I’m home now after that great camping trip to Scenic Beach. I’ll head out for another camping trip in a week or two. But now it’s time to pick up the mail, pay bills, do the laundry, get some yardwork done, etc. In other words, I need to get some chores done here around home. But I also get to enjoy my home. 🙂
I discovered that a plant on the north side of my house was starting to bloom. It sure looks like a tropical plant to me … and the Pacific Northwest is surely not a tropical climate. What is this plant? Does anyone know? It’s a fascinating plant.
The photos below were taken over a period of a few weeks as the plant progressed through the stages of buds, flowers, and then as the plant started to brown out.
Please do tell me if you know (or can find out) what this plant is. It needs a name.
While I was doing some weeding close to the edge of my home, I found a LARGE root (photo below) coming from a nearby tree and running directly under my house, directly under my bathroom. Given that my home sits on a concrete slab, that means the plumbing is buried under the concrete slab. This LARGE root seemed to be aimed right at the bathroom plumbing … yikes.
I dug around and under the root as close to the house as I could get, then I exposed the root for about two feet out from the house, then I got out my trusty hand saw and cut out the two-foot section of the root. And then I researched root-killing systems for in-ground plumbing. It seems there are two types of products … one for drains that are already plugged, and another for drains that are not plugged. Since my drain/s were not yet plugged, I purchased a good-sized bottle of ZEP Root Kill and followed the directions for application in both of my toilets. I love trees. I hope cutting that root doesn’t hurt the tree. But I love a free-running drain system in my home more than I love that tree. If the tree dies, I’ll plant another tree.
And then I started tidying the yard on the east side of my house, around my back patio. A few months ago, I had discovered some rectangular concrete pavers in various places outside my house. I wanted a walkway between my patio and the lawn, so I arranged the pavers in alternating colors in the photo below. I’m liking it!
In between yard maintenance projects, I chatted with neighbors. I have two neighbors who are both/each quite the expert gardeners. I like gardening, but my knowledge isn’t too extensive. I’m happy to have neighbors who know lots more than I do.
One of those sets of neighbors has a wonderful Mountain Ash (below) outside their back patio. They didn’t know what it was and neither did I, but a bit of research gave us the information we sought.
Being home means I need to do a bit of work around the house and the yard. It also means I have neighbors and friends who are constant. Being home also means I have even more fascinating things to see and do in this world. I sure have a good life! 🙂 I hope all of you folks do too.