottom is set and the top is still runny, about 12 minutes.

As the bottom of the tortilla is cooking, use a rubber spatula to run around the edge of the eggs, lifting slightly to allow the eggs to run to the bottom and cook.

Place a large plate or serving platter on top of the skillet and invert the tortilla onto the plate. Carefully slide the tortilla back into the skillet so that the browned side is facing upward. Cook until the bottom is golden brown, about 10 to 12 minutes longer.

Remove the tortilla from the skillet and serve hot, or cool to room temperature, and serve.

To serve, cut tortilla into thin slices and spoon 1 or 2 tablespoons of the Aioli onto the side of the tortilla.

Garnish with fresh chopped chives.

Cabrales Stuffed Poached Pears: Peras Cabrales

6 Bosc pears
1/2 gallon (2 quarts) tardio (a sweet, late harvest wine made from the Torrentes grape), preferred brand, Santa Julia
1/2 gallon (2 quarts) Malbec
1 cup sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
5 star anise
2 cloves
6 tablespoons crumbled cabrales (Spanish blue cheese)
1/2 cup toasted walnuts

Peel pears and remove the core from the bottom using a melon baller, keeping the stem end intact. Scrub the pears with a new abrasive plastic scrubbing pad to remove any rough edges or textures left from the knife. Set the pears aside.

In a large stockpot, combine the tardio, red wine, sugar, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves and bring to a boil.

Add the pears and cook until tender, about 25 minutes. Remove the pears and reduce the remaining liquid by half, about 45 minutes.

In a food processor, puree the cabrales and toasted walnuts, and set aside. Place the mixture in a pastry bag and stuff the pears with walnut and cabrales mixture.

Serve with the reduced poaching liquid.

Albondigas (Meatballs in Garlic-Tomato Sauce)

Meatballs:
1 large onion, chopped fine
1 large green bell pepper, chopped fine
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds ground beef (not lean)
1/2 pound ground pork (not lean)
2/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley leaves

Sauce: 4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (33 1/2-ounce) can whole tomatoes, including juice
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled

In a 9-inch heavy well-seasoned skillet (preferably cast-iron) cook onion and bell pepper in 2 tablespoons oil over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Cool mixture.

In a large bowl combine well onion mixture, ground meat, bread crumbs, salt, nutmeg, and parsley.

Form level tablespoons of mixture into balls (about 90).

In skillet heat 1 tablespoon oil over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and brown meatballs in batches (about 16 at a time), shaking skillet frequently so that meatballs maintain their shape and adding remaining 3 tablespoons oil as necessary.

Transfer meatballs with a slotted spoon as browned to a bowl.

Sauce:

In a heavy kettle (at least 6 quarts) cook garlic in oil over moderately low heat, stirring, until fragrant, about 15 seconds.

Add tomatoes with juice and oregano and simmer, breaking up tomatoes.

Add meatballs and simmer, covered, gently stirring occasionally, 25 minutes, or until meatballs are tender and sauce is thickened slightly.

Transfer meatballs with slotted spoon to heated serving dish.

If sauce seems thin, boil gently, stirring frequently, until thickened to desired consistency.

Season sauce with salt and pepper and spoon over meatballs.

Meatballs and sauce may be made 2 days ahead. Let it cool uncovered and chill covered. Reheat meatballs before serving.

Watching my language.

2007-07-18T08:41:00.000-07:00

Someone (anonymously) commented on my previous post that I need to watch my language, that kids read Houseblogs.

The aforementioned post perfectly and succinctly captured, and still captures, my feelings regarding SOMEONE FUCKING STEALING OUR APPLE.

I think the outrage needs to be directed at the fact that someone thought it absolutely fine to walk into our yard (the apple was not reachable from the sidewalk) and STEAL our property.

Apparently not.

And, besides saying this short comment, I'm not even going to go into the whole thing about it's the parents' responsibility to monitor their own children.

We're back to wanting a fence in front again.

And BTW, if ya got something to say....put your name on it. I don't care to approve anonymous comments.

2007-07-17T21:03:00.000-07:00

Someone fucking stole our apple.

2007-06-25T18:10:00.000-07:00

I love my old house. I really do.

But we have to return two of the three ceiling fans. My lovely, lovely (albeit non period) Casablanca ceiling fans.

Because of basically old house issues.

The electrician installed one in the cats' room -- it has 3 steel pipes with wires running to its outlet. Our bedroom only had 2 pipes, and he felt the fan we picked out would be too heavy. We had him replace our (I think original FWIW) light fixture. The dining room fan was supported by one screw in the box and had only one steel pipe. In his opinion that wasn't even adequate for the fan that was there. We had him put up our Art Deco fixture I'd found at a local consignment store (which actually looks a lot better than the fan) that we'd used in our previous house. (I did order some bulbs from Rejuvenation today.)

On the window front....

Bad and good news.

Bad news is restoring the arched windows would be at least around $12,000. Yep, that's the correct number of zeroes. So, on Ed the window guy's suggestion, we're going to paint the non-glass portions white to match the trim in the rest of the house (right now they're blackish greyish) for the time being.

Good news: we're going to do the windows in the living room, the cats' room, and our bedroom, and have the one remaining original window restored. Install date is the 31st of July.

We're going to wait on the screens til the windows are done.

2007-06-22T14:26:00.000-07:00

I've contacted a company who makes old-fashioned wood screens about making screens for our windows, as well as a company who restores old windows as well as custom building windows in the same style. The window person is coming out this Monday to do an estimate.

We also have an electrician coming out Monday as well to install the new ceiling fans.

We've eaten the May Pride peaches, a couple of Babcock peaches, and some Snow Queen nectarines -- the latter are especially delicious. I'm surprised and pleased that any of the trees had fruit this year, let alone some that tasted great.

I've also already harvested a couple zucchini and a half dozen squash. Rigel adores the squash (he hasn't tried any zucchini yet). Oddly enough he seems to prefer veggies to fruit. The basil is going nuts -- I'll have to make & freeze some pesto.

Worm Bin

2007-06-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

The worm bin is set up! They got their first meal today (strawberry tops, lemons, eggshells, overripe apricots).

The May Pride peach tree has multiple small fuzzy peaches that smell really, really good & peachy. The Black Jack fig actually has a couple little figs starting. The tomatoes, squash, zucchini and basil are doing great (to the point I want to tear out the last remaining rose bush and replace it with one more vegetable).

The penstemon spectabulis has some lovely purply flowers.

I think we are beating the grass.

Fresh mozzarella, farmer's market

2007-06-02T15:46:00.001-07:00

Fresh mozzarella
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

I made the cheese! It really was tremendously easy -- and it tastes delicious.

We went to the Torrance farmer's market today.

I bought some Gaviota and (the last pint) Seascape strawberries from Harry's Berries (from Oxnard). They are expensive but oh so worth it. I bought some organic Eureka lemons from another stall and made some strawberry lemonade this afternoon (am drinking as I blog!).

Other items: zucchini, asparagus, peaches, cherries, nectarines, dog treats for Rigel, and a lovely, fat heirloom tomato.

That tomato is destined for dinner with the mozzarella and some of our basil.

Worms in our Fridge

2007-06-01T18:33:00.000-07:00

No, really.

Our compost worms (red wigglers) arrived yesterday and we're going to set up their bin this weekend. Their instructions said we could keep them in the fridge for a few days before moving them into their new home.

Still haven't made cheese yet but plan to do so this weekend. I did dust off (literally) our bread machine and made a loaf of basic bread -- very tasty.

The veggies continue to thrive. I tried a snippet of basil -- very tasty! Many of the natives are flowering -- I hope that's a good sign, and not their last ditch attempt to procreate before death. The fruit trees have caught the interest of a rather large crow (who's visited several times). We've also had a couple doves hanging out -- I'm not quite sure what they're going after, since they just huddle in the mulch.

We really need to start hunting down some windows. Dave knows someone who owns a salvage operation, so we need to email our window dimensions to him.

I'm also on the hunt for a smallish vanity table that we can have converted into a bathroom sink -- we've found some at Studio Antiques in El Segundo, so if I can't find anything on Craigslist that's where we'll go. They have mainly English arts & crafts furniture.

Dave's planning on repainting this summer in between summer school and the start of the new school year.

I've ordered ceiling fans; as soon as they all come in we'll have them installed, as well as have some electrical work done in the foundation area. (We really need one for our bedroom, the cats need one for theirs (especially because Obi is an escape artist, so we can't have the windows open in there at this time), and we ordered a replacement for the dining room fan.

2007-05-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

CHEESE! I did find something new in Kingsolver's book. I had no idea you can make cheese at home.

I've bought and received the kit but haven't yet tried it....maybe tonight.

2007-05-17T22:06:00.000-07:00

I've liked most of Barbara Kingsolver's books (unfortunately I just couldn't get into The Poisonwood Bible -- I know I'll have to give it another shot at some point), but most particularly I've enjoyed her essays. Her new book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, is thus a treat on many levels: Kingsolver on some of my favorite topics -- eating local and the associated politics, energy consciousness, and community interaction. Granted, a lot of it is info I already know, but Kingsolver presents everything is such an eloquent, moral manner that it's a pleasure to read, as well as inspiration for furthering our own efforts.

On that note, when I checked my own tiny plot of vegetables last night (that I planted in the side 'yard' -- the 25'x2' long strip between our house and our neighbor's driveway -- this past weekend), I was pleased to find that everything has actually grown -- the zucchini had a pair of new leaves already. We planted one of each zucchina, patty pan squash, basil, and brandywine, green zebra and Cherokee purple tomatoes.

The veggies (and maybe fruit trees) are the only plants for which we'll need compost.

We have a large rotary type composter but I was looking for a backup composter because, at some point, to end up with usable compost, you have to stop adding stuff to the composter-- but kitchen waste keeps building up, and I hate to just throw it away when of course it can become COMPOST. We simply don't have room for a three-composter system (one finished, one that's cooking, one that's currently being added to).

So, I found and purchased a worm bin from some really nice people off of Craig's List. (They also have a native plant frontyard!)

Anyway, we'll continue adding coffee grounds and espresso pucks (apparently too acidic for the worms) and excess compostable waste to the large composter but will feed an adequate amount to the worms (which I still have to order).

I think I've already mentioned how much I like Craig's List. We've been able to find homes for some of our stuff that we no longer wanted or needed, and found some fantastic items in turn (our antique barley twist chairs, antique dining table, antique bookcase, Wedgewood stove) for really great prices.

Monkey flower

2007-05-13T17:04:00.001-07:00

Monkey flower
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Okay, visit the Flickr page for more yard pics! I took a few pics (finally) of some of our plants.

As you can see, we're having a heck of a time with the grass. We've finally resorted to using Round Up.

Next weekend (after, hopefully, the grass has died) we're going to start moving the mulch, laying down landscape fabric, and replacing the mulch on top. We'll do the same for the d.c. and gravel if necessary.

We also repotted the blueberries in nice large pots and placed them on the deck. They'll get a lot of sun that way.

Theodore Payne Garden Tour

2007-04-30T19:14:00.000-07:00

The garden tour was wonderful!

I worked Saturday til 1 pm but managed to visit two gardens in Santa Monica, one in Mar Vista, and one in Westchester. All were very lovely and inspiring.

The Mar Vista house especially gave me hope, as they had planted in March and August of 2006, mostly 1 gallon plants, and their yard looked fantastic.

I've also learned that I want more Heuchara (coral bells) and a mallow. I think, though coral bells like shade, I can plant some in locations that will get afternoon shade and morning sun, since we're on the coast and it's cooler here.

Dave really loves the bunch grasses, so I'm sure we'll get some more of those -- also maybe some blue-eyed grass as well...and maybe some irises for the shadier garden.

Theodore Payne plants

2007-04-25T11:02:00.000-07:00

Okay, here's the list of what we planted this weekend:

Verbena lilacina (from Baja)
"Blue Mist" manzanita (ground-coverish)
2 x Heuchera "Rosada" for the shadier side yard
Heuchara maxima for the shadier side yard
Galvezia "firecracker"
Eriogonum grande rubescens
Eriogonum umbellatum
Verbena gooddingii (more of a desert plant, planted it in the gravel near one of the big rocks)
Lupinus longifolius
Arcto. manzanita
Yucca whipplei "Our Lord's Candle" (planted in the gravel with rocks)
Salvia "Pt. Sal"
6x Deschampsia elongata -- I swear, these have already grown since planting them.

Still avoiding RoundUp....

2007-04-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

We dug up some of the grass (same as we did the trees) and will be doing that throughout the yard still in hope of avoiding the use of RoundUp. We had a soft rain as we finished the planting and watering....it's been really dry here and any rain is good.

More native plants!

2007-04-21T18:14:00.000-07:00

Spring Break, the Napa wine trip and a week of work later and here's a quick update.

All the fruit trees are doing something. The Beverly Hills apple is the slowpoke of the bunch, just started to leaf out now, which I suppose (or at least am hoping) makes sense because it is supposed to bear later than the other apples.

Most of the Las Pilitas plants are doing okay. The yarrows liked yesterday's rain.

Grass is (not surprisingly) coming up through the mulch. We're going to try weeding it and if necessary some judicious applications of Roundup (yes, I've caved to the eventual necessity of using Roundup).

We bought more plants from the Theodore Payne Foundation today. They have a great nursery and I was able to get some plants that I'd wanted but Las Pilitas didn't have. I'll post a list shortly, as well as take some pics of the yard with plants.

The front yard is still taking most of our house time. Painting the dining alcove, kitchen and kitchen nook will probably be the next indoors task.

Paths, mulch

2007-03-28T18:35:00.001-07:00

IMG_1488
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Working Weekend

2007-03-28T17:48:00.001-07:00

our native plants awaiting planting
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

Last weekend we put in the gravel, decomposed granite, mulch and plants.

We were exhausted. It took about 15 hours total (not including lunch breaks). We had to miss our duathlon, our first race of the season.

It was like being in a fishbowl. People drove by, openmouthed (shock? awe?). Some people later in the day stopped and told me they saw me earlier in the morning and just wanted to say they were amazed we were still out there. Many people offered encouragement. One person offered free rocks (yay! because we literally need a ton more of river rocks) left over from her landscaping.

The plants look very small. We're going to get some more. I know they'll grow quickly, but I think we have space for some more.

I'll post some pics of the yard with the plants -- just haven't taken them yet.

Front Yard post-grass removal

2007-03-21T15:02:00.001-07:00

Front Yard post-grass removal
Originally uploaded by stephannie_t.

We received the plants from Las Pilitas -- apparently all of them except for the poppies -- I haven't been able to go through them all yet to doublecheck. They were in cardboards boxes, cushioned by crumbled newspaper, with their roots/soil bagged, and their i.d. tags in the baggies (which is why I've not gone through them all since I unpacked them last night).

The mulch is ordered (from www.willsestatemaintenance.com) and should arrive by Friday. I updated the order for the gravel and rocks through Sepulveda Building Materials -- that should arrive Saturday a.m.

Excitement!

Antique Towel Rods

2007-03-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

I found two antique towel rods on eBay for our bathroom from a wonderful seller.

They are thick glass, slightly tinted by age, with very heavy supports/holders.

They came from the Divine Lorraine Hotel (and another good link here) in Philadelphia.

Frontyard grass removal and native plant order

2007-03-18T08:35:00.000-07:00

After going back and forth about whether or not to RoundUp, we hired a crew to dig up our sod, deciding the risks inherent in disturbing our soil and the probable longer upcoming weed battle was worth it over using herbicides. Part of the decision was influenced by the fact we have very little weeds and grass coming up out of our fruit tree mounds.

We visited Sepulveda Building Materials yesterday and chose some rocks. We also thought we'd ordered our gravel, smaller rocks etc but they didn't get put on the invoice (they were closing, we didn't want to keep them any later, so dashed off without going over the receipt (even though it seemed really low) until we got in the car) so I'll be calling Monday morning.

Anyway, a lot of our mulching will be with gravel and rocks; the rest will be with shredded redwood ('gorilla hair'). Hopefully, with all the mulching, we'll be able to keep up with weed control until our natives are established. I think I've found a source of bulk mulch (getting it by the bag just won't work, we'd need way too many bags; as it is we probably will get around 5 cubic feet). But if anyone knows of a good source in Los Angeles that delivers, please leave a comment!

I also place my plant order with Las Pilitas -- here's the list:

Achillea millefolium rosea Island Pink x3
Achillea millefolium arenicola
Achillea millefolium californica
Arctostaphylos La Panza
Arctostaphylos manzanita_x_densiflora Austin Griffiths Manzanita
Arctostaphylos silvicola Ghostly Manzanita
Arctostaphylos pechoensis Margarita's Joy
Arctostaphylos patula platyphylla Julian Manzanita
Asclepias fascicularis x2
Calystegia macrostegia
Diplacus aurantiacus australis Ramona
Diplacus longiflorus Topanga monkey flower
Diplacus puniceus Otay monkey flower
Eriogonum parvifolium
Eschscholzia californica maritima
Gnaphalium californicum x2
Lupinus excubitus
Monardella villosa x2
Monardella macrantha x3
Penstemon heterophyllus heterophyllus
Penstemon Margarita BOP x2
Penstemon spectabilis : x2
Salvia Celestial Blue
Salvia clevelandii Alpine Cleveland sage
Salvia Gracias
Zauschneria californica Catalina x2
Zauschneria californica Ghostly Red x2

The plants should be shipped Monday so we're planning on planting them next weekend. The rocks etc are going to be delivered next Saturday morning; I'm hoping to arrange for mulch by then as well. (Also, the same crew will be coming by to remove the bird of paradise, hibiscus and the other shrubs Saturday.)

Front yard, fences, fruit trees and native plant planning

2007-03-02T20:09:00.000-08:00

The small fig stick is budding at its tip. All the other trees, with the exception of the larger fig stick, are also budding or flowering. The large fig stick is showing some small signs of budding.

The blueberries are potted for the time being. The raspberry and blackberry canes are in the earthboxes (temporarily) on the deck but probably won't make it due to our tardiness in getting them into anything. Our fault.

We trimmed the dead branches off the unidentified tree near the bird of paradise, pruned the unidentified bushes, cleaned out the bird of paradise a little, and removed the spider plant from around the base of the u/i bushes.

After visiting the Cactus Center in Pasadena we added to our potted succulent and cactus collection. Some of them are slated to eventually populate the yard.

Regarding the fence....stucco/adobe/solid would be the way to go to fit the style of the house, but I don't know if we could get a permit for it, plus it would be very expensive if we have to have someone build it.

Looking through an old book (California Architecture in Santa Barbara? 1929) I think we could go with a short dry stone wall (maybe about 18") for the time being and re-purpose the stones later if we choose to change it. Some of the houses/mansions had that type of wall and it looked good. Plus, I think it's something we could manage.

We visited Sepulveda Building Materials last weekend. Tons (literally) of rocks, boulders etc to choose from, including boulders for decoration as well as smaller ones for other uses (wall!).

I have to update the sidebar with native plant links -- I've found a bunch over the last few weeks. We're looking forward to the Theodore Payne Garden Tour the end of April.

Our goals include supplying plants for birds and butterflies and eventually getting the yard certified as wildlife habitat.

Fruit trees planted, working on berries

2007-02-14T08:32:00.000-08:00

We planted the fruit trees this past weekend -- pics to follow. Unfortunately the nursery ran out of Peregrine, but we have PLENTY of trees.

We still need to plant the berries. I'm thinking of doing the blueberries in large containers for the time being (deal with the needed soil acidity) and running the canes alongside yard edge near our neighbor's driveway (planted several feet in of course).

We still need to do some sort of fence. I'm tired of people letting their dogs (on or off leash) run into our yard and not even cleaning up their dog's subsequent mess. We have a dog. We don't let our dog do that to other peoples' yards. Anyway, I also would like a fence so we can let Rigel out front safely off leash.

However, because we're on a corner lot, we can't do a solid fence/wall (though we may be able to fudge it a little because of the weird shape of our lot and the fact you can only legally make a right turn at our corner, not a left (so seeing traffic coming from the right is not so critical (assuming whoever's driving can stay on their side of the road))).

A typical picket fence just doesn't look right with the Spanish style. I'm trying to find examples of options online and in the surrounding neighborhoods. Any ideas? Maybe a combo stucco wall/ rustic wood thing?

Fruit Trees

2007-02-08T19:55:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, in between the Superbowl 10k run (including about 1 mile to and from) and Mel's Superbowl party I went to a free fruit tree and rose seminar at a local nursery that I'd actually never visited.

The seminar was awesome, focusing mostly on fruit trees (the main love of the speaker/teacher, Thomas) and what varieties to choose for our area and how to plant and prune them. Thomas was a wild man with the pruners. I ended up purchasing some more trees this week from that nursery, including one he'd pruned (I figure I can refer to it for reassurance when I get queasy about how much I'm pruning).

We'll end up with five 'clumps' of multiple trees in one hole -- the two figs, four apples (new ones are Anna and Beverly Hills), two peaches and two apricots (Gold Kist apricot and May Pride and Babcock peaches), four plums (Santa Rosa and Burgundy added), and four nectarines (Goldmine and one other whose name escapes me).

We're planning on planting this weekend. Our bareroot trees arrived the other day as well. They are smaller than the majority of the trees in pots, so they'll get planted south of the bigger trees (a tidbit I picked up at the seminar).

Green?

2007-01-23T21:04:00.000-08:00

Things in our house that are environmentally good choices:

Compact fluorescent bulbs 90%

One TV

~930 sq feet for the two of us

Recent furniture purchases: antiques from Craig's List (bookcase, dining table, chairs, antique stove, Hoosier cabinet), garage sale (small wooden desk that's on our front porch), local antique store (bookcase).

Used our old linens til tearing, replaced w/ ones made of organic cotton

Frequent shopping at the local farmer's market

Choosing certified organic products

Choosing meat from humanely raised animals

Not eating meat daily

Planned garden to include fruit trees, vegetable and herb beds, and native plants as opposed to lawn

No so green:

Oak floor installed in kitchen and kitchen nook

Purchasing a new TV (wall-mounted LCD) (the new TV will be passed on to friends, rather than dumped)

Dave's XTerra

My Subaru

Eating meat as often as we do

Not bicycling as often as we should for transportation

Enjoying our central heat (our old house didn't have it) (though we keep it at 68 or lower)

I'll add more to both categories as I think of them.

Not surprised, just disappointed....

2007-01-23T14:36:00.000-08:00

...in the news I got from Richard regarding the Mills Act.

Apparently the City Council is dead set against the whole idea of the Mills Act. They don't want to lose any tax revenues, and fear that, once one house gets ok'd, EVERYONE is going to take advantage of the Mills Act and the city will lose too much money.

Hey, haven't they looked around?

So many original houses have been torn down so people can have their huge fake pseudo Mediterranean monstrosities that there's only a handful of houses that could even possibly qualify. And you know what? They're the CHEAPER houses, that don't bring in as much in taxes ANYWAY.

We're still going to restore our house as best as possible of course.

Mills Act

2007-01-22T14:20:00.000-08:00

Last week I contacted Richard from the City of Hermosa Beach regarding the Mills Act.

The Mills Act (related info here, here, and here) is a piece of legislature designed to promote the preservation of historical buildings/architecture including homes. Homeowners enter into a 10 year contract that dictates the house must not have anything done to it that isn't intended to restore it to its original state (i.e. no additions, no vinyl windows etc) while promoting restoration (i.e. taking out the vinyl windows and replacing with wood windows like the originals). In return you get a tax break (which you are supposed to apply to projects for restoring and maintaining your house).

Hopefully our house will past muster.

Gardening

2007-01-21T18:28:00.000-08:00

I ordered a bunch of fruit trees (all low chill varieties) from Trees of Antiquity -- they're shipping this week so this weekend will be a tree-planting one.

Figs

Desert King

Black Jack

Apples

Pink Lady

Pettingill

Stone Fruit

Peregrine peach

Snow Queen nectarine

Gold Kist apricots

Satsuma plum

Mariposa plum

Berries

Ollalie (blackberry)

Williamette raspberry

Misty Southern Highbush blueberries

Sharpbush Southern Highbush blueberries

Coffee Stories

2007-01-07T11:13:00.000-08:00

Regarding coffee: for the longest time we've simply used a french press for our coffee. Easy, fast, really tasty if you want a thick strong brew.

It required (in my mind) the purchase of a good quality grinder -- I bought a Gaggia MDF off Amazon, and, between the sale they were running on housewares, and finally getting an Amazon credit card, got it at a good price. We could tell the difference in taste between the Gaggia and the simple blade grinder we'd been using before.

Several months ago, after years of french press at home and lattes out, I decided I wanted to make my own espresso drinks. I bought a Rancilio Silvia (aka Miss Silvia) from Whole Latte Love. It has a pretty steep learning curve, but I've pulled some lovely, crema-rich shots off it. And I can froth milk better than 95% of the so-called baristas at Starbucks, if I do say so (though one woman at the Peets in Costa Mesa impressed me with some nice latte art -- the only time I've even gotten a latte with latte art from a chain coffee place).

However, I was noticing that, after opening a recently roasted bag of coffee -- even the awesome stuff from Intelligentsia -- that, though everything was great for a few days -- lovely shots, not requiring too much adjustment on the grind, tamping, etc -- four or more days later I just couldn't get enough out of the coffee for good shots from Miss Silvia. It was still fine for the press pot, and generally, we'd finish up a half pound within a week, but....we just didn't drink enough coffee to use it up fast enough.

So I got a home coffee roaster (an iRoast 2) and some green beans from Sweet Maria's. (If I'd thought Miss Silvia was loud while working -- well, she was quiet as Rigel basking in the sun in the afternoon compared to the louder-than-a-hair-dryer roaster.

Roasting too has a learning curve, and I'm not as far along it as I'd like. But now I can roast 1/4 lb or so at a time and have deliciously fresh coffee of whatever varietals I have on hand (and since green beans keep a long time, I can have a nice little selection).

Getting into all this coffee stuff meant of course surfing the web and discovering CoffeeGeek.

And their silent auction for Coffee Kids, a nonprofit to help people in the coffee-growing areas of Mexico and Central America. I couldn't resist bidding on something -- it's a great cause, silent auctions are fun, and heck, I'd read a little about stovetop vacuum coffee brewers and was intrigued.

Thus I ended up with yet another way of brewing coffee.

It really does look like a chemistry experiment (which gives me hope my Physics teacher husband can master it -- he's not even tried Miss Silvia). The coffee brewed is a little clearer and brighter than with the press pot -- it does taste different.

2007-01-06T19:05:00.000-08:00

$12k later the roof is done.

The nice thing about coastal California is that there aren't too many nasty bugs. A bly once in a while gets in the house. Maybe a line of little ants, trekking who knows where. Nary a cockroach.

The bad thing is we do get one bug in spades: termites.

And unseen termite damage, hidden by the roof, and no way of knowing until the roof is ripped off.

At least it's fixed now.

On another note, we have the paint for the walls and the cabinets, and the black milk glass repro knobs and pulls, but we've made no progress on painting (i.e. we've not yet even started).

Next weekend we're going to Santa Barbara (I'm getting my second tattoo, we'll go bicycling, probably go to Santa Ynez for wine tasting -- especially at the wineries to whose wineclubs I belong, like Andrew Murray and Zaca Mesa and Consilience)....so no painting then.

The following weekend we're doing a half marathon in Carlsbad. Obviously no painting then.

The weekend after.....we'd better paint SOMETHING.

I've also ordered fruit trees (white nectarines, a couple low chill apples, plums), raspberries, figs, blackberries and blueberries to start transforming our yard. Our choices are limited because we're in a decidely low chill area....plus it doesn't get hot. Ideal climate for all our fun outdoor stuff but not so good for variety in the home orchard.

Pics

2006-11-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

Ocean view from our deck

'New' dining room set, off of Craig's List

Blue table

Updated kitchen plans

2006-11-28T10:47:00.000-08:00

We've decided to paint the kitchen and kitchen nook walls a creamy white (Air 2 in Satin Yolo paint from the Living Green store in Culver City). For the cabinets we've chosen a jade/turquoise-y color that will have to be matched (I have a small bowl/dish that has the color we want). Hardware-wise we're still debating between clear, black or opaque white glass knobs.

2006-11-22T09:52:00.000-08:00

Hoosier cabinet (and corner peek of the stove)

Stove!

More pics at my flickr page.

2006-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

We did buy that neat old Hoosier cabinet on Craig’s List. It's the perfect size for our kitchen and gives much-needed extra storage. I can also display some of my teapots and tea cups on the shelves fronted by the glass door.

We also found another 1950s Wedgewood stove on Craig’s List that had been refurbished a few years ago at Antique Stove Heaven. (The one mentioned in the last post just wasn't in good enough condition.) Even with arranging with pick up/ delivery from Redondo Van and Storage (after a myriad of phone calls attempting to locate a rental truck etc) it’s still working out much less expensive than getting one directly from Antique Stove Heaven. (Famous last words – we still have to have it installed, because its valve doesn’t fit the valve on the gas supply line. We’re having the Gas Co out tomorrow to install it.

We do still want to paint the walls and cabinets and get different knobs for the cabinets in the very near future, but I think we’re going to wait awhile on the re-tiling, re-doing the bottom cabinets etc.

Kitchen

2006-11-17T10:01:00.000-08:00

The current stove has great burners but the dial for the oven was damaged at some point recently and we can’t use the oven. We were wanting to get a vintage stove anyway, but now want to find one as soon as possible. (Dave is dying for me to make him some cookies.)

We’re eyeing O’Keefe & Merritt and Wedgewood 1950s stoves on Craig’s List and will be visiting Antique Stove Heaven again this weekend. I’d love to have a stove in time to cook Thanksgiving dinner.

I’m also thinking about getting a Hoosier cabinet for the wall perpendicular to the stove; we’ve found one on Craig’s List (see a theme here?) that we want to check out. There aren't many Hoosier cabinets in California but I think they're neat.

The walls are currently a mint green and we’ll be repainting; I don’t mind green but would pick a different color of green – I prefer more of a sage-y, yellow based green as opposed to a bluer green. Currently the nook and the kitchen are the same color; we’ll probably pick different colors just for the contrast/ separation of the rooms. Not sure if we'll stay with green or go with an off-white for the kitchen and a warm neutral for the nook.

Longer-term we need to re-do the bottom cabinets, sink and countertops – there’s some water damage to the plaster wall and interior of the cabinets, the sinks are very rusty from the bottom. We may add (and hide) a full size dishwasher, but we’ve lived without a dishwasher for a very long time (can’t remember when we’ve last had a working dishwasher) so that’s not too high on the priority list (though, with an eye towards resale value, it’s something we should consider). Tile-wise, we're thinking a classic 1920s bungalow hex & subway tile sort of thing.....maybe doing a lot of subway tile around the stove too.

I'd like to do glass knobs/pulls on the cabinets and drawers.

Pics of the house in it's current conditin are at my flickr page.

Moving Day

2006-11-06T15:06:00.000-08:00

Tonight will be our first night in our new house! I'm working today so Dave and his mom Rosemary got to supervise the movers and clean the old house. (If I'm contracted to work a day, in my mind the only things that will make it okay for me to not make it in is if I'm in the hospital (really) or there's a death in the immediate family. Moving does not count.)

The floors turned out gorgeous.

I'll be posting our list of want-to-do's in the next week or so. Some are major (landscaping the front yard), some are minor (paint the kitchen a different color).

Pics to be posted in the next week or so.

Something we realized yesterday -- not only do we have an ocean view, we have an awesome city view (given good conditions). Again, pics to follow.

2006-10-31T20:54:00.000-08:00

We have the keys!!!! It recorded today! We now have a house again! (Our old house funded/recorded last week, so technically we had a few days as renters.)

Work on the floors is progressing nicely. We had to decide between the future integrity of our new kitchen floor versus the current small dishwasher....the floor won. (The dishwasher fit so tightly that if it ever died, removing it would involve cutting the new wood floor.)

We're actually considering ripping out the lower cabinets and sink (keeping the upper cabinets, they seem solid and unwarped) and if so will install a (non-period) full-sized dishwasher. I don't know if the current tile-in sink could be resurfaced and reused, I need to research that. We were wanting to redo the countertop tile in white hexes with accent colors or similar and subway tile on the wall for a backsplash.

We're probably a little past half done moving stuff out of our old garage and into our new garage. I did two trips today at lunch and Dave and I did one when I got home (he'd already loaded the XTerra). Hopefully two trips tomorrow and we'll be pretty much done with what we were planning to move (saving the big cabinet and washer and dryer for the official movers). Luckily our garage was pretty well organized with the majority of our gear and stuff in Rubbermaid or similar containers (being anal has its rewards).

Dave's mom Rosemary arrives tomorrow to help us pack. We'll be able to start moving packed boxes into our old garage Thursday.

As noted before, we should be able to move stuff into the house proper on Sunday; anything we can fit in my Subaru or Dave's XTerra we'll be moving over ourselves. The movers will move the rest Monday morning.

I finished painting the turquoise table (3 coats!)....pic to follow.

Here's the flickr link to the new house -- 'before' pics.

Countdown

2006-10-22T19:42:00.000-07:00

Dona (our realtor) and I are doing our final walkthrough on the 30th of October.

We're supposed to get the keys officially on Halloween.

Work on the floors by Wilson Flooring Company starts that morning (install wood in the kitchen/ kitchen nook to match the oak, sand, stain, finish the kitchen and the rest of the house). We'll start moving stuff to the garage that week as well. Travis from Wilson said we'll be able to move light things in on Sunday, so guess what we'll be doing that day!

We're planning on moving whatever will fit into Dave's XTerra or my Forester ourselves, and having the official moving company (Redondo Van and Storage) on the morning of the 6th for the big stuff (appliances, couch, etc). Our first night in our new place will be that night!

Today we did a quick go-through of our house, finding stuff that we didn't want or need any more. (Since we do this fairly regularly -- a must with a small house that we want to keep uncluttered -- we only had three small boxes of stuff, mostly clothing that we don't wear anymore.) One thing I did in the kitchen was purge all our old spices/herbs.

We're saving the garage til we actually pack up stuff from in there, but again, I think there's not much to discard.

We also painted the first coat of paint on a small table that I got from a garage sale that we plan on using on our front porch. I had the turquoise paint that was used for our Adirondack chairs matched....it's bright, but I just love the color. Dave likes it a lot too. I don't think it's an inside color for us for furniture, but it's great for outside.

We'll start packing next weekend (again, stuff that we'll be able to put into the garage). I suppose we could start now, but with no extra rooms in which to store packed boxes, we'd just be stuck with boxes cluttering our house for the next couple weeks.

2006-10-15T09:56:00.000-07:00

We still don't know if this is going to go through or not. I think it will but not in as timely of a manner as we'd like.

It still all hinges on when the tenants are getting out.

After this experience I don't think I'd ever even LOOK at a house for sale that had tenants. We'd already be in our little Spanish Eclectic if it weren't for the tenants.

Best case hope is that we get to move the first weekend in November; hopefully worst case is moving the 10th of November (which would still allow us to do the Solvang metric century on the 11th, which, if you're a cyclist, you'd understand as being one of our priorities). The latter would actually allow us a little more time to move some of our stuff ourselves, but I'd really rather be in sooner rather than later.

We stopped by Antique Stove Heaven yesterday and ooh'd and aah'd over the refurbished stoves. I think we could actually get a 40" stove -- we'll have more than enough room on that wall where the stove sits. We're leaning towards Wedgewood or O'Keefe and Merritt, one of the 1950s stoves that look like '57 Chevies, kind of a Disney retro/Tomorrowland look. We have to determine if we're better off finding a cheap but still working and in decent if not pristine shape stove off of Craig's List or going the easier but more expensive route of getting an already refurbished stove from Antique Stove Heaven. (I've found a lot of prospective stoves on Craig's List in the $300-500 range; a few cheaper, a few more expensive.)

2006-09-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

We accepted a new offer tonight -- for quite a bit ($14k) more than the offer that was pulled....and the buyers are okay with working with us on us being able to rent back. Awesome! our contingency is of course that everything depends on us successfully buying 223, but the new buyers are aware of that.

2006-09-20T08:41:00.000-07:00

Who knows if we'll get our Spanish bungalow.

Our buyer backed out. We already have another offer (good) for more than the original (even better) but the timing for when they'd need to move in won't work for us (bad).

Having four cats, one of whom is diabetic, and a dog, complicates things for us. So be it. We have to be able to either rent back our house or have the timing such on the new house that we'll be able to move in there -- and who knows when the current tenants will leave -- supposed to be out no later than November 1st, but I don't think that's guaranteed.

Another couple offers may come in today or tomorrow (all the people who saw our house, were interested, but didn't make an offer in time before).

Links

2006-09-09T12:33:00.000-07:00

I've been working a lot on the links for this page -- this is going to serve as my one-stop reference list. Please feel free to comment about any links you think should be added.

In Escrow

2006-09-05T20:40:00.000-07:00

We're in escrow on the Spanish house and will be in escrow on our (old) house starting tomorrow....it is starting to finally feel like things will work out with us getting this house!

2006-08-22T14:05:00.000-07:00

Where to start? Dave and I have always loved the charm, craftsmanship and liveability of older houses (as well as loathing most post-1960 houses). We really wanted a bungalow of some sort for our first house but there wasn't anything in our price range in the location we wanted, so we ended up in our little 1950s house in the Golden Hills area of Redondo Beach. It's a nice little house, and we've had fun decorating it etc, but....it's not what we wanted.

We found the house on 223 Prospect in Hermosa Beach -- it's been on the market awhile, and currently is being rented -- and really love it. It's small, barely bigger than our current house, but with a bigger kitchen and with lovely coved ceilings and arched windows. It only has two bedrooms but has a kitchen nook as well as an alcove off the dining room, either of which we can use for our 'office'.

Here's a link to the listing.

Perhaps a bit premature....

2006-08-20T14:13:00.000-07:00

...but even if we don't sell our house, and thus don't get the house we've made an offer on, I really do like bungalows, so this blog will be a source of info and comments for that.