Two Year Anniversary!

Dear friends,

Two years ago this week, we closed on "The House that Nobody Else Wanted."  It's a 1930s vernacular farmhouse/cottage type design that still defies categorization.  We've done a lot of work on the inside, mostly to make it livable (codes have changed a lot over the last 80+ years), painted the cottage and part of the garage outside, and have started ripping off the aluminum siding that encases the place.

The biggest change, though, has been to the garden.   Even though 2011 was the Year of the Big Drought (and worst one that Texas has seen in a long time), I still started work on the garden.  I learned that over the years, the two sisters that had lived here had amended the soil so that it wasn't all muck like most of the other yards around here----I call it Magic Dirt! Everything I've planted here has thrived and grown.  We've added a lot of our own homemade compost to it, of course.

Here's the first garden bed I built, using rough cut limestones that were stacked here when we bought the place.  Notice the color of the grass.

simple raised bed, using existing stone and pecan log on property

For a while, nosy passers-by would stop and let us know in no uncertain terms that they did not approve of our "lax attitude" to our lawn.  They let me know how much the two sisters had cared for the yard.  I quickly let them know that I was in charge now, and that there WOULD be changes.  We told them that we didn't believe in dumping tons of scarce water on grass just to keep it green. And that they'd darned well better get used to it.  Finally, they quit coming by. :-D

Here's a photo I took this past weekend of the same area.  The end of the cottage shed (to the right) has been painted a bright yellow and the garden in that area has flourished.

 See the white bucket?  That's the bed in the previous photo. Two years later.  People tell me that they have NO time to work on a garden, and that I must put hundreds of hours into mine.  Not really.  I'm very heat sensitive, so can't stay outside much when the temps. are above 90 (which it seems they always are here).  Other than the occasional marathon working days, I spend maybe 15-minutes out tending the garden.  It helps that we have real dirt here, as opposed to what we had in the Texas Hill Country.  It doesn't take an hour to dig a hole for a tree.  So that helps.  But in general, I do it One. Step. at. a. Time. 

And after a short couple of years, it all adds up. 

I'll be posting more Before and After pics over the next few weeks.  So come back and visit my garden when you get a chance!

Happy trails from Texas,

bobbi c.

Texas Trees, Recycling Wood & Progress

Dear friends,

It saddens me to hear that we lost so many trees during this recent drought here in Texas.  Something like half a BILLION trees have been lost.  There's just no way to get our heads around those kinds of numbers. All we can do is plant more, and urge others to do the same.  Today I planted my second oak tree here on this property--a nice Shumard oak.  Previously I'd planted a Monterey Oak, also known as Mexican White Oak, depending on who you ask.

Last week, I planted two Mexican  buckeyes in the yard, and put two more seedlings into larger pots.  Those I grew from seeds I snatched  harvested responsibly from the trees at the Barnes and Noble at Lakeline in Austin.  They've been growing in a large pot now for a couple of years. It wasn't difficult to get them to sprout.

If you look closely, you can see it, just to the right of the yellow blooms of the Esperanza/Yellow Bells. I told you it was small. :-)  But I've been told they grow fast.  The other one is at the corner of the new patio.

You can also see my creative bean trellis on the old clothesline pole.  I wired the old greenhouse roof support wrought iron around it.

I'm going out of my way to nurture the seedlings that pop up here and there. I know I can never replace all we've lost, but I can do my little bit to make sure that this property, at least, has as many trees, bushes, perennials, flowers, herbs and natives as possible.

And speaking of trees, and wood---I'm a wood hoarder.  I admit it.  I'll save the tiniest piece of wood if I can. Husband Rudy, however, has a rule--it has to be at least a foot long before he'll save it. That's why, when we tore down my former greenhouse, we tried to recycle the wood from it.  We were able to Freecycle some of it as well as some of the old vinyl siding to a fellow building a chicken coop (YAY), and got a dozen wonderful home-laid eggs in exchange.  Such a nice surprise!

I'm finally over the mourning period--I think.  I'm really enjoying the patio that was the greenhouse floor, and after today, it looks much better.  Take a look!

Left hand side is the cottage.  It will be yellow and blue.  Right hand side is the edge of the garage and former greenhouse.

 Notice how different the siding is on the left side, and the right side.  There's a difference of about 30 years between them--something like that?  We think the garage was built when the house was--in the 1930's.  Then the cottage was added on later, in the 1950's. 

Here's a relic we found last week in the top of the garage--a label on an old pair of venetian blinds.  Check out the three digit phone number!  LOL

The right hand side showing the now patio/former floor of the greenhouse

 A color called "Clove Bud" and some kind of blue remind me of the New Mexican casitas I've swooned over for years. The other end, which will become either an art studio, writing retreat, guesthouse, etc., will be yellow and blue.  Also in the plans are a new metal roof, a simple trellis made of natural logs and twigs, a privacy fence thingy at the end made of cattle panel and wood (for vines), and maybe Mexican tile or a scored and stained floor.

 We were able to save all the original pine ship-lap siding from the outside of the greenhouse and are planning on using it on a "new" one at some future time.

So, although we did fill a huge trailer with rotted wood, old insulation and such and paid some nice fellow to take it to the dump for us, we were able to save quite a bit of wood from this project.  And that's all we can do, right?  A little here, and a little there.

Happy trails!

bobbi c.

Water Shortages in Texas

Dear friends,

One of my perennial concerns is the issue of water shortages in Texas.  It's a REAL problem, and one we have to address now.

Please take time to read this excellent article by Camille Wheeler about water shortages in Texas. It was published in the current issue of the Texas Co-op Power Magazine.

WATER FOR ALL?

Lake Buchanan

Our water crisis demands action NOW!

bobbi c.

Texas drought...ten things you should know

Ten things you should know about the Texas drought....