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You are here: Home / John Cole Presents "This Fucking Old House" / The BBQ Was a Success

The BBQ Was a Success

by | 45 Comments

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There was plenty to eat (which is always a crap shoot with two teenagers), and enough leftover for Gerald to slop the hogs:

I didn’t take any food pictures because picnic food isn’t that glamorous and you all know what a hamburger and potato salad looks like, but I did take some pics of the gardens. Broccoli and hot peppers are doing well:

So far it looks like it is going to be another banner year for tomatoes. This is my first batch (I have two others planted several weeks apart so I get tomatoes late into September):

Also, the wisteria I grew from seed is taking off and I got my first real bloom:

Here’s a real meeting of the minds:

Just a random picture of the backyard, but hopefully you can make out how well the clover is doing and really filling in the yard- I love how it makes everything smell good and feels so good barefoot:

And finally, a reverse angle of the house. Realized I never show you that:

Still have to powerwash the house, fence and deck, stain the deck, and put in the path, but overall things are going well.

Reader Interactions

45Comments

  1. 1.

    donnah

    What a happy post, John! Very sweet and charming.

    I can’t get over how much you changed that house. It’s beautiful and stylish and anyone would love sitting out on that deck, looking out at the gardens and plants and trees. It’s a reflection on your hard work and you should be really proud of yourself.

    Good job!

  3. 3.

    J R in WV

    The house, yard and plantings are wonderful

    I would hesitate to power wash the walls of the house, as it can force moisture into the walls, which will damage the house going forward.

    We have moisture issues. Think about it. forcing water up under the clapboards into the wall…

  4. 4.

    MazeDancer

    Looks like a great time was had by all.

    And your garden and house are the stuff of envy.

    But had no idea your dogs were so teeny. They are so larger than life personality wise, never realized they are genuine little dogs. Seeing them next to the guests, was surprised how small they are,

  8. 8.

    SiubhanDuinne

    What donnah said at #1. It hasn’t been quite three years yet since you bought the place at foreclosure auction, rescued Walter, designed and executed an amazing remodel of the place, and have now settled in like a common Martha Stewart, planning your garden and kitchen backsplash tiles and picking up cool stuff at flea markets and garage sales, and making your own strawfuckingberry jam. Amazing stuff, JGC. Your parents have many good reasons to be proud of their spawn.

  9. 9.

    Mary G

    Beautiful pictures of the plants, which are gorgeous as is the house. The dirt in the raised beds is superb; I can see why you brought it from the old place. You have made your house a home.

  10. 10.

    Keith P.

    I love how it makes everything smell good and feels so good barefoot:

    I’m jealous. I have these little plants all over my yard that detach tiny leaves with a thorn on the end of each. I can make it about 2 feet in my backyard before limping back to the patio, and if I have sandals on, they end up wedged in there so I get a thorn a week later.

  13. 13.

    Gin & Tonic

    I’m not usually a tinfoil-hat sort, but here’s my problem. I flew on Southwest Airlines on Friday, and checked a bag, because I was carrying some tools and stuff. Got to my destination and unpacked, and found the TSA “we inspected your bag” card. Couldn’t find a portable SSD I thought I’d packed, but then wasn’t sure if I’d packed it, as I’d been in a hurry, and thought it might be at home. Got home (not by air) and it’s not here. So — do I call the TSA office at PVD tomorrow? If they swiped it, will they deny it anyway? There’s nothing on it that’s important (I use it to carry backup storage of some photos) and it is fairly strongly encrypted, ao it will at least present a bit of a challenge if they think they need to have a look, but…. WTF?

  16. 16.

    tybee

    @swiftfox: yeah, that wisteria will become one of those “why the hell did i ever plant that thing”.
    it will take a few years but it will get there…

  19. 19.

    ruemara

    I love your house. It looks like a real home.

    @Gin & Tonic: This is precisely why my carry-on includes camera bodies & laptop. Contact them and say you are missing your drive.
    I’d be having a fit.

  20. 20.

    Raven

    Our veggie and turkey dogs with blueberry slaw went over well. I have a house full of painters headed up by my wildman buddy who was a chopper pilot and then art prof.

  21. 21.

    Jharp

    Lovely place. Thanks for posting.

    My advice is to get that willow tree out of there now. Before it is too late.

  23. 23.

    dr. bloor

    @Gin & Tonic: PVD? Probably incompetence on their part rather than by design, but give them a call, sound nervous and sweaty about having lost your SSD, and then hang up, kick back and pour yourself a legal beverage. If they were actually clever enough to swipe your card in an entirely ham-handed, obvious manner, the combination of enticement and encoding will keep their undies in a bunch all summer.

  25. 25.

    randy khan

    @Gin & Tonic:

    What I mostly worry about with the TSA searches is that they’ll unpack my bag and lose something small that falls between the cracks, but I kind of wonder if they pay special attention to storage devices and might, ah, hold them back if they can’t read them.

    But like ruemara says, my checked baggage never includes any storage devices or important electronics. Carry on all the way.

  27. 27.

    TomatoQueen

    That wisteria is a triumph. Hoggies are little sweethearts. How lovely to walk barefoot through the garden of one’s very own making.

  28. 28.

    jl

    Thanks for Decoration Day BBQ pix. And beautiful Cole housepix.
    I’ll note the date and time, when Cole took pix of his wonderful yard and house, and made them look nice.
    Looking forward to the Cole live cams with the blog redesign.

  30. 30.

    Olivia

    You have done such a beautiful job on that house. I love looking at your photos.

  32. 32.

    ThresherK

    TCM is showing John Gilbert in The Big Parade, a 1925 silent, at 11:45p ET.

    (Am I doing someone else’s schtick here? I think this is NotMax’s gig.)

  34. 34.

    NotMax

    So it was a formal affair? (No overalls.)

    :)

    Your back deck is bigger than my entire cottage, methinks.

    @ThresherK

    No claim to exclusivity from this end.

  35. 35.

    Wapiti

    @Gin & Tonic: I’d call them, sure. Looking at the two best outcomes, (1) they didn’t get it back into your bag by mistake and they’d love to hear from you, or (2) they have a petty thief and probably would love to know that to prevent problems going forward.

  36. 36.

    NotMax

    @BillinGlendaleCA

    “Decoration” from the practice of decorating the grave sites. Didn’t officially become named Memorial Day until 1967, although that designation was already in place in some locales.

  37. 37.

    Nicole

    Lovely photos! Looks like an excellent weekend.

    (I, on the other hand, am crabby tonight because the required child safety windows in our apartment only open 3 inches so we’re getting none of the lovely evening cool indoors. Grrr.)

  41. 41.

    spudgun

    It looks homey and wonderful, and you’ve done such a great job fixing everything up! Sitting here in housing-challenged SF Bay Area feeling a little envious…

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