Why I Oughta...

One of the problems with rehabbing an old house is that doorway to the basement is tiny.  Really tiny.  And the hallway (if you'd call it that) leading to the basement is really tight.  That makes for getting a couch down there all but impossible it is turning out.  See that drawing above?  That's of one piece of a couch that Nat really liked.  We were going to get it for our basement.  But....guess what?  It won't fit.  Bummer.

Pretty neat to see how home buyers are using the web.

This is just what would fit in the shot!  That means that our little cherry/grapes as well as the bigger Heirlooms are all ripening up in big numbers.  Add to that the pest that is zucchini and the cucumber vine coming of age, and we're swimming in produce.  I don't think we're going to get around to canning these guys this year, so our family and neighbors who don't have gardens might get a bag on their front porch in the next few days.

We were driving by the mixed-use building on the west side of York Street - just south of Hamburger Heaven - and spotted this "Coming Soon" banner for a Papa John's pizza place.   It was back in September of 2010 that the Papa John's location closed in downtown Elmhurst .  This new place is 2 blocks north and on the other side of the street.  Is there a back entrance to this building?  I would hope so, because it doesn't appear that parking is plentiful there?  Or, does Papa John's mostly do delivery?  Not a lot of takeout?  The timing appears right with the students coming back soon at Elmhurst College.

 The early march of Halloween continues on as we came home from our most recent trip to Costco with this very cute Vampire nightlight.  This is August, folks?!?! Now...don't get me wrong.  I welcome our new holiday season retail overlords.  I await the Christmas lights showing up in late September so I can get ahead of our decorating challenges.

The Heirloom tomatoes are starting to come in.  That big one on the left is a Mr. Stripey and the one in the bottom picture is a Black Krim.   The Black Krim has that odd crack on it that runs around the circumference.  Can't quite figure out why?  It can't be from 'uneven watering' because I run the soaker hose on a timer every day.  

We were in (my favorite retail store) Menards today and we spotted the Halloween display of candy already out.  They do a pretty sizable Halloween setup full of decorations and the like, but those weren't out just yet.  They still have their back to school and summer stuff up like bug spray and grass seed. But, based on last year when I spotted Halloween stuff on August 14th , it won't be another week or two until they're fully in Halloween mode.

Look what showed up at our house in the past few days.  A Nexus 7 tablet. When I got a Moto Xoom a while back, I took the same shot .  The blog them has changed from red to orange.  (or o-gent as some of us say!) Also changed from standard Android browser to Chrome.

I planted four different kind of pumpkin seeds in Late June and after a month, we have some definite winners and losers.    The only problem is that I didn't label the seed locations.  So, I don't really know what's doing well and what is suffering. You can all see that big vine/plant in the middle of the photo.  It has gotten itself wrapped around the wheelbarrow handle.  That one is doing great.  But, see that little green spot on the far right hand side of the photo?  That's a different variety of seed.  Not doing so well. And in this photo, you can see a 3rd variety on the far left.  It is doing better than the little scrubby one, but hasn't taken off like the big vine.  I'm guessing that the big one are the Sugar pumpkins and the gourds are the ones on the left/right.  Time will tell, I guess?

Earlier this year, I was speculating about what a great opportunity existed at 151 N. York Street for a killer retail or restaurant location.  Earlier this week, I walked by the new storefront that is now the home of Cocomera Frozen Yogurt.  And the place is HUGE!  There's eight self-service yogurt stations and dozens of tables.  I have no idea how they expect this many people to eat yogurt at the same time, but they know their business. We'll be heading there soon to give it a try, but I know I'm hoping to see a scene like this one:   nice try granny!