Walking Distance

O'Briant's Store

2011-04-20T20:52:00.004-04:00

The historic building in our neighborhood that we've been dreaming of turning into a coffee shop/ bakery/gallery space is now for sale! You can read about it on Preservation North Carolina

New stuff...

2010-11-12T08:31:00.007-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posts. A lot has happened since last spring. I spent most of the summer doing research in Serbia. I came back to Durham to a few great new things, such as Fullsteam Brewery, Scratch Bakery and Bull City Connector. I've used BCC many times and find it very efficient for getting to Durham Station or Duke campus.

The garden suffered some from summer heat and incredible amount of weeds. Towards the end of summer, we covered a large section in weed cloth and mulched it over. This has reduced watering significantly and the plants have been growing faster. We also finished the rock garden.

We dug out large chunks of old broken concrete in the back and built a deck over a weekend. We will be using the concrete to build an urbanite-style patio and a garden path in the upcoming months.

Fall has been surprisingly warm and green this year. We planted strawberries and lettuce just recently. We still have green bell peppers, jalapenos, basil, sage and oregano in the raised beds. If you'd like some sage or oregano, let me know. They spread like crazy. You can come pick some or re-pot some to have inside.

Busy, busy.

2010-11-06T14:56:00.002-04:00

I've been very busy lately with numerous freelance projects, so I thought I'd mention a new site I just created for Raleigh-based cinematography studio Ravenwood Productions. They were a pleasure to work for, so be sure to check them out.

Tree

2010-07-09T07:28:00.004-04:00

It was very sad to wake up to this. Poor tree.

Kale!

2010-04-16T08:24:00.003-04:00

Can you dig it?

2010-04-11T17:39:00.005-04:00

We've been gardening obsessively within the last three weeks, making regular trips to Stone Brothers.

The new raised beds are filled with compost and soil from The Rock Shop and we've planted everything from broccoli to zucchini.

During the short heat wave, what we thought were just weeds in the back corner of our yard turned out to be spring onions with white flowers.

Adding insulation to injury

2010-04-10T15:51:00.004-04:00

It is unfortunate that our home inspector didn't make us aware when we bought our house that the attic was not adequately insulated. After being hit with super high heating bills this winter (that we are STILL paying off!) we realized that our attic had virtually no insulation (other than around the upstairs bedroom walls that WAS pointed out to us prior to buying). Yeah, we were clueless about what to look for when it comes to insulation when we bought this house, but I guess we thought there was no possible way a home inspection would neglect what is such an important part of a home.

So when this past week's heat wave (which made the upstairs an oven) forced us to sleep downstairs, we decided we'd better address the insulation issue immediately.

We decided that the first area to insulate would be the ceiling of the upstairs bedroom, as it is the most difficult to access. Luckily, Dragana managed to slink her way through the beams and put down R-30 (faced) insulation in about an hour or so. The next step will be to insulate the entire attic floor with unfaced R30 (there is currently about an inch of blown-in insulation, which is worthless when it is supposed to be 9 inches thick!). Thanks to the federal home energy rebates, it shouldn't cost too much.

Tom Gauld Print

2010-03-02T14:35:00.001-05:00

We finally got around to framing/hanging our Tom Gauld "Go Into Space" print from the 2008 If You Could series. So awesome. We custom ordered the frame online, but got the glass from Clear Vue in Downtown Durham, who had it cut and ready the same day.

Against the Law (Offices)

2010-01-16T11:20:00.001-05:00

We here at Walking Distance, Inc. would love to see a speedy phasing out of all the law offices that currently reside in prime storefronts in downtown Durham. I mean, what fun is it to walk around downtown when what appears to be a cool boutique/cafe/etc is actually only a stuffy little law office? So c'mon small business owners, hop to it!

Cypress X-mas tree from Stone Brothers

2009-12-22T11:33:00.011-05:00

Our Christmas tree is a North Carolina native cypress which we will plant in the backyard once the holidays are over (we have two Christmases and two New Years to celebrate). I made my first visit to Stone Brothers yesterday, the oldest nursery in Durham. The place is very charming and crowded with unexpected goodies. The staff suggested I get the cypress and gave me a crash course on bulb planting. I'm looking forward to coming back in the spring when we plan to do some major yard work.

Rock Paper Scissors

2009-12-22T11:00:00.027-05:00

What a cool place! Rock Paper Scissors, a salon/ art gallery, opened up on East Chapel Hill Street two weeks ago. There is an alternative to staring at hairstyle magazines while you wait for your color to develop... you can play pinball or look at art. (read more at Bull City Rising)
I was very pleased with the haircut Laura (pictured above) gave me. Another walking distance destination!

Bathroom repainted

2009-11-28T13:39:00.001-05:00

The guest bathroom has been in dire need of a new color since we moved in... this yellow color was just blah. So after a couple of coats of some ultra-white no VOC paint (and an intensive scrubbing of the floors/bath), the bathroom looks like this:

Desk action up in here

2009-11-25T21:13:00.001-05:00

So our plan was to build a new desk. Inspired by this desk at Lets Rebuild, we headed over to the soon-to-hopefully-relocate Peters Design Works in search of a suitable door. But then we found this awesome desk there (already built!) instead, complete with a glass top, which is perfect for our office. Score!

Asa's Fence

2009-11-25T20:39:00.000-05:00

We got Asa, a yellow lab mix, from a Petsaver-NC volunteer in September. He is now nearly 6 months old. He is still a bit timid around other people (and trash cans!) but loves walking around downtown.

Our backyard is huge and basically just dirt and a gigantic tree. We have lots of plans for it, but figured a fence was priority, especially since we have Asa. Scott from Carolina Custom Fences gave us a great deal, and had the fence (nearly 250ft long!) up in just 2 days.

Random

2009-11-25T19:42:00.005-05:00

Our first haul from the Farmers' Market back in August.

This awesome building is on our block next to the bridge over the railroad tracks. The upper level apparently has occupants, but the lower level is not being used. Will someone please turn it into a small coffee shop? It could be a great hub of activity for this neighborhood.

Love this storefront on East Chapel Hill Street...

A random alley

We are now Durhamites

2009-11-25T19:11:00.000-05:00

In August, we bought our first house on Holloway Street just east of Downtown Durham. (This photo is from before we moved in...) This blog will be our way of sharing what we find interesting about this transforming area.