UP-GRADE

As of today we have the 2nd floor on as well as the sub roof and deck. Stairs may go up tomorrow.

I must say... we are super excited we put all those windows in... the mountain and sunset views are amazing as are the peek-a-boo ocean views. Stay tuned ....

Front/West wall.

Back/East wall

Inside the upper office looking out the North facing windows and our peek-a-boo ocean views which you can also see when sitting at the desk which is the wall to the right in this shot.
Our biggest concern now is...
HOW DO WE PAINT ALL THE WAY UP THERE UNDER THOSE EAVES??
Maybe we will hire someone after all.

WATCH OUT FOR THAT WALL!

I have been trying to get a few good pics of the baby cardinal and it's parents for the last week now, but have not had much luck. You might remember the nest we found with 3 eggs in it back in May. Well it looks like one of the three babies has survived.

Baby is in front chomping on a red berry and mom behind keeping a watchful eye.

It has been hanging out with mom and dad under our bedroom window chirping up a storm and eating the berries from the asparagus fern at the most ridiculous hour of like 5:30 AM.

Well this morning while sitting at the kitchen counter enjoying my coffee, I heard a thud then saw a streak of gray go across the window. I looked down to the ground and there was the baby flat on it's back... knocked out cold.


So what do you suppose I did? Yep, I went out and picked it up. It was really out of it. I immediately took it around back and put it on the table under the trees. Poor thing was so out of it, dozing in and out. After he started to come to, I walked away and just left it there hoping mom and dad would show up.

Dad finally came to the table and was very attentive and concerned. He would hop right up to it and chirp, then hop to the edge of the table and look back as if to say" Well, come one."

After about 30 minutes I started to walk out towards the table and they both took off.
YAY!

WALL TO WALL WALLS

Things on the construction front are moving along at a rapid pace. Our lumber delivery arrived on Monday morning during a downpour, but the day soon turned sunny and all was good. The builders showed up a little after lunch and began prepping and cutting for Tuesday's raising of the walls. I did not expect for all 4 lower walls to go up in one day...BUT THEY DID. WOW!


Wednesday was spent laying the floor joist for the upstairs office and the sub-flooring a well as installing the interior walls on the first floor storage room. Thursday will bring the raising of the upstairs walls and quite possibly the roof.

By the way... the workers listen to some pretty amazing tunes that are totally up our alley.
Depeche Mode, Iron & Wine, Amy Winehouse, The Scorpions, New Order, Belle & Sebastian, ELO and Morrissey just to name a few.

Here are a few images from the last 3 days.

North wall

East wall

South wall

West wall

The toilet room.
As in a room just for the toilet.

Headers ready and waiting for all the windows and doors.

We bought this tent at Costco for the guys to work in and hang out under during the blazing hot days. Thinking we just mught put it to good use afterwards... maybe a party tent?

SAN FRIEND-CISCO

Detail of Tom Bonauro's Home
photo from sfgirlbybay

A blog I have been following lately is sfgirlbybay by Victoria Smith. Good thing too, as 3 of our favorite people have been featured in the last 2 days. Lauren Smith and Derek Fagerstrom of Curiosity Shoppe and graphic artist Tom Bonauro.

I meet all 3 while working at Todd Oldham back in NY. Lauren and Derek moved back to SF to open their shoppe about 3 years ago and have had a curious group of followers since. Tom has lived there as long as I have known him and has quite an amazing eye! He is working on a new monograph of his work so make sure to check out the preview on his online portfolio.

Tom has designed some of the most beautiful graphics around and we are lucky enough to own a few of his pieces. Even the envelopes are amazing. I just received a few new pieces this year.

I could really gush about the 3 of them all day... but I will just let you view their images and see for yourselves how amazing they are.

FOR ALL THE TREATS L,D +T.


Here are a few of the Tom pieces that grace our kitchen. More like these as well as a few books and framed envelopes are waiting to go in the new office. Most are 2 sided, and it was a real chore to decide which side to display. I may find a new way to display them so that we can take advantage of both sides.

Jar of chicks were actually a gift from Lauren and Derek.

"SWEET"

Printed on wood

"ONE"
Etched into brass

This is a bar of chocolate that I have kept in the fridge for about 8 years now. It says OKAY.

I love having a little piece of art in the refrigerator.

"from the sky"
Printed on wire screen.

"halo"
pressed into a Heath Ceramic Tile

"ALRIGHT"
Enameled metal

"seems to APPEAR"
Carved in graphite

Click here to read the piece on Lauren and Derek - Love and Curiosity -
that Victoria wrote and photographed

for UPPERCASE MAGAZINE.
photo from sfgirlbybay

And here to see the feature on Tom's home.

UNEXPECTED GUESTS.
photo from sfgirlbybay

POUR IT ON

This past thursday we had a break from the rain just in time to allow for the new cement slab to be poured. It's the first major step in converting our old tractor/car shed into an office space. It will also house our electrical and water utilities.

I like this pic Conn shot from the roof of the house. You get to see the whole layout of the form. The existing slab is the remains of the foundation of the shed that we had to take down to make way for the new slab.

The stairs are all formed and reinforced ready for the cement to be poured in.

Here you get to see the masonry crew transporting the cement to the back of the slab because the truck's chute wouldn't reach that far. The white stuff is a glue to help the new cement adhere to the old slab.

From the front you can see the whole masonry crew (sister too!) shoveling and getting the cement to fill all the nooks and crannies of the form.

Smoothing it out to make it nice and level. The gray conduit coming up from the slab is for the electrical connections to the inverter.

And voila! We blinked and they were done! The metal braces you see in the front are for the 6x6 posts that will hold up the stairs and balcony for entry into the office.

Here's a view of the finished slab from the front of the house. You can see where we tied in the new slab into our existing front walkway.

Love this shot of the finished stairs.

Framing is set to start monday so stayed tuned for pictures of that sometime toward the end of the week.

GARDEN PROGRESS

This isn't anything new. In fact this group is quite old. Some day that blackberry lily on the left WILL bloom. When, is anybody's guess. I heard they usually bloom the second year but we're going on 2.5 years. To the right of that there is a small potted pineapple. Then some pineapple mint and the giant rosemary.

This pic shows the hacked up hibiscus hedge. It was starting to grow into the garden to i had to cut it back. I've since chopped off the top greenery. I went a little lower than the last time I trimmed them around January 1st. Conn usually frowns when he sees how much I cut them back but in another 6 months I'll be trimming it back again. It still amazes me how quickly nature recovers here.

Roma tomatoes. Tasty sauce and bruschetta.

Lima beans. Never grew them before. They proved hardy though i need to plant twice as many to get a worthwhile yield. Now waiting to see of the plants gives us a second crop.

This is a lethal pepper that sneakily found it's way into the garden. Lesson in proper seed packet marking. We're not into hot spicy things so this will remain pretty to look at.

Yay bell pepper! I leave them for as long as possible so they can turn red but they usually start to show signs of age before then. So they make they're way into a sausage and pasta dish, or vegetable fritatta.

Bottleneck gourd. These have proven difficult to grow. Gangbusters the first year, but since then hardly any yield. I have to be vigilant with the organic pesticides on this for it survive.

Fennel. Rough start with the seedlings on these. Now what to do with them?? Suggestions welcome.

More tomatoes. Tough to say whether these are Better Boys or Beefsteaks. One thing's for sure, they were delicious.

FLOWER SHOCK

The construction is moving along and we passed our first plumbing and foundation frame inspections on Friday. Next week we will have LOADS more images.

We have had a few days to work in the yard and have been able to enjoy all the flowers that are popping out everywhere. Here are some images (ok...a lot) that I walked around and shot today of what is blooming now. They ALWAYS amaze.

Plumeria

Rose Flowered Jatropha

Pink Tecoma

Royal Poinciana

Guava

Gingers

Giant Sumatra Lily

Heliconia

Cosmos

Naupaka

Stephanotis

Bromeliads / Pineapple

Pink Oleander

These are still unknown to us, but are more than likely weeds