August 12

We apologize to our restless readers! (you know who you are)
We have had family visiting from the midwest, and we took time before they came to prepare. So, while work has never stopped, our photographs and postings have fallen by the wayside. Thank you, readers, for helping us get back on track!

While our sons and friends were with us, we had a little "rock placing party". They laughed at first, but in the end, put their backs and creative energies into it and things are looking quite fine.

Also, we took a trip to the Oregon coast, and while there, collected some driftwood. Those have found places around the beds.

Our issues with the deer continue. We don't think of it as a war, but rather an effort to co-exist. But conflicts have arisen. Our goal is to put in plants they don't find interesting, and protect the ones they do.

An internet search told us that stringing fish line can be a deterrent in some cases. At the appropriate heights, they get confused because they can't see it but it is an obstacle. It has to be close enough to the house or other structures to discourage simply jumping over it. We tried it, but some mornings  we could see from prints and munched plants that it was not totally effective. One day I looked out to see a doe inside the garden. I walked out to the deck and watched as she deftly ducked between the lines and hopped on out. We have put another row of fish line in the middle and are waiting...

We have one more new garden bed. Alongside the straight walkway, its ambling line is meant to create a contrast. We hope the Lilies of the Valley will fill it in.

According to our plan, we still have one more garden bed to create near our driveway. Once the autumn rains begin (notice the optimistic tone that this will, indeed, occur), we will plant about a dozen more trees out at the periphery of our "yard". For now, they are behind protective netting. We have a few more rocks that we haven't placed, as well.

While shopping at Costco, we happened upon some solar powered lights that we are trying out. The largest light the ends of the entrance walkway. Others proved too small to actually light a path and are placed around for general atmosphere.

And finally, a shot of recent visitor (or perhaps a fellow resident!)

Irrigation

As we have created new garden beds, we've been confronted with the challenge of finding the most efficient, most convenient, and most plant-friendly system for keeping it all irrigated. We did have systems in place when we lived here before, but only some of it is functional. All of it is in need of repair and upgrading. We are learning that some watering zones have pop-up and sprinklers paired together in ways that don't work anymore. We are trying to modify what is there to suit our current needs, knowing we need to totally upgrade the whole picture. Aiyahh! Time to call in an expert!

Here's one example of a modification we've made: changing a single sprinkler head to also have a faucet that we can attach a hose to. This one has been a bugger because it kept springing a leak. We'll bury the line once we know it's good.

July 17

Our "mound" continues to develop. Today we took moss from another part of the yard and placed it on the mound area. The moss is pretty cool to work with. Just takes a gentle touch to pull it up in sheets. We gave it a good watering today. Tomorrow we'll try an idea we got online to fertilize it with buttermilk. (!)

The really wonderful aspect of creating our yard space is that it is so dynamic.

Thursday, July 16, 2015

Rock on!  We had a ton of rainbow boulders delivered along with some other special rocks.

The rock delivery guy kindly moved the 315 pound
bird bath rock to the ground where we could roll it into place.

We wanted to create a mound with plants and moss.  The base was 6 wheelbarrows full of yard matter from our burn pile. Then, three basalt stones and clay soil came next.

We then covered the mound with gardening soil and put in new plants. Tomorrow we'll plant some moss and cover it all with compost.  

Thursday, July 8

Our Wednesday project was to establish a raised bed garden on the western slope.
This will be a pilot plot to see what can grow with 6-7 hours of sunlight a day. 

First we put down a metal mesh to keep out moles.

Then cardboard to cover and kill anything growing underneath. The cardboard will become compost over time.

then flexible piping and gardening soil,

then anti-deer netting and lettuce, kale, eggplant, peppers, and tomatoes!

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Deer barricades

Deer resistant doesn't mean deer proof.

The deer have begun munching on our new plants.

So we have put metal fence around the small trees and are working on putting anti-deer netting over other plants.
In the meantime we are erecting barriers to discourage the deer.

Monday,July 6, 2015

Today was window blinds day.  2 guys, 1 hour and all three bedrooms
and the master bathroom had blinds installed in them.

Master bedroom blinds

that can go down or go up.  It will be the first time we will be
able to sleep in the dark since we got back.  

Semi-transparent master bathroom blinds for privacy and yet still be able to see the trees if desired.

and a shade on the north guest bedroom door.  Looks like it will do a good job darkening the room at night.
All the blinds have clever child safety cords.