• minimal halloween

    We typically don’t do anything special to our house for Halloween. This year was to be no exception, though we did pop a pumpkin out front. Then we had another idea …

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  • front front door

    Not a typo. This is our second front door, supplementing the original, and completing the front fence project we recently shared …

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  • wet weekend

    It rained last weekend. But we didn’t complain. When it does rain here, it reminds us of England…and makes us happy we moved to California …

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  • street view

    The ‘front’ door in our model is at the side –accessed via this path, open to the street. We plan to add a secondary front door/fence, creating a private courtyard entry …

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  • paddling pool

    Sacramento gets hot. And when it’s 100ºF+ (as it is all this week) you need some respite. Luckily, our neighbors have pools. But we can’t spend every day at the neighbors’ …

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  • color fast

    Last weekend was our first ‘free’ weekend in memory. Aside from a thorough post-tour house clean, we had nothing on our plates. And we were twitchy …

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  • making an entrance

    Our front door is at the side (so, technically, a side door) –confuses visitors, dissuades trick-or-treaters. The entrance is inset, creating a small courtyard …

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  • fountains and flamingos

    Remember our side yard? Back in December, we shared our DIY landscaping plan and initial work. Since then, a few false-starts, and plenty of tweaking …

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  • side-yard snowball

    You’re familiar with the snowball effect, right? Well, a giant one just rolled over our side-yard. We’d already removed much of the lawn (where you now see rock) …

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