It looks like we’ll be able to fashion a canopy we got from my friend Barbara over this swing we got from friends Stacey & Jeff. Good thing I binge watch Youtube DIY and upcycling videos! I’m inspired about getting this swing at no cost out of pieces in their yards. The seating I bought online, but I will have to buy something else for it, because it’s not puffy enough to make sitting there comfortable, although I have been able to take naps on it. Nap areas are important in the backyard. One of the things I miss about my real home is that there is sun in different parts of the backyard throughout the day, so naps are possible at almost any point if I put garden furniture in the right places. Of course, the dogs do a lot more napping than I do, but it is nice to join them once in a while.
I couldn’t believe that this was still at Vicki Gray’s estate sale, so I had to jump on it when it was more than 50% off. I can’t find any proof that this is Amish, as I was told, but I was just in love with the metal with holes and the cabinetry, including the lowest drawer. I consider armoires to be very European, since a lot of their bedrooms lack actual closets, and in the USA, a room is not considered a bona fide bedroom without a closet space.
I’m not sure where I’m going to fit his curiosity, but I could not resist. It was one of the first things I saw when I went to look at Vicki’s bedroom set, from which we took two nightstands and a dresser, but this was not part of the bedroom set.
I did find a very similar model that sold for more than ten times what I paid for this.
This cement pagoda from Vicki Gray’s estate sale is much nicer than the one I had made out of resin before the fire. It is super heavy, so I might even put it in my front yard when I move back home. When we first brought it to the rental house, we couldn’t figure out how it went together. I even used A.I. to look at others, but then I remembered I had a picture of it from Vicki’s house, so now we know what it’s supposed to look like.
Some of us were commenting on how beautiful it is with the moss.
Pagoda jigsaw.
This one was destroyed in the fire in January 2024.
Incredible view from Vicki’s bedroom of San Pablo Bay with the Golden Gate Bridge far off in the distance.
Vicki Gray’s estate sale was this weekend. Shea helped her family and friends out. They were already gracious enough to give us some furniture before the estate sale. I bought some key pieces I really wanted on Friday, but today I really went nuts with the 50% off prices. Of course, these acquisitions will be used to decorate my house, which is under renovation. Indeed, I bought so much stuff that the estate salespeople thought I was a reseller!
I was able to acquire the panorama of the Bixby Bridge and at least one of these model ships.
Truth be told, I love Vicki’s taste, and I am more incentivized to buy her stuff after going to her memorial and learning more about her. I only briefly met her once when she participated in the Glen Cove garage sale a few years ago. I bought several gorgeous little things from her at that time, but they were destroyed in my fire.
Here’s a Tibetan prayer wheel. I recognized what it was pretty quickly because I have a huge macrame Tibetan wind spinner in my backyard that I bought years ago and which DID survive the fire. I got a lot of chiding for buying it years ago, but I can’t imagine my backyard without it now.
These are the things I was willing to pay full price for on the first day of the estate sale, with no regrets.
I love this panorama of the Bixby Bridge near Big Sur. My first trip with Shea was down here and we got some great pictures by this bridge, so it’s sentimental for that reason, and also because my dad was born in Monterey.
This little ceramic piggy bank has Carmel and Monterey written on it, so that was why I got it in memory of my father, even though I won’t use it as a piggy bank.
I’m pretty picky about my masks, but this one spoke to me.
Black Russian bottle intrigued me because it’s a bearded man from a distance. I’ve never seen a bottle in this shape.
I’ve always been a fan of model cars, but this oversized diecast metal one that actually roll are particularly fun, and the surfboard carrying Volkswagon bug van is very California-esque.
This polar bear on ice was a reasonable price, and it’s no secret that I collect bear-themed items.
This London telephone booth bank is going to be very practical since I collect change and immediately deposit it in the bank whenever I have a few coins to make sure I don’t hang on to it around the house. It’s a petpeeve of mine to have change fall out of pants pockets.
There’s a tiny stained glass window hanger which I don’t think I even got charged for.
The steamboat wheels actually roll and it’s actually very utilitarian because it’s a pencil sharpener!
The golden apple is actually a bell so I can summon Shea when he doesn’t respond to me!
The Berliner bear is very cool. I’ve been to a lot of the tourist spots featured on him, and it continues the very appropriate bear motif.
These painted fish on one wood piece really pop.
All of the leaves on this wood plant are adjustable! I’m going to have to think of things to put on it.
I suspect this is a Chinese model ship. It’s hard to see in front of the cable box, but it’s in good condition.
Bearded man (another theme I have) with a parrot and under a palm tree, I think.
This heavy seal carving reminds me so much of the sightings I’ve seen during my many rows in the Carquinez Strait.
This is a ceramic Mexican skull for Dia de los Muertos, obviously, but it has a tiki light on top of it, which of course I will never ignite. However I believed it to be a hanger when I first saw it, so I might fuse it together and hang it from the awning when I move back, perhaps near my hot tub.
I’m a sucker for most Snoopy stuff since my grandfather was a big Peanuts fan. That’s why my dog is named Snoopy, after my grandfather’s dog, which was after Charlie Brown’s dog. I did visit the Charles Shulz Museum several months ago.
This boat in the foreground is very cool as well. It unfortunately has a tear in the sail, which I hope I can fix with some subtle scotch tape.
This is one of the big boats that I’ll be putting up above the divider between my bedroom and the wet room that I’ve designed.
Here’s a picture of the new boat next to another one I purchased at a Benicia antique store about a year ago.
One can imagine my frustration when I was planning to be back home by the first of February. As with so many projects, things have slipped. The contractor is still waiting for some supplies to be delivered. As of last night, Shea and I were able to see that the hot tub and gazebo are in their “final” location and fully wired. I am pleased with the location, but I know the final electrical inspection is pending.
It looks like we’ll have a fabulous kitchen countertop at no extra cost. We kept going back and forth on different veining with the quartz. Some of those were much more expensive brands that would have forced me to pay out of pocket again. I was most concerned about the countertop not being speckled as it was before. I loved my smooth quartz countertops before the fire, which I had since I bought the house in 2020. I was advised that the kitchen had been remodeled right before I bought. However, the speckling would always make me question if I was actually done cleaning, as every speck looked like a crumb to me. Shea agrees that the veining here, with both some greens and golds, will go well with the cabinets, samplings of which are set next to the countertop in these photos below. The contractor tells me that these pictures don’t even do it justice, so it’s a win-win.
The front door is pretty much done, although I’ll be adding a smart doorbell. To my surprise, they painted the door itself the same “koi pond green” as the rest of the house, which looks great, even though I’m probably going to accent it with a maroon storm door. That storm door will be mostly glass when the screen is not pulled down halfway, so the green will still be visible, and there’ll be lots of natural light, which is so important to me after having lived in some NYC apartments in my life that lacked natural light. We are now able to see progress inside the house, including closet doors in the foyer closet. The contractor was also able to make a last-minute update to the kitchen peninsula that I requested.
I love these two dramatically high plants that a contact my friend Carlene gave me had to get rid of. I know exactly where they’re going to go in my house to take advantage of the cathedral ceiling windows. In the empty room pictures, you’ll see that I can put one on each side of the divider wall between the wet room and the main bedroom. They can “kiss” above the divider by leaning into each other.
Gathering the decor that I’m packing for my real home continues as I do some retail therapy. It’s going to feel like a thousand christmases when I unpack because I don’t even remember what I have since the fire and what generous people have donated to me. I’ve paid some of it forward, but everything I decorate with will be fully intentional this time, or otherwise transient.
