Digging

I fear I am not up to the excellence of the gardening and other creative work to be found at the Mighty Corrente, but I stay busy. Lately, I've been doing a lot of digging.

There are old planting beds along the south wall of the house that haven't had anything new planted in them since sometime in the 70s. It was mostly twigs, dirty crushed white rock and some out of control birds of paradise. Between our grubbing and the construction work, everything except a single shady tree has been removed. We started by digging up, sifting out and washing off the decorative white rock. Then we dug out a 3'x8' nail & glass impregnated patch of weeds near the back steps, just downslope of an old and prolific Meyer lemon tree. While the spousal unit leveled the ground and mortared a row of bricks in place, I sifted the detritus out of the dirt, separating river rock and good fill rubble from metal, glass and other garbage. The dirt itself is building up in a large pile, waiting to be mixed with manure and other amendments when it's time to plant.

The rubble went back to form a drainage layer. On top of that, we mixed some coarse decomposed granite given to us by a neighbor with most of the decorative rock scraped from the old planters and tamped it down into a firm yet water permeable walkway. Water is a big issue in San Diego. We use too much and don't use it wisely. Ironically, during the last drought in the 70s, many people ripped out plantings and paved vast swaths of what used to be lawns, or else laid down mile after mile of black plastic and covered it with crushed rock. This has created a situation both impossibly ugly and water-hostile, as any runoff goes right down the storm drains. The City is in the middle of a water emergency now. Our goal for the house is to put in a landscape with drought tolerant plants and do some aggressive water management, but I get ahead of myself.

The next task was to create a pleasant sitting area near the kitchen in the shadow of the sunroom bumpout. Right next to the sunroom steps, we excavated five wheelbarrow loads of hardpacked dirt and rhizomes from the old bird of paradise plant. That went into a large mound in the backyard. Next, in the wider area, we scraped away the top layer of construction crud (I could probably open a hardware store with the excess nails), weeds and junk. Into a different pile for sifting. The clean dirt underneath we raked and redistributed and made relatively flat.

We went to Home Depot and picked up eight bags of fine bark and two of cocoa bean shells. Back at the ranch, we mixed a quarter bag of cocoa bean shells into the regular bark, and then dumped the mix into the wider area (about 7'x16'). The rest of the bags followed, making a dense, chocolate scented base. Add two old benches we've dragged from apartment to apartment over the last decade and a couple of beat-up tables with uneven legs and we had ourselves a lovely spot for a warm summer evening. Mulched up like that, it keeps in the moisture for the Pittosporum that shades the area.

What's next? Sifting the dirt dug from the hole. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it. Rubble to fill up the bottom of the hole, then mix up a nice planting mix with the clean dirt and other stuff. For next to the stairs, probably some salvia - purple and dusty green against the saffron colored walls should be nice. Further along, in the part we haven't excavated yet, I'm planning an herb garden. The sitting area will get some colorful pots and plants.

Anglachel

Almost Settled In

The main part of the move is done and we are getting settled into the new house. The cat came home from the kennel today and is exploring the new digs. After an initial hour of panic, she's decided she likes the place, I think.

We're exhausted and not looking forward to the coming work week. There is still a lot to be done around here and most of the boxes remain packed. The master bathroom is still under construction and there's a leak in the roof that needs fixing.

I've been back on line for only 24 hours so am still catching up on the news. I see that people are finally starting to wake up to the fact that Golden Boy Barry is short on substance, enamored of truthiness, and entirely too eager to kiss Republican ass to get a few primary votes.

Something I realized as I was looking over my links is that Riverbend (Baghdad Burning) has not posted since late October 2007. I keep checking her blog, hoping to see some word on where she is. Nothing. I'm afraid of what the answer might be. She had a two month visa at the end of October. It's now two months beyond that deadline. This is how her last post ends:

By the time we had reentered the Syrian border and were headed back to the cab ready to take us into Kameshli, I had resigned myself to the fact that we were refugees. I read about refugees on the Internet daily… in the newspapers… hear about them on TV. I hear about the estimated 1.5 million plus Iraqi refugees in Syria and shake my head, never really considering myself or my family as one of them. After all, refugees are people who sleep in tents and have no potable water or plumbing, right? Refugees carry their belongings in bags instead of suitcases and they don’t have cell phones or Internet access, right? Grasping my passport in my hand like my life depended on it, with two extra months in Syria stamped inside, it hit me how wrong I was. We were all refugees. I was suddenly a number. No matter how wealthy or educated or comfortable, a refugee is a refugee. A refugee is someone who isn’t really welcome in any country- including their own... especially their own.

We live in an apartment building where two other Iraqis are renting. The people in the floor above us are a Christian family from northern Iraq who got chased out of their village by Peshmerga and the family on our floor is a Kurdish family who lost their home in Baghdad to militias and were waiting for immigration to Sweden or Switzerland or some such European refugee haven.

The first evening we arrived, exhausted, dragging suitcases behind us, morale a little bit bruised, the Kurdish family sent over their representative – a 9 year old boy missing two front teeth, holding a lopsided cake, “We’re Abu Mohammed’s house- across from you- mama says if you need anything, just ask- this is our number. Abu Dalia’s family live upstairs, this is their number. We’re all Iraqi too... Welcome to the building.”

I cried that night because for the first time in a long time, so far away from home, I felt the unity that had been stolen from us in 2003.

Bloggers Without Borders...

This is the Bush legacy, father and son. This is what Cheney and the neocons would gladly do to every being on the planet. Are these the ideas you thought were so awesome, Barry? Is this what you think is a pretty darn good way to run the White House, just like Saint Ronnie would do? Are these the people you intend to invite into your administration, and seat in your cabinet, and get all warm and bipartisan with? Because this is the core of the Republican Party.

Anglachel

Moving Fun

Because we cannot live by politics alone.

Here are a few before-after pictures of the renovations on our house. The first one is what the kitchen looked like the first time we saw it. A nearly original 1924 yellow tile kitchen. The floor is filthy, peeling vinyl, the walls have been painted in three different shades of yellow, and the room is split into the main kitchen and a small utility porch with no back door. The fridge sat back there because there was no where else to put it.

After renovations, the kitchen and utility room have been combined, the old yellow tile has been replaced with green tile and custom Arts & Crafts style gingko leaf decorative tiles, the floor is now true linoleum, inlaid in a classic rug pattern (the color and style taken from the original flooring unearthed in demolition), and the old yellow cabinets have been replaced with new yellow cabinets.

The original dining room and sunroom were swathed in layers of dirty curtains and Venetian blinds, with rotting, moldy carpet that had been put in sometime in the 70s. The center of the house was dim and smelly. You can just glimpse the glitter popcorn ceiling, loaded with asbestos.

Curtains removed, floor stripped, sanded, stained and revarnished, and all the woodwork is given a chance to shine. The ceiling asbestos was removed (with proper environmental protection and disposal), retextured, and painted a beautiful soft rose. The floors throughout the house now look like this.

This bathroom is simply hideous. The mismatched paint, the gag-inducing wallpaper, the formica topped vanity, the stained and ratty carpet. But underneath it all is gorgeus vintage tile.

The medicine cabinet is still out of the wall having 70 years of paint stipped off before it is sanded and refinished. We still need paint and the lights were put in upside down, though they are pointing up now. The beautiful floor is in the open for all to see, and the disintegrating vanity has been replaced with a wooden washstand with Art Deco carved legs and a sleek china sink top. The sink itself is just a deep curve in the middle of the china.

Here you can see the double glitter ceilings, the rotting carpet, the hideous light fixtures, and the dark rooms. Even in the middle of a sunny day, you had to turn on lights to see anything. In the background, you can glimpse the kitchen.

The floors are redone and the windows have been fixed. The light is a little funky because of plastic they put up to keep people from walking on the floors while the varnish dried. We're moving in over the next week.

Anglachel

How is the House Coming Along?

Well, since last I commented on the house, back in Spetember, we've been making progress in fits and starts. It has been a lot of little things that have suddenly added up:

Every window in the place has been restored, with new glass, new frames, and new casements. We have also had all the doors stripped and sanded, and all the hardware cleaned up.

In the kitchen (be sure to check out the demolition photos from the last post), the interior electrical and plumbing is done, and the gorgeous finishing work is well under way. This arch will be over our stove. A beautiful French door has replaced the ghastly metal security screen door. Under the window at right, there is now a custom wood bench with open storace spaces below the seat.

Cabinets are mostly in, and need finishing work. The big labor yet to be done is the tile, which is going to be gorgeous. The floor has been done in true, old-fashioned linoleum (not vinyl) in a color and pattern very close to the original floor in the house. That was wrapped up yesterday.

In the back bedroom, we have our french doors, plus paint, crown molding and a brand new oak wood floor. The floors throughout the house were stripped yesterday and today, and will eb stained tomorrow. They look incredible.

The yards are still a mucky mess, we've got some water seepage in the basement (that's next on the to-fix list), and the exterior is still the ugliest mustard yellow color you've ever seen, but we're getting there. Due to my recent computer hardware impolsion, I lost my Photoshop program so ahven't had a chance to update my photos. I'm trying to get that problem solved over the weekend.

Anglachel

This and That

The cat is better, though she hates me because I've been giving her medication for the last week.

The next month of politics will be stupid as all the candidates try to project genial confidence while their campaigns engage in trench warfare. It hasn't changed that we have one person running for president (Hillary Clinton), six people running against Hillary (Obama, Edwards, McCain, Guiliani, Romney, Huckabee), and three people running for VP (Biden, Dodd and Richardson). Dennis Kucinich is running for public scold and Ron Paul has village crank sewn up. I've said before and I'll say again, this campaign is for the Democrats to lose. If they damage their candidates too much in the primaries, they risk getting taken out by the right in the general. The best thing to hope for now is a Romney or Huckabee victory on the Republican side.

On the house side of things, the tile we wanted for the bathroom and kitchen has been delayed for 3-4 weeks on shipment, and the tile installer says our patterns are complex enough that it will take 3-4 weeks to install, so we won't get into the house until late January or early February. A disappointment, yes, but not wholly unexpected.

Anglachel

What About the House?

A few people have asked how the renovation project is coming along on my house. Very well! The outside looks stark right now because we removed most of the old decrepit plantings and had the trees professionally pruned:

We don't want to put in any plantings until after all of the interior construction has been completed, otherwise it will get trampled. The front yard is on a busy street, so we won't be using it for lounging or entertaining, but we do intend to have a very nice walled garden to provide something pretty to look at from inside and out.

Inside, the front half of the house, the old carpet has been removed, several layers of ill-advised window treatments have been taken down, and new electrical wiring is being installed in every room. That's the dining room:

The extensive woodwork throughout the house is marvelous, though a bit dull. After the cosntruction is over, the floors will be refinished in every room, and the walls and paneling cleaned. The wood is the color of dark honey, a rich amber with delicate graining. The floors are 3/4" oak hardwood.

At the back of the house, the kitchen and two bedrooms have been gutted and are being redone from the wall studs in and the floorboards up. New plumbing, new electrical, repaired original windows, a second bathroom and a kitchen to die for:

We very deliberately are staying away from current trends like granite counters, cherry wood cabinets, and travertine marble all over the place. Instead, the cabinets are painted, the counters are ceramic with Arts & Crafts accent pieces, and the bathroom is being done in an old retro-California Bungalow style. We've even got Marboleum for the kitchen floor!

It's daunting, but we have a great contractor and the work is moving along without a hitch. If everything continues to go this well, we may be moving in over the Christmas holidays.

Janus House

I have a key in hand. It opens up new possibilities.

We closed escrow on our house yesterday. Our new old house - new to us, almost older than the two of us put together. Finally, life has settled down to the point where it is time to put down deeper roots. To, as Voltaire would have it, cultivate our garden.


So, what about this house? It's old (1924) and large and in need of TLC after a time of neglect. We're the third family to live in it. It has a Mission Revival style exterior, very plain, and a beautiful classic Craftsman interior. This is odd, as the Spanish style exteriors usually go with a plainer interior, thought we're not complaining.

I've set up a website where we're going to write up our renovations efforts, publish pictures, keep a house blog and other things. I did password protect it because I'd really prefer not to give thieves and con men detailed information about the interior of the house and what we are doing. Friends are welcome to email me and ask for a password.

There are a few immediate needs. There is a ficus tree in the back yard that needs to be cut down before it takes over the neighborhood. The kitchen has not been changed or updated since 1924, so it is both quaint and nearly unusable. That will take some major work. The electrical system has been updated from the old knob and tube wiring, but it is woefully inadequate for today's gadget wonderland. And so on.

We expect renovations will take from now until Labor Day or thereabouts.

Anglachel