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?