A while back (Christmas before last) when daughter had E I related how on Christmas morning we sat through a two hour video of our granddaughter, as she sat in front of the tree at their house, doing nothing but sitting as seven month old kids are wont to do. And they went ‘Ooooh’ and ‘Aaaah’ as she rolled over and just sat there. All the time the kid was on the floor in front of them, they just watched the video. Then we watched a two hour video of E sitting on the floor in front of our tree taken a scant four hours previous (time to film the two hours, then watch their two hours). Somewhere around hour .2 (that’s about eight minutes for the decimally impaired) I walked out and proceeded to do other things, only to be defamed later for not caring enough about the granddaughter to sit and watch four hours of video while the kid was SITTING RIGHT THERE IN FRONT OF THEM. But I guess video shows things differently.
Anyway, back to here: I thought this was a Vegas blog, and here I am making you all suffer through seemingly endless granddaughter pictures. Sorry.
I just looked at my list of photos ready to post, and found that I have about two dozen staring with ‘E’ and only one not. Guess I better haul out the camera and wander around the city for a while.
So, here is the only non E pic I have uploaded (I’m at work, and have all the pics at home where I FTP them up and can only refer to them from here).
Yes, and exciting post of things we in the southwest get to look forward to in the Spring. The blooming of the popular Mexican Gardner Palm Tree Trimmer. Up until now I have been propping up the ladder and taking care of these myself. We only have four palms in our yard, along the pool. We used to have two really tall ones out front, but cut them down not long after moving in. Since we have a one story house, and those trees were thirty years old and about fifty feet tall, it made more of an impression of telephone poles than of attractive trees. So my neighbor helped and down those two came. Leaving us with these.
These trees probably went in around 1990. We’ve only been in the house four years, but from looking at some paperwork left behind we are guessing that there was some construction work done on the house around 90, with the pool going in at the same time. So the palms probably went in with the landscaping. They are still a reasonable size, but B is about ready to have them pulled. I think they look nice framing the side of the yard.
This MGPTT came to the front door offering his services the week prior, and we made an appointment for his return. In addition to trimming he also peeled the trunks, cleaning up the bottom eight to ten feet on each tree. B has been wanting this done, and I 1) don’t know how to do it, and 2) didn’t really want to. So this personably man negotiated to do the job.
For those of you not in warm clime, the cost to trim a palm tree is usually around $35 per tree. The cost to strip the tree is usually around $ per foot. This gentleman did the whole job, four trees, trimming and cleaning, for $200. I thought that was pretty good, seeing as how it made B very happy. Her major complaint was that the trees were really rough to work around, walking behind them to paint the wall or plant new bushes was rather painful.
If you haven’t been around palm trees like this, dead fronds are cut off close to the trunk. This leaves the part that attaches to the trunk to dry out, becoming very sharp and irritating if you brush against it. It also attracts spiders and other creatures who like the roughness, and very dirty, holding dust and stuff. I figured B wanted them stripped all the way up to the new fronds at the top, but she just wanted it beyond where she would brush against them. Now that it’s done like this I kind of do like the look.
In the left of the photo is our little pool house. It’s really just a roof, but does provide a nice shady spot on sunny days (which is about every day here in Vegas). I was sitting in the pool house shade when I took the photo of my feet and the pool over in the sidebar. I added a fan to move air around on hot days, and some lights to make it more useful on late nights. We keep the barbeque grill out there, and use it quite a lot. B wanted to make it cozier and so added the canvas side curtains. I do like the effect, sitting there with them rustling in the wind. The pointed canvas next to it is a folded table umbrella, on a table over to the side.
We do have a big pool and a large paved area around it, which provides a great expanse for large wild parties, of which we have had none since we have moved in. We are not wild party people. Most of our neighbors are retired, and have pools of their own, so they just stay at home to get wet. I think the largest group we had was about a dozen. Though, this being Vegas, I do have fantasies about filling the pool with naked show girls, or at least topless ones like they have at the Strip hotel pools. Don’t think B would go for that though, and it would probably cost too much anyway (they charge by the hour here).
So, see, you come to hear about Vegas and get stories about palm tree trimming. The E pics will return, but bad news for those of you that do come here for those. The move is official, and this coming Saturday B and E and daughter will be driving away for the wilds of Portland. Well, B will be flying back two weeks later, but I will have the house to myself (along with the two boys, Max and Buster) for two weeks. Time to line up the showgirls.
I still don’t know why Portland. We did look there when we left San Diego four years ago. It was a beautiful city, green, with lots of things to do and a real walking city. But there is a cause behind the green-ness. Weather report for Vegas today is low of 58, high of 84, and SUN. For Portland it’s high of 50 (yes, the HIGH) and low of 32 and rain. That’s why it’s so green – it’s also so wet. B and I would much rather have the 340 days of sunshine offered by Vegas. And the big airport (for when we have time and money to fly places), the restaurants, the things to do, and the Strip full of entertainment.
So, I shall bring the camera in to work tomorrow and wander over to the mall and around, resulting in some Vegas photos to post soon. The move northward will result in a diminution of E photos, as not having her around to photograph will result in less photos of E.
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