At the start, when I made the reservation, I have to confess that -- I was not at ease. There were a few "not so friendly words" in the description of the property that scared me a bit; things like:
"... take the time to read through this thoroughly before writing us or instant booking and asking questions that are covered in the material below."
"No additional people, other than those who booked, are allowed in the courtyard area for entertaining, without prior written consent of the owners through the AirBnB app..."
"If your dog is a barker, a heavy shedder, or a chewer, we will not be a good fit for your dog."
"Please do not cook with highly pungent spices or grease that lingers after your meal is finished as it is difficult to clean the smell after you leave."
"Leave the unit as clean as you found it..."
As and editor one learns that an ad should never contain anything on the negative, but who knows -- the new economy may one day change the rules of advertising too.
I especially disliked the piece "leave the unit as clean as you found it" since we have been charged $75 for cleaning. But as soon we arrived we start feeling more at ease, Richard is everything you can expect of a model-host: warm, welcoming and thorough.
The place is exactly as described and on top of it all, very nicely quiet and you can wake up to the chirping of migratory (and live-in) birds passing by, in the middle of an urban environment.
You will be glad to find out that the famous "Pasadena Parrots" also fly over South Pasadena, which is another city entirely. The parrots which are most likely the result of an environmental disaster are nonetheless a happy face in the region. A very large band of them live in a tree just a few blocks away, fly very close to Richard & Kristin's property and it is a sight to see them soo happy -- as if they were in the middle of some Amazonian forest.
The decor is mostly Ikea-simple, of good taste and clean. The bathroom has all amenities including expendables from Trader Joe's quality. The appliances include even a Kitchen Aid mixer and professional juicer from Vitamix, good heater and vaccum. You can't get that for this price anywhere in this region. More on that later.
Their library is a "real pearl" in all senses, including the tasty one. Being a nouveau-american I have never read Danielle Steel, Clive Cussler, John Grisham or Tom Clancy. In the rushed life of work in the US, time looked all too rushed and all too precious for them, so I really welcomed the lazy days immersed in a place with all of them. I devoured several and completed a part of my education that otherwise would go unfilled. I looked for to wake up a bit early and devour another one -- before my partner could see I had another one in hand.
But the part that really softened my heart was the cooking collection. Its central core are three books:
The Good Housekeeping Cookbook
by Zoe Coulson in an edition of 1973 published by one of the most iconic families of California -- the Hearst's.
The book opens up with a 200-page chapter on meats and page 251 has a recipe on "fricassee" of squirrels, which I took a photo of and plan to set in motion as soon as I get back to Berkeley and check the local ordinances on shooting squirrels with my BB-gun.
From there, as it could not get any better, I moved to Barbara Fairchild, The Bon Appétit Cookbook. And one can see the time flying by, this is a 2006 edition and the chapter on "Meats" is now preceded by "Meatless main sources" and the chapter on "Canning" is completely gone, but still very refreshing to see among the contributors names like Octavio Becerra, Susan Haskell, Betty Kroening, and Alice Waters. I have set my eyes on obtaining a 1950's edition of this book.
The surprises did not stop there, and the small library even had the Colledted Works of a dear friend of mine - Jane Apostol. Because of affinity I would much prefer her husband's Collected Works, but I am glad they were not here or I would have not read anything else.
Nelson Motta said onece that "Music is the bridge of times." and as I go throgh the titles here I can't keep myself from recoginizing that "books" are the real bridge of times, and can place you anywhere along this long road. This small collection is the real proof -- I even found a "Reader's Digest", not a very old one from the times of DeWitt Wallace, but enough to see some of the overtones that build the modern story of our culture.
I was really sorry I did not have the time to go through Martha Stewart's "Hors d'Oeuvre Handbook", her "Cooking School" book, ... I placed then next on my list, but it will have to wait. Time is always short. After all, getting introduced to Danielle Steel I felt like I know a bit of what Martha Stewart -- even though they had different subjects for their love.
The price for the cottage is just right and you will not regret it. It is definitely the best way to stay around this area.
The facilities are just proper. I was able to move my computing equipment in, connect all to the network and be at work the next minute. The network is provided by AT&T over copper and the speed varies between 10 and 20 Megabits. It will not be enough for anyone doing gaming, because of high latency, but more than enough for serious work, including video-conferencing. It would be nice to have fiber, but AT&T as of 2020 does not offer fiber in this region -- I