Misc Country Post

I spent the last week of February at the Country House. Or, more appropriately, the barn apartment. This thing is going to wear me out. In January, I primed all walls & painted the bead board that was going up in the kitchen ceiling before the cabinets were to be installed. Next was to get the whole thing painted before the trim & flooring goes in. The living area has a 16 foot peak! Plus all the 9 & 12 foot walls. The sheet rock guys offered to leave their scaffolding but it was much to rickity(sp?) for my sense of balance. So I decided to stick w/my trusty painters ladder for the 9 foot walls (hallway, bedroom, bathroom, etc.). After Greg cut in the ceilings & corners I used an extension pole for the bigger & higher walls.

I have always used either BMoore or SWilliams paint & have always been pleased. But ... this time I had a gift card from one of the big box stores from Christmas & decided to buy from them. It's been almost 10 years since I did a major paint job & the girl at the store talked me into buying the top of the line - VSpar. It was guaranteed to cover in one coat, even unprimed walls! I thought, wow, paint has come a long way. So, I spent the extra $10 per can & bought 4 of them. Well ... they lied. Streaks, roller lines, etc. I did a 2nd coat & even that wasn't enough! I may not be a professional but I know how to paint. This will be my 3rd house that I've painted, 4th if you count our remodel in the city. I know to feather the brush strokes on the ceiling & corner cut ins. And, to let the roller do the work by not pressing down to hard. It just wasn't working for me.

I eventually broke down & went to the SWilliams store. They matched the color & recommended a different roller & that 3rd coat did the trick. It was nice to have someone who knows paint help me, unlike the big box store where it was a 20 something person that I never should have listened to in the first place. Live & learn. I still have the bedroom & bathroom left but feel much better with the better paint.

Here's a pic of the almost finished kitchen:

Almost done. But I made a mistake in measuring. I only measured one side & didn't take into account the wrapped steel beam on the other side. It was 4" too short & one of the cabinets is drawers so the installer couldn't cut it down to make it fit. I had to order 2 more cabinets & couldn't return the others because they were obviously already assembled. Oh well, the 2 extra cabinets will go into the pantry.

It also rained over 3" one night & our dock was under water for 2 days. It was just so much rain at one time that the pond was very slow to drain.

The birds are migrating. The geese are back.

Thought the next 2 pics were kind of neat

Here's a shot above the little barn of a bare tree

And, the same trees 2 minutes later, full of black birds. There are literally 1000's of them in all the trees along the fence line. It's something to watch when they all land & then ascend. It's like they are orchestrated.

Also, the Purple Martins are back. This will be the 8th or 9th year they have returned. These are just scouts & housekeepers getting ready for the rest that will come to live for a few months while they have their babies. This pic was taken around 7:00a. It is the stillest they will be all day.

Finally, I'll leave you with a shot of the now spoiled Nelly,sitting on the couch w/Greg.

I'll be back up there next week for some appliance deliveries & to paint trim & finish the bedroom before flooring is put down. 

I'll be glad when I can start moving stuff from the city that I've been accumulating from various Estate Sales over the past year or so. You can barely open the front door in our foyer!

The Remainder of Memorial Day Weekend

After the first full very busy 10 hour day, we woke up early the next morning to go at it again. We got the 2nd post in that the gate will lock to, then decided to tackle the rest of the garden. Here are a couple of before pics:

Click to biggify

Click to biggify

MIL & FIL came out to help as well. MIL & I pulled weeds from inside the beds. Not too bad except the stupid Bermuda grass that was growing any tiny place it could catch 1/2 a ray of sunshine, especially in the block holes which haven't yet been stuffed w/newspaper & filled with hay & mulch. My MIL is 78 but will get outside & work until she can't go anymore. FIL is 82 & the does same except that he has some health issues, mainly his bones. But, he will still get out there & work til dark. While MIL & I were pulling weeds, Greg had brought a push mower & mowed down all the really hateful weeds & grass & then string trimmed up close to the blocks. Once all that was done we topped off each of the 9 beds with most of the leaf mulch they had brought from the city. Here's a pic that I took while up on a ladder in the back of the truck. Not centered but it gives you an idea of the whole garden.

Click to biggify

I plan on putting down newspaper & tree bark in between the beds with a couple of containers throughout. Plus a small square pole shelter in the middle. We'll also have to put in a good fence to keep the critters out.

This bunny is just one of many. They were so tiny when we first started seeing them just a few short months ago. They aren't pleased to not have the grass to hide in but they draw hawks & snakes to the area. They have plenty of fence line to hide in.

That straw covered area is our attempt at controlling the grass until we can put in more beds. We have many weeds that have popped up, most are from the horse poo since it wasn't composted before we used it.

While looking around that area we discovered a couple of tomato plants??? After thinking about it a while I remembered the tomato plants that I gave my cousin last year (the one that gave us the poo). He had them right by the horse pasture. They have one horse, Jay, that loves tomatoes & they would toss him the split ones. The seeds were obviously in the poo we spread. Now that's what I call recycling! And, they are heirloom to boot!

Tomato plant + oats. Both directly from the horse poo.

The rest of the weekend was spent piddling. Here are a few pics from around the property. As you can see from the field pics, there are NO trees around, except the 3 oaks, 3 citrus & 3 (now 2) willows that we planted last year.

View from house looking towards branch.

View of field from pond dam, on Dad's side.

House

View of pond from branch area.

View of house from branch area.

Purple Martins are back.

While Greg was mowing, he noticed a Mama Killdeer bird flapping her wings wildly. This happened last year & he knew there was a nest nearby.

Stock Photo, Mama moved to fast for me to get a pic.

Sure enough, after about 5 min. of searching, here's what he found. They make their nests right.on.the.ground.

I am still loving the driveway & our new 'forested' area. Here are a couple of pics of the scenery:

Doesn't this look like a great place to grow mushrooms?

I think this is a passion flower!

Greg went back this weekend to mow the grass. We have a very large project to accomplish next weekend & didn't want the grass mowing to take up the whole 23 hours that we are there on summer weekends.

That is 27 crepe myrtle trees that FIL brought from their other Country place they are moving from. He grafted all these from their trees in the City a few years ago & didn't want to leave them where they were. We also have around 30 others, in pots that will also have to go in.

Next weekend is going to be brutal!