Why I Oughta...

Over the past few years, I've dreamed about building a backyard pizza oven - both in our old house in Elmhurst and here in Downers. I've posted a few times on the potential location(s) on the blog. Here back in 2017 . And, here again earlier this year and most recently just last month when I was talking about a pond. In each of those explorations, I've included a location of the pizza oven that is along the north side of our property, off of our patio, down in a lower level of our patio. As I continue to think about the location - and I'm increasingly thinking that the northside site - that is situated down low - is the right spot.  It is low-lying, so the fireplace won't be sticking up for all of the neighbors to see - and to expose to the elements.   I've read the Forno Bravo DIY installation instructions like six times and lurked all over the forums over the years.  One of the pieces of counsel that they give is that if you live in an area of

Each of the last few seasons, we've swapped out the wood holding grate in our fireplace.  I've bought some commonly-available ones from big-box stores.  They're made of steel (and not cast iron) and, frankly, while they appear beefy, they're not super heavy-duty.  And that's been a fine trade-off.  Buying one for $20 to $25 for the family room fireplace and it lasts for the one burning season.  Some call it Fireplace Grate Melt - but what happens is that a couple of places come loose and larger openings start to appear in the grate. I've posted recently about the prep work done by ordering , sorting and stacking all the firewoo d on the racks this year, but I also wanted to get ahead of the firewood season by dealing with the grate.  I looked around and settled on the grate that I think is right for us: this 28" wide x 15.5" deep (they call it Deep) "extra heavy-duty" grate .  It comes with what they bill as a lifetime guarantee t

The past few days, I've added some entries to my garden diary showing off some late Summer growth on  our Dawn Redwood tree ,   our front-yard Bald Cypress tree  and most recently the hedge of Hicks upright yews .   The Summer has been hot and dry.  And, therefore, it hasn't been all good news for the yard.  In the photo at the top, you can see some of the foliage of our London Planetree.  It is clearly stressed.  A good portion of the tree is going yellow - and it is just early September.  The history of this tree - which I call the Grampy tree: Bought in April (during lockdown) on an early am run to Home Depot with some birthday money from Nat's Gramp y. Got around to planting it in May.  And it was immediately stressed due to the transplant .   It recovered and leaf'd out again this Summer.  I've tried to water it a bit, but have not paid nearly enough attention to this tree - and it shows.  Here, below, is another look at the yellow leaves.  Also,

I was out moving the lawn sprinkler around ( the gear drive one that I bought this Summer ) and I noticed someone watching me from across the street.  It was this guy - a little Fox - sitting on the driveway watching my moves.  I looked down and then when I looked up, he was gone.  For reference, this is the driveway that you can see in the video here from 2017 with the same white garage door peeking out . Not the first fox we've seen - but I mostly see them closer to Maple Avenue - behind the Lincoln Center - but a good reminder that they're around and our neighborhood is home to plenty of wildlife. Two years ago, I posted this photo of a Coyote on my walk to the train .  Last Summer, a duck laid an egg in our yard .  And earlier this year, I spotted an Owl up in a large tree early one morning .  We've had a bunch of run-ins with foxes up in Wisconsin - in fact I saw one up on the porch one Winter morning .  Foxes are talked about all around town on places like N

The past few days, I've added some entries to my garden diary showing off some late Summer growth on our Dawn Redwood tree and our front-yard Bald Cypress tree .  Today, I'm adding an entry showing how our Hicks Yews in the back of our lot are showing off some 'berries' for what I think is the first time. The posted about these Yews just last month when they were looking fine .  And earlier this Spring, I posted a photo showing off their new growth  after they suffered some frost/winter (and maybe rabbit?!?) damage. I planted these last Summer , so I'm thinking that due to the transplant shock, we didn't see any berries in their first season. But...turns out, these 'berries' aren't really berries.  They're " arils ".  And they arrive mid-Summer - hence why I'm noticing them right now: Via this post on Four Season Foraging : Yew produces red arils— berry-like seed coverings. (I'll just call them "berries" f

Yesterday, I posted a couple of photos showing off some late Summer growth on our Dawn Redwood and today, wanted to add an entry to my Garden Diary showing off some similar growth on our *other* deciduous conifer:  the Bald Cypress in our front yard.  The last time that I posted about this tree was earlier this in January when it was showing some buds on the tree . Similar to the Dawn Redwood, I haven't totally baby'd this tree, but have done some hand watering around the mulch ring.   This tree is 'downhill' from one of our gutter pop-ups, so whatever rain we *do* get, this tree gets some benefit.  I also tried to break up the "clay bowl" prior to planning this tree back in 2018 .  The needles on this tree - at this point in the Summer - aren't a bright, vibrant green, but this new growth (on the tips) is providing a nice pop of color. This tree is planted pretty close to the north property line - between our driveway and the new construction site

My history with our Dawn Redwood has been mixed overall, but over the past few years, it seems that things have been going well. Originally planted our first Spring - in 2017 - I over-pruned the tree and didn't baby it enough leading to it only lasting that first season .  By 2018, I had replaced it.  That year, I really tried to pay attention the small, thin tree.  I hand-watered it regularly and we had a little bit of a milder Summer.  And the tree made it through its first year.  By Fall of 2018 - the first full year with the replacement tree - I was seeing Fall growth .  That felt good.  It needle'd-out in the Spring of 2019 and hasn't looked back.  It grew 36" last year .  The last time that I checked in on the tree was earlier this Summer when I found a little bit of new growth on top - gaining even more height.  Today, I'm diary'ing a few photos showing some late Summer growth on the tips.  I've tried to pay a moderate amount of attention