New House Blog: Episode CCXXI - Still Thriving

Yes, we know it's been quite a while since the previous Episode was published, but rest assured that the New House Blog is still a going concern.  These past seven months or so, have apparently just been too full of life and business for me to take time to publish any new Episodes.  Among the  things we accomplished are included: obtaining (legally) a kayak and life vest for exploring local waterways; planting some new cactus; beginning a new battle of the stump; travelling to Jefferson, Texas (the Bigfoot Capitol of Texas); travelling for work to Houston; travelling to the Bay Area for a few days to visit family and work at the Parents' House one last time; observing live animals that are not native to this continent; feeding hungry cats; playing music; chopping fire wood; saving energy; and a lot more mundane stuff that you are probably not interested in reading about.  We will discuss most of the above in this Episode, but we probably won't cover all of it (which is, I'm sure, a relief to hear).

More New Replacement Plants

You will recall that the previous Episode discussed the replacement and restoration of several plants that did not survive the freakish, frigid, February frostiness; and we have since replaced several more plants - some of which were, indeed, victims of the vicious weather.

This plant, next to the Spanish Dagger (Yucca Gloriosa), may be an Agathosma Collina, but I'm not completely sure.  And it really doesn't matter any more, because it seems to have perished, despite not experiencing any freezing temperatures.  It was planted as a replacement for something else, and for several months it thrived (throve?), but then it just died without warning.

These two bushes, of unknown name, were replaced because some of us found them to be rather ugly.  And the other of us does not need a whole lot of persuading (sometimes) when it comes to planting new plants.

We replaced them with these two Silver Buttonwood bushes (Conocarpus Erectus).  So far they are thriving, and they have grown significantly larger.

This family of Silver Torch Cactus (Cleistocactus Strausii) replaces the Grey Ghost Organ Pipe Cactus (Stenocereus Pruinosus) that succumbed to the snow last winter.  We had a tall, single Silver Torch at our California House, and it was thrivening (thriving? throving??) when we escaped California.

This Mini Cholla (Cylindropuntia) is an addition, not a replacement.  I was at a local plant seller, and I saw this cute little guy, and I knew we had some vacant pots (and the label says it is great for pots), so I acquired it (legally).  One advantage of potting it is that we can bring it inside the garage if the temperatures get too low.

This Rainbow Elephant Bush (Portulacaria Afra 'Variegata') replaces the Echeveria 'Dick's Pink' (Echeveria 'Dick's Pink') that froze last winter.  We loves our Elephant Bushes, and we were looking for an excuse to get one (and for a place to put it out of the deers' reach).

We had to try again with the Firesticks (Euphorbia Tirucalli).  So far, we have lost three of them at our Texas House - two due to the frosty freeze, and one due, at least in part, to grasshoppers (we think).  If we can keep the grasshoppers away this one might survive.

The Fire Inside

Speaking of fire sticks, we have been preparing for the forecasted frigid February by gathering and chopping wood.

Behold the main wood pile (background) and the auxiliary wood pile (foreground left).  This is our main wood splitting and stacking area.  From here it goes to the garage, then to the front porch, then inside the house, then into the fireplace.  We placed the main wood pile here because it is a nice, open, sunny area - good for wood drying - and because of the layers of small rocks that provide separation between the wood and the dirt.

Behold the newest team member.  Meet Antilles, our new splitting wedge.  Some might call Antilles a splitting ax or maul, but we will stick with wedge.  Behind Antilles you can see the tertiary wood pile area.  This area is in the shade a lot, and the wood is sitting directly on the dirt, so we move logs and branches from here to the main wood pile for processing.

Where did all of this wood come from?  I can personally testify to all y'alls that all (almost all) of our fire wood is completely organic and locally grown.  Mainly it comes from two sources - the elm tree that previously lived next to our driveway (and Becky's truck), which you saw removed in this Episode; and the branches of the neighbor's tree that you saw me hack up in this Episode.  Additional fire wood was sourced from dead branches and tree limbs already extant in our yard.   And in the name of full disclosure I must admit that there was a small bundle of store-bought fire wood on our porch when we bought our Texas House. 

Behold our first fire in our fireplace.  Our local, organic wood burns very well in a fireplace.

Farewell Parents' House

This Episode marks the final appearance of the Parents' House on the New House Blog.  It happened that while I was out of town for work I had the opportunity in my schedule to fly out to the Bay Area for a few days to visit family and help my mom in and around the house.  While there I completed two projects.

I remember planting this with my dad, and possibly a brother or two, way back when we first moved into this house in the late 1990's.  For many years it throve, but alas, it stopped thriving at some point and died.

As you can see, it is completely dead and dried out.  As such, it seemed to me to be a good idea to remove this fire hazard (California seems to be in a perpetual drought, you know) and spruce up the yard a bit.

These are the only tools used for this job, and the wood turned out to be a bit tougher than expected.  No, I did not take any of this wood home for fire wood.  It would have been awkward to get it through airport security and onto the plane for the flight back to Texas.

You will recall that I replaced the Parents' House's original kitchen sink faucet in this Episode.  Well, seven years of wear and tear were too much for the faucet's poor main hose, and it developed a leak right near where the hose meets the handheld sprayer part.  I tried the Flex Tape fix, but the nature of the leak was such that Flex Tape was not able to completely seal it.  Looking back, it seems that this leak may have been the result of a design flaw.

This shiny new faucet is the replacement for the old, leaky faucet.  As you can see, it works perfectly, and there are no leaks (as of the time of install.  All workmanship warrantees are void upon sale of the house).

Between the two projects above mentioned, I am sure that I added at least $0.47 in resale value to the Parents' House.  I am glad to report that the house sold, and my mom was able to successfully escape from California.

Goodbye, Parents' House.  It was a good collaboration, we thoroughly enjoyed your guest appearances on the New House Blog.  Good luck and success with your new owners and inhabitants.

Fan-tastic

Our next project involves ceiling fans.  Our Texas House has nine ceiling fans inside, and three or four outside above the back porch.  Two of those internal eight were noisy to the point where we did not want to use them.

The two offending fans were located upstairs - one in my office and one in the music room.  Here you can see the fan in my office in a partially disassembled state.

Here you can see both of the old, noisy fans in their fully disassembled state.

For my office we installed a slightly fancier fan, with lovely leaf-shaped blades.  Sadly, we had to remove the glass light bowl due to its unexpectedly high level of opacity.

The music room received this less-fancy, but quite functional, replacement.  This fan retains its glass light bowl.

Local Wildlife

Fillmore is running through the tall grass in the back yard.  How did he get out there where he doesn't belong?  He took advantage of a not-quite-latched front door and went exploring.  When I found him he was clearly trying to get back into the house, but he couldn't quite figure out how to do so.

As you can see, we got him back into the house, and he has not slipped out since.

One reason our little cats should not go outside is snakes.  You will recall that in this Episode I encountered a venomous Texas Coral Snake (Micrurus Tener), and in the photo at right you can see a Western Diamond-backed Rattlesnake (Crotalus Atrox) - a rather small example.  Fortunately, he was already dead when I found him and removed him.  I used our handy pitchfork to pick him up and transport him.

On a more benign note, here is a live Rough Green Snake (Opheodrys Aestivus) - a non-venomous, friendly snake.  As you can see he is showing off by slithering through a crevasse in the tree's bark.

Windows 21

So, it was on the first snowy night of last winter that I really appreciated how drafty our bedroom windows were.  I was up quite late, appreciating the snowy view, and the power went out.  No big deal.  Our Texas House has good insulation, and we have a lot of blankets.  I entered the bedroom, to go to bed, and as I looked out the window I noticed sub-freezing air wafting into our bedroom from the poorly-sealed windows.  

As a temporary measure (if several months is temporary) I stuffed rags into the gaps to staunch the flow of frosty, frigid, freezing air.  The rags were effective, but clearly it was time to replace these defective windows.  For this job we called in the professionals.  It turns out that our Texas House has about a bajillion windows, and replacing them all would cost about eleventy bajillion dollars, so we opted to replace about half of them, and replace the others down the road sometime.  We did the master bedroom suite, Becky's office, and the upstairs.  The new windows look a lot like the old windows, so there are no pictures of them included.  So far there have been no cold drafts from the new windows.

Battle O' The Stump

I have lost track of how many tree stumps we have battled, so there is no number attached to this ongoing battle.  It all started back in this Episode, when we had our dead and rotting elm tree removed.  The stump was left in the ground, and we have been battling to remove it for several months.  

At first we tried a product that claimed it would help break down the wood and make it easier to break up (or burn out).  We had trouble with the stuff, and it didn't seem to make a difference, so we just accepted the fact that this would be a lot of manual labour.

As you can see, the stump began coming out in large chunks.

We are making progress.

This is the current status, as of this Episode.  We have dug around the core of the stump, and to the left we remove d a rotted root section.  The removed chunks of stump seem to burn quite well in the fireplace.

Final Replacement Cactus

When we left off above with the replacement plants we forgot to include one last cactus.  And instead of re-editing this Episode, we're going to include it right here, right now.

Meet our
Austrocephalocereus Estevesii (Siccobaccatus Estevesii), the last of the replacement cactus.  It replaces the False Saguaro (Pachycereus Pringlei).

We did have a single replacement of a replacement.  One of our two Dianthus (Dianthus) died, so we replaced it with a shoot from our Striped Century Plant (Agave Americana Veriegata).  Said agave has put out a few new shoots, and we have potted a second shoot, in addition to planting this one.

BYA Update

There is not much to see in this Back Yard Archaeology update.

There is a crushed can, and a twisted piece of metal - both dug up from various excavation spots - and multi-colored plastic ball that presumably washed down the Wadi al Bish during a recent rain.  As usual, the glove is for scale, and is not itself an artifact.  The can was too damaged for us to determine its original contents.  Possibly it was Mountain Dew.

Grand Finale

And we end this Episode with a Merry Christmas wish from the San Antonio Zoo.  As you can see, their dinosaurs have throven (throved? thriven? thrived? thraved?) since our last visit.

Here's hoping that all y'alls thrive and prosper throughout the new

    bIsh

New House Blog: Episode CCXX - Aftermath And Recovery

 In the previous Episode we looked at the freak winter snowstorms.  In this Episode we will take a look at the aftermath of the week of freezing weather, and the recovery to date.

Landa Park

We start with this look back at Landa Park in the snow.  From here we will look back a little further, and then move forward in time.

Chimney Repair

Long before the freakish, frigid, February frostiness we decided to have our chimney inspected to ascertain if it was safe to use with real wood fires.  The chimney inspector came out and checked our chimney for issues, and he only discovered one major issue that would prevent us from using our chimney: the chimney was loose and seemingly not attached to the house at all.  I personally witnessed the inspector rock the chimney back and forth on our roof.  This situation seemed less than optimal for us, so we decided to go ahead with the suggested chimney rebuild.  Keep in mind that all of this was initiated BEFORE we had any idea that we would have a week long freeze in February.

The old chimney.  It looked okay, but was apparently only held in place by gravity and friction.

Let the demo begin!  I should mention that the workers found styrofoam in the old chimney structure.  I don't know if this is normal for modern chimneys, but it seemed odd to me. 

Let the framing of the new chimney begin.

The new chimney is ready for mud.

The new chimney is stuccoed and just waiting for its new cap before paint is applied.  Look at that awesome tarp job!  Look at that clear blue sky!

Wait.  You mean that we were without a fireplace during a week of freezing temperatures?  Yes, folks, this is the way things worked out.  The good news is that the tarp held, and no snow got inside our Texas House.

Aftermath And Recovery 1

We will revisit the chimney situation later, but first we are going to look at how the freeze affected some of our plants.

Our  Variegated Soft Agave (agave desmetiana variegata) did not fare so well after being buried in snow.  But look at how large it grew between October and February!

We replaced it with this Lace Aloe (aristaloe aristata).  At least we think it's a lace aloe.  It was not labelled, and lace aloe is the closest match we have found so far.  

Likewise, our T-Rex Aloe (Aloe Hybrid) did not survive.

So we replaced it with a Tiger Jaws (Faucaria Tigrina).  We had much success with same at our California House.

This prodigious vine-thing seems to have succumbed to the snows.

But after a severe pruning it seems to have recovered on its own.  No, we don't know the actual name of this plant.

One of our three beloved Firesticks (Euphorbia Tirucalli) that did not make it.

This one was replaced with a Yaupon Holly "Stokes Dwarf" (Ilex Vomitoria).  The label claims this is a deer-resistant plant.

Another victim, and another plant of which we do not know the name.  We had three of these, and two did not survive.

This one was replaced with Desperado Sage (Leucophyllum Furtescens "Greado").  The label on this one claims that it is "deer-tolerant."

We lost all two of our rosemary bushes.  Exact variety is unknown.

Because we like rosemary, and it does well here, we replaced it with a Rosemary Irene Prostrate Light Blue (Rosmarinus officinalis 'Renzels' Irene).  It is so far thriving.

Cute Cat Interlude 1

Meet Fillmore.  The shelter was unsure of his age, but the vet estimates about 5 years old.  He is very much at home here, and so far he gets along with everyone else.  As you can see, he keeps himself very clean.

Aftermath And Recovery 2

The top row consists of three Variegated Flax Lily (Dianella Tasmanica 'Variegata') that apparently perished.  In the next row, left to right, are another dried out firesticks and our Octopus Agave (Agave Vilmoriniana).  The front row contains one of our very sickly-looking Monkey Grass (possibly Liriope Muscari) plants.

We replaced two of the flax lily with two Dianthus (Dianthus), and one flax lily is recovering on its own.  The firesticks was replaced with two Gollums, or Jade Plants (Crassula Ovata); and the octopus agave with a Horsetail (Equisetum Hyemale).  As you can see, the monkey grass has recovered completely.  In fact, all of our monkey grass has completely recovered.

Left-to-right: False Saguaro (Pachycereus Pringlei), Grey Ghost Organ Pipe Cactus (Stenocereus Pruinosus), firesticks.

At this time we have not yet replaced either cactus, because the local nurseries seem to be out of stock of most cactus.  The firesticks was replaced with a gorgeous Candelabra Aloe (Aloe Arborescens).

In the foreground you can see a bush of unknown name and variety.  In the background you can see three sickly clumps of monkey grass.  To the right is the remains of our beautiful Euphorbia Lactea Crest Grafted (Euphorbia Lactea Cristata).

Of the three of these bushes we had, only this one survived.  As you can also see, the monkey grass is doing well.

This bush was the same type as the one above.  What else do you see in this photo?

We replaced the unknown bush with another desperado sage.

In the center of this photo you can see the remnants of our large, lush lantana bush.  At the bottom is another dead rosemary bush.

We placed the new Irene rosemary where the lantana had been, and we planted a Striped Century Plant (Agave Americana Veriegata) where the old rosemary had been.  Time will tell if we planted it too close to the driveway.

Chimney Repair Continued

And just in time for the warmer weather...

Our new chimney cap was installed, and the chimney painted.  We are good to go for wood fires, now that the cold weather is over.

Aftermath And Recovery 3

Our Sago Palm (Cycas Revoluta) did not fare so well.  If you scroll backwards about three pictures you can see its current state.  We cut off all of the fronds, and we have seen encouraging signs that it might not be totally dead.

Our Philodendron (species unknown) was not made for the cold.

However, new growth has appeared at the base of its dried out trunk.

The large Aloe Vera (species unknown) that we transplanted from California was not a cold-loving plant.  The damage might not look too bad in this photo, but it did not survive.

Or to put it another way, it did survive.  The main growths did indeed perish, but this little subterranean offshoot is shooting up and growing.  

It looked bad for our little, caged Sunburst Cactus (Opuntia Sunburst).

But look!  From the fallen and damaged blades grow new blades!  It is a survivor!

This Elm Tree (species unknown) brings us to the end of the plant roundup.  It did not survive the freezing, frigid frosts of February.  It had been looking poorly since we moved in, and it just wasn't strong enough.  The main trunk had a hole in the top, and water was coming right in and feeding rot and fungus in the tree's core.  

We called Rosebrock Tree Services to come evaluate and dismantle our elm tree.  We will miss its shade, but not its threat of it falling over unexpectedly.  As an added bonus, we now have a bunch more firewood for our wood fireplace, now that the weather is getting warmer.  At least I should have plenty of time to split all those logs before the next cold spell.

Cute Cat Interlude 2

Satchmo enjoys his naps in the sun.  

Aftermath And Recovery 3

Now we move from the biological to the mechanical.  The only mechanical item to break on our Texas House was the copper pipe running down the back wall to hose bib.  Details about the installation of this pipe can be found in this Episode.

When we opened this shutoff valve for the first time after the freeze we discovered a leak in this segment of copper pipe.  It looked like it would be easy enough to cut out a section and replace it.

This is the affected length of pipe.  We replaced this section and thought all was good.

However, when we turned on the water again we discovered that there was more leakage lower down.  It looked like it was coming from three or four different places.

However, a close examination of the actual pipe revealed only one large burst.  Also damaged by the freeze was the hose bib at the bottom of the pipe.  We thought we had sufficiently insulate said pipe and hose bib, but we did notice that a very small amount of water was able to find space between the hose bib and the wall, and it subsequently froze, which damaged the hose bib and possibly allowed the rest of the pipe to experience the freeze.  However, we are still not sure why the pipe burst at all.  As far as we know, there should not have been any standing water in the pipe when the freeze occurred.  I guess we will have to do a better job of draining that pipe when the next deep freeze is expected.

Here you see the newly-installed new pipe, hose bib, and insulation.  You can tell this is the new pipe and not the old because the new is PEX and the old was copper.  We changed methodology when installing this (as well as material), and insulated before securing the pipe to the wall.  One hoped-for advantage of using PEX is that it will not conduct the freezing cold in the same way the copper did.

After the temperatures started to warm up we decided that it would be a good idea to test our irrigation system for possible leakage and breakage.  While we did not discover any leaks or breakage, we did discover something else quite unexpected.

We observed water burbling up from a seemingly-random point amongst the landscape rocks.  Removing some rocks revealed this hidden sprinkler head.  It was completely buried by rocks, and partly buried by dirt.  It would have to be raised up higher to be effective.

So we started to dig down deeper, and we discovered this SECOND hidden sprinkler head, completely buried by both rocks and dirt.  It, too, would need to be raised up a bit.

After removing both sprinkler heads we discovered that both were damaged, so we decided to replace, as well as raise, them both.

We subsequently discovered that these two sprinkler heads are in different irrigation zones.  So far they seem to be working well, and they remain unburied.

BYA Update

We now switch to a brief Back Yard Archaeology update.

Included here are various bits of rusted metal, plastic, and at least one wire - all from various dig sites around the property.  Possibly these are remnants of the original construction of our Texas House, but I don't know where that yellow plastic spring would be used in construction.

This appears to be a fragment of a small deer skull.  It was quite weathered, as though it had been in situ for several years.  We have seen no evidence of deer hunting, so it may have died of natural causes.

Garden Update

We added a bit of shade to our garden to aid the blueberries - some of which specify partial shade instead of full sun.  So far they seem to be doing very well with this addition.

Our four new peppers also benefit a little from the new shade.  From left to right we have: Green Bell, Fresh Bites Orange, Candy Cane, Yellow Bell.  As of this Episode, we have some new peppers growing on the pepper plants.

Signs Of Spring

We conclude this lengthy Episode with some encouraging signs that spring has sprung here at our Texas House.

In the previous Episode we saw the first lizard of spring.  Today we have the first scorpion of spring.  He kind of blends in, so you may have to look closely to see him.

These are some of the verbena that grow wild in our back yard.

I believe this is our Blenheim Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca 'Blenheim') tree.  So far no fruit has appeared, but it has a lot of green leaves.

I believe this is our Bruce Plum (Prunus 'Bruce') tree.  Like the apricot tree above, this one has not yet produced fruit.

April showers bring May

    bIsh