In the neighborhood 09-28-19

After months of heat today's high was 73F and we are supposed to have another four days of under 80F weather.  It is wonderful, I even got chilly while walking with KoKo this morning.   And it was cool enough at 6:20pm to take our evening walk in the daylight.

This is the most tree lined section of our walk and we walk on the east side mostly to stay in the shade. 

Really serious clouds, but no chance of rain. 

And a rift in the dark clouds let some sun rays through. 

I have posted termite tenting before.  I don't know if this is something that is done across the country, I've never seen it anywhere but in SCalifornia.  

The entire house is covered with plastic tarps and a poison is pumped in where it stays for several days, killing every living thing inside.  There have been occasions when someone breaks into one of these "tents", ignoring the warning signs, and they die.  This house is empty waiting for the new owners to move in, but if the house is occupied they must go through every drawer, cupboard, pocket, closet, box, bag, etc., to be sure there is nothing edible that would be contaminated.  

I am still working on the coaster project and KoKo is helping.  I hope I have a new lens prescription in October, because I am having a hard time seeing to sew in the right places. Woe is I! 

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A tented house 07-30-13

Blogger wouldn't take my pictures last evening, but it has relented and I think these three will work.  If the pictures don't show, please let me know. 

I have previously posted pictures of houses tented for termite fumigation.  They cover the entire building from dirt to the ridge top with these specially made canvas tarps and seal up the connecting seams with a fold or two and big clips that look like the clips used on battery chargers.  But before the tent goes up the workers go through everything in the house to remove anything edible - food, pills, pet food, etc. - that might absorb the poison.  Of course, the residents have already done this, but double checking is necessary.  There have been people who forced their way into the house and died from the gas used.  It kills termites and everything else inside the tarps.  


Warren Street, where I live, ends with a left turn onto Barbara St. and this two story five bedroom house is the first on Barbara, so it is visible almost the length of Warren.  It has been on the market for about a year and sold at the beginning of July.  I hope the new occupants don't have a hulking white motor home to park in the driveway.
 

Here it is, all sealed up with signs posted warning people away.  While the gas was doing its work the people who are moving out parked their motor home with slide out "rooms" across the street from my house and plugged into the power at the house on the corner.  I assume they had permission to do that.
 

 
I believe this is where the gas is injected and, ultimately, released.  You can see the clips on the seams.   I'm not sure I would want this done to my house.  There are new treatments that use orange oil, so it isn't quite so toxic, but I would worry even about that.  I have wondered if something built into this house has been part of my breathing problems, but there is no proof.  We have had subterranean termites in this house four different times.  I've been told that is because this development was built on land that was covered with orange groves for a hundred years.  The buried roots and pieces of the trees attract the little critters.  A friend who lives not far away had a little dog that would start scratching at the baseboard - he could hear the crunching going on inside! 

A Birthday and Organizing 07-11-08

Liz's birthday is July 11th and I bought her a birthday cake from one of my favorite bakeries, "Creative Cakes" in Long Beach. This one is carrot cake and is decorated in their usual flamboyant style. Unfortunately, Liz could not come today, so we will celebrate one day late - tomorrow.

Liz Williams in the mustard fields off I-5 at Lost Hills - April 2006

I think this is a great picture of Liz - she is always ready for an 'adventure', so one year we were coming home from Asilomar and the wild mustard was glorious. We decided we needed a closer look, exited I-5 and found a road that wandered off through the fields. We just walked around taking pictures and looking at the different plants. Nice memory.

Here are the extra shelves and another shelving unit strapped down in the back of the van. I picked them up yesterday, but haven't taken them out yet because there is no place to put them right now. I had to move some things around for the termite guy and he moved even more things. I hope this takes care of the termites for a long time. Liz and I will unload and, it is to be hoped, assemble everything tomorrow.

Corky is here until Sunday night. Right now he is disgusted because I am not in bed. He doesn't sleep in/on the bed, but I think he wants me in it so that he can keep an eye on me.

A hard day 07-10-08

The "tree murderers" started in at 7:30 this morning. The sound I dislike more than any other is that of a chainsaw. It isn't just the shrill whine, but also the knowledge that another forty year old tree is going to disappear. One of the features that attracted us to this house was its location in a neighborhood with a great many tall trees - pine, jacaranda, liquid amber, several different kinds of palms. But as soon as a house is resold and new neighbors move in, the trees start coming down. If they would only have the trees trimmed properly so that they weren't top heavy or didn't have unbalanced limbs. But without trimming, the trees become a hazard in our heavy Santana winds. Palms, of course, can be pruned to remove the thatch of dried fronds hanging down, which are an enormous fire hazard. But there is no way to keep them from growing very, very tall. They don't have much of a root ball - when the soil is saturated the wind blows the palms blow down on houses, cars and sometimes people.

When I went out at 7:45 the cutter had already removed all the fronds.

He then started cutting off sections of the trunk about 2 - 2-1/2 feet long and pushing them off to fall with a THUD to the ground. Then he would move his safety harness down 2-1/2 feet and start another horizontal cut.

And down and down....

A young man below kept a sharp eye upward as he watched for and collected all the pieces to place on the curb for the mobile shredder which turned everything into little bits.

It was nice of the neighbor to have his street tree, a crape myrtle trimmed. The city has not trimmed the street trees since I moved here in 1986, but I have mine trimmed when I have the few large trees pruned.

When I turned to go in the house I saw one of our new neighbors huddled down in a depression in the lawn (where the people before us cut down a tree and didn't properly remove the roots). In all the years I have been here I never saw a bunny until about four months ago. Needless to say there are now at least a dozen. Maybe this means the coyotes have moved back to the wilder parts of the county.

I had to get inside and get busy because a termite company was coming to look at the subterranean termite damage Liz and I discovered yesterday when we were moving furniture. They are a big problem in this area. I'm told it is because this was once all orange, lemon and walnut orchards. This house has been spot treated twice before and there are two new areas that must be treated. And I'm having the perimeter treated also. Total $1200 that I hadn't planned to dish out right now. Such are the joys of home ownership - right?

My friend Carol and I went to the delicious "Fish in a Bottle" restaurant this evening. The food was fantastic. Every time I go there I am going to photograph the presentation of the food, but always forget. This evening I remembered, but I had left my camera home when I downloaded the tree trimming photos. Woe is I. But Carol had her camera and we took a few pictures - she'll send them along in the morning. And then I will post them.