Its been awhile...

Simon and I have neglected this blog! Here is what our house looks like now from the front... we have been working hard.



To view more pictures, go to my photography blog and you'll see the full post about our lovely garden: Front Yard Garden.

Happy Halloween!

A pumpkin carved by our friend Craig at our Halloween/Housewarming party, and our bungalow all dressed up for the occasion!

Sunday Afternoon Sandwich

Simon and I just had a wonderful sandwich that I wanted to share with you. It is the classic tomato, basil, mozzarella cheese, and mayonnaise sandwich. The fabulous thing about this sandwich is that the ingredients are sourced from local food sources. The basil is from our front yard, I made the mayonnaise using the chicken eggs from our backyard, the bread was made by Simon using local flour, the tomatoes were from the Durham Farmers Market as was the mozzarella cheese (Chapel Hill Creamery). A simple healthy and yummy local lunch!

"Walking Distance to DC"

Simon and I always like to tell people that our house is so centrally located that it is walking distance to DC. Yes, our home is in Durham, NC, but we can walk to the train station and in less than a day be in DC. The train also can take us to Charlotte, NC where much of our extended family lives, so to get to my grandparent's 65th wedding anniversary party in Charlotte, we hopped on the train, sped through the rain, and made it relaxed and safe to Charlotte. Here are a few photos of the beautiful station in Durham and of Simon on the train.

BANA, the Neighborhood Newsletter

Our new neighborhood has a little newsletter that they send out once a month. The three of us wrote a strange little bio as an introduction to the neighborhood. It was going to be published in August, but now I hear they won't put it in until September. We went outside to take a picture for the intro today. Pretty silly, huh? Simon and I are lucky that Dana moved up with us from Moncure. Anyway, here is our little bio prerelease along with the picture!

New To The Neighborhood - An Introduction
 
              Hello neighbors!  We moved into 910 Exum St in the middle of June and have been enthusiastically trying to meet everyone ever since we started unpacking boxes.  At this point, I believe we have met all of the children on our street (attracted by our talkative chickens no doubt), most of the adults, one brand new baby, and folks from over on Burch Avenue.  For those of you who we haven't met, consider this a happy introduction.
              We are:  Jessica Lobdell – your new local photographer.  She photographs weddings, portraits, events, commercial ventures, and nature.  Jessica loves gardening, walking her dog Chestnut, and  dancing in the kitchen.  Simon Lobdell – a wastewater engineer.  He works with the City of Durham making sure your water is clean and he also runs his own business called Chatham Environmental Consulting.  Simon likes to take care of his chickens, watch SciFi flicks, discuss the exploration of Mars, and he is an excellent cook.  You may have met him during the neighborhood park construction.  Jessica and Simon met on the Appalachian Trail, were married last year, and are in the process of living happily ever after.  Dana Villalas – postpartum/newborn nurse extraordinaire.  Dana works for Durham Connects which gives new mothers a chance to talk with a nurse once they are home from the hospital with their new baby.  Dana loves to swim in the Eno, dream about working with Mayan midwives, and laugh to her heart's content.  The three of us lived together in Moncure in an intentional community called Oilseed.  Since moving "North" to Durham, we are pleased that the Burch Avenue neighborhood leans towards friendliness and community and are excited to become a part of the neighborhood.
              Simon and Jessica have started a blog about our new life here in Durham called Our Little Bungalow:  http://loveourbungalow.blogspot.com.   You can follow stories about our home improvements, our dog, our friends and our life.  While you're online, check out:  www.jessicalobdell.com  to see the photography work that Jessica does.  
If you see us on our front porch or out in the garden, please say hello!  Thanks to all who have been so kind thus far and we can't wait to meet the rest of you! 

Love Our Bungalow

Hello friends! I have been blogging for a few years now as an outlet to showcase my photographic work. You can view my photo blog here: Jessica Lobdell Photography. Recently I have gotten the urge to start a more personal blog. A blog about my family - our home and our life. The subject of this blog can encompass just about everything but it is centered around our home, around our personal space. My husband Simon and I will be the authors of this blog. Simon and I are happy to share our little blog with friendly folks who are interested in a look into our life. Welcome to Our Little Bungalow. I hope you'll enjoy your visit!

Sleepless nights ... at home

Writing from our living room... a strange thing. I never thought I would own a home. The idea, the endless stretches of suburbia, the wasteland I used to call it, it seemed so wrong. I know there must be many thousands of people out there who share this sentiment. I resisted (ask Jessica, I was a stubborn ass) the idea of putting so much of my life's efforts into one place, one structure. But in the end I acquiesced... Why? Did I just sell out? I don't believe I did. This little place is our house. Yes it is the focal point of our worldly wealth for some time to come. We should expect that much of our income and energy will go into a place, a thing and to no grander purpose than making a home.

But a home is what we are making. The house isn't perfect. It isn't any where near it, which is exactly what we wanted. We wanted a place with just enough tilt, enough lean. We aren't folks to search out a finished product and throw money on the table. Everything I do or have I need to personalize and make it something that I value or I inevitably resent that thing. This explains why so much of my stuff (i.e. our little red truck) never really works how it ought to. But that makes me love that truck. When hands as brutish and lacking in attention as mine jump in the middle of a project, it may get done but it will surely have flaws.

So we have built our little off kilter chicken coop. We have garden plans, endless fixer up projects and cracks to seal. It is a house that is great to live in. I love it but why am I OK with loving it when I used to hate the concept of suburban living? Well here is the reality, we are not in suburbia. We are a five minute bike from Duke Gardens and DPAC. We have grocery stores and farmers markets right around the corner. All we need to do is sit on our front porch and our neighbors stop by to chat. This is not the suburbia that scared me. The one where people pull into garages so they can avoid ever making eye contact with their neighbors. The Home Owner's associations that fine you if your grass grows too long or you put the wrong style of brick out in the garden. Those are the things that terrified me, that I loath.... So now, I have been dramatic and stated the big picture reasons behind my finally deciding to own a home.

But all of that is just silliness. The reality is, yes I sold out. I am no longer out planning to save starving children in Africa. I will not be doing the Peace Corps anytime soon. Those aren't glib statements... those were my plans. But then I got married and I realized that I would not be happy with that solitary monastic devotion to others. I want my family. I want my wife in it and I want a home...