Here are some remodeling resources, divided into organizations and books. It’s too early for me to lay down nitty-gritty advice on how to screen and handle designers and contractors. That might be more appropriate for a post-construction entry — y’know, after going through the experience? Then again, I might omit much of that aspect [...]
Category Archives: Places
The Grand Remodel: the Prelude
Saturday, 13 June 2009
After nearly a decade, we’ve decided it’s time. Time to rid ourselves of another eyesore in the house, the ill-conceived, strangely constructed-with-permits Backroom of Doom. But in reality this project is complex, because of how our place is arranged and our usage patterns. Thus it deserves a more honest title: the Big, Scary Remodel, including, [...]
Farewell to Spring
Friday, 29 May 2009
Fine, three articles in a row on garden plants. And over a month since my last post — I’ve been busy with starting the multifarious, multistep process of starting our big remodeling project, a.k.a., the Replacement of the Ugly Backroom and Kitchen et al. So it goes.
Nevertheless, the spring wildflowers are coming to an end [...]
More wildflowers in the yard
Tuesday, 21 April 2009
I continue to be amazed by the wildflowers in our garden. I had low hopes, since the last time we tried wildflower mixes — which was, oh, six to eight years ago in the front yard and parking strip — all we got were Calpops. Those are nice of course, but they’re rather short-lived, and [...]
March showers bring April flowers
Thursday, 2 April 2009
Some say it’s April showers that get the flowers going, but here in sunny, rainfall-challenged California, things pop out about a month (or more) earlier. Even though March had its typical paucity of precipitation, the single hailstorm — complete with rain and wind — had occurred right at the peak of apricot blossoms. (Indeed, I [...]
Macworld Expo SF 2009
Friday, 9 January 2009
I went to this year’s Macworld Expo in San Francisco with low expectations. None of the Apple hardware or software announcements were things I had been waiting for. Not to downplay them, of course. I’m simply not a large laptop user, for example. While I do use applications from iLife and iWork, I do not [...]
Young Scrub Jays in the garden
Sunday, 31 August 2008
We have a scrawny fig tree that bears fruit annually, but we rarely get more than a taste. I’ve often suspected birds as the culprits.
WENK. Wenk wenk wenk!
Now I have proof: young Western Scrub Jay bossing over backyard fig tree! Okay, only indirect proof, since none of the pictures actually showed the bird’s beak snorfing [...]
Summer in the garden
Friday, 20 June 2008
Here’s a garden update as of this year’s summer solstice. Presently on my mind are the apricots: not as many as last year, although not as paltry as 2006. However small the crop, they shall be imminently pickable.
For the botanically inclined, I submit vegetable porn involving burgundy and green filet beans. Basically haricots verts / [...]
Food and loathing
Wednesday, 21 May 2008
Mediocre restaurants are unavoidable. But some of the baddies, ah, how they stick in my mind. Some of these are favorites for some of my friends. Oh well! To each their own (1).
Local Ethiopian restaurants
Sunday, 4 May 2008
I love eating with my hands. Considering my hand-washing compulsion, it’s ironic yet compatible. Combine that with spicy food, and Ethiopian cuisine can winningly satisfy me. Some standbys and favorites:
Injera, a teff based flatbread that’s sour, spongey and soft.
A good collection of vegetarian dishes, such as kik alicha (yellow split peas), atakilt wot (stewed cabbage, [...]
