The people you meet on the Hike and Bike Trail

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There’s nothing like a torrential downpour to make a girl appreciate a Sun-soaked Sunday. And there is no better way to spend said Sunday than with a romp around Lady Bird Lake with your adorable labradoodle friends. So, that’s what I did.

Apparently everyone in Austin had the same idea, because the trail was as busy as I’d ever seen it. Fortunately with 1o miles of terrain from end-to-end, there was enough trail to enable the peaceful coexistence of hippies and yuppies alike.  Please allow me to elaborate on some of the more interesting characters you will find scooting along the sandy shoreline.

1.) Super intense, no-time-for-funny-business-or-smiles workout buff.
Not to be confused with casual, chatty, on-a-light-jog-with-my-friends-or-my-dog exerciser. Those folks exist too, but I’m far less aware of their presence than the previously mentioned work out machines. No duh the trail is a great place to exercise, but some folks take it to an extremely intimidating level. They whiz past at light speed, sporting a “move it or lose it” attitude and are usually wearing work out attire that costs more than an uppity designer dog (or they are hardly wearing anything at all except a shiny, sweaty six pack that makes me hate myself on many levels). Sometimes they pass with an army of other runners and sometimes they fly solo, but every time I spot them I dangle my head in shame knowing I will never join their ranks and feel slightly self conscious that I am some how ruining their workout routine with my slow-footed pace. Sorry, work out man. I’ll try and keep out of your way.

2.) Person on bike who comes dangerously close to running you over.
I know, I know it’s called the hike AND BIKE trail, but this might be the one place in Austin where cyclists are at a disadvantage. There are far too many off-leash dogs, tiny children and meandering pedestrians for you to truly enjoy that bike ride. You can ring that bell all you want but at some point you’re gonna have to tap the breaks and dismount to make way for the golden retriever and its hip stroller-pushing mother making their way to turtle cove.

3.) Posse of hipsters
Wearing some article of neon clothing and probably equipped with an ironic accessory like a vintage camera or dated walkman, the hipsters flock to the trail just like the dog walkers, out of town visitors and work out enthusiasts do. So glad nature and sunshine are still “in.”

4.) Person with out of control/too many dogs.
I’m kind of definitely talking about myself here. I love the doodles with all my heart, but sometimes they are a bit much for the trail. Wyatt pulls on the leash like he’s towing a sled of expectant mothers to the hospital, and Stella has to stop and pee on just about everything—and what she doesn’t pee on, she has to stop and sniff. We’re the people that have to apologize to every other dog walker for allowing our muts to get all up in their business.  Off leash, things aren’t much better. Wyatt morphs into a hyperactive toddler, screaming with glee at every little dog and leaf and speck of dust that passes him by. Stella jumps into the swampy shore water every chance she gets, usually stealing toys from other dogs. Sorry trail mates, for screwing up your hiking experience with our exuberant Ewoks.

5.) Person riding the trendiest new water craft device.
In the past it was kayaks, then it was the stand up paddle board. This go ’round everyone was all about the hydrocycle. And that’s pretty cool, I guess. You’re certainly not going to be running across poorly trained muppet dogs out on the water, so why not hydrocycle really? Way to be, water lovers. Land is for wusses.

Even with aggressive athletes and trendy under-aged hipsters, I love, Love LOVE my time on the trail. At the end of a walk, run or row there’s a undeniable sense of camaraderie with the fellow trail goers despite varying preferences in pooch or pace. It’s our special piece of earth where nature coexists with urban sprawl…and that’s a pretty cool thing to be able to share.

On the Waterfront

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What’s that? You didn’t know our new home is a lakefront property? I didn’t know it either. But after the 242340912635285 inches of rain we got last weekend, Lake Robinson appeared in our back yard.

So it appears some major drainage solutions are in our future. Until then, I’ll keep my fingers crossed for sunny weather.

Rug Realities

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When Heath and I were looking for a house, one thing on my “must have” list was wood floors. Both of our houses prior to this one had wood floors, and we adore the sleek appearance of it so much more than we like the look of carpet. Wood has clean lines, light reflecting properties and brilliant color dimension within its brown hues. Plus, and this is were practicality comes in, wood is just better when you have two mud-slinging labradoodles traipsing through the house. But as house hunting gets underway and reality starts to rear its ugly head, you realize some of the “needs” are really more like “wants” and you give in some places to get in others. I gave up my wood floors.

The thinking was that ripping up carpet and putting down wood is something we could do ourselves. (And we know it’s possible because we helped friends Mark and Ranjana tackle a wood-laying project last year in their home, which is documented here.) It would be a project that would take time, but it was something that could realistically be done by Handyman Heath and myself at a reasonable cost. The problem, like with any home renovation, is getting finances in order before the project can get underway.  I’m not particularly patient, so knowing it might be a year or two before I can get my hardy, shiny, beautiful wood flooring has me in pouting toddler mode.

I have grown to like carpet more than I originally thought. For one, the carpet in our home had recently been installed when we bought the house, so we didn’t have other people’s stains or wear and tear to deal with. It’s also a neutral color so it’s not horribly offensive to the eye. Plus, it’s remarkably  soft and feels good on bare feet, especially in the winter. As far as carpet goes, we could have done much worse.

Where I get bummed (and yes, I know this is a stupid, STUPID thing to get “bummed” about),  is that with wall-to-wall carpeting, I feel like it’s a design faux pas to decorate with rugs in the house. I imagine my friends coming to visit and thinking, “Oh snap, you put rugs over carpet? Girl, what are you hiding?!” (In this fictional scenario I have really rude friends with a background in interior design.) But  I loves me some vibrant, colorful, sensationally patterned rugs! Since we were wooden people before, I has acquired quite an impressive (“impressive” for someone in college with practically no income) collection of these darling area rugs to decorate with.

Woven multi-colored green rug from Crate and Barrel

Abstract floral from Target

Graphic yellow from Ikea

So, as I am known to do with any problem, I Googled it. Can a girl decorate with rugs if she’s already got a house full of carpet? Answer: Sometimes. Check out what other carpet cursed designers did. (Photos courtesy of my design bible, Apartment Therapy).

All is not lost! There’s even some modern eclectic vibe happening in these inspiration scenes. Maybe, just maybe, I can work with this carpet business.  Seriously, I have to overcome so much in this cruel, cruel world. But as Frederick Douglass once said, ” If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” Wise words, Freddy D.You must have been referring to this same issue.

The need for seed

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Blast those nincompoops who told us, as children, that gardening is as simple as dropping a seed in a hole and splashing it with water. Maybe that’s the case in the Northwest, but here in Texas it’s just not that simple…especially when you’re talking about seed starting.

Heath’s been itching to start gardening from seeds (rather than transplanting) for quite some time now. For one, it’s a pretty stellar way to feel somewhat God-like. Taking a tiny pebble-like object and transforming it into leafy, nutrient providing green. It does wonders for the ego.

Secondly, if the seeds grow to maturity, it’s a much, much, much more economical way to garden. Think about it: a single 3-inch tall tomato plant usually costs around $3.50 and will probably yield around 15 pounds of fruit in a good (“good” being the operative word) season. Not too bad considering what you pay in a grocery store for organic ‘maters. But a package of seeds, which usually has a count around 100 or so, is less than $2. I’m no mathematician, but based on those numbers, if you can do it right, seed starting is the way to go.

No problem except that when you start getting into it, seed starting is tricky business. Conditions must be perfect.

  • The seeds need to have between 12 and 18 hours of light each day. In the winter, when daylight isn’t so ample, dropping them in a hole and letting nature do it’s thing isn’t so much of an option. You’ve got to rig up a complicated lighting system, preferably attached to a timer, to make sure they get the appropriate amount of artificial sunshine.
  • Not just any soil will do. In fact, when seed starting, the experts recommend “soilless” soil. Which seems a little paradoxical. Using top soil from an existing garden can actually kill the seeds and you don’t always know the exact compounds you’re dealing with, and it has a tendency to compact easily without air ventilation, the presence of earthworms and manual tilling.  Instead, it’s recommended that gardeners use a mixture of sphagnum peat moss, plus vermiculite and a little perlite. The soilless mixture is much lighter than top soil and ultimately helps the seeds grow stronger, faster.
  • Seeds like the temperature to be juuuuuust right. Like me, seeds do best in temps between 65 and 70 degrees. While the temp has been known to occasionally hover around that level for day or two during Austin winters, it’s not a done deal. So the seeds usually have to live inside, and not just inside, but in a place that is well ventilated with moisture control. I’m telling you, they get a better set up than me, Heath and the doodles combined.

The caring and handy individual he is, Heath spared no expense creating the perfect environment to start our seeds. Well, I guess he spared some expense, considering seed starting paraphernalia can retail in the hundred dollar range. We spent a grand total of about $30, but the top shelf of our laundry room is now Seed City. The spectacular shelf-top community features scenic views (of our washer and dryer), superfluous sunshine (16 hours of florescent lighting) and a cool and breezy climate (a circulating fan rigged to dangle from the ceiling in lieu of an actual ceiling fan). It might be a little makeshift, but dammit if it didn’t get the job done.

By summer, we should have a truck load of tomatoes, kale, chard, lettuce, peppers and broccoli to keep us satiated. What’s more, seedlings are not the only thing growing beneath the light of the laundry room. We have new chicks as well.

It’s going to be an exciting spring.

Bring it, Rain.

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Rainwater collecting is a good idea for 242835345234 reasons. I’m going to list two of them.

ONE: If you haven’t spent any time in Austin, you should know it doesn’t rain here in the summer. At all. At least not in the past two years. It gets so dry that the city must sometimes authorize water restrictions that are so harsh, restaurants have to stop serving water to customers unless requested. I’m not joking. It’s a real thing. So collecting precious rainwater while we have it is sort of like drilling for oil. It’s a valuable commodity that will soon be gone forever (or at least it feels like it during the middle of August).

TWO: After a big rain our yard is transformed into a swimming pool. It’s not as fun as it sounds because puddles = mud, and mud + labradoodles = disgusting carpet mess. So, it’s in our best interest to keep as much of that water off the ground and into buckets as possible.

In the end, all that water goes back to nourish the plants and the earth, helping us to be a little more sustainable and do our part to save the planet.

Sounds pretty good except for the part where most rain harvesting barrels are ugly as [expletive]. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

Not. Cool. We have four of these puppies that, once the gutters are installed, will have to live in some very prominent places in our backyard. Egh. At least if they were being ugly in the front yard, all of our neighbors could see how awesome and planet friendly we are.

“Oh look, those rain barrels aren’t very attractive but look at that young couple doing their part to help the earth. I want to be just like them…so earth conscious and attractive and thin!”

I am clearly taking liberties here, but the point is, the barrels are in the back yard, they are numerous, they are large and they are not good to look at. So, of course, I’ve been scouring the web to find some solutions.

OPTION ONE: Paint it.
I’ve seen a few folks adorn their barrels with picturesque scenes of the countryside or  bright and charming flowers. It’s a big step up from white plastic construction site we’ve got going now.

It’s a pretty great alternative, but the problem is that I’m no artist, whatsoever. So if I tried my hand at painting the barrel, I imagine it would end up looking something like this.

That’s a rain barrel. It says, “I Heart Rain.”  This is not an improvement over the current situation, so I think we will pass on option one.

OPTION TWO: Put a plant on it.
This is the not-so-distant cousin of Portlandia’s “Put a Bird On It” campaign, but it make a little more sense. The barrels are in the back yard, there are plants there already, why not throw one, or two, or ten on top of (or around) the barrels?

Ok. Option Two, you’re still in the cards, but surely there are other things to consider as well.

OPTION THREE: Use a whiskey barrel.
It’s a cute idea, whiskey barrels are rustic and vintage-looking. That totally fits in with our little hipster masterplan. Maybe a whiskey barrel could work.

I really REALLY love this idea, but Heath already purchased four rain barrels that did not at one point hold whiskey, and I’m pretty sure it’s counter productive to the whole “earth friendly” thing to throw out perfectly good rain barrels because they weren’t “cute” enough. Option three, I hate to see you go, but you just won’t work for us.

OPTION FOUR: Build around it.
As usual, Instructables had some neat ideas for using lattice to surround a water barrel set up that seem fairly doable.

And I saw some really neat ideas from Living Rainwater Tanks that I think we could emulate, and I do know a pretty handy fellow who could make it happen.

In the end I think it will be a combination of Option Two and Four that go down, a decorative structure of sorts, combined with a little greenery.

Yes, I think that will work nicely. I can’t wait to reveal the before and after photos…

Living Room Re-Do

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Not so long ago I posted here about my disgust with the TV set up in our new living room (our lives are filled with monumental levels of adversity). Boring, drab and uninspired it was. Fortunately, I found a solution–one that involved a major overhaul of the living room layout and resulted in a much more feng shui entertaining environment. The before and after photos have me breathing a sigh of relief.

Ultimately the TV had to change walls. Instead of sitting against a blank white canvas, I repositioned it in front of an oversized window framed by a green accent wall. Now all eyes are on the bright “retro avocado” wall and dramatic curtains rather than an expansive plane of icky nothingness. Me Likey.

Customized shelving, made by none other than Handyman Heath, went against the white wall, which gave the room the personal pizzaz it needed.

You might recognize the shelves from the office in the old house. I loved them so much, I thought they deserved to be front and center rather than tucked away in the office or guest bedroom. Here’s how they looked pre-move and pre-stain.

The empty wall turned out to be the perfect backdrop against which the shelves and their various knick knacks could pop.

We also changed the wall color from the same neutral beige that I wrote about in our office to a bright white that packs a nice punch. The difference is subtle but, again, keeps the beige cloud feeling from creeping in on us.

Plus, against the green accent wall, the new white looks much crisper than the beige color did.

I also finally made the effort to focus in on some of the smaller details, like creating an entryway table. Sadly our house lacks an actual foyer, so a decorative little side table next to the front door has to suffice for a barrier between the living room and entryway until a more established room divider can come into play. Fortunately, it’s a pretty cute interim set up.

I never stop being amazed at the difference a coat of paint and a little rearranging can make.

I’m clearly not winning any Pulitzer Prizes for obsessively blogging about my new and improved living room, but I’m a big believer that a happy environment makes a happy person, and our new space is very happy.

Hearty Party

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I had ulterior motives when I offered to host this year’s Super Bowl party–mostly I wanted to choose the menu. I’m not a picky eater but Heath and I have been on a health binge lately and I wanted to keep the menu tame-ish. Maybe some hummus instead of home fries and quinoa instead of queso. I carefully constructed a veggie heavy menu and set out for Central Market to acquire the ingredients. The menu would be a fresh (but still delish) alternative to traditional Super Bowl fix-ins.

The Menu
-Quinoa Tabbouleh
-Veggie Shish Kabobs
-Southwestern Bean Salad
-Guacamole
-Red Pepper Hummus
-Fresh veggies for dipping
-Jalapeño hot dogs (because, well this is still America and it’s still the Super Bowl)

I spent almost all day preparing. I was going to make fans out of my non veggie-loving friends even if just for one night.

“Oh no,” I told my guests. “You don’t need to bring anything. We’ll take care of it.”

Those were famous last words. Somehow during the course of the evening, things took a turn and I learned a valuable lesson: don’t tell your food-loving friends to bring “nothing” to a party.

The good…

The Bad…

The Ugly…

By the end of the night I had nibbled on a carrot or two, sure, but also downed a bacon milkshake, fist fulls of pizza dip, mac n cheese, creamy jalapeno dip, peking duck and more. I was grateful for the whirlwind tour of terribly unhealthy edibles, but I did have a killer food hangover the next day.

Maybe I’ll lose the weight by next year’s party.