Christmas at Wellington 2012

This was our third Christmas at Wellington.  It was a bit quieter since The Dot has moved out.  The Little Boy was home from sleep-away school for a month, though.  And we had visitors for a few days right at Christmas, so it was a special year.  And The Dot did come home for quite a few days.  It was so nice having her sleeping in her bedroom where SHE BELONGS! 

 

Above is the glitter house for this year - the one on the right.  Below is a picture of me reclining in my library on my sofa in my tights with my medium-sized Christmas tree.  You can see a swatch of fabric I'm thinking of using to cover one of the pillows in this room.  I am still thinking about it.

 

 This is my littlest Christmas tree before it got its new ornament for the year.

 

This year I made Christmas cards.  They were a lot more work than I was counting on so I stopped after eight.  Ha!  This one shows a street scene with Wellington colored in.  That's the Fam.  On the left are the two turtles, Pica and Angrite, then The Little Boy, The Hub, Boo the guinea pig, The Dot, me and Hugo.  We had blue glitter all over the house for quite a while.  I think there is still some in the crevices of which Wellington has plenty.  The Hub sweeps the floors at least once a week.  I wouldn't want it to get boring for him.

Below are some pictures I took on a family Christmas walk around Benicia.

Someone was visiting relatives (or friends) on Anderson Way.  Don't feel sorry for this kitty.  She has the best view in Benicia.  At my back is the harbor.  Plus she looks pretty cozy.

A cute little bungalow, all decked out for Christmas. 

A typical Benicia street with some typical Benicians.

The harbor.

The Capitol.

St. Paul's.

Another Christmas house.  Or two.

 

Here is Wellington's Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

And here is the teeniest Christmas tree with its new ornament for 2012.  It's a quail!  (Pretend.)

The Christmas buns this year were edible!

Some of us were positively pooped.

Seriously? MLS

As I constantly have to remind you people, these photos are supposed to be SELLING REAL ESTATE.  They're from the MLS, for crying out loud.  I'm not kidding.

Regarding the pic above, I really don't know what to say.  There was no explanation.  The other photos were reasonably normal, then this.   I would say the same thing regarding the picture below, except I would add that I kind of like this one.  I don't know that it would prompt me to slap down half a million on the house to which it's attached, but it has a certain beauty to it. 

Although this bathroom appears to be tastefully updated, I can't help getting a curious feeling of vulnerability when I look at it.  It's the photographer's angle choice.  Is he trying to say you can keep an eye on your kids while taking care of things?  Or you won't miss any of the cocktail party conversation?  At any rate, it has no business in an MLS listing.

Yes, this photo was actually included in a 2012 listing.  I have a photo of my mother sitting on a sofa in a room a lot like this, but without the spinning wheel.  I think it was taken in 1959.

The caption, certainly provided by the homeowner, says, "A close up view of the fountain just below our front door" Why do we need this close up view? I felt sorry for the Listing Agent on this one. The other photos were good and the house was really nice. But if the borrower provides this photo and expects to see it in the listing, what are you going to do? What is that, anyway?

I just had to add this one.  There is often a dog lurking when you're photographing a house.  It's very important to keep dogs out of pictures on the MLS.  Sometimes they sneak into the corner of the shot and you have to reshoot.  Or use Photoshop to remove. No one wants to be thinking about pet odor when they're looking at houses.  There's no excuse for this shot being included in the listing.  Except that the Listing Agent is the owner of the house.  And the dog.

Wellington is getting ready for the Holidays.  Photos are forthcoming.  So are the kiddies.  And the BROTHER and his WIFE from NEW YORK.  Fa la la la laaaaaaaa, la la la la!

Waiting for the Rain to Stop

 

Poor Hugo.  She only wants to go hunt some meeses.  And it just won't stop raining.

Rainy Straits

During a break in the rain, we walked down to the water.  It was a beautiful stormy day.

 

A Post Thanksgiving Stroll

 Benicia is simply gorgeous this time of year. First street from the water . . .

. . . right up to St. Paul's.  It's simply beautiful.  We took a walk on Thanksgiving day.  We saw about three people the whole time. 

All of the shops had their Christmas regalia, in preparation for the biggest shopping day of the year. 

Above Benicia Bay Company the windows were open and Thanksgiving dinner noises could be heard.  The Dot and I were delighted.  We stopped to listen for a minute or two.

These geese saw us coming and ran the other way.  They don't realize we eat turkey on Thanksgiving, not goose.  Plus we were full. 

Autumn By the Water

It was a beautiful day today.  Hub and I walked down to the water.  It's supposed to rain and we were hoping to get caught in it.  It was warm and calm.  The clouds were heavy.  The water birds were happy.  I have a raw turkey in my refrigerator and people coming.  Life is good. 

Benicia in the Chronicle

There was a nice little piece on our little town in the San Francisco Chronicle this week.  It's just a short piece, but includes a little history and a lot of links.  They highlight Union Hotel but don't mention that it's a great place for a glass of wine and some of the most delicious crab cakes you'll ever eat.  And live music Thursday nights with my friend Russell Hands as drummer.

And in the "Getting There" section they forgot to say go outside and hang a left.

Notable Listing Pictures

Some of these pictures are strange, some are nice and some I just wanted to hang on to.

 

Sometimes I don't know what to say.

 

 Is anyone else feeling creeped out?

 What do you suppose this room is used for?  And why do you suppose the agent thought it would help sell the house?

Please keep in mind, this is a recent photo.  Of something.  In a house.  That's for sale.  And that there was no explanation.

The four photos above are a set.  They were all provided by an agent in an effort to SELL A HOUSE.  There was no picture of the front of the house.  Just these photos.

The top photo in this series isn't THAT bad.  In today's market.  The kitchen is messy, but this is just how this person lives.  And you can't really fault the agent for including the picture.  People want to see the kitchen.  You kind of wonder why the agent didn't just put a few things away before snapping the pic.  Then you see the second picture.  Ahh.  I would have left the kitchen alone myself.

 Seriously?  The top stencil is bad enough.  But the pretend logs?  And there were four pictures of this room.  From every angle.

This one I shoved on the blog because I love it.  I just want to stare at this person's pantry for hours.  A pantry tells a lot about a person.