california trip - checking out how things are

the sod that was put in almost two weeks ago in the front (replaced pretty much dirt) is doing fine. the replacement goes as far as the tree. since this community enforces its covenants, residents who do not take care of their lawn get fined 50 dollars the first week for unkempt lawns, 75 the next, etc. the picture of dirt is where my son-in-law's mother dug out the thistle stumps. so far it looks like they might not come back. but it reallly hasn't rained that much. the other picture of little green things are the stumps of the other thistles growing back new leaves and some are even blossoming. i guess they were quite high when the kids moved in. had to lower the front of the lawnmower over the weeds to even begin to cut them down.

other pictures show the chocolate walls in the upstairs bedroom. the chocolate wall is the wall that was formerly covered by stripes. if a child happened to live in that room and if that child was a girl, and if that child happened to want pink--they could have pink accessories. pink and brown is very sophisticated. but no more pink walls. probably.

the chocolate wall still needs to be edged! it really does remind one of chocolate.

california trip - closing in on the finish

the house was built in 2002, but as you can see the door has faded badly in that time. the door with the dark, dark green on top and the dusty blue-green on the bottom was the color before my daughter put on one coat of spruce green.

you would think that paint would last a little longer, but maybe the hot california sun takes it's toll and maybe green is a hard color to make colorfast.

california trip - one down and two to go

the main guest room fianlly has all its paint. (except for the fan blades which are pastel--they will have to be taken off and spray painted.) i will try later this evening to take pictures. the light coming through the curtains somehow altered the colors on the wall. three walls are a sahara sand color and the wall behind the curtain is a coppery brown/red--but not brown as it looks in one picture. the colors of the drapes go with the coppery wall, the soft gray/green of the duvet, and the sahara sand of the other walls.

this is the first time i have seen drapes with adjustable hem. it comes unhemmed, you measure then press a crease, insert iron on seam tape and iron again. it also came with gathering tapes in the top, making it possible to pull the curtains to the width you desire. plus they are lined. very nice all in all. now i just need to put the rod back up in the other bedroom and put up those curtains. the downstairs bedroom does not have a curtain rod. more austere! but it does have a comfy chair.

california trip - losing track of time

well, it finally happened...i was thrown out of my room. pillows, etc., on the couch, chair on the bed, suitcases somewhere. really not that bad... i had to move so they could paint the downstairs bedroom/office. the walls were really scuffed.



spent the morning edging next to the ceiling which is always difficult because the ceiling is pebbly and the walls are pebbly. but the walls look really nice when they are painted.

i was able to spend some time on campus which is really nice. one of the trees has really weird twisted branches. you will notice that one of them is held up by a metal brace. one of the trees has so many branches coming out of the trunk, it looks like a giant stalk of broccoli.

i visited with my son for a while at his place of work. lots of servers, of course. later i went to a lecture with my daughter. it was presented by a man who edits a magazine in lebanon. it was very revealing.

when we returned to my daughter's house we discovered that it had been invaded big time by spring ants. my son-in-law had gone off to the hardware store for ant traps. he had vacuumed up most of them. they had found the kitty food so the cat would not eat or drink the food. had to get new dishes and new food and water out. poor kitty.

california trip day 8

i spent sabbath with my son and his wife. they live in a gated community also. this is a picture of the apartment they rent. in case you can't tell which one is their's -- it is the one on the lower left with the satellite dish setting in front of the apartment door. they cannot attach anything to the outside of the building, nor can they attach anything to the walls inside.

you will notice, however, that the little sand lizards pay no heed to the instructions. there were several attached to the outside wall, but only one stayed in one place long enough for me to get a picture. if you get too close they scurry away in a blink.

there is a nice pool on the grounds and nice landscaping. there is also a cute little red mini that lives at the end of their street. notice the license plate.

we spent the day pretty much waiting for fedex to deliver a package that they promised to deliver. turns out they lied. they don't deliver on the weekend. but that was okay with me; it was a nice relaxing day.