Botanical Garden

As we close in on the last major part of this courtyard project, the plants, we took an inspiration trip to The Water Conservation Garden at Cuyamaca College. Many of our plants are either native to the region or are drought tolerant, which is what we wanted. However we also did not want it to look like an Arizona yard that was all rocks and cactus.

In our design we have 40 plus types of plants that cover a wide spectrum of colors. Included in the photos below are some of the plants.

Heavenly Bamboo

Crepe Myrtle (this one might be on the chopping block)

Japanese Boxwood. Between the patio and house.

Mexican Sage

Aeonium

Echeveria Afterglow

Sticks on Fire

This is not going in the garden but I thought the cork tree was kinda cool. This is what  they make wine corks out of.

 They had six types of grass and how much water each type used in a year..

 I could not pass up a chance to take a photo of a humming bird. We hope to have many of them in our garden.

We do have a lot of these guys and he was just posing for me.

Courtyard project 3, 4 and 5

Been a few weeks since I last wrote about our project and a lot has been accomplished. We installed the conduit for the water and electrical, laid the pavers, put the locking sand in the joints, and installed the fountain.

We began on Thursday Sept 1st laying the pavers and it took that day and all day Friday.  On Saturday I had to exchange the rental car for a and truck then go to Home Depot to pick up the tile saw. I arrived back home around 1030 and our friends who were helping out had already arrived.  All day Saturday I cut the pavers and they marked and laid them.  Everything went fairly smooth until around 7pm. We were losing day light and were almost done with the cuts. Apparently you cannot do loud construction after 7pm, as one of my neighbors so "eloquently" discussed with me. So that day ended on a sour note.

On the bright side we were able to find enough left over cuts to cover the remaining three or four spots. We also had around 440 bricks and 1 2/3rd bags of sand left over.  We gave away the sand and sold the bricks for .33 each. Not bad because I did not have to load them and take them back to HD.

I got the interlocking sand at HD just as the GREAT BLACKOUT descended on San Diego. Needless to say we persevered, got the sand spread out and watered down.

The only big problem is there is now a haze on the bricks from the sand but we think we have the solution.... vinegar!!!! Yes will solve just about all your problems.  Stay tuned for that.

Last but not least, we painted on the water proof paint and set up the fountain.  It works like a charm, however we will probably need to paint the inside as it is too white.  Also we must figure out what type of cap to put on the ledge.

Installing that fountain was a bear because the main bowl weighs between 150 and 200 lbs (Solid concrete).

Sorry for the herky jerky of the video but I had to time lapse it otherwise you would have to sit through about 7 minutes of video.

Sh*! Happens

So there I was, minding my own damn bidness, driving home on I-8 when the car in front of me gets cut off. They slam on their brakes and then I slam on mine, however I am not so lucky and I then slam into them. BUMMER!


It has been over 24 years since I had an accident. Not the way I wanted to start off my courtyard project. Tomorrow morning we will have the pavers and sand delivered and begin laying our 2,500 bricks. I don't really think we will use all 2,500.

So tomorrow the tow truck will come and I will need to get a rental car. I guess the good thing about it is that USAA is really good, they set up the tow/car rental/repair and all was done within 15 minutes. Since it has been a long time since I had a wreck I am not sure how it usually goes. But I do remember that the last time State Farm Insurance was really good too.

I can't really drive it because the bumper is pushed into the wheel. I was able to make it home but that was about it. In the end we exchange information and no one was injured.

The courtyard part 2 (being lazy)

Having a water feature was important to us and I really wanted to have more than just a small fountain. We decided to take a regular fountain and set it into a base pond. I had planned on building it myself and last Sunday we were mapping it out. I was going to pour a concrete pad reinforced with re-bar and then build the walls using cinder block.

As we were planning Matt, the concrete guy, stopped by to pick up the rest of his equipment and asked what we were planning. After we told him he suggested using a single poured in place concrete container. He said that we would have a hard time keeping the cinder block waterproofed. He gave me a general idea of how to do it. As I looked more I came to the realization that I probably could do it but there was a good chance I would screw it up.

So I took the easy way and asked him to do it. They arrived this morning and completed it by the time I got home. It was worth the money.The footing is 10" deep and the pool measures 50"x50" on the inside and the walls are 6" thick. It stands approx 20" from the dirt. There is definitely something to be said in having other people do the hard work ☺

We will then stucco the outside and use a sealer on the inside (white). On top we will cap it with a 8" paver that will complement the courtyard floor. After the bricks/sand and caps are completed we hope it will be around 16 or 17 inches high, perfect to sit on and put your feet in the fountain.

September 1st the pavers will be delivered and we are both taking of Thursday and Friday to complete it.

The courtyard part 1

This weekend we finally took a huge step towards the completion of the courtyard. The biggest obstacle was the cost of digging and prepping for the pavers that we wanted to install. After getting two quotes, I did a little research and found that Bobcat has a walk behind digger that can fit through an opening as narrow as 36".  The rental cost was $150 a day and I estimated that it would take me about two days to complete the digging. Then I would have the base material trucked in and pack it down with a vibration plate.

Last Thursday I received a call from Matt Agundez (Agundez concrete) asking if I had decided what I wanted to do. I explained that I was going to dig it out myself and he was leery of that idea. His quote was higher than last year when we asked him and I did not want to pay the higher amount. After a little back and forth he agreed to charge what he quoted last year and they started the next day.

I originally wanted to use him because he has done two other projects for me and he does good work. In the end I am glad I did not try this myself. It took three guys two full days to complete this, using a jackhammer and pick axes. I do not think the walk behind Bobcat would have had enough power and weight to get through the clay soil. I had no idea where to dump it either. It took three dump truck loads to empty the courtyard. Also there were many dead iron pipes that had to be removed and one live water copper pipe that had to be cut and capped.

Sunset

There are some things that you just have to share. Tonight was a beautiful sunset with a sliver of moon. We have been getting muggy weather with the monsoon pushing in and the last few days have been cloudy. but tonight was really nice.

Update

The last few weeks have been very busy. We have painted all the interior doors, completed the thresholds, Installed a ceiling fan, finished the office bathroom floor, and did a brake job.

First order of business was to complete the office bathroom floor by grouting. Not that hard and was completed withing a few hours.

Two weeks ago my brother came out for a visit and thankfully he is just as handy as we are so many projects were slated. The most important was to paint all the interior doors, thirteen of them. Normally I would have to paint by hand, however my brother has a professional spray paint gun and we actually completed the painting in half a day. That includes removing and prepping.

We changed all the outlets and receptacles from the awful "biscuit, almond, or whatever" color you want to call them to a nice white. Once again thanks to my brother who is also a fine electrician. There were two times when jumpers needed to be changed inside the switches and receptacle that I would not have known needed to be changed in order for a certain configuration to work.

My brakes on the truck were done and I had scheduled an appointment with Toyota for a front brake job. Approx cost $240.  But my brother is a motor head too and taught me how to change the brakes. It was so freaking easy!!! Total cost approx $50!  I will never pay to have the brakes done again. 

Thresholds were completed along with a few door cuts since the floor height was raised considerably.

All in all it has been a busy few weeks. Whew!!!!