all decked out

i'd been looking for a large teak doormat for the backdoor for a while. everything seemed a little more than i wanted to pay - and a little smaller than i wanted to buy.

when d was repairing the deck outside the modern shed over the weekend (we planted a new tree in it and had to cut a section away) we had an "aha!" moment and used the scrap to fashion two doormat / transitions.

i love how it is big enough to keep a pair of shoes dry on (its the length of our extra-wide slider) - and not so precious that i'll be shoo-ing the chooks away.

(i also love the contrast between the weathered redwood and the new on the deck... looking for a natural sealant to try and keep it this way.)

meet the ladies

you'll remember Chick-a-Dee perhaps.

here she is with her two newest roomates "Miss Cavendish" aka "Candy" and "Miss Rafferty" aka "Taffy". (thank you mr. nash.)

they were two scrubby rescues we took in at the end of the summer. the transition was a little bumpy at the beginning, but quickly smoothed out and now they all get along swimmingly. (and looking quite lovely if I do way so myself.)

and we are back in business!

cool pool

with this summer's heat we have spent an extraordinary amount of time in our pool. it is the "last great project" of our house (or perhaps tied in this position with our guest bathroom). we have lots of ideas. but limited resources in time and money.

so while we wait for that to change, i'll continue dreaming of eliminating our chlorine system, and doing this:



via Martha Stewart Living

or this:



via apartment therapy

or this:



via archdaily




beautiful natural swimming pools article in this weekend's LA Times Saturday

spring-like

(i need to post something so that horrific photo of the girls' bed top of the last post isn't the first thing you see.)

we spent the morning working in the yard. it's a gorgeous spring-like so-cal day.



trellis for the peas

::work in progress::

with the new deck we decided to corral our chooks into one area of the yard. i know that we will still let them roam around - but like the idea of being able to contain them when we wish.

we installed the first section today:







we want something "airy" but strong. i am really happy with how it turned out.

new deck

had the neighbors over this weekend to break-in the new deck. stood up well. but we all decided that the yard now needs a fire pit.

so...

next up - an "urbanite" fire pit where the ceanothus (that i killed) once stood. (ceanothus are notoriously sensitive to water. this one - planted before the raised beds were put in - couldn't take the excess moisture the veggie patch put into the soil. sigh. i'll miss it - but am excited about its replacement.)



the yard has really come together. its at its best full of family and friends.

:)

august saw us leave the heat for our cottage up north. so good to get away. but great to be back too!




our new scout regalia table arrived on tuesday! the custom color match is perfect. (to our front door and a parsons side-table in our living room.) a table probably shouldn't make me this happy. but it does. and i'm not alone. it is a great addition to our backyard.

d is busy working on our next backyard project. connecting the deck off the modern shed to the pavers in our garden - off the girls' room and our spare room. this will include a chicken-run. can't have those chooks perching on the new table.

a sneak peek:

CA Modern

fun little article on home offices that includes ours


(photo by David Toerge)

CA Modern

the chooks are happy with it.

great article on Fickett as well - who for a while our neighborhood was attributed to.

couple of errors - but nothing major. laughed at the quote about feeling like i am in the backyard (i am in the backyard!) and kind of fun to think of myself as a painter!

backyard table

In the summer we eat 90% of our meals outdoors and our poor old Ikea table is on its last legs.

Looking at options, I can't stop coming back to this table. It seems to me as much a sculpture as a place to dine. I love that it is fabricated here in L.A. with FSC certified redwood. But it is pricier than almost all the other tables we've looked at.

We talked about going DIY. Then I found this and thought it might work. (However the reviews aren't good - and we need something that will stand up to the heat of the Valley.) A beergarden table seemed a fun option. But are these options for a"forever" table?

We have made a commitment to each other to only purchase things for our home that we will want - and hopefully that will last - forever. I'm done purchasing cheap place holders.

Is this the one?

Better start saving, our old table won't last much longer...

more backyard wildlife

we also house a small redeared slider in the backyard. we have a large pond in the breezeway but opted for a simple stock-tank pond in the back. i love these images of the stock-tank pool at big bang studio that were circulating around the internet a year or so ago. while we already have a pool - a stock-tank makes a lovely water feature too.



we run a simple electric pump in it. like this one. i had wanted to go solar - but couldn't find one with the power to keep a turtle pond clean. we filled it with large rocks for her to hide and bask on from local shop Jacobi Building Materials. we also stock it with a few aquatic plants, and fish.

i love the sound of running water alongside the multitude of birds our backyard attracts. the turtle seems to like it too.