I would like to plant trees and bushes there, maybe repeat the arbor with climbing trellis pattern….John said to just put the pavers over the sand. I think a tree and bushes from the perennial garden would look great.
Posted in back yard | Tagged bamboo, privacy | Leave a Comment »
john loves fresh salsa and these will be amazing, a great recipe follows…fresh tomatillos
Roast the tomatillos, jalapeno, onion, garlic, and 1 tablespoon salt until the tomatillos are soft but have not burst. Add the cooked vegetables to a blender with the cilantro leaves and lime juice. Taste and adjust seasoning with more cilantro, lime juice, or salt according to preference.
This recipe is adapted by me and John , from Tyler Florence
Posted in vegetables | Tagged farmer, market, portland, salsa, tomatillos | 1 Comment »
With this old house, we inherited a large clump of bamboo on one side of our yard. It has been a great privacy screen and looked very cool. The problem was that it was spreading rapidly and we initially thought, after much consulting and research, to but a barrier in the ground, a two foot deep hard plastic sheet that would prevent the roots from spreading.
early bamboo clump
The fact that the bamboo was dropping its leaves everywhere all summer was another problem.. It is 2o plus feet high and is called black bamboo. Well prized but not correctly used in this case. The barrier worked, kind of, but it pushed the roots into the neighbors yard, growing another clump of bamboo in the back of his house. It also started growing more vigorously and we soon had a monster in the yard.
so after a trim
here the barrier was put in place into the ground and then this happened:
the year after the root barrier
The stalks were multiplying, all the time confined in a four by four space. So, I was constantly chopping it back and it just seemed to rebel by growing faster and stronger. John got some bids on removing it and he said it would cost about $700. This seemed absurd to me. I found two guys, landscapers, out of business, on craigslist, whom we employed and paid $20 per hour each.
They cut down the bamboo, leaving some 10 stalks intact as per John’s request, and then proceeded to chomp at the root system. They found a massive clump, and a pick axe had to be used. Luckily we had one in our basement. Then the handle to the pick axe broke. They had to go to the store to get another handle. Then the tip of the pick axe broke. Then they started to use a chainsaw to cut though the root system. It ran out of oil. Then they had to go get car oil for it. All this in 100 degree heat. They said they never saw such a thing. This bamboo had an unbelievably gnarly, tough root system. I am sure this happened because we enclosed it last year and it had nowhere else to go. So the lesson is this; do not plant bamboo unless you want a bamboo forest and a bamboo root system taking over your entire yard!!! IT IS INCREDIBLY IMPOSSIBLE TO CONTAIN! if youd o do it right, be prepared for maintenance. I just couldn’t do this myself , it requires a sturdy strong hand of a gardener, or your husband, if he is willing to put in the time!
huge mess of roots
root samurai
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lawn at the beginning
The lawn was just patchy grass, we had it removed and turned over a few times then the guy flattened it with a drum and laid new sod over it. The problem was that the soil was too compact and the sod grass started dying the next year. We then hired another guy to come and pull up the sod, and amend the soil, while eliminating all the weeds and spreading new grass seed. The process was time consuming and ended up costing $250 plus.
planting new grass seed
grass is coming in patchy
After all that the lawn was taken over by weeds.
some weeds are taking over
He said it was just seeds from the air, landing, every kind in Oregon, actually. I thought it was in the manure he amended the soil with. He said no, but I still think it was. I was stunned, I pulled them slowly by hand. I also kept adding more grass seed in the patchy spots. After about 100 pulled weeds I stopped. Then I started spraying. I sprayed weed killer on it a few times and finally, now we have grass mostly. It actually looks like a real lawn.
present day lawn
Posted in back yard | Tagged grass, lawn, weed killer | Leave a Comment »
This room was a mess, it took 3 weeks to redo. First drywall was layed over the old cracking walls, then smooth sanded. New doors and trim were installed and everything painted. Much was learned by me about VOC paint as well as contractors, again. He said it would take 3-4 days and after 4 days he barely had the drywall sanded, but not finished. He said he underestimated the length of time it would take and I had already paid him for the 4 days. He then said he would keep working until it was done and not charge me anymore. I said fine, not knowing it would take him another 4 days. He took all day, 8 hours to take out an old door and pout in the new prehung door. He took all day to lay drywall over old walls. He took all day to install 46 feet of baseboard trim. Etc…He then sent a letter after finishing, asking for 36 hours more of paid work, even though he only worked 24 more hours, barely at that and he had said he would not charge me, according to his “principles”, he felt he needed to finish his jobs, no matter what. I thought to myself, I will see you in court, if need be! According to him, he is a teacher, going through a divorce, laid off from work, and his sister told him to check out Craigslist, where he contacted me through my ad. I could write a book just about the guys I got through Craigslist! OMG!
Posted in bedroom renovation | Tagged bedroom, contractors, paint, trim, voc | Leave a Comment »
small snail in my lettuce
Lettuce from my garden
Posted in back garden | Tagged organic garden, vegetables | 1 Comment »
It’s time for my garden to awaken and so it is! It’s been a long road, from a patch of grass to a lush perennial bed and newly seeded lawn. The fig gave 9 amazing yellow honey fruits last year, and this year I am counting 37. The apple tree looks healthy too!
figs from our garden
Posted in back garden | Tagged apples, figs, garden | Leave a Comment »
on the hunt
Hi Matt, we did do the egg thing! Very good! I also made risotto and shaved truffles over it, it was amazing! I was wondering if you knew any good mushroom finding spots?
Hi Visnja,
Thanks for the picture, your finds are Tuber oregonense. Try grating them over brie. The season for the black truffles is roughly September through February and they are found with young Douglas-fir. The Kings Valley area (from Falls City to Blodgett) appears to be the epicenter of their range. Glad you had a good time!
matt
Posted in our excursions, truffles in oregon | Tagged oregon, truffles | Leave a Comment »
john on a beach on the oregon coast
We got in the car and drove West, not sure where we were heading. It was a rainy windy day but it did not deter us from our mission! To see the coast!!! It was a long drive, about 1.5 hours, through moss laden forests and winding mountain roads. Check out this link to the oregon Coast. http://visittheoregoncoast.com/cities/tillamook/ We ended up in Cape Meares State Park, near Tillamook. Hauntingly beautiful, icy waters, silver boulder beaches, sky shrouded in the ever-present Pacific Ocean mist.
Posted in our excursions, things to do in oregon | Tagged oregon coast | Leave a Comment »
Walking around our neighborhood, we dicovered many cute bungalows and front of the house gardens.
rock garden
It is quite a common sight, the local rocks strew abou the landscape. This one was obviously meticulously arranged by the homeowner.
stately bungalow
This old bungalow is impressive due to its size and its stately design.
camelia tree
The Camelias grow huge here and bloom in late March.
purple house
pink house
Posted in Hawthorne neighborhood | Tagged bungalow, hawthorne, rock garden, sunnyside | Leave a Comment »
bowl of cherries
What if you saw your whole life as your art. Every single bit of it. Dissatisfaction with ordinary or common expression of art is something that has brought my “creativity” to a halt millions of times throughout my life. Inspiration is rare, and perspiration dull and onerous. If you are “artistic” but cannot create, you feel dead inside, stifled to no end. I have been extremely “creative” and devastatingly “uncreative” throughout the last 30 years of my life. Whether it was fashion design, filmmaking or art, or even revamping old houses like the one I live in now, I have always struggled with the theme of art’s expression. It always felt oddly outdated, all art, sort of dead in the water. It seemed the birth of an art piece was its death as well. To make art, without the goal of retail sales, but simply for the sake of self expression, is anathema to the earth’s thinking. What? You’re not making money at it? You really need a store, a website, a presence, a brand, a trademark, but no, that’s called business, not art.
So back to the idea of life as art. In exploring this “survival” lifestyle, or one not based on sales and commerce, one can feel quite enamored and accepting of even the worst things about one’s life. My point is that there is no greater creativity than you and your own life. Your life is your art, no matter how dull it may seem, or how violent or perplexing. All criticism aside, and taking away the audience of your life, the naysayers and the perpetually discontent advice givers, whose blindness obscures the creativity of their own lives to themselves, one is left with a blank page. Every moment we can choose, through our new eyes, to see our life as our own canvas. The pain of harsh self judgement can end. I am not here to make anyone happy but myself, and I am not here to solve the earth’s problems, and I am not here to become rich or famous, because being here, simply alive and in full presence is all I am here for.
Posted in about life and art | Tagged art, cherries | Leave a Comment »
That started as a pet project for John but soon became “my” project as his workload allowed no time for finding the contractors, much less interviewing them. So I took over and found someone through Craigslist who claimed he was an expert landscaper. Right, ahem! Once again, on a tight budget, wanting this deck that I was asked to imagine and draw by John we struggled through endless chaos and stress, although now, many months later, almost finished, it seems as if it was all worthwhile.
back yard patio
patio base
compacted patio base
patio blocks
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Deck and Stairs
The new back deck was a necessity since we had torn out the original back porch and had put in an 8 foot door in the back wall. I found a beautiful garden while walking in the Northeast part of Portland and asked who did their landscaping as I was looking for someone to do ours. Marcos came over and we hired him, much to our detriment. Everything he touched went wrong, including the rails falling off the next day since he did not use screws but nails.
back yard deck
my drawing for the back yard
stairs before
Luckily I found someone new who came and repaired the whole thing, from scratch and we were finally standing on sure footings. The final cost was what the original estimates had been before Marcos. The lesson is don’t try to save money with people who are clueless.
back deck after repair
Posted in back yard deck and stairs | Tagged deck, stairs | 3 Comments »
overgrown bamboo
The back yard was large and sunny but also suffered from neglect. Patchy sod, a huge compost pile consisting of bamboo sticks, leaves and pine needles and two homemade raised beds. There was also a huge uncontrolled bamboo grove, seemingly planted without any consideration for the plant’s pervasive nature. No easy feat mind you. We bought the house with a barren back yard. Nothing but a few flat pavers and raspberry bushes.
back yard before
here is the old yard
construction debris in backyard
I asked him to make me three perennial beds, put in some new sod and create a small space for vegetables. After that I put in new soil and edged the perennial beds. I planted hundreds of perennial seeds in small circles, marking each one. I also planted a few trees, a fig, an apple and various small bushes.
flower beds
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House Renovation 101 “the awful truth”
House renovation, often done as a necessity, does not have to be the headache that homeowners like us endured. In the United States there are over 285,000 original Victorians alone, not counting any older homes built after that period. The house that needs a complete renovation can create lots of stress and drive one to sheer insanity that leaves little time for enjoyment of the actual process.
We all live in a house, or an apartment, and often need to revise the living layout, such as it is, and often invest much time and energy in rethinking it and restructuring it. Familiarity with events that might occur during such a reconstruction will help the homeowner better understand the road ahead and help them examine their own possible responses. The first step is to know the extent of the renovation and then how to achieve it, step by step.
How to do a Home Renovation?
We all understand the concept of deconstruction and rebuilding, and we may have experienced it first hand. Renovation, is a long process, with possible symptoms of unpleasantness, lethargy, sadness, agitation, irritation and ultimately (haha) suicidal/homicidal thoughts. There are many ways to deal with these emotions, but you have to have a master plan. One way to do it is to get three general contractors to look over your project and give you estimates, which will be exorbitant, and another way to do it is to act as your own general contractor and hire each subcontractor separately. One way to better understand this is to imagine that the renovating process can take twice as long if you are your own general contractor, especially if you are hiring people from Craigslist, the phone book or Angie’s list. If you do hire one of these people, expect to frequently have to deal with lack of respect, misunderstandings and other unpleasant feelings. You may feel like they are in charge of your project, not you.
What is the best way to renovate an older house?
If you have some money in savings and can get more from a second mortgage, go for it. The most important fact to remember is that housing always appreciates, you will always get your money back, especially if you hold on to it for a few years. As a real estate agent in New Jersey, where I lived for five years in a 1914 Four Square Sears Catalog Home I renovated with my husband and subcontractors, I saw real estate shoot through the roof. Making a profit is always possible but also a different thing all together. It’s impossible to renovate unless you have the drive and the stamina. If you live in the house during the process it is even more difficult. Your initial ideas may seem either undoable or even impossible to achieve. You may also think it will cost too much and you will never get your money back. No matter what the project, or the extent of it, there is always the possibility of complete chaos and dissatisfaction with it. Renovation, it turns out, is simply not what people look forward to, unless they are truly desperate (off-kilter).
The hysteria behind renovating
Renovating old homes has become more and more popular, as can be seen in numerous home magazines on the market. There is no question that house renovation as a whole has increased significantly. There’s a reason for this. New homes are too expensive and people would rather buy an old home and fix it up, one step at a time. But for many people renovation is not only a choice it is a must. In other words, if a person buys a house with a wet basement, they will definitely become instant renovators. In fact, they can become very serious about rehauling much of the plumbing and all of the bathrooms. But unless the homeowner has funds and the desire and time, there is no chance they will delve into any serious time consuming renovation.
Posted in the truth of renovation | Tagged facts, renovation | Leave a Comment »
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 | Kat on new kitchen!!! |
 | Nicolas on Chanterelles in tillamook |
 | Rosemary on living in Portland |
| kat on Tomato and onion tart |
| kat on Basque piperade in a Le Creuse… |
Space Place House 