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Walking backward

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 I'm a little late for winter solstice, but let me say I'm joyous that the amount of daylight hours will be increasing! We got a bit of rain last night and the light was pretty so I snapped a few photos. It's always good to have a year end reference, so thought I'd do a quick post of the back beds. The chimney flues landed here and there. And from December 2021. Not quite the same perspective, but you can see just the start of dry garden happening.  *Look at that baby Aloe Hercules-close to the front of the patio, now it's massive! From Dec. 2023.  I'm shocked at the change in one year, I've checked the date twice now. Back to the now, I walked backward down the path toward the side fence.   Getting closer to a messy spot that I have ideas about, *where the other gathering of flues and potted plants are piling up.  The grass pulling in the pathways is going on & on.  Next year I should cover the paths with cardboard for the winter and see if that h...
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TornadO?

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The storm on Saturday brought lots of rain .70" to Livermore and strong winds.  A few boards of our fence blew over.  A few branches blew into the back, but nothing too damaging. It is a relief that everything got a good drink. Sunday was gorgeous.  I've been meaning to post this pic - A fern Ivan mounted on a grow pole, plus a little Hoya vining it's way underneath - I moved to the back in a warmer spot for the Hoya. *S, can you chime in with the fern ID?  Olivia and I drove to Berkeley, nabbed Sophia and went back to Urban Ore.  *I was inspired by  Loree, DangerGarden Blog  post on her visit to The Tropics Inc. Also, stir crazy from a day inside. I was hoping to pick up a street grate from a pile they had available the last time I visited.   So many windows!  I'd love to build a little house made up of these.  Oooh, something rusty? Ah, weights for all those windows. I liked this old crank/press thing, does anyone know what that w...
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Check-in

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I usually start the day with coffee, every day the same breakfast (dill rye toast, avocado and 2 eggs). Then go out for a check around the garden.  Aloe rubroviolacea bud is so cool.  I pushed the pot next to the house to protect it a bit from possible frost.  This morning was 39°, brrr! And a step back. Featuring my red kneeling pad, ha. Oh, isn't this charming?  PVC pipes, I see from this photo one has come undone oops.  I did a quick set-up so I can throw frost cover over it or polycarb panels if we get too cold and/or too much rain.  All those blue cacti hate that combo. I tapped rebar into the ground and popped the PVC on top.  I can disassemble easily, and maybe use the set up for shade cloth in the summer.  No sign of freeze yet. The frame is laying in wait.  So much easier to do this when it's 70° than 45° with cold fingers. And C9 Christmas lights, this is not necessarily needed for these plants.  BUT, the Agave attenuata, foxta...
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Short & sweet

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I spent the day putting a clear sealant on the lath house slats and all of the decking. First tho, cleaning & prepping.  Keeping debris off the deck during this whole project was laughable with the Arbutus plopping strawberries downward now & again. Oops, stepped on one.   I used Seal Once Marine Clear Sealant, it was a cloudy white.  I saw this tape trick to easily pour paint out of the can.  It worked kinda - but this was far more liquidy than paint.  I imagine it would work like a charm with actual paint. Tested on the back outside slats first, to make sure the color wasn't odd.  There was a slight purple tinge to it.  Like milk with a touch of lavender. But it did dry completely clear.  The weather was fantastic, I really lucked out. And on to the inside.  The slats took the most time, obviously.  Both sides, and I tried to get the top & bottom edges best I could. Took a break for a Boca burger and a big handful of g...
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