Highway 52

A new section of Highway 52 was opened to the public for biking/jogging/walking this morning. There was a lot of free stuff like popcorn, coffee, cookies, t-shirts, live bands, cotton candy and automobile clubs.

Backyard Show

Currently showing in the backyard this morning and ready for their close-up shots:

The honey bush (Melianthus major) has two flower stalks about to bloom. the flower and leaves are showy, but the plant is toxic. You won't find any grasshopper bites or aphids on this plant!

This plum tree has 100's of flowers on it, so it's about 10X more than what I've seen it do in previous years. There's going to be a lot of fruit, so I should look into how to make plum sauce and plum preserves and plum bread and plum pudding and ....

The native flannel bush is budding several yellow flowers. They haven't opened fully, yet.

More cactus and succulents

New cacti and succulents were added to the front courtyard last week. It's funny how all those little $10 specimens add up!

2010 Big Bay Balloon Parade

It was a nice day for a balloon parade back on Dec. 30, 2010. I had to use the link to figure out the names of some of these balloons.

An Over-blown football

Thomas the Tank Engine

Miss Boop

Jay Jay the Jet Plane

Bob the Builder

Wally the Octopus

and, Shamu the Killer Whale

Courtyard

...just re-arranging a few plants and pots in the courtyard. It's a nice place to sit and have a beer or two on the weekend after all the rain.

Avonia alstonii

I got this Alvonia alstonii a few weeks ago. I just liked the snake-like appearance of the plant. I had no idea what the flower would look like until now. It's very small and this blog gives you a better idea of the size.

BBQ Plans

I've gotten much better with Google's SketchUp program. This is the first draft of the backyard BBQ concept from Tropicana. These island dimensions are able to make it through the front courtyard entrance and through the house. It's going to be a tight fit. Now, I just have to work on the counter top details as well as adding some stools to the model. The artificial wood plank deck design is in the works, at least, for Plan A.