Footings Going In

The property is really starting to take shape with the footings be poured today. Won't be long before the slab is down. The weather has been really nice, hanging in the low 70's!

Official Ground Breaking

The official ground breaking took place on Monday without fanfare. Ted, Scott, and Robert from Redden Construction were all on hand to get the job done. The entire slab and footers were torn up using a backhoe. The ole 1926 foundation came up fairly easily, but didn't give up any secrets from beneath - no buried treasures, no nothin'.

Securing The Work Site

The construction company had all the fencing set up by Friday to start work on Monday. I was out the previous week removing the picket fence that bordered the parking area. I also had to remove about 40 cement blocks that bordered the yard where you see the oleanders. Take a good look at the oleanders in these pictures because they are being removed along the east side of the property. As they are now they completely block the view of the Blue Myrtle House from 58th Avenue.

Another Shelf Mod

Oh boy, another modification to the shelves. The last modification I made to the shelves took up too much floor space. I didn't realize how much space they took up until I placed them into the 3D model of the store layout. I messed around with the 3D model to see what worked best. As it turns out whacking off one end of the shelves and moving them perpendicular to the wall gave me more room and easy access from both sides. The graphics below are the modification in progress. I got a temporary structure holding each shelf in place while I bolt on the wing spars at the end. The graphic at bottom is a mock up of the first floor.

Thank You

I've been at this for quite awhile now, so I figure it's time to stop and say thanks to all who have helped me out so far. First and foremost, thank you Jesus. I'm glad you have been with me along the way. Thank you to all my family and friends who having been saying prayers. For all the family and friends who helped tear the old building down, thanks.

Thank you Jennifer at Meridian Bank for your help in obtaining the financing needed just to even make this project possible. Thank you Thomas at Redden Construction for your enthusiasm and willingness to take on a small job like this. Thank you Anne Marie and Matt at ACS Services for going above and beyond when I needed a soils report in a pinch.

Thank you City of Glendale Planning Department, particularly Remigio. Your help and patience during the plan submittal process is appreciated more than you realize.

Thank you neighbors of the Blue Myrtle House "lot". Your encouragement and inquisitiveness along the way has helped me to keep going.

Thank you Kevin for drafting the plans. It wasn't as easy as it seemed but you were able to take my house design and make it work.

It's official! Construction begins on the Blue Myrtle House next week!

Happy Thanksgiving! This time next year we won't be open today, but we will the day before and after. Exciting announcement coming Monday!

Exciting news! A big announcement will be made on Monday about the Blue Myrtle House.

Shelf Shape

I modified the shelves I'm making. They didn't look aero enough so I made a simple change to the length of each shelf. This not only gives them more of an airplane look, but it also increases shelf space. This is a rough finish. I still have to align the shelves, sand and stain the wood, and paint the metal (wings).

From November 2011

3rd Submission

Argh! 2nd Submission came back with red lines. This is a little disappointing but what can you do. The staff at the City of Glendale Planning Dept have been very helpful and patient with me. Hopefully we'll get this all corrected and construction started soon.

2nd Submission of Plans

All the red lines from the 1st plan submission have been corrected and turned in for further review. Hopefully the remaining reviews will go smooth and I'll get the permits to start building. If all goes well that should happen within the next 12 days. I would like to have construction started by the end of the month. Redden Construction will be the builders. The house should be done by the end of January and open for biz in February or early March. Below is what the house will look like. There are two structures. The building at the bottom is an 11' x 16', it will be located at the rear of the property in front of the parking area. This initially will be used for storage, but potentially as a retail kiosk or workshop. The building on the right is the main house. It has a front porch and balcony.

Building Vendor Shelves

I started on the main vendor shelves this past weekend. Actually I started making the parts to the shelves. Sticking with the "Vintage Aero meets Classic Rural" theme, the shelves will look like wings of an airplane. I'm using my CNC machine to cut out spar-shaped braces. I'm using material from the original house to make the shelves. I'm also using some old redwood my buddy gave me from from a deck he tore off his cabin up in Happy Jack. I'll post more on the shelves as I progress, but for now here's a video of the spar being cut out on my CNC machine. It's kind of cheesy, I put it to music:}

Siding All Sawed Up

I finally finished cutting up all the redwood clapboard siding I saved from the original house. I trimmed off the beat up edges and then ripped each board almost right down the center. I wanted a couple of widths so I offset my cut a little. I wound up with two widths; 1 1/2" and 2". Each board varies in length between 18" and 36". Once I had the boards ripped and trimmed I made one last cut with the boards turned on their side. By doing this I was able to cut off the beveled edge of the clapboard. One side of each board has a fresh cut finish while the other is weathered and old looking. Both sides look pretty cool when all laid out. My plan is to panel the vaulted ceiling of the new house with these redwood planks. Now my problem is deciding which side to show. I can't decide which side looks better; the new grainy look or the old weather-beaten look. I guess I have to ask myself - do I want the inside of a barn look or more of a refined cabin look? I'm going to have to call in a couple of experts to help me with this one.

Dog Days of Summer

Went to the Dog Days of Summer event last night. It started at 6pm but Lisa and I plus Piper didn't go until 7:30. It was still 105 degrees then but at least the sun was almost down. It appeared to be a pretty good turn out. There were dogs of all shapes and sizes. Channel 15 was there with a news crew. We stopped by Papa Ed's Ice Cream to get a frozen doggie treat, but the line was pretty long so we just walked around some more. It was nice to see so many people out with their dogs for this event. We walked around both the downtown and Catlin Court areas. Most of the people were in the Catlin Court area when we were there.

Concept Farmers Market

Now that the exterior of the house is pretty much done I've turned to concentrating on the interior. As you know the Blue Myrtle House is not going to be just any ordinary farmers market, it's going to be a concept farmers market. Restaurants do it, bars do it, heck even motorcycles do it.

Building Plans Submitted

Finally got the building plans submitted. Met with the draftsman down at the City, paid the fees and now we're just waiting for the red lines to come back. The initial review takes about 20 days, and then if anything needs to be amended just awhile longer. Hopefully this will go smooth and we can start construction relatively soon.

Bake From Home

The Bake and Confectionery Bill went into effect today. This is good news for those that want to make a little extra money on the side. The Blue Myrtle House will be an excellent venue for selling the homemade goodies! I should be just a matter of a few months before construction is started on the Blue Myrtle House!

Making Old, New Again

I started to work on the old clapboard siding I saved from the original house. The clapboard siding is all redwood. I'm cuttin' and rippin' the siding into smaller slats that I will use for trim and as a ceiling covering in the new building. It should look real nice when completed!

Praising the Appraisal

The appraisal came back favorably. The property once completed actually came back worth more than I expected. The key words are "once completed". Now that the appraisal is back and the bank is willing to lend me the funds, all I need to do now is submit the building plans for permits and hire a contractor.

Conditional Approval

We're getting one step closer to construction of the Blue Myrtle House. The bank has given conditional approval for construction based on the appraisal of the house plans. If that goes well the process for vetting vendors will begin!

Cottage Law

Governor Brewer signed into law House Bill 2103 which allows baked and confectionary goods to be made in a private home for commercial purposes as long as the goods are not potentially hazardous and ingredients are properly labeled.

This is good news for those who would like to make some extra income on the side. The Blue Myrtle house will be a great outlet for this who need a place to sell their homemade goodies!

Glendale Open Air Market

I stopped by the Glendale Open Air Market on Saturday. I was disappointed with not only where it was, but the lack of vendors. The market was in the parking lot next to A Mad Hatter's. I'm not sure why the planners think this is a good spot, but in my opinion it should be located in a more central area that is near as many storefronts as possible. Murphy Park or on 58th Drive between Palmaire and Myrtle would be much better locations. Closing off 58th Drive and having the Open Air Market here sets a wonderful tone for the event amongst the white picket fences and mature shade trees welcoming visitors to the Bungalows-turned-specialty shops, and Old Towne boasting brick-trimmed sidewalks and glowing gaslights. I got the last line from the Glendale Convention & Visitors Bureau.

The lack of vendors was also disappointing. There was next to nothing as far as food vendors go. I didn't see any agricultural produce or prepared food items typically present at more established markets.

Hopefully it will grow more popular and the vendor base will expand to include more food products and services. The Blue Myrtle House will eventually compliment this event or fill the niche the Glendale Open Air Market fails to meet. My hope is the Glendale Open Market becomes a raging success and a west valley alternative to the Phoenix Public Market.

Coming 2011!

Well that's the plan. Ideally I'd like to have the Blue Myrtle House constructed and open with vendors before the start of Glendale Glitters in November. The draftsman should have the plans permitted relatively soon and the financing should be in place by the end of the month.

Farmers Market and Coffee Bar

I finally decided on making the Blue Myrtle House an indoor Farmers Market and Coffee Bar. Thank you to all who participated in our poll.

Over the past couple of years I've been to numerous weekend farmers markets. If you've never been to a farmers market I recommend visiting the Phoenix Public Market. Although the Phoenix Public Market is no Des Moines Downtown Farmers Market it is one of the best in the area.

One of the things I kept hearing from the vendors at these events is how they are trying to get their products into the big grocery stores. I guess what they are saying is that they want to be able to have their items available to as many consumers as possible 7 days a week. The reality is that they are micro businesses compared to the companies that have products in the big grocers. The farmer market (micro business) vendor has a difficult time getting their items on the shelves of the big grocery stores. The truth is that if they were on the shelves of a state or national grocery chain they wouldn't be renting a booth at a weekend farmers market.

That's where the Blue Myrtle House comes in. The Blue Myrtle House is a micro version of Sprouts. We are a micro business giving other micro businesses the opportunity to make their products available 6 days a week.

I know that it's not enough just to have a place to have products available, people have to know about the Blue Myrtle House and vendor's products. One of the easiest most cost effective ways of doing this is by word of mouth. The more mouths the more words. In other words; get as many people as possible talking about your product. Two of the best ways of telling friends and friends of friends about what you are selling is by posting it on Facebook or Twitter. By talking about your product and telling people where they can buy it not only helps you but other people who are selling products at the Blue Myrtle House. You don't have to have a Facebook business page, you can do it from your own personal page. And you don't have to do it all the time. Letting friends and family know from time to time is plenty. Imagine a bunch of vendors selling at the Blue Myrtle House just occasionally telling their friends and family about their products. Together we could start a revolution! Micro-biz, micro-biz, micro-biz! Sorry, got carried away there for a moment.

I'm not officially taking vendor applications at this time, but you are welcome to tell me and others about your product by filling out the form at the bottom of this blog entry; Click Here.

Busting Up More Concrete

I finally got around to doing some more work this month. Since there is not much left to do before construction starts I took off Nov and Dec (Glendale Glitters). I've been putting off tearing out the walkway that went around the front of the house. It took three trips to get all the concrete to the dump. As it turned out it was just under 3 tons. I also tore out a pad of concrete on the back of the house, which was also about a ton of material. The pad looked like it was originally the floor for a shower that was added on years after the house was built. The pad has a drain cover and drainage pipe. I'm leaving the pipe in place as it will be extended to the new building at the end of the driveway.

I also cut off a couple of big limbs from the tree in the front yard. The limbs were hanging over/into where the house is going to be built. The new house is going to be a little bigger than the last. I did all this over the 4 weekends in January.