Current view of Villa de Chalet

at last I found out how to adjust the picture as the blog loads.  The attic ducts have been replaced with quiet flex ones insulated end to end wthout breaks or joints. There is more room to get around.  The temperature at the registers dropped considerably. Interior west walls are the next to be covered and taped as they had air leaks.  Working on the little front room ceiling as the temperatures on the outside edge can get up to 90 degrees.  There must be some missing insulation.  Going off to check the hitch ball, its a 3/4 shaft in a 1 " hole. We will visit Thibideaux Texas and pickup some cedar chips and then a white boganvilla from Market Daze.  Gonna pass on the 4th of July parade though Uncle Mike is driving one of Noahs old cars.  Too much noise for us.

Spater

It's Thursday I spent the morning in the attic re-insulating the ducts in the second floor. I need to spend another day doing it but I got them have fixed anyway I used some reflect X foil with the bubblewrap anyway works. The elbows coming out of the Plenum were basically uncovered are poorly covered and so I wrapped the foil around them and then there were places along the metal ducts that needed wrapping also. The whole system is pretty rough I need to work on the Plenum but that will be moving all of the stuff that stored in front of the door where the air conditioner is.

This morning I checked the Burr Oak and it's doing fine but none of the cover crop that I planted in the area around it is coming up there still bits of Bermuda grass training in through but I keep pulling those I may just give up and mulch the whole thing and not try to cover crop the Baroque is doing very very well and I'll put a link to the YouTube maybe tomorrow. I went out to the compost this morning and found that we've got soldier flies and one of the compost piles which is kind of neat there pretty active style I went out got more water and re-watered all three compost piles. I really need to filter the oldest one just not sure where I'm going to put the material. First they need to make some containers for all the soil is good to come out of there.  Maybe tomorrow morning first thing I will cut up one of the blue barrels and that will give me containers for the dirt which also means I should cut up the self watering system for the bottom of it too much work.

The footlockers now have cages on top of them and the cover crop particularly the Cayeuse oats are doing really well I think it's crowding out anything else. I looked down to see if any of the chard head seedlings that I put in there had made it but I think it just couldn't compete for sunlight there's plenty of water but not quite enough sunlight for some of the smaller crops. The second footlocker with the charcoal in it seems to be doing the best.

The lavender is doing very well or at least hasn't died, it's kind of hard to tell... lavender it just sits there most of the time. I finished up a video on the lavender and the Imagine farm we visited just so everybody would realize that lavender really don't need anything that looks like a decent garden soil. I'm using the east Burr Oak flat planer.  That oak made it so I pulled it out and dug down 3 inches and saved all the dirt and then replaced it with the funkiest dirt I could find from around the property you know something that I hadn't put any cover crops and or anything like that it's a mixture of white red clay in just everything anyway it looks like everything in the video and we'll see if that makes it. There are three lavenders in this small island and they're just sitting there they don't look like the gena died in Outlook like you can thrive I'm just hoping that they get enough sunlight in that their under the trees And really only get morning sun from the east and afternoon sun from the West.
 Here's the link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJGtIKjn8Ik&list=UUTCrZkBXtSllBEFGdNrsTOg&feature=share

This weekend where going to Houston and I probably won't get anything done around the house. Projects I'm still working on include the ballot of the Burr Oak tree and I need to write up how I fixed the exit from the driveway to the street I added a bunch of stone from Alex's place and interspersed it with walkpost and rye seed in the rye seed is already started up. I put down a mix of walk post and rye seed whenever I pull up stick a bar and then rub that in to the ground where I pulled the stickabur out it's working out pretty well in the Rye won't last very long but at least I won't get any stickaburrs. The Rye has a natural herbicide that keeps other plants from germinating.

The trailer is great and light enough for us to trailer but a bit more then we can spend.  It will be used for a year while we rebuild the house.
The Burr oak I cut off is regrowing from the roots and looks quite happy; the Pennington annual  rye seems a bit slow.  I have covered everything with white  cloth.except for the burr oak coming out of the center.  I seeded oats and rye with walkpost down on the flats area.  Some I used the aerator and then swept the seeds and the compost into the holes, a little was just on the surface or into the water ruts outside the fe

nce.  The picture is a couple days ago, those burr oak leaves are nearly 7" tall. Rye is starting in other areas but not here.  I may sprout some oats and put them down there, in hopes of outcompeteing the bermuda grass around the area (the hole is surrounded with black rubber edging material but the bermuda is really persistent).
     This morning I moved the black tunnel and some milk crates to the Johnson flats for a dew harvesting test.
      Will post a picture of the land and its water shed just to have it  in the blog.

thats all for now, need to head out while its still cool enough for outside work.
Dan.

Great rainstorm this morning! I had headed out to get some Off an essential when working outside. Picked up some shellac and 2 tubes of adhesive. I also picked up shellac also for the beadboard project.  I stopped at the new feed store and got rain guages and oats.  I will split the oats with Jody T and will use them mixed with the rye as a cover crop.  Jody reccomends just a stand of grain for the critters and birds to play in,.  Came home and got some rye mix for pulling sticker burrs great project after the rain stops. Gonna look at a trailer tonight.

I got two more pails of old landscape mulch and  then wend back and picked up a curly yucca. Culled the bermuda grass out of the oak planter and reseeded with annual rye yesterday. I edged along the spur and walked stones down 5 to load and lined the whole path.  Looks really good maybe 20 loads got 19889 on my pedometer and  10 flights of stairs credit.  Weight dropped to 187.5, most of thats probably water.  Things were fine til Chris mentioned the girls are learning to ride their bikes, I guess I will replace any really pointed stones with flatter ones. 
      I place some walkpost and annual rye seed mix over each stickerburr I pull out. It goes right into the hole as I pull the weed out.  Its working in a few places.  I still need to get a strategy for the Greenbriar ( local name is devil weed).  Maybe hit it with the horticultural  vinegar and then come back in a couple of days to pull it out thru the Annual rye mix.

Finished the cedar paths yesterday and repacked the shed again yesterday.  I set 4 stones in the walk to the driveway, including sifting the dirt adding compost and maybe moving in some plantings. Margarets preference is for a walk where she does not have to look where she is walking.  I seem to be the only one who likes the stones.  If they were all continuous and planar I guess it would be ok.  Maybe Ryan and I will do that at Christmas.  I cut the burr oaks and will do areas there in annual rye later today. 

Ponyfoot is a silver leaf dichondra which will even droop a bit out of planters.  I wonder if I can do this in window boxes?  Its a native and drought tolerant.  no mention of deer or wild stock preference.

Wow I have this all over the yard.  It will even out compete bermuda grass and also enrich the soil.
Its a bit drought tolerant too.
"Anything that grows along the ground like horseherb is going to hold onto a lot of debris and moisture and create the conditions for fungi to thrive. Horseherb gets really dense and shades out what's beneath it, which is also partly why it can contain bermuda grass." yem


Horse Herb
Calyptocarpus vialis

Horse herb is an evergreen (in this part of the state) low growing ground cover that does well in sun, part sun, or shade.  It can also take some foot traffic.  It has a small yellow flower for most of the warm season.  This ground cover can even be mowed (if mowing makes you happy)."

     I continued the cedar path at 6 am.  Started by putting the dregs in the ruts by Johnson flats. That's much better then just shoving it in the trash.  I picked up two containers full of chips and realised there are plenty more.  These are finer then the ones at Mikes so they look a little different.  Some have mycelium mold starting, thats a great sign.  The soil in front of the shed is the richest I have seen.  I am keeping it wet with the cardboard on top even before I scrape it.  Sharpening the hoe helped alot.  I went up to Alex's house and he gave me two laptops he seems done with yesterday.  Miscellaneous doors missing but also included three wireless cards.  hope one will work in the laptop.  Grabbed 4 landscape timbers from his burn pile.  Maybe I will redo the center bed so I can get all the way around it.  There is one particularly worm eaten, I will cut that up for the island garden.  Maybe the others will be for the raised bed...
       Temptation is to just wait and get three IBC containers and make two for water one for the water off the deck/roof and one for the water off the shed.  I will take the third and make it one or two selfwatering containers(cut them in half).  Dumping water into the ground seems like a real waste when I could just make a self watering container.  I will line it with a cloth covered flexible Frenchdrain  Actually one of the blue barrels would work also and I could just screw it to the sides.  Maybe I will do that instead and pickup the IBC next month with my SS check. All I need is the pipe and I am done.  There is plenty of soil in the compost piles and the center bed.
        MEB wants to get the water from the coop.  Not sure what she intends to use it for as we dont have the filtration for use it.  My guess is she wants to be just like Karen and have a similar lawn.  I would rather save the 20$ a month for Xeriscape plants.  I am just not sure how much that water is poisoning the soil.  Everyone who puts it on trees kills them.
         I added some of Alex's seastone tiles to the path.  Prefers edge to edge stones as the others are too hard to walk on.  Just not ready to tear out the whole path and lay a new one.  Now I know why she likes the cedar so much.  Maybe we just need to convert to cedar everywhere, I am the only one who likes the stones.
        Tomorrow work on the last of the cedar and then move over to the front burr oak and cut it off.  I will clean out the grass and load it up with leaves and compost materials maybe plant the annual rye and see what gives.  Might even see about expanding the size of the area around the dead oak to make something more interesting.  I also have two more tiles to set into the ground.
        I am making boxes for the two black planters so the critters can't get in.  will have a closet door on top and wire lath sides that should keep things safe and a bit more shaded.  Setup some wood for the chop saw table, not sure how that will work out.

Its been a while since I updated a picture of the whole chalet.

       The paths along the front of the house and across to the Kamenzinds were full of bermuda grass. I have torn them up and taken out the tarpaper, the chips are sifted for soil and earthworms and then relaid on the paths over cardboard. On the path to the Kamenzinds I used horticultural vinegar to kill the weeds figuring it will be gone in a week. The foaming was amazing; yes the Texas soil is really akaline. As I proceeded along the front of the house I stopped using the vinegar ( at 12 to 20$)and figured if the soil and chips react as they did in Alexandria I should get a yearly "strip compost" of soil and worms. In Alexandria at Chinquapin I could get two or three crops per year. The third most valuable commodity on Mount Chalet is usable soil right after shade and rainfall.
       I ran short of chips ( but have lots of low grade siftings I call walk compost) and I have been watching for piles of it around.  Its available all over central Texas.  I found some nearby and pickup up a couple buckets full each morning.  I don't get the same number of steps on my fitbit but I do get some upper body exercise.  The pile I found is so old its full of mycelium and I add the white bits to the two compost piles.  The cedar chips seems seems to age to a similar color under the surface.  If it gets grey you just stir it about and its back to cedar bark color.  This seems constant wether the chips are fresh or years old.
     We had 7 inches of rain this May, an all time record for the month though this is the wettest month in Central Texas. I was able to run the hand aerator over the whole green area. The newest plan is the aerate, yielding the 4 to six holes, sprinkle some walkcompost and then rake up the various oak leaves  that have accumulated. This fills in the holes with a minature vertical compost. The leaves get reground with the lawn mower and spread back around the same areas.  In a senior moment early after our arrival, I mowed the grass earlier at 2" and probably scared the Buffalo Grass chunks.  I am back to 4" though I have lately been just using the grass knife to knock down the big stuff.  I am moving towards no till gardening as much as I can.
     Sticker burrs (the white flowers that quickly morph into stickerburrs) are pulled up and go into the trash.  Lately as I go around on weed patrol I first mix a batch of cheap rye grass with walkcompost and place a pinch of it at the base of the weed. I pull the weed out by its long root ( 1 to 5 ") and push the seed compost mixture into the whole.  I am not expecting much annual rye this way but if it starts it will "herbicide" anything trying to grow down that hole. Annual Rye is famous for "does not play well with others".  The stickerburrs will be a yearly battle but if I can vertically compost the entire property thats worth something. I am trying to compost one batch of the sticker burrs but they seem reluctant to breakdown, even in my old styrofoam container from the balony garden.
      I was trashing the bermuda grass and tarpaper flakes from the walks.  Since the tarpaper does really break down I am now using this cull from the walks to fill the 4 year old ruts outside the fence  on the north side of the property.  I really want to store all that standing water in plants if I can.  Each day as I walk by getting my 10000 steps I add sticks to the ruts.  Given a few more months of walking I should have them filled in with old bermuda grass sticks and whatever else is about.  IF I really want to deter the "Mudders" I will place the old metalsprings from down on Johnson road there.  No one wants to get the metal bed frame tangled in their expense shock absorbers.  I will hold off on this.
     Plenty of clouds but rain is not predicted.  I think we will go to the first Saturday Fleamarket in Wimberley.  I really need a metal vice as I have a set of blades to sharpen for the chipper and also the blade on the electric lawn mover. I might even get a grinder but only if its really cheap.  The vice, a file and sharpening stone should be sufficient.  A decent adjustable bench grinder is about 70$. Its nearly fathers day maybe I will find something.

Found the name of our ice cream cone snail Decollate snail Scientific name: Rumina decollata Life stages of decollate snail Click on image to enlarge

Phylum: Mollusca Class: Gastropoda Common prey: Predator of the brown garden snail in citrus Commercially available: Yes DESCRIPTION The decollate snail's shell is elongate, tapered, and about 1 inch (25 mm) long. As it grows, the shell's tip becomes brittle and often becomes irregularly broken. This species was introduced from the Mediterranean into southern California in the 1970s to help control the brown garden snail (Helix aspersa). Each decollate snail lays about 500 eggs during its lifetime. The snails live in litter on soil, emerging to feed when it is dark and damp. They feed mostly on other snails and decaying organic matter. Decollates also eat young seedlings, so it may not be desirable to release them in gardens. In citrus, establishment and proper maintenance of decollate snail populations has been shown to permanently reduce brown garden snail populations to insignificant levels in 4 to 10 years. The best time to introduce and establish decollate snails in California is during warm, damp weather in the early spring. Introductions of this snail are permitted only in certain San Joaquin Valley and southern California county locations (they are illegal in other areas as they may affect native snail and slug populations). So its a goodguy pretty much. hopefully he is also eating the stickerburrs as I always seem to find them when I am pulling the sticker plants.

We are fulltime residents. Memorial Day included lots of rain and I really need to update some of these photos. Water delivery for drinking is on Thursday. I aerated the entire lawn area and added walkcompost to the holes. Vertical compost in minature. Pulled stickburrs up with the roots and filled those holes with compost and annual rye grass seed. Can't hurt. Lawn is very green need to get some pix.

Ryan's Here!

Ryan flew in thursday nite without the ubiquitous red book bag. He flew without baggage and decided he needed a larger carryon. Quick stop at Rudys for some moist and lean and then a stop at Wallyworld before we headed home.

Friday Ryan moved all the pea gravel back up the driveway and then lined the edge along the grass with large logs from around the property. Dan insulated the foundation along the northeast corner ( where we had frost damage last winter) and then covered it with vinyl siding. The siding and insulation goes up to the window. I will continue it along under the bay windows another day. I have insulation and enough small pieces of vinyl to cover it. That should keep the room a bit warmer this winter and maybe a little cooler in summer. The half bath is already cooler with the air leaks plugged.

Ryan also cleared out miscellaneous wood and piled it over the tank on the northside. We are watering the foundation along with the plants as the drought continues. Its been cloudy in the evenings and it stays pretty warm thru the night usually about 81 F. Thats a break from the 105 in the daytime.

Saturday we cut and nailed up the vinyl siding on the west wall of the shed. The pieces are small (maximum 8') and have to be spliced together but they were free. Normally the siding in nearly 14'. After a full day of splicing and cutting and learning we only have one big scrap and it may be reusuable some way.

Sunday we head to Wimberly and tubing with the Cuz. Monday, Ryan will catch up with Suzanna from Germany and then we will head down to Charles Schwab for some business.

Drought continues

article on the drought, not the worst yet but definitely the leading contender

The cats are attached to the cool tile floor, getting lots of brushing. The garden has some new-to-us shade cloth. I am headed out this morning to get some more free siding. will quit by 1000 hrs and work inside on the soffets (adding holes and screen). The attic seems to be cooling a bit better despite the heat. got a few more spots to patch and spackle like the little bathroom. It seems to leak a lot of heat into the house. There may be a hole in the bottom of the floor.

More winter prep

I spent the last two mornings 6:45 to 7:45 in the attic turning the insulation to fluffy side down and paper on the top. I also pulled it away from the soffet vents. Everytime I enter the attic thru the hatch in the hall there is a whooosh of air up. Not good, that means the roof vent is pulling harder then the soffet vents. It also means the roof vents will try to pull air from the house thru the insulation. More reasons to get better air flow into the attic.

while I was up in the attic this morning, I replaced the tape that holds the insulation around the duct going over to the master bedroom. The other duct needs work but I ran out of tape and its way the heckover on the north side which is harder to get too. I still have only seen light ( and hence air flow) on the Northwest corner of the attic. Need to spend more time on the north, maybe tonight.

I put the extension ladder up the side of the house and got grey foam insulation on the airconditioner cold line all the way up the wall to the roof. I can see the line in the attic but I will be belly crawling thru the insulation to wrap the foam insulation round it. Another morning project. Its only gonna make a difference in summer temps, I need to be sure what ever I do covers both seasons.

I am even watering the big trees as I am losing some branches on one of the big oaks. Suddenly the leaves turned yellow. It maybe too late, but I watered anyway. One of the star Jasimine gave out and the shrimp plant turns black and then a few days later replaces the missing stems. One jasmine is still trying to climb the chain but it is very slow progress. The lantana is hanging on but not producing blooms. I lost one of the 3 vincas atop the water tank. I have 4 more waiting to replace it. I wonder if those are ready for full sunshine?

Found more siding

I hit craigslist and found some siding for the removing over in RoundRock. Beautiful location on the creek ( its full!). One side of the house and some really wide soffets. It turned out there was some insulation in the walls. That will go into the attic to keep Liz and the cats warmer this winter. The color is a bit darker then the house but it won't be directly visible unless you are looking down from the Cox's house. Anyway I worked from 1830 to nearly 2200 last night.

When I walked this morning, it was spitting almost rain.

Too hot

started at 0500 and even gave Madison the pug a circuit around the mountain. He doesn't normally get out for a large walk in the summer. Spent a few minutes on the deck trying to make shade out of the old metal from the storage shed. I cleaned a few more vinyl pieces, two corners and the last 4 vinyl siding. I will remount the chainlink posts out a bit so it won't interfere with the siding. The west side should be ready for siding tomorrow. Its 103 and a high wind, and at noon I gave up and went in to the house and made a meal. I am being decadent and cranked the temp to 82, at least I am getting some laundry and cleanup done. Maybe I will head out again at 6:30pm tighten down the last screws in the ridge vents.

New clothes for the shed

Well the vinyl siding is cleaning up nicely with a scrub brush and lots of irrigation water. I have added soffet vents on both sides and a large triangle on the north gable. I have enough siding to do one side and maybe the north face in pieces. I still need to cut out the bottom 6 " of paneling all around base as its gotten minor water damage. Everything was properly painted except the bottom cut edge by the ground and being masonite it absorbed some water over its 10 years at the Dell Diamond ( tha)ts a baseball stadium,

Todays project is to work on the chain link fences on either side of the shed and maybe even hang the gate on the west side of the house. If you ever work on a fence by the aluminum wires to hang it on the cross bars much easier then the galvanized wire I am using.

Shed is ventilated

I cleaned up some leaves around Josie's house and she asked if I could move the pile of old scraps from the vinyl siding about 10 years ago. I started cleaning up of the leaves and seperating out the parts and pieces of vinyl. It came out a full pickup full, kinda dirty from the composting oak leaves but I now have enough vinyl soffet to add to the house soffets. Its an older style but it won't show on the north side of the house. Its much easier then drilling the 180 holes per piece of soffet.

I cleaned put pieces of channel and then cut the soffet pieces. It only took 2 12 foot pieces of soffet and 8 pieces of channel . I had to remove the old unvented masonite soffet but it looks great with new vinyl and I won't paint it in my lifetime. I added a single vent in the north gable of the roof. I still might do a cupola or a pair of roof vents if it stays too hot to store the furniture. Nothing on the southface, will probably use some bat insulation to insulate the door as it is the main heat spot. Actually the east wall is pretty hot especially as the sun bounces off the future water cistern pad.

194.5 two mornings now, got in all my morning walks.

Waiting for the Shed

Last two days have been wait time for the shed. No word yet on exactly when it will be delivered. Robert pointed out the was some fire damage in his shed. The wood look black and charred but it does not rub off and there is some white powdery stuff near it. Its only up in to soffet area around the ends of the rafters. I did not notice any similar damage in mine, but its not here yet and I did not have a ladder to check things. Maybe it will come tomorrow.
I had noticed all the sheds were without any real ventilation other then garage doors. Chris's the largest one had a small air conditioner poked thru the wall. It has barnacle like mold on the edge of the soffet for nearly 2 feet. I internet-checked up on moisture and mildew and finally found some information on mildew and prevention and repair. Looks like we will need some bleach water and maybe some paint and ofcourse adding some ventilation. I already have some soffet vents and two ridge vents to put in before I even think about windows. Actually we may never put windows but maybe a cupola which would give us both skylight and ventilation. If it just for storage windows will just be one more place for water to come in. I probably need to check my attic ridge vent next am up there and make sure there is no mildew evidence. Now I am certain that I will put that tar paper under the building as a vapor barrier to prevent any water from venting up from the ground. Its not as nice as a waterproofed basement but we don't get that much rain here anyway. If we poured footings those would be waterproofed. The water might stand on the tar paper but probably not for long. Water seeping up from the ground is more likely.
Air conditioner just turned on and its set for 80 F, will reset to 81. Attic is 113 F and its 1847hrs with a hot wind blowing across the property. Outside temperature is 100 F. We will have clouds again tonight so I may not head up to see check the attic vents from the inside. I might crawl thru the Pyracantha one day and check the other attic. Yuck, I better be very bored before I do that. Anway the picture is of the rolled up devil weed that I need to cart away tomorrow and hopefully get ready for the shed. The vicuna flowers above the water cooler are surviving but the sun has bleached out most of the color I checked and they used to get very little afternoon sun. Not many choices in that location just sun or more sun. At least the watering is automatic.
The picture is of the area where the shed will go and the low piles of devil weed were 5 times higher before I figured how to roll them into tight bundles. They actually stick to each other and make it pretty simple.
Some discussion about hooking up the chain link fence after the shed is in. I had thought of just putting it inside the fence and forgetting about digging holes for two endposts ( they are different from between posts). Another approach is to attach bolts to the side of the house and just bring the fence up to house. Robert is in favor of getting complete endposts and hardware, digging holes and cementing them in place, then getting a come-along and stringing each side. I will look into both methods, my approach is definitely cheaper and faster though I will have to add two timbers(4by 4s) to the garage corners to be sure its strong enough. I will price the eye bolts to put thru the walls. Looks like I get a trip to Home Depot or Tractor supply for those items. Lowe's does not carry that stuff. I probably need to check on the side gate and see if I need stuff to finish that. I know I will need a couple posts for that.
I finally got some other flowers in the garden area too.