It's anxiety, people!
Todd is frankly baffled at my reluctance to make the transition to the new house. "Let's just stay in the apartment four more days," I urged. "We can move everything but the couch. That way, we can gradually make our way to the property." Todd noted, quite reasonably, that by spending only the afternoon hours at the property and driving 20 minutes to and from it daily greatly limits the amount of time we can spend working there. Also, that we're hurrying to get in before excavators level our driveway and put in a retaining wall along the side of the house, which will temporarily limit our driveway use - a pretty major issue when you rent a moving truck. He's absolutely right...but we have such a cozy little nest at our apartment, even though it was always meant to be temporary - and the house is quite unfinished and crowded with boxes. I feel fairly panicked about transitioning to a new place that, for all its potential, is really quite strange to me - no cozy spots and happy memories, just narrow pathways between box piles. I'm excited about our little farm - the space, the natural beauty, the quiet, the big gardens, the animals, and a nice amount of personal workspace for the two of us. I just have to get through this little adjustment period.
Breathe in, breathe out, and continue to work toward property completion. Planning is soothing, and of course, I'm still trying to find that perfect kitchen wallpaper. I'm still in love with the Swedish style and have found some great contenders.
This is a Swedish pattern from 1890 and PERFECTLY matches the kitchen trim.
Samples have been ordered and I'm really hopeful that I can find something that will work for us!
Our furniture is slowly starting to fill in the empty rooms. It will be so nice to get this house put together, finally!
I certainly haven't had time to scout around with my camera, but I've noticed lots of wildflowers edging the fences. An Indiana native, white aster, in big clumps as far as the eye can see:
And a favorite from my childhood, buttercups.
Have you ever wondered why buttercup petals are so waxy and shiny? I read a fascinating article about it this week. Buttercups have a thin layer of cells on the petal surface, which act as a light reflector. This makes them very visible to pollinating insects. Pretty clever!
I also saw a series of strange trees that run perpendicular to the road, right along our fence line.
There are at least five of them, and they are dripping with white flower bunches. I was sure that they were wisteria, but I'd never heard of a wisteria tree. The white flower bunches are beautiful and smell delightful.
After doing some research, I learned that they were yellowwood trees, a relatively rare hardwood that exists in a little pocket here in south-central Indiana. Once you leave this area, you'd have to drive over 100 miles - to another state! - to find another one.
We have lots of multiflora rose along the fence lines, too.
They're pretty, but terribly invasive. They spread and choke out native plants, and their thorny branches are a horror to behold. Like kudzu, multiflora rose was originally planted in the 30s to halt erosion. Farmers were encouraged to use them as "living fences" for livestock. Unfortunately, the thorns were so plentiful that livestock was frequently injured, and the roses didn't stay in tidy fences, but spread to take over the fields themselves. I'm afraid we're going to have to eradicate them, but this year we'll have to be content with snipping the canes in an effort to keep the roses from going to seed. Next year, when we have more time, we'll deal with rooting them up.
Our fields have become quite meadow-like! Next year, our sheep and goats will have a jolly time with all the grasses. This year, we are hiring out the mowing.
So many exciting plans, but actually living and working at the property will expedite their completion. I will just be taking this adjustment period day by day. Hopefully our old 'nest' will be a distant memory in a few weeks!
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