A Lazy Weekend…
Saturday started out late. A lay-in until 9am because Basil’s therapist was in Chicago this weekend, so I relished the fact that there was no need to get up at silly o’clock and make the drive to Meriden.
Instead I got up and began taking measurements for a little project I’d had in mind for a while. Unfortunately, during the tree felling we had some collateral damage. The cute white picket fence got oblitorated as a tree that what I can only imagine weighed a good ton proceeded to use it as target practice.
Flattening our box hedging to a pancake, Jen was a little upset to see the fence smashed as well. No problem, the box hedging will grow back and the fence gave me a chance to take another trip to Lowes and improve on what was already there. We decided to go all out and put some fancy spindles on it !
It took the best part of the day to complete this little project but personally I think it looks bloody good !
… off course Basil wanted to get in on the action and spent the entire time eating sticks from around the yard and stealing my orange juice !
During it’s construction I’d take a quick break to stoke the fire-pit with some more wood from the yard, and gradually, throughout the course of the day I’d finally finished removing all the broken twigs and branches from the lawn ! Tidy again !
As the smoke from the fire-pit wisped aloft it glanced the piercing rays from a setting sun to create this pretty cool picture.
As a finishing touch to the days work I also made an impromptu bird-table from pieces of the fallen tree. With winter fast approaching, and a pretty amazing variety of birds for any budding ornithologist I figured I’d do my bit and put out some bird-seed.
Sunday began with an early morning trip to the gym. Brian asked if I wanted to join him for a workout at the Redding Fire House. Despite shedding a few pounds in the yard I figured I could do with loosing some more so we spent the next couple of hours throwing weights around. Sunday was a dull day. Rain and drizzle on and off so it turned into an indoor day but not before I’d spent an hour in the garden splitting wood after I got back from the gym. Itching to try out the wood-stove, today was the perfect day.
The temperature here as dropped quite dramatically, a very distinct chill has edged it’s way in. With rising oil costs and an estimated usage of 700 gallons a season I figured we’d try out the wood-stove and see how the house keeps its temperature in an attempt to save on heating bills, so I split enough wood to last us the day.Impressive stuff. The stove kept the house at a very pleasent temperature all day and I think with some fans to help distribute the heat it will help keep our heating costs down. Nice !
Off course Basil, as always, is his usual adorable self. Today he managed to make himself at home amongst all the laundry I’d just finished !
The Seasons Are A Changing
As the last rays of summer desperately linger, their warm fingers a welcome touch, a distinct chill is in the air. Leaves are changing, saturated hues pirouette from the skies. Dancing toward the ground, a carpet of colour slowly begins. Autumn is early, a hint of the hard winter to come.
Light fades early here. A difference from England. Even in the height of summer it rarely stays light beyond 9pm and already darkness sweeps in during the early evening at 7pm. Whilst the light remains I continue to work outside. I’ll switch to the interior during the winter.
This weekend was a low-key affair. An informal get together on Saturday, a ‘house-warming’, a chance to shoot the breeze and enjoy some wine.
Sunday was just as eventful. A trip to Hollandia Nurseries for some plants and Lowes for some tarp to protect the wood, however I’d grossly underestimated how much tarp I would actually need. In the end some 50′ x 20′ was needed to cover all the wood. Hopefully we can keep it protected over the winter and get it seasoned for next year.
At Hollandia’s we picked up a couple of“Knock-Out” rose bushes and a couple of Buddleias.
I decided to put the first buddleia next to a rose that was already established close to the deck. After a severe pruning, the garden had been left un-kept for months, I now had room to plant the buddleia. Hopefully with time it will bloom into a taller bush, greet us with a delicate fragrance and host a few dozen butterflies, including monarchs, a flurry of beautiful colour. The weeping cherry tree blossoming above us and the rose and buddleia dotting pinks and purples into a beautiful spring haze.
(Weeping Cherry Tree)
Next up, the first rose bush. This I planted next to the picket fence, the hope being that the lilac bush next to the chimney will flower again next spring and I can train the rose to grow along the fence splashing it’s array of pinkish bouquets as the dogwood tree compliments them with it’s flowering white blossom. It should look pretty awesome come spring time !
The second buddleia and rose I planted next to the ’summer porch’. Hopefully the buddleia will grow to greet us at the door and the rose will paint the side with plethora of pink as I train it to grow along the side of the house.
Visions of spring nothing but a painted memory as the colors of autumn slowly wash away the green.
Well, one things for sure. With all this rain and humidity it’s prime time for mushrooms ! As I was laying out the tarp I happened across this un-appetising pair, ‘Coprinus comatus’ or “Lawyer’s Wig”. If I’ve indentified them correctly they are supposedly edible, although personally I won’t be testing them to see if they have any hallucinogenic properties !
Once again Sunday has come and gone to quickly and another week at work is a sunrise away. As usual Basil has collapsed on the bed, another weekend of adventure complete.
Update from Camp Collings…
… Well the weekend has finally arrived after the longest week at work, literally. A mammoth 50hrs for me ! but we made it and that can only mean one thing ! DIY time.
Unfortunately it was short-lived this weekend as the inevitable happened and I had a wee-bit of an accident. I was chain-sawing a 2ft diameter pine-trunk into 1.5ft long slices so I could man-handle them across to the wood pile using the wheel-barrow. I’d been loading them up just fine and then, as I was dropping the 2nd one in on the 5th run, it snapped back to crush my finger against a log I’d previously loaded. Despite being smaller pieces they still weigh alot and unfortunately I trapped my finger. I now have a seriously bruised finger, a blood blister under my nail, and a throbbing like you would not believe.
Anyway… I did manage to get some work done before this !
Saturday started at 6am again with another drive to see Veterinerian MD James at his clinic, Top Dog Health, in Meriden. 1 Starbucks and an hour later we arrived for Basil’s physiotheraphy session. Some more swimming ! It’s great to see him finally using his leg a little more and are pleased to see his recovery going well.
We made it back to the house at 10am where I promptly set too pottering around the garden.
The tree is slowly clearing away. All the useful wood has been stacked and we’re slowly burning the smaller twigs and branches.
I hung up a hanging basket of ‘Mums’. Looks nice.
Although you can’t see it well in this photo, there were some hideous looking concrete gutters built on the ground in an effort to control the flow of water during an intense rain storm. Presumeably added to the house at some point to control dampness in the cellar, they were now cracked and all but useless, so I took a lump hammer to them and removed the guttering and back-filled with top-soil to adjust the pitch slightly away from the house.
I cleared out the pine-grove where the hammock lies, trimmed all the pine branches back to the trunk up 10ft and raked all the old scrub out. Looks alot better !
Later on we kicked back by the fire-pit and I enjoyed a tipple of St.Germain, a new liqueuer I’ve found out here. Made from elderflower blossom it definately reminded me of times at Gran’s drinking Elderflower ‘Champagne’. Lovely stuff !
Entries