And More Digging!

I'm on a roll. Took the dog to the vet and on the way home we stopped at the nursery to pick up some ice plant. While I was there (waiting for them to bring out the flats) I saw a huge bush with perfect purple daisy's growing from it! "What is that?" I asked Andreas. "Daisy's" he answered. (because he is a man of few words) He took some cuttings off the bush and gave them to me, then showed me how to trim them and put them in the ground. YAY!

Off I went with my 2 flats of ice plant.

As soon as we got home, I grabbed the shovel once again and vowed to remove that UGLY dried up desert sage on the front hillside. I know, I know...it sounds cruel, but the property is loaded with them and I really don't want this one in front of my house. Because of the rain it is temporarily green, but once summer rolls around that thing will be brown and brittle. Its ugly. (did I mention that already?) So, I took it down with branch clippers and a shovel. It put up a fight, but I was determined. Once it was gone, I was able to put down my sprigs of ice plant.

OH! I also planted my cuttings of "daisy's" in front of the house next to the purple palms and bird of paradise. I am so excited!

I surrounded the new plantings with our pots of garlic, hoping the bunnies will stay away. Sic 'em Jenny!

I wanted to get this work done during the week because this weekend we have 2 shows and Andy goes out of town Sunday morning...so our weekend is pretty shot. I'm getting a lot done on my own! YAY!

Mid-Week Report, Digging!

Since moving in here we have had a few serious downpours which has opened our eyes to the reality of erosion. Several slopes on the property are without vegetation and therefore a sudden downpour of rain is going to wash away the dirt and leave huge crevices in the land. Eventually this can become a problem and create sinkholes and irrepairable damage.


My goal is to put a lot more vegetation on the property, this is a difficult task when you know there are about 1,000,000 or so rabbits out there just waiting for you to plant something tasty! The good news is, Jenny caught her first rabbit this morning and decided to chew its face off. (I know, graphic...but it made me happy, thank your stars I didn't take a picture) She was quite proud of herself and now, you can see it in her eyes, she is a hunter...she is on the prowl. My guess is that bunnies aren't going to want to spend a whole lot of time on this property. So with Jenny's help and the trusty garlic plants, I am hoping it will be safe to start planting some vegetation.



Today, I started digging the soft dirt (still soaked from the rain) and filling in the eroded areas the rains caused. Next I will start planting some ice-plant in this area. I am very excited to have this slope fill in with beautiful purple flowers by April.



I also did some research on groundcover for the yard. I really wanted grass, but again, we have a few problems: 1. it is hot and dry here in the summer, making it extremely difficult to keep grass alive. 2. dog urine. dogs LOVE to pee on grass and then you have dead grass patches...not attractive. 3. None of us are very enthusiastic about mowing. 4. it is very expensive to lay sod and we have a lot of ground to cover. 5. rabbits. Well, ONCE AGAIN, I found a wonderful solution! Clover! Apparently, clover is cheap to buy, easy to grow, it is resistant to dog urine, doesn't need much mowing, nor does it need much watering. It stays green even in intense heat. AWESOME! Plus we have the bunny situation under control. YAY!




So, in the next couple of weeks, I foresee us planting ice-plant and clover seed. Green acres, here we come!

Weekend #4 - Project Man-Cave Underway

The rain last week was intense. Thursday was the worst, the winds kicked up to what seemed like typhoon magnitude, it got a little hairy. Our internet went down three times in 4 days and we lost power Thursday for about half an hour. One of our little trees started leaning to a 45 degree angle, our garbage cans would not stay in place and we ended up putting them into the garage. Jenny stayed indoors most of Thursday, and by that time all of us were getting cabin fever. It was the perfect time, however, to address the envelopes for my wedding invitations...another thing wiped off my To-Do List! Yes!


Friday morning came and it was much calmer outside...Dante and I stared out the back window for a few moments and he said, "Mom, do you notice anything different?" and although I knew something was not quite right, I could not put my finger on it..."I'm not sure, what is it?" he pointed to the empty space in the yard where the trampoline used to be and we both said it outloud, "TRAMPOLINE!" Our eyes scoured the property and we finally saw our poor upside down Christmas gift in the field behind the garage. Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!!! The next morning, Andy pulled it back over the fence and it literally looked like a pretzel. Major bummer! Not only was it an expensive gift for the boys, it has been a hit with them...they jumped on that thing everyday for hours. Andy feels certain he can order parts and repair it...I hope so. Next time we know, trampoline + typhoon = Kite.






Saturday we decided to get out of the house, so we took some friends to Hamilton Oaks Winery in Trabuco Canyon and picnicked. It was freezing, but we huddled under the patio heaters and drank wine...for three hours...it was a fun day. We even explored the vineyard and got muddy. YAY!



Sunday, it was back to work. Andy got outside early and planted our new purple palms and birds of paradise in the front yard, then it was time for...Project Man-cave.



We pulled everything out of the garage, re-organized, threw out, and stowed storage boxes into the
rafters. It was great fun. The garage had about 2 inches of dirt on the floor, so I swept and shop-vac'ed. We set up the smaller side like a livingroom, complete with sectional sofa, coffee table, love seat and television. This will be a perfect alternative "hang-out" room when we have the wedding. It never ceases to amaze me how spiritually cleansing it is to clean out a room, even if it is your garage. The cleaning part is about 90% done, next we will put some drywall, put some old rugs down, set up internet and cable and organize the band equipment. Bingo...man-cave.

Next weekend's goal will be to pick up the fan palms and do some more planting. Very exciting!


In other news, Jenny is officially a hunter. She caught and killed a quail today...which means she would do the same to a rabbit...YES! GOOD GIRL!!!!


Happiness prevails at DiLong Ranch.

Weekend 3 - DONE!

Well, almost done. We powered out the trim on the garage, Andy painted the front door, and then we watched as the winter storm (we had been warned about) roll in. I can't emphasize or exaggerate how cool it is to see SO MUCH SKY. We can see weather systems coming in from any direction, its just amazing. About 2 o'clock it became a race against time. We were also running out of red paint, so it was working out perfectly. Andy finished the last touches while the kids and I cleaned up the yard of DIY debris. Jenny became excited, I think she knew the storm was coming too. She followed me around the property as if to say, "what's going on? What are we going to do?"



Next weekend will be about organizing the garage (ugh) so we can turn it into a "man cave". Right now it is full of boxes of junk, filing cabinets, tools, couches, band equipment...everything we didn't want to deal with when we moved. Now its time to deal with it. We have lots of storage cabinets, and overhead storage and I think we will find there is a lot we can throw out, and things we forgot about that can come into the house. It'll be an adventure. Ya, sure...that's it. It is a 3 - car garage, and the single side will become the boys rec room...complete with TV for video games and movies, a couch and probably a mini-fridge. The 2 car part of the garage is going to be a combo of band-room, tool/hobby/repair...ok, I'll say it again...MAN CAVE.

Here's a picture of the finished house...just LOVE the colors!



So, rain is upon us. It is supposed to rain all week. How exciting!!!!

Weekend 2, 2010

I did not get around to posting this on Monday. I was under the weather and had a list of chores a mile long. My week did not get any better. I ended up in Urgent Care Wednesday night and brought home some anti-biotics. I had a screaming UTI which was not getting any better since I was not taking the time to heal myself...I have been on the run since the day before Thanksgiving. In other words, my body is tired and wants rest.

So, I blog, and rest.

Last weekend was great. Andy and I worked on the trim some more, adding our third accent color of charcoal brown. I have to say, the back porch looks amazing!

We also visited a local nursery (there are several in the area and their prices are FANTASTIC). We found these great little palms that are the exact same color as the trim of our house...they add a great flare to the flat facade of the house. EXACTLY what we have been looking for. We asked the nursery guy, "how do you keep the rabbits out of your plants?" he pointed, and answered in one word..."green". Andy and I looked at each other a bit confused...and then looked back to the spot where he was pointing. "You mean these green plants in the pots?" In between the rows of palms and ferns were mystery unknown green plants. "Yes", he answered. "What are they?" we were DYING to know. "Garlic" was his reply. We all smiled and did the collective "OOOOOOOHHHhhhhh!" Rabbits DO NOT like plants with a strong odor, such as onion, garlic, rosemary or mint. We picked up a bunch of them for $2 a piece. The red palms were only $10 a piece...SWEET! They have been on the property for a week now and the rabbits have not touched them...so far so good.

This weekend, more trim work and possibly more plants purchased. We still want fan palms, and plenty more of these red palms. GORGEOUS, they totally POP!

Andy's butt is feeling much better, he is a fast healer. It did turn all kinds of crazy colors of black, blue and purple...he did go to the doctor and get an x-ray (just in case) and he proudly "mooned" his friends showing off his weekend DIY warrior wound. The irony is, after all the work we did, he ended up getting hurt while changing a light bulb. Pretty hilarious! I'd post a picture here, but I might get booted from Google, hahaha.

Much to do! Oh ya, I'm supposed to be resting. oooops.

What Would Be The Perfect Title For This Post?

It has always been my dream to remodel a house to make it my own. This weekend was definitely the beginning of my dream come true. All weekend I kept thinking up the perfect titles for my blog post for this weekend, and now they all escape me.


Anyway, the painters showed up on time Saturday morning and got right to work. By Saturday evening our house was the perfect cream/peach color we envisioned. They also painted the porch with the ranch red. Sunday we slept in a little bit (shame on us), then we ate a huge breakfast (eggs bacon, biscuits and gravy...shame, SHAME) and then started in on painting the trim. It was the perfect weather...warm, sunny and lightly breezy. We kranked up Andy's iTunes and rocked out while we painted. Sitting on top of the hill and looking out over our amazing view, it almost felt like we owned a huge chunk of the planet.


Our new dog, Jenny, sat out on a boulder and took in the sites as well, she is LOVING her new home. She is such a sweet dog, and she loves me. She comes whenever I call, sits on command and stays in near proximity of wherever I am. When I leave the property to run and errand, she is very excited and greets me at the gate when I come home, she jumps into the car with me so I can driver back up the hill, its adorable. Unfortunely, she still has not taken to Andy. Men scare her. Everytime he approaches her and she feels she cannot "escape" she becomes incontinent and pees on the spot. So, there has been some apparent abuse in her past. Poor puppy. More good news though, she loves to chase rabbits...YAY!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the "after" shots. The weekend did not go off without a hitch, however. Andy fell off the step ladder at the end of the day Sunday and bruised his tailbone pretty badly. It was hairy for a few hours, his back swelled up with a huge goose-egg, but we iced it and by this morning the swelling had gone down considerably. Unfortunately, we also broke one of the new lamp fixtures in the process. :(


No worries, its still three steps forward and one back...and that is progress. Andy and I are a kick-ass team and we get things done. THAT, I LOVE.

Back to work.

New Years Day, a new start

Even though we've been here 5 weeks, I'd like to start counting the days of our remodel from January 1, that would make it easy, wouldn't it? Its a fresh start, a new year, and even a new decade...amazing.

Last year on New Year's Day, Andy and I had just begun our relationship together, we were newly "in love" and for some reason we both knew this was the love of our life. We walked around Laguna Beach checking out art galleries and funky gift shops, it was a fun day and we were flying high on the wings of love. Little did we know 2009 would be the most amazing year either of us had ever had.

Now it is New Year's Day 2010. We are at Di Long Ranch. We are envisioning our upcoming wedding (April 3rd), and beyond that we are building our dream of a winery. We are still flying high on love, but a little too busy to enjoy art galleries and gift shops...we are painting. The kids and I pulled up weeds and raked the leaves and brush that the winds had deposited in the yard. Andy power washed the house and this morning the painters showed up. They are taping up the windows and doors as we speak. I will write a new post in a couple of days with pictures. The painters are only spraying the peach colored base coat the the main parts of the house and garage, they are also going to spray on the red/brown color to the porch. The detail painting will be up to me and Andy after that.

Oh, Jenny is doing fine also...she loves running around the property. I tried to start her off as a indoor dog, but she was not content. Once we let her loose in the yard, she was happy as a clam.

Hope this finds all of you enjoying your new year and envisioning a future of happiness and success!