the remaking of a kitchen

several weeks ago we had a meeting with two of the city engineers, the head of parks and rec and the city forester. we were talking about our noise concerns as the path caused the removal of a large portion of the berm outside our fence. various solutions were mentioned, and the decision was to plant at least one tree, possibly three, and several shrubs to the former to fill in the area and the latter to delineate the path and to keep traffic off the former sidewalk area. we did serve donuts and coffee, but surely that was not an influence! :) they mentioned the possibility of bringing a catalog to us so we could choose what we wanted planted, but i thought that would not happen.
they re-shaped the berm so that the former sidewalk area was not as appealing as a walkway, and came down at a lesser angle toward our trees and fence. they also put in a rock retaining wall and an "eyebrow" to shape the area where a tree would go. AND they brought us a bachman's catalog from which to choose the shrubs. amazing. they had suggested burning bushes and i liked the idea til i realized they would grow to be 8X8! i called the company to see if they had smaller ones and they checked various locations to find 3 of them for us that will grow to 3X3. we also chose other shrubs that will turn color in the fall, but a gold/orange instead of the brilliant red. there is a grass planted between them.
they came and planted the tree and shrubs for us just prior to our leaving for the baylor game and colorado, so we weren't able to water them until today. don reconnected the hose and turned on the water and i stood outside and watered them all for 3 - 5 minutes so they got a good soaking. hopefully we will get some rain one of these days too!
oops, the picture on top to the far right is actually my little green japanese maple in her fall colors. (she lives inside the fence)

Labels: asphalt path, city engineers, city of e, shrubs, trees

diane's friend and lakeside neighbor bobbi agreed to lead us on a hike to a special spot referred to as the cathedral in the woods. we walked along, encountering a soft under-forest....much natural mulch that made for a padded walkway. we passed the dead tree with the red fungi of some sort....some of them almost ginkgo in shape. there were many dead trees along the way as we climbed up and down watching our steps carefully. it was quiet and definitely darker than outside this heavily treed area. finally we reached the right place, and it was spectacular. large, tall trees reaching to the sky. much larger and older than the trees we saw in other areas where logging has controlled the growth.
we spent some time in that lovely spot.....diane taking photos, bobbi and i just enjoying the majestic view. as we started our return we visited about the beauty of the site. we walked along and then bobbi came to a halt. she suddenly realized that things didn't look right, so we wandered this way and that, stopped and considered what and where etc. we looked this way and that walked one way talked of what we'd seen along the way. hmmmmmmmm. then we saw a deer stand we'd passed on the way, and bobbi regained her sense of direction. with great relief we continued on our way. bobbi admitted that she was feeling a sense of panic until she found our way - this hadn't happened to her previously in this area. she did relate another time she and her husband were walking and lost their way and finally decided to continue walking in the direction they thought was the opposite to the way they'd come in, and successfully found the way out AND a friend who helped them get home again. as i walked i considered the complaints i'd heard from patrick about people who take off on a walk without water, food, protection from the elements etc....maybe a compass? we were adequately dressed, but had no water, food or protection in case we really were lost. i forgot to mention that cell phones are useless in the whole region. lucked out this time, but i will bring food and water AT LEAST next time. honest!! in my defense i didn't know where we were going or what to expect and i just followed along....dumb.
the lovely view of the lake is from the living room of diane's cabin. the morning we left for home it was raining off and on and the sky was overcast but the color was fabulous. it was just a great couple of days....a total escape from the real world and time to reflect and enjoy with diane. we ate well and probably too much, but that is part of enjoy as far as i'm concerned!

Labels: color, lost, trees, walk

yesterday at 10 in the morning we walked outside the fence to meet with a couple of city engineers regarding some landscaping on the berm. don had gotten some donuts and we brought coffee to go along with them. we were surprised when someone from the parks and rec department joined us and again when the city forester appeared. all this for don and my concerns about part of the berm disappearing during the path construction. we continue to be amazed by the services offered in this community! we talked about their ideas, our ideas etc. it sounds like we will end up getting about three 6 to 8 foot blue spruces in the area where the berm was shortened to allow for the path from the overpass, as well as some smaller globe arborvitae to mark the curve of the path behind our gate and to encourage the use of the path instead of walking (or riding dirt bikes) in the area where it was previously. the city will water for the planting and will also place mulch around the trees and shrubs, and we will water after that time to keep them healthy going into the winter. they plan to extend the rock retaining wall around the curve and into the removed berm area.
i think we got even more than we expected and the guys were all great and encouraged us to call with any questions. hurrah! they also liked the donuts! :)

Labels: asphalt path, berm, city engineers, donuts, trees

the tree guys hired by excel energy arrived on friday to do a bit of trimming. they climbed high into the trees in the back yard.....amazingly high! they chopped and sawed and threw giant and small limbs to the ground. they stomped all over the wee ground cover i am trying to get going in the terraced area above the shed. they dropped limbs into ferns and hosta and onto tomato cages. all this will hopefully recover. THEN they piled all the branches in the middle of the front yard. when questioned they claimed that they were not the ones to haul away or grind up these branches, those guys would appear in the next 72 hours. this would be monday i guess. don called the energy company and was referred to the vegetation manager, then he called the tree trimmers several times and finally talked to the manager there who said they would repair any damage and they'd never killed a lawn by piling crap on it. i think those were not his exact words.
i had planned to have things looking decent this weekend as one neighbor's son is getting married today and the guys across the street are having a dinner party. so here we sit with the gigantamous yard mess. boo hiss
to take care of some of the frustration i chopped up about 3/4 of a shrub by the newish maple tree and don finished the job and dug out the roots. tomorrow i will plant the hydrangea that has been in its nursery pot for a month or so. i think the other shrub out there needs to go also.

Labels: mess, trees, yard