Snow-mageddon Feb 9-11

Posted on 2019-03-23 by Gmax

Gig Harbor got a substantial amount of snow over the weekend of Feb 9-11. Have the pictures showing 11″ of snow that stuck around for almost 10 days. Snow drifts from the even were still visible in till about March 15th.

The snow did a number on our the trees and plants in our yard.

3 trees that we will miss

Coral Maple in the center area, Split into thirds due to the weight of the snow on its branches. We lost several other branches on the 4 remaining Coral maples. I started knocking the snow of starting Feb 10
Leland cypress by fire pit. This was a 12 ” diameter almost 30′ tree that tilted over due to the weight of the snow. Totally uprooted
Leland Cypress by raise vegetable hillside, inside the dog wire. This was a smaller 7″ diameter tree about 20′ tall. Was part of shielding the yard from the neighbors.

We lost additional trees, and branches around the yard

10″ dia. 24′ cottonwood behind studio
3″ dia. 14′ small Spruce by studio walkway, also damaged a few branches of the Leland Cypress beside it.
3″ dia. 18′ small cottonwood on way to septic area
4″ dia. 22′ small cottonwood on way to septic area, total of two
10″ dia. 45′ Douglas Fir just north of the property line by walk to septic leaning against other trees in the area.
6″ dia. 20′ Cherry tree by fire pit tilted over to into the scrub brush.
4″ branch from a Douglas fir in the wood fall by the fire pit
4″ dia 14′ dead maple finally came down by french drain
5″ dia 18′ weakened maple on walk to Staging area
3″dia Dead Maple over firewood in Staging area
5″ Cottonwood by well
4″ Cottonwood by well
Large 4″ diva. maple branch by fern area
Tall, not very healthy looking maple to the west of the well, lost a large branch, which is still partially attached.

1st year projects

Posted on 2018-11-25 by Gmax

It is amazing to think a year has gone by. Moved in November 9th 2017.

Here is a break down of what we accomplished in 2018.

Fencing for Ellie
Fencing for Orchard
Sump pump for crawl space, New vapor barrier. – Crawl Space solution.
Fire Pit – Cone, Chairs,Plants, Bark,
1 x Swan for Fire pit.
Debris clean out and mulched south forty
Debris clean out and mulched north forty
1 x kelp sculptor – Tide Fest. Craig
2 x garden pagoda – Rosedale Gardens
2 x spiral trellis – Erin’s Landscaping
8 x copper caps for raised flower bed. Amazon
5 x orange glass flames – Gig Harbor Craft Fair
1 x Stain glass – Summer Artists at Botanical Gardens
Painted 1/2 of Studio
Live Edge Cabinets and Desk. -Endersaw Lumber
Weather station Orchard.
Lawn restoration
Sprinkler repair
Drip system for trees by street
New TP holders for studio and upstairs bathroom
Hung TV and made cable pathway in Studio Office area. Amazon
Automation in Studio
- Door Lock. – August
- Phillips Hue
- Door sensors
New Patio Furniture –
New Bench Front Door
Added Led shop light and power drop -main room studio.
3 x 1/2 Wine Barrel in raised bed area.
2 Trees fell
1 Fence repair.
Cleared out around stumpery and center section.
2 x New water filters. – Amazon
New cabinet for modems in Studio. – DIY
Not including the routine maintenance of the property.
Must have run the mulched for over 50 hours and close to 60 yards of mulch.

Looking forward to what we achieve in 2019.

Mapping the property

Posted on 2018-07-09 by Gmax

Drone Project. Started a new project trying to map the property using drones and images coupled with ERSI ArcGIS Pro to turn the drone images into a hi resolution map that can be turned into a 3D point cloud. This used with the ground based mapping robot “Max” then we can get the fine details into the map and then put in the variations into the map as the seasons and plants change.

Will also record our yard art and map new garden projects. will Be interested to learn how these tools can be used for all the features and objects we have on the property.

Then the DJI spark drone is my next learning experience. Wonder how well I will do with it. If I can fly it for a few flights. before I crash it. Has a lot of cool features but using the Samsung is a bit of a pain. So need to learn how to keep the Samsung connected. Also the DJI go 4 app is a bit buggy and has been a trick to get everything hooked up.

Powering up the drone is also a trick it is a two press of the button Press then press and hold. to turn on and off both the drone and the remote control.

Can wait to chase the deer and rabbits off the property with it. Wonder if it is possible to scare them away with the drone.

Planning on getting my 107 certification and a. drone from DJI part of the developers group. Will also use this to help with the 360 cameras and 3D mapping.

Matrice 100

So this is a start of a interesting transition from ground based robots to drones. Started the group of Infoblox HPEL’s to start doing robot stuff again and solving some of the problems with perception and mapping.

Center section

Posted on 2018-07-09 by Gmax

Over the course of the last 3 months we have had gardeners come every other Friday for $100 a visit and trim the lawn and cut the over growth out of the center section. They have pretty much opened up the center area for the next phase of what we could possible do.

It is a lot of area. So much potential. Wonder what we will do with it !.

Pagodas adoption

Posted on 2018-07-09 by Gmax

On July 8th 2018 Mardi and I purchases two pagodas from Rosedale’s Nursery $302.

they are a yellows cast one tall and thin “Laurel” one short and wide “Hardy”.

The taller one is to the left of the walk way as you enter towards the front door, behind the bird bath. The wider one is on the path to the studio. These make great additions and look like they always belonged in those locations.

The yard art is very satisfying in that it does not change with the seasons. Or requires trimming or watering. So makes for easy care garden details.

Weed whacking

Posted on 2018-07-07 by Gmax

July 7th spent about 5 hours weed whacking around the property.

First finished off the roadway all along the complete length of our property lines. I do not think this has ever been done in some sections. Also cleared out the grow around the utility boxes to the south of the driveway. This has been several years of accumulated growth. This was a big job about 8 hours of combined work to whack, trim, haul. During the process lost the cap to the filament spool had to replace it for a complete new assembly for around $32. but also got a spare spool in the process. Had started doing the north part of the property from the driveway but got carried away removing some overgrowth. Was a 4 tarp pile to move.

Then cleared out behind the orchard. All the wild daisies had grown past their prime. This was about an hour of work. Trimmed back some of the plants to make it a bit easier to get back into the area.

Finally went and whacked the leech field, it had vines piling up on top of the ferns and weeds was about 30″ piles in some places. was easy to cut down the area took about an hour and half. Had to go back up and remote the roots of some pretty impressive black berry stalks / canes.

Things I learned about the weed whacker.

When you hit something with thrones it can pull the filament tight in the spool and jam up the feed.
Having a full length of filament out really cuts down the weeds but makes the back spray a bit of a problem.
It uses a lot of 50:1 will only run about 20 minutes on a tank of gas.

Gig Harbor Garden Tour

Posted on 2018-06-27 by Gmax

This weekend was the Gig Harbor Garden Tour. We scoped it out with Mardi’s visiting friend Karen Horton.We saw 6 home on Saturday and the Final house in Horsehead on Sunday. We even started talking about being a house on the tour in 2020. Who knows.

We got a lot of ideas and even purchased a bird house from Jack.

If we do the tour will need to get some June color and use lots of Miracle Grow. We need to add some yard details, Trellis, Frames, Balls, Fountains? We could really use a water feature. Time will tell.

Studio Live Edge

Posted on 2018-06-10 by Gmax

Completed the desk to match the cabinets in the studio.

Used richlite from edensaw lumber to cover up all the cables

Drilled cable holes in the live edge and in the monitor bases to organize.

Raised up the monitor live edge up so I could put the bamboo drawer organizer under.

Plus no longer have the middle support bracket so I can slide the Wacom up under the monitor shelf. Nice changes.

Mothers Day Weed Wacker

Posted on 2018-05-22 by Gmax

Added another gas engine powered gardening tool to the shed. A Stihl weed wacker to knock down the brush growing along the roadway. Learned how to run it and not get hit by the flying debris.

Not a favorite task but if only done a few times a year will deal with it.