5/3/07: Tim the Tool Man

Tim spent most of last week building, painting and assembling the tool cabinet you see on the left. It's 7' tall, 3' wide and 2.5' deep. Yep, it's big!
After assembling and admiring the new cabinet, Tim began to load it up with tools. You know this was fun for him. A chance to get the tools out, clean them up and put them away in an organized manner? It doesn't get much better than that. As you can see, Maddie and Harlie were a great help! More pictures are available on the left nav in the album titled: Tim the Tool Man
p.s. If you are ever in jail, call Tim for a file!

4/21: Tim gets benched!

At long last, Tim has the time to build the bench of his dreams. He spent most of last week sawing and planing and glueing and staining and varnishing and painting and assembling. Now he is thrilled beyond belief to see his dream bench start to become a reality. So far, the vice and the magnifying light (excellent for finding splinters) have been mounted on the bench.
Today there was a lot of electrical stuff going on. Tomorrow Tim will install overhead lights and get started on the shelves. There is much to be done before this bench is finished and I shall document all the steps.

4/8: What a difference a year makes...

May 2006

May 2007

4/06: A Bird's Eye View

Tim climbed his new ladder to get this picture for me. As you can see, we have planted a couple more things, just to add some color and contrast. Tim put in all the tubing for the drip watering system and will put a layer of mulch on the top of the bed next week. At that point, I believe we are finished with this garden for the spring and summer. I will continue to post pictures as the plants grow and flower. Who knows? I might even catch a bird or a butterfly enjoying their new space!

4/4: You know it's spring when...

You know it's spring in San Diego when you can come home from work, walk around the yard and find the makings of a beautiful boquet. It's wonderful to see this miracle take place each year. Gardening is good for our souls and the fruits of our labor are amazing.

4/1: Getting ready for the butterflies

We added a few new plants to our garden on Sunday. It was great fun going to the nurseries to find what we wanted. We didn't get everything we wanted but we are closer to the vision each day. Soon we shall see butterflies and bees enjoying the flowers.
You can see some of the plants by viewing the album, West Garden, on the left nav bar.
I'll take pictures as the plants develop so you can enjoy the growth right along with us. Here's one of my favorites, a Harlequin Butterflybush. It's going to be a beauty by midsummer!

3/31: How does your garden grow?

We started planting things in the new garden today. For the most part, we were able to use plants we had saved from the previous garden. The society garlic was easy to divide and we planted it all around the perimeter. The agapanthus was divided and planted in random fashion. We moved the rosemary (left) and the lavendar (right) from the side yard where we rarely saw it into the front so we can enjoy it. Both plants are special. The rosemary was planted in memory of Dad and the lavendar was planted in memory of Shantell, a good friend.

Tim purchased 3 plants called Sweet Broom at Home Depot the other day, and right now those are the only new things in the garden. They will grown to about 4 feet when fully grown. We aren't finished with the planting, but we will take out time. I want to plant lobelia along the area where the grass meets the garden. I want to find something special to honor pets who are no longer with us, too. Lots to do but we'll think about that tomorrow!

3/24: Instant Lawn!

At 7:45 this beautiful Saturday morning, the sod was delivered to our house. The guys who installed it were here at 8 (as promised) and started laying it in the areas it would go. As you can see, Tim and Maddie supervised the whole job. The guys got on their hands and knees and pounded the grass pieces into place.
It really was like watching pieces of carpet being installed. It only took them two hours to finish the job. We are so pleased with the results and can't wait to get going on the rest of the yard. There are more pictures on the left in the album named Instant Lawn!

3/20: Shoveling what?

The two guys who really worked yesterday showed up early this morning and started shoveling "you know what" out of the truck bed and on the dirt. Doors and windows were quickly closed! They shoveled, raked, shoveled some more and rolled it all down.

By the end of the day we could see where the garden would expand, where the walkway will be and where we will be planting our California native garden. Hint: Maddie is standing on grass. Click the link on the left for more pictures of the last two days.

3/19: We expected a rototiller!

Imagine our surprise when these guys showed up with mattocks instead of a rototiller! We had two guys going non-stop (and one guy doing as little as possible) digging, raking and shoveling for hours. Tim's shoulder got sore just watching them!
They hauled away a pickup bed full of weeds and rocks when they left in the late afternoon. It looks like we are growing sprinkler heads!

3/15: Sprinklers up!

Tim put in more pipe and added a few sprinkler heads today. Maddie continues to take her job as Inspector and Superintendent very seriously. Rob taught her well. Tim expects to have this part of the job finished on Saturday. Instant lawn will be installed on Monday.

3/13: In the trenches

As you can see, Tim has been very busy digging trenches for the sprinkler system this week. He rented a machine to help him do this huge job and managed to get it done in under four hours! He did have a problem at one point and had to use the truck to unstick the big ol' machine. Sadly, I wasn't here to document that part of the adventure.

3/1/07: The Landscaping Begins

With the danger of frost finally past, we are ready to begin the process of landscaping the front yard. Since Tim is currently "between jobs", he is taking on a large part of the job himself. The first picture shows Tim enjoying one of his final days of rest and relaxation!

Today Tim finished up breaking out all the bricks around the corner garden and the tree well. Next week he will put in the sprinklers and drip system in preparation for someone else to prepare the soil and lay the sod. We will then create a large native garden in the front part of the yard and add to our flower garden in front of the windows. Add a pathway or two, and a few things to dress up the front porch and voila! The landscape will be complete! Stay tuned....