Birdhouse

Photographs from my old iphone of bird houses in

Orange County

Garden Saved from Termite Tenting

Mother's Day:

At sunrise I weeded and trimmed my garden and

picked vegetables from my yard for dinner at my sister's house.

Then my children joined me to work on my friend Bill Broza's house.

Bill has suffered a series of setbacks:

a stroke that has him living

in San Diego with his girlfriend

while his house in Orange County seems to have

one disaster after another.

Two weeks back he discovered

he had dry wood termites in his

upstairs hardwood flooring.

Bill can't drive or deal with

meeting contractors, therefore

I came to the rescue.

The process of getting the tenting completed

unfolded into a big boondoggle.

The man from Western Termite didn't

seem to listen or care much about my time.

He was hours late both times.

Bill has more than sixty exotic plants

hanging on his stucco walls,

suspended from trellis material

and attached to the house. In addition,

orchids, epis and stephanotis vines

are planted on the foundation edges.

The termite guy said all the plants would die.

The chemicals is not what kills them,

it is the heat that the gas generates.

My son, daughter and I then proceeded

to dig out all the plants and

move them to plastic pots into the shade.

It took three days to uproot

the plants and remove all the food,

spices, wine and medicines from

his house.

My three car garage was filled with open boxes.

I would not have put the chemicals in my home.

I have read studies that orange oil isn't effective.

I have an organic house and garden, I don't have

a fix for this problem - only prevention - don't

mix wood with water.

This was his decision.

The tent came off Saturday.

On Sunday we spent a couple hours putting

plants back into their holes.

Mud and dead leaves everywhere-  

And then...do add to the drama

Thanky you - 

Santa Ana hot dry winds to further stress the plants...

We don't have the garden put back to normal.

I will go to the wholesale plant place in San Juan

and get a load of flowers to replace those who appear

desiccated.

I planned to go this morning early,

but the dry air makes me decide to wait.

No use buying new landscape material that is whipped

and dried by the weather.

For Mother's Day I brought my Mom big bouquets of

flowers, prepared dinner of organic vegetables

and acted as Mom to my old friend Bill.

UPDATE on the story- now 5/20 we have
replanted and I need to share some pics

Sweet peas are blooming in my yard .

Sage

Raised beds at the Ecology Center in San Juan Capistrano

Peppers, tomatoes, in the left front are artichokes

Birdhouses

Some blurry photographs of birdhouses.

Spring

Spring is here with the first Epi blooming under the gazebo in my back yard.

These plants are such a joy when they bloom. In a few days I will have twenty basketball sized flowers in this pot.

They look like cactus and get gangly in the Fall but are easy to maintain.

Best is you hang them to play keep away from snails.

I don't use snail bait or poison in my garden.

I put out beer or yeast with sugar water to collect slugs and get some of the snails

drunk. Then it is easy to get rid of them.

Did you know that snail slime is very nutrient for skin?

Gross you say, just wait some salon in Newport Beach will be putting

snails on you for a facial. LOL

Some raised bed ideas- galvanized large animal troughs

A method to keep your poppies, delphinium and vegetables away

from the bunnies. We have a bad rabbit problem in Orange County

I believe the drought has brought them all out from the canyons.

I put some metal simple windmills and old CD's on strings to

have some flashy lights to scare them.

The shiny seems to have brought the crows back.

Sigh Just when I made friends with the crows to

stay away from the mourning doves nest.

I took this photo of bougainvillea being dumped. Thought you might

think it funny as I enjoyed it driving home from my office this week.

Mortgage rates are at amazing new lows. I have been busy.

Call for a quote you probably can get out of your FHA loan or Mortgage

Insurance with the increases in property values.

(949) 784-9699

Local Orange County Produce all Organic

If you want to trade seeds - I have:

nasturtiums, forget me nots, indian blanket, cerenthe, heirloom tomatoes, arugula, lavender, and thyme