beer, sweat, and a near-miss with a nail gun

First on the scene of weekend duties was the nail gun. Who knew that nail guns could be dangerous {snort with one raised eyebrow}. It was "just" a near-miss to the finger with a negligible nick, but it still counts, right? Stop your gasping...it wasn't me. My DH, aka the engineer-work-horse, constructed a frame for a concrete footing and poured concrete this weekend.



Then came the amber-colored liquid and sweat. Did you know it takes more than a six-pack to move (many times between purchasing and pouring), mix, pour, and finish 48 - 60 pound bags of concrete?




One step closer to having the front "yard" becoming eye-catching instead of an eye-sore. Our neighbors have so much patience. In addition, we have a seven-year-old budding-engineer neighbor who bombarded him with questions and observations several times during the day. Contrary to what you might think, he throughly enjoyed nourishing her quest of knowledge.

citrus squeeze

While there are many folks knee-deep (or deeper) in snow right now, I am reminded by the occasional dropped, over-ripe fruit on the ground and new, white blossoms on the branches to finish up the harvest of Meyer lemons. This year the two trees have produced only about four grocery-sized bags of marvelous nourishment. I attribute the low crop numbers to the construction around them this last year, since we ripped out the inefficient water system and the poor things have had to rely on my memory to receive moisture during the hot summer months. The fruit is smaller than normal--they are the size of lemons that one would find in stores (wimpy), but my normal is the size of a small orange (23 cm/9 inches) or larger. An average year, my harvest equals six to eight bags of lemons.

These three packages of golden goodness will be delivered to grateful recipients tomorrow. I see lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon sorbet, and lemon-thyme chicken on the horizon.

Need more ideas for Meyer lemons? Check out this.

a long winter's day

Having lived my life not (and this by purposeful design) in the byway of hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, or monsoons, I was quite impressed by the up-to-75 mph winds and heavy rain of two inches yesterday here in northern California. We have underground power lines, which protected us against power outages, but our fence took a beating. It has been on our very long list of things to replace, but, as a friend pointed out to us recently, we have a lot of "irons in the fire," so we have put off this task of the fence the past few years. It is (was) quite a distance down on our list of "wants" and "needs."

Don't you find that the line blurs between "wants" and "needs" sometimes? For instance, I want a new stove. The one I have isn't broken, per say, except that it is a low-end model that doesn't put out enough BTU's to heat pans at the temperature we want, has only four burners, has an oven which heats at a different temperature than is indicated by the dial, and is white with a black front. One of the best satisfying qualities of the stove is it's gas, not electric. I know what you are thinking...it still works, right? Sure, it works. Did you read my list of issues about it? Read it again carefully. It takes forever to heat a large pan/pot. It has only four burners. Anyone who does much cooking could see the need for at least five (I'm shooting for six) burners. What about large pots? Two burners can be covered by a large canning pot, which leaves only two other burners. Unacceptable. Baking usually requires even temperatures throughout an oven. In my oven, the back is hotter than the front, the temperature setting is 25 degrees off the oven temperature, and in order to "turn" the light on one has to open the door, causing precious heat to escape. It becomes a complex dance of timing and numbers to bake. Granted, the color of my stove could be the avocado green or gold of the 70's (I shudder at the thought personally), but the white looks...well, white and blah and average. The door is black glass, which makes it look like a replacement door. My "want" has so possessed me that it has become a "need." Here we have a fence down and we were out today looking (just looking) at new stoves.

Humm, I believe we have enough steel posts to temporarily put up the fence panels that fell. That should hold it for another year or two. Yes, I believe we can still keep the fence down on the list in the "want" category, while moving up the stove to "need."

prep work

In preparing for winter storms, the wisteria, which had begun its hostile takeover of the roof, got a "crew cut" and {be still my heart} the gutters got cleaned out. That's the daughter on the roof...gravity and I are not on friendly terms.

The dismantling has begun on the elimination of the fire place. For some folks, this would be akin to removing the furnace, but here in such a moderate climate, it's not necessary to have such a structure. Its inefficiency, the air pollution, the wasted space inside the house, and the coming local restrictions on its use were part of the equation we looked at. The entire wall, which is "floating" in the middle of the room, will be removed this spring, opening up the house.

Sidewalks were cut and drains connected to downspouts and the back yard are being placed to exit directly into the gutters.



The destruction, reconstruction, and design are compliments of my wonderful engineering nerd (or as I like to call him: "engi-nerd") husband. He does top notch work and is a stickler for details.

Building, creating, watching items fill up a space in a useful manner has also been in my "engi-nerd's" schedule. Just a note: these "building" photos below have been taken place over this last summer--he's good, but is not able to leap over tall buildings in a single bound. Building takes more time than demolition work. It's an art. Oh, and no, don't panic at the rock and plain cinder block...it's not done yet.

with the rain comes...

• More birds at the feeders, busy on eating and not paying attention to the cats. Da Vinci, who we would not label as "gifted", caught a male finch (notice the red tones on the birds belly which is in the cat's mouth). A side note: the feeder is six feet from the ground (he jumped up to it in order to catch the bird, evidenced by the swaying of the feeder) and he has no front claws. Da Vinci, being the good cat he is, brought it to the screen door for me. Special, right? I managed to take a quick picture of the event, quickly pried the bird gently out of his mouth--much to his agitation--, held it for a minute or so while I brushed away feathers that had been dislodged by the cat (as the feathers floated down, the cats ate them--yes, ate them) and checked for bleeding (what would I have done if I had found any blood I don't know, yet I looked for injuries anyway), opened my hands, and the poor thing flew off.

• Cooler, wetter weather bringing out blooms again from plants which conserved energy over the hot summer months by not blooming.

• Compost bugs, crawling out of the compost bin. I know the compost should be warm enough with, well, composting, that there should not be bugs inside, yet this is what I have. They help break down the kitchen green waste and eventually move on into their place in the food chain.

structure of autumn

Looking at the coming months of cooler to cold weather, my thoughts and actions have been focused inside. For me, autumn is the time to do the major cleaning and gleaning of files, drawers, closets, and boxes. The clutter and collections of the warmer months are mocking me from the desk, bookshelves, and wardrobe. I don't want to be inside with the approaching days of less light, living with the carefree disorder of summer.

early fall days

The garden continues to produce the most delicious foods.

Drainage around the house should be installed this weekend. The clay soil resists attempts to tame it.

naked ladies dancing in the garden

There are naked ladies dancing in the garden! Bulbs, corms, and such are just wonderful additions to a yard or garden. They surprise the viewer with a varied pallet throughout the growing season.

This particular bulb is really not an Amaryllis belladonna, but a Hippeastrum. However, I still love the name of "naked ladies" so I will continue to call them such. Don't you love the horticulture business that just assigns names to plants incorrectly? No wonder so many people are confused about what to plant, why it didn't grow, or grew to twice the size it was supposed to. Grrrr. All I can say is to take that handy plant identification book with you when you are choosing landscaping. Think carefully. Do research.

Enjoy my pictures. Don't they remind you of the plant on "Little Shop of Horrors"?

welcome to my world!

I introduce to you: da Vinci with the look of trouble.

Da Vinci's footprints to the right as he makes his great escape through the mud this morning to the up-righted pallet leaning against the fence, which acts like a ramp for just such an occasion. On the other side: paradise--two foot tall green grass to graze. My footprint to the left as I follow in hot pursuit trying in desperation to catch him before he sails over the fence, all the while calling frantically "kitten, kitten" like a crazed woman, still in pajamas and sporting "morning hair". Now, he loves the outdoors but he is not the brightest cat and I'm afraid he would forget where he is and that he has a home. This is the cat who will watch you walk through the room but instead of turning his head, will drop his head back, watching you upside down. This is the cat who climbs ladders like we walk up stairs...yes, ladders. This is the cat who can open the front door (we have a handle that pulls down to open...not a doorknob) by jumping up, tapping, and hanging on the handle. This is the cat who will stop everything to be brushed...and brushed...and brushed. This is the cat who eats my sweaters...eats my wool. I'm afraid to put him with sheep.

The wisteria is taking over the side of the house. Check out the fantastic shade it's providing. (This is directed to my daughter who wished for something green and alive on that side of the house when she was at home.)

Oh, the thrill! Oh, the joy! Tomatoes are growing! Sweet summer is approaching with the taste of fresh produce from the garden.