It's time to go home

So since October we've suffered though beautiful warm weather but now it's time to get our warm clothes out and head north. It's been a beautiful spring/winter down here with some new plants blooming every day. Even the weeds are in flower. This is called a Coral Bean and its seeds are so toxic that they are used for rat poison.

Lantana is another native (it's the yellow flower) and the Fire Bush blooms several times a year..

We've got a Hibiscus that was left here  in bloom.

And one that Polly brought down for Connecticut - I think it likes it here.

We planted these last year called a Summersweet.

And my daughter Ina sent us this Jasmine - got to get real close to catch the aroma.

So everything is blooming and wishing us farewell when I go to the outside faucet to water them and it says to me " I have a leak and I'm leaking right through the wall of the copper pipe". So should I just ignore it and say it's not leaking too much or will it get worse while I'm away and pump the well dry. It looked like the leak was caused by the grounding strap attached to the pipe right at the leaks and caused some electrolytic corrosion which made the leaks. I'll patch it now and fix it right when I get back it the fall.

Home Depot sells repair kits for leaking pipes and I wouldn't have to replace the pipe just patch it. I first used a shaped metal kit with a rubber layer inside that bolts over the pipe - it worked but there were two leaks in the pipe so I had to go back to Home Depot and buy another. When I installed that one, I must have tightened up too much and it caused another leak to spring out. So that didn't work, I'll try the epoxy penetrated fiber glass kit from Home Depot, just dip it in water and wrap it around the pipe and let it cure. Simple enough - it didn't work either as little drips of water came out at several spots - guess I'll have to fix it right. That's the leaking section of copper pipe that started it all.

So I dug out till I reached the plastic pipe that ran over to the well. I replaced all the copper - the line that ran over to the front garden water sprayers, the one that goes to the water conditioner and the one that goes to the outside faucet.

And wallah it's all replaced and I don't have to worry about it when I'm back in Connecticut.

Here is one of the local animals saying goodbye to Polly. Yeah it's an Armadillo saying goodbye.

The Big Project is Done

The big project was putting in the fruit orchard along with its drip irrigation system and it's all done. We have every type of fruit that ripens between the months of October and April - we have lemons (regular and Meyers), limes, regular oranges, blood red oranges, pineapple oranges, tangelos, pummelos, tangerines, pink grapefruit, red grapefruit, avocados, kumquat, persimmons, pomegranates, guavas, figs, bananas, mango, papayas, pineapples, pecan trees and macadamia nut trees. Some are in blossom now like this pineapple orange tree.

Some have finished blooming like this Hamlin Orange and have started to grow little oranges..

And here are the remains of the blossoms from the Arkin Papershell Macadamia nut tree, if each blossom is going to be a nut, we're going to have plenty of macadamia nuts

Clearing the land and planting them all took its tole on my back muscles - I'll never straighten up again. But then came putting in the irrigation system. This machine bounced me all over the place.

The chain drive dug a ditch and the little auger pushed the dirt away but when it hit a root watch out.

I bought two 500 foot rolls of tubing but ran out and had to get another 200 feet to finish

The main line runs down the center trench

And tees break off side branches. The joints are all compression - takes a little effort to get them together but it's faster than cement joints

Special knife is used to cut the hoses

And when it comes time to put a dripper into the hose another special tool punches a hole in the side of the tube

Here's a dripper installed

I used four drippers for each tree in a circle around the tree. Each dripper drips 1 gallon per hour - I initially plan to run them for 1/2 hour three times per week. As the trees grow I'll increase the time and number of drips.

To end a line you just have to bend over the hose - put a kink in it.

I have four separate loops that are controlled by this program controller

Which turns on and off these four valves.

Two valves run separate loops out to the orchard, so they don't have to come on at the same time and lessens the load on my well and allow for expansion. The third is for plants that aren't in the ground but need water till we come back next fall. These are pineapple plants just starting to grow. But other plants like the mango, papayas and potted plants around the house increase this to almost 20 separate drips..

The last zone is for a small section of lawn that will allow us to walk to the car without having to walk in dirt. It has nine of these little spray heads in it.

Line Dance Party

You remember that Paul Curry and myself are members of a line dance group - keeps us coordinated and in shape.

This is the end of the line dance season, so Paul and myself hosted a Pool Party. Hot dogs , hamburgers, jalapenos poppers, pickled eggs - just the normal pool party food.

 The girls jumped right in and started an Esther Williams based line dance.

One of the guys got into the swing of it too, the cheeky devil.

But the girls just kept swimming.

Oh, remember that wedding we went to last week - Well Polly recycled the wedding cake as the dessert for the pool party - all gone, every last piece.

The Wedding

Polly's granddaughter just got married and guess where they held the wedding ceremony - right near us on Treasure Island (part of the city of St Petersburg). They held the wedding right on the beach. Here comes the bride (Danielle) with her parents (Lynette is Polly's daughter and Jim is Lynette's ex).

Here is Lynette again isn't she pretty -  whoops, it isn't Lynette it's her mother Polly, they look so much alike I get them mixed up.

I like the way Danielle planned the wedding - It was all on the Internet - Google for a Justice of the Peace in Saint Petersburg - Ask him to suggest a location and a photographer - Done - The wedding is planned -

Polly and I got there early and were having an ice cream at a shop on the main drag and saw this guy walk by in a formal suit and dragging a suitcase filled with flowers and a rake and stuff - He was the Justice of the Peace and was going to prepare the site for the wedding. He made a heart with flowers and shells, raked the sand smooth and waited for the wedding party to arrive.

They said their vows with his help (he held prompt cards with "I Do" written on them).

After the ceremony they walked down to the ocean and got some photo's with the setting sun behind them.

After the wedding, we and the rest of the wedding party went to a beachfront restaurant for a great dinner. Once again, the bride Googled four star restaurants on Treasure Island and booked the place from Connecticut - I like her. I didn't get many pictures of the meal but this cropped one of the wedding cake. You'll see it again in our next blog.  Seeing the wedding party was flying home, Polly took the cake back with us. She froze the top tier so they can have it on their first anniversary and we served the rest of the cake was as dessert for a party we held at our house a week later for the line dancing group I belong to.

Bits & Pieces

Well it's been in the 80' for the last few weeks and as far as the plants know, it must be spring. Here's are the Bromeliads in bloom.

Next to them are some wild azaleas. We think they are wild cause there are three different bunches of them and they are all stuck out in the woods where nobody would normally plant them.

Last are the African Iris - we've got quite a few of them and they just randomly bloom.

Well look at that, even the flower of my life has come out to enjoy the sun - pool water is 86 F - just perfect.

The hydroponic garden is doing good - look at the size of the cabbage - just in time for St Paddy's Day.

The green peppers are turning red and are delicious.

The chives have even blossomed - Polly has been adding them as decorations to the top of the salads  - they taste good.

Walmart had a sale I just couldn't resist and now I have two Papayas

I brought down the old hanging chair that was on the back porch at the cottage in Voluntown - I got a new one for up there and the old is relegated to the backyard arbor in Florida.

I think I used a half bowline with a reverse twist - should have used a double reverse twist - nothing broken besides my pride.

There it is with a double reverse twist and it held.

Our line dance group did an exhibition down at one of the retirement homes in the area. Recognize Paul Curry with the hair?

What fancy footwork - the crowd cheered, slept and made funny noises.

Finally, Polly and I bought a kitchen tool that makes blooming onions like you get at Outback. Picked it up at a estate sale for only $3. After trying all month and having to eat a lot of fried onion pieces, we finally got one that held together and looks good. Next one we will cook all the way through.