{"id":774,"date":"2010-10-22T17:57:14","date_gmt":"2010-10-23T00:57:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/?p=774"},"modified":"2010-10-22T17:57:14","modified_gmt":"2010-10-23T00:57:14","slug":"island-living","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/2010\/10\/22\/island-living\/","title":{"rendered":"Island Living"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"GPL_complex by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105459523\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1197\/5105459523_24a6585dba.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_complex\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In mid-September we moved to a new-to-us apartment, in a new-to-us part of town. It&#8217;s in the Goodpasture Island area, which is not really an island but is mostly surrounded by water in the form of ponds, creeks, and the Willamette River.<\/p>\n<p>From our corner of the complex, if you headed to the right of our neighbor&#8217;s black car and toward the red-leaved trees, you would come to the river trail. I&#8217;ll show you some scenes of that later. For now, come on in &#8211; I&#8217;ll give you a tour.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_front by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106073142\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1391\/5106073142_51f04414b3.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_front\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s nice to be on the ground floor for a change. Though we do hear our upstairs neighbors bouncin&#8217; around (one of them is a young girl).<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_entry by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105458687\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1335\/5105458687_de19e0da1b.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_entry\" width=\"175\" height=\"263\" \/><\/a> <a title=\"GPL_kitchen by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105458487\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1396\/5105458487_f84f7aa756.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_kitchen\" width=\"263\" height=\"263\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>In our entryway, there are doors to our garage, our hall closet, and our laundry room. They are all messy and\/or boring, so I won&#8217;t show you those, just know that they are there&#8230; and boy do I love them. Especially the laundry room! No more lugging baskets downstairs to coin-operated washers.<\/p>\n<p>To the right is the kitchen. Notice the dishwasher, very convenient. Not so convenient is the fact that there are only 5 drawers in the entire kitchen, one of them is 4 inches wide, and the other 4 are narrower than 10 inches. Our nice roomy silverware tray wouldn&#8217;t fit, but no matter &#8211; BN crafted a custom one with wooden pegs. Other than that the kitchen is very nice, and has a bit more counter space and a few more cupboards than I&#8217;ve ever had before.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_hall by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106052622\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1050\/5106052622_5ca126c84e.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_hall\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Here we are in the dining area looking back into the kitchen.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_dining by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106052524\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1059\/5106052524_056d6f2789.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_dining\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The dining table, which also functions as BN&#8217;s workstation since he recently got a laptop.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_decor by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106053202\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1350\/5106053202_78de6b035e.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_decor\" width=\"220\" height=\"330\" \/><\/a> <a title=\"GPL_porch by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106053418\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1440\/5106053418_02a01de48a.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_porch\" width=\"220\" height=\"330\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>On the left is a collection of interesting knick-knacks and a painting that BN got in Haiti in 2000. On the right is the view out of our back door, where there is a covered patio that looks out on the communal backyard. A much more soothing scene than a track and a football field, don&#8217;t you think?<\/p>\n<p>Now we move into the living room area.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_seating by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105457973\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1159\/5105457973_dfba049bc8.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_seating\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I want you to take special note of my Christmas cactus, which has survived since my birthday last year &#8211; by far the longest I&#8217;ve been able to keep a houseplant. Here&#8217;s the view out of the window:<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_view by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105459173\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1149\/5105459173_c71cab2ea3.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_view\" width=\"450\" height=\"338\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_desk by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105457759\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4144\/5105457759_e2a187fed5.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_desk\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And the workstation \/ entertainment center. Note BN&#8217;s newest art piece &#8211; it&#8217;s angular wooden pieces that have been brightly painted and mounted on a fabric backing. He also built the frame, staining it to look like ebony.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_tapestry by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105457849\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1411\/5105457849_c72d2df786.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_tapestry\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>BN created this batik-dyed panel last year. It&#8217;s nice to finally have a wall big enough to hang it on. Just past this is the bathroom (on the left) and the bedroom (on the right.)<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_bedroom by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105457375\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1351\/5105457375_b7f1c1c143.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_bedroom\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Another batik project by BN. It wraps around onto the wall to the right as well.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_bathroom by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105457627\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1176\/5105457627_05f7c177ab.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_bathroom\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a> <a title=\"GPL_closets by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5105457485\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm5.static.flickr.com\/4104\/5105457485_ee22f2f8b9.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_closets\" width=\"133\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The bedroom is connected to the bathroom via a closet\/hall\/vanity area. I love having a closet for each of us, but it&#8217;s kind of overkill for us to have 2 sinks, complete with storage. (Neither of us is the type to do a lot of mirror-facing prep in the morning.)<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s it &#8211; if you went left into the bathroom, and then left again, you&#8217;d be back out in the living room.<\/p>\n<p>Now let&#8217;s take a walk along the river.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_river1 by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106054082\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1417\/5106054082_1779270cff.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_river1\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>This path is great for bicycling &#8211; it&#8217;s a lovely ride along the river and through Skinner Butte park to downtown.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_river2 by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106054366\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1237\/5106054366_c2d337304a.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_river2\" width=\"500\" height=\"333\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve enjoyed running the first few miles along this path, too. I&#8217;ll be sad when this lovely weather comes to an end &#8211; then I will be heading to the treadmill and weight machines in the apartment complex community center.<\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_river3 by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106055160\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1222\/5106055160_141fea3ca0.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_river3\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"GPL_glade by fidget kt, on Flickr\" href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/15197746@N03\/5106055594\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/farm2.static.flickr.com\/1157\/5106055594_3a920f25b7.jpg\" alt=\"GPL_glade\" width=\"450\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In mid-September we moved to a new-to-us apartment, in a new-to-us part of town. It&#8217;s in the Goodpasture Island area, <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11,13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":780,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774\/revisions\/780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sparkledesign.net\/fidget\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}