Weekly Roundup

I shared a brief walk through of the backyard with a year’s worth of growth since we remodeled. I sometimes forget where we started! I’m due to give a more thorough blog post about the installation process, so sit tight for that.

I will give a spoiler that I’m disappointed in one of the elements I chose for the backyard, and that’s the decomposed granite under the dining table. I like that it’s permeable and a natural material, but even though it’s stabilized, it’s still so sandy. It’s messy and uncomfortable barefoot - like little bits of gravel in my feet. Alternatives include adding flagstone pavers on top ($5k), removing it and pouring concrete ($5k), laying down a jute rug overtop ($1k), or getting these little decking pieces to put on top. It costs just $400 so it seems worth a try - and they can be easily repurposed by someone else if they don’t work for us! Anyone have experience with them?

Have you seen Alison’s kitchen makeover?! Hubba hubba.

Our pipes often make a single loud bang when turning the water on. I’d hear it at the kitchen sink, when the laundry ran, and when the dishwasher cycled. It wasn’t a rattle, it was like a balloon of pressure shot through the plumbing. I asked my plumber to take a look at he said, “easy, you need a hammer arrester installed on both the hot and cold on the sink furthest from where the water comes in from the street.” So, he installed them last week and there’s no more banging! The parts and labor came out to $310 and it’s well worth it to be relieved of the loud bang that we heard daily.

The dos and don’ts of lead safety when repainting the exterior of an old house.

I saw this composting “hack” using $6 sprinkler box covers and I can’t stop thinking about it. So simple, cheap, effective, and clean.

Cheap Old Houses has a book! And it features several friends’ homes - I can’t wait to read.

I still have gardening on my mind and I’m thinking about using this between my veggie beds as a tomato trellis instead of using cages. I’ll do this next season.

I never knew a family visitation center could look like this. You can support them here.

We just installed a bat box in our yard - can’t wait for those critters to move in!

Have you seen this Kurt Vonnegut letter sent to high school students? I’m tempted to try his simple assignment myself.

Friendly reminder to clean the drum of your washing machine.

We’ve been using this toilet paper for about 4 years now and definitely recommend. I like that it’s friendly to the earth but also that I can get it in bulk and don’t need to worry about restocking.

I went to a local event where a professional shows you how to repair a household item in need of repair - they fixed my stroller (for free!) and mentioned it on IG stories a couple of months ago. If anyone is in San Diego, here are their upcoming events.