basking in the sunday wrap up

(my guy imports olive oil from this farm in italy. it’s my inspiration for the day)

hi there! hope you had a great holiday. it’s been a couple days and so much has happened. living like this is wild, really different from apartment living! not that i’m living there yet. i haven’t done much lately since my guy is in town. it’s finished inside as far as cleaning (actually it still needs another round i’m gonna give it), painting is done and cable is on, lastly, the floors have to be professionally cleaned. and how!

it’s not that this is the home of my dreams but it’s a block from the beach and directly next door to liz which is the only reason i took it. we’re both surrounded on all other sides so we call it ‘the compound.’

i guess it’s a good time to rent because owners want to have people in their places, so you can get a make a good deal. i got in with just 1 month’s rent and amortized the security over 4 months.

this is the third place i’m fixing up after renting. i have never owned property but it’s fun to make deals with your landlord for your sweat equity. he’s paying for the renovations, i’m overseeing!

i feel really lucky to be caretaker of these old and giant trees and plants

it’s a wild jungle, i have lots to do

of course liz’s came perfectly manicured

i saved these pics for liz but have no idea where i got them. i’ll look at my history tomorrow. all she wants is a jacuzzi and a trampoline.

as for the insides, fresh paint changes everything, even the garage floor. i got some sage to burn in there tomorrow and hopefully that will chase the smelly demon out!

i was in the bookstore today when my friend carol called with the challenge to make this house totally green. get solar panels, solar water heating etc, paint, recycling, etc

so i started researching

www.amazon.com/Green-Chic-Saving-Earth-Style

www.gaiam.com

thank god they recycle here. from south beach to where i was there was no recycling! it was nutz!

more researching led me here

www.solarenergy.com

and

in florida for a free consultation www.solarenergysystems.com

they got me with this:

The pleasure of a remote home or cabin is even greater when you are sure of year after year of trouble-free electrical power, with practically no maintenance needed. Dependable ProCharger systems operate silently, burn no fuel, and create no waste. Modular design lets you expand a system easily if your electrical needs grow.

oh, plus brad pitt’s into it too :)

www.msnbc.msn.com

are you using solar power at all? what about recycling? do you have it? isn’t that a stupid question? miami beach does not recycle.

as for the spiders, one of my handy guys did end up relocating them from the entrances to the house, all but this one. i couldn’t believe it but he actually sewed a salvage edge in the center of the web for reinforcement. how could i destroy that?