Sun Shade

So the new front patio is awesome but we still get too much sun in the afternoon.  I was looking at cloth sails or retractable shades but I did not want something flapping around in the wind making lots of noise.

I went to Highland Steel downtown LV and bought 80ft of angle iron.  I wanted extra laying around for other projects.  All the bamboo was sold out of Lowes/HD so I had to order a roll on line.  I figure bamboo will let the wind through and block most of the sun.

After cutting and brushing the metal I drilled holes every 5cm for the zip ties
It is always a good day when I get to use the welder. Thanks Charlie.
Added some rustoleum, concrete into the ground, and mounts to the facia boards.  Security camera will need to find a new home.
OSHA inspector making sure the shovel is in good shape and the holes are deep enough

 

Another ride to the lake

Another good day for a bike ride.  Mid 70s and slight overcast to keep the sun at bay.  Some of the flowers are back this year.  Some of the cactus are still alive.  Last spring hardly had any flowers as there was not a lot of rain the previous year.  This last year was much better but it will take a few years for new plants to get going again.

Creosotes are alive and in bloom
Some of the daisies are coming back – nothing like 2 years ago
Lots of hungry ducks and seagulls. Below is slo-mo of the chaos feeding.

Bike Ride

Now that all the concrete is out of the garage, we can ride bikes again.   Fed the ducks at the lake.  They like saltine crackers.  I like crackers over popcorn as you can fling them far out into the water.  Popcorn blows back onto the dock and then the seagulls attack.

These 2 lucky ducks got most of the food
Lots of big hungry fish under the docks
Kitty caught and brought a lizard into the house yesterday.

 

Front yard is mostly done

Most of the rock is in place and mortared.  I still need to make the west side flower bed, a property divider, fill with gravel, and touch up the paint.  I am also going to weld up a sun shade for the far side of the patio.  But the heavy lifting is mostly done.

You can see the small flower bed up front with red lanterns, rosemary, hibiscus, and gardenia.  I hope they can survive this heat.

See all the pictures on the PROJECTS page HERE.

Driveway is functional now and 2 ft wider than before.  If you look carefully, you can see the safety supervisor sleeping on the job.

Milo’s

Milo’s is the nice wine bar in the center of town.  They have great food and great patio seating.  We went early to beat the monthly ‘wine walk’ event the town hosts.

Sidewalk dining
Smoked Salmon Carpaccio
Greek Salad
Cowboy Salad

 

Carlsbad CA

We rented a car and drove out to Carlsbad California for our ‘half-anniversary’.  Stayed at the Hilton right across the street with a balcony and view of the ocean.  They had a decent restaurant in side and was quite nice.  We did a LOT of walking along the shore.  There were not a lot of people on the beach and we had miles of beach mostly to ourselves.  We found a really good seafood restaurant in town, Bluewater.

More pictures on the gallery page and also at Shutterfly

Morning view
Evening View

Taylor and Jose’s House

Taylor and Jose hosted their 11 years old boy, Neto’s birthday at their home.

This was a first time visited their place for me.  We always have good conversations and laughter with TayTay, Jose, Ray, and TithTith.

Rob was working on the front yard and did not want to miss the good weather day to be used for this project.

We understand – because it will be over 100F very quickly here!