We’re starting to get paranoid –since we arrived, three neighbors have put their homes up for sale. The latest appeared last week, with an open house yesterday. As we’ve come to realize, this is an excuse for nosy neighbors (us included) to congregate. And so they/we did, along with a steady stream of would-be buyers. …
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Author Archives: Andy
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6457 s land park dr
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full nelson
We’ve coveted a Nelson Saucer for eons, but they’re fairly pricey so we held off. Then two bargain opportunities in as many weeks. First, a friend offered a choice of saucers he’d picked up in San Francisco (thanks Justin!) but they were in pretty rough shape. We thought hard, but ultimately decided the imperfections (marks/small …
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master vanity
Finally, I get round to sharing our master vanity project. The only original bit we inherited was the vanity itself (though it was sprayed white, like everything else). That stays, along with the non-original faucet. The countertop, mirrored cabinet, and light fixture will all go. We’ll also add something back in –the medicine cabinet I …
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bottlebrush dustpan
That would make an interesting band name. Anyhow, despite more than one neighbor calling it a “California weed”, we love our Bottlebrush tree. The novelty may soon wear-off though, judging by the amount of ‘red stuff’ I swept up this morning. It does attract masses of bees too, but they only seem interested in the …
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keep digging
As you probably realize, we’ve been doing lots of digging recently. And we’ve turned up a few long-lost items. According to our next-door neighbor, Maria, there used to be a ping-pong table in our side yard…which explains these two balls. More difficult to explain what this rubber duck was doing there. We also found this …
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book smarts
You can learn almost anything online, but there’s something comforting about leafing through a book. Especially when it’s packed with mid-century appropriate landscaping ideas, like this one –Better Homes & Gardens’ Landscape Planning (1963). It only cost a few bucks, but it’s worth way more (to us). Funny thing is, despite its age, the homes …
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courtyard chaos
We’re used to small yards (or “gardens” as us Brits call ’em) so our outdoor space is a little overwhelming. It spans four areas; front and back yards (both with scruffy-looking lawns), a side patio (where we spend most outdoor time) and this entrance jungle courtyard. We’ve roughed-out simple plans for all four areas (which …
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all white now
The weather’s been great, so we’ve been tackling some outdoor projects. This cinder-block chimney faces our side-patio –it’s in good shape, but just looks grubby and unloved. Painting is a (relatively) quick fix, but a big difference-maker. You can see how yellowed the ‘white’ paint had become. After a thorough scrub, Karen (I leave most …
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bird feeder
You don’t get much for under twenty bucks these days, but you can get this bird feeder, from CB2. Very much our colors too, so we had to snap it up. It just arrived, and we hung it on an existing hook by our side patio. Final destination TBD but I kinda like it there. …
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