When we first bought the Milagro house, one of the thoughts behind it was that it was pretty much in move-in condition.
Pretty much. Well, as any homeowner knows, the maintenance and improvements never end, particularly if you are me.
Milagro House, shortly after we got it.
This is a somewhat more recent pic.
This is one of our first days in the new pad.
We found out shortly thereafter that neither the stairway or the platform were very structurally sound.
And so my back yard odyssey began. I hired a few guys a couple of times but it didn't really work out. So I would say that the vast majority, like 98% I did myself. Learning new skills and manhandling tons and tons of material.
I laid the foundation. (All ten tons of it) for the oven and stove and then had some mason's build the pizza oven and BBQ.
The grapes have filled in well and note the new structure to the left, the TSS.
The grapes haven't quite taken off.
And now they have. Wine grapes to the left, table grapes on your right. Nothing edible yet, soon though, I hope.
This is before the koi pond, and well before the latest addition of
Note the potted rosemary in the foreground, just keep it in mind.
Pond overboard.
The TSS is actually quite multi-purposed. It started off as a solution to keeping the chickens from flying into the neighbors yard. We don't have chickens, yet, but nothing like planning ahead. Then I realized if it could keep the chickens in it could also keep critters out, notably whatever had raided the koi pond several months ago.
We have since repopulated the koi pond with more koi, a couple of catfish, and some tadpoles but an ugly and very inconvenient covering of chicken wire had been in place since.
Last year I bought some very wonderful heirloom tomato plants from a lovely local grower in Torrance and then got a job and really messed things up. It was a hot summer and I just...well we didn't get that many tomatoes and the plants never really took off. This year I was determined not to have a repeat, so I have been diligent with watering and the like, and I'm not working. And they have gone crazy. I quickly realized I needed some serious support for these guys. So hence the TSS, maybe a bit extreme, but so far it is working out well in all regards.
View from inside the TSS.
Remember the potted rosemary. They didn't like pots, so I replanted them and they are flourishing.
His buddy is doing pretty good as well.
Before...
After. I need to get in and do some pruning.
Something never quite worked for me with these pots. So I decided to move them down by the pool. Now that was a major undertaking, since I did it myself. Those pots are ridiculously heavy.
I planted a fig tree and a pomegranate in their place and they are doing much better.
Little Daisy, the Christmas cat, has pretty much been banished to being an outdoor cat. She seems to be fair alright with the change.
1 comments:
Very cool. I can't believe the rosemary took off like that. How long between the little sprout picture and the bush thing?
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