Gorgeous Brickwork and Back on the Roof

This evening I was invited to The Deco Fortress for another rooftop soiree with my darlings Sarah Jane and Sam Meller. Ralph was there wearing one of Sam's City Renovators shirts.

I always marvel at the brickwork on the building next door and its wrought iron gate.

Sammy:

Ralph Meller:

And a sunset with sunbeams:

Crater Bricks - For Michael

I've covered this city extensively and thought I'd never encounter another intriguing brick. On a recent drive around TGS with Andrew I spied this building from his car and excitedly gasped, Look at those bricks!

Andrew laughed.

Please. Look at these bricks with their exceptional design and range of soft color. Was some of that clay imported? Most likely it was treated before being fired. And why haven't I encountered these bricks any place else in STL?

If you're a long time visitor here you know I invent names for bricks and these present as crater.

The building still retains the original stained black mortar with tiny flecks of feldspar and quartz and - gratefully - has not been repointed. Look closely and you'll see that some of the mortar had to be finger tooled into the 'craters' of the bricks.

The building counts as a Triple Arch Alert post.

For Michael who told me a fascinating story yesterday about the old tunnel under Sublette Ave.

So long, Gen!

Another light goes out in the neighborhood with friend Gen Obata and family moving to the NW.

1962 Bomb Shelter

You know I sell vintage online via Etsy, right? I'm finally loading up my vintage catalogs and spotted this page on Pre-Fab Survival Shelters which were usually referred to as Bomb Shelters. Check out the trash can. Like who gets the job of hauling that out daily, little Chris? And how about those endorsements?

Tinged Buff Bricks

The heat has prevented scouting but I managed to capture these outstanding orange tinged buff bricks while roaming TGS with Andrew on our reporting graffiti tour.

Former Lustron Service Station

Located on Roger Pl. in Tower Grove South.

Marti's Garden - Update

The Marti Frumhoff Memorial Garden is my primary volunteer project and I've been on it since 2008. I like to think Marti would approve since it's on the site of the old Parker-Russell brick yards. Marti was a fellow brick hugger. I miss her.

What's the fate of the garden I wondered three weeks ago when I noticed the street was being prepared to be repaved. Black asphalt.

Now it's a heat island with a 60% increase of radiant heat. Walking across the street to turn on the rain bird sprinklers - I do that by hand, there's no timer - is a scorching stroll. If five trees in the garden were much larger they would cast some shade to help decrease the ambient temperature. Maybe in 15 years.

I'm always removing yard sale sings from the garden but when I spotted this one today - placed over the 4 way beneath the stop sign along with their address - I decided karma may be lurking in the intersection.

All the roses are diseased with rose rosette and must be removed.

Rose rosette is also called witches broom:

Yours truly working with loyal garden volunteer Don:

Jan, married to Don and friend of the garden:

Don working it:

My hella cool neighbor Brian stopped by to help haul and spread mulch:

Escape Artist

I like fire escapes!

Knowing this my dear friend, talented artist, and fellow Doors fan, Leslie Caldera sent the below this morning:

Christian, I've been keeping my eye out for fire escapes for you. Here are a few I shot on a walkabout in L.A. this week. The Morrison Hotel is the very same which inspired the title of the Doors 5th album. There were two sets of ladders. Street side was in glorious late afternoon sunlight, but the alley set was behind a big metal gate and hard to get a good angle on, so I went for an artsy look.

Unfortunately the building is vacant, and all signage is removed. Even the window the boys posed in was converted into a separate business entry, and it is boarded and gated now.

The other fire escape is in Long Beach, on my bicycle route to the Metro train I take into the city.

Below the photos is a link to a cool Youtube video telling the story of how that album title and cover photo came about.

Video Link to the Morrison Hotel Cover: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/1381f7c91b5c7fb2

My Sidewalk Saga Part 1

Below are photos of the sidewalk in front of the building next door to me. I've been reporting it for over 10 years to CSB. There's literally chunks of concrete missing. Last summer I was astonished to find a city employee in front of my house looking at my perfectly sound sidewalk. He told me there had been a complaint about my sidewalk and that it was going to be replaced. We then had a discussion about an obvious mistake and looked at both sidewalks together. He insisted a slightly raised edge of pavement was due to tree roots from a city tree in front of my house and that the entire sidewalk must be replaced due to a complaint. I explained it was my complaint about the condition of the adjoining sidewalk and someone had made a mistake. He disagreed.

OK.

I received a letter asking for a 39.00 payment. I paid and one moth ago the drama ensued.

To be Continued

White Bricks & Original Mortar

Interesting texture treatment on matte white bricks spotted in the South Hampton neighborhood. Feast on that incredible mortar mix with itty bitty pieces of feldspar and quartz. You know how I love the stuff.