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Borrego Springs, CA

Sunday, September 15, 2013

A good weekend for growing grass

It was a dreary and overcast day when I woke up yesterday with temps in the 40’s, so I waited a while for things to warm up a bit before heading over to the Visitors Center and offices to take care of my watering chores.

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This building has been closed for about a year, totally gutted, and retrofitted for energy efficiency.  This is most of the sod that was laid on Friday.  There’s a lot more sod arriving tomorrow.  My job this week is to soak the sod daily so it gets off to a good start.

_MG_9457If you look closely, you may be able to see one of the two sprinklers that I have.  I’ve been cautioned several times to not allow any of the water to get on the rocks on the side of the building.  The well water around here is very high in iron, and would make all of the rock fascia turn a rusty color.  So, I have to be very careful in the placement of the sprinklers, and move them often.  I didn’t even get too wet trying to dash up and move them as they made their circular spray.

I think you can notice how dismal the sky was.  After a few hours, those skies opened up with rain.  I had brought Emma with me for company, and she doesn’t like rain.  So I gathered her back up and sat in the car with her to see if it was just a passing shower.  Eventually, I headed back to the rig to check the radar. 

It turned out that the rain never stopped until almost 10:00 at night.  As near as I can figure, we had about 2”.   Good for the grass, but pretty boring for me and Emma. 

Eventually the skies cleared this afternoon, but fall temperatures have prevailed.  I was pretty much a lazy bum today, and spent the day in sweats and a tee shirt with the heat on for the morning.

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I did put on shoes and socks of course, because I seldom do anything without them.  Emma spent the afternoon stalking another ground squirrel.  As usual, she was entertained, but unsuccessful.  Can you notice the purple finch that is even closer to her than the squirrel?

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The birds have come to ignore her, and she ignores them.  This is one reason I think she is part terrier rather than a lab.  If it isn’t a hawk or turkey vulture up in the sky, she doesn’t give two craps about birds.  This is the only dog I’ve ever had that regularly watches the sky. 

I’ll be attending the staff meeting tomorrow to see what they want me to do this week.  I’m guessing I’ll be on grass duty until I leave in 11 days.  It’s easier on my shoulder than painting posts, so I’m happy with that.

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy

18 comments:

  1. That building is really pretty.

    Looks like those three are having a "meeting of the minds."

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  2. Funny that the birds don't mind Emma, maybe because she stands so still. Good timing with the rain to help with the sod.

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  3. years ago at our old house we had a bird bath. the german shepherd I had at the time was enourmous and in summer he would frequently stand and drink at the the bird bath. birds quickly learned he wasnt at all interested in them. so frequently you would see him on one side getting a drink and birds on the other side getting their drink or taking a bath.

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  4. The Visitors Center is looking good! Have you noticed where the irrigators go over the highway? The asphalt turns brown from the iron in the water...not real pretty. Emma looks like she was entertained. We got 1 1/4 inches here, it was a good soaker for the trees! Eleven days your count down is like mine! :)

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  5. Great picture of Emma stalking the squirrels. Bet they are counting those 11 days too!

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  6. Interesting architecture... looks like part of the building is underground, like a bank barn. Energy efficient?

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  7. That is good rain. It is not often rain cooperates and comes exactly when needed.

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  8. Thanks for being a sharing person. We get to live your adventures through your blog!

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  9. How wonderful that Mother Nature saw you down there with the sprinklers and decided to give you a hand...The way my luck is, we would have had an 11 day drought ahead. ;-)

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  10. If it keeps raining, you may be out of a job!!!!

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  11. And here I thought you'd be talking about your wild and mis-spent youth... :cD

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  12. That is a cute picture of Emma and I remeber when she was just a little puppy,

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  13. The trouble with growing grass is it then needs to be cut. Eleven days to go? Time flies.

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  14. Emma is a hoot! I remember keeping our sot wet, what a time consuming job.

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  16. Nice to get a little help from Mother Nature!!

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  17. So you are finished painting for the season? Moving the sprinklers now and then should definitely be easier on the shoulder.

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  18. Emma is so cute watching the critters. That squirrel is beautiful with it's pretty lines and markings. Hope the sod catches on well, the rain should be good for that. :)

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