Sometimes a Little Rain is a Little Too Much

It has been raining cats and kittens here for the last week, and the hillside down the street finally gave way last night. Mud and iceplant were everywhere, and where they used to be, there is a huge, gaping maw in what used to be a hillside. The thing that kills me about that - and here is where the landscape designer in me must come out - is that iceplant is specifically contraindicated on steep slopes, precisely because when it becomes waterlogged - as it will inevitably do in a heavy rain - it becomes extremely heavy, which adds to the weight the waterlogged soil is already carrying, thus creating a surplus and causing a slide. Every landscape designer or landscape architect who puts the stuff in should know this. It is his/her responsibility to know it, and in fact, the landscaping bible tells you specifically not to plant iceplant on steep slopes.

And yet, the street up to my house is a vast sheet of mud, dotted with clumps of iceplant, because someone couldn't be bothered to do a proper job. I hate that, and I hate people who are like that. It's just a wonder the entire slope didn't give way, instead of just a very large section of it, because if the whole thing had gone, the people at the bottom of it would have been in sad shape. At 1am in driving rain.

But anyway. I have been on a project that required nights all week, so I have had no time for posting or jewelry making or even inventory. And I am dreading tax time. Aside from that, it's all good, as my coworker Brandy used to say. It kind of annoyed me at the time, but I suppose she was actually right. :)

I have some ideas for some necklaces and earrings, though, so when I can, I will be posting images of those. For now, though, it's off to bed, for 'tis 4am, and I have to get back to a day schedule this week.

Buenos noches,
Jenie