Spring again

Spring, officially

It's seemed like Spring for several weeks now, even though this is the first official day.

Last fall, I dug up all the violets and split them. I finished the rock wall and bordered it with the violets. Then planted 3 varieties of daffodils. Julie transplanted Blue salvia from the back garden from volunteers.

The azalea finally bloomed after practically nothing last year. I added a new trellis and some hummingbird attractors. Blue morning glory vine and goldflame honeysuckle. Heirloom tomatoes went in last weekend. And the roses are starting to bloom.

This winter we lost our 15-year-old kitty Marbles. She loved the garden. A little too much if you ask me. The flowers have never looked better now that it's not her litter box!

Basil, squash, strawberries, other herbs and flowers still to come.

And yes, our two resident male hummers are still here.

Next entry, back garden, hydrangeas, and rock garden.

Winter backyard

I've been taking advantage of a dry winter to do some backwards improvements that would usually have to wait til spring.

Mom and Dad gave me the limb and trim chain saw so with that and the poll saw I borrowed from Dad, I could finally make firewood out of some old widow makers in the trees.

I've had pavers for months without the paver base and the energy to do anything with them. But little by little the kitty shade garden it's coming together. Lots of new bulbs and flowers coming soon.

Meanwhile, while it's cold outside, I've finally made some progress on the analog play room in the garage. The multimedia component is shaping up with Sony amp and 5 DVD changer connected to Kay's old 44 inch monster. Also two nice Advent speakers from the KUOP sidewalk sale.

Plus, a Sony 50 CD changer. Here's the initial list of discs for shuffle:

1. Miles Davis – Kind Of Blue
2. Masters of Classical – Tchaikovsky
3. Masters of Classical – Vivaldi
4. Masters of Classical – Mozart
5. Miles Davis – Sketches of Spain
6. Various – Groove Jammy
7. Liquid Soul – Liquid Soul
8. Horowitz at Home (classical piano)
9. MMW – Uninvisible
10. Chet Baker – Let’s Get Lost
11. Count Basie Orchestra – Long Live the Chief
12. Roy Hargrove Quintet – W/ the Tenors of our time
13. Bach: Transcriptions – LA Phil
14. John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman
15. John Coltrane – Crescent
16. Mingus Complete Atlantic – disc 1
17. Mingus Complete Atlantic – disc 2
18. Mingus Complete Atlantic – disc 3
19. Bach - Glenn Gould Complete Goldberg 1955
20. Bach - Glenn Gould Complete Goldberg 1981
21. Michael Jackson – Off The Wall
22. John Scofield Band – Up All Night
23. Various – 35 Years of Rock & Roll vol11
24. Various – Music & The Arts
25. The Bill Holman Band – Brilliant Corners
26. Terrance Blanchard/Don Was – Backbeat soundtrack
27. Garcia/Grisman – Devout Catalyst
28. Trey Anastasio – Trey Anastasio
29. Fifty Foot Hose – Cauldron
30. Jimmy Smith – Damn!
31. Louis and Bebe Barron – Forbidden Planet soundtrack
32. Stanley Clarke – The Bass-ic Collection
33. Ray Brown Trio – Don’t Get Sassy
34. Joey DeFrancesco/Jimmy Smith – Incredible!
35. Chick Corea Akoustic Band
36. The Ray Bryant Trio – Tribute to his Jazz Piano Friends
37. Caribbean Jazz Project – New Horizons
38. J.J. Cale – Guitar Man
39. Charlie Hunter Quartet – Natty Dread
40. Blind Faith – Blind Faith
41. Dr. Lonnie Smith – The Turbanator
42. Billie Holiday – Lady In Autumn disc1
43. Billie Holiday – Lady In Autumn disc2
44. Eric Satie – L’Qeuvre Pour Piano vol1
45. Phish – A Picture Of Nectar
46. Beck – Odelay
47. Various – Atlantic Jazz Standards vol1
48. Alligator Records 40th Anniv. Col. disc1
49. Alligator Records 40th Anniv. Col. disc2
50. Bob Marley – One Love

Should provide some peace in this winter version of the backyard. Still have some major work to do to expose the dart area and chess/poker table. 

Summer so far

It's been a mild spring and summer, although there was a heat wave here last week that nearly melted my face.  On the other hand, tomatoes LOVE heat.  And I guess peppers do too.  The bugs have been really "good" this year.  The honey bees are back in great numbers.  The ants have been staved off, for now.  The big black bumble bees really love the salvia flowers and kind of fight for space with the hummingbirds, who also love the salvia flowers. 

Butterflies, moths and dragon flies are frequent visitors.  Have to keep an eye out for caterpillars.  They can take down plant in one night.  Julie found a big one yesterday, tucked away under my Husky cherry tomato (center of picture).  It was getting ready to do some damage.

This little guy really liked the catnip.  Now that our big yellow tom cat is no longer around, catnip plants actually get a chance to grow.  This plant would have been smashed to death long before getting to flower.




During the worst of the heat wave, I installed the "Sun Sail" to help decrease the harmful U/V in the late afternoon.  Peppers, tomatoes and squash all love the heat for help in getting production going, but the direct sunlight on the leaves when the temp is 105 or above really does some damage.  The sun sail lets light through but decreases the burn. 

Here are some more photos from the backyard this year:

 

Travel

Trinity river was beautiful. Too early for salmon. Its not my backyard exactly but come on. Isn't it all of our backyard?

Plus there was plenty of time to enjoy another person's grill.

Your Spring is showing.

Starting to see lots of buds and little flowers. The American Gold Finches were here yesterday.

 

 These violets are some of the first flowers to show themselves each year.

 First mow and trim of the year... 

Smokin' in the Backyard

It's still cold, and raining a bit. The ground is moist and winter sun patterns mean that a lot of the backyard never sees direct sun this time of year. I have a system of changing shoes and using towels and mats to keep mud out of the house, but it's a constant fight.

Here's something - one thing I find offensive is the idea that there is a "barbecue season." I went into a store a couple of years ago in December looking for lighter fluid. It was a major pharmacy chain whose initials are RA, so I figured they would have what I needed. When I could not find any lighter fluid or charcoal, I was told they only carry those things during "BBQ season."

I left and thought to myself, BBQ season? When is that?

I love cooking outdoors and once the rain stops and the sunny crisp days of January set in, I like to sit outside next to the smoker or BBQ and take my time cooking things like smoked salmon, tri-tip and pork ribs.

 This year, Julie's dad gave us this Brinkman smoker, which I have yet to modify, but still worked pretty well on test runs.  This tri-tip was slow marinated and cooked low and slow with hickory and mesquite chips.

This was the weekend before, when I did country style pork ribs and smoked salmon.  Need to work a little more on the techniques and make some modifications which should help.  For one, putting the legs on the outside instead of the inside should give me better access to the coals when they need adjustment.

Also, there is a charcoal/wood pan which does not have any holes in it.  The fire puts itself out after a short period of time.  I'm going to drill several holes in the pan for ventilation.  That along with easier access should allow for better temperature control.

This probe thermometer works really well for roasts. With this, I don't have to take the lid off and let the heat out to check doneness.  And there is an alarm to tell you when it's at the target temp.

I need to buy and install a better temperature gauge, maybe two.  One for the lid area where the top grill is located and one for the middle of the barrel, where the other grill is located. The one that comes on it tells you absolutely nothing useful.

BBQ season? Please!