Autumn at 1628

Well, here we are, ready or not... October!  This is my absolute FAVORITE time of year, so you will have to bear with me as I nearly break into song and start dancing!  The air is turning crisp and is filled with that wonderful scent of fallen leaves... the light has a certain slant or sharpness as well as that glow that is a little more golden... and my menu selections have changed from dishes made with everything tomato to those that include apples (especially the Honeycrisp variety).  It's fall in Michigan!

At 1628, the pumpkins are in place as well as the wreath of leaves and such that are hanging on the door.  I am enjoying the accumulation of leaves on the front lawn, as I try not to think about having to rake them.  The new mums are filling in nicely and adjusting to their newly landscaped home, as are the sedum.  



The other day as I was walking around the neighborhood (listening to my Fall mix might I add), I heard the song "We Just Got Here" by Carly Simon and here is a little sampling, I thought it summed up the thought of October nicely...


There are a few more freckles on your shoulders
The hammock swings lower and touches the grass
The apples are ripe and the corn is past
 Everyone says summer goes by so fast
 And we just got here...


Happy raking, gathering, and harvesting!

He's No Fungi To Me!

pre-mold... 

MOLD... he's dark, mysterious, fuzzy, and living in my basement... that is he WAS until I had to have him removed... and by removed I mean ripped out of my life, put it bags, and strategically disposed of...(not to mention ionic-ly scrubbed down and cleaned).

I ended up loosing two entire walls, a closet, and the bottom two feet all the way around on the other two walls.  

post-removal

So, what's next you ask?  There is a new dehumidifier in my life and he is hard at work... not stopping until his bucket is full.  It's all about circulation and working the room... removing the moisture and adding his dry (sense of humor) and heat.  


Once the walls have been tested (if we get any rain with which to test)... I will be able to paint the newly exposed walls and put wainscoting up on the other two (leaving an inch and a half space between the floor and it)... to hide the two feet of space at the bottom and to prevent the "fun guy" from returning.

We ladies love a bad boy, but this girl has learned a lot from this painful relationship... and now I am ready for someone with a dry sense of humor and stability. 

Mulching, Mowing, and Mosquitos...

It's been a busy time here at 1628 and I have been more than neglectful of my blog, but the great outdoors has been calling.  It's as green as the emerald city in my backyard and the flowers are bursting in purples, pinks, and oranges... poppies, lilacs, peonies, bleeding hearts, and iris!  The cherry tree was a glorious white and the cherries are now starting to form... shouldn't be long before I'll be able to pick them, yum! 

before

Along with the pleasure of picking my very first peony bouquet, comes the displeasure of the mosquitos.  I try to mow in the mid morning when the grass isn't as wet and it's not as hot... also thinking that those little bloodsuckers won't be out there... but they just love me... and I have to "love" bites to prove it.

after

There are two new projects going on.  I have been busy landscaping the front yard and my dad has been kind enough to work on my porch... specifically the columns and facia.  It is looking good and I LOVE a good before, during, and after shot!  

The landscaping project consists of extending and shaping the front beds and transplanting some shrubs, perennials, and a tree or two.  I decided to try the landscape fabric and I am hoping that it works.  I didn't want to have to use a lot of chemicals to kill the grass that would then prohibit me from planting sooner.  So along with the fabric, I am using mulch... lots and LOTS of mulch. Fingers crossed! 

The porch is really looking great.  So far dad has fixed the hole that the woodpecker decided to drill into the facia of the porch as well as scraped, filled, and primed.  Now we just have to wait and give the columns a trim and it's final coat of white paint.  Can't wait!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...

Better late than never, I wanted to mark the celebration of Earth Day with one of my favorite quotes...

"What is the use of a house if you haven't got a tolerable planet to put it on?" 

                  ~ Henry David Thoreau 

Ahead of his time, Thoreau knew how important the environment is and what we do to it, we ultimately do to ourselves.  I try very hard everyday to remember this phrase and try to live as true to it as I can... but it can be difficult.

When I lived in an apartment I didn't have many choices in the recycling department.  Waste just went into the big dumpster.  Now that I have a house, I am able to take recycling more seriously.  I even feel the thrill of separating glossy from newsprint... a thrill, mind you, that I never thought I would enjoy.  I also got a rain barrel, which I never even KNEW existed!  What a wonderful idea... I use it for my flowers and my vegetable gardens...the plants enjoy it more too.  I also acquired a composting  bin to help me breakdown my garden, yard, and kitchen waste. 

What I find really interesting is these days there are so many "easy" choices out there to make the most of our time, but unfortunately, most of those have extremely harsh ingredients.  The more research I do, the more I realize that the most safe and most effective products are those that our grandmothers used... like white vinegar or tabasco.

Let me know if any of you have any homegrown product, advice, or recipe; I'd love to hear 'em.  

Happy (belated) Earth Day!

Spring Cleaning

Like a breath of fresh air, open the windows and doors and let the sunshine in!  It was a very long, long winter and if you are like me, you have been dying to get outside and get your hands dirty!  Today was fantastic!  I got to play in the yard and cut back the grasses, clean the beds, and put out the lawn furniture where it awaits good conversations, barbeque laden plates, and glasses of iced tea.  

After the grey days of winter, nothing is more exciting than the sight of tulips breaking through the earth, the buds on the trees readying to burst, and the grass turning greener and greener by the hour.  As I was stuffing the yard bags and dragging debris to the composter, I got to thinking when or where did the practice of spring cleaning come from?  So I did some research.

It turns out that much of it has roots in religion, specifically Passover.  Traditionally, Jewish families clean their houses in preparation for Passover, specifically to rid the house of crumbs made from leavened bread, which is forbidden during the holy days.  

Non-religiously speaking, it's a way of clearing out the old to clean and freshen the things that you decide to keep.  It is a great way to not only air out the house, but clean, arrange the furniture in a new way, polish floors, and clear out the cobwebs and dust.

I once was given a book as a gift called "Clearing Your Clutter with Feng Shui".  It explained how to get rid of items and "stuff" you don't use anymore.  The lesson that enlightened me most was if there were boxes that I hadn't opened in six months, I should just throw them away... don't look in them, just toss them!  The idea being, if you haven't used them in that time, you never will.  So I did it!  I never felt freer or lighter... that was until five months later, when I was missing my expensive badger faux finishing paint brush... and then it didn't seem like such a great idea.  The lesson from this?  Peek inside and THEN throw it away... it still feels really good!

So whatever your beliefs or preferences, welcome spring!  I look forward to sitting outside among your blooms and drinking in your fragrance or sitting inside my clean house with the doors and windows 

Love Thy Neighbor?

One year ago my neighbors behind me decided to join the Urban Chicken movement and bought seven hens. I was very excited about this news because I always joked with many of my friends that I wanted to own an exotic chicken. 

When they began this little experiment they had a custom coop built. It was about three feet high and four feet wide. It was painted in a classic yellow with white trim. They stored it behind the their house near the door to the garage... it was so in sync with the backyard and (might I add) perfectly blocked by the large maple tree on our property line... perfect. 

A month later, they began to clear the area along the back of the property. They cut down and pulled out many trees. I was a little sad to see the natural border cleared and quickly disappearing; but I adjusted, telling myself that it was good to have some of the dead wood and weed trees out of the way. 

chicken coop shanty

Then, about three months later (right before my garden party), they moved the yellow and white coop back against the cleared property line and they built two chain-link pens onto it... one large... one medium. Together they measure about 12 feet wide by 6 feet high. Now, I can make the best out of a lot of situations, but I have not been able to get beyond this eye soar. As the seasons began to change, pieces of wood board, tarps, and stacks of hay started to appear. the more that were added, the more the leaves on the trees and the color that helped camouflage them began to disappear.

So here I am, Spring 2011, looking out my back window every morning, trying to imagine how I can disguise the view. Some of the ideas I have so far are either adding fast growing pines or building a trellis of sorts. If anyone has additional thoughts, I would love to hear what solutions you might have. It is a mostly shady area and sits between a really large cherry tree and an even larger shaggy maple... thoughts? 

Collections...

...we all have them.  I have quite a few.  There is something magical and special in surrounding yourself with the things you love.  I got to thinking about collections and what they mean.  My conclusion?  A home IS a collection; it is not one that can be purchased as a grouping or found at pottery barn or IKEA; it is a culmination of memories, travels, family, friends, music, musings, and things that inspire... some are more tangible than others but equally important.

For example, when I entertain, I like to fill the house with songs from a collection (aka a playlist).  I set the table with my grandmother's dishes and silver along with my collection of candlesticks and white pottery filled with a combination of flowers from my garden.  The menu is even a collection of sorts... a myriad of recipes that have been tried, loved, and some that have been passed down from family and friends.  It is all a way of honoring the past and at the same time feeling alive in the present.  

Items, objects, art--whatever you want to call them, can come into your life in many ways.  They can be received as gifts; they can be found (i.e. old signs, architectural salvage ); and of course they can be purchased.  Now I realize that not EVERYTHING can be purchased and held as a memory... that would be ridiculous; however, to strive for thought and emotion behind objects d'art can really take an okay room to a WOW room.  I strongly believe that people feel a connection when they walk into a room or home that is a true reflection of the owner's personality... and collections help us feel that.  

I can remember the very first thing I ever bought that gave me a sense of meaning and memory... an etching of the city of Florence, Italy.  It is a lovely little scene of the Duomo, cyprus tress, terra cotta roof tops, and the Arno river from the point of view of the surrounding hills outside of town.  When I was in my twenties and moving practically every year from one apartment to another, I had a box of my favorite things... my first collection... it was always the last to be packed and the first to be unpacked.  It was a security thing really.  It is what made me feel instantly at home no matter where I was... that is what collections do.. they soothe.  Like the blanket you had as a baby, or the favorite stuffed animals you had as a small child.

So the moral of this little story?  The next time you find yourself in a quaint little shop, day tripping, or just happen upon an item that reminds you of another time in your life... buy it... collect it... bring it home and give it a place of honor.  That way when you pass by it, meditate on it, or eat and drink from it, the memories will be there with you.  Those memories can be just like hearing a favorite song and remembering where you were when you first heard it and it changed you life.