a barn yarn

A month or so ago, my need for a potting space and Todd's need for more storage merged into a concrete plan - we needed to build an addition onto our barn.

The supply truck rolled in last week...

...and now we're really moving forward!

It's not going to be huge, but it will be large enough to give us some breathing room in the main room, AND large enough for shelving, tables, and storage, all devoted to next year's garden.  Hooray!  Hopefully it will be done within 2 weeks.

We are frequently checking on the progress with our special inspector!

Thankfully, after two weeks of miserable hot, dry weather, we've had a torrential rain and a slight cooling-off period.  It's still 6 weeks until September, so I'm happy for any reprieve from the part of summer that I most dislike.  I've been able to work outside a bit.  So many pollinators!  It makes me happy that despite my garden being a total flop this year (front is too overcrowded and can't be corrected until fall, and you know the story with the back garden), it still provides a benefit to bees.

All sorts of little flies rest on the flower heads...

...and I love the tiny worms I sometimes find!  Is it just me, or does this inchworm (family Geometer) have a tiny line of hearts on his back?

The recent rain was so heavy that it broke the stems on some of my tall flowers, but I was able to make bouquets.

Yesterday, I staked the other tall flowers that had been flattened, but not broken, by the rain, and was able to take some quick photos to determine what exactly I had, and how I was going to fix my mess.

Gulp.

Lupine and baptisia are too difficult to move, but I could dig out the culver's root...heavily prune the baptisia...remove the winding trail of german chamomile and cosmos (that are smothered by everything else anyway)...relocate the clematis (on the wooden trellis) and the betony (totally smothered)...dig out every last cleome seedling...for starters.  I could preemptively stake the yarrow and coneflowers.  The coneflowers, especially, are four feet tall and sprawling everywhere, all over. Also, I've got a ton of pink obedient plant interspersed here that's been growing nicely all year, but not a single bud yet.  It must be a late bloomer.  Odd, because my white obedient plant in Indianapolis bloomed early and lasted all summer.   I'll wait and see if it's worth its space here in the front garden.

Here it is from the other side.  Double gulp.

At least I've got good company in Claudia.  My other cats are otherwise occupied.

Have a great week!

a vole-t from the blue

Late summer...a time for relaxing, enjoying the beautiful flowers...and a little teeth-gnashing and fist-grinding as well.

They're ba-a-ack!

Every flower from this root system is infected with pernicious eriophyid mites.  See the green sprouting in the centers?  These flowers are goners and my only hope is that cutting the stem back to the ground keeps these mites from spreading. 

And speaking of pests...aphids.  Aphids!  My foxgloves are infested.

They may look like an anime character come to life...

...but they are major trouble and desiccate the plant.  I hate using chemicals, so I sprayed them with Dr. Bronner's castile soap.  They seemed dead (but still clinging) the next day, so I gave them a good shot with the hose.  It was pretty satisfying.

I probably say it every year, but I'm really looking forward to fall.  I'm trying not to look for signs yet, since we're about a month away, but I keep noticing hints.

Acorns!

Geese in formation, or very nearly...

An occasional fall-colored leaf...

...and it's the time of year for spiders to come creeping.  For a while, I cleaned our front porch of webs every morning, but they're just back again the next day.  So I let them be.

(The next couple of photos are not for the spider-averse!!)

We've got a female orb weaver in our front window, absolutely massive.  By day she huddles in the exterior window frame crevice...

...and by night, she sits in the middle of her web and waits for food.  Yesterday, I noticed two very oddly-shaped spiders near her sleep-spot.  Is it just me, or does this remind you of the position you'd take when watching Saturday morning cartoons?

It's a male and the same species as the female but much smaller.  At first I thought he was dead...maybe a post-mating snack for the female...but I gave him a little poke and he sprang startlingly to life.  Apparently this is just the male sleeping pose.  She will probably eat him pretty soon...I check every day!

There's a lot of things happening on the porch besides the mini-dramas of spiders.  Claudia has been vigilant about catching rodents.

I originally thought she'd caught a mouse, but closer inspection revealed it to be a vole.

Voles are terrible garden pests, eating bulbs and plant roots.  Claudia is earning her keep for sure!

Construction dust continues.  The pond behind our property is undergoing a major expansion, so the back fields are full of bulldozers and dump trucks.

On our property, there's constant hammering and activity.  Construction is ongoing with both the barn and house. We don't quite have a dining room yet.

It seems like our little house is just full of holes right now.  The electrician is running new lines...

...and the mud room is waiting to be walled in.

Meanwhile, I ripped the carpet from the stairs and am trying to decide how I want to finish the job. I like the look of painted stairs, but might just go with some kind of wood cladding.

I can't put my craft room fully together until our drywall guy does the finish work on a just-moved window (and, of course, I unearth the rest of my craft items from storage)...but at least the cats are getting some use out of those Kallaxes!

I did put the finishing touches on a little space in my office, though, and for an amazing price.  Have a look at my new puzzle station! 

I scored this wooden adjustable draft table at a storage unit sale for THREE DOLLARS.  I bought some felt and velcro at JoAnn's ($8?) and Todd affixed it to the surface of the table (it's removable, so I can use the table for watercolors later).  The side table is metal, with drop leaves.  I found it for $10 at the IU Surplus Store.  Spray paint was $5.  So this amazing station came together for around $30!  I have a lot of trouble with neck and shoulder pain, and the felt - which the puzzle pieces cling to - allows me to look straight ahead instead of staring down.  It's a huge work surface...nearly 4' x 3'.  The puzzle above is 2000 pieces.  Here's how a normal 1000 piece puzzle fits:

There's even room for the box lid, which naturally clings to the felt surface.  I'm very excited about this little oasis amid the chaos!  I'll upgrade the rug and chair when I have time, but for now, it's perfect.  I used to start feeling pain after about 20 minutes with a puzzle, but this completely eliminates the problem. 

We HOPE the dining room is done by next week, and then we'll tackle the flooring and painting ourselves.  We HOPE the barn is done within three weeks, and then we'll empty our 6 storage units and finally move all of our belongings and business merchandise to our property.   Then it will just be a month or so of finishing touches.  Done with everything by Christmas?  A girl can dream!

Have a great week!

hollows for swallows

The daily rain stopped and the sun finally came out.

The heat has been pretty unrelenting and has sapped my energy, but I have to keep moving.  Big changes here!  The back of our house (dining room and two covered porches) has been completely torn off. 

Everything that was in the dining room is now cluttering the kitchen and living room, and I'm forever wiping drywall dust from countertops and floors.  It's a cacophony of hammering, drilling, and banging doors all day long.  And it's not limited to the house...Todd and I spent hours pulling the tack room down in the barn this week.

We probably have another month of construction between the two spaces...phew!  At least we had some company in the barn.  A pair of nesting barn swallows watched us work.  Since the entire barn will be cleaned, insulated, and enclosed, I am sincerely hoping those babies have already hatched.  The nest would be nearly impossible to relocate. 

A black snake, too, has taken up residence.  They're great at keeping down the rodent population, but poor Todd!

Watching the birds at the feeders is a nice pleasure...

...and I still get a good scolding if I venture down to the pond.

It's worth it, though, to see what's going on there!

I'm very slowly getting my office put together.  At least my desk is up.  I get about 1/3 of the space...the cats seem to get the rest.

I keep a pair of binoculars next to my computer so I can see into the barnyard.  Just in the past week I've seen deer, wild rabbits, a woodchuck, and even a pair of turkeys!

The rain has been great for tracking wildlife in mud outside, too.

Mostly, though, I try to follow the cats' example and rest when I can.

Have a great week!