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Kenneth A. Larson has a quarter century of experience in design and construction of scenery for the Entertainment Industry and Theme Parks using Computer Aided and Traditional approaches to Design. Also experience in other areas of Design. 
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 Current/Recent project |
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Progress with New House
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Getting the new house ready and moving was a pain. I spent the first year moving and unpacking. The second year was spent mostly on the front yard. The third year I worked on the side hill and vegetable garden and some misc. clean up. As of today, October 24, 2009, I made progress over the summer. The wall around the water garden is 3/4 finished and the rest is on hold to allow access. I've cleared the back fence and extended the vegetable garden a few feet further back into the new cleared space. The area between the new wall and the fence is ready for the next step which is bubbler sprinkler pipes and shrubs. I planted winter vegetables in the garden and I'm still trying to get the weeds under control and clearing the space where the patio will go. I put on hold the back half of the side hill since the city won't let me water the drought tolerant seeds. After a year and a half, I finished clearing the huge pile of dirt off the driveway. I finished designing the studio which would look like a miniature mill, but Building and Safety will only let me build it full size so I am appealing it. |
 January 8, 2007. |
 August 29, 2007. |
 January 5, 2007. |
 June 25, 2009 |
 January 8, 2007. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 August 29, 2007. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 May 5, 2007. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 August 13, 2007 |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 1 ,2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 April 15, 2009. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 April 15, 2009. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 April 15, 2009. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 November 30, 2006. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 July 2, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 July 2, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 March 3, 2008. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 December 2, 2006. |
 June 25, 2009. |
 February 12, 2009. |
 October 4, 2009. |
 July 12, 2009 with backyard landscaping well underway. |
 October 4, 2009 |
Water Shortage, 2009
 LADWP won't let me water my grass. |
 LADWP won't let me water my grass. |
 LADWP won't let me water my grass. |
 My neighbors waters their grass. |
 My neighbors all have nice yards, but I can't do mine. |
 Drought tollerant, fire resistant, weed controlling ground cover and California natives. Needs water to be established and LADWP won't let me. LADWP told me to check with the Fire Department about brush removal. |
| Then one day, amid all this saving water and watching my landscape die, up the street a water main broke and all this water was wasted. |
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| A river of escaped water rushes down the street. | |
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| The break was under the intersection, but most of the water escaped at the corner. | |
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General Shots of the House and Yard
Dusky Rose colored California Poppy by the cactus garden.
 They just finished blooming, but were pretty a few weeks earlier. |
 Roses, three were moved from the side hill, three were new. |
 I added three sets of steps to the three planters on the hill side. |
 I added rocks and cactus and rearranged the existing cactus. |
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| Cactus flower. | |
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| This is not a cactus flower, the top of this cactus is bright red. | |
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| I filled this 10-ton dumpster with rocks and branches. | |
The pile of dirt that took two years to move.
The New Windows
| In March 2009, I had the front windows replaced with more energy efficient windows. I am hoping to do extensive work to the back in the future, so I held off on the back. |
 Work room. |
 Office. |
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| Living Room. |
 Upstairs window. |
The Vegetable Garden
| When I say I planted a garden, think of Green Acres. The Walla Walla onions were the size of green onions and the green onions were the size of toothpicks. The carrots were as big around as a pencil. Potatoes ranging from marble to gold ball. The pumpkin was the size of a tennis ball. The squash did well and we got a lot of lettuce. Only the yellow cheery tomatoes did well, but then only 2 of the dozen seeds I planted. Still it wasn't a bad start for the first year. Maybe with more compost and fertilizer and more water, next year might be better. |
 Potato harvest, June 25, 2009. |
 Potato harvest, August 8, 2009. For a size comparison, those are 4 inch tiles. |
 As always, agriculture gives way to progress. |
 July 12, 2009. |
This turned into a perfect pumpkin - about he size of a baseball.
The only yellow squash.
Our only zucchini
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| The garden took a lot of work and there were some rewards, but the harvest was small. | |
The Studio
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In the spring of 2009, I began site preperation for the studio. I wasn't ready to start and was still working on the drawings to show Building and Safety, so I continued on the general site. |
 I needed to build up the ground around to allow for a finish floor 6 inches above the surrounding grade. |
 I began by building the surrounding garden wall. I could then use the wall for reference for locating the foundation of the studio. |
Water Garden and Garden Model Railroad
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In the spring of 2009, I began building a low retaining wall around the water garden to keep the turtles in and run model railroad track on top. I wanted the wall to be perfectly level and also comply with the railroad track standard sizes, which I later found were a little shorter than expected. I had to leave four sections undone for a time because two sections would run over a utility trench that wasn't ready to start, one section had a cucumber plant in the way, and a large section would remain unfinished until the end to allow better access during later construction. |
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I began by installing the end blocks of the straight sections of the surrounding garden wall. I used these 2x10s to level the wall. |
 Once the ends of the straight sections of the wall were in place, I filled in the straight and curved sections between. |
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I hadn't decided where the track was going when I started the garden. |
 This temporary pile of dirt was in the way so I had to cut a pass through it. |
| Although the wall was close to level, the surrounding grade was not, so next I had to move a lot of dirt around and also remove more stumps. |
 The wall is 3/4 finished, leaving a section open for access. The strip between the wall and fence is almost cleared and contoured and I have cleared more weeds within the wall. |
| This site is a light hearted alternative to my commercial design portfolio site. This site's only purpose is for your enjoyment. There is no paid advertising and I make no profit. If your are in need of a designer, please check my commercial site www.kesigndesign.com. A non-tax deductable donation to help cover the costs may be made at the Contact page. |
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This site maintained by Kenneth A. Larson. Copyright © 2000 - 2008, Kenneth A. Larson. All Rights Reserved. Website content including photographic and graphic images may not be redistributed for use on another website. |
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This page last updated: Saturday, 24-Oct-2009 20:33:05 PDT
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