Later, we swung up to Grizzly Peak to watch the sun set over the Bay...
Tarragon & chives in the herb bed...
Four sprigs of asparagus in with the parsley plants...
New red growth on the citrus trees... and lemon blossoms!
This is the first shoot to appear on my first dahlia plant.
I love lilacs!!!!!!!!!
Calla lilies are blooming...
New leaves are about to unfurl on the little red maple tree.
To see the lady bugs on Rosie's catnip plants...
Click on this photo:
(nepeta cataria)
This "four-leaf-clover" plant was a favorite of mine. It is gone now, and one day I will plant another... in my "pond" - (if I dare call it that) -- It was just a small black plastic tub with water, plants and a few fish, but I enjoyed it. Trouble was... the raccoons enjoyed it also. Just the right size for a full-grown chubby raccoon to immerse its whole body for a late night soak. A raccoon bathtub... Not kidding!... I'd hear splashing out there, get out of bed to check, and when I looked outside, there were shiny raccoon eyes looking right back at me from my pond -- just the head of the raccoon sticking up out of the water -- lounging!! --in my pond-- the nerve!! ...completely non-chalant about being discovered in the act. I'd yell... bang things... shine a flashlight in its face... but nothing would scare it off... it just glanced up at me and then went back to feeling around in the bottom of the tub with its little raccoon hands -- fishing, and uprooting everything that grew in there.
Ah, well... living with wildlife...
Speaking of wild life... (haha..) ... After work tonight, we headed next door to check out the St. Patrick's festivities at Lefty O'Doul's... It was a fun night... went in to "just have a beer" and ended up staying for their traditional corned beef and cabbage dinner... (and for the lively action at the piano bar). If you'd like to listen to a wee bit o' SF history, click here for the story of Lefty O'Doul..."the man in the green suit."
We planted a small "Moro" blood orange tree about 10 years ago... and didn't get any fruit for several years...(Citrus can take a looong time to mature and produce -- especially here, where we get an occasional winter freeze...) I've been getting a tiny harvest for the last couple years.... a tease.... a few precious oranges that left us hankering for more. This spring is the first time we have a tree full of oranges. YES!!! It was worth the wait!!
colorful this year. The juice is a vivid and deep burgandy red and makes an impressive looking glass of OJ... Taste is orange with a hint of berry... and... This orange contains the same healthful antioxidants as berries, grapes and red wine. These are wonderful in salads, but I usually just slice and eat -- simple and delicious :-) 
(I gave Rosie a "pawdicure" today!! - haha!)
The remodel is likely to be non-blog-worthy for the next week or so... In addition, certain family members - for whom I've been posting the remodel photos - are soon returning home :-)) Don't imagine anyone else really gives a hoot for this stuff..!... ;-)... So, I will be back to post about that when the project resumes.......
Meanwhile.... Lets see if I can find something else to write about...
At some point the fellas will return to rip the rest of the kitchen down to the studs, then insulate (there is, like, none in there now, as it turns out... on outside walls...! no wonder the inside of those cupboards felt like a refrigerator in the winter...) Then they will "re-rock" (my contractor used that term... I like the sound of it... re-rock...) This will also take care of the issue of multiple layers of wallpaper & paint on those 50 yr old walls... a gruesome mess to try to remove that stuff!... Then we'll get the walls textured and painted.... and the floors done... some plumbing re-arranged... whew!!... lots to do! still...
Today was another dusty day -- sheetrock dust has its own unique properties -- a different quality than the "blown-in-insulation-thats-been-fermenting-in-the-attic-for-decades" dust. Not saying one is any better than the other, but attic dust has a lighter quality -- it wafts and floats about in the air... Sheetrock dust, on the other hand, has a more substatial body, a finer but heavier feel to it -- it swirls around the feet and leaves a showier white residue on the floor... and everywhere else, for that matter... (Can't wait to find out what the refinshing-the-hardwood-floors dust will be like ;-O)So much today, I don't know where to begin...
It is fun to have the first bit of new sheetrock up! The entryway has a good feel. Glad we did it!
Eager for the dimmers!! The canned lights are a huge improvement over all that ugly stuff that cluttered our ceiling in the past ;-)) Tonight my sis-in-law came by to see our progress and we were actually squinting it was so bright!
I am happy to report that the ceiling gaps are now partially covered over. They added more insulation to make up for the piles of it that rained down into the house over the last few days... through every canned-light hole, etc... we were practically wading through the stuff... it billows and floats everywhere. My contractor has his crew clean up each day with a broom and shop vac before they leave... in fact, they are running that shop vac all the time!... but this stuff is impossible... yuck!! He's not a fan of blown-in insulation...
There are new holes and slots in the drywall where they cut in to run wires through. They will get patched much later when the old cabinets come down. Rosie, the cat, has a real fascination for any hole that she might be able to crawl into. She comes inside in the evenings and literally walks around inspecting every new development... and she doesn't miss a thing!
Video:
=^,,^=
More electrical to tweak tomorrow, and more sheetrock and tape...then texture and paint later...
video:
=^,,^=
This was the view this morning... You can see the framing for the area around the front door.
On Monday, they removed sheetrock and framed up some temporary supports to hold up the ceiling. On Tuesday, the big beam went in (without a hitch, it seemed) and the wood framing could be removed. By the end of the day we were left with a wonderfully open space! (And LOTS of dust!!!)
These guys are great! Good workers.... cheerful. One of them even whistles while he works! The post near the front door is going to remain -- apparently the old ceiling beam was sagging there, and had to be jacked up almost an inch. One of our creative neighbors saw that post and gave us the idea to incorporate it into a new entryway. Might as well! 
I planted tomato plants today!!! I know, I know,...it is way too early in the season, but our local garden center has this tricky marketing strategy that gets me every year... they sell these very healthy looking 4" tomato plants at a price so low that, -- well, for example, I go in there today to buy potting soil. I wasn't even thinking about tomatoes... but... there they were. Tempting me. I almost resisted the urge... but ended up buying 5 varieties.
Maybe in a few months we will be enjoying home-grown tomatoes like these in our new kitchen! We returned home from work tonight to our newly demolished kitchen. The cats were as fascinated by the changes as we were. Rosie kitty is waaaaayyy too curious for her own good!!! She was so determined to go up and explore that new hole in the ceiling... such a mess with clumps of old (r-30!) insulation sticking out. Yuck... she spent an hour up in the dusty attic before reappearing. She could have used a bath, (she tolerates water better than "normal" cats - haha!) but what's the use when the entire house is covered in construction dust!! Anyhoo the little rascal is probably planning a repeat adventure later tonight... aaaaaaaargh!!!!!
Our contractor stopped by today. We are scheduled to begin demolition tomorrow... removing a couple of walls to open up the kitchen! That is "our" wood beam on the top of his truck. This is really going to happen!! They will open up a portion of the ceiling and wrangle it up in there to help support the ceiling. We have been warned to expect LOTS of dust!! And noise (Contractor said loud swearing will be heard :)) from the beam-wranglers... Today was spent re-arranging the entire house for this little project. WOO HOO!! Can't help but feel excited!!
