Once a year.

The other morning I woke to this cactus exploding with flowers. It is some kind of night blooming sirus but I have no idea which. What I do know is that once a year this cactus blooms with immense style and grace ...

Climbing Wall - Part 1.

Ever since I bought this house nearly two years ago, we (friends, brother, me, etc) have talked about putting a bouldering wall out back and well, it wasn't until our ever thoughtful and visionary president decided to boost the economy through his stimulus plan that I decided it was the right time to stimulate ourselves through the construction of a home climbing wall. So, finally we began, after long hours of planning, imagining, and mostly talking about how amazing it will be. If all goes according to plan, it will be 16 feet wide by 12 feet tall with two 8 foot sections at different overhanging angles, painted gray with the appropriate levels of texture to make it look slightly less woody, with all sorts of manufactured holds as decoration like the two foot long teal rail, all sorts of crimpy painful holds, the the brain like tan bulge, and the homemade walnut beauty that my cousin Eric crafted with a block of wood and a grinder in his driveway.

Step one: donuts, coffee and banter.

Step two: getting the six-inch lizard out of our post hole.

Step three: cementing 16 foot 4x4 posts in a straight line perfectly vertical and the exact distance we will eventually need for two differently angled 8 foot sections.

Step four: more banter.

Step five: admiration.

A thought for Tuesday...

Cheers to Jonathan for sending this my way...

Outdoor shower...

Just in time for the 100 degree temps the outdoor shower is completed with lots of help from all sorts of people. Chris helped cement posts, my dad showed up to work on the copper plumbing with me, mom, Chris, and Megan stained the slats at various times. My neighbor of course thinks I am crazy but the shower is quite possibly the best thing we have done to the backyard so far... And for those of you who are wondering what in the world I am thinking, well here are the three main reasons we wanted an outdoor shower:

1. Water goes into the ground, and helps to recharge the terribly depleted aquifer. (We only use biodegradable soap outside and hair washing will take place inside.)
2. Water from our outside spigot is often cooler (after the initial blast of superheated water lava) than water that is piped into the house, which when low temps in the summer rarely get below 80 degrees at night, the desire for cold showers nears obsessive.
3. Seriously, there is nothing better than a refreshing shower under the stars or in the morning sun as birds are singing.

Here is some evidence.

Vacancy.

Come on in!

Notice the beautifully stained wood and the wonderfully welded copper piping - thanks to everyone who helped! Also the bench to the right. Don't worry, it's sanded very smooth.

Aerial photography.

Hot town summer in the city.

As temps heat up, so do my chickens....

No excuses.

I am not going to bother telling people why I have been blogless for months on end. Too much time has passed already. But even I have grown tired of looking at the last post. So while I have nothing very exciting to say, here are few things:

1. Today was our first over 100 degree day for the season of scorchingness. 102 to be exact.
2. Just in the nick of time, with the help Chris and Megan, we finished the outdoor shower yesterday. (eventually there will be pics up...)
3. Now we can start on the outdoor bouldering wall.
4. Cracker is broody and not laying eggs for sometime. The rest are hot and laying eggs.
5. That's all for now.