Another picture heavy, word light post.

I was hit with a pretty decent sinus infection earlier in the week and it killed my creativity, in that all I wanted to do was sleep…and sleep I did. 🙂

Our Alphonse Karr bamboo arrived and I got it planted:

Alphonse Karr clumping bamboo.

Alphonse Karr clumping bamboo.

I told Johnny to be on the lookout for Pandas, because, as we all know, Pandas love bamboo. I found a garden flag that illustrates this:

Pandas LOVE bamboo! Just sayin’…

So Tropical Storm Ahhh-nahhhh let loose like crazy right after we got the veggies planted last Saturday… and sadly, I don’t have any pictures of it, but we did plant a few cantaloupe, 3 bush cucumbers, 2 Roma tomatoes, 2 Mountain Pride (?) tomatoes, 3 jalapeño peppers, 3 zucchini squash, 7 yellow squash, a row of English cucumbers from seed, a row of carrots from seed, and two rows of radishes from seed. All of which went into the ground two hours before Ahhh-nahhhh dropped several inches of rain into our garden. Fortunately, there were no fatalities; but there was a damaged lupine plant. I’ve been trimming dead leaves and cone flowers for a week, now.

That said, Johnny and I got the foundation posts for the gazebo we want to build.

This will replace the 10×10 foot EZ-Up tent that sat on the former 16’x16′ deck that we tore down several weeks ago. Can I just say that 6x6x12 posts are heavy as hell? If it weren’t for my hero, our Kubota tractor, I think we would have been hiring a contractor to come do the work. I’m only a little bumped up and bruised, but all four posts are in the ground and concreted in:

My Hero!

Our tractor was able to move all four posts and four 60# bags of concrete with no problem at all. AND was able to place the four posts into the ground.

After the first hole was dug, Johnny used the backhoe to dig the second hole…and found the wiring to the shed, as well as a drain line and snapped the wiring. He said he knew it would be close.

First hole…

Second hole with additional wiring…

Fortunately, he is an electrician and was able to get the main feed for electricity to the gazebo-to-be wired. When life hands you lemons, and the like…

Those damned posts were heavy…after Googling the average weight of pressure treated 6x6x12 beams, I can understand why I am sore. Fairly dry, they average 125 lbs. Again, thank goodness for our Kubota!

Below are the posts going up. We are done until next weekend.

First board attached.

Ideally this will have the same type of cut on the extending lumber that my hammock stand has, as well as some additional accents. (See the image on the left…it is going to be a common theme in all the new “construction” going into the yard.

There will also be a three to four foot wall

From Lowe’s web site, but I was loving the beams on the roof-line…

around three of the four sides, with a “bar” to set drinks on, as well as bamboo roll-up/down shades for privacy and some shrub or dwarf bamboo to block the view of the shed.

All in all, it’s been a productive weekend. I’ve researched more bamboo (because pandas LOVE bamboo, as do I), a papasan chair for the cooler months in the gazebo, as well as new patio furniture:

“Belize” at WorldMarket.com. I want this BAD!

So with all that said, I am finally going to relax with an adult beverage, and some grilled shrimp and veggie kabobs and then go hang out in the hammock with my Sweetie. 😉

Until next time…