It's the last week of play and we are still experiencing very nice weather. I haven't had the question yet, but someone will ask why close when the weather is so good? Operating costs for all departments is one reason but from my end I need time without play and before seasonable weather to complete necessary tasks (as referenced in the previous post).
Beginning this Thursday the big jobs associated with preparing for winter begin. We will be winterizing the irrigation and as a result alternating 9's will be closed (go HERE for refresher). With respect to the irrigation you may have noticed a complete lack of post regarding the usual problems associated with river this time of year (go HERE for 2014 summary). Last years work and the quiet freshet this spring resulted in us reaping the benefits and not having to put a single minute into moving rocks to get flow by our intake. We will always need to do maintenance and I plan to have a backhoe down at the river to do a little cleaning as well as take a look at the wet well and see if we need to bring in a sucker truck. A few words of caution: apparently I took too much liberty with respect to diverting the river last fall so we won't able to do that again and all we need is a heavy snow pack and a wet spring to have all our river work disappear so I have no doubt we'll be back down there. On the good news/proactive side we're hoping to plan a site meeting with appropriate people and get the rules/regulations nailed down once and for all so we can plan and with the city connection completed (we just have to run a pipe to the reservoir) the panic associated with the river should be a little more manageable.
This past week we began/completed jobs I had slated for completion in May! The flower bed by the bathroom on 7G/8T is gone and will be replaced by a tree and brick work next spring (hopefully?!?). We transferred some aerating cores to the main driveway that will eventually grow into a lawn. That tiny job is part of my efforts to formalize/update the front entrance which, IMO, looks unwelcoming and shabby. With cash being tight its difficult to commit any money to create dramatic changes to an area that few people notice as they roar up the drive way. Just stand half way down on the corner one day and you'll see what I mean!
