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.