August, 2017 at Urban Home Blog

Santa Monica Beach
Instagram / @ericdiesel

Here are our plans for the month of Leo at Urban Home Blog:

• Plan ahead to settle in for Summer Under the Stars 2017. Musts: Rosalind Russell, Sandra Dee, Elizabeth Taylor, and Elvis Presley.
• Bake bread for Lammas.
• Meet John for one last lazy late summer evening at The Abbey.
• Make and can dill pickles and Tutti Frutti while fruits and vegetables are at their best.
• Scout craft and department stores for early availability of autumn home collections.
• Perform annual diagnostic on sewing machine: clean and oil movable parts, replace needles and bobbins, test stitching on scrap fabric, adjust tension as indicated.
• Do the mending.
• Clean and condition leather furniture.
• Work on updating wall schemes in bathroom and bedroom including color and artwork. Order frames so that they'll be ready to pick up by end of month.
• Request gardener to trim and feed California laurel and baby palm in anticipation of final growth spurts before autumn.
• Clean and refill hummingbird feeders.
• On a lazy Sunday, make a California nostalgia dinner and invite friends over for impromptu gathering. Serve shrimp cocktail, chicken and waffles, and martinis. Screen Mildred Pierce.
• Make donations of school supplies, books, and funds to LA Shares and School on Wheels.
• Make reservations in Solvang for Harvest Week. Let friends and acquaintances at The Solvang Restaurant and Melville and Loring Wineries know when we'll be in town.

Reading List: Inventing LA: The Chandlers and Their Times, Bill Boyarsky; The Once Unknown Familiar, Timothy Roderick; The Pale Horse, Agatha Christie

Listening List: The Raveonettes, The Cure, Elvis Presley

August, 2016: Indoor Plants, Weeknight Dinner, Kitchen Electrics and Tools

August, 2013: Feeding Hummingbirds, Urban Bar, Weeknight Dinner

August 2012: Summer Supper, Canning and Preserving (and Freezing), Urban Bar

August, 2011: Preserving Memories, Canning and Preserving, Weeknight Dinner, Texas Caviar

August, 2010: Canning and Preserving, Weeknight Dinner, Homekeeper's Library, Summer Squash

August, 2009: Canning and Preserving, Weeknight Dinner, Urban Bar, Sewing Kit, Old Photographs