Roots

03 July 2010

It has been a while since my last entry here. So many distractions, and so easily distracted. Wow! Where does the time go??

The "June gloom" here in SoCal has spilled over into July this year, so we are enjoying foggy mornings and sunny afternoons with temperatures mostly in the high 60s or low 70s, night and day. Have been getting some much needed garden work done, such as planting bent-grass ground cover in the back yard, and moving some plants from pots to permanent(?) places in the garden, both front and rear. The macadamia nut tree is beginning to flourish with lots of new growth now that it has been liberated from the small pot.

My ongoing "Roots" project is currently taking most of my 'spare' time. This project requires much time in addition to full use of my modest skills with gardening, woodwork, and interior decorating.

A brief history of "Roots": Several years ago, as I was doing a bit of landscaping along our driveway, it occurred to me that the roots of a small trees I was removing might be turned into a 'natural sculpture', or some such thing. I washed the roots thoroughly, let them 'cure' several months atop the garage, sanded and varnished them, and mounted them atop the mantle in the living room.

The excavation of "Roots 2" in currently underway, and it is turning out to be quite a project. The twin-stump of Roots 2 is much larger that the the original "Roots", and the work required to remove the roots intact has already taken several days - with a long way to go before the excavation is completed.

This photo shows the excavation about half completed.  The work is rather tedious, something like an archaeological dig, because the idea is to preserve as many of the roots as possible.  Simply removing a stump is a walk in the park by comparison because the smaller roots are brittle and easily broken.

Think of filling several wheelbarrows full of dirt each day using a tablespoon as a digging tool, and you get some idea of what is involved.  The fact that this particular stump is located between a concrete driveway and a concrete retainer wall (not to mention a redwood post set in concrete) doesn't help.

Why is the tree being removed?  (You might want to know.)  Not because I simply wanted another 'roots' sculpture, but because a concrete slab on which a storage shed will be built will replace the tree.  The Roots 2 project is simply a way to 'recycle' the stump and roots.

Much work remains to be done  (sigh).

That's about it for today - time for Farmer's Market to open, so must go get fresh fruit, veggies, and pastries . . .