So the next major project (and hopefully the last for a while since I’m spending way too much money on projects since I moved back) is the retaining wall. I had my wood retaining wall buckle in a few places, which I noticed after I moved back, so to avoid a disaster, I am going to have the wood replaced with cement, with the drainage and all, so that it will last the rest of my life. It’s quite a sight to see the excavation, but exciting to see this progress so I can do my final redesign and pathways in the yard to make it what I really want. I’m sure I’ll always be changing it up, but my vision of it is going to work much better when this piece is over.

I decided to go a little more high-end with this umbrella because I live on a very windy plateau very close to the Carquinez Strait, where the Sacramento River spills into the San Francisco Bay. A lot of people don’t know that the word Solano (the county I live in) is Spanish for “warm easterly wind.” Well, I’m hoping this umbrella will last for years since I’ve gone through so many pretty quickly over the years. I hated finding them strewn across my backyard, and I should be able to leave them out year-round because this is California! This one feels much more durable than the ones I’m used to, and it’s in my favorite color. It’s in the part of the yard that is the likeliest to get hit by the strongest wind coming from the Bay, so bring it on! Forgive the chaos in the background because the excavation for the new retaining wall is being done while there are tarps on things to keep them from becoming too dusty.

Between the neighborhood-wide garage sale in Glen Cove and a stop at the thrift store, we got some cool shit.

I definitely did not need new lamps, but to add to my “maximalist grandma chic” decor, I couldn’t resist my friend Jeannette’s garage sale find of these two electric lamps that appear to be vintage gas lamps. I struggled to think where I would put them, but I managed to find their new home!

This octopus jar will look great in the wet room.

Shea got some practical things for the kitchen.

I’ve always been lucky to find Barbrabilia, so it was nice that I came across a concert program of Streisand’s at the Glen Cove Garage Sale on Saturday. As most of you know, I had a ton of unique artwork of Streisand that I lost in the fire, so my new collection is modest by comparison, but it’s all good. I’ll always be a die-hard fan.

I bought a bunch of solar spinners, so eventually I’ll try to get them all working in my “kinetic” backyard with water features, but here are a few that are going pretty regularly on the side yard.

So I did not like the default pendant lights in the kitchen when I moved in. Similar to the chandeliers in the foyer and the dining room, it wasn’t my style. The bare bulbs were visible from the modern designs. With the chandeliers, I had already bought some Tiffany-style pendant lights that I swapped out just as soon as all of the inspections were complete. Today I came across these glass lamp covers, so you’ll see that I not only got these opaque blue swirl covers, but I also put most of the cord back up in the ceiling. I hated that just unpacking groceries, I would accidentally hit them with my hands. Now they’re much closer to the ceiling, and the bare bulbs are not visible.