Today was a nice leisurely day at the beach.  I woke up to roosters crowing with the sunrise, and managed to doze a bit longer until the activity of the guesthouse bustling awake prodded me out of bed.  I was goobered up and laying on the beach shortly after 8am.  I alternated between watching other tourists gear up for their day’s snorkeling/diving excursions and swimming every fifteen minutes or so to cool off.

A little after 10am I walked with Amanda and Christian to Sunrise Beach (aptly named, as it sits on the east coast of the island) to check out a different cluster of bungalows.  The bungalows were brand new and nicer (and come with their own private bathrooms, toilet and shower and everything — we don’t have plumbing here at Monkey), but they were set back a ways from the beach, which wasn’t as nice as Pattaya Beach, where I am currently.  Those two factors, together with the price tag being 300% of what I’m currently paying means I’m roughing it without plumbing for the duration of my stay.  The ideal location on the ideal beach allow for the plumbing thing to be viewed as “rustic” and “charming” for the time being.  (A&C moved; they’re on vacay and hence not as budget-minded as I am.)

I had lunch on the main strip of Lipe, which is a sandy path that cuts north to south across the island (there are no paved roads or cars here — it’s tiny, you can easily walk the whole thing on foot).  I snagged some ice cold homemade soy milk and a plate of pad thai further down the road.  Yes, pad thai.  Yes, I am that person.  But I love pad thai, I never let myself order it at home because I LOATHE being that person, and I didn’t order it in Bangkok a few weeks ago for that exact reason.  So I had pad thai.  And I fully plan on having it again.  Many times.  You’re over it.  (For those wanting to know, it was quite tasty. I can’t wait for the street food version.)

I napped away the hottest hours of the day in my shady little bungalow.  In the late afternoon I walked the length of Pattaya Beach (twice, the second time toting my camera) and popped in and out of the water as I went.  It’s so nice here.

Tomorrow I’m off on an all day snorkeling excursion, hitting four neighboring islands and countless reefs between.  Should be gorgeous.

No, really.  A family belonging to the Chao Lay people, who identify themselves as sea gypsies.  They are fishermen by trade, and to cash in on the growing wave of tourists they opened Monkey Bar (both bar and restaurant), as well as offer three small rooms in their guesthouse.  There is also a dedicated “smoking room,” for the abundant pot smoking.

Call me naïve, but the pot thing threw me.  I know I’m in Thailand, but isn’t this supposed to be a sleepy unheard of island in a national marine park?  Everywhere I look there is weed.  I witnessed three pot transactions within the first six hours of being here.  THREE.

And the sudden influx of westerners who call this place home and now run overpriced bungalows of their own?  All stoners.  Every last one of them.

I know it probably shouldn’t, but it bothers me.  I guess that makes me a party pooper.

Yep, it’s that pesky kitchen again…

In the last episode, we discovered that there were far too many complicated and expensive things that needed to be fixed with our circa-1939 kitchen (with a 2007 “facelift”) for it to make much sense to do the project piecemeal. Instead, we started saving up for one big overhaul. We’re not quite there yet, but I’ve decided to go ahead and start working on the plan and talking to contractors so that we can get this thing rolling in the new year. Not exactly a bad beginning, per se, but certainly a far more expensive (and stressful!) one than we’d originally envisioned.

First things first: to save those of you who really don’t care about our kitchen from having to wade through what will probably be a LOT of posts about the renovation process in the coming year, I’m going to start titling and tagging any kitchen-related posts as “kitchen chronicles.” Read ‘em if you like kitchens, or ignore ‘em if you don’t.

Crafting the plan
One of the first things I did once we decided to tackle the entire space was to sit down and make a list of the current problems and the multiple roles we’d like the space to serve. Here’s how we envision it:

• More light!
• Better flow from the dining room into the kitchen into the breakfast room and out into the yard
• Preserve the breakfast room function, if not the physical division of space
• Allow the breakfast room to double as a mud room (which it sort of does now, but not terribly well)
• Create space for the dog’s bowl and supplies
• Create a continuous work surface somewhere in the kitchen itself
• Eliminate the “wall” of cabinets that you walk into when you enter the kitchen from the dining room
• Preserve the California cooler, the only original element in the kitchen
• Preserve the ability to close the kitchen off from the rest of the house
• Create a kitchen that fits into the historical aesthetic of the house

That’s a lot of different pieces and different jobs for a relatively small (13 feet by 17.5 feet, counting the breakfast room) space to fill. We’re still playing around with different configurations to get there, but right now, the plan is looking something like this:

Here’s what we’re starting with, as a refresher:

And here’s what we really started with, courtesy of our neighbor. This kitchen is actually  from the blueprints of our house’s mirror-image twin. I flipped it in Photoshop, but that would be why “screen” and “glass” are still backwards. (Or rather, I’m lazy and that’s why they are.) But you get the idea, and you can still see where the original walls and counters were, which is pretty crazy! In our house, the wall between the porch and the breakfast room was taken down as part of the 1939 remodel and the ironing board was moved.

The plan is still very much a work in progress and we have a lot of things to work out (like whether we can actually move the doorway, for starters—and if we do, how do we set it up so that the door closes, given that it’s a swinging door right now, and apparently you can’t put a pocket door in without stripping both sides of a wall down to the studs?) Our kitchen is awkwardly sized—too wide for a good galley layout, but too narrow to really accommodate an island. Most people with this layout—and there are a surprising number of them given how many bungalows are floating around town!—take out the cooler and stick the refrigerator there or make this into a U shape, but I really love our cooler and would hate to lose it. So, no U.

Kitchen Work Plan

1. Disconnect and move stove and refrigerator; demo all cabinets. Remember to buy new toaster oven and borrow hot plate or microwave from somewhere before we get to this point!!
2. Demo furnace chimney; re-vent furnace and hot water heater through wall or to exterior of house as needed. Explore the possibility of using the new Oakland iteration of CaliforniaFIRST to upgrade to a high-efficiency furnace and solar water heater at the same time.
3. Remove tile floor, baseboard trim, sink backsplash, and washer/dryer hookups on breakfast room walls.
4. Widen doorway between breakfast room and kitchen and figure out what kind of door to install here.
5. Insulate outside wall behind sink, and add heat to the kitchen.
6. Finish open walls and install new flooring and new trim to match the original.
7. Install new cabinets, open shelves, sink, dishwasher, backsplash, etc.
8. Install new counter. Paperstone, maybe?
9. Install (or acquire freestanding) benches for breakfast room and mudroom areas. Install coat hooks.
10. Install new light fixtures and exhaust hood.
11. Replace back door with better insulated door. Yay Obama tax credits!

The million dollar question, of course, is how much all of this is going to cost. (Hopefully not a million dollars!) We’re on a pretty tight budget for this project, so the goal is to do as much of the work ourselves as seems feasible and wise. That probably means lots of fun demo-ing things, but leaving some of the finishing to the pros. I shipped off some paint and dust samples to be tested for lead a few months ago and was psyched to learn that the paint and plaster in the kitchen are effectively lead-free, so we can demo our hearts out. We also need to figure out where the cabinets are coming from. I’m getting a few estimates from local cabinetmakers, since that’s our ideal scenario—but we may end up back at Ikea if we can’t make it pencil out. We’ll see.

So with that—welcome to the City Homestead Kitchen Chronicles!

Invited by a friend to have a few shots at his bungalow. Quite a big house. But not my taste. A little to large for my taste.

Gear Used:

D90, Tokina 12-24, ND Grad Filter

The Bungalow
14 Thacker Road
Oxford, MS
662-259-2622

The Bungalow is located on Thacker Road, next to Highpointe Condominiums, just outside of town on Hwy 6.  The restaurant is owned by a young married couple, Jason and Rachelle Williams.  Mr. Williams is from Chicago and Mrs. Williams is from Oxford.  The small bar area is cute.  The dining room holds about 20.

The menu includes a variety of soups (Spicy Tomato, Mushroom Basil), salads (BLT, Grilled Steak Bruschetta), paninis (Turkey Swiss, Pesto Turkey), burgers (Jalapeno Swiss, Turkey), and entrees (Catfish, Sicilian Meatloaf).  We visited twice.  Each visit we ordered two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts.

First Visit
11/20/09

Appetizers:

Egg Rolls
Score: 7/10

While the menu is fairly standard there is some Filipino influence on a few of the dishes, most noticeable in the homemade, Filipino egg rolls.  The rolls have perfectly crispy outside and ground beef interior with Filipino spices.

Mac and Cheese Croquettes
Score: 5/10

The Mac and Cheese croquettes is an example of a good idea poorly executed.  The panko crust is crunchy and good but the inside is a mushy, cheesy mess.  Aioli side is a nice touch.

Entrees:

Catfish
Score: 7/10

Catfish is a prime Mississippi dish so The Bungalow is swimming in deep waters here.  The crust is perfect, nice and crispy, but the fish itself is so-so and the cuts were relatively small.  Comes with one small serving of tartar sauce.

Jalapeno Swiss Cheese Burger
Score: 2/10

I ordered mine with bacon.  The burger was poorly done.  The patty was tiny, not reaching any edge of the bun, just sitting there lost and forlorn like Tom Hanks in his life-raft after the plane goes down.  Burger was dry and unremarkable.  Served with panko encrusted onion rings that were thick and crispy.

Desserts:

Grasshopper Pie
Score: 9/10

Homemade.  Incredible.

Toffe Crunch Vanilla
Score: 8/10

Outstanding.

Service
Score: 2/10

Service was terrible.  Several mistakes in the writing down of the order resulted in a burger with no bacon or onion rings.  Generally inattentive and there was only one other occupied table.

Overall First Visit Score (not an average): 3/10 (desserts pulled this up from a 2)

Notes:  In talking with the owners afterward they recommended trying the Sicilian meatloaf and the pepper encrusted steak next time.

Second Visit
12/4/09

Appetizers:

Corn Dogs
Score: 8/10

Homemade.  This is an example of a good idea well-executed.  Not your middle school lunch corndogs with a doughy, soft texture but a much nicer, crispy cornmeal coating.

BBQ Chicken Quesadilla
Score: 5/10

Different type of quesadilla.  The BBQ flavor does not go well with the traditional accompaniments of salsa and sour cream.

Entrees:

Sicilian Meatloaf
Score: 6/10

Filled with cheese and ham.  Nice and juicy in the inside but overcooked on the out.

Pork Chop (steaks hadn’t yet been delivered)
Score: 6/10

Desserts:

Sweet Potato Cheesecake
Score: 8/10

Unique cinnamon flavor.

Key Lime Pie
Score: 7/10

Lime colored cheesecake.

Service:
Score: 8/10

Attentive.  No mistakes.

Bathroom:
Score: 9/10

Gigantic, nice smelling, and clean.  Single person bathroom.

Atmosphere:
Score: 7/10
Nice bar area with a mini-waterfall.

Overall Second Visit Score: 6/10

Final Overall Score: 5/10

Price:  $15 or so for lunch (appetizer, burger or entree, drink, tax, tip)

Final Thoughts:

The homemade desserts (Grasshopper Pie, Toffee Crunch Vanilla, and Sweet Potato Cheesecake) are killer.  Other than that all I can recommend are the egg rolls and corn dogs.

More photos here.

Ko Jum is a little island off the coast of Krabi.  It takes about an hour to get there.  It isn’t that well known.  It only has electricity during certain hours of the day.   There are bungalows sparsely scattered along the coastline and there are beaches where no one is in sight.  Thus, Ko Jum was heaven to me.

I arrived at the island and instantly fell in love.  I stayed at a little place called Bo Daeng Bungalows where the manager was  an amazing lady named Deela who was always smiling and laughing.  The bungalow had the basic ammenities:  a bathroom (of course, no western toilet), a  handheld shower, a comfortable bed, and a mosquito net.  There were hammocks everywhere.  The few guests that were there were scattered around the grounds, reading, chatting, drawing, just enjoying the laid back atmosphere.  The weekend was full of swimming in clear blue water, sunbathing on a beach where only occasional wanderers could be seen, and reading in my favorite hammock placed perfectly on the beach ready for that sun to set. 

The most important part of the weekend was my alone time.  I’m constantly surrounded by people, some speak english some speak thai, but nonetheless I am never in complete seclusion.  Well I got it this weekend and it was exactly what I have been looking for.  I took a step in the right direction.  I started defining what it is I want in my life.  Most importantly I want happiness.  And I just need to find what it is I want that will bring me that happiness I am searching for.  Many of my ideas for happiness conflict with each other, so I just began the process of figuring out which is the most important one.  I don’t know, but I know I will find out.  The solitude of the island was absolutely amazing.  Being able to just focus on myself and my thoughts and my feelings brought me a little closer to finding myself and what I want to make out of my life, who I want to be.

I thank Ko Jum for bringing me one step closer to knowing the true me.  I will be back.

I’ve been accumulating these for the past month while I was writing away on my novel. Lately I’ve gotten really into stone houses and homes in little alcoves of trees and gardens–hope you enjoy them!

Oh my gosh–I want this house. Love the Tudor design, chimney on the front facade, arched doorway, and leaded glass windows. And of course the beautiful gardens! Seriously, I want to live here (actually located in Maryland–being rented out though, dang).

Pretty salvage wood staircase with wrought iron hand rail.

Love this house…that porch looks so serene! And I like the large dark door in the front. Kind of funky window placement on the second level, but I like it.

Love the columns and semi-circle garden and stone path…I am a real sucker for stone pavers…

So pretty! Love the wide outlines on the windows and the wraparound porch.

Looks kind of squat, but I love the roof and the location underneath the old tree. Those hedges would have to GO though.

I like the placement of this one, and the contrast of the bright red doors against the conservative architecture. And that tree!

Possibly the cutest bungalow of all time. Can you tell I love front porches?

My dream backyard. LOVE the broken stone pavers around mulched areas of plants, and the benches and tables throughout. I’m going for a messy formal garden look.

That’s it! LOTS of interiors coming up!

[all images via Craigslist]

Hello, my name is Andrea.   I thought I should refresh your memory as to who I am since I didn’t manage to write one  post in November!  Oh well.  Lots of things have been going on…houses to be worked on, things to get involved in, holidays to be celebrated! 

Thanksgiving was here at my house.  My mom, dad, brother, sister and nephew came up from New Orleans to help celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday.  We ate lots of turkey sandwiches, worked on a very complicated puzzle and played with Skyler.

Yup, he’s a cutie! 

Today, we cleaned out the rent house we have been working on.  We touched up the paint, installed thresholds and worked on the bathroom plumbing.  I think this is where most of our spare time in November was spent….putting the finishing touches on this house.   It seems like it took forever to get this one fixed up, but, when I think about it, we only worked there on Saturdays and, every once in a while, on a weekday evening.  So, when you work at that rate, you don’t go anywhere fast!  I came home today with a huge red pine stain on my arm.  I spilled the stain I was working with and accidentally stuck my arm in it..yuck!  It looks like a really bad spray tan.  This stuff doesn’t come off very easily! I also was using some oil base paint to finish up the baseboards in the master bedroom.  I was covered in paint and stain by the time I called it quits.  I almost felt like I was going to have to put a capful of paint thinner in my bath water in order to get all this junk off!

Every time Steven, Vivian and I walk over to the “little house” as Vivian calls it, people cross the street and go the other way (away from us).  I never thought about it until I took a good look in the mirror before going over there today.  We wear old paint clothes with dried caulk and thirty colors of paint and none of our clothes match.  Meaning, I have on an orange shirt, a blue skirt, pink leggings and whatever jacket I could find.  We must look like the Florence Street hobos when we step out! HA!  Check out this pic if you don’t know what I am talking about.

One of those Florence Avenue hobos

Last night was our church Christmas banquet.  We laughed a lot and had a great time amongst friends.  Before we left for the banquet, we decided to take a family picture for our Christmas card.  Here are some of the pictures.  Steven took some of Vivian while I was getting dressed.  Some are from earlier in the evening when Vivian and I were playing in the snow.

Haha...this has got to be my favorite one!

My family

Good night!

Andrea

Bungalows, bungalows and more bungalows. In our villa there are four bungalows so every member of the family, group of friends, entourage or any other type of group of people that comes, can have their private space and their privacy when they needed. Every bungalow is air-conditioned which is a great news in a place like Bali where it’s always hot. If you come to the villa, you will enjoy some time with every one, but when you’re tired and need ”me time” you can go to your bungalow. Everybody wins.

I always like to live in a place for a while — at least a few months — before I start making non-essential changes. Using the space on a daily basis helps you figure out what you like and don’t like. The hardest part is listening to friends and relatives ask, “You STILL haven’t changed anything?”

Though the renovation ideas are still evolving, a list of projects — and a hierarchy among the items on it — has formed.

1. Minor kitchen remodel

2. Minor bathroom remodel

3. Removing the paneling in the living room, dining room and den

4. Removing the wallpaper in the kitchen, hallway and bathroom

5. Painting every room and touching up the doors, window frames and trim

6. Landcaping

Even though I have a priority list, things will get done as money allows so first I’ll tackle some cheaper, easier projects like painting rooms that don’t require the labor-intensive removal of wall coverings. After keeping paint chips taped to the bedroom walls for a couple of weeks, I picked out a light sage green for the guest room/office: Mystical Sea (430E-2) by Behr. I chose that shade over the very similar Thistle (ML10) from the Ralph Lauren Modern Loft line because it was a little brighter and had less gray in it. The drop of paint the paint guy at Home Depot put on the lid seemed mighty light in the store, but it does match the chip so it should (fingers crossed) be fine when it gets up on the wall. (Please let it be right, please let it be right.)

Kottikal 

Every spot in Keralam is a picnic spot. The locale selected by my father for building a house, after years of wandering from place to place, reveals his love of scenic beauty- or it may be just a combination of circumstances- for which generations of Vasudevan uncle should be grateful to him.

The plot is at the bend of the river, the bank is quite steep, the prospect from the summit can be described only by a poet. The house is in the foreground, on the right hand of the river you see in my blog. Vasu uncle constructed a bungalow there, with a terrace roof, something of a wonder at that time. From the terrace, we used to look at the mountains in the East, Western Ghats which acquire a bluish hue in rainy season. In summer, we all used to sleep there, looking at the diamonds scattered all over the sky. One Karkoli nambudiri taught us the names of a few of those wonderful stars, the milky way cutting across the starry sands.In the cities, our children are denied the joy which I experienced seventy years ago.

The carpenters working there made a small canoe and presented it to my  elder brother. I am a born waterfriend, perhaps a fish in my last life. Watching the bamboo rafts slowly gliding along the full river, the workers cooking rice at a corner and fishing, I longed to be one among them, when I grew up. Sometimes it would be a huge wooden craft, fitted with thatched roof, something of a house boat. Only in novels I have read about people travelling in boats in the Ganga.

As soon as we shifted to our river side home, my thread ceremony was performed. I became a Brahman, Ovinichunni, as we are called. The front cover of my book  depicts the appearance of ovinichunni.

It was also the end of my early childhood. Every day I had to perform various rituals under strict supervision of my father who, one day, was so annoyed that he caught hold of my two hands, lifted me up as one would a bunch of bananas, and smacked me till his rage abated or he became tired, I don’t know which, all because I broke the sacred thread, while playing in the river water. I didn’t cry. But the agony is still fresh in my sensitive mind!

 My father commented: you are more difficult to manage than an elephant.

The people in neighbouring homes came to wash and bathe there, because father made a bathing ghat in the river, duly paved with granite steps, and we had always the company of the village boys, for our water sports. I was not aware of the fact that the thread somehow disappeared. It is excusable in a six year old boy. We beat kids, to vent our feelings. Are not  children the creations of God? Who authorized us to punish them?

Normally my father is a very peaceful person. He is very slow and takes a lot of time to complete his morning rituals. He never uses the bath towel. Water will slowly evaporate. He was totally bald and had no teeth. In his betel chewing case made of bronze, there was a special crusher to pulverize the mixture of betal leaves, arecanut, lime, tobacco and some erattimadhuram(meaning double sweet-a root). I don’t know what it is. We used to eat it, erattimadhuram which is really very sweet.

At bed time, he would tell us to punch his feet with all our strength. My brother and I would handle each leg. It was fun.

He would discuss many things with brother, including poetry in Samskrutam, which I could not follow. My brother imbibed interest in learning and he is a veritable encyclopaedia. He went to school for some time and does not know English; but he has read all books in Malayalam. He knows our family history and has jotted down many things in a note book. Nobody has seen it. He passed away recently just before crossing eighty. 

Kirangatu Mana 

  One day we went to attend a function in Kirangattu mana. I was in women’s wing. I looked out into the outside men’s wing, and was overjoyed to see KRS(Ramaphan’s son Unniaphan)

He took me around and showed me a wonderful new world .There was even a temple inside the campus. At about 3 pm, I suppose, an old man came into the temple. He seated himself in a tiger skin. KRS sat before him, and repeated whatever was recited by the old man.

 After some time, he asked me: do you like to learn othu(Veda) ?

I promptly said yes. So he told me to sit by KRS’s side and I too repeated the lines from Veda. I remained at Kirangat mana with KRS for more than a year.  

Kirangatu mana

Traditionally, young namboodirs of kk family went to Kirangatu mana. They were our gurus. For Rigvedis there was the math at Trichur and one at Thirunnavaya. None for us Yajurvedis.

So it was not a surprise for our guru. No doubt, my eager face must have attracted his attention. At that time Anujan and Kunjanujan nambudiries were unmarried. There were no children there. Naturally, we were pampered by all. There were many nambudiris, mostly with wives in the Royal palace at Tripunithura, who came there occasionally.

 The tusks of Kesavan (elephant, owned by the mana) evoked awe and admiration. Some iron chains reminded the glory of the famous animal whose beauty was only excelled by his cruelty (killed 16 or so mahouts). Only Pozhichur namboodiri, who was just the store keeper and never failed to give something or other to Kesavan to eat, was allowed to hold his tusks. In the presence of this man, Kesavan became docile as a kid !I was never tired of hearing the stories of elephants.

 There was a big country boat .The west side of the estate was a lake. I would longingly look at the Chenam island, but never had the good fortune of a boat ride.There were separate bathing facilities for gents and ladies (as in all namboodiri families) and an extra temple tank. Today all are dry. A huge manchadi tree provided dazzling red beads for us to play with. Occasionally,Vasudevan of neighbouring Kannath mana would join us. I can go on writing about those times… 

I’m finally back from my turkey holiday extravaganza! One of my favorite aspects of writing is having the opportunity to interview and learn about how different people live, what makes them unique and interesting. One very good friend, Holly Milner, fits that “unique” qualification perfectly, and I decided to dig a little deeper into her exciting life, and hopefully, you can steal some ideas for managing your own home in Holly style! Holly is a fun, artsy, animal-loving enthusiast, and I wanted to know exactly how she keeps her family of ten animals in line while remembering to enjoy it all. For Holly, I don’t think it takes much effort on the enjoyment front, but she does have a few tips for managing a house full of pets. Her vibrant bungalow abode is sure to entice inspiration!

She also makes time for a job, a fiance, and creating beautiful hand-made earrings and recycled goods that she sells at etsy.com and a variety of shops in Knoxville, Tenn. Read on, and if you want to see her items in-person, be sure to visit her this upcoming First Friday in Knoxville, December 4, at Earth to Old City in Market Square from 6 to 9 p.m.

Let’s get started!

What are you currently creating and selling to the public?

Currently, I have OlioTree earrings for sale at Earth to Old City on Market Square, Aimee’s Bohemian on Sutherland Ave, and Variations by Victoria on N. Broadway. I also sell items on Etsy; you can visit my store at OlioTree.etsy.com. I make these earrings from various items such as, but not limited to, prints (relief, intaglio, and lithography), exposed and processed negatives, preserved leaves, vintage scarves, and children’s books. I make them all with sterling silver hooks.

I am currently expanding my OlioTree collection to feature bags, pillows, and other accessories composed from recycled materials that I pick up from local thrift stores. I love giving life to an object that someone else has found fit to discard.

The First Friday in December, I will be debuting this new line of products at Earth to Old City on Market Square from 6 to 9 pm. After the debut, these items will be available online through Etsy and at the other stores. The things that I create are always revolving; I like to keep things fresh. I don’t like to make anything twice, which is ironic considering my formal training in Ceramics and Printmaking. I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in December of 2008 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville.

Where do you find inspiration for your creations?

I find inspiration in my surroundings and life in general. I have several recurring shapes in my work, and I’m not exactly sure where they come from. I like to rely on intuition as much as possible. My Reiki training influences my art in that way. I like to keep things fresh by always experimenting and not planning too much.

How many animals do you have, and how do you manage them? Any tips?

My fiance, Ryan Boos, and I live with 4 dogs (Rocko, Wembley, Leo, and Paige), 2 cats (Sage and Abby-Gail), and 4 hens (Jubilee, French Fry, Lemon Belle, and Coraline). We are strong believers in adoption; there are so many loving animals in need of a home. I always suggest checking the shelter before you buy from a breeder.

All of our animals are rescues with the exception of the hens and Leo the champion Jack Russell Terrier. He won the Russell Relay for Life 2 years in a row, and scored enough Canidae dog food to feed our pack for almost 2 years!

We all live in a 1200 sq ft bungalow in Old North Knoxville that was built in the late 1800s. When you live with that many animals, organization and routine and cleanliness became key elements to creating our happy home. I prefer to catch fur in a brush before it has a chance to hit the floor; sometimes I save it and use it for a sculpture. Forget carpet, plush area rugs, or floor pillows because they just turn into big pet bed fur traps. Hard floor is the only way to go in my opinion. We stick to small rugs that are washable; I love colorful cheap rope rugs!

As crazy as it may sound, it is easier to have multiple animals because they form their own little pack and keep one another company. Luckily, our animals recognize us as the leader of the pack; we would have major dominance struggles if this was not the case. We have a large privacy fenced backyard that is essential for our sanity. You must have a place for you pack to let out their energy and be happy healthy animals!

The dogs are nice enough to share their yard with the hens. They have their own fenced off section of the yard with their coop. The dogs can’t get to them, and surprisingly they don’t try to. I let them know that the chicken area was off limits by acting like a dog and guarding the area when we first got the girls. This may sound crazy too, but growling at them worked well. You have to learn to speak their tone and body language; if they respect you as master, they will listen.

The hens, or the girls as we call them, have been a wonderful addition to our family. In the mornings Ryan cooks a delicious breakfast while I do chores like sweep, clean the coop, brush the dogs…whatever needs to be done. We are a very good team; he is a talented cook and I like to get my hands dirty. He will cook oats for us and the girls, and they get so excited when they see me bringing a bowl out to them. The girls get to free range in the yard while breakfast is being prepared and the dogs are eating their morning meal (compliments to Leo of course) and hoping Ryan will be clumsy enough to drop some sharp cheddar. They are very comfortable with their backyard routine, but you do have to keep a very close eye on them and any predators, like hawks, that may be lurking over the ridge.

Balancing chores is essential to keeping all the animals; neither of us could do it alone. Our hens are right at laying age, but now that it is turning cold, it will probably be spring before they start paying rent with eggs. That element will make breakfast that much more enjoyable. We already get a lot of food that we use from our backyard garden. The cats are the only animals that don’t go outside, and they don’t seem to mind. Sage was an alley cat that we brought in from the streets after we got him checked for everything at the vet. He doesn’t even offer to go out anymore; he knows he’s living the life now. There is plenty of action inside, and they get to enjoy the wildlife from the windows. Sage has just recently discovered that he can watch the chickens from the back window. We are lucky that everyone gets along so well; We feel it has something to do with the positive energy of our home.

Your fiance, Ryan Boos, is a musician and artist, too. How do you use your space in your home to optimize an artist-friendly vibe that is conducive to creativity?

When we first moved to our home we shared a 13×13 ft room. We were always bumping into each other or being too loud…the list goes on. It was not working at all, so Ryan kept that room, and I moved my things into the front sitting room which is also 13×13 ft and we moved the couch in his room. We are happy now! He has a quiet place to record music, write, edit photos, study, read, or do whatever he wants, and I have a place for all my gadgets and supplies. I can spread everything out and play my ipod as loud as I want. This correlates perfectly with the organization that I mentioned earlier. I can not focus or begin to create anything if my space is not in order. It is so wonderful to have your own space.

One of the great aspects of your home is the bright paint colors you chose. What was your process for interior decorating?

Before we closed on our house we went to Lowe’s and purchased paint, and as soon as we got in we started painting. It was really fun picking out the bold colors of our house. Since it is a bungalow, you can see all the colors from every room when you stand at certain areas. Before we moved in we went to Lowe’s (Home Improvement Store) and picked out a ton of of paint cards. I drew a diagram of the house and we went to Sunspot for dinner and PBR. We narrowed down the colors and then we placed them on the diagram to see how they all went together. It was really fun!

We love to rearrange furniture; it gives such a new feeling to the room. I’m lucky to have a man that will live in a home with such bold colors; they really set a mood for each room. I find that I use a lot of the colors from our house in my art.

Paint Color Note: Holly and Ryan used Valspar satin finish paints. They chose the following colors: La Fonda Spanish Dancer for the bedroom; Mother Nature for the bathroom; Brown Mustard for Holly’s arts room; French Violet for the kitchen; and Tantalizing Teal for the living room.

You’ve lived in Knoxville all your life. From a local’s perspective, what are your thoughts on the City’s growth?

I love the size of this city. Not too big or too small, it’s just right. There’s a lot of great music that comes through this area. We’re so close to the mountains, so that makes it nice. The only downfall is the air quality; everything sticks in the valley. I grew up in Fountain City, so I’ve seen the progression of the city. I have watched the downtown area grow from abandoned buildings to thriving businesses, and that is very exciting to me. Even as a small child, I saw the potential of the city, and I thought it was really a shame that it was so abandoned. I’m happy to see that it has evolved into such a progressive town.

My almost-home sat across the street from a wildlife habitat and had a creek running below the backyard. It’s in a pocket neighborhood next to the popular — and pricey — Hyde Park and North Loop areas of Central Austin. It had a killer location walking distance from some of my favorite local food places on Airport Boulevard: House Pizzeria, Burger Tex and Lammes Candies (in hindsight, not a very rational reason for wanting to live there). The neighborhood itself was quiet, but you could see (and hear) I-35.

However, the house itself had a ton of great features: Texas limestone exterior, corner lot, mature trees, big fenced backyard, built-in shelves and storage, lots of light and concrete floors. The negatives: a tiny second bedroom whose closet had been sacrificed to create 1/2 a laundry room (the dryer couldn’t be connected without having to bring the venting and power sources up to code); an ancient water heater; a flat roof (a style that’s prone to leaks and expensive to repair); a distinct slope to the floor in the back half of the house; and concrete floors that needed to have the cracks repaired and be sealed to be considered flooring rather than bare slab. Another weird quirk was that you couldn’t access the backyard any other way than through the house, making outdoor projects like landscaping and building a covered deck very challenging.

Am Samstag, den 05.12.09 werden wir wieder ein Bauvorhaben für eine öffentliche Besichtigung zur Verfügung stellen. Von 14 bis 16 Uhr öffnen wir in Boxberg in der Hammerstraße 50 a die Türen für Sie und beraten Sie gern rund um Ihr Traumhaus.

Der Winkelbungalow mit Klinkerfassade wurde von 108 auf 126 m² erweitert, da sich die Bauherren ein zusätzliches Arbeitszimmer wünschten. Für Energie-Sparfüchse ist sicher interessant, dass hier mit Erdwärme geheizt wird.

I’ll have a number of my listing open this Saturday, November 28th

486 Lawton Street 10-12PM

640 Holderness Street 12:30-2PM

1841 Dorsey Ave (East Point)2:30-4PM

Come out and check our these beautifully renovated homes! All FHA Ready!

Wir als Partner von Town & Country mit der Erfahrung von derzeit über 14.000 gebauten Häusern, helfen allen Hausbauinteressenten den Traum vom Eigenheim zu verwirklichen.

Vom ersten Gespräch bis zur Schlüsselübergabe und auch danach, begleiten wir sie sicher, schnell und kompetent auf dem Weg, der für die meisten Menschen der wichtigste im Leben ist: “Ein eigenes Heim”.

Werfen Sie einen ersten Blick in unsere attraktiven Häuser und verlieben Sie sich in Ihr Traumhaus. Überzeugen Sie sich von unseren Leistungen rund um Ihr Haus und werfen Sie einen Blick auf aktuelle Baustellen oder bereits von uns gebaute Häuser.

Unser Finanzierungsservice bietet auch Ihnen die Möglichkeit bequem und sicher die „Miete“ in die eigene Altersvorsorge zu stecken.

Das persönliche Beratungsgespräch in einem unserer Musterhäuser, macht es vielen Bauherren leicht,  ihre individuellen Wünsche zu verwirklichen.

Wir gratulieren unseren Kunden  zum Startschuss für ihren Town & Country Bungalow in Bisingen! Die Bagger sind heute angefahren und haben mit den Erdarbeiten begonnen. Auch hier kann jeder nach und nach das Entstehen des Town & Country Hauses in Bisingen im Landkreis Balingen miterleben! Wir halten Sie auf dem Laufenden

Bungalow 92 in Bisingen

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Recently, I have checked on tools.pingdom.com and looked for TBSBungalow.wordpress.com and they said our loading time was an amazing 1.4 seconds! 1 second faster that YouTube and way faster than CBGFilms.com!

That was JUST to let you know!!

Kieran

A competitively priced bungalow in Buenavista, a sought after location in Mijas. The property has been completely reformed and offers panoramic views. The property consists of 4 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms, an attractive lounge/dining area and a spacious modern kitchen. A tranquil and private location that lives up to the name Buenavista (good views). The property is 132 m² (1,421 ft²) with 40 m² (431 ft²) of terrace on a plot of 500 m² (5,382 ft²).

Currently on sale for 369,000€

For more details contact info@arribaestates.com