Surprise! Wall! Fence!

This week the cinder block wall dividing our property from our neighbors' was replaced!

We had been hoping to do it this week for a while, but weather and uncertainty about Mr. Bunkport's schedule had us crossing our fingers. The finger-crossing apparently worked because it happened (this is how science works, right?)!

Here are some photos of the wall. It's unreinforced masonry, which in earthquake country means "uh-oh."

(If you're wondering, the boards and tile shards to the left in the photo are just an attempt to keep the dog from getting muddy in the rain we had recently.)

There was a good jolt in October of 2011 -- just before we moved in -- that put a crack right in the center of it. It was barely visible when we moved in in December. Over just five years, it has opened up this much:

Here are some photos of the brick retaining wall at the base of the cinder blocks. It's a little tough to show just how screwed up this thing was. Try to look for the very wrong angles and the empty spots where bricks have popped out. Basically, the retaining wall failed some time ago and there appeared to be nothing but a mighty little snowball bush holding it in place.

 

Mighty snowball bush on the left.

This little arrangement of bricks supporting the end of the wall was here when we moved in:

So, increasingly a hazard for people and dogs named Pickles, and also a haven for our friends, the mice. You could watch them scamper around in there all day long. It was one of Pickles' favorite spots in the yard for sniffing and barking.

Needless to say, as the Mars Safety Marshal, I have been dying to get this thing replaced. And as the Mars Landscape Architect, I have been dying to get this thing replaced -- it's holding up things I want to do on that side of the yard. Anything I did or planted would get destroyed by the construction, and also, it just seemed like a really bad idea to dig around and loosen up the dirt right there.... 

We've been talking about doing this project all year with the neighbors and with Mr. Bunkport, and finally calendars aligned.

Demo on November 1:

Pickles perched herself on a tiny pillow to register her protest at the eviction of the mice.

The fact that it was completely unreinforced worked in our favor for the demo -- it all got done in one day, and cost half as much as it would have if it had had rebar in there:

The height differential between the yards is about three feet. Steep hill.

Pickles mourning the fun hunting times that would no longer be had in this spot.

November 2, a guy with a shovel dug 30"-deep post holes all day long in the hard, dense clay soil:

Poor bastard.

November 3, posts and the retaining wall went in:

November 4 -- finished!

The neighbors, inspired by fences they have seen in wine country, had the idea to use corrugated steel in between the posts instead of planks. It looks very cool, and the shiny finish will give the lemon tree that I'm going to plant over there a little extra oomph.

It's about two feet taller than the wall, as well, which gives us all a bit more privacy.

In the back corner, you can see how far out the wall had moved by the dark patch on the back fence:

We have all kinds of plans for this side of the yard. Plants, a brick path, a tiny patio for the tiny grill, and a swing back there by the panda. Stay tuned for big stuff over the coming months.

But first, we need to celebrate our anniversary this weekend. Eleven glorious years!

Todos Santos 2016

This week we have been celebrating Todos Santos, a time to remember and honor our loved ones who have passed away.

As always, we put together an altar of photos and momentos:

This year, AJ also made her famous pan de muerto, a sweet bread made with oranges:

Pickles got to enjoy some too this year, when she stole the slice off the altar when we weren't looking.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from Pickles Stumpf, former CEO of Wells Picklesgo bank!

Kitchen & garage: getting back to normal

The hard work in the kitchen is officially done!

While I was out of town, Mr. Bunkport came to wrap up some odds and ends, including fitting this nice collar to the top of the vent hood:

The past week has been all about dealing with the mountain of debris in the garage. Believe it or not, getting rid of the stove and 50-pound cast iron sink were the easiest part. The trash collection company gives us two free "bulky item" pickups per year, so all we had to do was schedule the pickup and drag the things out to the curb.

I spent a day breaking down the rest of the stuff and moving it all to where the stove had been so that we can load it in a pickup truck and bring it down to the city dump.

I spent another day setting up this bank of cabinets for the workshop area:

That vise on the left side of the counter was left in the house by the previous owner. It's at least sixty years old.

I also decided to reuse the rest of the upper cabinets:

Better to put things away where they won't get dusty, I say.

So now the garage is tidy again, and the workshop area is ready for me to start using, as we figure out what the size and shape of the remaining kitchen furniture should be. I think I'll be modifying one of the old lower cabinets this week, to fit in next to the sink.

Both rooms are once again really nice to use. The kitchen is warm and mouse-free, and the stove is a pleasure to cook on. The garage is clean and easier to work in. And the total cost came in at 30% under budget. Definitely a successful project!

Live, from the last day of summer!

Hello Mars fans! I am here, guest blogger #1, to serve you, loyal readers. I am here at the behest of our mutual friend Bob the Builder, a.k.a Doozer, a.k.a. Oscar the Grouch, who has asked me to keep you well informed of all the goings on here on Mars while she is back east.

The story of this week was waiting. Waiting and waiting around.

Tuesday I waited around for 3 folks we hired for a couple hours to carry heavy things. We actually couldn't figure any better way to get the heaviest stove ever created up into the house.

2 of 3 men showed up so I ended up gloving up and helping lug that gigantic beast up our stairs and into the house. It was touch & go for a bit, but we got it in. Here it is - stripped of anything we could get out or off of it to make it lighter. We'll soon move it back and into that left corner, but we needed access for the repairs and to move the wall mounted heat shield up a wee bit.

On Wednesday I waited around for a man that does rebuilding and repair of stoves like this. I got to work filling the cabinet that had been moved into the kitchen as well. I don't know where everything's gonna go while we build and find the rest of the furniture and I've started rethinking the need to keep things like the electric roasting pan I've used twice in the last 10 years.

The most lovely young man from Apple Stoves finally made it out here at 2 p.m. 6 hours of repair later....fully functional 1920s Occidental stove! Here's the flame to prove it and water boiling for my first cup of tea from this baby:

 

Thursday was all about waiting for Mr. Bunkport. But waiting was worth it, as he came out and finished up some little tasks that were lingering and with those loose ends tied up, things feel a little more wrapped up around here. 

Friday I got up with the intention of taking care of the floor, but the stove needed tending. It needed to have the ashes of ages cleaned out of it and a decent cleaning. Two and a half hours later, here it is shiny and clean and probably looking about exactly the same as it did before from your vantage point. But trust me, she's shining now!

First up, granola in the oven:

Lady Ms. Pickles was, as usual, totally impressed:

Other little improvements this week included hanging the rack for the pots & pans. Of course this couldn't be easy. Hung level, it looked TOTALLY crooked because everything is wonky in here. So I had to try to balance between level and lookin crazy. I think it's fine.

Also time to change out the photos in Gallery Mars. A batch of new squares and shots from Japan went up (along with this lovely late afternoon shadow):

 

Lastly, this morning I scrubbed the holy hell outta the kitchen floor. 

It's been weeks of grime and people coming in and out and stuff moved all over the house. I was so happy to get on my hands and knees and scrub it all away. Now that it's clean, I need to seal the grout later this week. Back to a no shoes house, back to clean feet on a clean floor. And yes, it is officially the last day of my summer. Tomorrow I return to work and gear up for another school year. That means it's time to look forward to actual summer weather in San Francisco. Here's some words that would never come from your regularly scheduled blogger: Bring on the heat!

Grout, paint, & trim

We came home from our relaxing vacation to find this wonderful sight:

The vent hood! Look, it's a thing of beauty:

There has never been a more exciting machine in this house. Except for Mars Master Tile Setter, AJ:

The grout came out very well: 

Still weird looking, but well installed.

After we finished the tile, we hung a heat shield for the new (old) stove, to protect the wall:

And then finished painting the walls:

We decided to bring the red walls on that side of the kitchen down to two stripes and the inside of the window as an experiment. Might do the cabinet doors red, too. We'll see.

The rails we'll hang the pots and pans on will probably go to the left of the window. Maybe with shelves, as well. We're waiting to get the new (old) stove in there, to see how it will all look together. We'll figure out what to put to the right of the sink in a couple weeks, as well -- we know that, whatever it is, it has to be tall enough for the dish drain to sit on top of, but we're not sure exactly what we want to do there. (The dish drain is currently sitting on a piece of plywood over the right half of the sink -- I'm not sure how easy it is to tell what's going on there in the photo.) It's nice to be able to sit back, live with the room for a while, and take our time with a choice, versus having to rush a decision because Mr. Bunkport is at the house and waiting for an answer.

Last job of the weekend was installing trim to finish off the walls:

Funny what an improvement something as simple as trim makes.

Next up: burly men will come on Tuesday to bring the new (old) stove and china cabinet up from the garage, and move the old (old) stove down to the garage. Once upon a time, we would have tried harder to haul all of this up and down ourselves, and probably would have attempted to rope our generous friends into the adventure, but we decided to face facts: we and all our friends are hitting or have already hit forty, and while we're all pretty fit, none of us is particularly beefy. Hey, how about we hire a couple guys and skip the sore backs this week?

Then, on Wednesday, a guy is scheduled to come install the new (old) stove.. I will be out of town that exciting day, sadly, but we may get lucky and have a guest post from Mars Master Appliance Inspector AJ.

After I get back from my trip, we'll move on to finishing touches like the rails and shelves. I'm also going to try my hand at building some furniture for the kitchen, including something that will incorporate this interesting little chest of drawers that AJ picked up on the sidewalk: