Homework

It's hard to believe we're several days into October. Although the days have shortened, whilst the sun is up we've been wilting through an ongoing heat wave. It's 99 degrees Fahrenheit at four in the afternoon, in my shady covered patio that serves as home office, entertaining space and general happy place.

This is how it looked before we move in, in July. We liked the house and its potential but wondered at the absence of birds and squirrels, that we're so used to having around.

A couple of months later and our jungle is softening the hard edges already. The cat and I just got a very rude talking to from a squirrel who was headed in to feast on the grains that fall from the bird feeder. Slinkie left her lounging post on the table, where she makes the most of the breeze, and took a step or two towards Mr. Squirrel. He found himself taking refuge in a tree that can't have been to his liking and was very clear about sharing his opinion.

I wish I could share the perfume of the Hawaiian Ginger with you. The flowers unfurl discreetly. I always discover a new blossoming by head-turning scent at first. They sometimes continue flowering into January, if we don't get a cold snap. The trellis behind the Ginger supports a Persian Jasmine, which has doubled in size since we've been here.

Although only a dozen, or so miles away from our last home, we've left the proximity to the coastal range, where Nature's air conditioner, Fog, rolls inland in the evenings and where clouds catch and break open in normal rainy seasons.

The heat is much more challenging when there's no respite as dark falls. Fans are our new found friends. If the air is moving, you can fool yourself into pretending it's cool.

We've christened our space with a get together of twenty two friends and family members. That maxed out the space. We'll have to set the tables on the lawn, if we increase our guest numbers next time.

I took TAO's daughter, who was visiting from France, on a trail ride in the tree shaded hills around the barn where I usually ride in the arena. She'd never met a Palomino horse before. It's a very Western Movie kind of thing. On the way back, galloping up to the top of the big pasture, there was a Bald Eagle flying low enough for us to clearly see his white head and enormous dark wingspan. I'm still in awe.

I'm putting my drafting skills to work to capture a design for a fireplace, for a designer/friend I met with yesterday. She's purchased a coastal getaway home in Cambria. I drove three and a half hours each way yesterday. We had planned to spend the weekend relaxing and sight seeing but TAO had eaten something that didn't agree with him and didn't feel he was safe to leave the house. "The Trots" was a term my Father used to use, and has nothing to do with equitation. Poor TAO!

I swooped along in freewheeling solitary pleasure. Much appreciated after all the carpooling we've been doing since we moved. Radio and air-conditioning set to my preferences and beautiful effects of sideways sun-shortening shadows, making the creases and canyons disappear from the landscape, as the day got up. It was a reverse-commute direction, both going and coming. (Thanks be to Heaven!). The one small slowdown was due to trucks having to navigate around an S model Tesla, limping along with it's hazard warning lights on. Someone must have miscalculated their battery life or forgot to charge up before heading out into the boonies. Maybe they thought there were charging stations scattered between here and Los Angeles. Same planet, different worlds. There were only old Spanish Missions, National Guard gun ranges and the slow nod of the wellheads, competing to suck the earth dry of crude oil.

South of Paso Robles, the road out to the Pacific winds past a multitude of wineries, each named and designed for a different fantasy. It was still early and the only vehicle in sight was an old pick-up truck, in my rear view mirror. Suddenly, the pastoral view gave way to a sweeping Ocean-scape and twenty minutes later I was at my appointment. It was fun to catch up with their goings on. We haven't seen one another for a while. We fit easily into our professional groove and it wasn't hard to pin down what they wanted and see how to make it happen. 

My clients took me to lunch at Indego Moon in Cambria. I had a leek and crusted goat cheese tart with a salad and a glass of white wine. Leeks are the secret weapon of flavoring. It was just right, crunchy over soft and tasty as can be. I then went off to show my face (and ID and credit card) at the little motel where we had reservations. It was too last minute to cancel our reservation and I'd called a friend who needed a break, knowing it was her favorite destination. She and her husband said "Yes" immediately and would be there to make use of the room, which I had to pay for anyway. I'd much rather see someone get some pleasure out of it than have it go to waste.

Back home by dinner time, I cooked rice and hard boiled eggs to get TAO back on track. I'd cancelled my riding for the weekend, thinking we'd be gone, and so have had some time on my hands today. I started the morning topping up the seeds for the finches and renewing the sugar water mix for the Humming birds. I've not had a Humming bird feeder before. I chose a deep red antique glass bottle design as I know they like red flowers. I measured out the powdered sucrose mix and used warm water this time to melt it together more easily. As soon as I hung it back up, there was the buzzing of wings and the flash of green-glinting neck plumage. A short aerial battle ensued as Hummers are quite territorial. One gained priority but the other wasn't far away and hovered until he had supped his share.

Leaving a Stone

This poor homeowner paid someone a size-able chunk of change to create a custom home that looked like a mausoleum. His wife has spent the last four years telling her friends that the job was unfinished, because she was embarrassed to admit to this monstrosity. 

I saw this as it was being built, and cringed for them every time I drove by. When I was called in to offer some input, I was thrilled. (No need to specify the address, just mention the big white facade on such-and-such a street and I know just the house you mean. It's been haunting my nightmares)

We played around with some sketches, to see how we could make it feel more like the home they wanted and to be sure we understood one another..

It's been fun, watching this come to life, as the puzzle pieces fit together. 

 

I'll hold up templates all day long, until my client understands what I'm proposing.

This shows the completion of phase one. 

Phase two has already begun. You can see that the window surrounds have been torn off too. This homeowner has developed a taste for authentic, natural stone and has turned this project into his hobby and his passion. His enthusiasm is contagious.

 

Have you hugged The Devil today?

I was well received by The Devil this morning. A warm embrace and polite chit chat cannot distract me from what I know of the man who lies beneath. However, I can fake it with the best of them. I asked after his daughter and her children, knowing that they had moved back home after separating from The Devil's Son-in-Law. Poor Son-in -law is much too nice and too ordinary for this Princess. She broke his heart, telling him "He no longer made her shine". Unfortunately for him, his Devil Father-in-Law had persuaded him to close his own construction business and join the family firm. He was screwed up and down.
I waited before asking about the Russian girl friend. These things have a way of changing over time and I wasn't sure of her name, anyway. I thought I'd handle that if I saw her. I was left alone with Dave "The Minion" and asked if Ivana/whoever was still around. "Drug Overdose" was the response. She's GONE, as in Dead and...I had heard rumors that she was into drugs but tended to put that down to disgruntled bitching, as the new potential Step-Mom was younger than the children of the Devil's direct lineage.
Masons were building away; extending out the pool patio to create a new gathering area; constructing the bones of a fireplace with nary a master-plan or permit in sight. Cheap labor, some cement blocks and another monstrosity in the making. Add some MORE fake cement columns to garnish the seating area, already surrounded by OODLES of fake cement balustrades and, as I told TD, the whole thing is so cold and overdone that it is more like a banquet room in a hotel than a personal space. (My opinions are free, remember, and people do ask:)
I think he saw some reason. He said I was right. From past experience he can always change his mind (ten million times) and there is always prodding from Minion Dave, the troll-man who has his ear and tells lies about everything and everyone to maintain his power.
Next up discussion of the trip to France. The Devil will be meeting Arnold in Paris and traveling together to Afghanistan, to visit with the Troops. Somebody's Image Consultant has been working hard. Arnold does need to rehabilitate his image. Apparently the press in Europe are kinder than here. He needs a break from the bashing he's been getting. I can't feel too sorry for him.