Living Roof Update

Well, the living roof is having a fantastic year thus far. Right now it actually looks quite dapper.

We’ve had enough intermittent rain this spring and summer to keep the succulents alive but kill off many of the weeds. The green/brown combo, from afar, is rather striking. 

The succulents, while initially getting a slow start at spreading, have also been having a gangbuster year. The hens and chicks (not pictured) are especially doing well. It’s nice to see some significant progress and I hope that it’ll just keep getting better these next years.

The poor vegetable garden, on the other hand, is having a rough start, mostly due to my laziness. I planted the cool weather germinating crops (lettuce, carrots, beets) during a heat wave and did a poor job of watering them. Also, the raspberries, and their associated weeds, are infringing on the western edge of the beds, and need to be beaten back (but not until we’ve finished the berry harvest). I have a feeling that it’s going to be a skinny harvest for us this year, vegetable-wise.

xo, 

Sonja

House Projects: Living Roof

So: It’s been a while since we’ve had an update on the shed roof. Mostly because it’s been growing very, very slowly and developments have been few and far between.

BUT: I am convinced that this is its year to shine! Already we have a mostly green roof. Which is way better than this.

If we’re being honest with ourselves, I might admit that it’s taken a bit longer to grow in than I had anticipated. Succulents are not known to be terribly speedy. And I’m not a patient person.

But I went up there this week and and pleasantly surprised to see some new growth:

In hindsight there would have been a few things that I would have done differently and they both relate to water:

1. We only have about 4 inches of soil on the roof. We did this because we were primarily planting succulents (which are shallow rooted) and because we wanted to keep the overall weight down. Soil, particularly when wet, is heavy.

Unfortunately during the summer, the soil [due to a lack of depth] tends to dry out and although it kills all the weeds, I’ve also had a number of [good] plant deaths. Perhaps that’s also the reason it’s been slow to take off, growth-wise.

So that brings me to point #2:

2. I probably should have installed some type of watering system.






So this week I went up there and dug out a small trench along the top (long) rim and buried a soaker hose. I’ve yet to try it out but my hope it that water will slowly leach down the width of the roof, providing moisture to my wee little planties as it drains.

I’ll let you know how it works this summer.

xo, Sonja

The Garden Shed: Finished

Peeps, 

The shed, after three long years, is finally done.

Here is how it went down. 

We started with an ivy covered mound:

After removing 2,500 pounds of ivy from the property, we discovered it was an old green house foundation:

Since it was already in place (and in good condition) we started building on top of the existing foundation:

Framed:

Siding, windows, and dirt on the roof. A neighbor gave us the door and you can see the chicken coop on the right hand side. 

And cedar shakes:

 Almost done:

Construction is complete. 

 Time for staining (and painting of doors and windows)

Trying out the paint spray gun for the first time:

Done with the base layer. 

Trim is the only part remaining:

Doing a bit of sanding:

One more coat and we're done. 

The finished product!

Old light fixture re-purposed as a pot. 

Now, I'm thinking window boxes and red geraniums. 

Thank you to the many family members that assisted us with this project over the years. You guys are seriously awesome. 

Of course, like any project, there are still a few things we have to finish up: staining the concrete, re-attaching the gutters, etc, but for now we're just going to bask in the luxuriousness of not having this hanging over our heads. Onto the next project. 

xxoo, 

Sonja

Weekend Activities

I hope you had a great weekend, Lovelies. Ours was fairly relaxed - mostly we're trying to soak up as much of this seattle sun as possible. 

Here are a few photos from the past week. 

We've been doing a lot of park time. Ben discovered the merry-go-round. Everything else ceased to be interesting. 

We went over to visit my grandma and grandpa and took advantage of the sunny weather to conduct the visit out-of-doors. Yay for avoiding the old-people-smell!  Ben decided that he was going swim in the fountain. 

Even if it meant scaling a small hedge to get there. 

Success.

These boys take their hearing protection very seriously. 

On Saturday morning we headed down to the UW Waterfront Activities Center and rented a canoe ($11/hour. Cheaper if you're a student). I used to do this with my family when I was just a wee little tyke. 

Ben had a blast. Not surprising, given that his new favorite word is 'water'. Except that he can't say 'w's and it sounds like 'hotter'. 

Tip: parking is plentiful and free after noon on Saturdays and all day on Sundays. So much fun to paddle around the lily pads and under the bridges on Foster Island.

Next time we'll bring a picnic and do a bit of swimming.

On Saturday night Chris hung out with the bambino and I headed down to the stadium with my sister-in-law Megan to watch a Sounders soccer game. I should have snagged some ear protection as it was so very, very loud. But also so much fun. 

We had a true soccer fan in our midst and he was able to keep us informed on player details and the proper lyrics to the various chants/songs. Who knew there was so much soccer-related intrigue?! And: I am incapable of clapping along, in time, with a stadium full of 20,000 people. Hopeless, I tell you.

On Sunday morning we slept in until 7 am (!) and then headed out to Lord Hills Regional Park for a nice morning jaunt. We saw three other people. Maybe. It's never busy. The baby did a little walking and then was content to ride in the backpack and munch on beef jerky for the rest of the hike.

On Sunday evening our (awesome, amazing, sweet) SIL Megan came over to the house and watched Ben for the night so Chris and I could chow down on Indian food in the University District. I'm still full. 

Then we grabbed a pint of ice cream and sat on the beach at Magnusun Park. What a fabulous end to the day. 

We don't have any grand plans for this week. Mostly we're trying to stay cool. 

Ben accomplishes this by falling into various bodies of water:

And eating popsicles. 

Me too. I've had three today. 

In other news, I just put on my bee suit and sprayed the hell out of this yellow jacket nest on our roof. We want to paint and they have not been receptive to our prepping activities. 

I had to work up my courage to get up there and destroy the nest, even in full protective gear. My cheek still stings from where they got me last week when I accidentally discovered their lair.  I dug out the area with a shovel (hordes of angry wasps exploded up into the air) and then sprayed them down with a plant-based spray from my Uncle Bill. 

update: I just went up again and gave them another dose. I'll keep you updated on their 'progress'.  

Stay cool, peeps. 

xxoo, 

Sonja

Weekend Recap

Oh My Dears,

How was your weekend? On Saturday my parents took us down to the newly opened LeMay Car Museum in Tacoma. It was enormous - and stuffed full to the brim with autos of every shape and size. 

On Sunday we went for a stroll at St Edwards. It rained. But on the bright side, it made for a lovely (empty!) park. Plus not much water makes through the thick tree canopy onto the hikers below. Ben also got to try out his rain gear - he looked like a bright green Michelin Man. 

Later we trundled off to a lunch with my high school gal pals and then spent the afternoon doing some gardening work. Although I'm currently avoiding the shed roof, despite the fact that it desperately needs weeding. I went up there last week to do the job and promptly got stung by some ground-dwelling insect that was defending its nest. Right on my cheek. It hurt like the devil. The swelling has gone down with the exception of a small area directly around the sting site. Ouch. But at least my face doesn't look like I've consumed a few too many cream puffs...

We've harvested some snap peas, lettuce, raspberries, cilantro, and spinach from the garden. I also thinned the carrots - a task that always bums me out. Think of all those potential carrots that are being wasted!

In other news:

How lovely would it be to live in this beach house? Yes please. 

Bailey needed this window when we lived in our house in Santa Ana. Now he just sits on the deck and lords over all the fancy pups that pass by in the street below. 

Have a great week, 

Sonja

Garden Shed and Living Roof Update

Chris did a major power-wash job on the garden shed the other day. Never underestimate the power of the washer, Peeps. That thing took strips of paint off the door. 

Fortunately, it also took most of the accumulated grime off as well. A good thing, considering that we're going to stain it in the near future. 

We'll keep you updated on developments. 

In somewhat related news, the living roof is having a banner year. The yellow sedums on the left are doing particularly well, which is a pleasant surprise, given that I just planted them a few months ago. They are transplants from mom's garden and they quickly became one of my favorite varieties. 

I should confess that some of that greenery is of the weedy persuasion. "Volunteers" if you will.  I need to get up there and do a bit of clearing. 

xxoo, 

Sonja