Bluebird, bluebird, out my window

Every once in a while I find a cat enjoying my property.  This morning I saw a squirrel in the tangerine tree.  I also found a quail sitting on my deck railing and here is the photo I took before I inadvertently scared it away by trying to get a better photo.  Occasionally, possums and raccoons look for fallen fruit from the neighbors' tangerine and orange tree.

Unused Land in Alameda

The old Alameda Naval Air Station is finally being proposed to be revitalized.  It has so much acreage and will give more opportunities for walking trails, etcetera.  New proposed ferry station means San Francisco is still a hop, skip and jump away from Alameda.   

Happy Birthday to me today!  I hope to take a nice walk and be outdoors!

hazelnuts & grapes

Thanks to friends who know their plant species, I recently discovered that I have hazelnuts growing.  I cracked one open and it was yummy.  Of course I don't have a nutcracker, so I had to use a hammer....nonetheless this is the only nut I saw on the small tree.  Apparently I have a baby palm tree that I need to replant to a different location because it will grow into my deck (given ten years time).  

I had grapes in August and got to taste some before nature's critters ate them all.  

The wood sorrel/clover (see the post below) is edible and it is very good although tart.   

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Holy Clovers!






I have some serious clover.  It is most likely Wood Sorrel.  It should disappear when summer comes.  I have been cutting it with a weed-eater.  

Spring is almost here

Nope....the dog is not mine!  Here I am with a friend's recently adopted Bijon dog (Little Miss). We were leaving the Alameda Dog Park.
The neighbor has a tangerine tree which happens to hang over my yard, how convenient!
The neighbor has an orange tree which also happens to hang over my yard, I get to use my juicer soon!
My small patch of greenery out front which I just trimmed with a hand-held weeder.  It was awfully overgrown.
Last weekend, I trimmed the green patch of clover on the sidewalk bed with an electric weeder.

New composition shingle roof is brown/red.
New aluminum gutters
Roofers at work
Roofers at work


Yay, a new gutter system.

Before the gutters (see photo above and below) the rain would hit the wall of the house (garage) and cause dry rot.  Also (below) before a good gutter (& "valley") system was installed, the rain water would constantly hit the kitchen window and stucco wall.  The roof above the garage entry door was added too, to eliminate water from hitting the exterior stucco walls and coming into the garage.  Bye bye termite and dry rot.  My handyman was GREAT.  

The house lacked gutters and the water that had been hitting the side of the house caused dry rot damage....so, I got some new gutters and while I was at it....got a new roof.  The price was fair compared to the price to put a third layer on top of the already two-layered (30+year? 40+year? 50+year? existing) roof.  The roof had dry rot and termite damage on the original wood shingles.  Every worker who came to my house over the summer who saw my roof commented that I needed a new one, including the house inspector.  The house had a lot of deferred maintenence, so the new roof provides peace of mind.  I'm more excited to have gutters feeding the morning dew and the rain water into a better location than before.  Aluminum gutters and composition shingle roofing.  Now I am counting my pennies. 

Please continue on for OLDER POSTS 

holidays

Happy Chanukah!

I found this funny photo of "reindeer cat" online

Candelabra in the fireplace

                                                              

What's the latest?  Rusted gutters is what.  I'm getting some estimates on new gutters and a new layer of composition asphalt shingles to be added to the other two roofing layers.  It's cheaper than getting a whole new roof...but we shall see.  California is having a dry rainy season...we're in a drought.  Rain has entered the walls however, so roofing is a must.  The zen of house maintenance.

Happy Holidaze!

The latest . . .

Hello Lincoln Log Roofers?  Will you give me a good deal on a new roof, please?  Photos from my recent babysitting experience!

I actually purchased mini lincoln logs for my at-home playing.  You can never have too many toys.

      With real estate prices on the rise, you can do what I did -- build your own log cabin using mini lincoln logs!  You can never be too old to play with toys.  Speaking of toys . . . thanks for the new LCD TV, mom and dad, it fits in nicely in the new home (see progress below)

new wooden window blinds from Home Depot

living room, dining room, bedroom from top to bottom.  

What would it be if my bathtub didn't back up with water and then the bathwater leaked into my garage?  New pipes to the rescue. . . there was a nice antique pipe just removed (think it's worth anything?)

The windows got new blinds...