Reflection

I am embarking on the overwhelming task of spring cleaning. Getting rid of the old(clothes that I wear once every 2 years), and making new space. Overall, it's a good look.

Things have been great in Westview and sassy 511 W Ontario. There are some updates from the last stages of fence removal, other fun stuff, and the recent adventures with neighbors down the road.

Until I get my pictures uploaded, I wanted to(especially in the spirit of reflection) to share my year in review. I know its March and this was done in January , but life just got in the way.
2007 was such a tremendous year. I grew in many unique ways. Amazingly, I became a home owner a feat that I think of as powerful for a young, Black woman. But with that power is the constant dialogue about "owning" property and what that all means.
Nevertheless, I am super stoked about the abundance of 2007 and what 2008 is turning out to be!

Yard Reclamation Act in Several Parts- How to remove a fence and remain sane

Busy like a wasp's nest. This is an actually was nest that we took down from under the roof of the house. Its now inside as a lovely reminder of the dopeness of pollinators!


We have been working on removing a chain link fence that is partial up, partial tangled in trees, some pieces with barbed wire, and about everything else you can find(like a car starter!)

It takes tons of determination and just good old fashioned work in getting in taken down. I did tons on research to find out what the easiest way to remove the fence but we have been using:
1). bolt cutters- to cut the random places of fence to make it easier to remove
2). nippers- I am sure it has a technical name but it is great at attacking the ivy, roots, and tree limbs that seem to be growing everywhere
3. rakes- it has been so much debris and junk because it seems like no one did any yard work in close to 10 years!!

We have planned our offensive in 3 steps:
fence removal- today was our second day of focusing on removing one side of the fence and it is finally down! the next side is set for imminent take down!
clean up- there is an impossible amount of junk. we have to clean up all the the crap, leaves, tree, barbed wire, carpet, and all the metal from removing the fence.
know any junk yards anyone?
new fence in- just like it sounds!


Mel and Dominique working hard to remove a length of fence. It's a combo on pulling, cutting, and raking.



This is just a little idea of how tangled the vines are. The trees had not been cut back and the vines grew every which way. It is so neat to see nature doing its thing. How it can grow and be resilient even in the midst of people made things or structures.



We collected a bad full of goodies from the back yard. Lots of old beer and liquor bottles. Random metal pipes, a metal bowl, and other randomness of accumulation.

650 gallons of leaves!

Fall is over but the leaves are not. Dominique and I raked the front yard on Saturday and Melanie joined us on Sunday to do the back.
Thanks to the thinking power of my brother, he came up with a great way of bagging the leaves. We got a huge 50 gallon trash can and filled them and then we used the big container to fill the smaller refuse bags. It made us go much quicker-it was still 3 hours but it looks nice out there.
Mostly we are just bagging the leaves we put into piles. The great thing is that there is mulch and green onions, grass and daffodils that grew in the warmth of decomposing leaves.
We even had our neighborhood friend Andre come and at least watch us pick up leaves.

Now comes the fun time of planning what to plan and where. Sowing seeds(hopes of a "green" lawn), and fence time!




Melanie, showing her guns, and Dominique out front the 24 30 gallon bags waiting on the curb for pick up!

Winter time in 30310

It has been a whole season since I have been able to blog. Life has been hectic but things in Westview have been lovely. We have seen the holidays, snow, and two new additions my brother and his dog Doughnut. My brother doesn't know that I am just letting him stay because of our love of his cutie doggie.
We haven't done much around the house, but my head is swarming with ideas. What room to do first! Right now we are talking about a fence and finishing the mudroom. Either would be great, I just need to do something. I guess I have cabin fever .
Let's see if there have been an neighborhood updates.

1. I see more and more homes foreclosing and it is travesty. Housing is a basic human right and folks are losing everything, and I fear the face of this great neighborhood will change as well.
2. The recession has been in affect for a while for us Black folks and it ain't going to get better anytime soon.
3. Oh yeah, Mel and I are the official chair and co-chair of It's Our Neighborhood!
4. We are going to get street toppers for our neighborhood!! I am totally stoked. After street toppers, we will have t-shirts and flags!!!!
5. The leaves finally fell! We can now say the trees are clean

Its been pretty low key but I am feeling adventurous, at least in my thoughts. The next couple of weeks should prove exciting and full of more tales!

Fall as a verb and a noun; pumpkin as a lifestyle

How many bags can someone rake? I have put a moratorium on raking. It seems like there is not point to it. In the last weeks its been hard to check in. We've had many home guest, a major fundraiser for my organization, friends, leaves, and pumpkins!


Its like Sesame Street. On a lazy Sunday of eating pho(or watching the eating of pho) and talks of the golden child. See my pretty pumpkins.

Some great updates. We have removed the random yucca bushes on the side of the road. With help from Melanie, Audre & SCout(the killer JRTs) Hamadi(thanks for breaking my rake), and Elys we were able to uproot it.


Hamadi has the shovel that will later break and Melanie, Audre and Scout are rooting him along. These yucca, although a nice natural boundary, did not have a place on the side of the house so out they went. Its already looking better!


I have the yucca root in my hand and it was so white and crisp looking.( I also have Mel's hemp gloves that are great but not awesome if you have stuff with thorns- ouch!) I know that I have eaten fried yucca, and I am wondering if this is the same kind? At my old college apartment we had these plants everywhere which were not the best for drunk college students- hence the name "stucca".

I also got 5 delicious pumpkins. One could say they are just for Halloween but these will last the entire fall and people know that I am prone to keep them til spring. I love them so esp. the heirloom pumpkins that remind me of Cinderella and all things majestic.

So as long as the weather is still trying to make up its mind if its fall or summer (fammer or saller), I'll keep thinking about spending an entire weekend raking only to be succumbed to the verbage!

It's Finally Fall in Atlanta!

Yeah!! It is finally Fall. It's October but it has been so hot. Today there was finally a nip in the air and I had my first apple cider of the year! But there have been the tell tell clues that fall was right around the corner. The leaves and in reference to the house, the leaves are every where. Behind my shed that is approriatly named House 4 Girl- all the leaves that ever where are raked into decaying piles. I wish I could say that the piles are compost they are just the remnants of fall's past.


A wonderful warning painted by the previous owner of this House 4 Girl


Audre is standing in the dent I made in the pile of leaves. Beyond, you see a clear tarp that was just there and a plastic bag. I found many bottles, a car battery, jumper cable, and little something for "female hygiene".

Over the course of 2 weekends and the help of 3 10 year old neighborhoods, who were compensated nicely- a total of 18 bags of leaves have been raked!! And we still have some more to go.


Mel, Zapatista style, after we have raked 14 bags of leaves. We had to get all this stuff down to the curb. Thanks to the trusty Subaru we got it down in 3 trips!!(on the roof and in the hatch)

I went home to North Carolina and my dad gave me several pairs of nippes, shears, and a shovel. There are tons of baby trees and taming of the wild bushes, sprouts and the like.

From 3 to 4- Welcome our newest sweetie Scout

Our newest heart throb, Scout

My oldest baby, Audre

The cuties together

A new Home, A new Love!
Along with that love comes a new baby. Welcome Scout, the newest pal in crime and home repair. It was time that Audre got a sibling, an only chile for 6 years.
We need the extra hands/paws in making this house a home!

It's Our Neighborhood Association- Malcolm X and Angela Davis too

Melanie and I went to our first neighborhood association meeting last night. Much to my amazement, I live in the general Westview Neighborhood but also belong to this delightful sub group called "It's Our Neighborhood". It's only one block with signs marking off the areas.
What a cutie place!
I was pleasantly reminded of the meeting with a community calendar placed in my mail box. Yes, a calendar with reminders of meeting dates, yard cleaning and friendly reminder from Malcolm X and Angela Davis!!! How gangsta does it get! Keep It's Our Neighborhood Safe by an means necesary.

The meeting had 7 folks, the majority old enough to be my grand parents. Folks who have lived in the neighborhood since in 1969!!
I left the meeting smiling on the inside, stoked about being a part of this community, and working on planning a meet and great in the next 6 weeks.

Yippee!!! Home ownership is super dope!!

Why I Am Mad at the Sellers of my House

You would think that if you buy a house that they will remove the lock boxes for you. Well I have two and they have not removed them yet. I have been in the house for 3months and the most the sellers have done is sent me the key with no directions on how to remove it. Perhaps it is a sign to remove the forboding security door. If I remove the door no more lock boxes!!

I want the lock boxes gone!!! NOW!

The Right Pink- Blend of Magic Wand and Pink Kiss

I finally did it! we found it! the perfect pink. It has been a while since I have been able to blog, but after 3 attempts and some mixing I finally found the right pink.

I have painted my walls a lusious pink kiss and my fireplace wall is a mix between a magic wand and a pink kiss!! Aren't these names the best!!

Promise more pics to come!

I know Peep Holes(Say Three Times Fast)

Melanie and I are having th best time and she has put tremendous amounts of sweat and love equity into my new home. I could not have done any of this fun stuff without her!
So its official, I know PeepHoles! Besides my crazy neighbor Leon, who is the official welcome committee chair, moving man, and neighborhood watch into one, we have installed 1 and half(half because the other is missing) peep holes!
I know it sounds like the impossible but yet again it was another easy thing to do and the instructions were self explanatory.
And to think,I thought I was going to have to buy brand new doors.
I had to make the important purchase of a drill and I have been drilling(get your head out of the gutter) ever since.

I'm telling you the home loveliness business is so much fun. I find myself just wanting to hang out at the house- just thinking of ways to make it great.

Its Electric!

(I AM AWESOME)

It has felt like a little bit of forever but home repair is steady chugging along.
I have had a lot of house guest for the United States Social Forum, family, and one long lost friend.
but I have been doing stuff- more like buying stuff to try that i just have to take back.
One great update is that I have hot water thanks to the awesome skills of Mr. Robert and at the playa price!
My last quick and surprisingly simply project was adding a dimmer to an electric switch. i am far from an electrician- actually pretty frightened by it- but it was easy.
It actually made sense to follow the directions.(which is rare in for some of this stuff).

Voila! I have a sexy dimmer in my bathroom that I can adjust whenever I want.

You can kinda get my point. only if technology would participate and flip pictures correctly!

Pink wall blues!

On Thursday I knew that I had found the perfect pink accent wall, Magic wand. In the store, under the fancy lights that allow you to see the color you choose in 3 different ways, it did not look like pepto bismolt.
So after Damsel, the old lady mauve color, I go with Magic wand, the pepto color.
I'm totally over pink!
But on a great note, we did find a great color for the main walls- Pink Kiss. We did the first coat on Thursday night and did the second coat last night. It looks nice.
The Valspar Signature paint is awesome; really thick and spreads great. It took two gallons, a surprise to me but this main room has high ceilings and is rather spacious.
So I can stop obsessing over the pink accent wall over the fireplace, I am just going to paint it Pink Kiss.
My obsession with paint would make you think that this is the only thing going on with my new house. There are definitely more issues than this.

Home Ownership Is So Gangsta

I have done one of the most grown up things ever.
I can hardly believe it myself.
I have bought my first house.
For folks tettering on the fence of whether or not to buy a home, do it!! Instead of making other folks money, you might as well do yourself a favor and buy a home. You have to live somewhere, right?
I own something. I have a 30 year commitment(I am such a commitment phobe)
Its great a craftsman style bungalow in the West End.
Now is time for the TLC. Paint, Tiling, Electrical Endeavors, Yard Work and More.
My hope is to keep this blog to be a witness of this long, tedious, sometimes frustrating, and fun process.
I believe in the power of doin' it yourself, so here I go. Wish me luck!

The Search for the Perfect Pink Room. Right Now I'm Aganist Damsel; something like Ameoba

I am having the hardest time finding the perfect room color. I know there is no such thing as perfect but I am going out on a limb in hoping that I can have a room in my fave color: PINK.
so taking a leap of faith and trusting that I will find the right color and hoping that I will find the right color that energizes, shines, and is generally awesome I paint my wall damsel. Damsel should be called old lady mauve or yucky raspberry.
So I am not the hunt again; blocking out the voices of my friends who hear pink wall and cringe and say well you aren't twelve or do you believe in unicorns. I am not 12 and I am not sure about the state of unicorns, but I want a pink Wall.
Something that makes you think of shiny bubble gum or cotton candy. Something great.
Paint is the cheapest mistake you can make but its not so cheap when it is 13.00 for each quart.
I'm going back to Lowe's again in search for the right pink!

yucky right! I don't know why I thought it was going to look right. decided to paint the entire back wall anyway!