Walk This Way

The food forest is establishing itself quite nicely, but the pathway needed (and still needs) a little work.  From the front path, I moved the grass to the chicken yard, added dirt to make a more level surface, rearranged the stones, and planted german chamomile along the edge.  I may level the stones out a little more and then I'd like to plant creeping thyme or something similar in the gaps.

In another section I dug up sod, added dirt, and planted a mix of herbs and some violas. 

Let There Be Light

22 april 2013 . monday . (day one thousand two hundred four)

This weekend, on the tail end of what began two weeks ago as a carpet removal project, a previous (likely original) doorway was reestablished.  It brings so much more light to the stairway.

Because J. found a crumpled page of the News Review tucked inside the old light-switch box, my guess is that the doorway was closed up in late-1989 or shortly thereafter.  I'll have to do a little research to find out if anything significant to the house's history happened around that time (change of ownership, beginning or end of a bed and breakfast endeavor, etc.).

A review of the news...  Milk prices were expected to rise.

Freddy's had a 3-Day Sale.

Slippers were being sold at the Fall Wool Products Sale.

It's astonishing how much difference the restoration of a doorway can make.  Before the rear addition, the top of the stairs would have been the center of the 2nd floor.  This would explain why this area, with it's four doorways, feel like the heart.

Lady Layers One Year Later

One year ago today, our little peepers came to call our nest home.  

Two weeks later, they were showing off their perching abilities.

01 may 2012 . tuesday . (day eight hundred forty-eight)

They grew so much in just one month's time. 

13 may 2012 . sunday . (day eight hundred sixty)

In two month's time, they were out-and-about enjoying their new digs.

After just four and a half months, our very first egg appeared.

30 august 2012 . thursday . (day nine hundred sixty-nine)

Nowadays, we pretty reliably get three eggs each day.

Timber Band-Aid

The fence is good as new... almost.

When we bought our house, it came with ivy galore and one very dead tree.  Needless to say, to avoid any unnecessary insurance claims, we had the tree cut down right away.

Six months later, all but the major tree-trunk chunks had been either burned or stacked for future fires.

At this time last year, there was a gaping hole in the fence where the tree once stood.  

Last summer, we tacked up a piece of cardboard to keep brazen deer from entering our garden for a midnight snack.  Surprising, I didn't photograph said cardboard fence.

As of two days ago, we have a proper fence... sort of.  There's still a giant hole where iceberg amounts of stump need to be removed, but the make-do-fence is cute. I like it.

Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum

July 2011 to March 2013.

The giant at the corner of our lot lost a little weight last month. I'm excited about the prospect of more direct sunshine to the yard this summer (and the rest of the year for that matter).  Garden and edible landscape... here we come.

Observations

There are two rooms at the back of our detached garage.  One of these spaces is a laundry room and the other is our "woodshed." For whatever reason, this is where the household's hot water is contained.*  Seeing how we have to walk outside (just two steps, but still...) to do laundry, thankfully the thermometer rarely dips below 30 degrees.  Until recently, when I turned a shelf on it's side (to hopefully keep wood from careening into the water heater), the cats were using the water heater to reach the shelf to then climb into the garage's attic space.  Is torn up insulation just as effective?

I observed Columbus Day by stacking a cord of oak.  Because I can't help myself, I know that it takes me nine minutes to move fifty pieces of wood from the giant pile outside the door to the tidy stack within.  ...and, by the way, Dale's Pale Ale pairs quite well with the chore of wood stacking.

Seeing how we're looking at high in the 50s next week and the rain is beginning to settle in, it's officially time to start building fires.

*This is also where we're trying our hands at some seed saving.

A Whole New World

27 august 2012 . monday . (day nine hundred sixty-six)

The kitchen wallpaper is gone for good.  Aah... what a difference it makes. 

26 august 2012 . sunday . (day nine hundred sixty-five)

All along, I thought that the kitchen and eating area seemed a little dark.  As it turns out, the wallpaper and ceiling used to be creamy white rather than tobacco tan.  Gross.

25 august 2012 . saturday . (day nine hundred sixty-four)