I grew up in Texas but lived 20 yrs. in San Diego. The sunshine was nice until we had a Santa Ana (winds from the desert instead of the ocean) and it would go up to 100+ degrees and usually be accompanied by fires that caused the air to be full of smoke. Also we lived on a canyon and I had hay fever problems from some plant there but none up here. I also couldn't work outside in my garden in the middle of the day there because of the heat but could garden year-round with cool season veggies in winter. Here only some vegetables will make it through the winter, like kale, collards, and turnip greens, but I can garden outside all summer since I have cooler temps and a lot of cedar trees and therefore a lot of shade. I take a gardening break in winter and puruse catalogs, knit, enjoy the holidays, etc. Water left running at the top of a bed in SD would run down the whole bed and then out to the street, but a hose left running here sinks straight down into the ground and doesn't run anywhere, probably because it found some mole or vole hole and headed off to China. I tend to buy plants that don't need a lot of water so they will make it through our rainless dry season summer without much watering. I kind of wish I had bought a house on a rock outcrop again so no burrowing critters could live there. Also I have a lot of pesky deer munching on my plants. I plant and transplant mostly in spring and fall. I use tunnels to start tomatoes early because we don't get enough summer heat and have cool nights so it takes longer for them to ripen. I've given up growing vegetables that need a lot of heat like melons. This is perennial paradise, enough chilling and not too cold. Our winters are very mild for how far north we are, comparable to a lot of the south but without the bugs and fungal diseases. Happy gardening!

KLawrence: Agreed! The selling realtor had assumed it was brick over timber, but nope! Solid masonry and slab foundation on grade. Very solid. It's a curiosity and not much in keeping with the Craftsman and bungalow styles that dominate the neighborhood. The lot was divided by the original owner and we have two of these little brick boxes side by side. Worthy: Thanks, especially for the tip about the lintel paint color. I'm planning to have the bricks cleaned, repointed, and sealed soon and have some repairs and conservation done to the chimney. It's nice to hear it looks good. Hoovb: Thank you, interesting suggestions about the landscaping. I'm in the midst of a separate project to replace most of the landscaping with edibles, which is why you can see a pomegranate and four citrus there. The palm/cycad does indeed provide some useful privacy, but as you can see in the second photo maintains a nice view on the oblique. The updates I'm planning are to add shade (for both comfort and efficiency, as the house has an open south and west exposure that gets much too hot) and to even the walkway and stairs. You can see in the second photo that each of the three steps of the entry are a different height. I'm considering a new stoop in a similar style to the existing or perhaps a raised deck of some kind. I'm considering a pergola or shade of some kind either over each window or along the roofline across the entire facade. Lots of options (too many!) and I hope to enhance the nature of the house rather than compete with it. These kinds of changes will have a huge effect, so I tread cautiously.

I'm about a half hour South of you, in a 1953 original. The first thing I would do is re-landscape! Get rid of the lawn, put in succulents and CA natives. then paint the exterior a more "earthy" color. A new garage door would also be a big improvement.

Olychick, I don't know how long it takes to get sick from it, it's been a few days since we ate any of it. But I went to the same grocer today and saw that all the bagged salad with romaine had been pulled, yet the same type that I just threw away was there. So I asked the produce manager there about it and he said that what they had in there today was not from Salinas. Anyway I didn't buy any today since we had a salad last night at a restaurant - (hope theirs was safe!) I don't understand why this keeps happening if what the above post said is correct about all he rules and regulations in effect now. Of course I realize it's better now than when I was young, that was way back in the dark ages! But I also have lived long enough to know human nature, and if a person has to walk a quarter mile to get to a toilet, therefore missing out on that much time's picking - guess what?? We all know that just because there are rules doesn't mean they are going to be followed. And yes I've heard a lot of it is due to problems with irrigation or cross contamination from other areas with livestock, but again, where are the regulators on this? It's happening way too often.