http://www.westviewbungalow.com/ The story of our renovation of our 1917 bungalow in southwest Atlanta. en-us Nucleus CMS v3.23 © Weblog http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.westviewbungalow.com//nucleus/nucleus2.gif http://www.westviewbungalow.com/ http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=198 last year. No rain and 2 straight months of highs no less than 90F will eventually pay a toll, even if you attempt to water every now and then.

Growing seeds

Seedlings grow bigger


Patrick tackled the bathroom built-in drawer again. It got two coats of paint, but I think it'll need a third. Then the drawer pulls can go on!

Built-in drawer


And lastly we've added a new family member – Foster! We came back from a neighborhood meeting and the petite girl sat meowing on our front path. To avoid 10 million more stray babies on the street we managed to catch her and bring her in the house. We named her "Foster" because we intended to find her a new home, but of course one thing led to another and Buster now has a sibling.

Foster cat


There were some serious fights between her and Buster after she got fixed. Little did we know that cats hate anesthesia. Thankfully as the anesthesia/vet scent wore off the two went back to being playmates!

Foster and Buster cats]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=198 Fri, 13 Aug 2010 14:17:21 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=197
We ordered our potatoes from Ronniger Potato Farm (www.ronnigers.com). They carry a wide variety, so we chose a couple that sounded good. Carola was our first selection. These are a very typical German yellow potato. Our second selection was Red Pontiac. This one we selected because it was supposed to do well in the south. We also decided to test some regular Russets we bought at the grocery store.

The potatoes popped right up and grew really well during the spring. Our hot summer however caused them to die a little early, but I think we got a nice little crop for our first attempt. We still have some in the raised bed along the side of the house. We'll see how long they can hold on.

Potato Bed

Potatoes

For the onions we just grabbed a bundle of Texas sweet onions from Lowes. They should have gone in the ground earlier, but we still got to enjoy some tasty onions from the garden.

Onions

The big bed has been replanted with pumpkin plants we grew from seeds. They seem to be really healthy, so hopefully come October we'll have some nice fall decorations. We grew the plants from a pumpkin we bought last year at Jaemor Farms (www.jamsjellies.com) in North Georgia.

Pumpkin Seeds

Pumpkin Plants]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=197 Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:48:15 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=196
It's crazy to see that the oak tree in the front yard was nothing more than a little stick, and the hedge facing the sidewalk does not exist yet. However, the bush next to the driveway and the holly bushes next to the steps are already there! The screened in porch had already been removed when we bought the house.

Our house, 1988:

Our house in 1988


Our house, 2010:

Our house in 2010]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=196 Thu, 8 Jul 2010 12:43:21 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=195
--------------------

Westview is excited to be celebrating our centennial on Saturday, June 26th! 100 years ago William J. Davis purchased the Westwood Park property from the Ontario Land Company for $100,000. He renamed the property "West End Park", and hired Solon Zachery Ruff, the civil engineer and landscape expert responsible for Ansley Park, to lay out the plans for his new residence park neighborhood.

Today Westview is a vibrant (and affordable) intown Atlanta neighborhood! Come spend a day with us and get to know one of Atlanta's last hidden gems.

Information about the days events:

Location
Join the Westview Community Organization at KIPP STRIVE Academy for music, art, and food as part of Westview's Centennial Celebration! KIPP STRIVE is located in the historic J.C. Harris school building at 1444 Lucile Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30310.

Please note: The BeltLine 5K run starts at Rose Circle Park and ends at KIPP STRIVE Academy.

Time
9:30 - 11:00: BeltLine 5K
10:30 - 11:00: Ribbon-cutting
11:00 - 11:30: Ceremonies
11:30 - 4:00: Grill-Off, Artist Market, Music, and More...

BeltLine 5K and Trail Grand Opening
Celebrate the opening of the new BeltLine trail in Southwest Atlanta as we run, jog and walk through Historic West End and Westview. This is a free race sponsored by the BeltLine! There is no cost to register!

Complete your free registration online by visiting www.active.com (search for "BeltLine" to find the race) and selecting the "No T-Shirt" option.

OPTIONAL DONATION: Those who wish to make the optional $20 donation as part of their registration will receive an event t-shirt on race day!

You can also download the 5K registration form and mail it to:

The BeltLine Partnership
50 Hurt Plaza, Suite 910
Atlanta, Georgia 30303

The race starts at Rose Circle Park (765 Peeples Street, 30310) and finishes at KIPP STRIVE Academy (1444 Lucile Ave, 30310). Registration begins at 8:30am. The race ends about a mile from start. There are periodic shuttles for transportation back to the race start.

Music
In The Pocket will perform old school RnB immediately following the BeltLine ceremony. Then come boogie down to the best in deep house and soul on the lawn at KIPP STRIVE with DJs Ramon Rawsoul (House in the Park - www.ramonrawsoul.com), Ryze (Imported Underground), and Drew (Drew's House)!

Art/Vendors
Attendees: Between eating and dancing browse our artist/vendor market! There will be face painting by Stephanie Anderson, and Atlanta Printmakers Studio will demonstrate various printmaking techniques. In addition you can shop for original artwork, candles, prints, organic soap, and more.

Vendors: If you are interested in participating in our artist/vendor market please download our vendor form and email us at info@westviewatlanta.com. This is our first year hosting the market so the application fee is only $10! We'll supply you with a 10x10 space. You bring the tent, table, and other displays. Space is limited, so don't wait!

Grill-Off
Attendees: Are you ready to sample a taste of Westview? Get your "passport" and taste what our grill masters have created! The "passport" will allow you to sample the different foods. Once you have tasted all the different categories submit your vote for "the best of...".

The suggested donation to participate in the Grill-Off taste is $5, although you are always welcome to donate more! You can go ahead and reserve your "passport" via PayPal on www.westviewatlanta.com/centennial and pick it up at will-call on the day of the event. (This is an ideal solution for BeltLine 5k runners/walkers who don't want to carry cash!)

Grill Masters: Are you the master of the grill? Come out and prove it in the Westview Grill-Off! Entries in the Grill-Off are free! Individuals, organizations, and restaurants are all allowed to participate. Please download our Grill-Off form and email us at info@westviewatlanta.com.

Fun
There will be fun games (with prizes) for the kids!

As part of Art on the BeltLine Akbar Imhotep, The Story Messenger, will be performing.

Sponsors/Partners
The Westview Centennial Celebration could not happen without the generous donations from:

- Westview Community Organization
- Atlanta BeltLine
- KIPP STRIVE Academy
- Rashad Taylor (State Representative, House District 55)
- House In The Park
- Kroger
- Cleta Winslow (Atlanta City Council, District 4)
- C.T. Martin (Atlanta City Council, District 10)

Information:
www.westviewatlanta.com/centennial
]]> Our Neighborhood http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=195 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 11:32:43 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=194
Here is a simple recipe for making homemade French fries. This is something really worth trying. Finding fries that haven't been prepared in a factory and frozen is tough to find. Even at restaurants fries come in giant frozen bags, so you can't get the real authentic French fry experience.

List of things you'll need from the grocery store:

- Russet potatoes. Get the five pound bag.
- Canola oil. Canola oil has a high temperature point and works good for frying.
- Salt or Tony's Seasoning.

That's all you need. It is really simple.

Start off by peeling the potatoes and slicing them up in to French fry sized pieces. Put the pieces in a bowl under the faucet (use cold water). When the water runs clear you are good to go.

Ready for the frier

Get yourself a large pot and fill it with canola oil. A couple inches of oil is enough, and you can adjust the depth depending how many fries you are making.

Turn on the heat. You want to wait until the oil is hot before dropping in the fries. I usually turn the knob on my gas stove up a little over half way. You're going to turn the heat up later in the recipe.

The goal of this first round is to get the potatoes to be soggy. When you pick one up it should be floppy. If it isn't floppy you need more time. Stir them around occasionally so they don't stick to the bottom of the pot.

Fry time

Pull the fries out of the oil and set them aside in a bowl lined with a paper towel. This will help absorb some of the oil.

Waiting for round two

Crank up the heat on the stove. You want the oil to get HOT! If the oil starts to smoke it is too hot. Here comes the secret to great homemade fries - you are going to double fry them. The first round of frying softened them up. This second round is going to crisp up the outside.

Second fry

Drop the fries in and when they start to look golden brown they are ready! Again, stick them in a bowl with a paper towel to absorb some of the oil, and then transfer them to a clean bowl. Season them with Tony's Seasoning or just salt and ENJOY!

Chow down]]> Cooking http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=194 Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:21:57 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=193
Our best friend in the whole wide world moved in down the street in a beautifully renovated bungalow. (She grew up in Atlanta, but moved away 11 years ago. It is great to have her back!)

Our best friend!

Our garden/plants have really started to grow in. Check out the backyard!

Our Backyard

And the landscape strip by the street...

Landscape Strip

The grape vine we planted three years ago finally has grapes. (And a LOT of them!)

Georgia Grapes

We're also getting closer to finishing the front door our friends Josh and Carl gave me for my birthday last year. Finding the hardware has proven to be a challenge, but we are getting very close.

Bungalow Door

Westview completed the first step in our master planning process, and the BeltLine is in the process of also creating a master plan for the southwest area - which includes Westview.

Westview Master Plan

The neighborhood also turned 100 years old this year, so on June 26th we're having a big celebration for the centennial! If you are interested in moving to the neighborhood or just want to visit please feel free to join us. The full info is on the Westview website.]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=193 Thu, 3 Jun 2010 21:02:50 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=192
In our raised bed we went ahead and put in some sweet Texas onions. We also ordered a couple varities of potatoes. Last year we grew way too many tomatoes, but I realized tomatoes don't store very well and we don't use them so much. Onions and potatoes will last for a while, and we use them frequently. We'll see how it turns out.

We put onions in our main raised bed in the backyard.
Onions in our raised bed

And we put more onions in the bed on the south side of the house.
Onions in our side bed

We also demolished the old grill in our yard. It has been slowly falling apart since we bought the house, so it was time to go. It turned out to be more work than we expected. Who would have thought a few bricks would create so much debris?

So here's the grill before. When we bought the house it had more bricks, but they kept falling off.
Ugly brick grill

After a little work with the sledgehammer it was a pile of rubble. Too bad it couldn't just grow legs and walk away.
Demolished brick grill

We loaded it in the truck to haul it away. This was a lot of work.
Loaded in the truck

When we tell people we demolished the old grill in the backyard I'm sure they'll look around and ask "What grill?" That is always the case when we remove things from the yard.
What grill?]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=192 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 19:27:19 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=191
Solid wood door paint stripping

Solid wood door paint stripping

Solid wood door paint stripping


Another project has been the butler's pantry glass doors. It's been a while since we last worked on the butler's pantry (March 2008 and August 2007). We attempted to pick the project back up in July 2009...

Butler's pantry glass door

...but then got stuck when we bought replacement glass pieces that weren't cut straight. A cheap-o glass cutter didn't fix the problem and the project was forgotten about until now. We bought new glass panes and have been working on glazing. Now we need to wait a week before we can paint!

Butler's pantry glass door glazing


Unfortunately the next project doesn't have any before pictures. There was a return vent in the hallway that looked really ugly. It's a nice sturdy piece, but had unsightly chipped paint and years of dirt and grime. Instead of trying to replace it – which would surely be a challenge due to vent size changes over the years – we decided to try and make this one look good. Patrick scraped away at it to get it as clean as possible. He then spray-painted it with satin RustOleum and we think it looks great! I just wish I could show before pictures so the difference would be visible.

Return vent


And on an unrelated note the winter in Atlanta has been really sucky. I'm not a cold weather person to begin with, but this winter has been particularly cold and rainy. I think there has barely been a rain-less weekend since before Christmas, and the temperatures have been dipping lower than we're used to. I wanted to share one crazy flash flood photo of the back yard. Look at the waterfall coming off the steps by the wall!! Thank goodness we now own a sump pump, otherwise we could kiss another furnace and hot water heater good-bye.

Atlanta flash food rain]]> Photos http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=191 Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:35:07 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=190
*****

The Decatur Old House Fair - March 6th

A day long seminar will feature a number of lectures about living in and restoring old houses. Some topics that will be covered:

- Historic Wood Window Restoration: Did you know that a properly restored historic wood window has higher e-value than most new windows on the market?
- National Register of Historic Places and Tax Incentives: The National Register of Historic Places is our country's inventory of the buildings, sites, and cultural landscapes that are historically significant.
- Researching Your Old House: Ever wanted to know when your house was built and by whom? Who lived in your house and how it has changed over the years?
- "Greening" Your Old House: The greenest house is the one already built. But, did you know that there is even more you can do to reduce your old home's carbon footprint?
- Design Solutions for Additions and New Construction in Historic Neighborhoods: Want to add space to your historic home but don't want it to look like an addition?
- How to Hire a Contractor: Interviewing and selecting a contractor is a daunting task and not having all the information can cost you many thousands of dollars.
- Maintenance Plans for Old Houses: Owning any house means maintenance. Owning a historic home means maintenance and preservation.
- Historic Landscapes for Old Houses: Historic landscapes tell us so much about lives and interests of previous generations. Each style of home and each time period has its own unique landscape associated with it.

Go to www.decaturoldhousefair.com for more information. Advance tickets are $10.

*****

Something I personally love - they emphasize historic window preservation so much that they have TWO seminar sessions about it! Go Decatur Old House Fair!]]> General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=190 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:56:57 -0400 http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=189 General http://www.westviewbungalow.com/index.php?itemid=189 Thu, 7 Jan 2010 18:52:29 -0400