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

DIGGING IN

This has been an eventful week with the excavator here... and it's not over yet. It all began on Monday with our excavator showing up with lots of excavatory toys that we immediately became envious of.

As he set into finding the "grade" we soon realized this was going to take longer and COST MORE than we expected... NATURALLY! But it was rather painless and we've had a great team of workers so far.

Sawing into the existing slab to check the thickness of the footing and then jackhammer it away.

The cut lines into the slab before the jackhammer fell.

Turns out the slab was pretty thick which works in our favor. Then the back hoe moves it and starts to remove some of the gravel before we can establish the grade needed to pour upon.

Excavator Mike, establishing the grade with his fancy grade measuring tool.

We thought that we were going to have all this extra dirt once we dug the new footing trenches, but turns out we were short. We ended up pinching some from the large pit in the far back part of the property.

It's a dirty job...

Excavator Mike again using a extra fancy tool for packing the dirt in the smaller, hard to reach parts of the site.

And here he is using a giant roller that not only rolls, but vibrates and sprays water.

Once the earth was all packed and the footing lines marked, what else would you expect Mike to do? Yes he went in and had to dig out portions that he worked so hard to pack. These trenches will be the perimeter and will support the exterior walls. And being that we are having a 2nd floor on part of this structure, the footings need to be even thicker.

With all Mike's work done, Jason the Mason came by and dropped the lines for the wooden forms he will be placing on Friday. After that... some plumbing and electrical lines, then a quick inspection by the county, then the concrete slab gets poured.

Oh, remember that pit we pinched the dirt from? Well we back filled it will a pile of palm fronds we needed to relocate then buried all that under a new layer of dirt. The mound in the back was extra and will come in handy for potting and gardening.

STAY IN THE LINES

Our contractor and excavator stopped by yesterday to map out the new foundation. We are adding a lot more concrete than I thought... not sure how I feel about that.... but hey... things are moving along.... and that's always good.

The excavation starts Monday and should go through Tuesday. After that... frame the foundation for the mason and lay the plumbing and electrical.

WORKS ON PAPER

Here are 2 announcements I did for my friend and Artist Extraordinaire, PARNELL O. CORDER. He is part of a group exhibition being held at FILOLI in Woodside, Califonia. If you are in the area and able to attend, please check it out.

Filoli
11th Annual Botanical Art Exhibition
June 23 through August , 2009

Artist Reception
Thursday July 16, 2009 5-7PM
Reservations required
R.S.V.P. to 650-364-8300 xt 298 or
classes@filoli.org

Filoli
86 Canada Road
Woodside, CA 94062
650-364-8300
www.filoli.org

...WE'VE SHED OURSELVES

Today we finally got the last bit of shed taken down and only 2 days behind where we thought we would be. We kept the majority of the walls together, but will take them apart later on when we re-use the wood for a small tractor shed in the garden. We took every single nail and screw out one by one rather than cutting them and leaving bits in the boards. While we have a good amount of design work on our plates, we saved a good chunk of change by doing the demolition ourselves. We will also be doing almost ALL of the finishing work ourselves!

We are still working on which flooring to use in the office, exterior paint colors, composite decking, sink and faucet, toilet, medicine cabinets, interior lighting and ceiling fans. The desk, work table and all bookshelves in the office will be handmade... using the new KREG JIG we just got. It looks like a MIRACLE TOOL! The desktops are all going to be laminate... that we are settling on today. They are all really great... yes... THEY, as in several... it's a surprise.

We met with the mason last week and have ordered all the doors, windows, bathroom vanity and all exterior lighting fixtures (which are my favorite pieces so far). The excavator is due to show up today to evaluate what needs to be done to modify the existing slab. With any luck, we will have the underlying plumbing, electrical and foundation finished in a few weeks. After that.. framing. Then finishing... by when? Shooting for mid August... we'll see how that plays out.

Start of the day.

One wall down...3 to go.

Bucket full of old nails.

Monkeying around.
All work and no play make Conn a dull boy.

They put HOW MANY NAILS in this one tiny board?

Last wall standing.

Site's ready for excavation. Oh and yes, we got the new propane tank Monday morning.
As you can see, it was a picture perfect day for working outside.

These 4 pics show the 4 piles of salvaged materials. There is also 1 stack of siding and some roofing that will also get re-used. This last pic is not really salvagable and is what we are planning on trashing. Not too bad.

FLY BABIES

Tuesday morning...It's looking a bit crowded in there...

Yesterday afternoon, I went out for my nest check and to my surprise, there was one lone baby standing on the edge of the nest. It reminded me of when I stood on the HI-DIVE for the first time... thinking... NO WAY AM I JUMPING MAN. In a flash he took off and landed in the grass. I heard the chirping of the others, and the parents showed up right away. I felt as though this last one out of the nest was going to be in trouble. I just imagined it being told... "We told you to stay put until we came back for you." I felt I needed to explain that it was my fault.
I waited around about 100 feet from the baby until the parents rounded up all three and took them deep into the banana patch. So that's it... 9 days after hatching and they are out and about... feathered and flying. I did not see them today, but saw mom and dad flying in and out of a Christmasberry tree all day. There were several chicks in there chirping, but I did not investigate. Thought it best to give them their space. I'm sure they will show up on the rock off the lanai soon. Adult cardinals always bring teenagers there when teaching them how to find food. Not that there is much to finding it... when it's served up daily at 7:oo AM and 5:00PM. We'll keep you posted if and when they do show up.

This was the only pic I got as my camera battery died the minute I snapped this.

Just to make sure they did not return to the nest, which I do not think they do... I went back out this morning. They left it pretty clean. I think we can give them back their security deposit.

Dad filling his cheeks on the rock off the lanai... hopefully to take it back to the family.
This is the guy that see's me walk outside and he follows me from tree to tree. He's even come right onto the lanai at times... singing for food.

Here he is at 7:00 yesterday morning... singing for his breakfast... looking in the window ... tilting his head back and forth. His next stop was right down to the railing.
I'm such a sucker. At least these won't eat us out of house and mac nut home.

NEST BRACE

As I mentioned in the last post, the nest was starting to slip and was at a precarious 45 degree angle the other day. The winds have picked back up and it was pretty unstable. I also think that as the babies grow, their weight is also affecting the shift of the nest. I really did not want to interfere, BUT, I did. I put several bamboo poles on 2 sides of the nest to shift it to a more level position and secured it with a few Ti leaves rather than string or wire. I think it will hold out but will keep checking a 2 times a day.

Ti leaf ties.

The baby cardinals are growing up really fast. I did some more research on them HERE and found out some amazing facts. It's quite interesting.
For example... Did you know...?

1. Cardinal chicks need to be fed often. The parents bring food about four times an hour. This helps the chicks grow quickly.

2. By the time they are 10 days old, the cardinal chicks are ready to fly from the nest. Today they are 8 days old.

3. Fleas, lice, mites, and ticks suck blood from the birds which could cause them to die. BUT, a cardinal knows how to fight back. It picks up several ants with its beak. It rubs its feathers with the angry ants, which squirt acid.

This was them on Saturday.

And here they are today, just2 days later. I remember when we raised Kekoa...
it was crazy how fast the feathers came in.