Note:  the most recent updates are at the bottom of this page.  

The Greenhouse - September 2019 through Summer 2020

By June, the  raised  beds were full of strawberries and celery.  Small carrots and onions grew in the ground alongside lots of potatoes.   Cucumber vines and eggplants grew and  began to flower and set fruit.  And giant tomato plants and squash plants  grew incredibly  big throughout the summer.  They reached the 8-foot ceiling and headed out the open windows, reaching the ground and continuing to grow and produce fruit until the first cold weather necessitated the closing of the greenhouse windows, ending their long growth and incredible production of fruit.  

The large shed in my backyard became a greenhouse when the wooden walls and roof were replaced with polycarbonate panels. The wooden floor was removed, and the space between the floor joists was filled with vegetable compost - two feet deep, on top of the dirt sub-floor. I made a walkway through the greenhouse with concrete pavers.

To ventilate and cool the greenhouse, twelve windows and two doors were cut and hinged in the double-wall polycarbonate panels. I planted vegetables and fruits in both the ground and the raised beds. A miniature lime and lemon tree were planted in the ground just inside the greenhouse door.

April 2020  First plantings in the new Purple Garden in the backyard

At the center of the Purple Garden is a rhododendron blooming in true purple.

Before these little lilies bloomed, they looked like plants created by Dr. Seuss.

Tall bearded iris had buds that would burst into bloom in early May in an incredible variety of colors.

End of April/beginning of May -- more blossoms in the Purple Garden,

with orange and yellow accents.

May 2020   Golden Gardens Park in northwest Eugene

Multiple pairs of goose parents keep a close watch on their goslings on both land and water.

Even on a cloudy day, a few Western pond turtles and waterfowl stretch out in the sun on the anchored logs in the three ponds.

Resident hawks circle the ponds and the surrounding grass seed fields, hunting for prey.

June 2020

Great blue heron at Golden Gardens Park.

First week of June 2020 on a cool day - front yard of my Eugene home

filled with flowers, visited by butterflies.

At Golden Gardens Park the baby geese are almost grown now, but still living in large groups of multiple families.

Cats Winnie and Mo eating from their food dishes on a shelf with its feet in bowls of water to keep ants from getting into their food. Their water dishes are in a different spot across the room.

September through December 2020

Since September I have been busy with planning and preparation for a swim spa to be installed in my backyard.   Before the project could begin, I had to remove three small trees from my backyard and transplant several bushes and perennial plants, including an entire bed of raspberries.  The first four photos show the first phase of work by the contractors - excavation and leveling the ground for a big concrete slab at the very back of my backyard.  When dirt was moved from the spot where the concrete slab was to be poured, this created a huge earth berm  along the back of the yard.  I named it Mount Doris.  Heavy rains for several days turned the dirt into heavy, sticky mud which I began moving, one little red wagon load at a time, to the planting beds throughout the yard.  That project is going to take a few months to complete.   Delivery of the swim spa was scheduled, to be followed by the construction of a cover over the new concrete slab and spa.  Then more careful measurements revealed that this area was way too close to overhead power lines above the back of the lot, so instead of going for my first swim on Thanksgiving Day 2020,  we began the second phase of the project.

Since the swim spa would have to be installed much closer to the house than previously planned, construction began on another concrete pad to replace the wooden deck.   In one day the old deck was demolished and the ground was leveled and covered with compacted gravel.  The next day, concrete was poured.  Since rain also began pouring down that afternoon, the contractors hastily constructed a makeshift structure covered with vinyl sheeting to allow the new concrete to cure.  The vinyl filled with massive amounts of rainwater overnight, and the wind blew it loose one section at a time.  But the very wet concrete is continuing to harden into a strong foundation for the future swim spa and patio.  

In spite of deep water-filled ruts and trampled plants in the planting beds all over the backyard, plants continue to grow and bloom during the mild Pacific Northwest autumn.  Delivery of the swim spa - by crane over the house to be gently placed on its new concrete pad - is scheduled for December 30.   Then the contractor can begin phase 3, building a roof over the new swim spa.  

January 2021 - The Swim Spa

 The huge concrete pad cured, and the swim spa was delivered on December 30, with a crane lifting it over the roof of the house and setting it down   just outside the back sliding glass door.   Cedar Works Spa company loaned me some portable metal steps to allow access to the pool before the deck and steps were built.   At 5 feet tall, it looked like a manufactured home for Hobbits.   I filled it with water from the garden hose.  

The electrician connected power to the spa on December 31 (New Year's Eve), and the water began to heat from its temperature of 49 degrees Fahrenheit as it had come out of the hose.  It took two full days to get warm enough for my first swim at a comfortable 89 degrees.  

---

The contractor who had poured the two concrete slabs began work on the roof and the small deck and steps, using his own custom design specifically designed for my individual height, strength, and level of mobility.  The view of the new roof from inside the swim spa is very sculptural.   I am considering the addition of a stained glass picture window to offset the asymmetrical design.  The wind is very chilly in January, so even though the pool covers form a windbreak on each end when the pool is fully open,  I plan to add a canvas curtain along the long edge of the pool.