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.

Friday, August 24, 2018: Chimney Update

Three weeks ago, when I returned from my trip to Iceland, I found I had lost the chimney cap on the southwest chimney. This is the second time this particular cap has been blown off. The first time was about seven years ago and they people who put it back on (Irish Construction) did some repair tuck pointing. It obviously was not a permanent repair as two bricks came down with the cap (narrowly missing my sunroom windows) and another brick appears to be sitting loose on top of the chimney.

Anyway, since then, I contacted two companies about repairs. One company (English Sweep) I have talked with before. The other company (St. Louis Chimney) was one I had not talked with until now. Both companies said they would send out an estimator. English Sweep set up an appointment for a couple of days after I called. St. Louis Chimney said they would have someone call to establish an appointment. The English Sweep guy came out and took a bunch of notes and photos. He warned me that they were very busy and it might be October before they could fit me into their schedule. However, he said since this is such a "small" job, he would talk with his boss and see what they could do. Several days later, I finally got an email saying they had decided they were too busy and would not make an offer. They did give me three other companies I might want to contact. They were:

• Galati & Sons Tuckpointing
• Mirelli Tuckpointing
• Gress Masonry

I called all three of these companies and they each seemed willing to come out and give me an estimate. All three companies seemed capable and said they could get to the job before I left town again in late September. They all provided me with estimates. The estimates were:

• $1,700.00: Mirelli who suggested removal of any loose rows of bricks at the top of the chimney before reinstalling the cap
• $2,950.00: Gress who suggested some kind of strap to secure the cap and included the cost of tuck pointing the entire chimney plus repair of the limestone sill which was damaged by the falling bricks. If I agreed to the tuck pointing, I would get a five year warranty
• $3,480.00: Galati who said they would reset any loose bricks, reinstall the cap and repair the window sill

I had almost forgotten about the St. Louis Chimney people when I got a call from Chris this past Monday asking if he could stop by and take a look at the job. Chris and friend came by and on Wednesday sent their estimate for $450.00. Their approach was to "re-install the current chimney cap by tap con screwing the cap to the sound masonry" to prevent future decapitations. The caveat placed on this estimate was that they would have to evaluate the condition of the chimney when they got up there and there may be some additional cost for tuck pointing. I immediately accepted their proposal (before they could withdraw it) and today called and talked to Chris. He said he would target doing the job on August 30 (next Thursday), but would get with me on August 29 to confirm.

Monday, August 20, 2018: Cabbage bugs

Joyce came over today to harvest some basil. While chatting with her I noticed just how much damage has been done to both the cabbage and the kale. The kale is essentially eaten down to the stems. The cabbage has also been well chewed on. I got out the Bayer Natria insect, desease & mite control spray. It lists kale and cabbage as valid applications. We'll see if there is a improvement. The instructions say to reapply every 7 to 10 days or after rain fall.

Kale

Cabbage

The peppadew peppers are really doing well. I found a web site that says:

"Peppadew™ is the trademarked brand name of peppers from a pepper plant called “Piquanté.”

The trademark on the name is held by Peppadew International Ltd of South Africa.

The Piquanté bush grows up to 1 1/2 metres tall (5 feet), bearing up to 50 to 60 chiles per bush.

The peppers ripen over a four month period, with peppers lowest on the bush ripening first. The peppers are small and round, only about 2 to 3 cm tall (1 inch), with bright red thin flesh walls. They look like a cross between cherry tomatoes and small red peppers."

The peppers now are green with a crunchy skin.

The santaka peppers are now starting to turn red. I think I will dry them and make a chili powder.

Sunday, August 19, 2018: Barley

Cleaning up around the pond, I found the barley bale I installed on April 5 was completely gone. I put in a new bale in the same location, in the stream between the upper and lower ponds.