Tuesday, May 26, 2020

Spring Has Run Away

She didn't stick around long at all.  We had maybe 24 days of lovely weather before Summer showed up.  As one last celebration, the Elks Lodge held a breakfast drive-thru.  To be honest, I was a little leery of chili verde made by white people.  We really aren't that good at Mexican food.

I was definitely wrong in this instance however.  I opened the first box and took a taste.  Oh my gosh!  Best chili verde ever, not too hot, perfectly cooked, with refried beans having the smokiest yummiest flavor ever.  How did they do that?

I thought twice about delivering those other three meals around the neighborhood, but took them to my neighbors anyway.  They called with the same rave reviews.  Maybe I can sneak in and get the recipe.
Back to the sprinklers, my nemesis for the day.  This is my bowling alley of a back yard.  You can see why I'm always in a state of anxiety.  I can't seem to get the brown spots to go away unless I run the sprinklers for 30 minutes each station.  That means my sprinklers run six hours each day.  With my PG&E bill, that's not going to happen.  It's funny that the brown spots are exactly where the sprinklers are located.

At any rate, my gardeners showed up at 8:30.  They really are nice, very young guys trying to make a living.  They capped the bad valve and I gingerly turned the breaker back on, hoping not to hear anything explode.  Lucky for me, all went well.  Now I have sprinklers until they can return on Thursday to replace not one, but SIX valves.

We checked them all.  Three are original to 2005 and three are cheapo depo ones my other gardeners installed. All six are leaking terribly.  Hopefully when replaced with decent ones, they will last longer than me.  Least that's my plan!
With summer coming in like a dive bomber, I spent the next four hours watching the sprinklers to see what was working and what was going to give me heartache.  The geyser by the driveway was my first clue, a quick indication of a broken sprinkler.  I found one more that was watering my concrete driveway and a tree trunk, plus many drip lines that were cut and/or not working.  Sprinklers are always a pain in my patoo!!

As summer hit in the afternoon, I checked the forecast.  What's with the cactus?  I've never seen THAT before.  The next three days are 105 or so, ending with rain on Monday.  I better find another pair of shorts and dig my little fan out of the motorhome.
Everyone went crazy in California yesterday, requiring parks to be shut down again.  What do you expect?  You can't lock people up for a couple months, then open up on a holiday when everyone is off work and collecting unemployment like a King.  Our little lake was inundated with people who didn't social distance and had a few too many beers ... just like normal.  

They got very indignant when told to settle down or leave.  You can imagine the fights that erupted.  Eventually the place was cleared out.  The same thing happened around the State.  Maybe they should have opened on a Wednesday.

So that's the latest in this little burg.  We had one beautiful sunset that the puppies and I watched from beginning to end.   
I'm heading out today for some miscellaneous shopping.  I'm rather stir crazy from only talking to two dogs and a parrot.


14 comments:

  1. What a beautiful sunset! We don't have lawn, just sand so no sprinklers needed. Our neighbor has changed their landscaping and she always has issues with her sprinkler system..we'll keep our natural desert landscaping LOL. Nice that you have good gardeners and will take care of the problem. Wow the heat! We had 88 yesterday and it was warm, 95 today. You can't blame people for wanting to get out and enjoy the water and everything else for sure. That chili verde looked awesome..makes me want Mexican food!!

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    1. I've definitely been missing the Mexican Food around here. I sure wish I could switch my lawn to rocks. It would be SO much cheaper!!

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  2. On your lawn It looks like you got dirt/sand and not loam
    Take a bucket of water dump it on the Bald spot if it's dirt sand it'll disappear real quick
    if it's loam it'll stay on top for a little bit
    Also you can take your shovel and dig a hole like you're going to plan a tree take the round portion out and take it to your local nursery shop
    Also when you're driving around the neighborhood look at the other neighbors lawns and look for stressed grass
    It looks like you took the picture about noon time before you go to the nursery take a picture in the morning about 8 o'clock look for the shadows and where they fall and do the same thing at 5 o'clock Again Check the shadows
    You could be getting too much sun not enough sun The wrong kind of soil or the wrong kind of grass seed any of the 4 you're just wasting money

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    1. Hmmm never thought of all that. It's funny though ... it didn't used to be like that. I changed the sprinkler heads and now I have spots. I've asked around, but they say they are all the same. I think those spots aren't getting enough water, which may be due to the soil. I might be able to get something better to spread on those spots.

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  3. Oh.....that food looked so good. Good to have gardeners that can help you. They come in handy. Try to keep cool. My weather app says 105 for today. I will be "rebuking" that all day.

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    1. It's going to be hot Elva! 104 yesterday, up to 105 for the next two days. Yucky!!

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  4. Beautiful sunset picture. We missed the nice weather here too. Went from cold and rain to hot muggy and rain. Been missing the beautiful southwest winter weather. No need for sprinklers here.

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    1. Sounds wonderful ... except for that hot and muggy part!! It might be worth it not to have sprinklers however.

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  5. We are pretty much resigned to the fact that a sprinkler system requires constant surveillance and maintenance. Given how old it is, it could be worse.

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    1. I agree Allison ... and they are a pain!! Always something wrong!!

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  6. Given time it seems that everyone can improve their cooking.
    Glad you got the problem with the Sprinklers figured out.
    The other problem is from too much alcohol.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. You are right on the alcohol point, for sure! LOL

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  7. Those are cute little saguaros in your weather forecast.
    You have more patience with your yard then I would. I think I would be looking out at a rock garden but then I suppose there would be the weeds to contend with. Or did you know before the 20th century people actually weeded out the grass to make room for dandelions...just saying...:)...LOL

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    1. Hahahaha dandelions .. yes, that may be what happens here. They will grow in anything!!!

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