July 31st, 2008
We’re getting ready to plant native grass seed in the side yard next to our patio. Pete dug up the last of the crabgrass and weeds last weekend and three cubic yards of leaf compost are being delivered on Saturday.
Over the past couple of days, we’ve noticed several holes in this area which have been [...]
July 28th, 2008
I saw this beauty enjoying the Joe-Pye Weed over the weekend.
According to Wikipedia, the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
adult males are yellow, with four black “tiger stripes” on each fore wing. The trailing edges of the fore and hind wings are black which is broken with yellow spots. On the medial margin of the hind wing next [...]
July 25th, 2008
Earlier this week I showed off our outdoor water feature, the Giant Bubbling Urn.
You may have noticed the decorative “stones” in the bowl at the top of the urn and, since the colors match the urn so well, thought that the stones came with the urn.
This was actually Pete’s brilliant idea.
These are what are known [...]
July 22nd, 2008
A couple weeks ago we went to the local garden center to spend our “Lurvey Loot”. For every $10 spent at Lurvey’s Garden Center between April and June, you receive $1 in “Lurvey Loot”, which can be used for up to 50% off your purchase between July and September. We had $116 in Lurvey Loot [...]
July 21st, 2008
As part of the Houseblogs.net “Look What I Did” Sweepstakes, it’s a perfect time to show the Before-and-After of our flagstone patio and the progress we’ve made on our yard to date. (I’m also happy for the chance to win some cold hard cash/plastic from our sponsor, True Value!)
When we moved into our bungalow, our [...]
July 15th, 2008
Remember Phil Hartman from Saturday Night Live as The Anal Retentive Chef? He would show some perfectly chopped red bell peppers and proceed to throw out one that was chopped just a little too big, one that was a little wrinkly, etc. until he finds fault with all of it and has to start over. [...]
July 12th, 2008
We rented Harold and Maude the other night. It ranks up there as one of my all-time favorite movies. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen it — it’s a lot — but it has been a number of years since I last saw it. Not only is Ruth Gordon just fabulous (Bud Cort [...]
July 11th, 2008
Earlier this week I mentioned that we finally started building our WC — not a Water Closet, as a flush toilet was originally called (and what bathrooms are still called today in German), but a Waste Corral to house our garbage, recycling and compost bins. Still housing waste, but a much less icky kind.
We had [...]
July 10th, 2008
Earlier this spring we decided to try CSA: Community Supported Agriculture. We’re now in our fourth week of Veggie Nirvana. Every Wednesday we receive 3/4 bushel of organic produce from the farm we support.
As a shareholder we received a cookbook, The Real Dirt on Vegetables by the farmer/owner of Angelic Organics, John Peterson. Besides [...]
July 9th, 2008
Currently in bloom at Bungalow Chronicles — each one native to all or most of the lower 48 states and Canada:
Kalm’s St. John’s Wort (Hypericum kalmianum)
Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
Prairie (or Tall) Cinquefoil (Potentilla arguta); also native to Alaska
July 8th, 2008
Pete and I enjoyed a well-deserved four-day 4th of July weekend.
On a very chilly Thursday night we strolled over to the Morton Grove Days Festival, an annual event complete with carnival, live bands and the all-important beer tent. Although one of my good high school friends only lives a few blocks away from us, [...]
July 3rd, 2008
A few weeks ago I requested information from the Village about the purchase/sale/construction of our bungalow. Shortly thereafter I received a letter indicating that they did have that information and that I could visit the Building Department at any time.
I was imagining finding copies of the original floor plan, the builder’s name, etc. But no. [...]
July 1st, 2008
While I sat at my desk, catching up on Houseblogs.net, others just couldn’t sit still.