Putting the LOG in Blog

Optimistically I'm committing to a new weekly post of the happenings around the house, wine cellar, kitchen, and greenhouse.

Spring is a good time to do this because there is plenty to do. We've cut down the Harry Lauder's Walking Stick and dug out the stump, replacing it with Dwarf Japanese White Pine 'Yatsubusa'.

The boxwoods are gone, replaced with oakleaf hydrangea 'Munchkin'.

We added to our Cercis collection with a nice one called 'Ace of Hearts'.

Grapes are growing fairly well. I lost a couple of the Vidal I installed last year, but I have two ready to be planted. If I'm lucky I can still get them planted in the next couple of weeks and fill in some holes. 

The greenhouse plastic came down yesterday, and the shade cloth is back up. Most of the plants are out, including the plumeria, jabos, mangoes, sago palms, and others. 

The poolhouse is ready for summer. I fixed a leak in the water softener, but the portable softener seems to be the way to go. The pool heater has the temp to 82 and with warm weather on the way I suspect we won't need it again until fall.

It's a good time to post some pictures of my favorite tree. This is a Kentucky Coffeetree which I planted as a seedling. I posted about this little guy four years ago, and it just continues to grow very slowly and bloom like crazy. If anyone out there knows how to determine if this is my retirement plan, please contact me. 

Staycation 2019

On short notice, Lisa went to Arizona to help her mom, leaving me at home alone for Staycation 2019. It's not fair to say she left me with a list, but let's say there were goals.

First up was the deck drain. I've been fooling with this for years, and my attempts to muscle it into place mainly resulted in breaking the plastic. Glenn's Pools had a 10' replacement piece, and with some table saw creativity, we have something that looks decent.

Next up, the leaking hot tub. I suppose at 16 years of age, things are bound to start going wrong with the hot tub. The store from which we purchased the tub is out of business, and Glenn's couldn't look at it for a month. So I consulted Dr. Google, and lo and behold, not only can you get a replacement for the leaking heating element for $160, but there are helpful videos online showing how to replace it. The only glitch was that the hole for the thermometer/thermistor was 1/32" too small. One trip to Lacrosse later, it was carefully drilled out and the fit was perfect.

I started work on the cart which will be the island counter in the poolhouse. You can't find 4x4 pine in Fulton, so I glued up 2x4 for the legs.

Lacrosse did have a pocket hole jig so that the screws will be hidden.

I tried a couple of different configurations for the shelves and wound up using a single shelf with one extra run of bracing. Hopefully it won't be in the way.

Stained the frame grey and the shelf a mix of black and grey (I thought black was too dark).

It still needs a couple of coats of poly, then we'll get it out to the poolhouse.

We've a beautiful crop of jabos on the younger tree. I'm hoping for a decent crop from the older tree as well, one which will finally yield a gallon of Pierce Estate Jaboticaba wine.

Bonus Day

The forecast for the second Saturday in April was for cool temperatures, so our expectations were low. We worked inside late morning, but when the sun came out, we took advantage of the unexpectedly favorable weather to get some things done outside.

The pool lounge chairs may be the death of me. Pedro in Coral Springs, FL insists they are properly sized but I have yet to get them installed. They seem to be 3/4" too narrow. I attempted for 2 hours to MacGyver a spreader out of one of my clamps with no success. Lisa put an end to my futility by just ordering one from Amazon.

We turned to the poolhouse, where we have yet to hook up the plumbing for the new sinks. Unfortunately the concrete is too thick for easy installation of the faucets. I trimmed down one of the plastic screws and with one more trip to Westlakes, we should finally have it done. In a last ditch effort to actually accomplish something - anything - I got the water on in the poolhouse. The welded water wrench performed flawlessly.

Dinner was a highlight. Lime jasmine rice, pan-seared garlic asparagus, and salmon with dill and apple chutney.

Rain (maybe snow) is forecast for the morning hours. More progress on the poolhouse seems unlikely until next weekend. Grapes ship Monday and the pool opens Wednesday, so we'll be very busy. 

Concrete Countertops

Indecision about countertops in the new poolhouse turned into inspiration and we decided to build them on our own out of concrete.

I researched the many ways to do this and eventually decided on the Buddy Rhodes "press technique." We got concrete from Lowe's and pigment and other ingredients online and set to work.

The forms were fashioned out of 2" hard foam. Prior to pressing the concrete we coated everything with Pam as a form release.

I have to say it worked better than expected.

Shawn and Jake both helped with the skim coats of contrasting colors, the sealant, and the wax.

I cut out a space for the drain flange and they are awaiting final hookup in the poolhouse. I'll have to grind a bit out of the bathroom counter as the front of the sink extends a bit too far. The 24" x 48" piece will get special treatment as a custom island.

Very satisfying project. I may have found a new medium.

Midsummer 2018

We've undertaken a remodel of the poolhouse and lanai. The columns need to be reworked due to water damage. In the poolhouse we're removing the grill, adding roll-up doors, and replacing the old warped cabinetry with new outdoor cabinets.

We plan to add a water softener and to rearrange the cabinets to allow a full size fridge/freezer.

In news of the recovery, we're up to 18 Vidal Blanc vines with signs of growth. Exciting to see the other grapes coming a long. We've already got bird netting on the Frontenac which show great color.

Despite the beetle damage, I still hope to have enough grapes for a small batch of wine.

My goal has always been to get one new fruit species per year and this year we met the goal with Garcinia intermedia, the lemon drop mangosteen. Apparently the old name was G. edulis and that is the label on this plant, which just goes to show you how long it took to get fruit. Honestly it wasn't great - inedibly sour - but I now have a second plant flowering and several more fruit set so there is hope for better fruit.

Starfruit is not a candidate for new fruit this year, but perhaps it should be. We've been without 'Kari' now for a couple of years and the new tree from Pine Island has set fruit.

Mango is another ineligible candidate. I grew 'Cogshall' for several years and finally got so irritated with it that I got rid of it. 'Cogshall' would never hold fruit to maturity. This time I went with 'Mallika' and so far it has not disappointed.

Trying a new technique - pollarding - on the lychee trees this year. Normally then get a firm prune mid-July but this time I really pruned them back very hard in an effort to get growth I can reach without a step-stool. Results in about 10 months.

We're just back from the Chalet and the post would not be complete without some Lake Michigan pictures, final pic photo credit to Bob Pierce.

End of Winter

The winter of 2017-2018 felt as if it would never end. Plants are 2-3 weeks behind this year, and we finally just got some warm temps last week. Naturally the one year spring is late, the pool opening is early.

Never has the pool been this clean yet this cold.

We have struggled for months with water loss from the pool. After filling it up last week, we came back yesterday to find it several inches down again. I suspected this to be the cause of a persistent wet spot behind the poolhouse. The cattle have absolutely wrecked this ground on the other side of the fence, eventually requiring some fencing reinforcement. Yesterday I found the cause. The fitting on the filter was cracked and dripping water down the side of the filter and right into the drain. It went unnoticed because there really wasn't much of a wet spot on the floor until now. I used a clamp and piece of old hose as a temporary fix, and now a day later, the poolhouse is dry again.

Tom lent us a skid loader and we spread two truckloads of mulch a couple of weeks ago. The late spring allowed us to get much of the mulch down before the perennials came up.

Lisa got the deck cleaned up. My Big Green Egg operation has been pushed to the end of the deck to help keep smoke out of the kitchen.

Big day today - we'll bring some greenhouse plants out. I'm battling some serious issues with thrips, courtesy of a well-intentioned friend who will go unnamed. These plants badly need to get outside and get cleaned up.