July 13-25 or so
written July 19+
As I write this, our weather has turned pleasant again, highs below 100F and lows back into the 70s and 60s. Rain is not forecast until September, at the earliest. This is definitely not Germany!
It's
a pretty quiet time overall. Dinners out, sometimes with Mamo and
sometimes being entertained at our favorite local, Pinot Wine
Bar. The garage project continues (see below) as does back yard improvement.
New
paths were prepared. Five tons of decomposed granite were
received and distributed, but the bocce court took most of it, so there
will be another delivery when I get enough energy.    Five yards of bark covered a fair amount of our plain dirt, but here too we will need more.   |
Another
great BBQ at Katinka and Rubins - fresh chicken. (No, not
Penny!) One candle for Scarlet. Her story and she's
sticking.   Mostly, time for family.   |
Now it is another week,
with more of the same. The old Audi went back into the shop for a
broken axle boot. Not a big deal, but one more expense that
reminds me that cars have a limited life, even favorite cars. (We
have in fact placed an order for new car, but that was going to
be our second car, not a replacement for the current one. I hope
we can keep he old one another year or two without pouring too much
money in.)Otherwise, it's all the same: garden work (see next), Mamo visits, relaxing. Not bad, all in all.
But, about that garden work. On Thursday we bought almost 40 plants for our "river hill". On Friday and Saturday we put them all in the ground, despite the 110F (42.5C) mid-day temperature.
      |
   |
   |
Speaking
of conservation in a near-desert, we now need to care for our lawn and new garden under
drought conditions. Recent water rationing rules means watering
only twice a week, in the early morning or late
evening. Fines up to $500 are being handed out for watering
on any days but Sunday and Wednesday, any hour between 6am and 7pm, and
for causing "too much" water on sidewalks and streets. It is a
shame, because Fresno with water is wonderful for landscapes and
gardens, but without it will revert to dry and dusty scrub land.
As it is, we grow "Bermuda Grass" for our lawn, a weed-like plant that
is ugly, dies back in winter, is patchy at best, but seems to survive
with minimum water.
Our
other forced conservation effort involves time-of-day electricity
rates. We signed up to trade a 3-cents per kw-hr discount for
very high rates on certain days, selected by the local power
company. On these "smart saver days", the electric rates go from
about 10-cents-per-kw-hr to 73-cents-per-kw-hr between 2 and 7 pm.
Needless to say, we do not run the air conditioner in those
periods! In addition, if we go above a certain monthly allotment,
the normal rate goes up to about 35-cents-per-kw-hr.Welcome to California!
That's it for this diary, I think. I'll start another on Friday to tell the story of Ava and Sam's visit to Gigi's and Opa's. This will be followed the next week by a visit from Rich and his folks. Good times for Opa and Oma/Gigi!
John and Marianne
Again, for our own record (and for architect cousin Bob), here's more on the garage project.
The
new front wall of the garage was installed with "strong walls" on
either side. The opposite end of the garage also got bracing for
"overturning" prevention.    |
The inside is gradually getting more finished.   |
The old roof came off and a new one is getting done. Promises are that next week it will be finished.  |
Our
old windows and new doors arrived. We also looked at a sample of
a garage door, but decided against the faux-wood look in favor of a
plain color.   |
| New week:21st through 26th Monday work on trim. (Tuesday, too busy to take pictures.)
  Wednesday, the roof covering gets done, including power fans     On Thursday, the doors were mounted and the inside was cleaned up a bit. Fortunately, this long, boring wall is invisible to us and almost all our neighbors.     On Friday, Gary put in his hand at roughing-in all the electrical while Brian and Cameron finished detail preparation for the stucco team. They arrived Saturday and finished wrapping the place in tar paper and chicken wire.   --  On Monday (28th), Gary finished the rough electric so we could have the inspection done Tuesday. That check happened uneventfully and freed the way for me to start organizing my part of the garage. Until the walls get done, my shelves need to be in the middle of the room, but it still makes it seem like we are making progress.   |