Concrete TV

Last year I spent a few months working with a great concrete master in the Bary Area, Nick  Relampagos at Its Concrete. Nick has not only trained with the two BEST concrete artists in the country, Cheng Concrete and Buddy Rhodes Concrete, he is immensely talented himself and his work is stunning.

Nick was recently featured on an episode of HGTV's Color Splash as they redid a kitchen in S.F. The episode already aired and I couldn't see it but it will be re-aired on Sunday, September 12th @ 3:30pm on HGTV. So set your TiVo's and make sure you catch Nick in action and he gorgeous concrete work. One day I hope to be that good and that successful with concrete - I am working on it.

So check out Nick's website and the show and if you are interested in having any of this amazing custom concrete work done, fireplace, countertops, sinks, tables etc... and you aren't near us here in N. CA - then just check out Cheng Concrete and Buddy Rhodes for approved Artisans in your area.

Concrete Sink in a bathroom in Utah

So random, huh. A lovely 1957 ranch was renovated in a greenish way and they added a concrete sink in their bathroom, its a lovely use of grinding down to elegantly reveal the aggregate. Don't know who did this one, but it is very nice.

Hehehe - Fun recycled items

Obviously being fairly green minded, I love to find ways to reuse items, especially for completely different purposes (check out the re-purposed camper bathtub). That being said, I like to still think I have some level of style and class and recognize that you can go TOO far.



This may be too far.

House Update

Yes, we are still building our house - we are just at that stage where other people, more knowledgeable than us are having a hand in our design to ensure the thing doesn't fall down on us in the middle of the night or blow away during a spring gust. We are moving forward, the boys at Organic Architect, Eric and David, are finishing up the designs and we are off to a structural engineer for the boring but critical part of the design phase.

Once we have these we will merrily trot down to our county offices and begin the, no doubt, painful process of convincing them that a container home is a GREAT idea and is in fact more fire resistant and safer than the double wide we currently reside in. After that, we will be off to beg for money - who said building a house was exhausting....

New Container Home - Thailand

Another container home has popped up in Thailand. This one is a great example of how simple and easy they can be.

For more check out the post on Jetson Green.com

NYC - whodda thunk it

I have no shame in admitting I am not a fan of NYC. I have been twice, was not impressed and am generally horrified at the thought of ever having to go again, yet alone living there. BUT - that being said, I found this place that just came on the market and if I could live HERE, I would live in NYC. Of course, with a price tag of $25 million, there is no chance, so I feel fairly safe making this bet but its a stunning place, someone will be very lucky. More pictures HERE and post courtesy of AT.

Weekend Fun

This weekend we had our great neighbors over for dinner Sat night, Rob and Marie. They just built a lovely house down the road from us so they feel the pain we are going through. They also just came back from a fantastic trip to Peru and so we got to see all their amazing pics of Machu Picchu.

So Kyle went above and beyond in the kitchen and made pork and shrimp shish kabobs which were amazing with quinoa. MMm, so good. The most exciting part for me (as usual) was desert which was blackberry sorbet made from our very own blackberries that Kyle picked on Friday on our property. Its AMAZING, so easy to make and so cool that it was made from our own place, how great is that.

This week the movie Julie and Julia is coming out with Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. I can't wait to see it. Here is a shot of Julia's kitchen, so my question is, are you allowed to have a cool kitchen like Julia's even though you can't even boil water?????

Another Container House

The Spanish are at it this time - and though I will agree with most of you, this is not particularly my taste in design, you have to appreciate the reuse of items within the design and the creativity.

using recycled and non-polluting materials like shipping containers, pallets and bottles, recycled iron and aluminum, old train rails, and recycled wood - these homes use interesting materials in interesting ways. Check out more pictures HERE

Container Houses on NBC Nightly News

An older clip with Brian Williams from 2007 but great coverage of the benefits of container homes.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Revamped Deck

We are trying hard NOT to put time and money into this house as it will be torn down in a year or so but its hard when it is what you live in NOW and you want to make it better and more enjoyable. We are HUGE outside people, rather be out than in and when we relax we want to be outside.

We have a great (if not falling apart) porch in the front with my hammock and lounger and a good size deck on the back (again falling down). We wanted to make the deck a bit more comfortable and enjoyable so we decided to invest about $100 and a little time and took it from total red neck, white trash, trailer deck to semi-red neck, white trash, trailer deck.

We put up our hanging SKY chairs that come with arm rests, foot rests and a drink holder - not too shabby.  We brought in the dining table and chairs from Sonora and the grill, put the same indoor/outdoor carpet down that we have inside the house, can't beat it at .43cents a ft2. We also made some roll down shades to block that ever bright afternoon sun, added some candles and some Oooops paint from Home Depot.  It was all cheap and didn't take that long but we now have a great deck to walk out on and relax on and since we know we will be tired at the end of the day once building starts, these updates will be much appreciated!!

My new supermarket

Well you gotta love it - the first Platinum LEED certified supermarket in the U.S., in Maine nonetheless, is called -

Drumroll please - HANNAFORD!!! how great is that:-) Its very exciting and its a pretty supermarket too, Hmmm, almost makes you want to move to Maine, or not.

posting courtesy of JetsonGreen

Aqua Camping

I saw this and my mind went wild. How hilarious is this form of camping, only in Holland, those crazy Dutch! What got me wildly excited was the thought of this thing popping up in U.S. locations - The Hudson, The Charles, The Potomac (god forbid, they might shoot it out of the water), The Mississippi (maybe they already have these there), The St. Lawrence (brrr), The Rio Grande, The Port of L.A..(they would be insta-trendy then)..just too funny to think about. I think that this is a fabulous concept and would be so much fun, floating down a river with little Gimley aboard.