What else is new?
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Two other smaller projects, thanks for letting me share in your thread @brenda !
The two large arbor vitae near our gate, they grow about 8-10" each year, so I've been pruning it so that it's creating an archway, kind of fun. The first pic is what we saw in 2021, healthy but couldn't access gate without getting brushed by both, and the last pic I have is from 2 years ago, I'll have to take another one after I prune it this month as the archway is fully connected from the height 7 feet to about 13 feet above.
The other project is removing daylilies and replacing them with black eyed susans. Love that plant (HATE the bunnies that eat the stems, though!!). Even put the kids to work.
And yes, this is what saturday's look like these days...long gone are the golfing mornings... dunkin and tall ornamental grass from the hardware store
@89th
I LOVE YOUR ARBORVITAE ARBOR!! That is too cool.You have done a remarkable job in refreshing your landscape and renovating it. Well done!!
Love it, too, that the kiddos are involved. It's a great family project, and the kids really can help. They can be proud of what they contributed to the project. Take pics of the kiddos by the fruits of their labor, and put them out where everyone can see them. It will let them experience that positive feeling of getting something done, and being recognized for it.
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@Doctor-Phibes Wow what a difference, bet it feels great walking on the deck now. I like the hardscaping beneath too.. not only looks great, but also removes some PITA yard/weed areas on the far left and under the deck.
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@Doctor-Phibes said in What else is new?:
@89th said in What else is new?:
@Doctor-Phibes Wow what a difference, bet it feels great walking on the deck now. I like the hardscaping beneath too.. not only looks great, but also removes some PITA yard/weed areas on the far left and under the deck.
We had not one but two robin's nests under the deck this summer. I disposed of the first nest after the chicks fledged, and then they rebuilt it two weeks later and produced a second batch. The bigger dog was inches away from getting one of the chicks the day after it left the nest, but it discovered flight just in time. The noise the parents made during this episode was unbelievable.
I bet. Imagine you just built a home out of sticks using nothing but your fucking BEAK because you don't even have hands, then banged a chick, she gave birth to your kids in that home, then your kid falls out of the home and doesn't know how to use their wings to fly yet and you watch a creature the size of a dinosaur vs a cat approach your kid to eat it and you are trying to yell to your kid how to use their wings and instead of words all you can do is whistle out of your fucking BEAK. Man, what a nightmare.
This is absolutely accurate.
We've had multiple nestings of robins. They are very serious about their parenting. The females are all Karens about protecting the kiddos, and the males are very involved dads, unlike many other types of birds.
They're fun to watch, and they will leave a big mess when they are done.
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I love it, blondie! The only things that slows me down now is the smoke from the fires in Canada, and the job responsibilities I have.
Today is a smoky day, so here I am online. I love all of you folks, but if it wasn't smoky, I'd be outside all day long.
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Trex is good. I did trex with my most recent build, but I’ve a question for @Doctor-Phibes : Did you have to replace those joists under your deck? I ask because I want to rip up the unfinished cupped and split front porch boards on another house (built in 2023) and redo it with Trex.
@blondie said in What else is new?:
Trex is good. I did trex with my most recent build, but I’ve a question for @Doctor-Phibes : Did you have to replace those joists under your deck? I ask because I want to rip up the unfinished cupped and split front porch boards on another house (built in 2023) and redo it with Trex.
You should not have to replace the porch or deck joists on a two year old house. I would open everything up and lay down flattened aluminium drywall corners over the top of eachjoist to act as a drip edge to keep water away from the spruce joist. Spray paint the metal edge flat black and fasten down the Trex over top. It was a carpenter who told me about that when I did my deck 20 years ago. My deck joists are as sound and unweathered today as they were then when I put them down.
It would save you a pile of money too. Those aluminium corner strips are fairly cheap.
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Trex is good. I did trex with my most recent build, but I’ve a question for @Doctor-Phibes : Did you have to replace those joists under your deck? I ask because I want to rip up the unfinished cupped and split front porch boards on another house (built in 2023) and redo it with Trex.
@blondie said in What else is new?:
Trex is good. I did trex with my most recent build, but I’ve a question for @Doctor-Phibes : Did you have to replace those joists under your deck? I ask because I want to rip up the unfinished cupped and split front porch boards on another house (built in 2023) and redo it with Trex.
The whole thing was new. It was probably a 30-40 year old deck, and all the stone was also new, so we had to put new concrete in as well as new joists as they removed everything to put the patio and steps in. I wouldn't have thought you'd need to with a 2023 house, totally different job.
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Brenda - what’s new with your daughter? Where is she these days?
My son’s latest tricks are driving a car and playing multiple instruments (guitar, bass, drums, piano). He played Hey Jude on the piano at my latest piano party (last month). He’ll be a junior this year.
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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@89th
I LOVE YOUR ARBORVITAE ARBOR!! That is too cool.You have done a remarkable job in refreshing your landscape and renovating it. Well done!!
Love it, too, that the kiddos are involved. It's a great family project, and the kids really can help. They can be proud of what they contributed to the project. Take pics of the kiddos by the fruits of their labor, and put them out where everyone can see them. It will let them experience that positive feeling of getting something done, and being recognized for it.
@brenda said in What else is new?:
@89th
I LOVE YOUR ARBORVITAE ARBOR!! That is too cool.Here is a pic from yesterday, I haven't pruned it this year but you get the idea of how the arch has grown in quite nicely, lol!
compared to 2021:
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Brenda - what’s new with your daughter? Where is she these days?
My son’s latest tricks are driving a car and playing multiple instruments (guitar, bass, drums, piano). He played Hey Jude on the piano at my latest piano party (last month). He’ll be a junior this year.
@jon-nyc Kiddo has the PhD in Computer Science with focus on high speed and high volume, such as her work for the Argonne National Lab when they got their new supercomputer. Her work was key to making it possible to process far more data and with much improvement in the speed. From that, she wrote her thesis and presented several times at international conferences on the dime of the University of Oregon.
Now she works, and will also teach, at Nvidia. She already earns more than hubby and I combined. She's single and has her own 4BR house with two full suites. The primary suite is hers, the secondary suite is her fiber arts mecca (aka the loom room) with a walk-in closet full of fiber to spin and already spun yarns, a third bedroom is for guests, and the fourth is a combination of home office and home theater. The living room has an entire wall full of books and extra yarn, and the dining room is mainly wine storage. (Great vineyards nearby.)
We helped her select the house last year, and spent six weeks with her helping her shop for furniture and rugs, unboxing all her items shipped from her old apartment, and other fun things.
She's asked us to come to her place again this fall so she can take us to an annual fiber fest. My kiddo has picked up my love for all things related to fiber arts. This is so darn much fun. We have a blast with her. She still texts me about every other day, and it's such a joy to joke and be thoroughly silly together. I couldn't have a better kiddo to have fun together.
You're headed toward a similar situation with your kiddo, too, Jon! You're going to have a great relationship with lots of similar interests, and so much fun ahead, too.
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@brenda said in What else is new?:
@89th
I LOVE YOUR ARBORVITAE ARBOR!! That is too cool.Here is a pic from yesterday, I haven't pruned it this year but you get the idea of how the arch has grown in quite nicely, lol!
compared to 2021:
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@jon-nyc Kiddo has the PhD in Computer Science with focus on high speed and high volume, such as her work for the Argonne National Lab when they got their new supercomputer. Her work was key to making it possible to process far more data and with much improvement in the speed. From that, she wrote her thesis and presented several times at international conferences on the dime of the University of Oregon.
Now she works, and will also teach, at Nvidia. She already earns more than hubby and I combined. She's single and has her own 4BR house with two full suites. The primary suite is hers, the secondary suite is her fiber arts mecca (aka the loom room) with a walk-in closet full of fiber to spin and already spun yarns, a third bedroom is for guests, and the fourth is a combination of home office and home theater. The living room has an entire wall full of books and extra yarn, and the dining room is mainly wine storage. (Great vineyards nearby.)
We helped her select the house last year, and spent six weeks with her helping her shop for furniture and rugs, unboxing all her items shipped from her old apartment, and other fun things.
She's asked us to come to her place again this fall so she can take us to an annual fiber fest. My kiddo has picked up my love for all things related to fiber arts. This is so darn much fun. We have a blast with her. She still texts me about every other day, and it's such a joy to joke and be thoroughly silly together. I couldn't have a better kiddo to have fun together.
You're headed toward a similar situation with your kiddo, too, Jon! You're going to have a great relationship with lots of similar interests, and so much fun ahead, too.
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She's doing great. Is she in Oregon or Cali? (I hope Oregon because of all the great Willamette pinots)
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Hi Brenda!!! So glad to see you and love the side affect of all the extra pics to see from everyone's projects. Sounds like life is going well and busy - love seeing you back around
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@brenda said in What else is new?:
@89th
I LOVE YOUR ARBORVITAE ARBOR!! That is too cool.Here is a pic from yesterday, I haven't pruned it this year but you get the idea of how the arch has grown in quite nicely, lol!
compared to 2021:
@89th
Showed your arborvitae arbor to hubby tonight. He immediately pointed on our backyard landscape plan and said, "We should have one like that right here."Of course, he is so brilliant that he pointed at the exact spot where I already decided it should be.
Forty years will do that for ya!
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@89th
Showed your arborvitae arbor to hubby tonight. He immediately pointed on our backyard landscape plan and said, "We should have one like that right here."Of course, he is so brilliant that he pointed at the exact spot where I already decided it should be.
Forty years will do that for ya!
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@89th
We have a new wildlife fence along the back of our property, and we now have an Arborvitae screen planted for 100 feet of that fence.We also want to have a smaller fence to separate the backyard from the Back 40 where hubby has his lumber yard and such. There should probably be some smaller arborvitaes along that smaller fence. We have ones that grow to 15' tall along the wildlife fence, but these could be just 9'-10' tall for creating the walk-through arbor.
I love that it would create a screen as well as the arbor. So it's not on the landscape plan yet, but it needs to be included.
You shared this at just the right time for us to include it in the plan. How did you know????
