We had a wonderful time with fellow Stephanie Miller fan (we’re both Steph-heads), Vallejoan, and progressive activist friend Diane Hume in her gorgeous home and garden. We compared notes on several subjects and check out this beautiful haul I got from her garden! Fresh lemons and artichokes? My favorites!! Diane is another reason why I know I made the right decision when I moved to this city five years ago!
I had to move the Spanish Moss to my treasured fire-surviving globe. I will distribute it more evenly, but I like the way it looks, particularly when it rotates from the solar-powered spinner. For those who did not see the relevant earlier video, the thieving squirrels in this backyard were stealing a lot of it for nesting material. So far, they have not been able to reach the moss in this location. Meanwhile, Snoopy, Bonnie, and foster dog Penny are with me on a lovely, sunny morning.
May 7 Update: Caught the squirrel trying to steal my Spanish Moss again today, so I decided to “go in another direction” with it and put it in a less accessible place. This globe was very close to ground zero in my house fire. I repainted it red, and now it is a sanctuary for the remaining Spanish Moss I have staged to return to my garden when I move back home. It’s hanging from a solar spinner, so much of the day it will rotate. I can hardly believe the boldness of the squirrel (there is video footage of the thief in the act below). I also have footage of my hand-feeding this squirrel old bread at this rental house, but give a crumb and he’ll take a mile of bedding, I suppose.
Shea took this footage of a squirrel stealing the Spanish Moss I put on old CD racks outside. I staged the moss in this mostly shaded part of the backyard here so I could take it back to my garden in the house under renovation. This moss was gifted by Wendell and Manny on Mare Island, but this SELFISH squirrel wants it for his nest! What is this neighborhood coming to?!?!?
Going to great lengths to protect the dogs from the foxtails and, in the case of the puppies, Parvo. I rearranged furniture and arranged pens that I move around with the sun and shade as needed. This will also help Bonnie (my blind dog) from inadvertently getting more burrs in her hair than necessary.
I didn’t realize how enervating it would be, but I managed to cut all the tall grass, fennel, and other bothersome field plants with a weed trimmer I just got in the rental house’s front yard. I still have progress to be made in the back of the house and will have some use for this new tool at my permanent house to a smaller extent, but at least the chop and drop look is better than what we had to pass by when walking around here before I tackled this. Before and after pictures are below.
I was a little concerned that in the chaos after the fire that I would not be able to find the specific jade plant that I got as a clipping from my godmother’s house, thanks to my lovely god-sister-in-law, but yesterday I found it. I remember putting Zia Carla’s jade into this metal bucket so I would distinguish it from the other jade I had. It’s thriving! I’ve been so very lucky at almost everything in my garden thriving despite the long periods of no access and damage from the fire and construction collateral damage.
My contractor had suggested leveling this cemented corner area and also creating defensive space where this old rose bush is on my house under renovation (after the fire). I reluctantly said yes to the cement since I knew it would make the house safer, and that is my number one criteria for all decisions after the trauma of what I lost, of course. Today I was surprised, after seeing the rose bush had been cut back to almost nothing by someone who was probably doing construction around that area, that it bounced back with plenty of buds. Even more good news was that recently the contractor clarified that he had no intention of killing the rosebush, but simply moving it to a different location, so to the front yard I believe it will go!
I had been wondering if the clippings I got from Monique were still alive. Well, these gorgeous, long-stem pink flowers that I forgot the name of are back, so I got my answer. These bring me such joy!
I’m so pleased that the cover to my beloved hot tub gazebo is now back in the backyard and not on my front yard where it had been sitting for a few weeks even after the chain fence had been removed. This kind of progress is heartening!
I had to insist that the frosted window in the main bathroom be replaced with clear windows. These windows are opposite the mirror above a double-vanity and I have plenty of privacy in that bathroom, which is going to be redesigned to have a separate water closet anyway, which is through another door. It will take several weeks, but these windows will be replaced with what I had before.
I keep bringing outdoor decor and gardening supplies back to my house under renovation regularly. I now have the gates reinforced. This way I don’t have to move numerous extra carloads when it gets closer to my move-in date, and I can start to rearrange my garden decor and plants as I go, so I have less work to do when I move home. I’m careful to keep all the fragile items in a place that will not be moved by the contractors and the less fragile items which they have up against the fence I am not concerned about falling off shelves when I’m not around.
I moved more crates of supplies today, which also helps to declutter the backyard in the rental. I’m always making tweaks to my home garden when I stop by, and today I brought my dogs and the two fosters. I pruned some branches and cleared the grounds of the lookout by moving branches into the bamboo “forest” so that the birds will hopefully pick up those branches and make nests, but most importantly I’m adhering to the chop and drop method, so that organic material is not constantly leaving my garden, but replenishing the soil and hopefully fostering the right plants to grow. I’ll still pull weeds, even if I let the nitrogen fixers linger.
Speaking of birds making nests, my favorite dove couple (I believe they’re the same one for years) made an appearance again today. At least one of them did, as you can see, resting on the fence with no fear of the dogs below. These doves are very special to me, as I’ve documented over the years. I have many pictures and videos of interactions with the dogs, but most importantly, they nested one year (obviously before the fire) in a wreath on my front porch. I intend to replace the wreath on the side wall of my entranceway with an even stronger one so that they will always have a place to raise their chicks without fear.
I love it when Snoopy crouches like this as he’s engaged in chewing on something like he is here (a twig). I saw foster Jonah do something similar today in a sort of copycat fashion, but I didn’t have the camera ready in time. Snoopy is quite the character and loves visiting his previous home, which will soon enough be his permanent home again.
The contractor had me put a ton of potted plants up in the tiers but it was getting a little messy, especially since I didn’t have access for a few months. I’m always impressed with the height of some of the plants that I barely touched. The succulents grew so tall and leaned over in some cases from their sheer weight. I pruned a bunch of them and put them in positions that will hopefully stabilize them.
We did even more gardening at the house under renovation today, clearing a major path and really ticking up the chop-and-drop method that I have come to love, which is optimal when you have curious animals stepping on the clippings. Shea really got a workout shoveling some of the erosion, so he certainly earned the desserts he’s picking up at the store right now! We went with Snoopy and Bonnie and the foster dogs wearing their “Adopt Me” vests because we thought we’d go to Wardlaw Dog Park afterward, but they had such a great time exploring in that yard, and we were so tired after gardening that we just came back to relax at the rental.
I’m so glad Michael and Antonio were able to take this gently used and huge umbrella that was at my house under renovation. I’m going to design a gazebo to cover this area and create privacy, but I know I’ll get to enjoy some of its shade and privacy at their pool since they’re moving in next to two of my other dearest friends nearby who also have a pool. Shea and I carefully mounted this huge thing on my SUV and drove it over where it was easily reassembled.
