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"Secret Agent Thursday" 4.14.11

Today was a fantastic day to see magnificent homes and homes waiting for someone to make them all that they can be!
1043 Atchison St., Pasadena is listing that is just that kind of property!  It is the largest lot at just under an acre - the Highlands, and is situated on a wonderful street.  You always want to look for the worst house on the street that you can upgrade - and this one when finished would be the jewel of the neighborhood.

I chose 1451  El Molino Ave., Pasadena to be included in todays Blog - because it is such a unique home and so beautifully executed on this lot in the beautiful neighborhood of "Oak Knoll." It is reminiscent of Palm Springs - fresh and open to nature...

Lastly, the "Crown Jewel" of the day is 255  Hillside Rd., South Pasadena.  This is one of the more remarkable homes I have seen.  The lay-out is comfortable and accommodating to a large and extended family. It is a home where you can enjoy your time together as a family, entertain the special people in your life and live a life of rewarding peacefulness.  It could be in Italy or Argentina and is evocative of a rich and well-lived lifestyle.

Enjoy!  As always, if you have any questions please feel free to contact me by email or commentary on this Blog.
"Secret Agent Thursday" Homes for 4/14/11

View Listings

Provided by:
Natalia Budilo (Lic: 00909543)
Lj Properties (Lic:)
1719 Pepper Drive
Altadena, CA 91001
Primary: 626-703-7736 Secondary: 626-660-1104 Other:
NVBHomes@gmail.com

View Listings link will be available for 30 days. If you do not see a link, copy this text to the address line in your browser:
http://itech.rapmls.com/scripts/mgrqispi.dll?APPNAME=Itech&PRGNAME=MLSLogin&ARGUMENT=HFDsIaPvYtvwH3EvXf%2Fp1CFIetIA0sgvqCilGOJ2qII%3D&KeyRid=1&Include_Search_Criteria=on

Chocolates & Chocolate Gifts | See's Candies

Even though this isn't a chocolate recipe - it does come from my favorite candy company," See's!" I am going to make this myself and give it to someone as a gift...someone very special! I hope that you enjoy it! I will post a great recipe from a favorite 'Pasadena' place each week, so be on the look out! Subscribe to this Blog!

Cooking with See's®

(click image to enlarge)

Lemon Cake Lemon Cake Mix 1/2 pound See’s Toffee-ettes - coarsely ground 1/2 pound See’s Peanut Brittle - coarsely ground 2 cups whipping cream – whipped with 1 tbsp. vanilla and 1/4 cup granulated sugar Bake cake according to box instructions. Mix whipped cream, toffee, and peanut brittle. Frost between layers and the outside of the cake. Serve chilled.

Moorka - Our Kitty, Our Friend...

We first laid eyes on Moorka in May of 1988 - she was being offered in front of the Corti Bros. Market on Freeport Blvd.  in Sacramento, California.  My husband and children and I were out en masse doing what we loved to do together - grocery shop!  As we passed through the front doors of the store, we lost our oldest son Michael - who definitely was a cat lover, to a store-box full of squealing, crying baby kittens.  Before long, he was lobbying us inside the store to please,  pleeeese, pleeez, let him take a special and particular kitten that he saw!

So why am I writing about a Cat on a Real Estate Blog?  It is quite simply, really. No house is quite the same as a home that has at least one beloved and respected pet.  The name "Moorka" is a Ukrainian name and it means ' ' the one who purrs.'  From the moment we relented and our son took his kitten home, that is what she did for us all... she sang and purred.  She smiled.

Moorka was truly one of the world's great animals.  She had a decent being and a sense of duty and honor.  She lived with us on El Prado Way for 19 years and was very much a member of our family.  All of us would go so far as to say - she had a spirit, a soul.  Even my son Andrij (Ukr, Pronounced Andree) who has a severe cat allergy, had love and respect for her.  How can one respect a cat you ask?  Let me explain...

There are cats who lounge in front of a fireplace or curl up in an obscure place somewhere hidden in the house and come out at meal time - or maybe our of sheer boredom. From her maturity, she seemed to have a work ethic.  She began many a day with a gift - neatly laid out on our front porch mat.  She brought us an occasional lizard or dragonfly, mice or rat.  As she became older and more adept, she brought us birds too.  We noticed early on that the birds she brought, were never the gentle Robin, sparrows or doves who lived in our trees.  Quite typically it was a bird of annoyance - a scrub jay or mockingbird.  Their bodies were never torn limb from limb - but neatly laid out for us to see as we stepped out of the front door.

When  family member became ill or was sad - she would seek them out and curl up in their space - seemingly to say, " I am here and I care...this too will pass."  She was like a 'little mother' to all of my children - her children too, I think.  She treated me like I was her peer.  She greeted our guests and even chose an honored few - whom she would allow to linger with her.  Then there was Gary... she found something in him that brought her to his lap - every time he ever came over.  She loved him.

When Moorka was about 18  1/2 years old, a county contractor dumped a mountain of concrete in front of my house.  It took about a month for this megalith of concrete to be hauled away!  Every day when I came home from work, she was perched at the top of the heap - as if guarding from above.  One morning as she left the inside of our home 'to go to work,' I watched her as she stopped suddenly and then very quickly went into crouch position - she had seen something in that pile of rubble; a rat most likely. Out rumbled and stumbled, the biggest, fattest rat I have ever seen! He was bigger than our tiny and petite little cat! He must have been on a suicide mission.  He paused when he saw her and then turned around slowly - barely making it back into the pile in time.

This 'Cat and Rat' game continued on for several days until the rat became either too hungry or suicidal...but he chose to 'give up the ghost' at Moorka's paw.  She looked at him with a look that seemed to say, 'really, really!? That's all you've got?" Ultimately, we think that the rat took her out with  him...but in a prolonged and agonizing way.  She succumbed to feline leukemia within a few months - even then desperately trying to 'do her thing.'

One of the hardest days of our family's life was burying our beloved friend, Moorka.  She raised a litter of kittens who were the prized pets of our neighborhood, a stray kitten found on a construction site and a tiny black Pomeranian puppy - who to this day loves cats.

Our houses do not really become homes until we make a place in them for a pet sharing them with another of God's creatures.  In return, we are blessed with love and devotion from the mighty beating hearts of our companions and friends who make our house into a home.

EPA National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week Oct. 24-30

Yes...it is true. If you have a home that was constructed prior to 1978 there is a possiblitly that the paint your property was painted with - contained some degree of lead. If your property was constructed prior to 1949, your structure most definitely contains lead in the paint.




Lead is a natural metal and if ingested or inhaled attacks your brain and liver and damages these vital parts irreperably. Some years back a disclosure was introduced into the California Real Estate Contract in an effort to alert buyers to this potential problem. This disclosure was the result of a catastrophic situation whereby small children - primarily teething toddlers, were found to have been chewing on the window sills of their apartment windows in tenement housing, apparently unbeknownst to their mothers. These children suffered permanent mental retardation and other physical damage- prompting civil and legal intervention.



Lead is back in the picture once more, only on a grander scale. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) has elimiinated this 'opt out' disclosure by finding a loophole and as of April 2010 and instituted a new requirement. This requirement primarily targets contractors - painting contractors in particular. A new certification must be obtained verifying the completion of course work leading to the contractor being a 'Lead Certified Contractor.'



To abate the lead found in the dust from sanding paint, along with the lead-laden paint chips that are derived from pressure washing the exterior of a structure, a contractor will be liable for properly tenting the exterior of a structure where more than 20 square feet are disrupted, or 6 sq. ft. on the interior is idsturbed; 6 square feet - that is about the size of a newspaper. The contractor's liability will extend not only to the inhabitants of the home but due to the airborne properties of the dust it will extend to the surrounding neighbors as well.



Who will this affect? It will certainly tag Homeowners, Property Managers, Landlords and yes, Home Sellers. In this day and age of financial limitations in our government, you may wonder 'who' will oversee and manage policing this industry? Well, you and I will for the outset anyway. That is the hope of the EPA. For the time being 'do-it-yourselfers' are exempt from liability. Being that this is California a great litigious state, you would do well to keep records and especially photos, of the work that you do.



The National Association of Realtors has provided video's on their site for anybody wanting more information on this subject. If you know contractors involved with painting, you might want to send them to this site to read the new rule.

Http://www.realtor.org/governmentaffairs/leadpaint main.

What it Means to Me…Pasadena

I used to wonder why I liked ‘old’ things so much; old houses, old books and maps, old stories and especially – old people. It crossed my mind from time to time, but never really came home too roost until I started to get…well, older! That confused me since I grew up with absolutely everything – new. In fact, I could even put the idea out there, that my parents had some sort of disdain for anything old. How could we be so opposite?

I was the first person of our family (who survived Stalin’s atrocities and genocide against humanity) to be born in America. Everyone related to me was murdered by starvation, torture, imprisonment and the ‘complications of war.’ My father and grandfather were the only two who had survived. My birth was a celebration not only for my family – but for my community. I was a sign that life would continue for them all and that there really was goodness to be had by everyone who managed to live through the war. To top it off, I was born on Easter Sunday morning and somehow, it too meant something special.

As I walked through my life, I never saw a single person who resembled me – not even in my own family. I was a ‘floater.’ My grandfather seemed to sense this and when I was about 12 he took me aside and said, “you know, you look just like the women on my side of the family.’ It did bring me comfort, and it was also the first realization for me that I did not have any roots. Mine were like those of a rose bush, planted on a mound – (we lived on top of a hill in Silverlake and owned another hill in Las Posas) strong enough to survive tough conditions, and like a rose - my family, was putting beauty into the world.

My pilgrims - my grandparents, wore (what American’s call babushka’s but are really called…) kasinka’s and homemade clothing, lived in a huge old house and drove older cars. Their house was filled with old things that I could not even identify unless I saw them in use. Their plates were old and their silverware matched in age, and I loved it…and I was comforted by it.

My parents drove beautiful cars and my mother always had new clothing and shoes and bags to match. Our house was new. Our house was new even after we lived in it for a dozen years…it looked like nobody had ever cooked there, or walked on the carpets, or sat on the furniture. New was an obsession, an understandable and necessary reminder that you lived…you breathed anew and you have sunshine on this day that is new. You have a chance at a new life. So it goes…

I like old houses that are flanked by old trees that make up long established neighborhoods maintained to near perfection. And while I love a new luxury car – there is nothing like a vintage car or wooden boat – maintained as if it were new! There isn’t a place in America that is what Pasadena is to me. It is my home and the place of my history - and my family’s future. It is where I integrate the old with the new and feel a part of being the American that I am.