Busy Days…

We have been busy most days with planting, planting, and more planting…and we’re still not done yet! Today we planted our Avocado tree (Dwarf Little Cado), our semi-dwarf Satsuma Mandarin Tangerine, semi-dwarf Washington navel Orange, Dwarf Meyer Lemon, and semi-dwarf Bearss seedless Lime. We also planted the two grape varieties we were able to find: Black Monukka and Thompson. They are both seedless; Thompson is green and Black Monukka is dark. Not sure if it will be deep purple or red. We planted those in the west kitchen planter. Speaking of that planter, it’s so cute…right above where we planted the grapes I noticed a house finch pair building a nest in our fire alarm!! So sweet. Can’t wait to get some pics! Our Sweetshade tree got planted today, too, right next to the gazebo. Oh yeah, I haven’t posted a pic of the gazebo yet…here it is before I planted the tree next to it:

We’ve had trouble at the Haven here lately, too…pretty much everything that was finished being built, wired, and set up for us in this year-long yard renovation went HAYWIRE this last week. Our front gate was possessed and would open and close repeatedly, and would end up cockeyed with alignment that was way off…and we couldn’t drive our car out even if we needed to. I think that finally got fixed (cross your fingers) the other day. We’ll see how long it lasts this time. The company who built it doesn’t know how or why it happened. Then our sprinklers and drip irrigation stopped working. Completely. We’re still working on that one…

Next, a few low voltage lanterns in the front stopped working. Then the next day they ALL stopped working. What is going on?! After having the contractor out to look at these things, he thinks maybe the fuse is broken and we need to get a replacement. And these are just the things that I can quickly recall off the top of my mind. There is more. Much more. <Sigh> You’d think once your renovation is over you get to just relax after having your privacy and your life disrupted for a YEAR. But no. You still have to worry about things not working! So frustrating. I know eventually we will get to relax in our new private oasis, but it seems like a distant prospect right now.

Also, sadly, one of our ten little fish died today. 🙁 We don’t know what happened. He was a beautiful shimmery pale orange/gold with a little bit of black edges. Poor thing!