This weekend the weather did not play nice! Rain in buckets on and off on Saturday and then ridiculous wind on Sunday. It was however not enough to curb Randy's drive to make progress so Saturday we did the shopping for lumber and he did a little work taking out the old beam, supporting the deck and the like. Sunday though…
He got the whole new section framed in!
Next up stairs and picking out the new decking!
Whoever said diamonds were a girls best friend, never had a big dog!
For me there is something so comforting in a big dog, the relaxed nature, the gentle disposition, the huge head and the absolute hug-ablilty! So I am sitting on top of the world as a write because we will be adding a new bundle of puppy happiness to the family in the coming months!
He and it will be a ‘he’ is going to be an American Mastiff and he will hopefully look something like this!
He could be lighter or darker, but we will love him all the same! We are getting him from Flying W Farms and I think we already have a name picked out, but I’m not telling till I have him in my arms!!
Stay tuned!!!
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
Walt Disney
I’ve had a vision for a long time of how I wanted the pond area to look, getting it from in my mind to reality isn’t an easy task, I’m only one girl trying to create a gardener’s paradise. I’ve still got a long way to go, but it’s getting closer and with each plant I place, each weed I pull, each change I make I can see my dream coming to fruition..
Now the area behind the pond where the deer fence is going, is starting to take shape AND I even started planting in there!
Now to get that fence ordered installed and the rest of the bittersweet pulled out…I can see it, I really can!
Compromise - something intermediate between different things..
So I have a dream of what things are supposed to look like in my gardens, I can see it in my head. If you are a gardener, or creative, or maybe just have a vivid imagination you know what I mean.
For me though, reality is a big brown mammal with a voracious appetite for a lot of the plants I want to grow. While I don’t mind sharing my home with all of the animals that live here with me (ok I could totally do without ticks, mosquitos, gnats and stinkbugs) I do find it very frustrating trying to bring my vision to life when someone keeps eating it. So if I can’t turn my entire property into that dream woodland escape, I’ll have to settle for a portion of it being done that way!
So you are looking at this going, what the heck does the pond have to do with a woodland. Well nothing and everything! See the pond makes for a nice break on this side of the yard, almost like a moat and behind that is a nice area of woods, with rich loamy soil, some native wildflowers like mayapples and jack-in-the-pulpits and some lovely native shrubs like maple leaf viburnum and redbuds.
I had intended all along on landscaping the area behind the pond heavily to make it a cool place on a hot summer day, but then it occurred to me that since it wasn’t practical to fence in the majority of the yard (and oh how I would LOVE to!) it would be practical to fence in a small section! So I walked off an area (and have done that three times now) that we are going to install deer fence around. There is an old cedar tree in the middle of this area, it needs some limbs pruned and there is a pine that needs to come down as it’s leaning into that cedar, but besides that, nothing major needs to be done. Well major as in something I can’t do, there is a MAJOR amount of bittersweet and wineberry that must be removed by hand.
I started that process last weekend. It’s tedious work for sure, but it comes up pretty easily, I just have to be careful so as not to rip out a wild trillium or any other natives. Sadly (and I am sad as I thought it was native at first) the evergreen shrubs that I was planning to leave are invasives from Japan so they must go. I’m keeping all the old logs that are in place and will use them as focal spots for ferns.
I love brush piles because they provide needed space and habitat for sooo many animals but this one is going to have to go or at least part of it is. We are going to chip it up and I’ll use those wood chips for the path in my woodland sanctuary. The problem is it got unruly and it’s more long and flat and spreads into the small space I want to utilize. Not to worry though we started another one around back and there are evergreens in the queue!
The list of plants that I’m transplanting to this area isn’t that big, the problem is that the plants are spread all over the yard. One step at a time though, pull out weeds, chip up brush, mulch up leaves, then plant, plant, plant. Wonder how long it’s going to take me???
So it started off like this. Get a dumpster to clean up all the scrap wood, the junk the stuff that is just too big to take to the dump. Most of it was from Randy cleaning and rearranging the work shop. Well they brought it, we put stuff in it, but it was nearly full enough, so Randy got an idea, which means trouble!
The deck needs to be replaced, the boards are old, the nails are popping up, etc. and we’ve talked about making changes to it. So imagine my surprise when he informs me he’s ripping out the stairs to the deck!
His grand vision is to add on a 6 x 8’ section to ‘expand’ the seating and cooking area. I keep pushing for an outdoor kitchen but he’s not buying that lol! A new post and some new headers will have to be put in place.
The new stairs will go here, he was using the old stairs (that were cut in half mind you) to get an idea of where he wanted them.
This area gets pushed out, the grills get moved out from the wall. He’s talking about a lattice screen at the end for privacy and some sort of weather protection over head.
The table will be moved away from the wall and he swears that it’s not that hard. That’s good to know because it’s going to be done a lot sooner than he might be thinking lol!
Conversion – change in character, form or function..
I want need my own gardening space. Ideally it would be something like this,
It would be nestled back near the apiary, clean and tidy and all mine!
Reality check, it isn’t going to happen, so a girl has to settle for something a little less, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend money on a plastic shed that just wasn’t even close to what I liked. So, what to do, what to do???
Convert the space under the sunroom to something functional for me! When I first suggested this to Randy, he looked at me like I had just landed from another planet. Typically most of my bright ideas are met with that look! After some thought he said he thought that was a good idea and he suggested some additional upgrades.
We started by cleaning out all the junk that was under there, he’s been storing all the scraps and bits of wood and what not from the basement cleanout. Then we went to work!
We put up that white lattice to act as a break between the two sides and we are going to put some trim along the bottom as well. We moved the plastic shed (we’ve had that since we got married lol) to the pad the hot tub stuff was once on. That shed is used to house the pond supplies (pots, gloves, filters, etc.)
We are going to paint the block wall and the ‘ceiling’ white to brighten it up even more plus some more hooks and shelves.
The trash can is full of potting soil. I used to hooks on the post for my plant hoops. I used my tomato cages temporarily to sort all my garden stakes in. I either want flue tiles or some pvc pipe sections those things are like wire hangers when stored together!
This stuff still needs to be organized, it’s my flower pots and containers and right now they are on my old mini green house frame. My carts, need a parking space too and I need a couple of hooks to hang my trugs from. All in all it’s not too bad of a space and even though it’s not my dream shed, at least it’s a space of my own.. Now where can I put a work table….
It’s been what seems like forever but the roof is finally on the gazebo!
Randy’s parents came into town this week and Randy took Friday off to do some work with the help of his father. Now of course the weather didn’t work out like he’d hoped and the ground was too wet to do most of the projects he had in mind. It wasn’t however too wet to work on that roof!
So the two of them put those panels up and completed a task that has been a long time in the making. Randy will be heading to the hardware store to get the pieces that cover the joints where the sections meet and something to act as a topper.
One down..more to go…always!
