The Shed Walls

 We're plugging away at the walls. It's slow going but will speed up as we develop technique for laying mortar between logs. We love it already. Neighbors are making positive comments, too.

Working on top sections first

Added one of my face mugs to the wall 

Not quite finished. Notice box for electric outlet!

Parney's cotoneaster and PrairieFire crabapple 

Trees, Walls and Things

We start working on the walls of my studio!

Exterior view

Interior view

 Here is a very lucky toad that managed to avoid death today. The poor thing got wedged between the tines of my pitchfork while I was moving manure. I thought it was a goner. What the heck was it doing in the manure pile?! I wonder what the ducks would have done with it?

Signs of Fall: Loons are congregating along the coast, geese are flocking in the fields.

Our girl relaxing in the shade. She's looking quite gray these days.

Let's hope I have the good fortune to live long enough to see my trees grow to maturity. I'm putting in various maples, crabapples, pines, Arbutus (madrone and strawberry tree), and Pacific wax myrtle. Also have a hairy manzanita and Parney's cotoneaster to plant somewhere. Sales are starting this week and I'll be buying more!

Flowering crabapple (PrairieFire) in the back yard.

Douglas or Rocky Mountain Maple in back yard. 

Another Douglas Maple in the west side yard.

Small Madrone. They grow fast if they survive the transplant.

Shore pines to be planted on the east side.

Wax myrtle and Arbutus unedo to screen the south side.

Small vine maple on west side.

Large vine maples to join the small one later. 

Our Walk to the Beach

More pictures from our walk to the beach. I'm tired from yard work this morning and not up to writing anything. Buying and planting trees and shrubs is keeping me busy now. There is a mountain of compost to move.

Driftwood creation

Woodpecker's work

'Shrooms

The lagoon

Float collection

Bridge to the "goat trail"

We Buy a Mower

Our new John Deere lawn tractor reminded Tux of the Rhino so she took a swing around the yard in the cart. Not as much fun as racing around the desert, for sure. 

Busy Days

With rain and cooler days ahead we've been busy in the yard. Bob wants to get the walls up on the shed (which is now going to be my studio) and he finally found someone to buy the wood from. He started cutting slices this morning but needed a new chain for the saw so didn't get much done. I stacked them in one wall to get an idea how many pieces are needed.

We're buying trees to plant next month and working around the gardens. I fired the guy who maintains our lawn after he whacked my beautiful new smoke bush, which was the last straw. We drove to Poulsbo and bought our own lawn tractor. What a neat little town with a Viking theme. Hope to visit again for fish and chips.

The amazing massive sunflowers

That's Bob's bald head, kind of looks like a sunflower