Jimmy working on the dam.

Here it is. The beginnings of the gigantic undertaking that began last fall.

A couple of years ago, my lovely great Auntie Edna died and left me some money. I knew she was leaving me some but wasn't really expecting a great lot. Well, due to the exchange rate at the time, it came to quite a sizable sum. We had no intentions of squandering it on frivolities. The economy went into the ditch, money in the bank wasn't earning a lick of interest and the stock market seems to be rigged. So, we decided to put it into something we could enjoy every day. Something that would add value to our farm and still be here for others ( hopefully our grand kids and great grand kids) to enjoy for maybe a hundred years or more.

We always thought that wet area in front of the barn would make a nice pond. A spring comes out of the mountain there so we knew there would be a constant feed of water. Work started on August 22 2009. It's been a huge headache. The guy that started the pond bit off a bit more than he could chew. He didn't have the right equipment for such a large job so we had to let him go and get the experts in, and here you can see them starting to dig.

Hubby and Me

A thunderstorm was coming in so we took a break and sat on the porch swing listening to the booms echoing and bouncing of the mountains. Two minutes later we had to dash inside because all heck broke loose with lashing wind and torrential rain.

What's Going ON Here?

Well, we've had another huge job going on here since last summer. Things didn't go according to plan, resulting in some big problems. Then it started to snow and work came to a standstill. But today there was some major progress! This should solve everything. I'll post about it when it's completed.

See that guy in the middle with the cute butt? He's MINE! -Though he's supposed to be fixing the chimney. He couldn't resist lending a hand to the workmen.

Shady

This is a picture of Shady for Maria. (Maria is Shady's previous owner and she left a comment here asking about her. )

Yes, she's doing really well. Some breathing problems when the pollen is particularly bad, but I keep an eye on her and give her her medicine when she gets heevy. She's only needed it once this year so far. Her feet have been good too, so she's been able to stay on pasture 24/7 as long as she doesn't gain too much weight. A. M. the farrier was here Friday and all was ok. She still gets bossed around by the pony but she continues to follow her around like a lap dog :) I love her to bits!

Come and ride her any time!

Chimney Work Begins

Old houses were scaffolding once and workmen whistling.
T.E.Hulme

Re-pointing The Old Brick Chimney

Ken's taken a whole week off work this week. We have a big job ahead of us, re-pointing the old chimney. We noticed that it had deteriorated quite a lot since we moved in here 5 years ago. Part of the problem is because at some point in time it was patched up using modern Portland cement. It isn't good for old masonary like this soft brick. The original mortar is made from lime. We looked all over locally for the right type of lime but couldn't find any.

As luck would have it, Ken had to go up to Pennsylvania last week for a few days. I happened to be scouring the web for places that sold lime and came across http://www.palimeworks.com/lwus/ They sell ready mixed lime mortars for the restoration of old masonary. It was only a few miles from where Ken was working. He was able to go over and meet Andy,the owner, and get everything we needed to fix the chimney ( including instructions on how to go about it and do it right) Saved us hundreds of dollars just in shipping costs.Thank you Andy!

 One of Ken's co-workers offered to lend us some scaffolding and Ken and Josh went over there today to pick it up. Hope the weather cooperates. We've had a wet weekend but it's supposed to clear up and be nice all week.

My sunflowers finally opened! I'll take some pictures tomorrow. - Oh, it IS tomorrow! Better get to bed.

Tarkovsky's Mirror Set to Arvo Pärt's Mirror in the Mirror

Where have I been?! I just discovered the movies of Andrei Tarkovsky. If only he could have lived long enough to have perhaps made the movie The Road. We recently watched  Hollywood's attempt at it. Insipid, after reading the book by Cormac Mccarthy, which was so exquisitly written. Imagine if Tarkovsky could have got his hands on it. What a masterpiece it would have been. I just love this clip, set to Arvo Part's music.

Muskovy Ducklings All Grown Up

Well, almost grown up. It's hard to believe this was one of those little fluffy things I posted a picture of just a few weeks ago. Her name's Lily. I think she has the most beautiful green eyes. The others don't have eyes like her's. They're living in the horse trailer for now. We just started letting them free range during the day. They paddle around in the creek for a while then they go under the workshop where it's cool. Our weather has been extremely hot. I hate to wish the summer away but I just can't muster up any energy when it's so hot.

Sprout Wings and Fly (1983)

Building a Garden Dovecote From a Packing Crate

I was given  four of these old packing crates. Two of them became planters in the garden but then I had the bright idea of turning the other two into dovecotes.

Just build the roof gabels, cut out some cubby holes with the jig saw, add perches and paint.

Add a floor to make two levels.

Nail on the roof.
Next will be the roof shingles.
The two gabels are tied together with a ridge pole and purlins but I forgot to take a picture of that step. I will when I build the next one.  It just has a coat of primer right now but will go over that with white exterior barn and fence paint.

Raised Bed Garden with New Gravel Paths

The gravel paths have made such a difference in the garden. We're really happy with them. The wind was blowing pretty hard here and the plants were all taking a beating, as you can see.

Carolina Chocolate Drops "Cornbread and Butterbeans"

Ken and I can't resist dancing around the kitchen to this while making supper!
The Carolina Chocolate Drops have performed down in Floyd a number of times and we still havent been to see them. We will next time though.

White Hydrangea

I always say I don't like Hydrangeas, but we saw these white ones at the store yesterday and I just loved them! Not sure where it's going to go yet. The deer have always demolished anything planted around the house. This year though, we haven't seen many deer at all. Even the Bleeding Heart out back managed to bloom this year. I think I'll put the Hydrangea by the back steps and just hope it makes it. We do intend to put a tall picket fence around the house at some point so that we can have a nice flower garden.

Just a bunch of photos

Thought I would put up a bunch of photos. Summer is finally here and everything is blooming.

We're busy renovating the garden area. I made some quick raised bed boxes last year, just to see if I liked them. Well. let me tell you, raised beds are the way to go! So much easier to manage. Now we are  putting gravel walk-ways between the boxes. It's looking really nice. We still have a regular row garden at the back, for poratoes and other things that we need to grow a lot of. I planted eggplant for the first time this year. It's doing great. Ken bought me an Excalibur dehydrator last year (it's wonderful!) so  I'll be dehydrating a lot of stuff. We started late with the planting so nothings quite ready yet. Having trouble with my back. It's taking twice as long to get things done.

I took some pictures of Christal and Shady, the horses, today. They're down in the "Weight Watchers" pasture because they were getting a bit too chunky.

Well, Ken just got home from work. He stopped and bought us a lovely peach pie from the farm market and then picked up a truck load of hay. He also took my fiddle to be re-strung today. Everyone's in for a long 4th of July weekend of torture :)

Susan, if you're reading this. I got your e-mail. Will be writing back.

Ken in the garden and Fiddlesticks the cat.

Koinobori

Dill

Tomatoes, Marigolds and Morning Glory

Our old store/post office