East Bay Home and Gardens

Around a North Berkeley bend, quickly by-passed by those busily headed someplace else, there’s a gem of a creek side house. The architecture and setting embody much of what gives residential Berkeley a special sense of place. -more-

One of our own is on her way to Washington DC to receive a long-deserved award. Kathy Kramer, who founded and runs the annual Bringing Back the Natives garden tour, will be honored on Nov. 1—appropriately enough, All Saints’ Day—along with Bill McKibben (The End of Nature), Al Gore, Rev. Richard Cizik (who has stirred up a hornets’ nest with the Evangelical Climate Initiative’s “Call to Action” statement, insisting on Christians’ responsibility toward stewardship of the earth), Steve Curwood (host of NPR’s Living on Earth show) and others including more dubious company like Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. -more-

More Earthquake Tidbits -more-

The other day a recent inspection client of mine called up and asked if I could help answer a few questions. She proceeded to ask if her new house had copper piping. -more-

Chinese tallow tree, Triadica sebifera, Sapium sebiferum or Croton sebiferum, is pretty, tough, and dons beautiful leaf colors in autumn. The small rounded kite-shaped leaves have a gentle green color before that, and dance engagingly in the breeze flashing their soft gray undersides, a little like aspen leaves. -more-