Keeping the shrubs and bushes under control · · PAGE 9.

July 13, 2014: The first time I trimmed any of the shrubs was back on October 27, 2013.  I posted a couple of photos of that work back on page 3 of this series.  The next trimming I did around the house began in June 2014 and continued into July.  The bushes seen here were trimmed down below the roof line in October 2013, but not by me.  I will be getting my pruning shears out and give this area the treatment soon.

This photo shows the first bush I trimmed on the north side of the house.   This is a job that is just beginning.  That BLUE ADT sign was hidden when I began trimming.

The bushes on the north side of the Florida Room were also being cut back.   The wife does not want them too short as it cuts back on privacy.  I think I am the only person to climb up on the abandoned putting green to take photos.  Anyone riding a bike or jogging back there does that on the paved golf cart paths that are further away from that putting green.  I don't have a clue which hole number it was on the golf course.

This photo shows part of the plant growth at the northwest corner of the property.  The plant is Philodendron Bipinnatifidum also known as Tree Philodendron and grows to a height of 6 to 12 feet and can spread out 10 to 15 feet.  It is NOT native to Florida and the growth rate is rated as FAST.  I have been trimming off the fronds that are lying on the ground and other low growth.  The house to the west is partially visible at the upper lest corner of this photo.  Both tree trunks seen in the background are on the adjacent home site.

The next photo is also looking west with a view of the north end of the bushes seen above.  The ivy that had been under the fronds is now beginning to thrive, unfortunately like a weed.

Here is the area on the north and west side of these bushes.  I will be trimming the west side soon.  All of this growth is on the 1351 property.

Here are the results of today's trimming duties from the west side of the house and the bushes at the north side of the Florida Room.  This was cut on Sunday and will be removed Tuesday morning.  When I looked at the grass coming up through the pavement, and remembered the poison ivy I saw in the back yard, I bought some Round Up weed killer to address both issues.  This view is looking west on our street and shows the Live Oak trees that help to create the feel of this neighborhood.  That was the first thing that my wife noticed as we drove down this street for the very first time on a Friday, August 23, 2013.  We knew that day we had come home.

The other thing seen in the photo above is the storm drain at the curb just behind the cuttings stacked on the grass.  There is another drain across the street connected to this one via a large culvert under the street.  They send rain water to the canal I mentioned earlier in these pages.  That 30 MPH speed limit sign is down near the southwest corner of the lot, very near to the city water meters for both houses.

August 5, 2014: I took the photo below to show the plant growth next door at 1341 as seen from the marker at the northwest corner of the 1351 property.  This is how the plants look normally.  That white PVC pipe is next to the cable television pedestal containing a line extender amplifier and the subscriber tap that feeds cable television service to both homes.  I have been in the CATV business since 1971.   I am intimately familiar with the things inside that fiberglass pedestal housing.

I turned my camera to look toward the east to show the back yard of 1351 with the oak trees and hanging moss.  The white house with the red roof is across the golf course access road where the driveways of both houses are connected.

I walked closer to the house and took this photo showing the two skylights to the den/dining area, and the bushes that need to be trimmed next.  I drew the yellow line to indicate the approximate height the bushes should be after trimming.  That brown patch in the grass was from some Spanish moss that I did not pick up soon enough.

This is the closest photo I have taken of the tree trunk on the west side of the Florida Room.

I am publishing this update on Saturday, August 9, 2014.   The only maintenance around the house I have been doing this past week is to get the ice maker working smoothly again.  It is all about the proper temperature in the freezer.  I had lost my low-temperature thermometer.  I remembered the last place I had seen it was on one of the freezer door shelves.  I realized it had probably fallen down under the lowest freezer bin.  I pulled that bin out and found the thermometer below the bin on the floor of the freezer section.  I wanted to put the thing where it would be clearly visible when I open the freezer door.  I used some of my stainless steel aircraft safety wire to make a bracket to hang over the ice maker motor box, and here it is in the photo below.  As you can see, the ice maker is keeping the bin full.  That wide blue zone where the red indicator is seen is a recommended freezer temperature range from ZERO to minus 20 degrees F, which is well below freezing that is 32 degrees F.  We keep ICE CREAM on the top shelf above the ice maker and ice bin.