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Because I like to sound far more random than I actually am. Pool stuff at the end, but before that, I received a letter yesterday from the HIGH SCHOOL that my son is attending in a mere two weeks and change. I'm going to start calling him Farmer Ted and hope that he finds a Jake to coach him through the troubled times. LOL. I cannot WAIT for school to start as it's so hot no one wants to do anything unless it involves bickering. And it's boiled down to the most mundane bickering of all: "stop looking at me! Stop touching me! Stop breathing my air!" Whee? I threatened to lock them all out of the house for two hours tomorrow if they didn't cut it out. It was 106 yesterday with no breeze, so that was no idle threat. Emily turns NINE this Saturday (how?!?!) and we're going to Six Flags for some roller coaster fun times, YAY!! She asked for a turtle or skinny jeans. If that doesn't represent the precipice of child to preteen, I don't know what would. Her mother turns 38 this Sunday, incidentally. :)
Because of the supermassive black hooooooooooole-ah! in my backyard, the sprinklers have to stay off until the back lines get re-routed. Which means that my garden is going to have to tough out August in Texas with no supplemental watering. This is where I either prove that I've done a good job putting in tough plants and establishing them in a good way (long, slow, infrequent watering to establish deep roots) or I'm full of it. I put a picture of a section of my garden under the cut for a reference. That's one week without sprinklers (which is normal, I only water once a week if I water.) Also, a few folks asked about Turffalo grass, and it's a hybrid of buffalo grass, a native prairie turf. Turffalo is a bit thicker, plusher, but still requires no supplemental watering nor do you need to mow it - it stops growing at about 4 inches, so it's nice and tall and fluffy. IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!! Lol. It's for arid climates, though, so you East Coasters should not waste your money. You'll kill it by March with the amount of water y'all get. Texas to the north and all the way out west (barring the PNW) can utilize that stuff.
Who was shocked by Top Chef's decision last night? If you talk about the show, please put "Spoiler for Top Chef" in the subject to help folks out. Also, I want to smack the rapist glasses off Alex's face because WHO STILL WEARS THOSE? He has a big ol' turtle head and rapist glasses and I would like for Mike Voltaggio to walk in and just give him a scathing look. And then "cook up" something for me, if you know what I mean. And I think you do. Ha.
First, here's the garden. This one is big, sorry if your screen is all wonky. This is the part sun/part shade portion of the landscape. And that yellow rose is the Julia Child rose, and man, is that one tough mother trucker. No extra anything and it's just a prolific bloomer. I just put that one in back in April as a tiny shrub and it's tripled in size. They smell wonderful, btw.

My surprise lilies showed up a month early! Hence the name. They're also called "spider lilies" or "oxblood lilies" depending on he region you're from. I call them gorgeous. And they smell great.

DAY TWO: they showed up yesterday super early and finished the shallow end, put up the "safety fence" where my fence was taken down to keep out the hobos (you know how much hobos love empty pools. and hot temperature and no shade. They're gagging for it!) and called it a day. So it was a 3 hour day, all told. This is the Prime Position that I keep taking all of the pictures from.

And here it is from the deep end, the opposite corner. (There's going to be a test, so write this down. Lol.)

Because I'm a complete dork, I couldn't let a certain opportunity pass. And that opportunity would be to re-enact Catherine in the well from Silence of the Lambs. My kids had no poodle dolls, so we substituted a white cat. Which is COMPLETELY wrong, I know, but all of the girls abducted did have cats, in case you didn't notice. Tough toms, if you look closely. And Jame Gumb had an effete poodle who had a LAMB HAIR CUT. Did you ever notice that? Just me? I have issues, I realize.
"PLEASE LET ME OUT. Yer dog fell down here, I think she's hurt real bad!"

Don't you hurt my dog!
DON'T YOU MAKE ME HURT YER DOG.

And yes, I realize it's weird that I enlisted my son to take the pictures. I almost had him lean over and pull on his shirt and shout, "Ehhhhhhhhn!" at me, but that would have been too much. Hahahaha.
DAY THREE! (The beginning)
These guys are smart. They brought in fans. They're the steel/re-bar dudes.

¡Hola, Gente!

And again from the deep end.

I really need the guy that said he'd design and build our shade structure to call me back, because I have to submit the plans ASAP to get approval from our HOA. [I know, I know.]] We can't put in decking until the shade structure is DONE, so yeah. I need him to step on it. Or I need to find someone else that can engineer and weld like, yesterday.
ION, I've been sucking down Criminal Minds like there's no tomorrow. Man, I love that show. And I really really need Shemar Moore to have his shirt off and be heroic in every single episode, thanks. Hahaha.
Because of the supermassive black hooooooooooole-ah! in my backyard, the sprinklers have to stay off until the back lines get re-routed. Which means that my garden is going to have to tough out August in Texas with no supplemental watering. This is where I either prove that I've done a good job putting in tough plants and establishing them in a good way (long, slow, infrequent watering to establish deep roots) or I'm full of it. I put a picture of a section of my garden under the cut for a reference. That's one week without sprinklers (which is normal, I only water once a week if I water.) Also, a few folks asked about Turffalo grass, and it's a hybrid of buffalo grass, a native prairie turf. Turffalo is a bit thicker, plusher, but still requires no supplemental watering nor do you need to mow it - it stops growing at about 4 inches, so it's nice and tall and fluffy. IT'S SO FLUFFY!!!! Lol. It's for arid climates, though, so you East Coasters should not waste your money. You'll kill it by March with the amount of water y'all get. Texas to the north and all the way out west (barring the PNW) can utilize that stuff.
Who was shocked by Top Chef's decision last night? If you talk about the show, please put "Spoiler for Top Chef" in the subject to help folks out. Also, I want to smack the rapist glasses off Alex's face because WHO STILL WEARS THOSE? He has a big ol' turtle head and rapist glasses and I would like for Mike Voltaggio to walk in and just give him a scathing look. And then "cook up" something for me, if you know what I mean. And I think you do. Ha.
First, here's the garden. This one is big, sorry if your screen is all wonky. This is the part sun/part shade portion of the landscape. And that yellow rose is the Julia Child rose, and man, is that one tough mother trucker. No extra anything and it's just a prolific bloomer. I just put that one in back in April as a tiny shrub and it's tripled in size. They smell wonderful, btw.

My surprise lilies showed up a month early! Hence the name. They're also called "spider lilies" or "oxblood lilies" depending on he region you're from. I call them gorgeous. And they smell great.

DAY TWO: they showed up yesterday super early and finished the shallow end, put up the "safety fence" where my fence was taken down to keep out the hobos (you know how much hobos love empty pools. and hot temperature and no shade. They're gagging for it!) and called it a day. So it was a 3 hour day, all told. This is the Prime Position that I keep taking all of the pictures from.

And here it is from the deep end, the opposite corner. (There's going to be a test, so write this down. Lol.)

Because I'm a complete dork, I couldn't let a certain opportunity pass. And that opportunity would be to re-enact Catherine in the well from Silence of the Lambs. My kids had no poodle dolls, so we substituted a white cat. Which is COMPLETELY wrong, I know, but all of the girls abducted did have cats, in case you didn't notice. Tough toms, if you look closely. And Jame Gumb had an effete poodle who had a LAMB HAIR CUT. Did you ever notice that? Just me? I have issues, I realize.
"PLEASE LET ME OUT. Yer dog fell down here, I think she's hurt real bad!"

Don't you hurt my dog!
DON'T YOU MAKE ME HURT YER DOG.

And yes, I realize it's weird that I enlisted my son to take the pictures. I almost had him lean over and pull on his shirt and shout, "Ehhhhhhhhn!" at me, but that would have been too much. Hahahaha.
DAY THREE! (The beginning)
These guys are smart. They brought in fans. They're the steel/re-bar dudes.

¡Hola, Gente!

And again from the deep end.

I really need the guy that said he'd design and build our shade structure to call me back, because I have to submit the plans ASAP to get approval from our HOA. [I know, I know.]] We can't put in decking until the shade structure is DONE, so yeah. I need him to step on it. Or I need to find someone else that can engineer and weld like, yesterday.
ION, I've been sucking down Criminal Minds like there's no tomorrow. Man, I love that show. And I really really need Shemar Moore to have his shirt off and be heroic in every single episode, thanks. Hahaha.
It puts the lotion on its skin!
Date: 2010-08-05 01:53 pm (UTC)Watching your pool construction is so much more interesting than looking audition notices. :-)
Re: It puts the lotion on its skin!
Date: 2010-08-05 01:56 pm (UTC)I'm taking a sabbatical from auditioning while the pool is going on, because yeah. :)
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Date: 2010-08-05 01:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 02:01 pm (UTC)and I may have started plotting out a Hotchner story, IDEK.(no subject)
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Date: 2010-08-05 01:57 pm (UTC)Ohhh, and supposedly there's gonna be a spinoff of Criminal Minds this fall (one of the last episodes of last season had the prep for it, our unit had to partner with another one and we got 'introduced' to them all. They're kind of annoying and awful, though, but I'm hoping that is just because they were SO INTENT on trying to establish that these characters are interesting! complex! have backstories! for the pre-pilot stuff that it'll go away on the actual show, because I DO want a second CM, assuming good casts!)
I WAS shocked but only slightly, because it was a bad mistake to make! IE, I wasn't surprised on the face of THAT episode, just sad in general.
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Date: 2010-08-05 02:05 pm (UTC)OOOOOOOOOOOH. Really? I've not seen the latest eps, I'm catching up on everything on the ION channel, and the latest ep I'm up to is... 87? I'll keep a razor sharp eye out for these newly introduced characters. I think the team on CM currently is pretty dang solid, I like how they all play off each other.
(And chica, if you send me some specs of your landscape and the types of things you like/don't like, I can map out a preliminary garden design for you. Like: the front of my house faces North East, I have trees that are yay big here or there and they block the sun at such and such times. You have to know by now that I love doing that stuff for friends!)
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Date: 2010-08-05 02:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 02:45 pm (UTC)This information cannot leave this room. Ok? It would devastate my reputation as a dude.
Date: 2010-08-05 02:49 pm (UTC)And I'm glad you Silence of the Lambs'ed yourself a la our emails. You look way too clean, though. And your nails don't look like town at ALL.
I've never bagged a babe.
Date: 2010-08-05 02:56 pm (UTC)Wrongful death.
Sometimes they's leaves and thangs that get stuck in thar.
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Date: 2010-08-05 03:11 pm (UTC)Oh, man. Who *could* resist climbing down into a great big pit and terrorizing a fluffy cat?
Your front garden/lawn is *terrifically* green. Wow. I do not water - at all - anything. I hate the thought and if my lawn gets crispy and brown, i just shrug. I can't bring myself to water a lawn, heh. Usually, by this time of year here, it's been so hot that the lawn doesn't need cutting any more, because it's mostly been baked into submission. This year, though, it's been so fucking *humid*, omfg, that things are still growing,which is annoying.
My mint is insane. But at least it's nice to put in my ice water.
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Date: 2010-08-05 03:23 pm (UTC)Oooh, mint. Yeah, once you have mint, you ALWAYS have mint. I always recommend that people grow that in pots because it will take over any flower bed.
I have a huge pot of it at my front door which *gasp!* happens to be where I love to sip mojitos, imagine that?!
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Date: 2010-08-05 04:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 04:21 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-08-05 06:56 pm (UTC)HEEEE THANK YOU THANK YOU.
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Date: 2010-08-05 04:49 pm (UTC)"It rubs the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again."
Ahahaha. Awesome SofL reenactment. I love that movie so hard.
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Date: 2010-08-05 06:56 pm (UTC)ME TOO. IT IS ONE OF MY FAVES.
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Date: 2010-08-05 05:03 pm (UTC)Great photos. Those guys are not stupid, bringing those industrial-sized fans. I don't know how you survive in those temperatures. The hottest UK day I've experienced was 33C and that was impossible outdoors. I don't do heat.
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Date: 2010-08-05 06:58 pm (UTC)OOH. Unless I can get my hands on the creature in the trash compactor in the Death Star! :D
Well, we're acclimated to the temps from living in it. I go to someplace with a hint of moisture in the air and a breeze and I break out in goosebumps and a chill.
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Date: 2010-08-05 05:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 06:59 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-08-05 05:48 pm (UTC)LOVE the progress pictures!!
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Date: 2010-08-05 07:00 pm (UTC)Our old house had a massive pecan tree and a pool man told us that it would kill it almost instantly if we started digging. :(
(Slip-n-slide?)
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Date: 2010-08-05 06:38 pm (UTC)The Boy starts high school??? Well, make sure he has seventy dollars and a pair of girl's underpants and he'll be as safe as kittens.
Nine feet deep!! *cries with want*
In closing, your tan looks amazing.
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Date: 2010-08-05 07:02 pm (UTC)YEAH. 9th grade Freshman in HIGH SCHOOL. Which is like the worst thing ever. LOLOLOLOLOLOL I'll make sure they have cherries on them and everything.
It does? Girl, I am PALE in comparison to how dark I was a month ago. Too hot to lay out/work in the garden. ;)
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Date: 2010-08-05 07:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 02:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-05 08:00 pm (UTC)Don't give him money and girl panties. Find him the cool dude, force them into friend status, and let your underage boy drive a Rolls. That's the way to do it!
I wish I could have a pool, but sadly, the apartment complex wouldn't like that. If and when I move into my own place? I'm getting a round one in my backyard. Orrrr the one that was on Yard Crashers. I really, really loved the size and shape with the fire pit behind it.
And Criminal Minds is never, ever bad. Ever.
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Date: 2010-08-06 02:24 pm (UTC)Drive a rolls, check. (That means I'm gonna have to find 5 Grand. Do you have 5 grand? I don't have 5 Grand! [ho, hoooooo don't hit anybody!])
Does your apartment complex not have a pool? That's almost against the law here. (You NEED a cooling off spot.) I thought that pool in Yard Crashers was cool! And they did it in TWO DAYS. Amazing.
(I freaking love Criminal Minds.)
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Date: 2010-08-05 09:32 pm (UTC)I AM ON FIRE WITH CRAZY RAGE
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Date: 2010-08-05 10:21 pm (UTC)The assholes, obviously. HOW CAN IT STILL BE THERE, WHAT HORRID FISH DID THEY EAT?!
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Date: 2010-08-05 11:04 pm (UTC)And your garden. GAH. I am going to come over and steal it. It'll be found on Sandy Lake Road. I'll send you a ransom note (mostly involving "DUPLICATE IT HERE PLEASE")
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Date: 2010-08-05 11:15 pm (UTC)And I'm already anticipating some massive wilting in this heat, oy. But I don't wish for rain, because that will delay the pool! OH THE BITTER IRONY.
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Date: 2010-08-06 12:40 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 02:24 pm (UTC)<3
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Date: 2010-08-06 02:45 pm (UTC)I can't get over your soil. I ... just can't get over it.
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Date: 2010-08-06 03:06 pm (UTC)That soil. Isn't it CRAP?! You know I'm carting in loads of compost and such for when it's time to landscape... That junk can stay under the decking, but not where my trees will go! (Italian cypress, if you're interested. *g*)
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Date: 2010-08-06 08:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-06 08:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
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Date: 2010-08-07 01:12 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-07 01:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-08-12 11:04 pm (UTC)