Progress with the Industrial strength dog fence facelift

Before….

 After….

Garage Before…
 After…

We’ve still got this to get in the ground beneath all these shrubs…
maybe we should have a Pachysandra  Party!!…
Backyard Industrial dog fence Before…

 These are PG Hydrangea trees… right now they look pompom-like…
but as they grow, they spread out and have a more natural wild look,
drying flower heads in the fall…
which I love.   They have a romantic, vintage vibe.

I made a “fairy Garden” complete with betta bowls, moss covered rocks and elves
a while back.. It sat on my kitchen island.
I moved the fish and changed it up for fall….
Those are oreos in the covered pastry dish.
Don’t try this at home.
They go soggy within five hours. Go figure.

facelift

 Because I like the convenience of letting my dogs out the side door into a fenced yard, every house we’ve lived in had this feature. It’s peace of mind at night or early morning when you can’t see what they’re doing at there, and the house sits close to the road.   In this case, the look added to a new/old house is, to put it mildly, unattractive and industrial. We also use the side walkway area as parking space, and so some of that has to stay.  The question has been how to soften that harsh industrial look to be more in tune with the old house.

 We decided on a boxwood hedge  in a slightly raised bed with packasandra (sp??)
 bordered by old granite blocks which Steve has been working on…

This is the back side , or interior yard, of the dog run out to their yard…
On this side I’ll continue the Perennial gardens.

 Across the driveway we will put PG tree hydrangea along that bare wall
with boxwood underneath.
Now is a good time to browse your garden centers for deals on their leftover
shrubbery, trees  and even perennials.

 

If you’re looking for a hearty rose, may I recommend the Julia Child variety
(perhaps Connie can tell me what exact kind of rose that is)
Because NOTHING wanted to grow next to the little greenhouse.
Not grass, which we tried by seed & hay…
not sod, which was even worse..
But the Julia Child Rose with stone underneath (ick, but it works)
is very, very happy.  Go figure.
So we’ve got more coming to surround that greenhouse and cover some
of that lovely stone.  (no offense, dear.)

Zinnia are getting a much bigger plot of land here next year.
They don’t complain, they continue to be showy in to the fall..
and need next to nothing of my attention.


 The wagon got a facelift too… a good soaking of Linseed oil
to protect it from the elements.
  I took the remaining pumpkins out of the field,
we had a lackluster pumpkin crop this year…
learning as we go, still learning 🙂

B is for bargains, barns and blueberries

 The barstools  we originally bought for the kitchen island at This Old House were nice looking, but not comfortable.  The Man of the house wanted something more substantial.   Sooo…I went to my favorite vintage bargain shop last week (Gather in Ivoryton) and found two treasures for a real deal.   The first was this set of kitchen island chairs… $80. a piece!…and one was $60 because the seat had a scratch! …… as opposed to $265. for others I had seen online almost everywhere else.

PS – the kitchen is a mess because I just finished putting together a Shephards Pie for dinner… in 90 degree summer heat. What was I thinking?  I wasn’t.

 Then….I spied out of the corner of my eye…this awesome chicken pillow, complete with chicken feather border! Edge? You know what I mean.

 I think these are guinea hen feathers, to be honest.

The barn is near completion.. horses moving home in a week or two…

 Rubber matted stalls, dividers and doors not yet in…

Mini tack room and grain bin (thanks Jeff!)

You know, when we planned to move here… the GOAL was….
to SIMPLIFY.  To NOT create so much work on this new old farm.
 Somewhere along the way…
 we forgot.
 
I have to go out there tonight when the sun is more forgiving and pick peas…
care to join me?  My Acid Reflux is acting up, I’ll warn you right now, I’m a bear.
But look at these blueberries….
They’re worth the
 cursing for hours at each other trying to put up netting and throwing your back out
effort.
The girls are not impressed.
Typical teenagers.

Evening Shade

 Thank you to the donating crafters and buyers of items for the Dog Days Shelter Dog Adoption Event!.. there are still a few items remaining, if you haven’t done so yet, please visit the post below and if you see something you like and would like to contribute, make a bid on the item! Highest bidder will get the item at the close of the sale on Sunday night. 

  Summer evenings cast a golden light here on the farm as the sun sets over the hill.  Besides early morning, it’s my favorite part of the day.  Come take a stroll through the evening shade…..

 

130 Steps

 

 That’s how many steps it takes to get from my side door to the tack room at the barn.  I’m cracking up and I am truly touched by my fellow bloggers concern over the distance I must travel to get from house to barn and back again.  I was compelled to go out and count tonight,  just so ya know.

    This is how I see it….  If I can’t walk 130 steps to and from the barn to feed, muck, water, what-have-you… then I have no business building a barn again, now, do I?   I need the exercise!!… You see…  I’m gonna brag here for a minute, and I really never brag because it just isn’t me – I’m nothing special and I’m not even gonna try to fool you.  But… I have always been in decent shape due to the amount of barn work I’ve done over the years. All you horse people out there know what I’m talking about.   (Ofcourse, I can also thank these chores for my awesome back and neck aches and pains too – yeah, there’s that ).  I’m sure I’ve paid my  chiropractor’s boat payments because of my barn chore history.

    Anyway… for the past two years I have become a slug, a SLUG I tell you.. because I have NOT had to walk to the barn and do those chores.  Nooo… someone ELSE has been doing that for me on another farm! Oh, I enjoyed the reprieve, but I also missed my horses in the backyard and muscle tone has started to head South.   So it’s time to kick this behind back into shape, and those 130 steps are gonna help.

  Now if we have another winter like the one we had this past year… 
well let’s not go there. 
I have a question for the barn buddies among us… 
How many steps is YOUR barn from the house?  

Barn, baby :-)

 The framing crew arrived today – they will put up the walls of my horse barn, and then move up the hill to the equipment barn.  I’m doing a happy dance ~

I finished my perennial rock/shell/driftwood garden at the side door too…

Sarah Palin’s tanning bed and trampoline e-mails revealed
C*sey Anthony’s hideous murder trial
Yet another Weiner cluttering the news (why is it still surprising??)
Weird weather everywhere
I’m am so tired of the non-stop crapitude that is our news – I’m tuning it out. 
 Barn and garden  – that’s where you’ll find me
doing a happy dance..

Before and After – Barn/Garage

  There were several brown outbuildings where the new garage stands… The largest consisted of a dog kennel on the far end, a sculpting studio, an apartment and a two car garage. Next to that stood a  chicken coup and another two car garage. There was alot of wood rot and no historical significance, as the building was constructed approximately 40-50 years go, and the decision was made to take it down instead of trying to patch it up. We didn’t need that kind of extra space, either… (less is more! )

 What we have now is similar in look and in the same place as the old brown barn building, consisting of a small gym at the back, workshop for Mike’s “stuff” in the middle (this workshop has a rear entrance from the road)  and three bay garage at the front, entered from the main driveway.

 It was a cluster of buildings originally…

 Pared down to just one…
 

Floored

  Stained and Tung oiled, two coats left to go…and then… WE’RE IN!!! 

 The adirondacks got a new coat of paint in a light green hue…
Now that the brickwork is finished, the old patio furniture was dragged out of the shed, scrubbed and moved to This Old House….
Although the garden was thrown together in haste, everything seems to be pretty happy except the cucumbers and lettuce…..they might whimp out.
The barn/garage is nearly complete…
Look at how fast these baby robins are growing…
My kayaks sit outside while Mike devises a rack for them in the garage.  I’m really looking forward to getting back out on the water.  It’s Summer!