Leaf out

Bag ’em up—they’re headed for the mulch pile

Lawn feeling littered? If your oaks, poplars and maples are spreading a thick carpet of color all over your grass, you might be trying to find them a good home. If you’re a Charlottesville resident, look no further than the clear plastic bags passed out by the city: These are the official vessels in which to gather fallen leaves and set them out for curbside pickup. Holly Criser, an employee of the City’s Public Works Department, explained that you should have had an allotment of leaf bags tossed onto your lawn, but if a neighbor with a wooded lot snatched yours, you can always get more bags at City Hall or at 305 Fourth St. NW.

Charlottesville’s leaves are falling, and if you bag yours up in City-issued bags, they’ll wind up as mulch.

Once your bags are stuffed, don’t tie the tops; just fold them over. Leaf collection is separate from regular trash and recycling pickup. First, check charlottesville.org for a map of scheduled leaf pickups between now and late January (or call 970-3830). Then, put out bags of leaves on the Monday of the week that pickup is scheduled in your neighborhood. They’ll be collected sometime during the week.

Where do they go then? To Albemarle’s Panorama Farm, where they are turned into mulch. That’s a lot better than the landfill. If you don’t want to bother with any of this, you can also compost your leaves—saving a few plastic bags while you’re at it.—Erika Howsare

Fa-la-la-la-farm it out

Is your wallet all you need to decorate?

‘Tis the season to be jolly. (Well, almost.) But ho-ho-hoing is probably the last thing on your mind when your holiday to-do list already resembles a Tolstoy tome. There’s all that shopping and cooking, and don’t get us started on decking the halls.

Actually, you could get Joey Strickler started on those halls. Or that staircase, mantel or dining table. A designer and the co-owner of Charlottesville’s Floral Images, Strickler’s the guy who comes to your rescue when you realize you’d prefer a pap smear to facing all those boxes full of sparkly holiday decorations.

Short on time, but not on spirit? It is possible to hire a holiday decorator.

"For some homes, we start [decorating] outside at the mailbox and continue on to the front door and then do the staircase, all the fireplace mantels and every table," he says. "But we’ll also come in and do a single mantel." The key to successful holiday decorating, says Strickler, whose fee depends on the job, is to work with "a few larger, focal pieces instead of several small things."

And to save you a few bucks, he always attempts to decorate around what you already have and "dress it up for the holidays." But there’s one thing he won’t touch: the Christmas tree.

"I’m an advocate of family time and I don’t care how much a client offers to pay, I think it’s taking away from a family tradition if I come in and decorate the tree."—Susan Sorensen

Live from the Chocolate Festival…

Easy treats for all those looming parties

As chocoholics already know, chocolate is a magical, mood-boosting food. It promotes both relaxation and euphoria—two things we experienced as we strolled through last month’s Chocolate Festival in the blissful Autumn weather. Sponsored by the First United Methodist Church, local organizations got together to present their homemade goodies. Somehow we missed the "imported chocolates, chocolate fountains…and BBQ ribs with a hint of chocolate" that a press release had promised, but a less-exotic confection did please us: Jackson-Via Elementary School’s chocolate-dipped spoons. We sampled a dark chocolate and peppermint variety that tasted delicious when stirred into a cup of coffee.

It’s almost as easy as stirring a pot: Make chocolate spoons for your next group of sort-of-important guests.

Next time we have a gathering for people we like, but who aren’t exactly mousse-worthy, we’re going to remember this recipe. These chocolate spoonfuls—festooned with white chocolate drizzles, sprinkles, toffee, or marshmallows—are pretty and easy to make. Jackson-Via’s teachers used dark and milk Ghirardelli chocolates over plastic spoons, though you can also use real silverware to make them fancier and impress the appearance-conscious among your guests. Whether melting the chocolate in a microwave or a double boiler, be careful not to cook the chocolate above 100°F, as it will result in a whitish-gray coating that is safe to eat, but not as nice to look at. Get festive by covering them in your favorite holiday candies and adorning with some colorful cellophane and ribbon. Hand out with cups of coffee and you’re done.—Carianne King

"If necessity is the mother of invention, then a budget is the muse of the good, cheap house."
—Kira Obolensky, Good House Cheap House

Moving the roof

For 13 years, Under the Roof has been a fixture on W. Main Street (and on the hearts of C-VILLE readers, who voted it Best Furniture Store this year). Now, because of a coming redevelopment, it’s moving—to W. Main Street in Waynesboro.

"Customers will drive long distances to get good prices on furniture because it’s such an important purchase," says Deborah Henshaw, who owns Under the Roof with her husband Jeffrey Grosfeld. She promises they won’t raise their delivery prices and says that the Waynesboro location (400 W. Main St.), set to open in January, will boast more inventory and lower prices. Meantime, get your mitts on some of the liquidation-priced goodies at the Charlottesville store.—E.H.

By The Numbers

3,471

[number of houses on the local market]

Every three months, when the Charlottesville Area Association of Realtors (CAAR) releases its quarterly market report, we at ABODE scan it eagerly for the latest official take on the housing market. (Of course, we—along with lots of other locals—also like to scan the not-so-official reactions that inevitably follow, in places like Realtor Jim Duncan’s blog at realcentralva.com.) This time around, the big news is inventory. As of the report’s release, there were 3,471 houses for sale locally, which is three times as many as three years ago (when the market was, by anyone’s account, booming).

The sign has been there for ages: Local properties are hanging around the market longer, and in greater numbers, than several years ago.

According to CAAR, this is "possibly a record" and definitely related to the long stretches of time that many properties are staying on the block. A quarter of homes currently for sale have had those signs stuck in their front yards for 200 days or more—certainly not happy news for sellers, but possibly a boon to potential buyers. The CAAR report practically begs househunters to take the plunge; in particular, says CAAR CEO Dave Phillips, first-time homebuyers are needed to kick-start sales.

So what’s all this mean for prices? Well, they’re not climbing as fast as they were in 2004 and 2005, but they’re still going up. Here’s another number for you: The median price of local homes is up to $329,000.—Erika Howsare, with reporting by Scott Weaver