August 27 & 29, 2008—More details and work on the courtyard

This is some of the stuff that got moved last week. On Monday, the movers brought stuff from a storage unit we have had forever and also some of our patio furniture.

On Tuesday, with mighty effort, we brought most of the pots up from our old house in preparation for the move.

Here you see two box plants in pots at the entrance to the breezeway between the cottage and barn, with our patio table and hutch sticking out.

The hutch has been on our old patio for years and will work very well with the new house colors. The table and chairs were a gift from my mother years ago. They came black and I put the faux finish on them.

At the back, by the retaining wall, you can see a few of the pots we brought from the old yard. For more on the potted plant move, check the August garden page.

The boxes you see on the stove base are our cork floor, which should be installed next week. I am really looking forward to seeing it installed.
Here is a close-up of the cork. The color looks fairly red on my computer monitor, but in real life, it is a medium-colored, leathery brown—very handsome.
Kai has hung our front gates, although we will put the clavos on later. I need to get a second cane bolt and some hooks to hold them open. There is almost always wind here and I don’t want them banging around in the wind.
Here is one half of the gate closed shown from the outside.
This is a better picture of our Dragon’s Teeth, the rocks which now compose the edge of the south side of our yard. You can see the pond over the edge of the Teeth.

Looking back at the house from the Teeth, you get a pretty good view of the veranda.

The shadows from the rafters make this photo a little visually confusing. Kai had his assistant remove the sheets of plywood in anticipation of the corrugated steel we will install as a roof.

Here is a better view of the punched tin light fixtures on the veranda. They look very pretty lit up because you can see light through the pattern punched in the sides, but on the other hand, they shine down and not out—a requirement of the County.
Looking up through the rafters on the veranda, you can see the clerestory shades. Of course, once the roof is installed here, this view will be hidden.

Here are the rocks at the top of the road down to the pond with the Mexican sage finally taking off. Ginger has found a lizard or something, but she looks rather like a roaming coyote in this picture.

I have seen coyotes several times and also understand that there is a mountain lion somewhere up the hill, but haven’t seen it—and don’t want to. One of our neighbors saw it crossing the road one evening when coming home, but I would rather have it be a rumor, thank you very much.

Here are the new rocks on the other side of the pond road opposite the library window.
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