Looking for good multi-grafted fruit trees

With the removal of the two dead trees in our yard, we have space for two new ones. One will be a weeping cherry. The other will be a fruit tree.

Since we only have space for one tree, a multi-grafted fruit tree sounds particularly appealing. I'm looking for a good source for such a tree. I've found a couple vendors on eBay that offer a couple of trees, but nothing terribly impressive. If you know of a vendor that will ship such a tree, I'd like to hear about it.

I came to the realization last night that I've been pretty darn lazy with regard to the house. I can't believe I've been moving so slowly.

Hmm. Back to work! Hopefully, I'll be able to finish painting the hallway tonight.

Mapping Shaker Heights

I've always been interested in maps. The recent digitization of a collection of historic Shaker Heights maps started me thinking again about what I could do with Google Maps that might be interesting or useful.

I used data from the City of Shaker Heights Landmark Commission's Summary and Map and Designation Report for the Winslow Road Historic District to make a more readily accessible map illustrating the district.


View Winslow Road Historic District in a larger map

There are two National Register of Historic Places Historic Districts in the immediate proximity - Shaker Square, in Cleveland, and Shaker Village, which encompasses most of the city of Shaker Heights. I used the maps of Shaker Square and Shaker Village to create the following two maps, which may hopefully better illustrate the exact boundaries of the districts. My maps are based on the boundaries shown on the official maps, with the exact details based upon my best guesses and knowledge of the area. I'd love to have more detailed original material. It'd be especially interesting to be able to illustrate which structures are contributing resources and which are not. Thanks to Kelly Beck at the Shaker Heights Plannin Department for locating the source maps.


View Shaker Square Historic District in a larger map


View Shaker Village National Register Historic District in a larger map

Finally, right now I'm working on a map of Shaker Heights City Landmarks. This map includes all local landmarks, as of the end of 2008. I've begun to include photographs of some structures already. I hope to include photographs of them as well in the not too distant future. I may create specific icons for the various types of structures illustrated. I'm not terribly happy with the house icon right now - there's something less than pleasing about using a blob to represent a distinct spot.


View Shaker Heights Landmark Properties in a larger map

Moving forward on the pond

Yesterday, Chris and Melissa visited and got the basic house tour. They plan to buy a house in Shaker Heights this year, and I look forward to seeing their house and all involved adventures.

Chris hauled away a fair amount of the dirt from the pond, such that it is now empty! I'm now working on scrubbing away all the dirt so that I can see just how much work there is to do on it. I know that there are at least a couple cracks as well as some major painting work to do. This work will all have to wait for a while until I can finish the point-of-sale violations, but it'll be intersting to know what we are up against.



The entire area between the two trellises, shown in this fall photograph, has now been excavated. Further, the light above the pond is now working, thanks to the magic of locating the appropriate light switch and replacing the bulb.

Further, it seems that I somehow didn't kill the row of poppies when I acciedentially mowed them down. The first one has bloomed and looks truly lovely.

Death of one of the previous owners

I've been working to document all of the previous owners of our house. Note that this is very much a work in progress. I was spending some time on the topic this afternoon when I learned of the death of one of the previous owners of our house, Richard C. Friedman, who lived here with his wife, Charlotte W. Friedman, and their children, Donna and James, from 1948 through 1958. The obituary was published in the Cleveland Plain Dealer on 11 May. I didn't know Mr. Friedman or the family, mind you - this is just another bit of history that has now passed.

Garden and Yard

I'm making decent progress on the pond. The question remains, as usual, what to do with all the dirt. I've boxed up some of it, but now I'm out of reasonably sized boxes. Amost done, though.

The photographs are all by Audrey.





I can't believe how many beautiful flowers we have in the yard. Wow.

One of my favorite blogs

One of my favorite blogs is that of Classic Jaguar, an Austin, Texas based shop that specializes in the restoration and mechanical repair of historic Jaguar automobiles. It provides a detailed photographic look into the craftsmanship that goes into restoring these fine vehicles.

In some ways, it is very much like a house blog, where each car reflects the tastes and sensibilities of the individual owner. Some retain every possible piece of original sheet metal, taking extreme measures to repair the bodywork and interior details, while others utilize more replacement parts. Still others are custom projects, involving many modern upgrades.

Regardless, it's interesting to watch the work and craft that goes into these projects.