This year's additions

A passel of terra-cotta pots, some Balinese wind chimes and smaller statuary picked up at an estate sale. A couple of fig trees (small) and a dwarf variety, in pots right now, to go in the ground later. Lots of annuals for color, some more white hydrangeas to go in the ground later, a peony. Gotta plant my deep purple lilac, too, it really was the perfect dark purple.

We're having the best summer weather

The best in decades. Sun, not too much fog, and not too much wind. Downright warm. You can go outside on a sunny day without wearing a ski-suit!

We've got tons of goldfinches, lots of hummingbirds, some cedar waxwings nesting in the back tangle (saw the baby begging the mama to feed him). The Chilean Jasmine is blooming right now, roses are going strong.

Except for my long-neglected disaster, everything is good, and we're working on remedying that.

The deck now has two full coats of stain, it's drying as we speak. It's taken some weeks to scrub, dry and then stain it, but it's done, and water beads up.

The futon frame is almost all painted, and will make a nice summer daybed out there. We generally have our best time of year in Indian Summer, which is ahead of us yet.

It's encouraging. I love this time of year anyway, and this is the best year in memory.

Refinishing the deck

Scrubbing, powerwashing, hoping the weather holds, the warm (and dry) days are rare here. One quarter of the deck is restained, another quarter prepped and ready, the whole thing should be ready by the weekend, and we'll stain the rest then.

Keeping the dogs off it is almost impossible, they have (and need) free-rein in the backyard. They're liking the new space, and we're finding lots of their little hidewaways.

Clearing

It's deceptive. You can see some of the 'clearing in progress' tools in the background.

I want, I want...

Pottery Barn's current outdoor catalog is an amazing visual treat. Everything is cool, the colors are cool, the hanging bed and benches, the umbrellas...every single page, awesome!



OK, so I don't live in Oahu, and the tropical colors may not exactly work here, but the concepts, the blocks of color - get the look. And don't be afraid of color. This is as much fun as a bulb catalog. Lots of things circled.

PS: I'm liking this digital clipping. The colors won't fade like the magazine photos, and I can link to the source, or anything related.

Getting set up for backyard dining

(Martha Stewart 'Amelia Island' 6-piece dining set. Powder coated steel with e-coat primer.) Thought about a wooden picnic table but this is easier to move around, I like the glass, and the cushions, and the set up for the umbrella.

Here's the product photo...

The kids love it, the table has a turntable/lazy susan. You know, it's funny, you start thinking you need a cabinet out there to stash glasses, plates and stuff. Should probably resist that temptation.



One new challenge - how to get lighting out there. Candles aren't practical.

Another challenge, how to further screen out the neighbors. Potted bamboo? Some banners? When the jasmine fills in across the fence, it could solve the problem, but that's also a great place for the wisteria.

Trouble is, my neighbor likes tropical colors, and her paint job REALLY clashes with mine.

Switched to a black umbrella - from Ace Hardware, $30. I like the natural canvas, and the black, but not that taupe. Maybe I'll experiment with paint and stenciling on that one. Got some umbrella lights, they look like Christmas lights but are set up to run down the umbrella spines, $20. Prices on umbrellas vary widely, $1,300 to $30. Here, where it rains alot, you'll get a coupla seasons out of them, you can put them up "for the winter" but we have bursts of nice weather all year long - ahh the dilemmas! For $30 who cares?

UPDATE: Martha's stuff is usually pretty good, but that set did not hold up. It rusted, like everywhere. We can blame it on living near the coast, I guess, and the climate here, things rust. But from now on, no metal.

Solutions: Shade Sails

One possible solution to the neighbor view problem... Could look really cool, too... might be simple enough to make. Either natural canvas or experiment with colors.
One source: http://shadesales.com/

View to the greenhouse

The deck in progress. the backyard stripped. The Cat came and did 6 months worth of work in a couple of hours, stripped away blackberries with 40 foot canes, leveled ground, and cleared around the pond with that extended bucket as delicately as you can imagine. Quite a sight to see. Man and machine working as one.

Planning to put in sod. I'd seed it but I don't think that'll work with the kids and the dog. Can't keep 'em off it for that long. There will be sidewalks surrounding the grass and making a barrier between the grass and the planting beds.

IMAGINE how good this is going to look with the grass in.
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So the funny story that goes with this is - the trenches were dug for water lines, the ground was stripped, as you can see in the pic, and the gophers were a little nonplussed. You could see they'd tunneled to the  precipice of the trenches, which had interrupted their normal paths.  And one day, the kids came running in, "Mom! Mom! There's a WILD hamster in the back yard! And sure enough, there was the gopher, poking his cute little head out of a hole in the middle of that barren expanse. Not a problem - the kids laid many scrumptious offerings around his hole. What a nice surprise for him. They did quickly realize he was not, of course, a hamster after all, but it didn't matter.

It is funny that, when you think about it, many people have beloved rats for pets, and they are smart, good companions, but mostly people hate rats and devise ways to kill them. And many people have hamsters as pets, spending small fortunes for elaborate tunnel cages, with wheels and sleeping compartments, and feeding them treats, enjoying their stuffed cheeks and hoarding habits, whilst simultaneously working to eradicate the lowly gopher.  Such are the disconnects.

We like the raccoons that come, they eat the snails, and they're highly entertaining. We feed them to encourage them to stay. But try looking up how to feed raccoons, and most of what you get is how to trap and kill and eliminate them. And it is true of all the urban wildlife. We feed them, and they like it, the momma raccoon even allowed her babies to take the risk and come up on the deck. Yet we are also cognizant of the fact that it is better if they don't trust us too much, or they may think other humans are trustworthy, and the simple act of standing still as if to greet, or check to see if they are safe, will be enough to get them killed by others in the neighborhood who are not happy with their being here.

And to be fair, the neighbors have chickens, but not very sturdy chicken coops, so there is a never-ending war on raccoons.

Shed view

What color to paint the door? Green? White? Blue? Black? Red? Mural?

Went with black door. White window-pane mirror