Monday, November 5, 2018: Fall Harvest

In preparation for the first hard freeze later this week, I harvested peppers, carrots and beets. The beets were really disappointing.

I stemmed and washed the peppadew and ended up with four pounds. I gave one to Joyce, who said she was going to stuff them. The other three pounds are in my refrigerator. I will decide whether to freeze them or something else.

One pound bag of peppers

The carrots, after removal of the greens, washing, peeling and slicing totaled 1.5 pounds.

I cooked them using the Instant Pot. It took a little water, some butter, honey, parsley and 15 minutes. They are delicious!

Sunday, November 4, 2018: Winterizing, new security lights

Yesterday I decided it was time to do my winterizing. Looking at the weather forecast, it seems that next Thursday they are predicting freezing temperatures. One of the largest tasks is to shutdown and blow out the backyard irrigation system.

I shut off the water, disassembled the back flow preventer and installed the blow out fittings. I was all set, so I got the air compressor out of the garage and set it up. As soon as I started the compressor, I knew something was wrong. Turned out that the pressure regulator was no longer functioning. I could not regulate the outlet pressure, it just matched the tank pressure.

So started my information gathering on the Porter Cable 1 HP, 6 gallon, Model C2002 Type 5 pancake compressor. I've had this machine for several years and they have come out with Types 6,7,8 and 9 since I bought this one at Lowe's. To make a long story short (too late), I ordered a regulator repair kit through Amazon which should arrive on Tuesday. I don't know for sure if it is the correct kit. There seems to be a China version and a Taiwan version. My regulator has a "Made in China" label and the one pictured on Amazon shows it is from Taiwan. We will see. I decided I had nothing to loose, so I started taking the regulator apart. The most difficult part of the disassembly was getting the cosmetic face plate off the regulator. I ended up destroying it. I got the regulator apart and quickly determined the problem, a corroded piston. That was enough for the day.

This morning I got the piston and started cleaning it up. I got it to the point it seemed to be working properly. I reassembled the regulator and did not have any parts left over. I started the compressor and it seemed to work fine.

I restarted my work on the irrigation system and got all the zones blown free of water. This took about two hours.

I also installed the deicer on the pond (not sure it still works or not) and pulled out the three okra plants who had retired for the season.

I found the missing ear of T's March Hare. He must have lost it when he fell over at some point. I think I can glue it back on.

Morgan came over and we installed the new security light on the southeast corner of the garage. Morgan has had issues with people siphoning gasoline out of his vehicles. Hopefully this will help scare them off, or at least make it easier for them to see what they are doing. The light is motion activated with a dusk-to-dawn feature.

I still have several more winterizing items to accomplish over the next few days. I need to:

• Shut off and drain all the hose bibs
• Drain and bring inside all the garden hoses
• Bring in the sensitive plants
• Install the foam insulation on the sunroom ventilation system
• Harvest the peppadew
• Clean the sunroom heat pump screens
• Patch the limestone window sill where the bricks from the chimney hit

I also need to finalize the plans on getting a cap on the chimney this coming week.

Friday, November 2, 2018: Chimney Progress

I received the proposal from Gary at Holy Smoke Chimney Services yesterday. He included his recommended replacement cap design. He said it is cast iron. He said he assumed the existing chimney is just open ended and that he could have the new cap prefabricated and get it installed with just one man-lift lift. If the top row of bricks is loose, he would either remove it or re-secure it.

The cost he quoted was very realistic and about the same as that quoted by Mirelli to just reinstall the old cap. Gary said he would use a man-lift for access and that he currently had a three backlog, but the weather might make the schedule change. I told him I might be out of town, but I thought we could coordinate successfully. I asked him for his T&C, insurance and warranty information. He had his insurance company send me a copy of his insurance certificate (general liability expires on November 19). With respect to my other questions, he responded:

Payment is due upon completion.

There is no guarantee because a storm can blow off a chimney cover at any time and the roof. However, we have installed over 2000 caps over 40 year period and have only lost three.

I told him I was expecting another bid this week but would be making a decision by early next week. If we move forward, I will check with Morgan to see if he plans to be in town while the installation is going on to oversee and if necessary, hand Gary the payment upon successful completion. 

Thursday, November 1, 2018: Beech, boxwood; Pond Float

Ten weeks ago (August 17) John (landscaping) came by to look at my dead beech and the boxwoods along the west fence line. He said he could replace the beech and said he had another client that might take the boxwoods that are still alive and we could replace them with yews.

I sent John an email on Tuesday asking for a status. I got a response last night saying he has not found a replacement beech yet...10 weeks he has been looking?!? Anyway, he said he would look again and asked if I wanted to do something about the boxwood. I responded to his email with a reminder that HE had suggested a plan on the boxwood.

Obviously, he is busy and we are not high on his priority list.

I got the replacement float for the Hudson pond water valve today. I was very interested in seeing what changes they had made to prevent the "sticking" or "hanging up" that led to my pond overflowing. I compared the new float to the previous one that came with the new valve.

New float on left, previous float on right

If you cannot see a difference, it is not due to poor eye sight. Leslie, from Hudson, told me that "It was a height issue and it has been resolved". I could not tell any difference between the new float and the previous one except the new one was a slightly darker color. To avoid confusion, I marked the new float on the bottom. Then I got out my Craftsman micrometer and did a series of measurements. The overall height of the new float was 3.412" compared to the height of the previous float of 3.406". A difference of 0.006" (6 mils)! I could find no other measurement differences between the two. Was this change enough to keep the new float from sticking? Stay tuned.

I installed the new float into the body of the old valve and exercised the float. No sticking, hesitancy or hanging-up could be found. I removed the new float and installed the previous float (these floats are MUCH easier to install than the previous design). The previous float readily stuck, hesitated and hung-up. I swapped the floats several times and finally convinced myself that the new float was indeed not prone to the issues surrounding the previous float.

Hurrah for Hudson. I will update my Amazon review to reflect the success.

Wednesday, October 31, 2018: Halloween; new window shade; Holy Smoke chimney inspection

The Marvin guy (Nick) showed up as scheduled to install the new shade on the sunroom french door. This was the shade that failed a month before I left town and Mike (salesman) lied to me about ordering a new one. When on was finally ordered, I was out of the country. So, Nick installed it today. We will see how long it lasts. This is the third shade in this specific location.

Gary (Holy Smoke) showed up to take a look at the chimney. He said he would be sending me an estimate. He looked at the aluminum cap that blew off and recommended not reinstalling it because it was the wrong size. He also said he would use a man lift for access.

No response from John (landscaping).

Tuesday, October 30, 2018: Chimney Update; Note to John

Before I left on my European river cruise, I had talked with a referral I had received from the chimney guy (Mirelli), Doug. Doug told me that he would come by and email me an estimate to replace the chimney cap. He said he would consult with Mirelli and get my contact information from him. I sent a note to Mirelli and was told that they would work with Doug and contact him directly if they did not hear anything from him in a day or so.

Well...six weeks later, upon my return, I still had not received anything. I thought perhaps it was lost in my junk email, but before I called Doug again, I asked Morgan if his friend Charlie was still interested in the job. Morgan had suggested Charlie as an option before I left town, but I had already hired Mirelli (who then bailed out on me).

Morgan said he was sure Charlie was interested. That was last week and he would have Charlie call me. This morning I asked Morgan if Charlie was going to call. He said he has been trying to contact Charlie without success and was at the point of concluding Charlie was not interested and I should move on to someone else.

So, this morning I called Doug again. His estimate had not been lost in my email junk mail. He apologized that my project had "fallen through the crack", but he would try to come out and take a look at the job. I gave him the location information and description of the work. He said he was very busy and that, while he would try to drop by, the work might not be worth his time or effort. Nice!!

I sent an email to Mirelli telling them that Doug was not very encouraging and asked if they had another referral. Mirelli was very apologetic and suggested contacting Owen Bricklaying and Tuckpointing. I called Owen. They said they were very busy and they could not commit to any work until sometime next year. I asked if they had any suggestions. They recommended Mirelli (thanks a lot!) and Massey Tuckpointing. I called Massey and they said they don't do that sort of work but suggested I call Holy Smoke Chimney Service and talk to Gary. I called Gary and he assured me he could do the work and would come by later this week to look at the job. I sent another email to Mirelli with an update. They also suggested I contact Porter Tuckpointing. I called them and they said they would have someone come by either today or later this week.

So, in addition to possibly Doug, I have two more companies coming out to look at the job.

I sent an email to John (Landscaping) today asking about the status of the plans he suggested three months ago. He was going to replace the dead beech and replace the boxwoods along the west fence with more yews. He said he had another client who would take the boxwoods which had not died yet.

Sunday, October 28, 2018: Hudson Valve Update

On October 25, I posted that I was having trouble with the new Hudson valve on the pond and that I determined the problem was with an apparent redesign of the internal float. I sent a note to the manufacturer and today got an email reply. It was from Leslie and simple stated:

"It was a height issue and it has been resolved.  The new float is much easier to place correctly into the body, if you like I can send a can send a corrected 1/2" float if you provide an address."

I thanked her for the response and told her that the new design was indeed easier to assemble. I also gave her my address and asked for a new float. I did not ask why they are still selling these if they are aware of the problem. I bought this through Amazon, so I will put a review on their site warning of the issue.

Saturday, October 27, 2018: Weed n Feed

I mowed the backyard hopefully for the last time this season. I also applied the same Weed 'n Feed that I applied last year on November 5, 2017 and the year before on October 3, 2016. I may have one more application left in the bag.

As I did last year, I used the Scotts Easy Hand Held broadcaster. This year I used the setting of "5" (maximum). Last year, I used "4" and in 2016 "2".

Thursday, October 25, 2018: Pond water valve; Autumn bloomers; Hardy succulent

A week or so before I left on my European River Cruise, my Hudson pond water level control valve failed after two seasons. This resulted in the death of my largest Koi and a couple of smaller ones. While disappointing, it had worked well up to that time. I quickly ordered another and got it installed a few days before I departed. About two days after installing the new one, I noticed the pond level was high indicating a fouled skimmer screen or another failed level control valve. It was the latter. For some reason, the new valve had failed to shut off properly. The valve design if fairly simple. There is a float in a sleeve that rises  or falls with the water level, shutting or opening the water inlet orifice. I "exercised" the float and there appeared to be a tendency for the float to "stick". I did not pursue the matter at the time, but worried about it throughout my month-long trip.

When I got home yesterday, I noticed the pond water level was high again. This time however, the issue was a fouled skimmer inlet screen. I cleaned the screen. After a few hours, the water level was still too high. I checked again and, this time, it was the valve again had not shut off. I turned off the makeup water until I could look into it today.

Today, I "exercised" the valve's float and, again, there seems to be a tendency for it to "stick" in the open (or down) position. I took the valve apart...never a good thing for an engineer. I did not see anything wrong, but I remembered that I still had the valve that failed back in September. I found it and took it apart and compared the floats of the two.

The first photo is of the sleeve in which the float sits. There is a little "hub: at the top of the float chamber. This was the same for both the old and the new valves.

However, the floats were significantly different. The float on the left is from the new valve. The one on the right is from the valve that I bought a couple of years ago.

I installed the "old" float into the new valve and there was no apparent tendency to "stick". Why did they change the design? It might be that I found it was much easier to install the new designed float than the older design in the valve assembly.

I have reinstalled the new valve with the old float assembly. If I can do it easily, I may send a note to Hudson and let them know of my experience.

Looking around the garden on this cool autumn day, I see some late season bloomers.

Toad Lily

Toad Lily

‘September Charm’ Windflower

The Peppadew are still maturing and there are even some okra and bell peppers.

A free range holly hock is still blooming next to the Zelkova

I've decided to leave all of the new succulents inside for this winter, with the exception for the Sempervivum Cobweb, which is hardy down to -40F (Zone 3). I put it into the succulent bed today.

Wednesday, October 24, 2018: Coleus, succulents

I arrived home today from my river cruise through Europe. The backyard looks very good. I checked with Morgan and he said he did not have to mow at all while I was gone. We did have cooler weather and I reduced the irrigation frequency before I left. The temperatures approached freezing last weekend, but the okra is not completely dead and the peppers look very healthy.

While I was in Arizona, I picked up a couple of succulents which I brought home.

DESERT ROSE

Type: Broadleaf evergreen

Family: Apocynaceae

Native Range: Tropical Africa, Arabian Peninsula

Zone: 11 to 12

Height: 3.00 to 9.00 feet

Spread: 3.00 to 5.00 feet

Bloom Time: Seasonal bloomer

Bloom Description: Red, rose or pink with creamy white throat

Sun: Full sun

Water: Dry to medium

Maintenance: Low

Flower: Showy

Leaf: Evergreen

Attracts: Hummingbirds, Butterflies

Other: Winter Interest

Tolerate: Drought

Obviously, the Desert Rose is not hardy in our part of the country. I repotted the plant and it will stay inside.

Desert Rose (Adenium obesum, 5'-9' full sun)

 The other succulents I brought home

L to R: Torch Cactus, Opuntia Basilaris, Sempervivum "cobweb" 

Opuntia basilaris, the beavertail cactus or beavertail pricklypear, is a cactus species found in the southwest United States.

I brought the coleus into the house. This is one that Joyce gave me. It was also still alive, indicating we did not have a hard freeze last weekend.

Saturday, September 22, 2018: Ants, okra, peppers

Matt (pest guy) showed up this morning. I showed him where the ants were coming and going around the windows in the bay. Matt laid some bait along the trails the ants were taking and they really seemed to like the bait. Supposedly, the ants will take the bait back to their home and "share" it with their comrades which should eliminate the colony.

I did a final harvest of okra, Santaka peppers and peppadews. I offered all or any of the okra to Morgan/Joyce and they took some. I blanched and froze the remainder.

Blanched and ready for the freezer

I seeded a couple of Santaka and Peppadews for next year's plantings. The others went to the freezer after stemming. This is our first exposure to the Peppadews. We planted some in 2016, and they did grow. Unfortunately they were "buried" in amid the tomatoes so we did not get to harvest any. I have four plants this year with literally hundreds of peppers on them. When ripe, they are supposed to be bright red with paper-thin skins. The ones I picked are red, but whether they are ripe or not, I don't know. Joyce (east neighbor) said she would pick some for me while I'm gone and freeze them.

Friday, September 21, 2018: Inside Fish Outside

Getting ready to leave town for a month on my European river cruise. I had decided to return the six koi/goldfish to the pond that I had in the two vases inside. Today I did that along with putting the remaining moss balls into the pond. The pond fish will not be fed until I return in late October...assuming the temperature is still above 50F. I flushed out the two vases and will probably repopulate when I return home or maybe in the Spring.

Tomorrow I will do my last harvesting of okra, bell peppers and peppadew before leaving town. I will share the okra with the neighbors and blanch/freeze the rest. I have not harvested any peppadew peppers yet, but several are getting ripe and I will pluck them and freeze whole. I may try removing the seeds from a couple for next year's planting.

Wendnesday, September 19, 2018: Still ants, icemaker dead koi, carrots, door keys, chimney

Still seeing ants coming and going around the bay windows. Rottler guy is supposed to be here Saturday morning.

Icemaker is making a lot of ice.

Yesterday I received the new Hudson valve for the pond. I installed it and put it into service. It seemed to work throughout the afternoon. This morning I noticed the pond level was running a bit high. I expected to find the skimmer screens fouled. I cleaned the mesh and the net. The mesh was fairly fouled and, while the net was not very fouled, it did have a couple of small koi bodies in it. This raises the death toll from earlier this week to three. I put everything back together. About a hour or so later, I noticed from upstairs that the pond level was very high and froth was starting to accumulate on the surface. I found the new valve had stuck open. I shut off the water, exercised the valve and allowed the level to fall. I then put the valve back into service and will watch it closely over the next couple of days.

If I am not comfortable with the new valve working properly, I might, as a safety precaution, put the irrigation timer on the hose to the valve so that water can only flow for a limited amount of time each day, maybe one hour per day. If the valve fails and water flows continuously while I am gone, there is no doubt in my mind that all the koi will expire.

I picked up a 2# chuck roast at the store today and dug up seven carrots out of the garden. There are still about a dozen more in the garden for use this Fall. Tonight I will try using the Instant Pot to prepare the roast and carrots.

A couple of weeks ago, I got locked out of the garage (when the garage door power lock failed). Since the keys to the garage (and house) were in the garage, I had to borrow keys from our east neighbor who was luckily home. Hence, I bought a key locker to hide outside with a key to the house inside. I placed it in the breaker box behind the AC units on the east side of the house. I put a little Master combination padlock on the box. The combination is in our password spreadsheet.

It does not look like either the chimney repair guy or Mike will get here before I leave town. I sent an email to the chimney guy telling him where the chimney cap is (outside the basement entry door) and where to find the key to the padlock on the northwest gate. I included pics of both.

Tuesday, September 18, 2018: Ants, icemaker and Acalypha hispida (chenille plant) Update

On June 8, 2018 I attended a propagation class at the MoBot. One of the plantings I brought home was a Acalypha hispida (chenille plant). I re-potted it into a 1-liter air pot and took it down to stay with Laura during my Iceland trip in July. I was very impressed when I got back that it seemed to be doing very well. When I got back home on August 9, the plant was 10" tall. Today, it is 12" tall and I decided to transfer it to a larger (3 gallon) air pot. I will take it down to Houston when I start my next European trip next week.

I have frequently been seeing ants crawling up the outside of the bay and disappearing beneath the window frames. Where they are going after that, I don't know. I have not seen any inside the sunroom except for occasionally on the bar. I have been shooting the ants with Raid, but they seem to come back almost daily now. Today, I called Matt at Rottler and asked if he could come out before I left town on Sunday. He said he would be here Saturday morning.

Bruce (icemaker technician) replaced the control board on the U-Line icemaker. The control board cost $389.22 including labor and tax. Hopefully, that will correct the problem. Bruce said the same board is used in virtually all U-Line appliances and he just has to put the correct code in for the board to know what it is used for. As for whether or not this type of failure is "normal", he said it is unpredictable. He could see not apparent damage to the board he removed. The warranty on the new board is 90 days!

Sunday, September 16, 2018; Peppers and dead koi

Yesterday I harvested, seeded, sliced and froze the garden's bell peppers. I ended up with about a gallon bag of sliced peppers.

Today, I fed the pond fish as usual this morning. They all seemed happy. Late this afternoon I glanced outside and noticed the pond had froth on the top and the level was very high. I figured the pump inlet screen was plugged again. I went out and found the level control device (Hudson Valve) had failed and water had been pouring into the pond for who knows how long. I also noticed all the fish were huddled up in one corner of the pond. That seemed unusual. I turned off the water and took removed the valve. It had literally fallen apart. I installed it originally in July of 2016 so it lasted 2-1/2 to 3 seasons. I ordered an new one and it should arrive on Tuesday.

Unfortunately, I also notice that my largest koi lay dead on the bottom of the pond. I don't know if the utility water had done him in or not. There may be others on the bottom, but with the foamy water, I could not see any. This one was so large (12" nose to fin), he really stood out on the bottom. Just to be play it safe, I put some detox in the pond to try to counteract the chemicals in the utility water. I was in the habit of doing this every month, but kind of fell behind this season.

Friday, September 7, 2018; Garage door lock

Overhead Door came out this morning to replace the middle garage door lock which failed last week. This is the second lock to fail of the three we have. Both the failures have been on the middle door which gets the most use. The first failure occured in August of 2017. This failure was a year later and was on the lock that originally was installed on the east door. This means I am getting only 1 or 2 years of service out of these locks.

In talking with the technician who installed the lock today, he acknowledged that the doors are very secure even without the power door lock, but it is comforting measure. There are no handles on the outside of the doors for anyone to grab and try to force the door open. Whether I continue to replace these power door locks as they continue to fail will need to be evaluated.

Luckily, the power door lock was still under warranty, as was the one replaced last year. Therefore, as last year, I only had to pay the $128 installation labor. Last year, the price was about the same. Before putting in my replacement request, I looked into buying a new one and installing it myself. The cost of the new one was about $75. I opted not to try the installation myself due to the problem I was having with removal of the mounting lock screws. I watched the technician today and he overcame the problem of the lock screws by using a vice grip. I did not think of that. Watching him replace the lock, I have no doubt I could replace the next one myself.

Thursday, September 6, 2018: Window shade, ice maker, peppadew, okra seeds

Nick (Marvin windows) came out to inspect the shade that failed almost two weeks ago. Yesterday he had called to say Marvin would require him to look at the shade before they would accept a reorder. He arrived, looked at the shade and said "yep, we will have to replace it". I made him very aware that I was very displeased that Mike had told me 10 days prior to this that he would get the reorder in so that the shade would be here before I left town in a couple of weeks. Nick started to explain that Marvin would not accept the reorder without an inspection, but I told Nick I was upset with the fact that I was under the impression that the order had already been placed. Mike was well aware that I wanted to get this repaired or replaced before I left town. He told me he would place the order. He lied...again. I told Nick I wanted to talk with someone about the many lies Mike has told me over the past year. He suggested talking with Jim, the company owner.

The guy from the Doyle Patton company came out to look at the ice maker. He concluded that there was a bad circuit card which he would have to order. He said it might take a week or so to get it. He did not say how much it would cost, but it sounds cheaper than replacing the compressor.

I noticed today that the two largest peppadew plants are so laden with peppers that they are falling over. I put some posts in and tied them to them.

Weather forecast is for three to six inches of rain this evening as the remnants of tropical storm Gordon pass through the area. Today, I went ahead and cut off the two okra pods I had not picked so that harvest the seeds for next year's crop. The two pods were well dried out and cracked. I easily collected the seeds. I will let them air dry for a couple of days and then put them in a sealed jar in the refrigerator. I've read the seeds may be "good" for up to four years, but with fresh seeds available, I will discard the seeds I have remaining from last year.

Wednesday, September 5, 2018: Window shade, carrots, ants

I harvest about 1/3 of my carrots today. I will cook them.

I also harvested some more okra.

On a more disappointing topic, on August 27, I sent an email and picture of my failed Marvin window shade to Mike. I also called and he said they would just order a new shade. Today, I got a call from Nick (same company) saying no shade has been ordered and he wanted to come out and inspect and, hopefully repair the existing shade. I told him how disappointed I was that Mike lied to me but to come on out. If it turns out that they do need to order a new shade, I will submit a complaint to the company about Mike. It is not the first time he has lied to me.

The ants are back in the sunroom. Last year, they were REALLY bad. I was able to go outside and find a caravan of ants coming into the sunroom. While I have seen some similar caravans around the bay area, I have sprayed them and they have gone away. They were going in around the bay windows, but I do not know where they were going. Now I am, periodically seeing ants on the bar. Not massive like last year, but dozens at a time. Going around the outside, I do not see any caravans coming in. I may have Rottler come out before I leave later this month.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018: Another Chimney Update; ice maker; carrots; irrigation

In my Friday, August 24 posting I gave an update on the chimney repair. In it I stated that I had accepted the proposal from St. Louis Chimney. Not having received any acknowledgement, I called and talked with Chris. He acknowledged the acceptance and said he thought they would be able to start the job on Thursday, August 30, but he said he would call to confirm on August 29.

August 29 came and went without a call. On Thursday, August 30, I did get a call from Chris asking if they could come by that afternoon to start the work. I said OK. Chris and his companion showed up along with another person. They put a ladder up to the balcony on the MIL bedroom and then another ladder up to the roof. The third guy went up to the chimney and took some pictures. I came out and Chris said the top row of bricks was loose and expressed surprise that there was no cap on top of the chimney. I don't know what he expected to find since I could have told him there was no cap. Chris said it would take much more work than originally accepted. I told him to give me a new estimate. Chris said he would send me a new estimate on that day or at least by Friday, August 31.

I did not receive an estimate on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. I developed the impression that these guys don't know what they are doing and cannot be relied upon to do what they say they are going to do. Therefore today, I called the Mirelli Tuckpointing Co. They did not answer the call but I left a message asking them to call me back about their proposal.

I got a call from Mirelli. I told them I wanted to accept their proposal and asked how soon they could get it done. The lady said they are running about a three week backlog. I told her I would be leaving town in about three weeks. She said to put this information in the body of my acceptance email. I sent that email today. I also asked if they would need to use the neighbor's driveway. The lady said I would not necessarily need to be home for the work to be done as long as they had access to water and power.

Last Saturday, I noticed the ice maker in the sunroom was no longer making ice. This is not the first time the ice maker has tripped, but each time I was able to reset the breaker and things were back to normal. This time, the machine did not loose power, it just was not getting cold. Probably the compressor. Being the Labor Day weekend, I got out the ice trays and limped to today. I called the store we bought the ice maker from, ABS, Inc. I asked if they service what they sell and they said "no", but they could give me a referral. The ice maker is a U-Line. The referral was to Doyle Patton. I called them and they said they could do the job but it might be Friday or even next week. I told them to put me on the list and they said they would get out as soon as possible.

Tomorrow I will be harvesting carrots. I also turned the irrigation system back off after turning it on Sunday. We have a tropical storm "Gordan" coming ashore in Louisiana tomorrow. They are predicting it will result in several inches of rain coming through our area on Thursday/Friday.

Monday, September 3, 2018, Labor Day: Brugmansia...another try

Back in June, I "wounded" the Brugmansia to stimulate new growth. In August (see August 12 posting), I noticed a nice healthy sprout at the site of the wound. Today, I cut off that sprout and put it in a carafe of water to see if I can get it to propagate. My last attempt was not successful, but hopefully, this very young sprout will fare better. The Brugmansia stem that "followed me home" down in the French Quarter back in 2009 was put in a gin bottle and grew to a very large plant. I brought this plant home when I left NO and tried planting it in the back yard. It did not survive the first winter.

Sunday, September 2, 2018; Peppers, resume watering

I harvested some bell peppers and some Santaka peppers today. I followed the advice I found on line (https://food.unl.edu/freezing-sweet-bell-and-hot-peppers) regarding how to freeze them. Yesterday I harvested some orka, blanched them and put them in the freezer as well. Today I harvested another four okra. I will probably harvest and freeze the okra until I leave in a few weeks.

Bells and Santaka as harvested

Bell peppers seeded and strip cut before freezing

Santaka peppers washed and stemmed before freezing

On Friday, August 17, John (landscaping) came by and said he thought I was over watering the backyard and that was why the beech died and the west boxwoods were not doing well. He suggested I turn off the irrigation system for a few days. I turned it off that day. Over the next couple of weeks, we got so much rain that I never turned the system back on. Today I noticed the raised beds were looking a bit dry. I turned the system back on, reducing the shrub watering from four times per week to two times per week.

Wednesday August 29, 2018; Garage door lock

Last year, the power door lock on the middle garage door (the one used all the time) failed. It would not retract completely to allow the door to open. It was replaced by Overhead Door company on August 3, 2017. The cost was $128.

Today, when I went out for my walk, it started raining so I returned to the house to get my rain coat. I found the garage door would not open. The way it behaved, I guessed it was the same issue...it was. Unfortunately, the keys to the garage and the house were in the garage, which I could not get into. I had to call Morgan and ask to borrow his key to my garage. This got me into the garage and sure enough, the power door lock was not retracting fully.

Last year, while the lock on the middle door failed, they had to order a replacement. I asked the technician to move the lock from the east door over to the middle door so I could use the middle door. When the replacement came in, they put it on the east door. So, the lock that failed today was not the one installed last year, but was one of the originals installed back in 2015.

I looked up ordering one and installing it myself. I found I could buy one for about $75. I then went out to see if there was any reason I could not install it. If so, then I would again move the one on the east door over to the middle door and order a new one for the east door. The only issue I could see with respect to removing the old lock was getting the lock screws off. I came to the conclusion I could not get these off. Therefore, I called Overhead Door, told them my story and asked if they could order a new one and have someone come out to install. They said they would but it would take seven to ten days for the new one to arrive.

Saturday, August 25, 2018: Window Shades and Acalypha hispida (chenille plant)

Noticed today that the Marvin window shade that failed in May and replaced as failed again. The last time the bottom of the left track pulled out. This time the cord attached to the bottom of the left track popped out. Disconcerting. I sent an email to Mike (window guy) and will call him on Monday. Will encourage him to have it repaired or replaced before I leave town in September.

I had taken the Acalypha hispida (chenille plant) outside a couple of weeks ago, thinking it would enjoy the warm climate. Earlier this week I noticed it was obviously not getting enough water and had shriveled up. I brought it back inside and watered it thoroughly. It has recovered nicely and is 10" tall, two or three times the height of when I brought it home from the MoBot.