It’s been quite a while since we posted anything so here’s a
catch up post.
Picking up from where we left off with the back yard. The wall got replaced and
is now better, faster, stronger. It’s
crazy how much codes have changed over the years. The previous wall used 6” wide empty cinder blocks
and went a couple feet beneath the surface.
The new wall uses 8” blocks, goes 4 feet down, 3 feet out, and is rebar
reinforced and filled with concrete.
This thing is immortal.
In other back yard news our stephanotis vines are working
out nicely.
We originally wanted to replace the rear chain link fence along
our back wall with a solid fence for greater
privacy but given that the solid fence catching the wind is what broke the side
wall decided against it. Our
neighborhood nursery recommended stephanotis vines since they’re shade tolerant
and will climb and spread.
I made some planters out of redwood fence panels and the
vines have indeed climbed and spread over the last couple of years. Our first winter it dipped below freezing a
couple of times and we had quite a bit of die back. Our second winter I covered them with tarps
when it got cold and we did a lot better. We actually got a seedpod which, from
what we’ve read online, is rather rare. It took about a year for the pod to mature but
now we’ve got a bunch of seedlings.
And we now have two more seedpods, so I'll guess we'll have more seedlings in another year.
In even more back yard news we had to cut down a tree which had
been placed directly over the trench that the water, power, and sewer lines run
through. Its roots had cracked the sewer
lines and were causing back-ups.
Eww.
To save time and money I cut the tree down myself rather
than asking the plumbers to. Even though the tree wasn’t particularly thick I
had to do it in stages since it was about three stories tall. I disconnected a handsaw from its handle, rigged
up a new 8 foot long handle, climbed on the roof, and got to work.
But enough about the backyard. The other big highlights since the last
update are we went to Japan
Deanna finished her second bachelors
We went to Europe
We got engaged
And we got married, more on that anon.
