The Home Crowd

Spotted these around the interwebs lately…

Never too early to get started on that new fence, but this will only keep out the most polite solicitors.  Sure the small chunk of fence is funny, but what more could you expect from the same person who has managed to run the rainwater downspout from his gutter to the neighbor’s house.

Considering this was spotted on the internet, I’m a little surprised that this wasn’t a chocolate fountain constructed from inflatable pools.  Still, I’m not sure if this would be classified as ‘shabby chic’ or ‘temporary classiness’.

Duck Hunt, the leading sign that your lawn has gotten beyond your control…

With memorial day come and gone, the prime season for lawn pride is in full swing.  The topic came about recently regarding the patterns that professional greenskeepers create on professional baseball fields.  How did they do it?  Did they lay down different types of grass in patterns that would grow in differing shades of green?  Perhaps some do, but the process of striping lawns is usually much more simple.

• A heavy roller is just attached to the lawnmower.
• As the grass is cut, the roller ‘bends’ the blades of grass in the direction of the mowing path
• Alternate mowing path against the previous path, and voila!

The above image was found at the website of the manufacturer of the Lawn Stryper, found here -  patternyourlawn.com

Of course, there’s other DIY alternatives to be found on instructables.com, as well as other roller-type striping attachments available, but for the price, I think I’ll just order the Lawn Stryper attachment from Amazon or Overstock, seems that it can be found in the mid-5o dollar range.

A cheaper alternative, given enough space would be to drive your car across the lawn a few times, your mileage will (literally) vary on this one.

Cheaper alternative yet?  Do like this lawn stylist…

Spotted at Jalopnik,

How sweet is this?  A stock car, go-kart race track right in your front yard!

Looks like they live out in the middle of nowhere, which is exactly the location of “making your own fun”

But…why?

• When pouring the driveway, purchased far too much concrete..
• Knew your riding mower was fast, but without lap times, who’d believe ya?
• Proving ground that your guests actually are too intoxicated to drive after late night parties.

Or, perhaps, just a big fan of racing.  Just goes to show that if you have a big enough property, and the determination, you too can have your own race track.  However, if you plan on racing heavy machinery, you may want to bank the corners somewhat, or suffer the consequences.

More pics at Jalopnik – Link

HomeAid is a leading national non-profit provider of housing for today’s homeless. The organization builds and renovates multi-unit homes for America’s temporarily homeless while they rebuild their lives.

Annually, the fundraiser known as “Project Playhouse” benefits HomeAid Orange County (CA) comes together in the open air of fashion island and culminates in the auction of the playhouses at the conclusion of their exhibition.  And these aren’t your run-of-the-mill dolled up sheds you might be imagining…

Hampton Harmony (above) by Shea Homes was featured at last year’s event.  The assortment of playhouses are typically funded by homebuilders and product vendors.  Volunteer firms also provide architectural, interior design, and landscape design services, as well as countless hours volunteered towards the labor of creating these miniature McMansions.

High design? For a playhouse you say?  You may swap out with the kids after you see how well these pads are outfitted.  It’s not unusual to see playhouses very fine interior spaces, decked out with granite countertops and plasma televisions.  And they won’t take up much of your backyard space as each playhouse is designed to fit in a 10′X10′ space.  However, if you’re planning on diving into this mini-housing auction, make sure to bring your checkbook as many playhouses of years past have gone for upwards of $50,000.  Still not a bad deal considering the cost of housing per square foot.

The Sketch Pad (above) by William Lyon homes was also featured at 2007′s Project playhouse event.

The playhouse village will be on display near the Atrium Lawn at Fashion Island in Newport Beach, California from September 6 to October 11, 2008. Visitors have an opportunity to view the pint-size creations on display by purchasing a ticket at the playhouse village. While at the village, visitors can purchase tickets to enter an opportunity drawing to win one of the playhouses on display (all remaining playhouses will be available for auction on October 11, 2008). Funds raised, including raffle and auction proceeds, support HomeAid Orange County’s mission of building dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives.

The opening day, September 6th, however, is the best chance to get a good peek inside the playhouse village.  For a donation of $20, you can tour all the playhouses, inside and out.  This is a great deal, due to the playhouses shutting their doors for the remainder of the exhibition.  You can still tour the playhouse village for a $5 donation, but the only way of seeing inside is through their teeny teeny windows.  Be sure to check this event out if you’re in the area.  All the money raised goes to a great cause, and if you enter the raffle, you may just end up winning one of these playhouses.  Which will likely only be expensive as you dress up your actual home in order to not be shown up by the kid’s playhouse in the backyard.

Link to HomeAid

Link to Project Playhouse

And who’s showing more patriotism than this guy!  According to NBC San Diego, Eastlake resident Steve Pfeiffer, who works for the Navy, has 762 flags in the front yard, and another 270 in the Backyard.  Wow!

Not to be un-patriotic at all, but if this were also a ‘Where’s Waldo’ scene, I’d never spot the little guy in his red and white striped shirt.  -  Link to slideshow

Happy 4th of July!  And join me in praying that fireworks tonight won’t set fire to any more of California…