Yardwork and Rain

Our front landscape was beginning to look a little sad. Basically it has sat untouched since we planted it, well almost. We have done a little work but basically it has had the freedom to do what it wants. Apparently it wanted to die more than anything. We have lost quite a few plants, namely the fan flowers and the flax. I contribute this primarily on poor irrigation and drainage.  In the case of the flax it was too much water. When I removed it, the root was completely rotted. I think it was not enough water with the fan flowers.

When we had the irrigation installed it was a one size fit all with drips for everyone. The problem was that we had a great variety of plants/succulent so this did not work well and the casualties were high. So now we have the hardy/just right bunch still around.

Our blue chalk sticks are doing OK but some parts shriveling up and dying. I think once again it is poor irrigation/drainage.  I pruned back the Mexican Sage and cleaned up the blue chalk sticks throwing away the dead parts and propagating the healthy parts.

I really need to address the Lions Tail but will wait till this fall to do some dead heading, I learned this from YouTube.  No it doesn't mean I will sit around smoking weed and listening to the Grateful Dead. Dead heading plants is to cut back any dead parts/flowers so that it will stimulate growth. I learned how to do it with the Lions Tail and will also figure out the best way for our Pride of Madeira and Licorice Plant. Both of those are out of control.

One thing I MUST  do in the next few weeks is to re-work my irrigation. There are a few other plants that are hanging on but for how much longer I am not sure.

We actually received some rain today, IN AUGUST!!! OK, for most everyone else it was a light sprinkle, but for us it is RAIN. We actually got more than what is in the picture, that was the beginning. Water actually came off the roof, we take what we can get.

Tonight's Sunset

Pathetic Gate

Finally we decided, OK "A", decided to get rid of the metal gate that we were using to block access to the canyon. The metal gate is actually from our other house that we dragged here in the hopes that we could still use it for something. Yep we have had it there for 5 years.

We knew that we wanted a wood gate but could not decide on how to design it. Should it be permanent, should it open, or should it just be removable. We finally decided to make it removable.

We planned on using the existing  post attached to the wall on the right then construct one to the left. My original thought was to attach the 2x4 to the patio using concrete anchors. However once I started drilling into the concrete it wasn't thick enough and was breaking. Plan B was to set the 2x4 into concrete which was really easy and it should have been plan A. We used a french cleat to hold the gate onto the posts

We wanted to use any existing wood and here is where the pathetic comes in. We wanted it light so that it would be easy when we removed it. But it also could not block a lot of wind since it was such a light gate. I could see the wind catching it and blowing it up on the deck.

We spaced the vertical pieces about 8 inches apart and with it being thin pieces the gate looks really pathetic. But it does the job and we can now get rid of the metal piece of crap.

Just don't lean on it!!!!!!

Busy or Lazy?

I would have to go with the lazy side. That's the only excuse I can come up with as to why I haven't written for over a month. Although I will say we haven't done much to write about, but still I can do better.

I share with you two projects:

1. We finally applied teak oil to our furniture in the courtyard. It was looking really ratty and was in need of some TLC

2. We lowered our bed. This thing was really high, over 31", and now it is 18". It got to where our dog could not jump up or get down without possible hurting herself. Besides I never really liked a bed that high anyway. We took off the legs of our bed frame and removed the box springs. This also had an additional bonus, without the box springs the bed is firmer.

Of course I also had to lower the lamps and now we have to figure out what to do with the box springs :(

San Diego Maritime Museum

Since it was such a nice day yesterday we wanted to get out and about so we drove down to Little Italy where we had desert and then decided to go down to the bay and walk around the waterfront. I took a few pictures of the boats on display but we didn't feel like going on any tours. Here are a few pics. If you want to learn more about the San Diego Maritime Museum go HERE.

USS Dolphin

USS Dolphin and Steam Ferry Berkley

Star of India

Star of India

Star of India

Star of India

Some cruise ship

B-39 Submarine

Fountain Tiled

Saturday I began the process of finally tiling the fountain pool.  Whenever I get that feeling that tiling isn't that bad, it only takes a few minutes of being on my knees applying mortar, bending at the waste and laying tile to bring back the phrase "this sucks".

What made this project so difficult is that the fountain is not square (of course), the floor is uneven (of course) and it slopes (of course).  Did I mention that the corners were not rounded as well?  By the time I was finishing up with the corners my "care" factor had pretty much dropped to zero.

The good news is that I already had the thin set mortar and only had to purchase the grout. I went with a light gray. I did purchase one of the scoring tile cutters and now I really wish I had done it earlier. It was SO EASY to cut the tiles. The only draw back over a wet saw is that you cant cut tile into slivers.

Not my best job, but it looks better than it did.

It's suppose to rain tonight into Thursday so I will put the fountain back into the pool and fill it up this weekend.

Tile in place

Tile in place

Grouting in process

Completed

Completed

Tree Trimming

It's been close to 4 years since I had the two eucalyptus trees trimmed and I have not had the Ash tree trimmed since we moved here 5 years ago. With one of the Eucalyptus trees rubbing the roof I knew it was time to get it done. Also with the constant wind from the canyon it has stunted the growth on the west side of the Ash tree so the canopy needed to be re-shaped.

I belong to the "next door neighbor" (think of facebook for the neighbor hood) and someone was thinking of having their trees trimmed and thought we might get a group discount. In the end  two companies called (one flaked) and one was very reasonable compared to other quotes I have received in the past. The second company was 45% higher even with their group discount. They say you get what you pay for but this is tree trimming, as long as you have a basic knowledge of trees how hard can it be?

So I went with the less expensive one, of course, and they did a wonderful job. He even trimmed my palm tree in front that had a broken palm frond from our recent rain storm.

Eucalyptus Before

Eucalyptus Before

Eucalyptus Before

Ash Before

Eucalyptus After

Eucalyptus After

Ash After