After our trip to Australia and New Zealand, it was time to get to work on outdoor projects we began before we left. The big one was the retaining wall and patio on the canyon side of the house.
Here what the project looked like in January:
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| Steep slope, old wire fence being replaced by a railing |
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| Not much progress on the retaining wall |
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| What we have been calling "the steps to nowhere" |
And here's a look at the completed project. What you won't see is the nifty zip line that Erick set up to get the retaining wall blocks and gravel from up top to the work area. I missed taking photos of that bit of creativity.
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View from the top of the steps
New patio is located at the bright spot seen through
the trees below a pre-existing retaining wall |
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The steps with part of the new retaining wall showing
on the right. Fresh gravel between the stones. |
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Retaining wall and completed railing, and patio
with storage bench and recliner |
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This is now Erick's favorite spot - and he deserves it
given all the work he put into it (with some help
from Erika & Michael, and Mike Skoog) |
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| The view from the patio |
And the "steps to nowhere" now go somewhere special.
Meanwhile, I took on a related mini-project to take advantage of having the gravel available. The stonework adjacent to our small front yard has had weeds growing in the cracks and some stones were covered up by dirt slides.
Here's what the area looked like a year ago, just after we started removing old plants and adding new drought-resistant plants to the yard:
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| Stonework on the left |
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| Work in progress |
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Work of removing weeds and filling in with gravel completed.
The next rain will rinse off the stones and settle the gravel. |
Inside, we decided to organize our storage area (no attic or basement in our house) with some wire shelving.
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| Storage is behind the "cat corner" |
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| Now the stuff is spread up instead of out |
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I'm taking advantage of the extra space as a spot for my Schwinn Airdyne.
There's a window to the left and good light for reading while I exercise. |
Our trip to Muir Woods National Park took us north of San Francisco. Parking at Muir Woods is limited. So, we decided to take the shuttle from a park-and-ride lot in the nearest town. We wasted a bit of time at the wrong lot, but once we were on the shuttle bus, experienced the narrow winding road, and saw how far out we would have had to park along that road, we agreed the the shuttle was the best choice.
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| The redwoods with people (those tiny spots of color just above the path) |
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Mike & Erick look at the rings of this tree cross section -
a timeline from 909 AD when it sprouted until 1930 went it fell. |
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| Nan & Mike on the trail |
The Botanical Gardens of the University of California at Berkeley are among our favorite places to visit. We took the scenic route via Grizzly Peak road with its breathtaking views of the Bay. (See previous posts for examples.) It's easy to spend hours at the Gardens and still not see everything. We were treated to lots of rhododendrons and roses in bloom, and a large Chilean bromeliad that's always a delight.
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| Erika and Nan at the pond |
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| The bromeliad - yes, it is that color and it's huge! |
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| Red rhododendron |
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| Lots of wild flowers in bloom |
