Metro, Please!

Eli has been having a really rough time with the idea of moving to a new house - and the stress has resulted in meltdowns, bigtime. I tried a different approach to help him get through activities during the week which I really needed to do, including errands and visiting the new house. It is kind of a step backward in language level, in that he is not just checking things off a list or reading a schedule, but actually moving picture strips and gluing them into place on an activities board. It worked really, really well though. With the level of stress this has caused him, it's not really surprising he needed a little extra support and a clear, concrete way to handle all of it. He worked for a ride on the Metro on Saturday by doing 8 activities I had picked out (in whatever order he selected without being pushed over 2 days) with a quiet voice, no baby fits, and no running away. Well, he got his reward on Saturday, and Aunt Pat accompanied us down the Red Line into Chinatown for a little shopping.

We found the perfect fabric for curtains for the new livingroom  at Michael Gelsons. But that was after an amazing lunch at a little corner cafe we found by accident on Main & 9th downtown. At L'Angolo Cafe, Aunt Pat and I split a wonderful salad with raspberry vinaigrette, pecans, blue cheese, fresh peaches and dried cranberries, as well as a Kobe burger as big as a cantelope! Eli got gourmet criss-cut chips and grilled chicken. We are definitely adding this place to our itinerary for the next shopping trip.

Happy Sushi... Is Happy!

Luke's last night for this visit - Aunt Pat and Uncle Bear took him out to our favorite Japanese spot, Tori Yen! It was so good to see him, and we will definitely miss him when he goes home tomorrow. Holidays, come soon!

Patio Garden Progress

 My cayennes are looking juicy - already set fruit and ready to be picked and cooked with.

 However, something has been snacking on my cilantro...

Over all, my little patio garden is doing well. Can't wait to get it moved over to the new house and start planning a real garden again!

Work Days 3 and 4

 Yesterday I took the kids on a very long shopping trek to Home Depot and two different JoAnn's to get paint and painting supplies and the material to sew the sheers for the front windows. It took several hours today to get it cut and hemmed and the hardware put up. At least now from the outside, it's not so obvious the house is still empty and in the process of renovation. The process of ordering cabinets, hardware, fixtures, counters, and windows on-line has actually been fairly quick and painless compared to having to drive down the street to the hardware store or Lowes (as Shaun has done) to try to find things locally for repairs.

Uncle Bear and Abi prepped the two back bedrooms for painting, and got a start on Abi's ceiling before Abi slopped a big bird-poop sized splatter of paint in her face. Good thing it's not oil-based, it washed off relatively easily and she seems fine. After that though, Abi was relegated to broom-duty for the rest of the afternoon.


The electrician is supposed to be out before the end of the week to fix the doorbell (that rings randomly, and not when you press it) as well as to update the 1950's fuses and make sure the rest of the wiring is modern enough to be up to code. We will also have a couple more ceiling lights put up in handly places like the panty and closets.

Next week maybe the plumber will come out and we can get the kitchen sink plumbing repaired and the various pipes that are being dripped into buckets in random corners of the attic/crawlspace....

A Quick Ride at Courtship

After working on the house, it was a nice suprise to come back and be invited to a quick ride over at the arena nextdoor, Courtship. Matt and Keri give lessons there and they have been working with Bush and Verity - who have been coming along nicely!

After Keri's accident and surgeries to restore her hand, she is supposed to be taking it easy for a few weeks - but she's right out there with the horses again.

Luke got to ride Matt's horse Festus, Aunt Pat rode Cole, and I rode Verity. What a change - she is doing so well! I can't wait to get on Felicity again, too. Maybe we will get to do some trailriding on weekends after the move when it cools down a bit.

 

 

Sweet and Savory

I made a cheesecake with cream cheese and sourcream and raspberry jam swirled in it for dessert for the concert at the Arboretum. I also made a mushroom quiche with spinach and herbs. Don't they look pretty? :)

Work Day 1 and 2

On the first weekend, the guys took down the wall cabinets, and Phil and Michael patched the cement in the garage. When it sets up, we will need to get the corner drywall in there taken down and replaced that has mold so we can start moving things into the garage.

Cleaning the windows in place isn't going to work. Luke and I took the hardware off the one in the bathroom. It was hard to tell how much metal was left underneath the cakes of paint and rust. We are ordering a new windows for this room. Uncle Bear and Shaun tried to unstick the front windows so they could be opened and cleaned. The hinges are not secure, as there are big gouges in the frames, and they have been painted over enough times that nothing fits right. They will have to be taken down and the paint sanded off the edges so they don't stick and break the glass if opened. For now, they are nailed shut :(

 Uncle Bear also cut a piece of plywood for the pipe access in Eli's closet. Though not quite big enough to be a crawl space (like the openings outside that had to be covered and bolted shut) he had kicked out the rotted plank door and was trying to get down underneath the house never the less. Now it's more secure and just needs to be sanded and painted.

To-Do List

The work list is getting longer and longer.... There is quite a lot to fix in here to make this little house functional and nice to live in. Top of the list is the kitchen with bad plumbing, lifting laminate, cracked flooring, and cabinets that need repaired or replacing, the ancient windows (that don't fully fit their frames and that were painted closed several times aparently), the water-damaged and scratched hardwood floors, the garage, and the roof and eaves. Oh yeah, and the yards are totally dead, and the deck needs to be taken down before someone hurts themselves...

But there are some nice points, too - lots of beds for planting flowers and herbs and a nice long driveway for parking:

A bright side room with big sliding doors that will work for an office for Shaun and me:

And the living room fireplace (once we take off the rickety facade) appears to be a real brick craftsman fireplace underneath. The living room will be very cosy:

Time for a New Zip Code...

 

In a couple of months of searching the Pasadena area for an affordable house in the right school district, we found only a few that fit our criteria. Those were gone faster than we could get a move on, and for way more money than we had. Finally one came up while the kids and I were visiting Idaho. Shaun and Uncle Bear went to look and sent pictures. The long story short, we made an offer and worked through the escrow process on this little fixer-upper on the border of Pasadena/Altadena that will become our new home - 1964 Layton Street.

Aunt Pat, Uncle Bear, Carlean, and the kids and I drove out to get the keys and toast the new house! I am calling it the 'Layton Cottage', but Aunt Pat is nicknaming it 'Casa Moscato.'

 Eli really doesn't like how empty and echoic it is with all the hardwood, unfortunately...

Abi thinks the place has great potential, and has already staked a claim on the master bedroom and all the fruit trees.

I can't tell if Luke is impressed. He is willing to put in some work for me while he is here though, when he isn't stealing Uncle Bear's glasses for a photo opp....

Hanging out at Victoria Gardens

 Luke decided our local outdoor mall, Victoria Gardens, was pretty cool. He must have spent about an hour in Urban Outfitters looking through their cool T-shirts. Abi and Eli and I buzzed down to Claire's to pass the time. After that, Abi got a piece of mint chocolate cookie bark from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, and we went to look for the kiddie train for Eli. Tragically, it had already closed down for the night! Fortunately, Eli was very good natured about all of it, and settled for the promise of another day.

We ended up coming back the next morning because we missed the kiddie train. Eli was such a good sport about it though. Luke and Abi decided to ride with him in the coal car...

Fontana South Skate Park

We ended up driving into Upland to find a shop with a medium-sized helmet for Luke so that he would be legal to skate in So Cali. The guy at the shop recommended Fontana South Skate Park.

There are lots of bowls and rails. Luke got to go a few times despite the heat, and he really enjoyed it!

Yosemite Cabin Adventure - Part IV, Mariposa Grove

After our hiking on Saturday, we all sawed logs bigtime :) The next day we packed up for home. On the way we stopped for lunch and a quick walk through the trail in the Mariposa grove of redwoods. Unfortunately, Eli had had enough of the great outdoors. After bumping his head on the tree stump, he tripped over the low stone wall and that was the end of his (and my) hike. We hung out in the car and relaxed for a while before the 5-hour trip home.

We were all pretty tired on the ride back home. Luke and Eli must have been delerious, too, because they had a tickle-fest that lasted from Fresno to Santa Clarita...