Indoor Home July 2023
Category Archives: Home & Garden
Morning Glories vs. Bamboo Thickett
So mixed reviews on Morning Glories in our bamboo thicket from those on my various social media gardening groups. Hopefully I won’t regret what I just did, which was to “transplant” this one over the arbor at the top of the outdoor staircase. You may be able to perceive here that I planted the roots in the hanging pot. I guess I will monitor it to see how far it grows.
In the Bamboo Thicket
My own backyard garden continues to amaze me. Within the bamboo “forest” near the upstairs lookout, I found this purple flower on a non-bamboo plant. Further into the thicket, I came across this old tree stump I almost forgot about in the three years since I moved in, but now I see it’s covered with mycelia.
But is it Art, Sweetie
Someone else’s trash in Benicia now adorns the front porch. I love it, and it matches the color of the house trim!
Egg Chair in Lookout
Some who visit our home venture up the low-rise (love it) backyard stairs to our “lookout” behind the bamboo. From there one can see the East Bay and Crockett’s C&H Sugar Factory from our backyard. It’s the closest thing we have to a water view. We recently installed an arbor at the top of the stairs and have been brainstorming how to set up the lookout for a zen area of sorts. We began the journey by making it a real relaxation point today with phase one. This phase was adding an egg/gravity chair that leans back and is like a hammock. It’s suspended and so comfortable without the large footprint of a full hammock. For years we did have a hammock in another part of the yard. We donated it recently after deciding it was not used enough to be worthy of its footprint in most of our spaces, opting for another set of lounge seating. Besides that, the full-size hammock was too unwieldy for us (and our senior dogs) to use very often due to how challenging it was to get in and out of it. Moreover, we had to worry about mold developing on the material when it rained too much. Some years that was not a problem at all. Dismantling it and putting it away during the wet season was a pain and we like to think of our backyard as everything being year-round friendly, despite the rain and wind.
Below are pictures of the arbor and the new egg chair being modeled by Polar and Peaches.
Oakland Bear BBQ
Former San Franciscans really made the most out of this yard which had been a mechanic’s workshop for years prior to their moving in. It’s so inspiring to see what they’ve done in a few short years, albeit during Covid. Michael and Ed (Blade) are bringing so much brightness to this part of Oakland with their beautiful home and garden, and it’s not a surprise in the end that their permaculture facilitates Michael’s longstanding vegetarian diet, which I identified with.
Mid-July Update for main Hayden backyard garden area
Tree Stump Mycellium:
Side Yard Fountain:
June 2023 Garden Progress
My Cactus is Having Twins
My cactus is having TWINS! This mother cactus is about one-half of a much taller cactus that was left at my mom’s house in 2016 after it was destroyed by fire. She, my brother, and my nephew moved in with Shando and me, but unfortunately, my mom died a few months later of ovarian cancer unrelated to the fire, so this is definitely a sentimental plant. Without any attention to it, months after she died and even longer after the fire, when the house was nearly renovated, I found this lone cactus in her backyard and adopted it. A few years later it toppled in the wind and half of it broke off and both halves are planted in different pots in my backyard without missing a beat. One small piece also fell off and has the current fuzz on top of it that you can see, which these gross flies are loving. Recently I got a little smarter and put the large cactus piece in a much wider pot, hoping to foster growth, especially with some better quality topsoil, and voila. She’s pregnant!
Interior Home June 2023
