Spiders and Rocks

Itsy, bitsy spider has beautiful markings and has spun a intricate web in a bed of hostas, Theresa pointed it out to me, she found it deadheading.

Sometimes I get so wrapped up in the jobs I have designed and am installing that I do not always see the jobs that Bruce has designed and is working. I made a special effort to check out a couple of rock walls on two different lakes, one built by Dave and Matt and the other built by Ryan, they are artisan rock walls both functional and well crafted.

Dave and Matt built the walls and steps for this customers new home on Crooked Lake. The home owners are installing their landscaping with guidance from Bruce. The lake side of this home is almost complete and our crew is working toward the road side with two more free standing rock glacial stone walls.

One of the things that sets us apart from other guys attempting rocks walls is not only our technique but the shear skill level of our installers. The rocks fit tight and the slight set back means the rocks stay in place. Our installers also choose rocks to feature in prominent locations like this conglomerate pudding rock that Dave placed on the corner.

Chain saw art is all over the county and this otter with fish in hand I found at the neighbors next to our job site. Makes me wish I had a tree near my house that needed cut down.

These two long rock terraces were built by Ryan his attention to detail and construction skills are getting better and better. He is not only capable but fast at almost all the hard scape he installs. Ryan is just a natural landscaper, he is a pleasure to have around and another asset to the company.

This is my next large installation project with full landscaping, sod and irrigation I will be paying a visit to The Plant Center to pick out material over the week end. I plan to triangulate specimen Japanese maples on this side of the house that will look really sweet against the house color. We will be constructing a seating wall on the concrete patio, Weston block by Belgard.

Steely Dan

Attending my first concert at the Toledo Zoo last Wednesday night was a lovely experience except for the 96 degree heat that tended to keep movement below the waist to a minimum. What a great venue, tasty cocktails, it would be fun to do the zoo then see a band sometime. Hearing Steely Dan is always a treat and frontmen Walter Becker and Donald Fagen kept up the heat on stage as they tore through four decades of music.

They opened with Aja, Black Friday and Hey Nineteen three stellar songs. Their distinctive style and Fagens voice filled the air as we settled back and listened to nearly three hours of classic Steely Dan.

My first good Dan memories are from high school when their first album Can't Buy A Thrill was getting radio time, the single Reeling In The Years was a favorite of mine and of a girlfriend named Donna. I had a 61 VW with a huge sunroof, I had an 8 track and we would listen to that tape over and over sitting under the bridge near the school. Donna would stand up through the open sun roof singing those songs as I drove through the streets of our home town.

Halmark, my local equipment rental company and John Deere dealer had this mower/bike on display I got a kick out of it.

Pondamania

It is always a good feeling to wrap up a job we finished two big jobs last week. The seed is sprouting at Trish and Doug's likely they will be mowing part of the grass this weekend. We used Futerra blanket on the entire lawn taking the risk out out blowing straw and enabling us to control moisture better. We will spot treat for weeds after they have mowed it a couple of times.

Trish played a big role in designing the perennial beds, tree placement and shrub selection. She had definite ideas, likes and dislikes, we worked easily together placing plants and rearranging. The beds are stuffed and there is a lot of square footage, it is already stunning. The gardens still have room for some additions and we are planning to up light the trees.

We installed a dry stream bed last year and this year we put water into it from the irrigation system which turned out pretty awesome and does a great job of water control. The stream is actually the 10Th zone.

Working on the pond in Angola is the focus of my work this week along with getting Theresa out to do some trimming and touch up for our maintenance customers. The pond is coming along but Bill is having trouble with the pavers as we are adding on to existing pavers that are not level or straight. The home owner (Gregg) and his family installed the first pavers and there are a few things we would have done differently. The project Gregg and his kids worked on was huge especially for a first time installer; pavers, block walls, accent walls, a wood deck and pergola along with a small pond.

We tore out the old pond and have built one that is much larger and designed as a seating and reflection pond. The pond is a memorial to the memory of Alexx, the son of Lisa and Gregg who was tragically killed in an automobile accident along with his three best friends this past spring. The accident brought great sadness to our community as the four boys were graduating seniors and highly regarded athletes, students and best friends.

Looks like it will take us until sometime next week to wrap things up but good things take time. When I first saw the site it the jut out on the deck Gregg had built reminded me of a pier, the water is the long view of the lawn, woods and fields. The falls has minimal drop, the rain curtain under the pier provides the music of steady water running a gentle background while enjoying the sitting in the pond.

A halo completely surrounded the sun Thursday afternoon, it was like a circle rainbow, there were rainbows in the sky although we had no rain.

Ziggy

Just about this time last year I had a kitten which I had rescued living with our menagerie as I tried to find a home for the little cutie, unfortunately Dexter had to be put to sleep due to multiple health issues. Now I find myself once again with a fifth pet at chateau Etter.

As with Dexter this kitten was found abandoned on our property, two of his siblings were found dead and he was eventually saved literally from our burning rubbish by one of our workers, Rick.When Rick brought Ziggy into the office he was suffering from burns and very dehydrated, in addition he was only three or four weeks old and not weaned. My girlfriend Betty came to the rescue nursed the little bugger back to health and fed it as needed until it was weaned.

Even though Betty wanted to she was unable to keep the kitten, now it is back with me and I am seeking a good home for the little beast. This is definitely a cat lover's kitten as it is full of life and vigor, hopping, jumping and leaping are favorite activities. He gets along with both the dogs and has become the personal punching bag for our cat Baxter, who views him as a live action toy.

His only maladies from the fire are rather crisp and scarred ears, missing hair on his tail and a little bald spot on his head. His fur is not the most luxurious but his sparkling eyes are full of life. I would be willing to ship this little fellow most anywhere the law allows so if anyone out there can offer him a home please contact me, five pets is just too darn many.

A Lot of Hot Air

The Hot Air Balloon competition held at our little local airport over the week end was well received as several thousand people were in attendance to view the thirty spectacularly colorful expertly piloted floating baskets. It was the second year Tri- State Airport hosted the event which earns national points for the winner, the contest requires the pilots to drop a weighted ball with a clothe tail toward a pole adorned with a large hoop. The one whose ball falls closest to the hoop wins, in addition the contestants actually try to catch the hoop and earn extra points when successful. No one achieved that goal when we watched although I was surprised by how close the balls landed to each other.

It was exciting as the first balloons appeared from the southwest on the gentle breeze. The balloons ranged in style and size some as little as twenty foot tall and others over seven stories. The colors against the clear, blue, summer sky were vibrant and varied. With names like Green Hornet, Blaze and Tropical Breeze the balloons floated lazily overhead as their pilots maneuvered in air currents at various altitudes thrilling the crowds when they roared directly above firing their burners and gas. Whoosh came the gas and a big ball of flame shot up the center of the balloon good, cheap entertainment.

My personal favorite was the penguin. A homemade balloon taking hours of sewing, design and ingenuity it was a beauty to behold. Whether homemade or manufactured all rigs must pass federal safety standards before ever taking aloft.

We did not see 'fire-up' which takes place twice during the event at dusk. Fifteen balloons line up on the tarmac and inflate with their gas blowers open as darkness envelopes the multi colored spheres. The bright gas flames and the heat rises to fill the sky with brightness. Next year that will be one my calendar.

Welcome Home

When the dirt goes away the house becomes a home. Completing Jane and Craig's this week was priority and the crew came through with shining colors.

It was a busy week at Jane and Craig's irrigation, driveway poured, landscape completion and sod installation. Lots of dust, noise and fumes mixed with high humidity and clear skies the perfect storm allowing everything to finally come together. We were all right behind each other literally, Brian King poured on Tuesday, Terry got irrigation underway and by Wednesday we were on sight to finish landscaping odds and ends, mulch and prepare for sod

On Thursday when the first load of sod from Trelan Supply in Fremont arrived we were ready lakeside and grading our way out. We still had to install a bit of dirt around the driveway and were putting it in as fast as King's men were pulling forms. Meanwhile Terry (irrigation) had started lakeside and was blocking the south yard with equipment even as Tim from the sod farm was running sod down the north side. Outstanding timing but a bit hectic as Terry literally pulled his machine out just as we were ready to start positioning sod down the south side of the house

Working a crew of 12 on a job makes a huge difference and in no time at all we started to turn it green. It was necessary to chew up the dirt with the TR3 on our Dingo before we started sodding even though we had a fair grade with the exception of areas where Terry was plowing in lines. The reason we chew it up and grade it again is because of compaction, we have been running equipment over the ground for a month, before us the builder was running heavy equipment and in between all that don't forget the dredging of the channel and the large track hoe and dump trucks. So in order to give the sod a fighting chance we tilled twice.

Privacy was an issue for Jane and Craig since they live next door to the public access for the lake. There is an existing tree line between them and the parking lot with maples, pines, poison ivy, grape vine and assorted native plants. The brush is good and bad, the foliage mass does a good job of screening but some of the less desirable plants are not only unkempt but will give most people a bit of a rash. To combat that and help define the property we installed additional fence and seven large viburnum, 3 hemlocks over six foot, a couple of pyramidal arborvitae and four rotunda boxwood. The effect is a winning, multi-layered hedge with year round appeal and good wildlife food and cover. Much of this work was add on and difficult as we were planting in the shadows of mature tree roots.

Now with most of the work completed, the BBQ done and the sod down I can almost smell the grilling and hear the laughter as Jane, Craig, Kurt, Megan, the grand kids and Lola enjoy the 4th of July weekend.