Phase 1 of Landscape Remodeling Complete

It has been several months, but the backyard landscaping project is finally complete...or at least almost.  I have lots of time lapse photography of the actual project that needs to be processed, but here are some iPhone pictures from yesterday that show the current status of things. 

On a beautiful day in mid-February with temps in the mid-60's and the news flooded with reports of the midwest and northeast in a literal deep freeze of sub-zero weather, we enjoyed working outside on some pruning and other odd jobs. We were surprised to discover that the African iris are blooming.  That is in addition to the mahonia leatherleaf that have retained their yellow flowers.  By the way, those yellow flowers are major favorites of the local bee population.   

African iris in bloom

So here, by request from the California part of the family, is a quick tour through backyard (and side yard) world as it currently exists.

There is now lots of room on the patio again without the Chinese holly bushes overwhelming everything.  The red flowers are cyclamen that we got at North Haven Gardens in Dallas several weekends ago when we attended their class on vegetable gardening.

 The flagstone path leads either to the bird bath on the left, to the bridge and various bird feeders straight ahead, or to the side yard to the right.  Besides looking kind of neat, the "river" of river rock solved the water drainage problem that had long plagued the backyard.

The lack of grass should mean low maintenance.  It looks rather barren right now, but it is still winter and we are confident most plants will grow and fill in.  For example, the small little green clumps in the foreground are dwarf mondo grass which should become a general ground cover.  There are also a few locations that still require additional planting because the particular plants planned for those locations were not available when the planting was done in December.

As seen in the close-up picture below, the monsters are carrying off the garden gnome...or maybe he is not a gnome but the troll from under the bridge.  
 

Monsters with gnome

As seen in the picture below, the flagstone path and the river go into the side yard.  Also note the "see through" bird feeder on the den window.  It contains safflower seeds, which the squirrels do not like but is a favorite of cardinals and finches.  We hope they will adopt this as a favored feeding site so that Alex and I will have something to enjoy when I am on the computer.

Looking towards the side yard

 One of the major parts of the project was reclaiming the side yard.  After the demise of the swing set years ago it had gone largely unused.  The fence across the front was moved to the front edge of the house to provide more usable space.  There is now lots more room, but it should be low maintenance since it is covered in decomposed granite. 

Side yard from the back.  The two larger plants on the right and left are African iris.

The garden bench is a relatively new addition.  We found it online and assembled it after it arrived several weeks ago.  It is made of shorea wood, which is supposed to be somewhat resistant to weathering.  We will see.  The seat opens to provide access to a storage area which we plan to use for miscellaneous garden tools or other frequently used items. 

Bench in front of the space for the raised vegetable garden

The rectangular bare spot is the location for a 12' x 4' raised bed which we plan to add by early summer in preparation for a vegetable garden.  It is not quite as sunny a spot as we would like, but that should be less of a problem as the sun gets higher in the sky.

Although we barely know what we are doing, we hope to develop the garden using the general principles known as Square Foot Gardening.  I have read and reread the book and have started collecting a variety of information.  Unfortunately, not everything as written in the book applies exactly to the weather conditions in Texas, hence part of the reason for the class at North Haven Gardens.  Even then, we are spending a lot of time researching and scratching our heads.   Fortunately we made a conscious decision not to start working on the garden in earnest until I am completely retired in mid-May.  We plan on a fall harvest garden this first year.  Although that sounds like a long time from now, it means the start of planting in early July.  Stayed tuned for lots more details.

View into the side yard from the front.  The fence along the front is 5 feet high (rather than the usual 6 feet) so we can still see the street from Gwen's window.

Overall things are coming together.  There are still a few additional plants that need to be added and the raised bed needs to be installed.  Work in the front of the house is a separate project for the not too distant future.  Even without that, we are well on our way to a much more usable space that we can enjoy. 

Wedding in Missoula

It has been quite some time since I posted any travels. However, I am now happy to report we had the good fortune to go to Missoula, Montana, last weekend for our niece's wedding. 

WARNING-LOTS OF PICTURES.   Despite the fact that I did not think to take many pictures away from the wedding, there are MANY family pics.  They are also only with my iPhone, so not necessarily all that great.  However, they are cherished memories nonetheless.

We made it out the door at 6:30 for the trek to DFW airport Friday morning.  We breezed into the airport without incident and found a spot for the car close to our gate.  Unfortunately that will be the wrong terminal when we return Sunday night, but we will worry about that then.   It had been quite some time since either of us had done any flying, so we had to figure out all of the new procedures for security, etc.  Fortunately we did not seem to fit the profile of terrorists and the TSA officers did not hassle us unduly even though I set off the alarm when I forgot to take my iPhone out of my pocket (duh!).  We made it to Missoula via Portland uneventfully. In fact, we were quite impressed with the Portland airport and enjoyed our lunch (with a waitress, no less!) at a restaurant at our gate. 

We picked up the rental car and made our way to the Holiday Inn downtown.  Missoula is not large and it was very easy to find things.  The weather was also not bad, sunny and in the 30's with snow on the ground.  However, it was amazing how slow the traffic moved along the main street into town late on a Friday afternoon.   As we walked through the lobby we saw Aprille and her sister, Wendy.  It was great to get reconnected with them so quickly.


The event for the evening was a casual get-together at the Iron Horse Bar and Grill, a great local watering hole.  Missoula is a college town with many locally owned bars and restaurants.  True to Friday night in a college town, this was definitely a hopping place and was great fun. 

The Holiday Inn is the "H" at #18 in the center just north of the river.  The Iron Horse Bar and Grill, location of the Friday night event, is at the dot next to "HI". (The hotel lobby clerk was writing upside down on the map when he gave us directions :) ).  The Loft, location of the wedding, was on Main Street just west of Higgins.

Our hotel room had a great view overlooking the Clark Fork River (as in Lewis and Clark, I think).  After a quiet breakfast in the hotel on Saturday morning, we decided to check out the walk along the river where we had seen many joggers the day before and maybe even take a stroll over to campus since everything was so close.  First the Frog found a stocking cap in the hotel gift shop to keep his ears warm.  When he wears this in the future in Texas, I doubt most folks will know what "Griz" means on his cap. 

Unfortunately the sidewalks were very icy, so we did not venture far.  However, we did circle back and get the car, then drove a few blocks to Missoula's carousel.  The carousel features handmade horses, each with colors and markings special to the donors who sponsored them.  Everything had been put together by volunteer labor within the community.  Once the volunteer mechanic on site found out we were interested, he explained all kinds of interesting things about how they had reconstructed the working mechanism.  We also got to see a horse under construction in the wood shop.  The Missoula Carousel was definitely worth seeing.

Horse under construction

One of the adults grabbing for the ring in the dragons mouth. I think the adults were having as much fun as the kids!

A horse of a different color.

We had lunch at the Shack Cafe, a great little restaurant which the waiter told us had once been a car dealership.  It certainly had a Montana vibe with antique woodwork from the 1800's.

The main event for the weekend was Kirstin and Aldo's wedding.  It was at The Loft, a great location downtown, with large windows looking onto the mountains.  We arrived at 4 pm, and tried to help with the last minute preparations, although I think we were mostly just staying out of the way.

Aprille and Wendy adding last minute touches.

Looking beautiful.

Chardonnay cupcakes with raspberry filling...what a fabulous wedding cake!

 

The nervous groom with Britta in the background working on the music.  ("Britta in the background" was a recurring theme among lots of my pictures from this event.  Sorry, Britta.)

Kirstin and friends

The family picture. Front row: Aprille, Kirstin, Aldo; back row: Skip, Britta

The ceremony started at 4:30, with Kirstin's Aunt Wendy presiding. 

Then it was time to celebrate.  First there was great food.

Next there were cupcakes for everyone.

Then there was dancing,

including celebration with a Mardi Gras flair,

Wendy

The Frog

and even an acrobatic performance.

 A good time was definitely had by all.

The following morning was a brunch at Aprille and Skip's house. Their house is part way up the mountain with a view to die for.  Among the most excited in attendance was Baby, their golden retriever.  We could not stay long since we needed to catch our plane back home, but we did not want to miss seeing everyone one last time before taking off.

The trip back was via Denver, which was noteworthy since the Broncos were playing in the Super Bowl.  Some of the gate agents were in Broncos jerseys and many people were huddled around tv's throughout the terminal.  As we were in line to board there was a giant cheer from the bar next door.  We did not know what had happened, but we were sure it was good for the Broncos.  Even our plane's captain gave frequent updates on the score while we were in the air.  It was still only the third quarter when we landed.  I am not sure whether it was the Super Bowl or something else, but DFW airport and the highways on the way home were absolutely deserted...an unexpected but welcome treat.

This was a great weekend reuniting with family while celebrating Kirstin and Aldo's new life together.  Congratulations Kirstin and Aldo!!