Water Lillies

“Carry On Camping”

ESPatch Jul 27, 2015 6 comments

A quick camping excursion to the Gulf – just me (my wife knows better), the kids, nature, and oh yes, a future sand storm.

We exited society and the tarmac at North Padre Island, crunched the truck’s gearbox stubbornly into 4-wheel-drive and we were off, hurtling down the deserted coastline to look for a suitable camping spot.

Beach Camping

Attracted to the large log, we settled on this spot in the dunes – the beach was deserted as far as we could see in both directions…hmm, that should have been a clue.

They immediately got busy in the sand while I set up camp and erected the tent and an improvised tarp attached to the bed of the truck to store coolers (and other random camping stuff that was later to be buried in sand).

I settled uncomfortably into my newly purchased (and extremely cheap) Academy chair (pictured above) and poured a piña colada buzz ball over ice to get into the holiday mood.

hqdefault (Thanks L)

I was hoping for a more reclined and relaxing beach posture to enjoy my liquid libation but unfortunately I was ergonomically challenged by a Chinese manufacturer into a bolt upright position – knees pushed so high against my chest cavity that it hindered breathing.

You get what you pay for.

The chairs were a perfect size for them as it turned out.

The fire-pit was lit, we had chicken wings and marshmallows on the BBQ, the stars came out over the oil rigs,

I had another piña colada buzz ball…it was just about perfect…a quick torch-lit crab hunt then it was time for ‘bed’.

After a rather rough night comprised of:

a) Incessant wiggling, and an excess of irritating / abrasive sand in the tent,

b) An infestation of sand flies that chewed on us all…all night,

and

c) The gross misconception that sand is a soft medium to pitch a tent on (and sleep soundly on over the age of 10)…

…dawn could not come soon enough for me.

Luckily the coastguard gave us all an early start which initiated some post-breakfast beach-combing.

We found a plethora of beautiful / deadly and disgusting Gulf-Coast wash-ups on the morning tide.

Plenty of these,

Portuguese Man of War:

(Physalia physalis)

A little disconcerting considering they were dotted at regular intervals down the beach.

We found…

one of these,

a baby hammerhead who had met an unfortunate end,

and, lots and lots of these coquina clams…her favorite (over and above the other random dead and decapitated things).

This was the last image I took before the above-mentioned sand storm blew in and destroyed the camp, (you can see the storm clouds building in the distance), unfortunately I have no pictures of it as I was fully consumed:

a) Trying to control a rather large tarp that insisted on throwing even more sand in my face while slapping at me wildly. The tent was buckled over to the ex’tent’ ahem that through the haze of sand I could make out the silhouettes of two small people huddled together, the canvas contouring to their bodies, one was crying…having fun at the beach yet kids?

b) After giving up on the tarp and ultimately cutting it loose (the long metal sand spikes attempting to hold it down had become a legitimate concern / potential Darwin award at this point) and upon entering the now buckled-over tent for my own protection, I realized the temporary domicile was filling up with sand faster than one could say ‘what the King Tut is going on?’

It was time to evacuate before we were buried alive, buried alive I say.

We threw everything that was not yet buried into the back of the truck, jumped in and slammed the doors.

It was so quiet.

This is how I looked (after I had already brushed myself down) as I checked into a local Best Western Hotel.

Never has a shower felt so good…and never have I witnessed my kids wanting a shower so much that I had to take third place in line to get one.

That was a first.

The following morning we woke up to a great view and felt refreshed after finally getting some quality sleep.

After our experience we were only too happy to be tourists for a while.

They had a fine time exploring “The Blue Ghost” aircraft carrier (USS Lexington),

which housed a display case containing an impressive amount of knots, yes knots. If you like knots, this display case is for you.

We returned home only to find Kumo in a spot of bother with a garden spider.

It was a beauty, with a web spanning 7ft.

No shortage of foliage this year for web spinning.

Another less dramatic excursion took us recently to the Hill Country Water Gardens:

http://www.hillcountrywatergardens.com/

Even in 100 degree weather, this place with its shade trees and an abundance of water features makes it feel like 98.

The ponds are stunning and so well maintained, well worth a visit.

Looking at them reminded me that I had a decade worth of organic sludge burping and fizzing at the bottom of my pond,

humph.

These fish heads were still attached to their colorful bodies.

This was the star attraction for them and one I fear I will be roped into constructing in the not too distant future.

A living fairy garden.

Returning home, I just had to make a start:

Stay Tuned For:

“National Leveridge’s European Vacation”

All material © 2015 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques.

“Running up that Hill”

ESPatch Mar 22, 2014 8 comments

The logistics, design and installation of this next back garden had me “Running up that Hill” more times then I care to mention.

This garden had very narrow access, just wide enough to fit a wheelbarrow.

Once through the initial entryway an immediate hairpin bend to the left needed to be circumnavigated before embarking on the relative luxury of stretch of straight pathway.

A third of the way way down the home straight are some steps that take you up to a patio on the upper level…the hill.

These steps, and the strategically placed double glass door at the bottom of them (just to add to the overall stress levels) in combination with trying to roll rather large and unwieldy slabs of 2″ thick over-sized Oklahoma flagstone up them, provided ample ‘excitement’ during the installation process.

images (3)

The concrete pathway on the lower section terminated in a sticky poorly-draining area at the other end of the house. The dirt from the hill had washed down into the trench and was creating pooling when it rained.

Here is the top plateau receiving a good clear-out, grade leveling and excavation:

This top area lacked definition and had no real function or purpose, a no-man’s land.

Time to hit the drawing board…

I wanted to link the top and bottom areas with a pathway that would connect up with the top patio (and the “stressful steps”) providing a walkable loop around the entire space.

These are the renderings that I used to communicate the design intent to the client, and oh yes…is that another hardy red oleander in the plan TD?…You bet there is!

Although this winter has been hard on even the hardy:

It will soon recover though.

Back to the plan:

Sunken flagstone steps would be required to get to the upper plateau which would be planted with drought tolerant and tough plants on either side of the flagstone. Trailing rosemary and lantana were added to take advantage of the front limestone cliff.

Here are the flagstone steps getting hacked and leveled into the existing limestone shelf:

Before:

And here is the finished top plateau freshly planted:

The alternating trailing rosemary and basket grasses will eventually fill in up to the flagstone, cover and stabilize the limestone rocks and earth on top of the cliff.

Basket grass (Sacahuista)

Nolina texana

works great on dry limestone slopes like this.

Basket grass is not a true grass, it is actually a member of the agave family. It is evergreen, requires no pruning (unless to remove an old flower spike), it is heat, cold and drought tolerant, resistant to deer, slow growing, low maintenance and best of all it can tolerate almost all soil types.

Oh yes, this plant packs an impressive and versatile xeriscape resume.

It is happiest in the rocky soils of West and South Texas – its native habitat.

The silver-blue color pairs well with rosemary and opuntia offering a lot of winter structure and color. Be careful not to plant too close to a pathway as the long flat blades can be quite sharp.

This installation took an intensive four days to complete, the intensity clearly evident by the state of my truck by the end of it:

Urgh!

Back in the Patch:

I am really happy to report that his front pearly whites (both top and bottom) are now in the tiny hands of the fairies and once again I can relax when he approaches me although, I have noticed a substantial increase in wet projectiles as he talks.

Best stay at ‘DEFCON 3’ for the time being.

DEFCON 5: Normal peacetime / home readiness, general and peaceful couch / movie / gaming / relaxing ESP family time.

DEFCON 4: Normal, increased intelligence and strengthened security measures:

This generally relates to screen-time abuse / Minecraft server / WordPress logins / Password and Username issues, DEFCON 4 has a direct effect on weekly allowance and can sometimes involve internal WIFI connectivity issues, domestic bills, Amazon ordering debates and sparrows populating our purple martin box.

sparrows
DEFCON 3: Increase in force readiness above normal readiness:

Including intermittent and unintentional saliva evacuation, flies in the house / on food and gross things found in the garden and pond that are subsequently brought into close proximity and presented on our back deck or worse, inside the house…as in: “Dad…Kumo has a….

“…Lets move to DEFCON3 people!”

Example of a DEFCON 3 incident: http://www.eastsidepatch.com/2012/04/exploding-goldfish/

DEFCON 2: Further Increase in force readiness, but less than maximum readiness:

This includes the wiggling of teeth at obscure angles and involves me directly should a major domestic appliance or vehicle suddenly stop functioning. We ALWAYS move directly to DEFCON 2 should the toilet plunger see some action or the compost bins are full and require immediate evacuation.

DEFCON 1: Maximum force readiness:

Obnoxious odor-emanation at close quarters, instantaneous projectile vomiting, high-fevers and stepping into any unmentionables. Rats, roaches and toilet overflows warrant an immediate DEFCON 1 emergency response.

Internally we classify the degree of a DEFCON 1 incident by the height of the reactionary jump:

Moving more sensibly along:

‘Cactus Man Jr’ is now in a somewhat unnerving state of perpetual winking, and

his acne is getting alarmingly worse.

For anyone who does not know this somewhat disturbing story, I killed the original Cactus Man in a horrible, overtly aggressive face-carving incident which, in turn, killed all the other paddles in the adjacent area (his family).

Some time later the paddles started growing again and Cactus Man (Jr) popped up in exactly the same place where the mutilation originally occurred, only this time the paddle had already grown some eyes!

The recent winking transformation is like his way of acknowledging the botanical irony.

Finally:

Yes once again I got bullied, as I do every year around this time, into buying another ice-plant from the nursery.

I tucked it into a secluded spot around this yucca where it was was not in my direct line of sight.

Out of sight – out of mind.

The first Walsker lily pads are showing up in my ponds, these early pads always carry some of the most vivid coloration.

This sand cherry does a pretty good job also.

I need some burgundy canna around the base of this shrub.

I will leave you with a couple of performances on Saint Patrick’s Day:

http://youtu.be/WAAth4KMqyQ

Stay Tuned for:

“Blooming Canthas!”

All material © 2014 for eastsidepatch. Unauthorized
intergalactic reproduction strictly prohibited, and
punishable by late (and extremely unpleasant)
14th century planet Earth techniques