New Look

After 15 years it was time for a new look. The garage doors were falling apart, the paint was chipped, and the fences were old and in need of repair. So we've finally finished. The new color is called shaggy bark and is a greenish brown. It is an interesting color, depending on the light it sometimes looks green and sometimes brown. But either way we like it and are happy with how it looks. We also replaced the breezeway wall and the front fence with a picket fence. They really open up our yard and add to the beauty of our many gardens. Below are a few for pictues for your enjoyment.

Here is a shot of the old and new colors together.

A close-up of the breezeway.

The new front side fence.

Garage Door

We used to have the ugliest garage door in our neighborhood.  Old and wooden with the wood starting to rot and having been pretty well trashed by our winter winds.  Well this weekend we replaced it with a fancy new roll up door.  The instructions said to plan for 12 hours to complete the job, so I started bright and early at 8:00 on Friday morning.  Ripping out the old wood door went fast, and of course destruction is always fun.  Evne the initial steps of installing the new door went fast.  Before lunch the new door sections were put together and ready for installation of the track.  Then came the hard part, the track must be lined up perfectly and it was adjustmaent after adjustment until it looked like it was right.  Then off to the installation of the spring.  It would have gone a lot faster if I remembered the difference between my left and right hand.  I had it installed only to realize it was backward and haad to turn it around.  By 8:00 pm I was exhausted and decided that it would have to be finished on Saturday.  I was sure glad I had a three day weekend.  Finally at 1:00 Saturday afternoon It was ready for a trial of the opener.  It Worked !!!!!!  Happy day.  I was tired but happy and the result looks great.

Seepage Pit - Sink Hole

A funny thing happened on Wednesday morning in the rain.  Nancy thought she heard something fall in the morning in the front yard.  When she looked out she saw nothing.  Later when she went out to get the mail she found a hole in our front yard.  Not just any hole but a deep hole without a bottm, or so it seemed in the rain.  Next to the hole is one of the seepage pits for our septic system.   What is really odd is that  we can't see when the soil went.  It was any awfully lot of dirt that just disappeared.  Below are a few shots of the inside of the hole.  You can see in the pictures that there is a large gap between the seepage pit and the surrounding soil.  I'm told that the space around the pit is supposed to be filled with gravel.  What is oddest to me is how the thing has been covered with a a big void space inside for almost 15 years.  

This is looking down into the hole you can clearly see the pit and the gap around it.  The hole goes down about 16 - 18 feet.

This shot shows the gap pretty clearly.  As near as I can tell there is a space about 9 to 12" wide all around the seepage pit.  I suppose if we don't get it filled soon it will probably start to smell.

Public Transport

I had to attend a meeting in Century City this week.  Since the meeting was to start at 8:00 am and last all day I was a bit concerned about the traffic.  I hated the thought of sitting in stop and go traffic for two hours in the afternoon, so I checked out the train (Metrorail) and found that it would get me to LA in good time.  I then found that the only way to get from there to Century City was by bus.  So being adventurous I thought why not give it a try.  The train ride to LA was lots of fun.  It was a double decker car so I rode on top so I could see what we were passing by.  

When we got to LA I went to the corner to wait for my bus.  I was sure I was in the right place but the bus number wasn't on the sign so I started to get a little nervous when the big red bus pulled up.  It was there the adventure began and I started to realize why I drive.  The ride was bumpy and as the bus went along it began to fill up with an interesting mix of the working poor and a group of students on their way to high school.  

I got to me meeting on time and then it was back to the bus for the ride home.  Again it filled with the working poor and more students.  I sat across from a young Hispanic couple who sat arm in arm and laughed as they talked.  It was nice to see the tenderness between them.  There was also a rough looking young man who looked as though he had been through more than his share of fights, but as he got off I noticed his backpack had a City College of LA logo on it.  I imagine that there were lots of interesting stories on that bus.

The ride home on the train wasn't nearly as much fun as it had been in the morning.  No real excitement, just a long day and I was glad to be home.

Hockey In Ontario

Last night we went to watch the Ontario Reign, a minor league hockey team. They are in their first season and last night was the first home game. It was exciting to be there for the happening. And best of all they won 4-1. They are affiliated with the LA Kings. There was lots of action, sticks breaking, fists flying, players getting knocked over and into the wall. Everything hockey should be.

Supporting Marriage

On Saturday we went to a main intersection in Rancho Cucamonga to wave signs with a number of other volunteers.  We only did it for a hour and it was a lot of fun.  A lot of people who drove by waved and honked and gave us the thumbs up.  We hope it helps.  I can't help but think that people seeing the number of people supporting this openly will help turn those on the fence.

We're Here

Welcome world to our new blog - no telling how often and what we will post.