Friday, February 27, 2009

Real Estate Friday

An outstanding Georgian rectory with attached three bedroom cottage. Planning consent for two further houses and about nine acres of land. Entrance lobby, halls, cloakroom, drawing room, dining room, study, breakfast kitchen, laundry, four bedrooms, one en suite, house bathroom, linen room, second floor storerooms and studio. Attached three bedroom cottage. Conservatory, greenhouse, workshop, potting shed, stores. Two attractive brick buildings in a courtyard setting with planning consent for conversion to separate dwellings. Formal gardens, old orchard, kitchen garden and grassland.






I love the bold yellow and red colors that are chosen for two of the rooms. The grounds are beautiful. I will have to dream up lovely stories of myself living in this home.

Thursday, February 26, 2009

Thursday Quiz - well, it's a question this week

I have been reflecting lately on the different places that I have lived and visited through out my life. I wouldn't say that I have moved a lot but I guess I have had my share of different places to live. I have enjoyed every city I have lived in and actually think about moving back to some of them because I did have such great memories. There have been 14 times that I have moved and I know that there will be more places for me and my many possessions. But I was wondering if 14 is the average or if it seems a little excessive.

So tell us, how many times have you moved in your life? Was there one place that you loved living more than the others? And last question, is there a dream city or place that you would like to live?

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Happy Mardi Gras!

Today is Mardi Gras in New Orleans. For the last month there have been parades in the streets because they started weeks ago. It is not just a one day affair there, the party started a long time ago. And since I am not there I thought I would share with you some of my favorite pictures of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. This is the French Market. If you have been to the Crescent City you have likely been here. You can find just about anything here from hot sauces to luggage to baby alligator heads to feather boas and Mardi Gras masks. Loved it!
This is Lafreniere Park located in Metairie, a suburb of New Orleans. I lived a couple of blocks from here and enjoyed this park often. It has a bird sanctuary, paddle boats, a two-mile track for exercise and a carousel to ride on. I busted a tire driving through the park one day. Lucky for me a park worker helped me change the flat.
This is Jackson Square that is in the French Quarter probably one of the most famous sites of New Orleans.
I loved the trees there. This particular tree is in City Park. It is a park equivalent to the size of Central Park in New York City. We don’t have trees like this in Utah so to look at them is overwhelming to me. They are so beautiful how the branches just flow to the ground and back up again.
The top photo is from Lake Lawn Cemetery in New Orleans. More than once my friends would go here to have lunch. It sounds crazy but it is one of the most beautiful places in the city. It is so big that we would get lost trying to drive out. The bottom photo was taken at a cemetery in Harvey on the West Bank. It wasn’t a pretty as Lake Lawn but I do like this picture. Utah doesn’t receive rain the clouds just spit on us. New Orleans has rain. The picture is blurry because you couldn’t see that good out of the car. The roads flooded often when there was a good rain. I think that it took about two hours for the street to flood to this point. We were a bit nervous because we were in a little car and didn’t know if we were going to flood the engine or not. It’s always an adventure.
One morning I was kneeling on the floor and I thought I saw something moving around. I looked away and then looked back and had the same thought. I thought that I was going crazy for a minute. I started searching and there it was, a baby lizard was crawling on my bag. I freaked out. It took us a few minutes to catch it but we finally did and set it free outside.
Remember in the movie Princess Bride when they spoke about the R.O.U.S.s? I think this is what they were talking about. This is a neutral rat. They are vegetarian rats but still it is a rat. It is the biggest freaking rat I have ever seen and they are everywhere.
Again, if you go to New Orleans you have not really visited the city until you have eaten a fluffy pillow covered with powdered sugar otherwise known as a beignet. My advice, don’t inhale when you take a bite. You will choke on the powdered sugar.
Southern grammar: y’all come pass a fun time.
I’ve shared this picture before but if we are going to talk about the Big Easy, I can’t ignore the business Slugs for Thugs. They will gladly take care of all of your gold teeth needs.
I took this picture south of New Orleans. The town is Jean Lafitte, Louisiana. From what I have heard this town was hit hard by Hurricane Katrina. Hopefully it still looks like this.
But I have so many great memories of New Orleans that make it different and unique compared to any other place I have been; for example, the memory of the man peeing outside of the the bar Uncle Larry's, the smell, Old Metairie Road, the drive-thru liquor stores and daiquiri shops and so much more.

So, to all my friends and readers, have a very happy Mardi Gras and don’t eat too much King Cake.

Saturday, February 21, 2009

Insanity

I hope that you have all been interested in watching the Tour of California. This an 8 stage (8 day) road bike race. Many of you may have only heard about it because Lance Armstrong is riding professionally again and participating in the race. We have been watching everyday and loving every part of it. Some of our favorite riders are there along with our favorite team Rock Racing. Wednesday’s race was a great stage. There were two great crashes, unfortunately one rider was hurt bad enough that he had to leave the race (Kim Kirchen, we hope get feeling better soon. Hugs and Kisses). I enjoyed watching the three riders that broke away from the peloton or main group of riders for the majority of the day.

Let me paint the picture for you of Wednesday night. I have my bike set up on a trainer at home and while watching the race each night I ride my bike. So like a complete fool I try to peddle as fast as the pro-riders. Anyway, the other night I am peddling as fast as I can for the last few miles because I can see the giant pack of riders chasing down the three riders that have been in the lead for 4 HOURS. They are getting so close to over taking the three leaders. I fight the urge to scream at the leaders Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing) and two other riders to hurry faster, the pack is so close. My heart is pumping and the anxiety is building as I am peddling and they are peddling and the pack is getting closer and closer. It’s like watching the shark in Jaws getting closer to the swimmer. No matter what the swimmer does or how fast he swims the shark is going to eat the swimmer. Then it happens, the three leaders are swallowed up into the belly of the peloton.
But wait. What’s this? Who is now coming from nowhere and attempting to win stage 4? It is my boyfriend, Mark Cavendish. Can he do it? Will he cross the line first? I think he did but then another rider thinks that he just won. Alas no, Mark is the winner! All hail, Mark Cavendish from the Isle of Man. The fastest sprinter in the world on a road bike. He has won the day’s race and my heart again. And to make the night end even better we get to hear him talk in his nice accent. Thank you, Mark and the rest of you pro-riders for giving me such a great day.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Real Estate Friday

In the Franche-Comte region of France, an exceptional French chateau for sale with about 3500m2 of living space set within a 27 hectare / 67 acre walled park with a river and overlooking a vast panorama.




Thursday, February 19, 2009

Thursday Quiz

Who has hosted the Academy Awards the most times?

A. Johnny Carson
B. Billy Crystal
C. Bob Hope
D. Jon Stewart

Bonus Question (not that you’ll win anything): Who is hosting this year’s Academy Awards?

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

St George Parade of Homes

This house was a favorite from last years parade. It is still for sale, for about $4,000,000.00, that's all! My favorite room of this house is the kitchen. I really like the La Cornue range and the open shelving in the kitchen. The floors are concrete and painted white. Stay tuned for fab pictures of more parade houses!









Thursday, February 12, 2009

Real Estate Friday

My favorite part of this house if the kitchen and the pool. We hope that you like this house.

Magnificent villa located in Chateauneuf de Grasse with sea views, grounds of 13500 sqm and a living space of 650 sqm.

This villa comprises as fallows: vast reception rooms, wood panelled library, 5 bedrooms, pantry, laundry, study, basement games room and professional wine cellar, cigar cellar, strong room, technical room, terrace, swimming pool. Caretaker house with open style kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom. Features: fuel heating, garage, automatic watering.









Thursday Quiz

What would you do if you had gobs of time to spare?

A citizen of the town I live in has made this lovely "ice castle".
Honestly, who has time to do this? I think I'm just very envious that I don't have that kind of spare time on my hands.


Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Ninja Hauler for Sale

I can’t stop laughing. Our friend/bike buddy Jeff (pictured in the previous post), sent this HILARIOUS ad from Craigslist. I’m sure this Nissan sold in minutes with a sales pitch like that!

NINJA HAULER: 2005 Nissan Xterra - $12900
(Ronan / Lake County )Reply to: sale-945361858@craigslist.org [?]
Date: 2008-12-04, 5:15PM MST

OK, let me start off by saying this Xterra is only available for purchase by the manliest of men (or women). My friend, if it was possible for a vehicle to sprout chest hair and a five o'clock shadow, this Nissan would look like Tom Selleck. It is just that manly.

It was never intended to drive to the mall so you can pick up that adorable shirt at Abercrombie & Fitch that you had your eye on. It wasn't meant to transport you to yoga class or Linens & Things. No, that's what your Prius is for. If that's the kind of car you're looking for, then just do us all a favor and stop reading right now. I mean it. Just stop.

This car was engineered by 3rd degree ninja super-warriors in the highest mountains of Japan to serve the needs of the man that cheats death on a daily basis. They didn't even consider superfluous nancy boy amenities like navigation systems (real men don't get lost), heated leather seats (a real man doesn't let anything warm his butt), or On Star (real men don't even know what the hell On Star is).

No, this brute comes with the things us testosterone-fueled super action junkies need. It has a 265 HP engine to outrun the cops. It's got special blood/gore resistant upholstery. It even has a first-aid kit in the back. You know what the first aid kit has in it? A pint of whiskey, a stitch-your-own-wound kit and a hunk of leather to bite down on when you're operating on yourself. The Xterra also has an automatic transmission so if you're being chased by Libyan terrorists, you'll still be able to shoot your machine gun out the window and drive at the same time. It's saved my bacon more than once.

It has room for you and the four hotties you picked up on the way to the gym to blast your pecs and hammer your glutes. There's a tow hitch to pull your 50 caliber anti-Taliban, self cooling machine gun. I also just put in a new windshield to replace the one that got shot out by The Man.
My price on this bad boy is an incredibly low $12,900, but I'll entertain reasonable offers. And by reasonable, I mean don't walk up and tell me you'll give me $5,000 for it. That's liable to earn you a Burmese-roundhouse-sphincter-kick with a follow up three fingered eye-jab. Would it hurt? Hell yeah. Let's just say you won't be the prettiest guy at the Coldplay concert anymore.

There's only 69,000 miles on this four-wheeled hellcat from Planet Kickass. Trust me, it will outlive you and the offspring that will carry your name. It will live on as a monument to your machismo.

Now, go look in the mirror and tell me what you see. If it's a rugged, no holds barred, super brute he-man macho Chuck Norris stunt double, then contact me. I might be out hang-gliding or BASE jumping or just chilling with my ladies, but I'll get back to you. And when I do, we'll talk about a price over a nice glass of Schmidt while we listen to Johnny Cash.

To sweeten the deal a little, I'm throwing in this pair of MC Hammer pants for the man with rippling quads that can't fit into regular pants. Yeah, you heard me. FREE MC Hammer pants.

Rock on.

This guy is a total word magician. I think I'm in love!