Protect and Serve

Sometimes I see things that just make me smile all day. 

As I was driving to work this morning, a police car parked in a lane going the other way caught my eye.  It was in the fast lane of a busy street, just on the other side of the median from me.  Odd, I thought… no accident that I could see… why would he be stopped there?

Then I saw it; there was a seagull standing right in front of the car.  The gull didn’t appear to be injured, but it also didn’t appear to be in any hurry to move.

Now, I don’t know the background story but what I’d like to think is that the gull had been causing cars to change lanes to avoid hitting it.  Somehow the cop became involved and decided to park his car there to protect the gull (and probably help the traffic flow) until either the gull flew away or someone was able to retrieve it. 

With everything crazy going on in this country and throughout the world, it did my heart good to see a policeman make the time and effort to protect a helpless bird.  People can be violent and cruel at times, but they can also display care and tenderness that demonstrates the best part of our “humanness.” 

How great it that?

Save a little water and energy

Here’s an easy tip to help you save both water and energy:

Keep a small watering can under your kitchen sink.  As you are running your tap to heat up water, fill up the watering can.  Then, use that water, which before would have gone down your drain, to water your plants.

The can I have under my sink is just the perfect size… when it’s full, the water is warm.

I know it may seem like a small step, and it is, but each of these “small steps” we take day-after-day add up quick and help to make our planet a little healthier

Piles of files

Several weeks back, as I was going through my parents’ house in preparation for its sale, I realized that I came by some of my packrat tendencies honestly.  I’m not in any danger of having to create pathways in my home through stacks of newspaper and garbage as seen on the show Hoarders, but I do have several file cabinet drawers full of magazine and newspaper articles I’ve cut out over the years.

I’ve collected articles on vacation spots, recipes, party ideas, health and exercise, investment tips, and many other topics I find interesting.  I have them grouped by subject in file folders and every once-in-awhile, I actually look through them to find some information.

My father did much the same thing.  His topics may have differed from mine (it was a bit of an eye-opener to see what articles he choose to cut out and keep), but basically he had similar files full of articles that he kept for future reference. 

The big difference is that I live in the era of the Internet, he did not.   When I want to find more information on a place I’d like to visit, a recipe that uses egg yolks after I have a few left over from a recipe that used egg whites (key lime pie!), or how best to get a red wine stain out of the carpet, I just go online. 

Although I will probably keep some of the articles I’ve collected, I’m going to set aside some time soon to go through my file cabinet and purge most of these files.  I am much more likely to research the information online anyway and, frankly most of the articles are fairly old and probably out-of-date.  In addition, I don’t want someone to be cleaning out my house one day after I’m gone and laugh at the irony of me clipping out and filing all those articles about reducing clutter.

Don't put off creating a home you love!

I enjoy watching all types of home improvement shows, whether they are about construction, decorating, or searching for just the right home to buy. 

The show theme I find most interesting is the one that features a home (usually one that has been on the market for awhile) that, with minor upgrades and proper staging, morph from an ugly duckling into a inviting home, ready for a quick and profitable sale. 

These shows highlight easy decorating projects that most of us can do on a fairly limited budget.  They also demonstrate how easy it is to become blind to clutter and how we “learn to live” with bad design and dysfunctional living areas.  I think it’s sad that these people are only able to enjoy attractive and well-planned living spaces because their home is on the market.  Once the staging is done, many of them remark that they wished that they had made these changes years ago.

I understand that these staged homes are often void of the day-to-day objects that we need to live our lives and run our homes.  But, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a lot of stuff that is taking up room in our houses and our lives that we can probably do without – and, by getting rid of it, we can create a calmer, better functioning, more comfortable living environment.

It's funny but also true... being organized can save you time and wasted effort. 

Just remember the other two “R’s” as you Reduce - Recycle and Reuse (in this case, donate or sell) as much as possible – our landfills will thank you for it.

We are paved!

Yesterday was my day to stay home and monitor the job.  Even though I didn’t have to lay conduit, I still needed to make some decisions on the fly – the kind one makes and then has to live with.  Up to a certain point, adjustments could be made.  Pretty soon, though, things start happening very quickly and  it’s hard to reign the momentum back in.  Of course, changes can be made at any time, it just gets progressively more expensive to make them.

Paul couldn’t stand being away and came home in the early afternoon.  By then, everything was rapidly moving along and we both just stood back and admired their work. 

Although we don’t often contract jobs out (we are fairly handy and, um, cheap), when we do, it’s nice to watch experts at work. The good news: things got done quickly; they’ve done the job so many times before they didn’t spend time agonizing over minor nits.  The bad news: there was a lot of waste.  When just a small corner was needed from a brick, the rest of the brick was tossed (hopefully to be ground down and used again).  A lot of small corners equal a lot of waste.  If we had done the job ourselves, we would have used parts of one brick in several spots – much less waste.

Towards the end of the day, several cars of new workers began showing up.  We were told that these were all crew chiefs.  As their individual jobs finished, they’d send their crews home and gather at any remaining job sites that could benefit from extra help.  Watching these men work was truly amazing; each had a role and knew how to perform it.  In no time at all our job was complete (2 days!) and they were off to enjoy their weekend.  

Now that the pavers are in, we will begin to prepare the soil for planting.



This photo doesn't show the finished installation - we still have to clean and seal the bricks.



Finally, some progress!

The crew showed up at 8:30 this morning to begin the pre-installation work.  I have a previously scheduled meeting in LA today so my husband stayed home so he could be on site to “supervise,” answer any questions, and lay the conduit when it’s time.  In addition to taking digital photos for our records, I have asked him to text me with pictures throughout the day so I can see the progress.  Since I will be on the train for a good part of the day, I hope to get regular updates so I can feel at least part of the process.

I came home from my trip to find our front yard transformed to a gravel and sand lot.  I guess it’s better than the dead grass and weedy mess we had going on,  but I’m anxious to get the pavers in.   Paul said that a lot of the neighbors stopped by to see what we were doing (they probably were reluctant to ask before when our yard looked so bad, fearing the worse). 

The Big Dig

Our front yard is looking better and better!  I’m pretty sure our poor neighbors are wondering what the heck is going on; first, our lawn started to slowly turn brown (thanks to an overall spraying of Round-up), then large sections have been scraped of vegetation (albeit brown, ugly vegetation) and trenches have been dug for irrigation and lighting conduit. 

My husband and I have never done anything quickly so this process has taken longer than we hoped.  Since we seldom pay for someone else to do work we can do ourselves, what we save in dollars we lose in efficiency.   

Now, we wait until we are scheduled for the paving stones to go in.  The company we contracted with will remove soil and hardscape in the areas the pavers will be installed, slope the area for proper drainage, and lay the DG and sand foundation.  Then, the bricks will be installed.  The whole process should take around 2 – 3 days.

My childhood home

Over the past few months, my focus has been diverted from our front yard project (and from adding more blog entries) to clearing out my parents’ home to put it up for sale.  New paint, refinished hardwood floors, new carpeting, new appliances, and several other touches are being added to make the home look its best for perspective buyers.

This was my childhood home, infused with memories of both my growing up and memories of my parents in various stages throughout the years. Many of the house’s nicks, scratches, and scars that are now being painted over remind me of times way past (“that ding on the wall was where the bumper pool ball flew off the table during an especially rambunctious game with my brother”), and of times more recent (“the wall was gouged out over time from my mother’s wheel chair passing through the too-narrow doorway”).  

We were a family of five.  My two older brothers, my parents, and I somehow made do – fairly well I think – in a three bedroom, one bath house until I was about 12.  When my parents added a family room and master bedroom on to the back of the house, we thought we were living in luxury.  After that, I only had to share the teeny bathroom with my two brothers.  The house, even with the added family room and master bedroom and bath (themselves not all that “master” by today’s standards), is smallish and lacks many things expected in homes now (“what, no built-in dishwasher??”).  But, what it lacked in size and amenities, the house more than made up in love, warmth, and security – the things that are truly important to a child. 

                                                    Yes, we did have a gas dryer, but I do remember

                                                                     using this solar dryer quite a bit. 

I grew up in what I thought at the time was a “typical” American family.  We had everything we needed and most of what we wanted.  My mother was a stay-at-home mom until all three of us were in school.  Even then, she was always there to greet us by the time we came home from school.  We took a summer vacation every year (usually tent camping at a National Park in California or another western state).  Again, pretty calm by today’s “Disney Cruise” standards, but I bet my brothers and I have equally vivid and happy memories of those trips as the current crop of kids will have when they are my age.   

We were boomer kids.  There were lots of us in the neighborhood.  My best friend lived just up the street; we walked to and from school together and played kick the can over and over again with the other kids in front of her house (the only flat street for several blocks).  We continue to be good friends to this day and her folks still live in that house at the top of the hill.

When I go over to my parents’ house now, I can see that the neighborhood is starting to sprout kids again.  That’s nice to see.  I hear their laughter as they run around and play together.  They are building memories just like we did, memories that I hope will infuse their homes with warmth and love and that will last a lifetime. 

Tarnished Treasures

Re-landscaping our front yard so that it’s easier to take care of is just one way we are trying to simplify.  Our effort to live lighter is happening inside our house too.  Over the past few months, we have been making our way slowly through each room in our house, finding items we can give-away, donate, toss, or consign. 

When we purchased our home in 1994, we combined two separate household’s worth of stuff.  Getting rid of duplicates wasn’t too difficult; most of the time there was a clear “winner,” based on condition or newness.  Now, we are down to my treasures and his junk (he’d say it’s the other way around, but this is my blog).

My inspiration for paring down has come from two fronts.  One is a couple we know who, following multiple moves, has finally culled their possessions down to only the most important.  I expect that they are never embarrassed, as we often are,  when an unexpected visitor shows up at their front door.

The other is my brothers’ and my current challenge of clearing my parents’ home of over 50 years of accumulations.  Separating items into “toss” “giveaway” “donate” and “consign” or “eBay” is often interrupted when we come across a box of photographs or a collection of old letters.  Some things just cannot be rushed… 

Waving "good-bye" to our palms

The decision to remove the current landscaping in our front yard has been a long time coming.  For a number of years it was pretty easy to take care of; we had the irrigation on timers and had hired a gentleman to come by every two weeks to mow the lawn and provide some additional yard maintenance.   

Every spring the agapanthus send out their peduncles, each with the promise of a beautiful violet-blue flower nestled inside an almond-shaped bract.  This annual awakening, along with the appearance of “my” brilliant yellow oriole, assured me that spring was here and summer is not far behind. 

Unfortunately, lately, the lawn has started to look pretty bad, the pigmy date palms are getting too large for their space, and the agapanthus, daylilies, and jasmine have begun to need more care than I’m willing to provide.  Although we will miss the spring colors, we have decided that we are willing to trade them for less maintenance and lower water bills. 

A neighbor has taken us up on our “you dig them out and haul them, they’re free” offer of the pigmy date palms.  This has saved us the time, effort, and maybe money, to have them removed.  Hopefully they will survive and thrive in their new home.

In the meantime, our yard is looking more open and exposed and we need to get a plan in place soon.

Day One

My husband and I live in central San Diego, not too far from the ocean.  I have lived in San Diego all my life and have seen first-hand the changing weather patterns.  It’s not too hard to figure out that it’s getting drier and drier (this is a desert, afterall).  And, of course water is getting more and more expensive.

We have already created a low-water garden out back in our patio.  We’ve had so much fun discovering the amazing world of succulents and other drought tolerant plants.  Last year, we put in a vegetable garden on one of our lower terraces and plan to have an even better one this year.  We are considering putting in a grey water system to supply water to our lowest terrace so we can grow some fruit trees (more about that, composting, and backyard chickens later).

                                          Succulents in our patio garden

Now, our focus has turned to our front yard. A small patch of grass, a couple of pigmy date palms, some agapanthus, and an assortment of other plants make up our pleasant but unimaginative front yard.  We want to remove all of this and replace it with landscape that won’t require a lot of water or a lot of maintenance.  We are looking for ways to live lighter, simplify, and create more time to have fun by getting rid of the baggage.

The intent of my new blog (thanks for visiting!) is to document this journey and, I hope, to provide a forum to exchange knowledge, opinions, and ideas along the way.