Wabbits

We don't have the dog anymore, and the fence is secure, so I let them out of the hutch. They're living on their own in the backyard, resting in the sun, stretching their legs, digging like crazy, eating grass... they're glad to see us and come running over for treats. I was worried about the cats, but the rabbits chase the cats out of the yard (one downside, actually).

They've really reverted - marking their territory, digging those burrows, and not only chasing but attacking the cats, driving them out of the yard. They're grubby, but they are happy.

The white one died, don't know why, so we have added a big old cinammon colored flop ear.

Tip of the day: Copper to prevent moss

◼ Cleaning moss off your roof - A better roof cleaner, non-toxic oxygen bleach. This widely available powder is mixed with water and applied to a cool roof surface, preferably on an overcast day. If you keep the roof surface wet with the solution for just 20 minutes, and then lightly scrub the roof surface, the algae almost always comes off. Severely stained roofs may require multiple applications of the oxygen bleach solution. The solution also helps to loosen the grip of the shallow moss roots.

THEN: Here is an easy way to keep your roof shingles free from moss, algae and mildew. Once the roof is clean you can hinder moss and algae growth by introducing COPPER onto the roof surface.Visit a roofing supply company that sells tin, copper and galvanized metal products to residential roofers. Often these companies sell rolls of copper that can be cut into long strips. I like to cut strips that are 5 or 6 inches wide and are ten feet long. Using a metal brake tool, I put a 20 degree bend one-half inch in from the edge on one of the long sides of the copper strip. This bend eliminates unsightly waviness that often develops as you cut the copper with a tin snips.

Place these strips of copper near the top of the roof. Slide the unbent edge up under a row of shingles so that the bent edge and 4 inches of copper is exposed to the weather. Each time it rains some copper molecules wash down onto the roof and create a poisoned environment that both the moss and algae dislike. Be patient as the copper eventually will turn a distinctive dark brown and then the classic green color. If you getting ready to install a new asphalt shingle roof, be sure to buy shingles that have copper hidden in the colored ceramic granules.

...The copper material works far better to poison roofs than zinc. Zinc is indeed effective, but copper tends to do a better job for a longer period of time. The copper strips are easy to install and they tend to blend into the roof once the shiny copper begins to oxidize and turn the distinctive dark brown.

Problems and Solutions

The Problem: (My Friend's House) What can be done with the exposed propane tank/wood storage and potting area off the garage. It has to stay, but it is an eyesore, and this is a place that hosts alot of outdoor parties and weddings. The garage remains as part of the house before the remodel and needs updating. Solution: Disguise it with a pergola, with lattice panels to allow airflow, a big winery style door to allow access, nice big beefy beams, with a butterfly garden in front. Pick up the eyebrow details from the rest of the house. Color sketch.
Side view (Lakeside) Other side view. Pergola rises above the existing shed roof, disguises it and works with it. (This project was completed, they chose not to paint the pergola and lattice white, but kept it rustic.)
The inspiration.

(I'll add names. locations and details at some point in the future. For now I am just keeping things generic.) click images to enlarge

Finished pics:

More to come.

It's snowing!

Again. This storm out of Alaska is bringing snow to the north coast. For the second year in a row. Though this is normally a rare occurrence.

We're keeping the bird feeders filled, suet out, and brought the rabbit inside.

Badger's Passing

Our eyes hurt from crying. I promised I would not allow him to suffer, and he clearly had reached that point. An agonizing, but right decision had to be made. Release from pain and a body that had failed. Sleep, and dreaming of chasing rabbits, and who knows, maybe caribou.

May his next life be the step up he deserves.

Stupendous weather.

Two gorgeous warm sunny days in a row. A break from the rain and fog. Hot enough the kids wanted to run through the sprinklers. Not unexpected, we get nice long Indian summers usually, or real bad storms are late Dec. through Mar. I'd say.

gam zeh ya'avor

This too shall pass.

We wonder what the world will be like in a few years. I always wondered/worried about what kind of world I was bringing kids into, and what we would be passing down to them. Just when it seemed we were handing them a brighter world, all certainty has been removed. And the worst part is, they have voted it on on themselves. we have no say. All we can do is live with it.

I believe this election heralds the decimation of wealth, the restriction of freedoms, a turn towards the Nanny State at best, fascism at worst, and entitlement socialist society. Nothing like the world I want to live in. It is depressing beyond imagination.

Aside from that, I intend this to be a politics free space.

We're having a horrible mosquito year.

Never seen anything like it. Black swarms, like passenger pigeons, all hanging out at dusk above the vegetation, hovering alongside the eaves, getting in the house (down the chimney we think, started burning citronella candles in the fireplace 24/7) The whole town is affected.

Have fish and mosquito dunk in all the ponds in the neighborhood, and we all know it isn't us since the problem extends for miles around us. The odd thing is - West Nile Virus was the HOT TOPIC for the last few years running, with all kinds of alerts and warnings, and this year, nothing, and it is the worst year for mosquitoes in history.

My observation, having been up for hours killing mosquitoes in the house at night - they hunt in pairs. It's eerie.


☛ Mosquito Sources in your Backyard
☛ Are You a Mosquito Magnet?
☛ West Nile Virus Basics
☛ Vaccines of the Future Could be Delivered by Mosquitoes
☛ link

clearing

Made a small bit of progress this last weekend, finally getting around to clearing out the garden area between the greenhouse and the shed - where everything got dumped last summer, and then became completely overgrown with berry vines and grass and weeds. Another day should completely clear it out - then the objective would be to KEEP it clear.

So far, the area around the deck is staying together, so if I can move that repair effort outward, and keep it up, things should get back to where they were 5 years ago. BEFORE the neglect.

I am also going to buy some pond liner and redo the pond area. Make the pond bigger, all one piece. Pond liner is between $300 and $500 for a 20x25 piece (45 mil) EPDM.

I'll deal with a pump later.

The Getty

This weekend Arny visited on his way back from San Diego. He's flying out of SF today to Tibet where he's completing his senior field research on Tibetan education. I took him to the Getty, a museum near campus with really beautiful architecture & gardens. The pic above is a view of the garden area from above.
Below is a picture of these tree-like structures they've created out of rebar that are covered with these flowers. They had a couple with multicolored flowers like this, and some with only red.


The museum is up on a hill on the edge of LA looking out over the entire city. Unfortunately we were there on a foggy day but when it's sunny and clear you can see all the way to Ocean. If you come down and visit it's definitely one of the places I'd take you.

I'm done with finals and looking forward to two weeks of freedom before fall quarter starts. Hope all is well at home.
With Love,
Kelsey

My First Garden

After set up our new furniture and stocking the kitchen we decided to make use of our (fairly small) balcony and start a miniature garden. This started as a trip to get just the most basic cooking herbs: basil, thyme, rosemary and oregano. From there we decided to look for a couple of house plants and maybe some flowers. It's possible we got a little carried away, but we ended up with 8 herbs: basil, lemon basil, oregano, French thyme, sage, parsley, cilantro, and rosemary. Although some may be unnecessary, we're both excited to incorporate these fresh homegrown herbs into our cooking. Here are the many herbs we picked out: (to be transplanted to various pots this weekend)

I picked out one flower to sit on our outside table (visible in the picture) but I'm not really sure of it's name. I love the deep purple and delicate flower but admit to being concerned that I have no idea how big this will get or how needy it'll become. At this point it looks nice on the table, which is all I'm asking for.



Lastly, we picked out 2 things for inside the apartment. Both are very small and will hopefully grow fairly well over the next year that we're here. We'd like to have a few bigger house plants but right now they don't fit into our budget... so we're counting on these growing into the plants we had in mind.

The weather has been low to mid 80s all week and we're getting a lot of afternoon sun on the balcony. As long as we keep them watered I think we'll be set. Maybe we should have started with 1 and waited to see if we could keep it alive before buying a dozen plants but so far they're looking pretty good. Any advice?

The First Party on the Deck

Last night we had the first party on the deck, with the barbeque, the umbrella all lit up, candles in hurricane glass, the fire pit in the patio area below, 28 people altogether. Way too much food. Kids roasted marshmallows and made smores.

I'm 50 and it's the first time I've really done this. How did that happen.

Anyway, it's devastation out there this morning. :)

The only real problem is I need serving/side table for occasions like that, a folding table with a white tablecloth, because the food took up all the room on the table, even with a couple of smaller tables holding the chips and dip, the baker's rack holding the watermelon and incidentals and the serving cart holding the drinks, plates and cups etc.

All in all, a good day the whole family together including my sister and her family and my parents, all of our kids, with two of them leaving for LA today.

Progress

of sorts. Once again I find I am digging my way out of the backyard disaster - Last year it was stripped and clear and ready for sod, and we didn't do it and now it is growing in, the nice clover has dried out in the heat and been replaced with what I call knotweed, with berry vines and tall grass, too tall to cut with the mower, a job for the weedeater. Not as bad as it was last year prior to the stripping, but on its way.

I have control over a small area, and I am starting from the deck and moving out. With a hoe, shovel and rake. At this point, my plan is to clear out the edges, and get the Nursery landscapers in to take care of stripping the center, laying the sprinkler system, putting in the perimeter (sidewalks or mowing strip) and laying sod.

THEN, it will be done and be a simple matter of mowing, something I used to be able to keep under control.

THEN, I can tackle each of the side areas, the garden by the greenhouse, the area a round the playset, the back area where the secret garden will someday go, and little by little, it will become what I have envisioned and planned for.

Today, I re-cleared the area which will be a patio just below the deck where the firepit and chairs will sit. I bought benderboard (expensive sh-t) and blocked it off.

The skies are still hazy from smoke, though it seemed the inversion layer lifted late in the day and we actually had clear blue sky. Temps up to 80 in the shade again. No records were set.

What's blooming? - roses, the styrax, watsonias are about done, poppies, daylilies, passionvine, the mockorange... crocosmia is starting...

(Update: I got sidetracked and it got away from me again, so I'm digging it out AGAIN, years later)

Beauty.

I have Pink jasmine planted all over. Climbing fences, on the shed... evergreen, flowers profusely, smells amazing.
from Wikipedia: Jasminum polyanthum is well-known as a house plant in the USA and Europe. It can also grow in the garden, when climate conditions are good. USDA hardiness zones: 8 - 11. It grows fast and easy and flowers nicely[1]. Outside it can be used to cover walls and fences etc. It can grow in sun and light shade as well. It is propagated by seed and by suckers. Jasminum polyanthum was given the Award of Garden Merit (AGM) by the RHS in 1993[2]. It was chosen on the Bicentenary list of 200 plants for the RHS: “This popular houseplant is an easily-grown, evergreen, half-hardy climber with loose panicles in summer of many strongly-fragrant pink-backed, white, trumpet-shaped flowers. It does not suffer pest or disease problems and is simple to propagate.”[3]

I wouldn't have believed that at first, then one day I found I had a bunch of layered rootings in the bark around the kids play structure, which was cool, because it meant a bunch of baby jasmine for friends...now a few years later as I am weeding I find not only layered rootings but what resembles extensive electrical wiring - like cables funning along the fence line, just tons and tons of shooting runners, very difficult to control. I don't know if it's just due to benign neglect, and that if you stayed on top of it you wouldn't have this problem, or whether it is, as they say, hugely invasive.

I still love it, it's just not as simple to control either the top growth or the runners as it seems at first.