Found objects

When we bought the house, it had not been well taken care of, and had been empty for at least a year. We understand that the owners prior to the last had beautiful gardens, and kept up the house nicely. But 10 or so years of neglect, junk accumulation, and non-maintenance plus invasive blackberries, weeks and grapevines = huge corners of the yard that were overgrown. When we bought the house, there was snow on the ground. It was interesting (careful choice of words there) to see, 2 months later, what was under all that accumulation.

We gathered up the junk, cut down hundreds of blackberries, and tried to see what might be salvageable. Into the dump and burn piles went more rotting blue tarps than you can imagine, several wooden garage doors (why were they there?), boxes of rotted holiday ornaments (sad), and various brush, vines and scrap wood (I know I'm forgetting stuff here). Into the save pile went a strange combo of items: a wooden easel, a rusted rototiller (garden art?), a cat carrier (you never know), a bird cage (not sure why), many shovels, picks, hoes, etc and at least 10 hoses. The guy had a thing for hoses and tarps, to be sure.

But my favorite find was the old metal kitchen cabinet, complete with the porcelain sink/drainbord combo. This was completely obscured by about 10 feet of blackberry vines, and would've gone totally unnoticed had I not been on a tear about clearing them out.

We hope to paint or powder coat the base and reassemble it for use as a sink in the laundry room. NEAT!

More tree felling

A couple more photos of the Digger Pine: before, during and after 

tree removal

One of the first things we had to do at the "new" house was to remove some huge trees. We wanted to save the old oak--a beautiful tree, but resting on the garage roof, and according to the tree guy, rotting in the center. So we made the appointment to have it taken down, and at the same time had two other Digger Pines (one huge, one moderately sized) taken down. I didn't get to be there on tree-felling day, but here are some photos.

 

View with trees from the front of the house

 

 And after, post tree felling

More photos in next post (can't get more than 2 or 3 photos to upload).

House

Well, I had great plans to start updating this blog regularly again. So it's been a couple months, but here I am again.

No knitting photos (though just about to finish up a couple more projects) but instead, I think I'll start showing a few house/garden/building projects. This house was originally bought as an investment/flip back in late December, but after 8 months of looking to buy, renovating it seems like the best option for us (nice location, 1/2 acre, we can get what we want). Walls still need to come down before new ones can go up, but we have a vision and are excited. And there's a hope of hosting Thanksgiving, even if we're not 100% complete.

These two are from January shortly after we bought the house. It's pretty scary. And skeevy (see that stained carpet in the second photo--don't ask). But we're working on that. This was before anything was demo'ed. We've already made a lot of progress (but I'll post that another day).

Photo/finished object

I've been wanting to take some photos of the beautiful spring-blooming flowers in my area. But I always forget my camera. So instead, here's a pic of my most recently completed knitting project.

For Baby Maia in Boston:

Livelihood

6 months ago, I was trying to get motivated to try out baking as a business. What I learned is that I love the idea of baking, but doing it all day, every day wasn't so much fun. So, at least for now, I've retired the shortbread idea to one I pull out for holidays and special requests, but not one that I use as a job.

In the meantime, I was lucky enough to be sought out by a company that I worked with a lot in my last job. I started 2 months ago. I am in the same field (Educational Publishing) but in a much different role, and in a much less-corporate setting. So far, so good!

I guess I've decided that I'm one of those people who really values the regular paycheck, and am ok with not being my own boss. Whew, only this many years to figure that out!

Anniversaries

One year ago today, I moved back to California. It's such a cliche, but so true--time flies. So much has changed in my life in that year, and yet, so much is still the same. I love living in Auburn, and am so happy being back in my beloved California.

3 years ago yesterday my dad passed away. I miss him, and feel sorry that I didn't come back "home" while he was still alive. He would've so loved having me back in town.

My life is so full and I am so lucky for all that I have. I never imagined a life so full of adventure and fun. I never imagined having my mom stop by a couple times a week to chat. I never imagined being able to find work and live where I wanted to. My decision to move back here was a very difficult one, but I know it was right.

6 months later

Time flies. It's been a long long time since my last post, and I thought for awhile that I wouldn't continue the blog. It all started just about a year ago with my move back to Cali, and my trip across the US. I felt like my daily life just wasn't that interesting.

But Spring has arrived in her warm, blooming, heady fashion here in the foothills, and I realize that the original intent of my blog--to chronicle my adventures--remains.

So, here's what's on my horizon this weekend: biking, gardening, spending some time with family, and enjoying this beautiful foothill spring. Maybe I'll even post some photos in the next few days . . .

Hope you're still along for the ride with me.