From stalwart commentor Mary G:
Some photos of phase 1 of my front yard rehab. Spent some money on the big and unusually colored plants, but most were grown from babies (cuttings, leaves, $1.99 2 inch pots from Lowe’s, and from sales of the OC Cactus and Succulent Society) by me.
The design and installation was done by my housemate B with very little input from me except pictures before he started.
The wood is from a ficus tree right next to the house that was chopped six years ago and never gotten rid of. I wanted to buy a big hunk of driftwood, but since California’s rivers and creeks are lined with concrete now, it costs between $150-$500, so it’s out of reach.
The cactus and stapelia in the pots on the bricks are my babies – the only survivors of hundreds of seeds I started and didn’t take good enough care of. The strawberry under the table planted itself from a runner – it gets no sun at all, but grows anyway.
Next phase is rehab of the front entry (it had to fall to the jackhammer to get rid of the Orangeburg pipe) as well as a new concrete pathway across the yard so I can get to the side gate in my wheelchair. Then to the building supply for more rocks.
***********
What’s going on in your garden(s) this week?
Sab
Four inches of snow.
Jeff
Now that it has cooled off and rained a bit I have a bumper crop of arugula. Made Italian wedding soup with some of it Friday. What I’ll do with the rest of it is a puzzlement. It dies to the ground for the winter. Some of the roots make it through if it is mild enough or covered with snow during hard freezes. In the spring it come back up and flowers putting on a nice display and giving me seeds for the Fall to plant again.
Keith P.
Bleh…cat was acting funny all night, digging through my office closet. Then, I got woken up by commotion at 4am. Kitty found a rat in the house (cold weather sends them in, I guess). Spent the last 1/2 hour chasing it from behind a dresser to behind a bedside table to into the bathroom. The whole time, I can’t get my cat to realize the rat moved spots, so I’m trying to flush it while my cat is flushing where it *used* to be. Damn thing managed to get into my bathroom before vanishing into a cabinet.
FWIW, around this time last year, I had a rank smell in my hallway that turned out to be a dead rat she got and deposited in a dark spot. Clever beast.
NeenerNeener
The snow we were supposed to get after midnight never happened, but rain did, and I found out that the big-ish bucks I spent last week on having my yard regraded and a downspout buried didn’t fix the leak in the foundation under my dining room window. Damn. So I guess it’s time to call the concrete guy and have him jackhammer the basement floor to install new drainage, another big-ish expense. Ugh.
bemused
I have really grown fond of ornamental cabbage. When my perennials have lost their flowers, turned to seed in the fall and all vegetation in the yard is brown, the brilliant hot pink cabbage really stand out. I planted more ornamental cabbage this spring, in the foreground of a bee balm patch at our entry and lining a sidewalk. It made me so happy to see them every time I entered the house all fall right up until last Friday when they got buried by 20 inches of snow.
Zinsky
Outdoor gardening now in dormant mode for another five months or so here in Minnesota. I plan to use the winter months to clean up and organize the house now that we are finally (fingers crossed) empty nesters, winnow my coin collection and begin arranging my finances for a planned early retirement in two years.
OzarkHillbilly
Looking good Mary G, very good. It takes a true artist to garden in the conditions you have. I can hardly wait for the updates in years to come.
OzarkHillbilly
@Keith P.: I hate rats.
@NeenerNeener: I assume your gutters are in good shape and don’t clog up..
JPL
Mary, Thanks for the pictures and I really enjoy the Sunday morning garden pictures.
@Keith P.: That is not fun. When we lived in CT decades ago, our house was inhabited with mice. We trapped over a dozen, and sealed entrance points around the perimeter of the house. Then a stray cat appeared and saved the day.
rikyrah
Morning, Everyon???
rikyrah
The pictures are beautiful
OzarkHillbilly
@JPL: My buddy’s barn was infested with mice. He was trapping up to 20 mice a day. A couple of the sill beams we tore out, mice came streaming out of them when we ripped them open (the chickens went crazy trying to get them). Then he got 2 cats. Now he can go a whole week without trapping a mouse.
My wife complains about our cat constantly (personality conflict I think)(and it absolutely adores her) but I never hear a mouse more than once.
raven
Very nice, it was dark when we got home but, since it hasn’t rained in months, not much is probably happening.
Morzer
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/11/16/the-gop-s-anti-lgbt-anti-women-religious-freedom-law-on-steroids.html?source=TDB&via=FB_Page
Keith P.
@OzarkHillbilly: I had a house in Austin with a bad rat problem. My roommate would have dreams of them in his bed, and one night before going to sleep, he pulled his sheets, and a rat shot out. Our landlord had traps put around the house, and we were filling them (5 or so) daily. Once, I set one in the backyard, and it tripped while I was walking away from it.
In hindsight, it would have been easier to just get a mouser. My current cat (small, shy female) is an absolute beast when it comes to killing critters, particularly lizards and rats. It’s great for her self-esteem.
BillinGlendaleCA
@OzarkHillbilly: Except for the lack of water*, we have pretty much a year round growing season. I’ve got annuals that I’ve had for several years.
*I’ve noticed some water falling from the sky on my outside camera.
OzarkHillbilly
@Keith P.: During WW II bomber crews sometimes slept in their planes in case of an impending attack and they had to take off. My old man woke up one night and found himself eyeball to eyeball with a rat. He had just enuf time to realize what it was and then it bit him right on his somewhat prodigious nose. The rabies shots protocol was far worse than the bite.
I’ve always felt he should have gotten a Purple Heart for that wound. After all, we were at war with rats long before the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor.
Calming Influence
Still quite dark in the Pacific NorthWest. I’m going to start some catnip and peppers (both like to started in the fall).in the greenhouse.
NeenerNeener
@OzarkHillbilly: Yep, gutters are reasonably new (2005) and were professionally cleaned on Friday.
Baud
Very nice, Mary.
@Morzer: Emails.
OzarkHillbilly
@NeenerNeener: OK, just making sure. It’s like the guy who can’t understand why his brand new car stalled on the highway. He had it towed to back to the dealer where they put a few gallons of gas in it and it started right up.
MomSense
@Morzer:
Wow I’m so glad we didn’t elect a president who emailed with a private server. Dodged a bullet on that one.
Iowa Old Lady
@Keith P.: We’re in our annual fall battle with the mice who come in from the corn field behind the house. Your story made my skin crawl. And my son is allergic to cats.
Patricia Kayden
@Sab: Yikes!! I love looking at snow from the coziness of my house but hate it otherwise.
Immanentize
Hello All. It is about 50 near Boston and misting. We are headining into a week which will see some night freezes. But we still have leaves on the trees. My veggie garden is all ripped out and I had some stumps ground out from tree removals earlier in the year. In short, the yard is a wreck. Well. The snow will cover it soon enough. Then it’s a rebuilding year for 2017 (absent needing to put in a bomb shelter)
Mary G. I love the succulents. Very nice.
Morzer
@MomSense:
We certainly elected a thin-skinned Christo-fascist VP who has already tried to do this vicious crap in Indiana. I wonder how many Democrats will discover an ability to normalize the new bigotry.
Patricia Kayden
@Keith P.: For a couple of years we had a huge problem with mice. Now that we have dogs, I haven’t seen them anymore. Thankfully.
P.S. They’re kind of cute but you just don’t want random little creatures running around your house eating crumbs and using the bathroom everywhere.
Patricia Kayden
@Morzer: Let’s see if Democrats in the Senate fight this tooth and nail. Or if they roll over. This needs to be filibustered in such a fashion that Republicans table all similar discriminatory bills.
Wonder what gays who supported Trump (like Peter Thiel) have to say now. They supported a man who is eager to please the rabidly homophobic Evangelicals. FADA is the natural result of supporting Trump/Pence.
raven
The garden ain’t much but the are some decent trees.
Morzer
@Patricia Kayden:
Too many people seem to assume that McConnell won’t just kill the filibuster. I suspect he will and is ready to gamble on massive vote suppression measures to lock in white male Christo-fascist domination for the foreseeable future. And, of course, the media will rush forward to lap up whatever justifications the Trumpzis care to offer.
raven
Our neighbors trees but our house.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Patricia Kayden:
Oh, you know the answer to that; IGMFY.
@Baud: I hope you don’t have a private email server, or use email; that could seriously impact Baud!2020!.
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: Nice. How’s the wife?
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Your flowers never rest?
raven
@OzarkHillbilly: We’re waiting until the Ortho walk-in opens at 10, we can walk there and see what the deal is.
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Not sure if it’s fake news or not, but the man my nephews consider a genius should be added to that group.
debbie
@raven:
Good luck. I hope they’re able to help your bride speedily. Pain sucks.
Baud
@Morzer: I’m just glad to see the GOP finally addressing people’s economic anxiety.
Morzer
@debbie:
Apparently he’s just denounced Beyonce and stormed off stage after performing just three songs, leaving a lot of very angry and ripped-off fans behind.
I guess the Yes We Kanye 2020 bandwagon is a pretty lonely place right now.
Schlemazel
@Patricia Kayden:
Theil, like all white Trump supporters, believes this shit does not apply to them. In most cases simply because they are white & straight. In Theil’s case because he is wealthy and can buy whatever dispensations he needs.
debbie
@Morzer:
He’s definitely got the Trumpster attitude and temperament down.
debbie
@Schlemazel:
Yep. I’ve got a very observant Jewish nephew who is convinced Bannon and Spencer speak to him and his concerns. How do you fight self-delusion?
Baud
@debbie: Grifters of the world unite!
OzarkHillbilly
@raven: I take it.the pain is within reasonable bounds then. Keepin the fingers crossed.
Baud
@debbie: What are his concerns?
MomSense
Have lots to do to catch up today. Picked up my son from college to bring him home for break and got to spend some time with his friends. Saw Fantastic Beasts and enjoyed some nice walks and talks with his group of friends. Bunch of kids were planning to spend Tgiving at school instead of home with trump parents. They are bringing their sleeping bags and coming to my house instead. Should be a chaotic and happy weekend.
Schlemazel
Generally I am not a fan of they dry climate gardens But that front corner looks like it is going to be very lovely when it fills in, nice work by B, thanks for sharing mary g
We had out first snow of the season this week, without having a frost. I have 4 hydrangea bushes I want ot relocate & was planning on doing that when they were dormant. The leaves were still green as the snow fell. The snow all melted but it is going to be cold. I may try to start moving them today. If not next weekend I guess.
JMG
@MomSense: Sounds like fun. Just me and wife Alice for Thanksgiving this year, although friends are having a day after party on Friday.
Morzer
@debbie:
Medication or a baseball bat. Failing those, move to another country and deny that you ever knew him.
Schlemazel
@debbie:
I’d suggest sending him britbart links every chance you can. Maybe suggest he read some of the comments there & on stormfront. mostly though there is not much you can do. The FADA does not mentions Jews particularly so he probably thinks they don’t mean him. We could hope that despite the dingbats left alive on the bench that three would be 5 justices smart enough to rule the act is unconstitutional. None of them are old enough to really remember when Catholics were considered ‘unclean’ and one of the ‘3 Ks’ of the KKK
WereBear
@Sab: Us too. Still coming down.
Hal
Josh Barro had a stand alone tweet yesterday that all at once made me sad and laugh at the same time:
Morzer
@Hal:
Shouldn’t that be the Donald J Trump Presidential Library Burning?
Eric S.
It’s below freezing in Chicago. My jalapeño and habanero plants both have flower buds on them though. I brought then inside and put them under a grow light to see if I can get another harvest. I’ve not had good luck with indoor plants though.
Dog Mom
@Morzer: Couple of thoughts here in no particular order. This sucks, but it provides great cover for the shakedown – need to fight both. We need to get religious leaders to stand up to this. We need to get the congress jerks to discuss on record why we ‘need’ this legislation and why its not a jobs bill.
Patricia Kayden
@Hal: How can Trump monetize a presidential library? I can’t see him interested in one otherwise.
In 2000, Trump mused about making $$$ off a presidential campaign. His dreams are now coming true.
Schlemazel
@Dog Mom:
Haven’t you heard? Unemployment is DOWN to 4% since Trump got elected, inflation is under control and The deficit is being taken care of! Trump is so powerful that just being President-Elect he has already made great gains
OzarkHillbilly
@debbie: I am reminded of the old hillbilly who always carried a 2×4 in his wagon. First thing he’d do before getting in the seat is take the 2×4 and whack his mule right across the nose with it. When asked why he said, “First thing you have to do is get their attention.”
Trump has already installed the first 2×4 in his white house. Pretty sure he’ll get your nephew’s attention real soon.
Eric S.
@Keith P.: I’m on the 3rd and top floor of a walk up. The rats escaping the cold are much more likely on the ground floors. Still, I’ve made a deal with the cat that he doesn’t have to catch any critters but to make sure he chases them out of our unit. So far so good. The only thing to get in the house beside bugs was a sparrow that the cat caught on the deck and brought inside.
OzarkHillbilly
@Schlemazel: And when that all goes to shit one year from now it will all be Obama’s fault.
debbie
@Baud:
@Schlemazel:
That’s exactly it: He doesn’t think they’re referring to him as one of the despised groups. Did you hear this interview with Richard Spencer? He’s slick enough not to give it away, so my nephew takes alt right to be only about “those other people.” And this is a kid who lived in Israel three years!
debbie
@MomSense:
You are going to have so much fun this holiday! Bet they’ll really cheer you up.
Russ
January is the first Saturday that Donny will be President and I’m going to be sitting on the edge of my seat with anticipation to watch and listen to his weekly address from the White House. Given Donny’s inclination towards communicating in 140 characters or less it most likely will not be as drawn out and loaded up with excess words like the ones from past presidents.
cosima
-6C here in Scotland. Less than a week ago we were the warmest spot in the UK at +17C (which, lovely & balmy as it was, definitely did not feel like +17C).
Today I was looking out at my plants in the back yard and hoping that my little honesty plants (don’t know the proper name for them) make it through the winter because I love their dried ‘flowers’ so much, how they become iridescent & opaque.
Because we’ve got a new-build home, I started from zero here, and am crossing fingers that at least some of what I planted makes it through the winter. My dahlia is wrapped up in newspaper in the garage, and I passed my agapanthus to a gardener friend for safe-keeping, but the rest is going to have to fend for itself.
I added blueberry bushes (which flowered & fruited), a eucalyptus, some rhodies, some acers (which were beautifully red this fall), and several other plants that I don’t know the names of. Ours is the only house on the street that has plants in the front and back yard, and I’m hoping that we’ll live here long enough to expand our little front oasis to screen the front windows that look almost directly into the neighbour’s house across the street (which I find very annoying, but oh well, definitely a 1st world problem). I think some of the neighbours think we’re crazy Americans with our front yard planting, but they’ll get it when the plants grow enough to screen out gawkers! Knock wood.
Thanks for the lovely photos, Mary. I’ve got a soft spot for succulents — my little one goes crazy for them, and we have some beautiful pots with a profusion of types here at our house. Oddly enough, they grow very well in Scotland, and ours flower profusely. We vacationed in Suffolk & Derbyshire this summer and little C dug up some succulents from the cobbles at the place in Derbyshire and brought them home to plant with the others.
Schlemazel
@OzarkHillbilly:
Oh, you know it will be
debbie
Hopefully Trump won’t be too busy doubling down on “Hamilton” to take notice of ACLU’s full-page NYT ad.
Schlemazel
@debbie:
Well, there is at least part of the problem. In Israel he would have been part of the oppressor class and not see any problem with keeping the lessers in their place.
I grew up in a Catholic majority city but most of the leaders were old enough to remember when Catholics were a despised minority and understood the necessity of inclusion and religious freedom. Too many of the current crop know only being in the majority class and have no sympathy for the disenfranchised. I think Jews could go the same way but their history is such a powerful story and the hate still so close to the surface still that they don’t seem anxious to get on board. But it is happening in small steps.
WaterGirl
@raven: Gorgeous tree!
(I would comment on the Dead End street sign in your photo, but this is a happy garden thread.)
Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)
@Morzer: Can you hear me swearing? I am swearing bigly.
WereBear
@OzarkHillbilly: Store cats are becoming a thing in NYC, because they work better than traps and poison.
Another Scott
@debbie: Nice. Thanks very much.
I hope other advocacy groups speak up as powerfully, soon.
Cheers,
Scott.
Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones)
@debbie: I dunno. If he knows the history of the Shoah remind him that no one was safe eventually. Not the irreligious, not the rich, not the convert, not even the relatives of Germans. They all died in the camps the same. That’s all I got.
WereBear
A line has been drawn. Is this enough of an emergency for the dormant voter to wake up?
WereBear
@debbie: I tend to see that kind of thing as deeply internalized self-hate and a desire to suck up to the powerful; because they feel so powerless.
At least, this is my impression of Log Cabin Republicans.
OzarkHillbilly
@WereBear: A good mouser more than earns it’s feed. I’d like to set mine loose on all the outdoor rodentia but I fear she’d play havoc with the birds. Between that and the shit I’d get from my wife for risking losing her….
WereBear
@MomSense: That is awesome that you can be a port in their storm. Have a wonderful time!
WereBear
@Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones): I will always remember some Nazi leader who said, “They crowd our offices, claiming their Jews are the good ones, and cannot something be done? We tell them no, all Jews are to be eradicated. Eventually they will learn.”
Keith G
@Keith P.: What part of Houston are you in?
I live and work in Montrose. The old housing stock is rat friendly, and while I have seen a rat or two crossing nearby power lines, my two cats have never alerted to an interior intruder. I manage a restaurant. Rats are alway trying to invade. Though we are professionally sealed up, occasionally they win, until trapped. One evening, a night closer left a back door open during his dumpster run. As he turned back, he saw a juvenile opossum scamper in. It took me three days and several sightings until the cute little jack, or jil, got inside a live trap. At 5 o’clock that morning, I found a nice big yard in River Oaks to free the little one.
Baud
@WereBear:
“And then they said, Oh well, we tried. Emails.”
WereBear
I have tracked down what is considered the definitive account, Sherman’s March by Burke Davis, because I am so in the mood.
Snow supposed to last all day. My plan is to park myself on the couch, watch it come down, and cheer Sherman on.
OzarkHillbilly
If anyone is interested,
SPLC
I just sent them $25.
WaterGirl
@MomSense: That’s really great. Your kids hit the mom jackpot.
Another Holocene Human
@rikyrah: Sorry to see you are still grumpy every morning. I am trying to keep my mind off things which is easier since I was relieved of my union duties and I’m looking forward to a new career!
Brachiator
@Morzer:
I don’t know. A lot of people, including Democrats, didn’t have much of a problem normalizing the old bigotry.
Schlemazel
@Tenar Arha (same Tenar, more Nameless Ones):
The SA hierarchy was dominated by homosexuals. It was the excuse used on the night of the long knives & gays went to the ovens. There were Jews in the Party and many more that actually believed Hitler didn’t mean it. They went to the ovens. Their were communists and socialists that knew that the Nazi Party would push the majority to them. They went to the ovens.
Those who do not understand history are commended to relive it. Those of us who do remember history are condemned to be dragged along kicking and screaming
WaterGirl
@debbie: It’s heartening to read that. guess i know where my next donation is going. thank you.
WaterGirl
@WereBear: That’s chilling.
Iowa Old Lady
@Morzer: A lot of people are capable of ignoring those license to discriminate laws because they don’t take the hit personally.
a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)
Lovely xeriscaping Mary G. B did a lovely design job, and the ficus wood is a fair country imitation of driftwood in photos. Thanks for sharing via AL.
Nice tree colors raven, and the links to pretty leaves are appreciated. I hope the walk in ortho visit brings good news for your bride (to the extent that’s possible).
I’m off to bake a pumpkin pie.
Another Scott
@OzarkHillbilly: Ditto. Thanks.
Cheers,
Scott.
Keith G
@Morzer: Many in the public will respond with typical apathy until damage become completely ubiquitous or hits closer to home and then the right messenger formulates the best message. In that, this will not be too unusual of a trajectory.
satby
Mary G, your yard looks great ?
I got home after 32 hours of travel (including layovers) to find that two of my cats had escaped their domain and gotten shut up in my bedroom for at least two days… And they had peed all over my bed and clean clothes piled on the closet.
But the dogs are all ok. So I guess that’s something.
It was an incredible experience, and I am never going on another vacation again.
Corner Stone
AMJoy coming out hot this session!
Iowa Old Lady
@satby: I’m cringing. The smell of cat pee is so hard to get rid of.
OzarkHillbilly
@satby:
Heh. A true adventure, eh?
Glidwrith
For the first time in weeks, my poor little diabetic kitty that we have been trying to stabilize, is laying in the middle of the room in the half twist curl that shows she is feeling good. We even had a tiny weight gain yesterday, so I am hoping we finally got this.
Glidwrith
@Iowa Old Lady: Kids N Cats. Absolutely the best at getting rid of the smell in record time.
Another Scott
@satby: Welcome back! Sorry for the unpleasant surprise.
Decompress for a while and then post some pictures if you can.
Cheers,
Scott.
Another Scott
@WereBear: Thanks for the pointer. Looks like an excellent and important account.
Cheers,
Scott.
WereBear
@Iowa Old Lady: Vinegar. Can do wonders.
WereBear
@satby: All the feels! That’s sucky.
WereBear
@Another Scott: More than welcome. This is just gonna be the wrong month for the new Hitler bio :)
WereBear
If anyone has not seen this movie, they really should:
Taken from a transcript of the actual conference. They were all supposed to be destroyed, but one surfaced decades later. So let them speak in their own words.
One of the most powerful and haunting films I have ever seen.
Pogonip
@WereBear: And you don’t have to worry if a child finds the cat!
Pogonip
@satby: Do you still have the 38 (I think it was?) rescued cats?
J R in WV
@NeenerNeener:
I would recommend a big french drain around the foundation first, much less intrusive, less expensive, valuable even if you still have some moisture. We controlled a veritable wet-weather spring on the uphill side of our basement by laying laying a layer of rubber under a french drain all across the back of the house.
Because there’s a rock wall (the mountain, not an actual wall) just a few feet from the house, we did that all with pick and shovel and wheelbarrow and bucket. No doubt part of why I needed shoulder replacements eventually, but still worth the work.
I was in the basement doing laundry just before going to bed one night, when I suddenly heard a squirty splashy sound, it was clear water coming out of the floor like a water fountain. We used a shop vac to keep it from flooding for nearly an hour, then said to each other, we can’t do this indefinitely, all night, packed dirty towels around the squirt, went to bed expecting an inch or more in the am. No.
It stopped as we were walking up the basement steps. Floor was dryer the next morning than it was when we went upstairs to bed. And we were so tired from the multiple shop-vacs full of water we slept lilke babes.
But the french drain was the ultimate solution. Gravel with perforated pipe embedded in it, the pipe wrapped with geologic control cloth to keep it from clogging up with silt, and drains running down slope from the foundations.
NeenerNeener
@J R in WV: All the “experts” recommended just running the downspout that’s about 4 feet away from the problem area into an underground pipe, but I was afraid that the downspout wasn’t really the issue, and it looks like I was right. In the spring I’ll see if I can find a contractor who knows french drains and I’ll have that spot under the window reworked again. I may still have to have new drainage tiles done in the basement, though, because there’s no water making it to the sump pump anymore, which may mean the plastic pipes that are supposed to drain into that pump space have silted up. Thanks for the advice.
satby
@Pogonip: Oh hell no, I only fostered 8 of the 38 recovered from the hoarder, every person in our organization took some to foster. But the ones I had are now at the adoption room at our local PetSmart, hopefully a couple are already in New and happier homes. They’re going to be there the rest of this week, then any I fostered will come back to me but go up on PetFinder too.
satby
@Glidwrith: That’s great, poor baby. May it all be improvement from here on!