San Geraldo can be dramatic. He calls the winds in Los Boliches "cyclonic." Yes, the winds do blow here. Yes, we had to chain our 8-foot (2.5-meter) yuccas to the wall to keep them from blowing away
(click here if you haven't seen it). But cyclonic? Admittedly, being right on the beach and having a terrace on a southeast corner with a large open plaza one street away, we do get more than our share of wind. It's mostly calm in summer, but with autumn here, the winds are picking up again.
(Click any image to increase to gale force.)
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| THE WINDS WERE STRONG ENOUGH ONE DAY LAST WEEK TO SMOOTH ALL THE SAND. |
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| NOTICE THE PALM TREE IN BACKGROUND BENDING IN THE "CYCLONIC" WIND. |
Dirt from our planters blows around the terrace, with most of it settling in the corner in front of our living room doors. It then blows into the house or gets tracked in by the cats. I had the idea to put a layer of stones atop the dirt to keep it from blowing. The owner of our garden center suggested placing a layer of landscaping plastic below the stones. I laid the plastic, but didn't buy enough bags of stones. So, until we get back to the garden center, I placed just enough stones in each pot to hold the plastic in place.
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| BEFORE: A COUPLE OF BAGS SHORT OF A FULL LOAD? |
This afternoon, I walked around the corner of the terrace to see Dudo and Moose lounging in one of the bougainvillea planters. They looked so sweet that I took a picture and showed it to San Geraldo who laughed, and said, "Well, so much for covering the dirt."
I looked again. I hadn't noticed that, before settling in, the cats had shoved the plastic out of the way. Great. I went back out, told them to move, and re-fixed the plastic. On my way in, I noticed a little mess of dirt in front of the doors. I thought, "Where did that blow from?" I looked at the nearest star jasmine and saw that "someone" had pulled the plastic out of that pot, as well. Meanwhile, Moose was already back around the corner. I think I should get really big rocks.
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| AFTER: BACK TO THE SOIL. |
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IMMEDIATELY AFTER I REPLACED THE PLASTIC AND STONES.
MOOSE: "WHAT?!? I WAS JUST LOOKING! JEEZ!" |
Mitchell, you should also have a Reactions option for "beautiful", so that we can properly react to your looooovely scenery photos :)
ReplyDeleteThose boys! They are a bundle of stories, just in themselves. Why would one want to sit in dirt? Yuck.
Judeet:
DeleteAnd I'd love to remove "depressing." I'll have to see if I can customize that.
Those little stinkers LOVE the dirt. It's cool. It's soft. It leaves paw prints (and body prints) on the furniture. They know they're not "allowed" on the kitchen counters. So, they rarely go there... in front of us. I clean paw prints off the counters and black cooktop several times a day.
LOL! Oh how I love cats! I miss having one. So independent and carefree....compared to dogs! Shhh...
ReplyDeleteGood sized rocks should 'do the trick' over the garden fabric. In summer the fabric and rocks may cut down on the watering as well, don't you think?
I hope Jerry doesn't blow away in that cyclonic wind!
Jim:
DeleteI don't know if I'd call our cats (or any cats we've had) independent and care-free. These two can be pretty neurotic and extremely dependent. Stubborn, insistent, and sneaky? Absolutely. (But always adorable.)
San Geraldo really does have to watch himself. He's lost so much weight, he gets buffeted like a feather in the slightest breeze.
Who knew they were gardeners?
ReplyDeleteBob:
DeleteSo many talents. I knew they were re-upholsterers ... oh wait, that's UN-upholsterers. Now they're un-landscapers, too.
Just cat behaviour, no need for violence with big rocks.
ReplyDeleteAndrew:
DeleteTrue. They'd probably just lob that back at me... harder.
They're cats. They have their own agenda! It's not yours! But they are so cute, trying to look innocent.
ReplyDeleteKristi:
DeleteI always thought it was all about me. It's not. It's all about them.
My but you do get a lot of mileage out of those two cute beasties!
ReplyDeleteStephen:
DeleteNo one is safe around me. I have a feeling San Geraldo is grateful that I sometimes move the spotlight (magnifying glass) off his foibles and onto the cats'.