More outdoor updates

We have apples!  The squirrel must be on vacation :-)

And we have one lone apricot from an entire tree:

It looked ripe to pick yesterday so I did.  It was pretty small and pretty yummy!

The grapes on this one bunch is slowly turning red.  The squirrel better stay away from these!

Or I'm hoping the raccoons will stay away from the grapes too.  Look how huge these two raccoons are - that were caught on our home security video.  YIKES!

I'm glad the raccoons didn't decide to gnaw on the electrical charger/line or chew on anything under our cars!

The cacti around the house are really thriving with more constant watering.  It's pretty neat seeing some of the cacti grow.  Look at this one:

And these two tall ones have leaned even more tonight!  I wonder if it is getting TOO much water and is top heavy now.  It's testing the theory from the Leaning Tower of Pisa!!!  I really hope they don't topple over!

Both Graham and Charlie wanted strawberries.  So far only a few berries and they are quite small.  Might be a bit overcrowded in the pot.  I tried to plant some in the ground, but those died.  Hmmm...

I hope the blackberry shrubs survive in the ground.  So far not looking so great.  The leaves are starting to turn a bit brown.  Not sure what's wrong yet. Not enough water??? It has been quite hot!

The plant in the pot is a pepper plant.  A nice friend had given me 2 pepper plants.  The other one is in the front with a nice pot (as my belated birthday present).  So sweet!  We'll see which one will survive... front yard or back yard!?

I decided to work on a little bonsai-ing on this plant that I had found in the yard.  It was left by the previous owner:

It is looking quite nice and green now.  Hopefully it will survive after all this wiring.  I am trying to braid its trunks.  I remembered seeing something done like that at an airport somewhere :-)

In the meantime... more spraying!  These outdoor chairs were looking pretty beat up after being left outside without any covers.  So a fresh coat of paint to take care of the rust:

Also had to re-wash all the cushions:

I am still working on scrubbing the rust off these railings in the backyard and repainting as well:

I bought this finial from an antique store but when I brought it home, it didn't really fit! But I made it fit.  Ha ha!  Shhh... there's actually a stick inside that is holding it up!

It was black in color so I painted some primer and then painted it the same color as the gate.  Ta da!!!  But maybe just a bit crooked!  Still looking better than no finial although Bobby is neutral about it:

Here's a look at the stick that is similar to what is under the finial.  It is trimmed off from the fig tree.  Those branches are pretty sturdy!  And as for the wreath, I made it while cleaning up some vines from the side of the house.  He he... I was obviously not very focused in the yard work :-p

Here's our new wreath for the front of the house.  I managed to shape it into a heart shape with the same bonsai wires and added a ribbon.  Not too shabby!

Okay, finally finished up the new gravel area.  Looks much better now!

I am hoping this firestick plant will grow bushier and taller so it will protect the window.  I guess I should have left the ugly screen wire protector up for just a bit longer as the boys threw a baseball and it hit the window!  Well, the ball hit my "butterfly candle holder" that I decided to hang by the window and the impact of its foot must have broke the window. 

Couldn't really see the window crack in the photo so I drew it with the red marker.  Yup, crack is all the way from the top to the bottom of the window!!! Boo hoo...!!!

Other mishaps in the garden.... I sat in the boys' hanging chair for too long and broke the branch of the lemon tree!  Oops!!!

I managed to find another branch to hang the chair but if that breaks, we will have to figure something else out!  And as for figuring out one last thing... I finally managed to put the shade back up on the trampoline.  The previous owner had it up when we moved in but the boys kept hitting their heads on it.  So I used the extra sticks I had (from the fig tree) and extended the trampoline frame slightly upwards:

Success!!! For now at least.

Graham and Charlie are in parkour camp this week from 12-3pm.  Hopefully I can be more productive around the house.  Or perhaps I may just lounge on the couch and take some naps :-D