Plant / Herb Rack is Done

Deb wanted a new rack on the South facing deck so that her cacti, succulents, and herbs would have their "place in the sun."

I made one out of some old, weathered fence wood salvaged from a friend. It has three levels and removable racks - very convenient!

I finished the trays and Deb bought her herbs and filled the trays

Trouble is ...... one of those April snow showers in Colorado. We brought the trays of cacti and succulents into the house .....

and found a place for the herbs under the glass topped table. 

That was then and this is now! Spring looks to be here although there's been enough rain to fill all the California reservoirs over the last few weeks. Looks like the rains will continue on and off for a while yet. Year to date, this year's precipitation in the South Platte drainage area is 129% of normal ... whew!

We started planting areas around the home, and will have the pros in soon (as the ground firms up) to plant some large trees and bushes. Nothing makes moving into a house feel real more than plantings.

Now off to put in sprinkler systems for the plantings so they won't dry up and blow away when the rains stop!

Welcome to Colorado.

Cheers!

It’s Spring--- Wake Up the Bears!

HI!

Here's a quote from our Roxborough Park newsletter, the Echoes.


According to a Native American legend, sleeping bears begin to stir when they hear spring’s first sharp crack of thunder. Roxborough’s bears always need additional encouragement after their long winter’s nap. At 1 pm on Saturday and Sunday, June 13-14, children and adults will join together to bang pans, blow whistles and break up the sleeping bears’ camp in Haney Park. Grumpy bears and happy fairgoers will then parade through the park filled with booths bursting with art and crafts.

But you have to wonder. June 13th seems like middle of Summer to me, and I'd expect the bears to be awake and walking around long before then. Checking it out, CO Department of Wildlife says that hibernation for bears runs from mid-November to March .......

So that's why we see these signs at the entrance to Roxborough Park!

Yeah, Right!

and

Cheers!

Weathering New Wood

HI!

I'm building Deb a rack for our South facing deck to hold herbs, cactus and succulents. Had to do this because you can't grow anything in the ground around here - because of the critters! Deer seem to eat everything up to 6' - as far as they can reach - and aren't particular about their diets. There may be a few things the deer won't eat, but no one seems to know what they are.

Anyway, here's a pic of the mostly completed rack without the removable trays. The wood is naturally weathered - it's reclaimed wood from our friends replaced fence. Only problem is, when the wood is ripped or crosscut, it's "new" wood again and doesn't have the distinct blue-gray patina that this naturally weathered wood has. It's not such a big problem for the rack - there's not so much new wood area showing. But, on the removable rack, most of the bottom strips are new wood on both sides and will show. So, I had to have a way of "weathering" or "aging the wood" quickly.

Here's a "before" pic of the removable tray that will be on the second level. As you can see, most of the strips cut for the bottom of the tray are a different color from the seven strips that show the naturally weathered surface. There's the rub; can't leave it that way or it will stick out like a sore thumb. In fact, it's the first thing Deb noticed when I sent her the pics!

Thanks you internet! I googled (I believe 'google' is commonly used as a verb now) "chemically weathering wood" to see if there was a fast, easy home made way to weather wood to the blue-gray patina. Turns out that there is.

Here's a pic of the final results. The naturally weathered strips that showed up so well in the first pic are no longer readily visible. I succeeded in duplicating the look of the naturally weather strips!




The method is this:

• In a container (plastic is preferable), place a steel wool pad that has been pulled apart. 
• Add vinegar (I used distilled white vinegar) to the container with the steel wool. The amount doesn't seem to be important. I put in about 2 cups.
• Let the mix sit for 24 hours or so. I haven't experimented yet about whether or not more stew time will darken the final product. I suspect it will, but only up to the point where the steel wool is completely dissolved. 
• Apply the mixture to the "new wood" with a brush. Nothing will happen immediately. 
• Allow the application to dry. As the mixture dries, it reacts with tannins in the wood creating a chemical patina. 
• I didn't need a second application, so I don't know whether or not a second coat will darken the patina. I may try that and report about it later. Isn't chemistry wonderful!!

There are a few cautions that you MUST pay attention to if you are going to try this method:

1. Always wear gloves and eye protection!! Vinegar is acidic and can harm your hands and eyes. 
2. Use a container with a lid, but DO NOT secure the lid!! The mixture generates gases as the steel wool dissolves and a closed, secure lid could be blown off the container, splattering nasty stuff all over everywhere. You DO NOT want this to happen!

If you try something like this, drop me a line and tell me what you did and how it worked. As far as I can tell, there are many different chemicals that can be added to the brew to generate patina washes from red to brown to gray.

Cheers!

Winter Time Around Our House

HI!

Winter time ..... for the first time ..... around our house. We are inside a good portion of the day; it's usually cold, and maybe there's some snow. But always the views are spectacular!

We learned to make Lemon Drops, but I've forgotten the recipe. Lemon juice, simple sugar, vodka .... sounds right. Guess we'll have to go back to Jessica's and Dave's for another lesson, LOL!

 It snowed a few times, but oddly enough it's always powder - you couldn't even make a snow man out  of it - and it always goes away quickly, say in a couple of hours or at most a couple of days. It's unlike Rochester (NY) or Burlington (VT) where it snows and stays ..... all winter!

I kinda like the snow. It's cool to see the foxes listening for movement under the snow and then jumping up and diving to catch mice and vols that run their trails under the snow. 

I learned that one doesn't "shovel snow." One pushes snow out of the way with a snow shovel. Trying to lift a snow shovel full of snow - even the powder - just gives one a sore back! The other guys around the neighborhood still asked if I'm going to get a snow blower - but I'm still resisting!

Deb picked up a new hobby this past Winter. She (and I) went to the first meeting of CSS (the Cactus and Succulent Society) - a real treat. The meeting showed off many of the cactus and succulent varieties that are "cold hardy" and have a reasonable chance of staying alive through the Winter.

We listened to a lecture on fertilizing cactus / succulents, ate some cookies, and Deb signed up to volunteer at the CSS show in March ..... she just finished the two-day event a few weeks ago after having fun, exploring lots of new varietals, and buying some experimental plants for our upstairs party deck.

February brought a welcome change to the Winter weather of Denver - Mazatlan, MX! Our friends have a three-bedroom villa, complete with private pool, across from the health / exercise / spa center, just a short walk from the main pool at Pueblo Bonita Emerald Bay - and we got an invite to stay with them for a week!

I hadn't heard of "all inclusive" before. That means that, for a daily rate, all food and drink is "free" - just say "Villa 656" and the tab goes away!

So, you can probably guess what we did ..... got up late, went to the exercise / spa /health center and worked out a while, showered, went to one of the restaurants to eat breakfast, back to the room for a change to pool clothes, down to the pool, eat, drink, eat, drink, back to the room for a nap, change of clothes for dinner, off to a different restaurant for dinner an home to bed. Exhausting schedule, but we were equal to the task.

We did go downtown Mazatlan one day and looked around, and shopped a little - not the new fedora!

 And had a great time getting out of the wintry weather (at least in Denver).

Cheers!

Long Beach in Winter Time

In January, while the weather was cold and snowy here, we took a trip to see Milana and Simon at their place in Long Beach.

I totally expected to be warm and comfortable, basking in the sunshine of southern California .... but no, it was mild and foggy early in the morning, and even though the fog burned off in the afternoon, it was still a temperate visit.

We took a flyer and stayed at an AirBNB in Long Beach not far from Jim's place. Interesting experience. The place we stayed is an older home nestled in a park-like setting. We had one room and the run of the lower floor; I'm sure the owner was upstairs most of the time we were there, but she wasn't around to talk to us.

One of the days, we went to the Farmer's Market along the wharf and, walking through the booths, we came upon the face-painting lady. Of course, Milana and Simon couldn't wait to get painted. We knew that our landlord for the weekend was painting faces, but really didn't expect to meet her for the first time at the Market. Serendipity.

Of course, it's a tradition to take the G-children out to breakfast, not so much for the steak and eggs, but for Hot Chocolate!

Eggs, pancakes, hash browns, toast, hot chocolate, ......... and about an hour later we got to waddle on home to continue our day.

We took a day to trip to a fish farm and caught some fresh trout for dinner. I think it was Milana and Simon's first time fishing, and I think they enjoyed it!

Fishing with corn and worms, a cane pole barely long enough to reach the water, in a shower / rainstorm, we had a ball!

Big fish of the day goes to Milana - enough to feed the whole family a trout dinner.

















All-in-all, a funky, fun, energizing, great break from the snowy winter time in Long Beach!

Cheers!