Wine Patio

We used to drink a glass of wine in the driveway in the evening. The back of our driveway was the only place reached by the sun, and we quite liked it there. Now we have our own very private little patio off our bedroom. It is all set up for a hot tub, but we're not sure we're hot tub types. According to th labels on the lights, the previous owners called this "the jungle". It hardly seems like a jungle to us. It seems like the perfect spot for a glass of wine in the evening.

It is interesting how much some furnishings can change a place. When we looked at this house, it had a minimal amount of mid-century modern furniture (not my favorite)--a kidney shaped coffee table with books on mid-century modern deco, a sunburst clock, some sleek red leather chairs...

Now that we have filled it with our "carefully curated collection" of stuff, it seems warmer, cozier and a lot more livable. It's also cluttered, full of boxes (but a daily diminishing number) and still smells like mold. There are so many light switches, in places that don't come automatically to hand, that it takes us ten minutes to find them and turnt hem all on or off. There are four doors to the outside. Sometimes we even manage to lock them all.

OilMan visited the Berkeley house because he was curious to see how they had "staged" it. He took pictures of it in all its blandness, which did a lot to convince me that it is no longer my house. I'm sure the realtors are right about this--they certainly removed every trace of our personality from the place! And there are definitely no little orange cafe chairs in the back of the driveway.