esrosedotblog

But not bored.

Today was a special meeting of the Condo Board.

We had an emergency. Bad sewer lines in the old section of the complex and the need to replace them.

It all fell apart at about the same time.

Bad but not too bad to be fixed without an added assessment on the owners. We would do almost anything to avoid that.

The fees here are very stable and we believe sufficient for things like this.

It turns out that is true. We have the money.

Just enough.

It is hard to have a Board Meeting in the summer, so many people are gone. But we got a good turnout anyway and will be able to take our first step toward getting things corrected.

The problem is the roots of the trees. The wrong kind. Ficus.

These will be taken out and Mexican Palms put in to replace. These are very shallow rooted and far more appropriate for the desert.

We are told that this problem has been put off for years but we are biting the bullet and doing the job. That feels good.

Labels: condo, landscaping

I am happy to report that my State now leads the nation in water conservation.

And this is not because we did anything since the drought started. We started 20 years and more ago.

How California is Winning the Drought

It is interesting that we started lowering our water use in the condo association well before the recent mandated cuts. We are ahead of the targets.

And we have grass. Not so much. Not so green. Not so good looking.

The trees are OK though. We have lots of trees.

I believe that the grass is never going to come back. Some think that the roots will revive but I think not. The bermuda grass is seasonal and when the season is over it will go dormant. More bare spots.

They had been using annual rye. The worst. More water for the seeding over and over again.

We will slowly replace the grass with desert. So called desert appropriate. Well, I will go further. I would like to see desert desert.

It surrounds us. Our oasis is entirely man made although we do sit on a large aquifer we are loathe to use it.

For us it is the golf courses that must change. Some of them are. Less and less grass. More and more rough.

Golf is an industry here but we will have to give it up or find a way to keep the balls from bouncing on hard pan.

Not my problem.

The other thing is that up to now there has been extreme over watering. The grass we still have is doing rather well with every other day once a night watering.

Some people are nuts about this though. They are watering their own lawns which are not theirs but belong to the condo association. It will go through their meter and on their bill.

Soon, we will have extremely tiered billing. They are working on it now. The more you use the more you will pay per gallon. Putting a stopper to a lot of it.

When we got to Palm Springs, the streets would run with water. Now, if you have water in the street it is a disgrace. Not to say it does not happen. Sprinklers break. But it is a sure sign of a need to fix the errant plumbing. A sign of trouble, not a sign of plenty.

Our latest step is fake grass out front on the patio. A small patch when properly littered with leaves and shit doesn't look fake. And it is fading. Also no plants along the wall just little round balls. Different sizes and colors.

I have one hibiscus, a big one, and a bunch of cacti. Carefully hand watered. A lantana. Dry plants all.

It is not that we need to go to none. Just less.

This is not ours. But it is an idea of the possibilities.

Labels: drought, landscaping

The guys came to prune my "personal" trees today..

That means any tree that is inside the courtyard. We have a Palo Verde.

The condo association contractor does it and the owner pays them directly. But the whole procedure for paying is a work in progress.

I still owe them for the work.

It is hard to separate my board membership from being just an owner in a case like this.

The system is new and doesn't work very well. No one knows how to collect payment for the work.

I gave up. I will let them call me or send a bill.

But it isn't OK with me to have it done for nothing.

For now, I will be patient and enjoy the trimmed tree.

Well not for awhile. The pruned tree is pretty starkly naked. Which is the way to do it. New growth will fill in fast and in less than a month or two there will be new fuller growth. In this photo you can see one tree finished and another about to be done. Not ours but like ours.

Labels: landscaping

I heard from John today.

He and friend Gwen are in their third day of touring.

That means they are in Palermo where they have been since they arrived Wednesday.

I have two pictures so far. A church and a bus ride.

Palermo is the center for several days touring.

In the meantime, I am doing pretty well. It is hard to set a new routine with elements of the routine being redundant or unnecessary.

I did go to the store this morning which is a regular thing for Friday. I will soon watch a movie as I do most days.

There is the internet to pay attention to.

And it is summer still so seasonal activities are still curtailed.

I talked to a neighbor this morning about the resumption of the normal business of the condo association. Board meetings are off for the summer but we are back with regular meetings September 20. Two weeks.

She is the head of the landscape committee. So far so good on the new company that is doing the daily work. Lawns, pruning, cleaning up and so on. The summer is a time of low level maintenance and soon the hard stuff will happen

In the meantime they are getting their rhythm down. Lawns need mowing, raking, blowing of leaves This is a big deal here, you should see it.

Back east the leaves fall where they may. Here they all get cleaned away on an almost daily basis.

It is funny how differently the two parts of the world react to nature. Here it is all freshening up all the time. There it was just a matter of keeping ahead of the next cycle of the seasons. We don't do seasons much here. Just primping.

Water, blow, cleanup, blow, rake, blow some more.

Paradise is hard to maintain.

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Labels: condo, landscaping, travel