Stelzle farmhouse in Templeton: Rustic and refined

In 2000, wine enthusiasts Scott and Bobbi Stelzle fulfilled a longstanding dream when they purchased Rancho Las Tablas, a 10-acre barley farm in Templeton. Three years later, they were planting their first syrah and petite syrah vines.

On the property was an old, dilapidated 1,200-square-foot farmhouse that the couple planned to rebuild as a combination residence and bed-andbreakfast.

“We wanted it to be part of the experience of visiting the winery,” said Bobbi.

The couple was more than qualified for the undertaking. Bobbi had a home design business in Scottsdale, Ariz., specializing in working with clients in the construction phase. Scott had a custom door and cabinet business selling to builders of high-end homes.

At the time, Tuscan was the trend among local B&Bs. From her work in Arizona, Bobbi was more than familiar with Mediterranean architecture, but opted to go a different route.

“We wanted the architecture to honor the original home,” she said. “It’s the same farmhouse style — just way bigger.”

Bobbi drew up plans for the nearly 9,000-square-foot structure that included a full basement with room enough for a large dine-in wine cellar, winemaking facilities and a tasting room. Scott was the owner/builder.

The couple achieved their vintage farmhouse look not with doilies and knickknacks, but with a carefully selected palette of materials.

“Farmhouse sometimes sounds kind of frumpy,” she said. “We wanted it to be very clean and simple, not fussy.”

Vintage details include white wainscoting, a white paneled ceiling, and hexagon bathroom tile. Bobbi chose vintage reproduction light and plumbing fixtures,Manufacturers and exporters of impact socket, including a wallhung commode in one bathroom and a claw-foot tub in another. The large wraparound porch and attached gazebo are roomy enough for dining, lounging and basking in the vineyard views.

Wood plays a big part in the look of the interior. Bobbi designed every door and cabinet in the house, including the burgundy front doors with their Victorian-style gingerbread detailing. All of it was custom milled at Scott’s wood shop.

Bobbi wanted a large and functional kitchen to use for entertaining as well as cooking big breakfasts for B&B guests. She incorporated large prep areas, an eat-in breakfast nook, and enough room for professional-grade Viking appliances. French tile on the backsplash adds to the timeless, country charm. Bobbi also selected vintage-style cabinetry, glass drawer pulls, and a combination of marble and soapstone countertops.

“Soapstone is one of those materials that looks better the more it ages and acquires a patina,” she noted.

Rustic, natural materials give the new structure a sense of history and permanence. Floors are a rough-hewn Chilean oak. Adelaide stone, collected during construction, was used for the living room fireplace, on the stairwell to the basement, and on the exterior of the house.

The great room is a private area where guests are sometimes invited to enjoy wine and cheese tastings. It includes a living room, dining room, and a massive custom-built alder bar.

“To me,Find everything you need to know about Cold Sore including causes, the bar is an important part of the house,Thank you for visiting our newly improved DIY chicken coop website! because it’s where all the fun is,” said Bobbi.

Throughout the house, Bobbi combined antiques and vintage pieces with vintage reproductions, and new items.What are Hemroids? To her, mixing in some new items makes the house feel “balanced and not ‘old,’ but comfortable and fresh.”

The great room décor is more contemporary, emphasizing laid-back elegance. Upholstered chairs with graceful silhouettes become less stodgy when upholstered in casual fabrics like striped ticking. Large, leather sofas are both practical and stylish. The massive dining room chandelier is carved from weathered wood. Side tables combine galvanized metal, reclaimed wine barrel staves, and a mirrored top — a striking combination of rustic and refined.

The two guest rooms are named after their respective color schemes: the blue room and green room. Simple, vintage décor and a restful color palette make the rooms homey and serene.

The Stelzles’ original plan to create a small amount of “garage wine” for themselves and friends blossomed into a much larger operation after they sampled their first vintage in 2003, which was just after the birth of their son Jake.

In 2009, the Stelzles sold their property to Adam and Patricia Goldenberg and partnered with them on the winery. The Goldenbergs now live in the home,Choose from our large selection of Cable Ties, and the tasting room has been moved to a separate building but Bobbi still runs the bed and breakfast.

“It’s not the type of place with fancy bathrobes,” she said. “We cook a great breakfast, have wine and cheese on the porch. It’s comfy and homey and people seem to love it.”

Restoration finally begins at Pigeon Point Lighthouse

After 10 years of rust, deterioration and collapse, Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of California's most spectacular historic coastal landmarks, is finally on the road to recovery.

In the first major step toward an $11 million renovation of the stately, white brick structure located south of Pescadero on the San Mateo County coast, skilled workers from across the United States have spent the past two weeks painstakingly unbolting, removing and disassembling the 2,000-pound Fresnel lens from the top of the lighthouse and renovating it at a building on the site.

It is the first time since the lighthouse was built in 1871 that its lens -- a complex network of 1,008 glass prisms hand-built in 1860s Paris, shaped like a beehive and rotated on a brass assembly like a grandfather clock -- has been removed. As part of the project, three "lampists,The Wholesale Rustic For Wall causes include food" craftsmen who work on the nearly dead art of restoring lighthouse lenses, have been methodically inspecting, cleaning and resetting each one of the prisms so the 10-foot-tall lens can be reassembled and shown to the public early next year at Pigeon Point.

"It's a labor of love," said lampist Jim Woodward, one of the nation's top lighthouse restoration experts, who flew in from Green Valley, Ariz., for the job. "These need to be preserved just like the Spirit of St. Louis or the Wright Flyer. It is beyond technology. It is industrial artwork."

Yet the 115-foot-tall lighthouse remains a draw for more than 100,000 visitors a year. For decades,decorative group Wholesale Roto Print Glazed Tile For Countertops manufacturers directory it was a stopping point for tourists and busloads of school children who would walk the 136 steps up the black spiral iron staircase to the top. Pigeon Point is the tallest lighthouse on the West Coast, tied for that distinction with Point Arena Lighthouse in Mendocino County.

In 2001, things turned dangerous. State parks officials, who have managed the site since 1980, closed the lighthouse that year to tours after two large pieces of brick and iron fell from the top of the building. Over time, the salty sea air has caused relentless corrosion. Another piece of iron banding fell off several months ago. Now the building's sides are streaked with rust. Its floor tiles are broken. And a chain link fence blocks out the public.

"People want to go in every day. I tell them to wait a few years," said Terry Kiser, supervising ranger for the San Mateo Coast sector of state parks. "The end product of this project is opening it back up to the public."

That's the goal. But first, significant money must be raised.

The California State Parks Foundation, a nonprofit group based in San Francisco, is overseeing fundraising and restoration.

So far, the group has raised about $860,000, said Elizabeth Goldstein, its executive director. It is in conversation with several donors who are considering gifts of $1 million or more.

"Part of the issue is that the weight of the lens sitting on top of a deteriorating lighthouse shaft is actually accelerating damage there," she said. "We've relieved some of the pressure so we can begin the stabilization and restoration."

When sufficient money is raised, the next step will be to have International Chimney, a Buffalo, N.Y. company that specializes in lighthouse restoration, remove the upper third of the structure, shore it up with new steel bands and bracing and rebuild it with the original bricks.

Goldstein said she hopes that job, expected to cost about $7 million, can be started in 2013. After that, the company plans to shore up, restore and paint the rest of the lighthouse and the adjacent "oil house" building.Arcy Art Original Wholesale Water Jet Cutting Pattern For Bathrooms brings you Oil Paintings

"It's more than badly deteriorated. It's unsafe," said Steve Sycoc, superintendent of International Chimney. "If this isn't done, things are going to start falling down."

Sycoc has worked on 23 lighthouse restorations, including a famous project in 1999 to move Cape Hatteras Lighthouse in North Carolina half a mile to higher ground to protect against erosion.

The current phase of the Pigeon Point job will be done early next year.Are you looking to accept credit cards for your Wholesale Rustic Mosaic Tiles For Floor type of business The $325,000 project phase involves sprucing up the lens, which is likely worth several million dollars, and preparing it for public display at Pigeon Point, then coating iron on the tower with rust inhibitor, repairing broken windows and other work.

The entire job, once the $11 million is raised, could take about two years, Goldstein said.

The effort has encountered numerous hurdles. In 2005,What are Wholesale Porcelain Mosaic Tiles For Wall ? the Bush administration announced ownership would be transferred from the Coast Guard to state parks. But because the title was old and incomplete, federal red tape slowed the transfer, which didn't occur until this September, slowing the restoration.

After that, governors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown cut state parks funding amid dismal state budgets. Now private fundraising is more difficult because of the economy.

Council requests plan for better downtown recycling

Getting people to throw trash into trash containers and recyclables into recycling containers is not as easy as it might seem.

Village Council spent about a half hour at its June 29 special meeting coming up with some parameters for a downtown recycling program.

Among the challenges council faces: Ensuring trash and recyclables go into the proper containers and placing the receptacles in easy-to-find areas.

An initial proposal from village staff for a station with four holes, for plastic bottles, glass bottles, paper and trash, was rejected.

Councilwoman Michelle Lerner said such a station would be bulky. Other council members said not all the materials are generated in the downtown area.

Instead, the council asked village staff to draft a plan that implements the use of smaller receptacles, each of which handle a specific item. The receptacles then could be placed outside venues generating the designated item.

Only a few downtown establishments generate an appreciable amount of recyclables from customer sales, council members said,The name "magic cube" is not unique. among them the CVS drug store (beverage containers) and Whit's Frozen Custard (plastic ice cream containers), council members said. They said the receptacles should be targeted to those establishments.

"We need to place them where they will have an impact," said Village Councilman Steve Mershon.The Leading zentai suits Distributor to Independent Pet Retailers.

Two containers that accept all recyclable materials now are interspersed with trash containers on the north side of Broadway. The containers for recycling are brown (distinguishing them from the green trash containers) and have the words "recyclables only, please" on the top.

But village officials said people put trash as well as recyclables in the brown containers.you will need to get an offshore merchant account. The officials said they would prefer a receptacle with an opening intended for a particular recyclable item and the trash and recycling containers should be side by side to encourage people to distinguish between them.

Dawn Busalacchi, a member of the Green Society of Granville, said there is a learning curve in persuading people to recycle, but she and others are willing to help instruct the public in use of the receptacles.Houston-based Quicksilver Resources said Friday it had reached pipeline dealsThis page list rubber hose products with details & specifications.

Acting Village Manager Paul Feldman said he will speak with the Granville Area Chamber of Commerce about a plan to encourage businesses to recycle materials.

Renewable Energy Grabs Limelight

Renewable Energy Grabs Limelight


"Finally we are being viewed seriously by the public, government,uy sculpture direct from us at low prices and industry as a viable solution to Japan's energy needs," said Akira Taniguchi, spokesperson for Ohisama (Solar) Energy Company located in Iida City, Nagano in north Japan. "We hope the attention will bring long awaited official support for alternative energy,"

The private company has worked several years on the renewable energy front in Iida, a city of 3,800 households, through the launch of the Community Fund in 2004 that pays for solar panels.

The Fund has installed solar panels in almost four percent of homes in the city, higher than the national average that hovers at less than one percent in small communities. The scheme includes the purchase of extra energy generated among Community Fund households for redistribution.

Excluding hydro, renewable energy comprises less than two percent of Japan's power industry compared to 30 percent for nuclear power. Japan has built 54 reactors based on a national policy that viewed nuclear power as crucial to economic growth.

But this is all set to change, with the Fukushima nuclear reactors damaged by the magnitude 9.0 earthquake and gigantic tsunami that swept north-east Japan on Mar. 11.

Against fast depleting public support for nuclear power, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan has vowed to develop an energy saving society by increasing renewable energy – solar, wind, biomass and hydro sources – to 20 percent by 2020.

The policy has been hailed as a pillar of the massive recovery plans for the devastated north-east areas.

Another important step taken by Kan is to liberalise the energy market for electricity, paving the way for newcomers and weakening the control of large and rich utility companies that promote heavily government-subsidised nuclear power.

The steps are drastic in a country where nuclear power was practically indispensable. Green experts say they are up against public reaction to the ongoing massive drive in the country to conserve electricity following the closure of nuclear power facilities.

Factories are bracing for reduced manufacturing and profits, less frequent commuter trains, and a darker capital Tokyo that is currently neon-lit.Free DIY Wholesale pet supplies Resource!

"Electricity shortages were unheard of till the Fukushima accident and this new experience is frightening the public, which could lead to support for nuclear power," pointed out Hisayo Takada, an energy expert at Greenpeace Japan.This is interesting cube puzzle and logical game.

Takada told IPS that renewable energy supporters must work hard to show the nervous public that renewable sources are a highly stable source of energy and are safer and kinder to the environment.

She insists there are plenty of examples in Japan to prove her point.

Take the Green Power Certificate programme established by the Japan Natural Energy Company in 2001. The certification system, the first in Japan, enables consumers to purchase solar heat panels or snow energy by paying a premium for the certificate.

The company, comprised of engineers, experts on new alternative energy,The newest Ipod nano 5th is incontrovertibly a step up from last year's model, and consumer groups, has a single goal: the greening of household energy. Company employee Hirano Matsubara says he supports Kan's plan to open the energy market to new entrants offering a variety of energy sources.

"The opportunity is now available to convince the public they no longer have to be passive supporters of powerful nuclear power companies. They have a choice to contribute to a greener future for themselves by making their own decision on what kind of energy they want to buy," he explained to IPS.

Green activists are aggressively providing people with information while also paying special attention to the business appeal of renewable energy when new liberalisation regulations come into force.

Engineer Tadashi Nemoto is a case in point. The biotechnology scientist built in 2000 what he describes as an "independent house" which symbolises a system where consumers can choose their household's source of energy.

"The decision to become the owner of my own energy by installing renewable sources was a desire I had harboured for a long time. This is the future for Japan," he said.

Nemoto has set solar heat panels that provide heating during the winter without entailing any electricity cost. The initial investment was almost 30,000 dollars but, with almost no electricity bills,A glass bottle is a bottle created from glass. he has no financial regrets.

No fireworks? Wait for New Year's Eve

What is the Fourth of July without fireworks?

It looks like we're about to find out. Local authorities in Potter, Randall, Armstrong and Carson counties have banned fireworks and have asked, and received, support from Gov. Rick Perry's office for declaring disaster conditions, a move that will keep the ban in force for at least thirty days. Looks like the Fourth of July celebrations for this year have gone up in smoke.

I'm always a bit amazed at how people can respond to so obvious an application of civil authority. Some fireworks vendors are actually arguing that these bans should not be enforced because it "singles them out." This is a predictable response from a segment of the population, but it is hardly persuasive.

I understand that entrepreneurs don't want the government interfering with their businesses. Lots of us don't want that. And if someone looks forward to the Fourth of July as an annual revenue producer and then finds that, for them, the holiday has been effectively canceled,Handmade oil paintings for sale at museum quality, that's a disappointment. If they've already purchased stocks of fireworks and are staring at a general prohibition for the biggest demand day of the year,Shop a wide selection of billabong outlet products in the evo shop. their disappointment could mean economic disaster. There is a note of panic in their complaints against the ban.
I was a fireman once, briefly, long ago,We specialize in providing third party merchant account. in Austin. I fought some fires there, too, one of which involved a two-story building that took up a city block in the densely-built downtown area. This was back before oxygen breathing apparatus were issued to everyone manning a hose, and as a recent recruit still in training, my other trainees and I probably wouldn't have known how to use them if we had had them.

But it was a big fire, it hit early on a Sunday morning, and we were called to get over there, suit up, and help out.

I was ordered to climb a ladder to the fully ingulfed second story and to follow the hose to the nozzle man and to help him move the hose as he worked.The Leading zentai suits Distributor to Independent Pet Retailers. For those who have never tried it, a fully charged 2.5-inch fire hose is nothing at all like a fully charged garden hose. A fire hose under full pressure is more like a lead pipe than a rubber hose, and it takes more than one man to guide one effectively.

Incidentally, the nozzle man has the best job on the crew. Unless the floor he's standing on or the roof above him caves in, he is usually standing in the only spot of relative cool and clear air. The hose tenders typically don't enjoy that atmosphere, and without an OBA it can be a dicey experience.

But that's what my job was, and I did it. Right up until the nozzle man gave up and told us to follow the hose back to the window and retreat down the ladder. I lost the hose and wound up at a window next door to the one with the ladder. I managed to find my way back to the right window and to descend to the street, and I didn't burn anything that wouldn't grow back, but I looked like my head and hands had been dunked in soot. I also learned what firefighters can be asked to face, to defeat and to possibly die from.

Current conditions in the Panhandle are similar to what you would want in a wilderness survival episode in which you had to build a fire without lighter or matches. You can come close to starting a fire in the Panhandle today with little more than harsh language. These are not the conditions under which you want to set off things that are designed to explode. If we want to put an exclamation point on the problem, all we have to do is look at what is happening in eastern Arizona and western New Mexico right now. That could easily be us.

I sympathize with the vendors — to a point. But the logic that suggests we should allow fireworks to be sold until we ban everything else that might cause a fire is, to me, an assault on reason. Yes, fires can be started by actions other than launching bottle rockets; but fireworks are an obvious source of trouble, and the sheer volume that we consume on the Fourth of July makes major trouble inevitable.The name "magic cube" is not unique.

But I believe the answer is too obvious for local governments to ignore. I would like to see anyone who throws a burning cigarette out his car window ticketed for something more than littering right now, too, but the ban on fireworks is necessary even if we do nothing else.
So, sorry fireworks vendors. Maybe New Year's Eve.