Backyard obsession

I've been working on trying to create a little bit of paradise in my backyard almost as long as I've been living in my house (27 years). Bit by bit, it is coming along. In 2002, I got rid of the apron patio and had a screened-in porch added to the back. I love that porch! It's my favorite room. The inside is painted in vibrant colors---turquoise, royal blue, red, yellow, green, purple, and orange. The ceiling is painted sky blue with yellow rafters mimicing the sun's rays. I have strings of colored lights decorating the interior. One string I purchased at The Alamo has used shotgun shells as light covers. Others have dragonfly covers and Dorothy's ruby slippers. I have a set that has the aces from a deck of cards as light covers, but I haven't hung those yet. I also decorated the interior with all kinds of found items, from salt and pepper shakers to beer trays to cast off photographs. You name it, it's probably in there somewhere. I love to sit on the porch in the evening with a glass of wine and listen to the sound of the water flowing in my pond out back.

Backyard time

We finally had a break in the weather yesterday, so I made my pilgrimage to Lowe's and bought some plants for the backyard. All my hanging baskets were killed in the freeze, so I needed to replace those. I also wanted to get some jasmine to plant on the arched trellis I have near the patio. I swore I wouldn't get any more tropical plants, but I broke down and bought one hibiscus to replace the two that froze. I also bought two hanging baskets of bougainvillea...they were so beautiful I just couldn't help myself. Besides, they look beautiful all summer with their bright fuchsia flowers. I planted zinnias in the hanging baskets and moss rose around the pond so it will creep up on the surrounding rocks. The yard is starting to look presentable again.

Grey Days

Springtime weather has always fascinated me. I've always lived in parts of the US where thunderstorms are common, and I've grown to love the sound of thunder. Not the extremely loud *BOOM* of thunder close by, but the low, rumbling sound thunder makes when it is several miles away. Rainy days (like today) make me think of my childhood in Arkansas. We lived in the small town of Jacksonville, about 13 miles from Little Rock. My dad was stationed at the air force base there. My brother and I would walk to school on nice days, or take the bus when it rained. Sometimes it would begin to rain on us as we were walking home, and we'd run home and arrive cold and drenched. One afternoon a thunderstorm blew through and knocked trees and tree limbs all over town. I heard later that day that a boy my age (6 years old) had been killed when he touched an electrical wire that had been knocked down in the storm. A tree in our backyard lost a rather large limb, and before it was cut up and hauled away, my brother and sister and I would jump on it like it was a trampoline. It seems I've veered off the subject here...I was originally thinking about how much I love thunderstorms. Anyway, I do like the sound of rain hitting the roof and running down the windowpanes. I love sitting curled up in a comfy chair with a kitty on my lap, drinking a delicious beverage and watching the rain fall. There's something that makes you feel so secure, knowing you are safe and warm and dry while the rain falls outside.

Pond Culture

A couple of years ago, I decided I wanted to build a pond in my backyard. I just wanted a small pond with a water feature, a plant or two, and a few fish. I really didn't want to dig a big hole in the yard, so I decided to build an above ground pond out of galvanized tin washtubs. My original concept was to have a large tub on the ground, with a smaller one above that so water could flow from one to the other. While shopping for the tubs, I found a really neat metal oil can, so I decided to run the hose through the spout of the can so that water would look like it was pouring out of the can into the top tub, which had a lip cut into it from which water flowed into the bottom tub. Now, I'm not an engineer, and I'm not really mechanical, so figuring out how to rig this setup wasn't really easy, but eventually I did it! I set the upper tub up on cinderblocks set behind the bottom tub and angled the top tub so that the water would flow downhill and into the bottom tub. The can part was trickier. I had to cut a hole in the bottom of the can so that I could run the hose up into the spout so that the water could flow out and into the top tub. I used a cinderblock as the base for the can and tilted the can so the water would flow out. I used zip ties and bricks to hold the can in place. Foliage around the pond covers the fastenings. The concept was to make something that looked sort of industrial, but that would blend in with the natural surroundings. In a future blog I will elaborate further on the materials and maintenance. Here's a photo of the finished product, before adding plants and fish.

More cats

In my last post about the cats, I didn't mention the two feral cats who live outside and have adopted us. I call them the Sweet Stripes...brother and sister who had the same mother, but came from different litters. The female is older than the male. Her name is Little Stripey. The mother cat was named Stripey, and this little female looked like her, so she became Little Stripey. Little Stripey actually got bigger than Stripey, and when Stripey died, Little Stripey just became Stripey. The other cat was originally named Stripette, but when we took her to be spayed, we found out she was a he, and he became Striper. Striper and Stripey are very sweet, and love each other very much. They appear on the front porch every morning and evening waiting to be fed, and usually stand with their tails entwined. They are beautiful long-haired cats, and are always impeccably groomed. Usually long haired cats need to be groomed, and I guess they groom each other because their coats are always so shiny and full. They never have any matted fur at all. Because they are feral cats they are very wary of humans, but they have come to trust us and let us pet them. They've both been "fixed" so there is no worry about more kittens. We're firm believers in having pets spayed and neutered.

Cats

I love cats. Cats have been part of my household for the last 36 years. We've always had at least two, and as many as four indoor cats. I'm convinced that people who don't like cats have never owned one (or had one own them!). Cats are great companions. Unlike dogs, you can leave a cat on its own for a few days and they can take care of themselves. I've heard it said that cats are not loyal or affectionate like dogs, but I've found that to be totally untrue. All the cats I've ever had are very affectionate; they just decide when to give the affection. Right now I've got three cats---Morris (orange tabby), Muldoon (black & white), and Corky (grey tabby). The cats pick out their "human", and Morris has picked me. He greets me at the door when I come home from work, and sleeps on my lap when I'm reading or watching TV in the evenings. He also likes to drink from the bathroom faucet, and will call me until I come and make the faucet drip so he can drink. He's my buddy. Corky is more my husband's cat, especially since our oldest cat, Max, recently died. Muldoon is sort of in the middle. He keeps his own counsel, but seems a bit more partial to my husband than to me. All our cats are rescued cats, and all have been neutered, of course. There are enough strays in the world without adding to the problem.