So, well, after having all our condo-buying arrangements practically fall into our lap (well, with alot of well-organized support from me, and our hardworking agent), we've hit a small glitch at the LAST condition of offer.
The condo by-laws.
Now, this is a unit in a condo building I've looked at for years. The FIRST question I ask about residential arrangments, is "are there any restrictions on pets?". As you know, my family includes fur-bearing quadrupeds as well as a couple of humanoids.
A few years back when I chatted with a sales rep for the developer and asked my key question, she answered me along the lines of "No, not at all - many residents have pets". So, in this past couple of weeks with our agent, I just casually confirmed this. Our agent knows we have 3 cats - no mention of any issue.
I discovered last night that Article VII: Pets, Item 2 states that "Without prior written approval of the board, the only pets permitted in one Unit are up to two (2) cats....".
Sound of slamming brakes and screeching tires.
I admit to a moment of late-night panic. I mailed our agent and lawyer right away, then mailed our agent's assistant too just incase our agent was out. While we could still let the offer fall through without a legal consequence, well, I DON'T want to be in the position of trading my dream home for one of my fur-folk.
Now, in the light of morning, I've calmed a bit. I noted that the "Without prior written approval..." phrasing was a 2004 amendment to the original declaration that unconditionally stated "only two". I have also noted that despite an explicit prohibition on large dogs of certain breeds, I've seen someone with a Rottie there in the past. I am hoping that this means the change in phrasing was made specifically to acknowledge that exceptions may be requested by Unit Owners who are still responsible, upstanding citizens who just happen to count higher than two when it comes to sharing the fuzzy love.
It's not like I'd want to be breeding pitbull puppies by the dozen - I just have 3, not two, middle-aged housecats. Here's hoping.
Friday, January 27, 2006
Tuesday, January 24, 2006
Closer to Home Suite Condo...
Inspection was a cakewalk - this was expected. We put the money in against most professionals' better judgement, including the inspector's! Mainly we'll consider it a lesson in owning major home components like a furnace and a breaker panel, as he was very thorough in explaining and documenting this.
And financing is approved!!! Whee!
Only the lawyer's review of the status certificate remains. We're also expecting that to be a cakewalk, really, the building and condo corp have a fairly good reputation.
And financing is approved!!! Whee!
Only the lawyer's review of the status certificate remains. We're also expecting that to be a cakewalk, really, the building and condo corp have a fairly good reputation.
Monday, January 23, 2006
Home Suite Condo!
OK, gotta do this on the blog as I'm getting so many "how's it going" inquiries I can't keep up!
Adam and I made an offer on an amazing condo, conditional upon financing and inspection, and it's been accepted. THAT means, we've bought a condo as long as someone gives us the money, and our mortgage consultant thinks unless we're all very surprised by a credit report, we're fine. The inspection is likely a no-brainer - even the inspector we hired said he didn't really think we HAD to do one, but we felt better having a pro go through the place with us.
Closing will be March 17 as long as all the legal and finance gets done on time. It's a ground-floor corner unit, 3bdrm, 2-bath, in one of a pair of buildings known both as The Seagram Lofts and "Barrel Warehouse Park" though I think the latter name applies to the landscaped property and the former to the buildings. It's an urban reclamation rebuild of the old Seagram Distillery barrel warehouses. I've had one eye on it since it started in 2000, and any of you who have walked around my Uptown block with me will know the buildings.
It's only slightly more than I set out to pay, and if we get approved for our desired financing option we'll have a hugely flexible mortgage that between the two of us, we can probably get rid of in 10 years if we're determined, 15 if we're a bit lazier. And the unit is PERFECT, there's nothing else we could possibly want to do with it except furnish it. Hardwood, granite, stainless steel, designer lighting, window shades, and the seller, in concession to not really budging much on price, included a designer area rug - and a dinner gift certificate at a posh restaurant that shares the property (go figure). He wasn't wrong about the price being a good deal - it's a luxury property and going up - we just pitched low because we found out HE got it for a steal - but oh well, that's his luck. We bought it before he raised his asking another $20k, so if we look at it that way we split the difference between what we offered and what he really wanted.
We have the inspection scheduled for tomorrow and our finance guy says he'll have an answer by then - more news as it develops!
Adam and I made an offer on an amazing condo, conditional upon financing and inspection, and it's been accepted. THAT means, we've bought a condo as long as someone gives us the money, and our mortgage consultant thinks unless we're all very surprised by a credit report, we're fine. The inspection is likely a no-brainer - even the inspector we hired said he didn't really think we HAD to do one, but we felt better having a pro go through the place with us.
Closing will be March 17 as long as all the legal and finance gets done on time. It's a ground-floor corner unit, 3bdrm, 2-bath, in one of a pair of buildings known both as The Seagram Lofts and "Barrel Warehouse Park" though I think the latter name applies to the landscaped property and the former to the buildings. It's an urban reclamation rebuild of the old Seagram Distillery barrel warehouses. I've had one eye on it since it started in 2000, and any of you who have walked around my Uptown block with me will know the buildings.
It's only slightly more than I set out to pay, and if we get approved for our desired financing option we'll have a hugely flexible mortgage that between the two of us, we can probably get rid of in 10 years if we're determined, 15 if we're a bit lazier. And the unit is PERFECT, there's nothing else we could possibly want to do with it except furnish it. Hardwood, granite, stainless steel, designer lighting, window shades, and the seller, in concession to not really budging much on price, included a designer area rug - and a dinner gift certificate at a posh restaurant that shares the property (go figure). He wasn't wrong about the price being a good deal - it's a luxury property and going up - we just pitched low because we found out HE got it for a steal - but oh well, that's his luck. We bought it before he raised his asking another $20k, so if we look at it that way we split the difference between what we offered and what he really wanted.
We have the inspection scheduled for tomorrow and our finance guy says he'll have an answer by then - more news as it develops!
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Blog Soup II
Been meaning to post this for a week or so. So, if you look at my earlier entry on "Blog Soup", you can tell quantity cooking has alot of practical applications - for a single/couple, it lets you prepare a weeks worth of quick meals, or for a busy family or a house full of guests, you can feed alot fast.
The concept of "watering the soup" seems to have negative connotations. It implies low-quality cooking, a cheap host offering a substandard meal, or a way to try to get rid of unwanted diners by offending them with soup that tastes like dishwater. I never really looked at it that way. I think when I was a child I heard my grandmother, or someone around her, joke that something was "no problem, we'll just water the soup!" In that context, it was an offer of additional, spontaneous hospitality. I remember growing up with a large extended family who would always welcome children and grandchildren to bring a friend along, and there would always be enough to offer.
Now, a creative cook and host does not, literally, just pour extra water into a bowl of someone's soup, of course. But, many dishes, like the aforementioned Blog Soup, lend themselves well to extension as leftovers. A leftover soup will thicken when cold, as liquid is absorbed by solid ingredients like rice, barley, potatoes or beans. It becomes less soupy - and hence, when you add water and re-heat for half an hour or so, you can have an additional quantity of home-cooked soup.
Here's how Blog Soup went through a second incarnation (some of which is still in the freezer!).
Sautee two chopped cloves of garlic, one chopped celery stalk, and half a dozen or so sliced mushrooms in a pot with a bit of olive oil. Cook until mushrooms browned and celery a little translucent, but not soft.
Add 3-4 cups of water, salt and pepper to taste, any other seasonings complimentary to your original soup, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Add to existing pot of original, thickend leftover soup, and mix. At this point, add more water to appropriate consistency or volume needed.
Simmer for half an hour or so.
Still a darned good soup and you'll have a week of leftovers, or with a nice loaf of bread, a modest, hearty dinner for a group again.
The concept of "watering the soup" seems to have negative connotations. It implies low-quality cooking, a cheap host offering a substandard meal, or a way to try to get rid of unwanted diners by offending them with soup that tastes like dishwater. I never really looked at it that way. I think when I was a child I heard my grandmother, or someone around her, joke that something was "no problem, we'll just water the soup!" In that context, it was an offer of additional, spontaneous hospitality. I remember growing up with a large extended family who would always welcome children and grandchildren to bring a friend along, and there would always be enough to offer.
Now, a creative cook and host does not, literally, just pour extra water into a bowl of someone's soup, of course. But, many dishes, like the aforementioned Blog Soup, lend themselves well to extension as leftovers. A leftover soup will thicken when cold, as liquid is absorbed by solid ingredients like rice, barley, potatoes or beans. It becomes less soupy - and hence, when you add water and re-heat for half an hour or so, you can have an additional quantity of home-cooked soup.
Here's how Blog Soup went through a second incarnation (some of which is still in the freezer!).
Sautee two chopped cloves of garlic, one chopped celery stalk, and half a dozen or so sliced mushrooms in a pot with a bit of olive oil. Cook until mushrooms browned and celery a little translucent, but not soft.
Add 3-4 cups of water, salt and pepper to taste, any other seasonings complimentary to your original soup, and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
Add to existing pot of original, thickend leftover soup, and mix. At this point, add more water to appropriate consistency or volume needed.
Simmer for half an hour or so.
Still a darned good soup and you'll have a week of leftovers, or with a nice loaf of bread, a modest, hearty dinner for a group again.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Gallery added to my projects
So folks who know me, know I hate being photographed. I don't like taking photos, and I don't like looking at photos.
This, I have come to realize, is because most people take lousy photos. I've been scarred by too many years of perennial this-is-the-family-stuffing-their-faces dinner photos, people who insist that you pose for their quicksnaps in extremely inopportune moments, or pictures of the reputed most beautiful baby ever that are so poorly done you can't be sure it's not just a pale pork roast in a touque you're looking at.
I realized years ago that's about as good as MY photos got, so I rarely take any.
Adam is a GOOD photographer. He's got good equipment, yes, but he's got a good eye and a sense of composition. I still object to seeing my pudgy self in pixels, and I do get annoyed when there's a camera in my face when I have other things to do, but I gotta admit he's really good.
He's been good enough to let me have use of the photos of my cats and my quilting creations, and hopefully I can get one or two of the good ones of me (or, you can find the buried link to his gallery). The gallery is on a private server, so please don't re-post this link anywhere, but you can also find it now at the sidebar of my blog, under my profile.
Cheers.
This, I have come to realize, is because most people take lousy photos. I've been scarred by too many years of perennial this-is-the-family-stuffing-their-faces dinner photos, people who insist that you pose for their quicksnaps in extremely inopportune moments, or pictures of the reputed most beautiful baby ever that are so poorly done you can't be sure it's not just a pale pork roast in a touque you're looking at.
I realized years ago that's about as good as MY photos got, so I rarely take any.
Adam is a GOOD photographer. He's got good equipment, yes, but he's got a good eye and a sense of composition. I still object to seeing my pudgy self in pixels, and I do get annoyed when there's a camera in my face when I have other things to do, but I gotta admit he's really good.
He's been good enough to let me have use of the photos of my cats and my quilting creations, and hopefully I can get one or two of the good ones of me (or, you can find the buried link to his gallery). The gallery is on a private server, so please don't re-post this link anywhere, but you can also find it now at the sidebar of my blog, under my profile.
Cheers.
Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Blog Soup!
Okay, so my latest culinary adventure is not too bad. Except for being very late for dinner, because I got stuck at work late, and then the biggest supermarket in town has NO CHICKEN and I had to go to another....
Anyway. To give credit where it is due, I typed "black bean barley recipe" into Google, as I found dried black beans and barley on my counter and didn't know what to do. I reached this recipe which sounded interesting. As usual, I never manage to work entirely "by the book", nor am I precise, so here's tonights dinner soup:
4 chicken thighs, skin ON, bone IN (you can go cheap this way)
1 large carrot
4 stalks celery
1 large onion - I used a red one, probably not that important
3-4 cloves garlic (I think - I used the top 1/3 of two whole garlics, as I baked the rest)
1 cup dried beans - black, navy, pinto, whatever
1/2 cup or so dried pearl barley
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tbsp, or to taste, dried parsley
1 tbsp, or to taste, rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp or to taste, dried mustard powder
pinch to 1/8 tsp cayenne, or a few drops hot pepper sauce (tabasco)
In advance:
Pick over dried beans, wash and drain, and soak them. Pour into pot/container and cover with fresh, cold water to a depth at least twice as deep as the dried beans or more - they expand. I prefer to soak for 24 hrs - I have heard refrigerating is recommended so they don't ferment. If only soaking overnight, don't refrigerate.
Preparation: Reasonably, it takes a couple of hours before "soups on" so this isn't a 20 minute weeknight job, but you can make lots and store it.
You need at least two large pots. One for the beans, one for the rest. You also need a strainer that won't melt in boiling water, or a collander and cheese cloth.
BEANS: Drain beans from soaking water, place in pot, fill pot to 2x depth of beans with fresh, cold water. Bring to a boil - WATCH OUT they are starchy and boil over easily. When it hits roaring boil turn down to simmer. Cook about 30 mins on their own.
BROTH: At same time as beans, fill a large stock pot with fresh water. Put in half the celery stalks, half the carrot, about 3/4 of the onion and all the garlic. Leave whole or in large pieces, eg, quarter the onion and throw 3/4 in, cut the carrot and celery at most in half. I always crush my garlic slightly to let the juice out but don't chop. Add chicken, just throw it in. Add parsley, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.
Bring soup to a boil, again making sure it doesn't boil over but that's not as much a problem as with the beans. Keep it medium-high, at a rolling boil, until you have a broth. I don't have an exact time for this, I judge it by the chicken being cooked through, and the celery and garlic getting mushy. Say about 45 min. DON'T let the vegetables actually cook to mush, or you won't get broth, you'll have something more like pea soup.
LOGISTICS of Soup Assembly:
Begin fishing out veggie chunks when celery is mushy to touch. I take out mushy ones (celery, onion and garlic) first, then the carrots as they're harder, while still boiling. Boiled veggies are discarded (compost if you can). Last fish out the chicken and set aside.
Remove beans from heat, and pour water off. At this point you will need a third pot, or you can pour the drained beans into another dish and use the bean pot. Take the broth pot, large chunks all removed, and strain soup through a strainer/collander into another pot. Discard small mushy veggie bits and scum. Give broth pot a quick rinse, return broth to the pot and return pot to stove. This is now your remaining Soup Pot. Bring broth to moderate boil.
Add drained beans to broth, and add the barley. While that is starting up, shred up chicken meat, making sure to remove all fat, bone, etc. Not that it'll hurt you, its just less aesthetically pleasing to get a blob of chicken fat or gristle in soup. Add the shredded chicken back to the simmering pot.
Take the remaining carrot, celery, and onion, and chop as you like - approximately diced, larger pieces if you prefer. Toss it in the soup. Sprinkle in mustard powder, cayenne/tobasco, and additional salt and pepper if you like.
Simmer - again, timing until "done" is somewhat subjective. You want the beans medium-cooked, not mushy, or you get starchy soup. I usually judge by the onion pieces are translucent and the carrots just softening.
Take off the boil - serve right there with nice bread and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top, or divide into Tupperware and store for quick meals and brown-bag lunches!
Anyway. To give credit where it is due, I typed "black bean barley recipe" into Google, as I found dried black beans and barley on my counter and didn't know what to do. I reached this recipe which sounded interesting. As usual, I never manage to work entirely "by the book", nor am I precise, so here's tonights dinner soup:
4 chicken thighs, skin ON, bone IN (you can go cheap this way)
1 large carrot
4 stalks celery
1 large onion - I used a red one, probably not that important
3-4 cloves garlic (I think - I used the top 1/3 of two whole garlics, as I baked the rest)
1 cup dried beans - black, navy, pinto, whatever
1/2 cup or so dried pearl barley
salt to taste
pepper to taste
1 tbsp, or to taste, dried parsley
1 tbsp, or to taste, rosemary
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp or to taste, dried mustard powder
pinch to 1/8 tsp cayenne, or a few drops hot pepper sauce (tabasco)
In advance:
Pick over dried beans, wash and drain, and soak them. Pour into pot/container and cover with fresh, cold water to a depth at least twice as deep as the dried beans or more - they expand. I prefer to soak for 24 hrs - I have heard refrigerating is recommended so they don't ferment. If only soaking overnight, don't refrigerate.
Preparation: Reasonably, it takes a couple of hours before "soups on" so this isn't a 20 minute weeknight job, but you can make lots and store it.
You need at least two large pots. One for the beans, one for the rest. You also need a strainer that won't melt in boiling water, or a collander and cheese cloth.
BEANS: Drain beans from soaking water, place in pot, fill pot to 2x depth of beans with fresh, cold water. Bring to a boil - WATCH OUT they are starchy and boil over easily. When it hits roaring boil turn down to simmer. Cook about 30 mins on their own.
BROTH: At same time as beans, fill a large stock pot with fresh water. Put in half the celery stalks, half the carrot, about 3/4 of the onion and all the garlic. Leave whole or in large pieces, eg, quarter the onion and throw 3/4 in, cut the carrot and celery at most in half. I always crush my garlic slightly to let the juice out but don't chop. Add chicken, just throw it in. Add parsley, rosemary, bay leaf, salt and pepper to taste.
Bring soup to a boil, again making sure it doesn't boil over but that's not as much a problem as with the beans. Keep it medium-high, at a rolling boil, until you have a broth. I don't have an exact time for this, I judge it by the chicken being cooked through, and the celery and garlic getting mushy. Say about 45 min. DON'T let the vegetables actually cook to mush, or you won't get broth, you'll have something more like pea soup.
LOGISTICS of Soup Assembly:
Begin fishing out veggie chunks when celery is mushy to touch. I take out mushy ones (celery, onion and garlic) first, then the carrots as they're harder, while still boiling. Boiled veggies are discarded (compost if you can). Last fish out the chicken and set aside.
Remove beans from heat, and pour water off. At this point you will need a third pot, or you can pour the drained beans into another dish and use the bean pot. Take the broth pot, large chunks all removed, and strain soup through a strainer/collander into another pot. Discard small mushy veggie bits and scum. Give broth pot a quick rinse, return broth to the pot and return pot to stove. This is now your remaining Soup Pot. Bring broth to moderate boil.
Add drained beans to broth, and add the barley. While that is starting up, shred up chicken meat, making sure to remove all fat, bone, etc. Not that it'll hurt you, its just less aesthetically pleasing to get a blob of chicken fat or gristle in soup. Add the shredded chicken back to the simmering pot.
Take the remaining carrot, celery, and onion, and chop as you like - approximately diced, larger pieces if you prefer. Toss it in the soup. Sprinkle in mustard powder, cayenne/tobasco, and additional salt and pepper if you like.
Simmer - again, timing until "done" is somewhat subjective. You want the beans medium-cooked, not mushy, or you get starchy soup. I usually judge by the onion pieces are translucent and the carrots just softening.
Take off the boil - serve right there with nice bread and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top, or divide into Tupperware and store for quick meals and brown-bag lunches!
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