God's Grass is GREEN

snip of Google Earth 

I stood staring out the window on the world and talking to Bob about how God's Grass is GREEN and so thick, it is the thickest it has ever been in 35 years here.

We call it God's grass, because the only care we give it is cutting it when it needs it. We don't water it, if grows however God lets it and also has never been sodded, just grass that grows in Florida.

I wanted to find a picture of how the grass was before 
Hurricane Debbie came five weeks ago in August. I found the above photo on Google Earth taken the middle of June this year. 

photo from my cell phone

Yesterday I took this photo to show you how different water makes it. We had 4 days in one week of 4 inches in an hour each day and 3 days of 2 inches in an hour.

The best thing about rain here is it comes all at one time, the sun comes out and its done and gone in an hour. Of course the blooms/flashes are not much fun.

We can SEE it growing, because we are in a tropical humid globe with the hottest summer on record. The rain and humidity make steam, like a glass house would

The one below made me giggle, the house is next door to us, and Willie and the pittie Suzy are in the photo 

snip from Google earth notice the grass is dead in June

Our House Painting is Done.

 

The view of our yard and house from my window as I stopped to pull in the driveway. Since you can't see the paint very well, I just happen to have a few OTHER photos of Bob's Masterpiece. 

BTW the green yard is not grass but mowed weeds. The 3 rains we had made the weeds grow.

Bob kept saying our house did not need to be painted. Even when we saw the 3 painted ones accross the street. The day they finished painting the house next door, he said buy the paint, I am painting the house. And He Did!  I am not to crazy about the coral trim, but it is clean and bright.

Coming Sooner than you think, drive by photos of Colors in our town.

Next project is trim the dead fronds from the Palm Tree. He said he did not know they were there until I showed him the photo.

The Plants Between the Shutters

 

 Japanese Barberry and is a type of bamboo or so the Google Lens tells me. 

Now that I have decided to prune and water, these plants already look better. 

The one in front of the porch I cut way back and will trim more, which will make it fill in with leaves. 

Below the tall one is Chinese Yew Tree that can be trimmed Bonsai. 

 When we moved in it was 3 round balls. we don't like trimmed balls, 

so did not trim it and let it grow like it is.

We prefer natural plants not shaped. Like living in Jungle Environment

Thes shorter plant is Nandina, AKA Sacred Bamboo. 

Chinese Yew and Nandina and Ferns

Ginny asked to see the before fern, after fern.

Here you go Ginny.

Some of you asked what type ferns these are. Sword Ferns, also known as Nephrolepis cordifilia

See them on Wiki HERE

My Part of Painting the House

 I have no part in the painting of the house. But to make it look better, I trimmed back the shrubs, bought a beautiful fern, and dug up ferns from the back yard, and planted them on either side of the bought fern. I have been putting water on all of this and the shrubs have new green growth from water.

Bob said why did you buy a fern when we have a yard full of little ones you can plant.

The Answer was I WANT A BIG PRETTY ONE NOW!

Not 6 months from now. I was only 20.00 and instantly made the house look better.

Bob said, I can't believe how different it looks with the fern there. I said for the price of a pizza we have a beauty and ready to admire fern.

The pot the fern came in, I put on the porch and dug up from the back yard, ferns to grow in it.

The pot by the bench will be huge in a few months. The ferns, NOT the pot. ha ha

In Florida these ferns will fill in quickly. and be beautiful year round.

you can see below top the big bought one and the 3rd insert the small ones I planted. by endo of summer all the small ones will fill in like the big one. 

the microwave is waiting to go to the curb ... the bench can't be painted until it is gone.

He has only one more wall to paint, then the trim and touch up. Another 10 days should do it

The Color Choice

 

Above is our house in 2007, I forgot to take a before photo until bob had sanded the shutters and started painting.

NOTE the difference in the green above and below. Drought for the past 5 years

I you enlarge you can see Bob in the two top photos and the bottom right the color of the door was Gray/Blue as were the shutters. When we bought the house in 1989 the shutters were gray, 1998 at age 62 Bob painted the house, inside and out.  While I was at work.

Bob painted the house in 1998, on the last day, he was at the top of the Peek, the ladder fell sideways, he fell across it, 

fractured five ribs, and for 3 months had to

sleep on the sofa, because he could not lay flat. 

My uncle did the same thing when he was 82 years old, leaned the ladder on the roof,

it slid down in the sand and he rode it to the ground

fracturing both wrists.

2 months with a cast from fingers to elbows.

think potty time, poor aunt Helen.

And that is why I don't want him on a ladder.

The wall of the front is done, he still needs to paint the garage door 

and the trim that requires a tall ladder

and below is Painter bob, hard at work.

It took him 5 days of 3 hours each day to get this far.

I think it a miracle he could do it at age 85 and with 2 new knees.

1 knee is 8 months old, the other is just 3 months old.

 

The color was # 3, red clover. It looked like a deep rose color but is more

peachy than I like.

Bob Loves it, I can live with it.

No one guessed the color, but Annie got the closest because she said she would pick # 2 which is the same color but a lot darker..

Seems all of you wanted Aqua.

This is not the Rose I wanted, but I can live with it.

The Man in the Window

Bob painted the front of the house Platinum.

The middle color on the above chart is Platinum and is a silvery very light gray. the other colors are the colors we pulled from the 38 chips I brought home.  we contemplated these for 4 days trying to decide. The trim of the house and garage door will be pure semi gloss white which is Pure White.

Platinum walls, pure white Trim at the top, and you guess which number we picked for the shutters and door.

the man in the window went up and down, up and down, up and down, the man in the window went up and down, all through the day... Well only 3 hours each day..

did you sing that with me?

 

Mulch It!

 

Since the drought came to town about 5 years ago, the back yard has only a small amount of grass. 

There are 2 patches we cultivate and water because Beau needs grass to eat.

Our yard looks like it has been mulched, and it has.

But Bob doses it with the mower. When he cuts the front lawn, he cuts the back yard.

we are surrounded by 7 trees and they drop pine needles and leaves and it creates finely chopped mulch that hold down the sand. Florida doesn't have dirt, we have SAND

If you look closely you can see we do need to paint the house.

We agreed on a color. Platinum which is silver/white with gray cast to it.

The trim will be bright white, the shutters and door we are still on the fence bickering

The shutters are sanded and the paint is in the garage

Now I will lose sleep over seeing him standing on a ladder..

Our front yard

 

looking at our house through the fronds of the Staghorn that hangs in the tree. I see this each morning as I come home from my walk.

See that tiny little Bush above and the top picture. If I change the perspective, it changes the way the bush looks completely

The same bush ,the same day , the same time! All I did was move the photographer

Why All The Black n White?

Tuesday morning, having dumped photos from Nikon to Desktop, I stood with camera in hand staring out the living room window at the dead grapefruit tree.

 Suddenly, thanks to Pam and Myra and their black and white photos, I decided to set the Nikon on black and white, and take photos of the dead tree.  I took 2 in color to show you what I saw.

I knew when I started the sun was blinding and at the wrong angle to get the tree properly.  Did it anyway.  This grapefruit tree is 33 years old, Bob grew it from a seed from a pink grapefruit. He found the seed while eating the fruit at work, it had a sprout on it. He planted it in a cup, then a bucket in the yard of our home in Saint Petersburg. When we moved he planted it in   this spot and my uncle said it would never have fruit. It did! and all the neighbors Loved Them as did we. It died last year due to drought and some kind of leaf rot, that took it and 2 hibiscus.

It ended with my heart breaking. I turned from the tree to go inside, and standing behind the fence was my sweet almost blind, almost deaf Jake. He was ON GUARD, Staring at me, like is that something I should bark at?

I started to wave at him and say It's Mommy, Jake over and over. He could not hear me so I walked closed to the gate and said I'TS MOMMY JAKE,think MegaPhone Loud.. so loud the neighbors may have popped out to see what was going on.

HE came to the fence smiling at me, and turned his head away, looking embarrassed because he did not know me.... Bob was in the pool and when I went through the house Jake was trying to get in side to find out if I was in the house. Bob said when I opened the door. What's wrong with Jake... and when I told him we were heart broken together.

Thus began my quest for black n white photos... Yesterday's post was out of order. More to come and I promise I will keep the words MINIMAL... 👀👄

Post Script. 27 Years

Bathroom is GOLD, it came that way, we both hate gold but love sunshine

Sunshine on the bed in below story

 

P.S. JUST IN CASE you think our marriage is perfect from my glowing report yesterday.

 “Opposites attract” but Bob and I are two peas in a pod.  We are so much alike it is scary.

Yes, I know lace is OUT, but we want privacy AND sunshine

 

The good news is we both like the same food, the same restaurants; love the beach and the woods. We even love the same trucks and cars. We both love all things Sunshine and feel depressed if it does not shine, we like the windows open in daylight and sun streaming in. we love our house and bought it because it is Sunny and bright.

Kitchen window always has sunshine

 

The bad news is: we both have fiery tempers with short fuses and we both are stubborn as mules and both of us are control freaks, as in we know the best way to drive, repair things etc.

The good news is…. We both have a sense of humor and both are quick to get over ourselves and both admit to our faults.

He never makes the bed, I mean never. I came home once and he said come look in the bedroom.  I looked and said WHAT? He pointed at the ceiling fan that used to have FIVE blades and now had FOUR?

I said. You made the bed, what happened? Here is the story.

The dryer cut off and he decided to put the sheets back on the bed, it is the biggest King size made. He put on the sheets and flapped the blanket. Our blanket does not FLAP. It requires running around the bed to spread it out.

He said the fan was on, he flapped the blanket  HARD and then when he went to smooth it out, he could not get the lump out of the middle of the bed, he took the blanket off and there laid the fan blade, he did not even know the blanket snatched it off.

We laughed until we cried…. And that is what has enabled us to stay together, Love and a sense of humor. YES, there are times I want to choke him and he me…..
Below is The Way We Were from old scanned photos.   WHAT HAPPENED??

Honeymoon 1985

Backyard the week we moved in this house 1989