Fall Decor

Before taking off on this family trip, I wanted to get some of our fall decorating done. I planned to get all the Halloween stuff out too but that isn't going to happen...the lonely ghost and the glow in the dark skeleton will be the extent of it for this year (will post a pic of the ghost later).

The front porch has two pumpkins on it and some stalks tucked in behind the bamboo plant. The front balcony has two pumpkins on it (and now several different squash purchased for eating).

Anyhow, with the additions of a few pumpkins and some corn stalks along with the pots of mums, we have a fall feel going. As soon as all the trees in the yards really start to change over and drop, it will feel even more like fall here at the Bamboo Lagoon.

Preventative Maintenance

 There are a few trees up around the pool deck and one of them, while not planted in our yard, hangs over the pool deck. It happens to be a oak tree and I knew that when it started to drop leaves, the pool would be a mess to deal with.

I was getting ready to go on a trip so I needed to be proactive on keeping things to a minimum that could go wrong while I was gone. I had no idea if it would get cold enough while we were gone to drop all those leaves but I knew I wouldn't be here to take them out of the skimmer basket and I didn't want to spend the entire trip worrying.

I got out the long tree pruner we have and headed for the deck. I was able to cut back all but one (that was out of my reach) of the branches that was hanging over the deck.

I have to say I was very happy that I wore safety glasses because that tree dropped so much down on me, my contacts would have been a mess. I was able to fill up two trashcans of branches and leaves off that oak.

You can't really see in this photo how much I took off that oak but it was substantial. I was afraid that there would be a hole left in the tree but in the end it didn't really show too much.

More Winterizing At The Bamboo Lagoon

So figured out that I could turn off the front spigot and sprinkler system from a valve right up against the house, so that cuts ten feet of insulation out of my requirements. I checked the valve control boxes for the sprinkler system today and both are totally dried...so it is not ground water as one person at a DIY tried to tell me it was...there is definitely a leak in the line somewhere, but at least for now, I don't need to worry about it until we turn it back on in the spring.

Strapped down all the chairs on the pool deck, and brought in the cushions from the two loungers. Filled the pool up a bit, set the timer on the lightbulb in the pump house and brushed/skimmed the pool.

I am thinking I might get some yard fencing so I can create a couple of bins for keeping leaves in since they will help with the soil in the spring rather than sending them all to compost. I am sure we will have more than enough leaves to do both...LOL.

Knocking them out...feels good!

Winterizing At The Bamboo Lagoon

Knocked out a few things today towards winterizing things. Shut off the sprinkler system after fixing the end of the Zone 1 dripline. Used a syphon to empty water out of both valve boxes and hopefully they won't fill up again now that the water to the sprinkler system is off. Coiled up the hose in front and disconnected it from the spigot...which is already insulated. Bug bombed the area under the front porch so I can winterize the pipes that run under the front porch.

Set the pool timer so that the pumps run at night, and put the lightbulb in there. Will put a timer in there for the lightbulb too so it doesn't have to be on during the day. Also put a small netted bag of mothballs in there to discourage our little furry friend from hanging out in there. Might need to strategically place a few more under other decks and porches.

Still have bunches more to do before it gets cold but at least a dent was made in the list today.

Sprinkler Woes At The Bamboo Lagoon

It happened again...grrr. Guess I get to try out one of the two other end capping options I purchased recently to see if we can get things up and running again for the last few weeks we have of watering before it all needs to be turned off for the year.

I bought a siphon so I can get the water out of the valve box and see if I can figure out where it is leaking from (or if it is leaking at all). Obviously I need to have that baby dry before it starts to get too cold. I am hoping that even if I don't figure it out, when I turn off the water to the sprinkler system, it should eventually drain out and we should be good at least for the winter.

The yard does look a lot better and we are making headway in getting rid of the dandelion farm...which is a good thing. I purchased some seed, top soil and a cultivator tool so I can replant some of the spots that were killed by lack of maintenance by our old tenants. Hope this means that next year, it will be super nice!!

Enough about grass...got lots of other things to work on as usual...