Verna and Bob's Weblog

California

Cutting Down The Palm Trees

still-growing.jpgI have a spot in the corner of the yard where about four or five California Fan Palms – a.k.a. ‘weeds,’ started up behind the umbrella tree growing there. I was afraid that they would grow to the point of uprooting the block walls, so I decided to start removing them. The first part of this is to remove the top of the tree, which I did on this past Monday.

I went out today to fill the bird feeders today and I noticed that the trees I just topped had continued growing at an astounding rate! The core of one of the trees that was flush cut on Monday with the chain saw grew about six inches in four days. Remarkable!

Like I said, weeds.

Click image for a closer look.

November 19, 2009 by California Home & Garden Weirdness

Garden Cleanup

I planted an umbrella tree in one corner of the yard a few years ago to provide a barrier between our yard and the neighbors. It does the job quite nicely, but, as you can see in the “before” panel above, it’ got a little out of control. Exacerbating the control problem, a group of several California palms popped up behind the umbrella, next to the wall in back. Many people consider this variety of palm a weed – in this case, it’s true.

For the “before” picture, Verna posed me next to the garden project just as I began to whack away with the branch cutter and chain saw. Two green bins worth of tree parts later, she snapped the “after” picture. It was more work than it appears. The palms were a bitch to clean up, all intertwined and always with the little razor sharp spikes catching on stuff (luckily, I escaped any of them snagging a chunk outta me). Eventually, I will remove the palms completely, before they start moving the block walls.

Remember that little squirrel that kept popping up in people’s pictures on the web? Somehow, that little guy managed to get in the “after” picture. Maybe he was hiding there before – you just couldn’t see him through the thicket.

November 6, 2009 by California Home & Garden

Man in a Bucket

Man in a Bucket

How weird does this look? It’s almost as if this guy is in a bucket on the roof fixing antennas or something. Actually, this is a shot of the city tree trimming crew on the next street getting into position to trim up another city-owned Chinese elm tree in the parkway. I took this picture from our driveway after seeing him looming above the roof across the street.

July 10, 2009 by California

Water Waster

Why is it that I have to take a seven minute shower, water for only 15 minutes after 4PM, turn off the faucet while I brush my teeth and overload the dishwasher to maximize efficiency? The city has this dude come out and flush the hydrant system and flood both sides of the street while thousands and thousands of gallons of water wash, literally, out to sea.

water-waster.jpg

An unfortunate by-product of hydrant flushing is that it turns tap water a deep brown color for hours afterwards. It’s disgusting to wash anything in it, let alone drink that crap.

I’m filing a complaint in the morning.

July 6, 2009 by California

Doggie Direction Finder

doggie direction finderI set up a couple of webcams at home so I can remotely monitor what’s going on in the house. I also like to see what Verna is up to – between the chatroom and the webcam, she virtually keeps me company when she’s at the computer and when I’m at my desk.

Today, when she returned from visiting Mom and Dad, she let Bear in and was puttering about getting ready to get back to the computer. Although you can’t see Verna in any of these frames, you know in which direction she is off camera, thanks to our Doggie Direction Finder (DDF)

In the top frame, the DDF is detecting Verna to be in the vicinity of the little fridge or the little TV. In the second frame, the DDF indicates that she is in the living room or dining room. Finally, in the bottom frame, the DDF locates her in the kitchen.

Maybe I can get the DDF patented . . .

You can click the image to get a closer look.

April 9, 2009 by California Critters Family

Avalon 1998

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