August 2017

It was a long hot summer here in my part of the Pacific Northwest, but I still managed to get some yard work done.  Everything was flourishing!  It was hard to keep up.

One of my projects this year was to divide up the last two bamboo and get them into 4 new pots.  I should have taken before and during photos, but forgot, as I was in the (literally) heat of the moment. 

Once you tip them out of their pots, you saw them in half (takes forever) and then they can be placed in new pots and add dirt.

They line the fence beautifully!  

In this last photo you can see how well the scarlet runner beans did on the old arbor and the lilies and ornamental grasses did very well also.

With yet another long dry season I had an idea to redo the landscaping in front so that next year I can lay in soaker hoses in the beds.  Also by leveling out the beds they will hold the water better too.

I also began moving some of the plants to a new bed along the driveway. 

The patio area became very scary as the season wore on, plants were tall and wide and it looked much like a jungle in there!

This is me with my big lily.  I'm 5'2", so you do the math.

 And the biggest cherry tomato I have ever grown!

Two of my brothers helped me purchase a large BBQ this summer, I confess, it's my first!  Primarily a simple cook and consuming few meats I was hesitant, but I am having so much fun with this!  I'm actually looking forward to my first "cookout" during a power outage.  My main dishes are BBQ stir-fry veggies and portabello burgers.

This is my local squirrel sitting on the wood shed looking in my window, waiting for a chance to intercept a small offering of seeds to the chipmunks - which she's figured out happens when they come to the door.  Is that the stink eye or what?

Another big project that had to happen this year was the removal of the back awning and porch.  It's been falling apart for years and now has dry rot and is dangerous.  Here are two "before" pictures.

My friend and handyman, Harry, helped me take it apart from the roof down.  Not too difficult and was all done in about three hours.

My next chore was to repair the siding underneath and repaint.  So here it is dismantled, at least.

And now repaired and painted.

So it's the doorway to nowhere right now.  I have two options.  I can put in a window or another door with steps.  This part of the mobile doesn't really need another door, there is one on the other side, for a fire exit on this end.  What this room doesn't have is an opening window, so that would be my preferred plan of action.  Now to find the person who can do it.

So that wraps up summer!  Thanks for following along.

Bamboo Transplanting

My bamboo are reaching 12 feet tall this year, but were in need of transplanting.  I did some research and found that I could easily pull them out, cut them in half and put them in new pots.

I purchased nursery pots for the affordability and durability.  These are sturdy pots!  I think they must be made of tire rubber as that's what they smell like.

I had help on this project as it takes two people to manhandle them out of their pots, then between the chainsaw and handsaw we were able to cut them in half.  This is no easy task!

We only got to two of them, ending up with four nice new plants, spread out along the new cedar fence really adds to the privacy.  Next year we'll tackle the other two.

Along with the new layout of the front yard came much contemplation on how to landscape it.  There are several large plants that can't be moved, but everything else was flexible.
So for this year I decided to create beds around the larger plants.  The spaces left were ripe for new ideas.  I created an ornamental grass bed with rocks from the beach. 

These lovely grasses will spread out and grow tall, creating a privacy screen along the driveway.

So the view from the house is thus, so far this year.