Just a few days ago I thought I would start off this Episode by saying that Pinchy is broken. Instead, I will start off by saying that Pinchy is repaired (as a quick reminder, Pinchy is our 60" (5-foot, or 6.1-metric foot) pruner, introduced in
this Episode). What looked at first like a simple job of re-connecting the linkage to the pinching/pruning blade turned into an overly-complicated repair job that included disassembling the actuating/pivoting head, wrapping string around a pulley, and lining everything up just right. Today I tested my repair by pruning our poor pear tree.
Our poor pear tree seems to have an especially bad case of fire blight this year, and today's pruning was actually the second or third pear pruning of the year. The first pruning of the year, back in May, was quite drastic, and we had hoped that more pruning would not be necessary. We were also hoping to get some pears this year, but so far we have seen fewer than five pears on the tree, and we have only harvested one of them (if you consider picking it up off the ground to be harvesting).
B1 - Bountiful Berries
You may recall that we planted a
loganberry bush last year, and as springtime approached we eagerly awaited its fruiting. We were not disappointed.
Here you can see several loganberries growing and maturing. As a reminder, loganberries are a cross between blackberries and raspberries.
And this is an example of a ripe loganberry. The taste is on the tart side, and they are very juicy.
As you can see here, our bountiful blueberry bush also produced a bountiful harvest this year.
The pink lemonade blueberries did well, also, but there were not as many pinks as there were blues, and birds stole some of them.
Our raspberry bushes produced a mostly-good harvest, but they seem to be smaller and less moist than in previous years.
B2 - Bird
While I was performing the primary pear pruning back in May, I was visited by a friendly scrub jay, whom I am calling Herman. Herman flew down and hung out with me as I worked.
Herman is a very good-looking scrub jay. Becky doesn't like the term, "scrub jay."
Here you can see Herman searching for tasty grubs.
As you can see by the large pile of branches, the primary pear pruning, in May, was quite drastic.
B3 - Bees
We at the New House Blog are a bee-friendly household.
Our sweetpeas attract a lot of bees of various types, but my favourite is the big, black carpenter bee.
Look at that big, black beauty. How can you not appreciate this beautiful bit of creation?
Speaking of bees and beauty, we thought it would be a good idea to plant some bright, colourful flowers to attract bees to our strawberry/hula berry patch. To date, we have not harvested a single hula berry, and we believe that one possible reason for this is a lack of cross-pollination due to a lack of bees visiting this part of our garden.
From left to right we have Wicked Cool Blue Verbena (verbena "wicked cool blue"), Petunia (petunia sp.), and Ideal Select Violet Dianthus (dianthus chinensis x barbatus).
In addition to these beautiful bee-attracting flowers, we also planted corn and various lettuces in our food garden. Herman visited us as we prepared the garden soil, and he successfully grabbed (and ate) some grubs.
B4 - Box
In this case the box in question is a junction box, hereafter referred to as a j-box because it requires less typing. In our garage was an electrical timing box inserted between the breaker box and the garage door opener.
Why the pre-Bishopians thought to connect the garage door opener to a timer is a mystery.
Said mystery is deepened by the fact that the timer function was not connected at all - they used this timer box as a j-box, and connected up all of the leads inside of it. It seems to have worked, and the garage door opener had no power issues, but it just seemed like a hack (notice the lack of a second cable clamp), so we yanked it out and put in a real j-box.
Just your basic surface-mounted j-box.
Wires are all clamped, spliced, and wrapped with my trademark yellow electrical tape.
Finished, and looking much better.
B5 - Bricks
Way back in 2014, in
this Episode, we installed some paver paths in our back yard. Over time there have been some subtle shifts in one of the paths, and a couple of bricks were giving us that sinking feeling when we stepped on them. This was not an optimal situation, so we decided to pry up the affected two or three bricks and re-seat them.
As you can see, we had to pry up several bricks in order to re-seat the original problem bricks. As you can also sort-of see, there is a gopher-type hole at the left of the excavation, which explains the shifting and loosening of bricks.
Holes have been filled in, new sand has been added and leveled, and the bricks have been re-seated.
A fresh application of polymeric sand in the crevices completes the repair.
B6 - BYA
Back. Yard. Archaeology. We have four artifacts to examine in this Episode, including one that may be from beyond our planet.
The first item appears to be a painted metal bottle cap. I could make out what appeared to be an image of a bagpiper, and the words, "Product of Scotland." A close examination shows what appears to be a plaid or tartan background image. There's too much rust to be sure of what this bottle cap once capped, but it is further evidence that the pre-Bishopians had knowledge of international trade. I don't recall where I dug this up.
Next we present this mysterious rock-like object. What is it? Where did it come from? Why have I forgotten where I dug it up from?
As a size reference, the brick on which it sits is 6" by 9".
At first glance this object appears to be a result of high heat and/or melting of some type (perhaps atmospheric friction as it flew in from outer space?). Is this, perhaps, further evidence that the pre-Bishopians had contact with extra-terrestrial types? Could this have been a gift to humanity from some other civilization?
For the first time ever, we present a genuine Bishopian artifact. Ok, so this one isn't much of a mystery. It's one of my screwdrivers that I apparently left out in the back yard. I remember that I last used this screwdriver to probe some gopher/mole holes. I must have set it down and left it in the grass and forgotten about it. I rediscovered it after mowing the back lawn, which is a very rare occurrence.
This object appears to be some type of Nerf-type dart. It may have come from a neighboring house, and not from the pre-Bishopians.
B7 - Cactus
As is our usual habit, we added to our cactus garden this year.
First up is this Madagascan Ocotillo (alluaudia arocera). The Madagascan Ocotillo originates in madagascar, and is not a true cactus, but it looks very cactus-like, so we decided to let it into our cactus garden.
Next up is this African Milk Tree, or African Milk Bush (euphorbia trigona f. rubra, a less common, red variant of the normal, green euphorbia trigona). The African Milk Tree originates in west Africa, and is also not a true cactus, but it looks like a cactus.
This photo shows where they are planted in relation ot each other, and in relation to some of our other cactus.
Our last addition to the cactus garden this year is a true, actual cactus. Meet our False Saguaro, or Cardon (pachycereus pringlei). The cardon is native to Baja, Mexico, and it is as close to a true saguaro as we can get here where we live.
Here you see the overview of our lovely cactus garden. The cactus garden is running out of room for expansion, and we may not be able to fit any more cactus in.
B8 - Vents
Our upstairs heater vent was never very securely attached to the wall, due to poor/sloppy installation by the pre-Bishopians (or by those they hired). Regular screws and anchors were only slightly effective, and eventually one or more cats figured out how to knock the vent off the wall.
Hmmm.... What's inside there? Smells interesting...
These toggle bolts ought to hold the vent on securely.
Yup, we're not knocking that off the wall again...
*Note: All cat photos were not posed or contrived. They were recorded as they naturally occurred.
Only one more Episode until we reach 100, but who's
bIsh
