Work Never Ends

We've finally reached a bit of a work slow down, I think. We shall see about that, but I'm ready to enjoy some time in the swing. 

The new laundry counter top was installed this morning and is stunning. The old one was undeniably gross. We selected a granite remnant at the stone shop to keep the cost down and I found a very cool stainless steel sink online. It has a washboard on one side that I think will be useful for cleaning veggies and paint brushes as well as scrubbing clothes... everyone still washes clothes by hand, right? Wrong. I still like it. Bob is working on installing it as I type. Of course a new anything calls for paint, so that was done over the weekend. Next up... cabinet knobs and new flooring to replace the cracked tiles.

Outside we've been clearing a new bed to plant some of the divided irises plus a few other things that will attract hummingbirds and bees. There was enough room for red and yellow crocosmia, lavender, penstemon, agastache, salvia and a few grasses. After that we moved some of the young maples and the wax myrtles that were getting pretty beat up at the far corner of the lot, spreading them out along the fenceline where they can get water and a little pampering. Now I need some patience as it will be several years before we will see the fruits of this effort. 

We built a new strawberry cage, version two, improving on the first I hope. This one is built of a much sturdier outer wire with an inner cage of chicken wire, and inside that is landscape cloth to secure the soil. I was too impatient to wait until spring to plant the strawberries, dug up the plants from the old cage and some from the old bed that were still growing and planted as we constructed this cage. The shock nearly did them in. Most of the leaves died but new growth is emerging from the roots. Strawberries are some tough characters. 

Planting things in pots in the greenhouse has worked out well. The peppers are producing like crazy. Top picture is a banana pepper and behind it is my favorite basil, a variegated type that doesn't flower before you have enough to harvest, like other types. I made a batch of pesto using it and some homegrown garlic that is wowsie! 

Bob likes the hot stuff. Here are some jalapeno peppers and habaneros in the back. Too hot for me.

Lovely tomatoes. This a hybrid plum variety that is OK tasting but not sure I'll go with them next year. The San Marzanos are better but one plant is going through blossom end rot and the one right next to it isn't and I'm not going to go through this again... so this is the last time growing San Marzanos. Seems the long shape of plum tomatoes makes them prone to BER, and some varieties are more sensitive than others. I didn't grow any Cherokee purples and that was a mistake. Nothing we have now compares in flavor.

Iris Duty

Did I plant the iris three years ago, or four? They've  multiplied and overgrown the area, encroaching on the peonies so it's time for them to go. The last two weekends have been dedicated to digging and dividing them and putting out what I don't want for the neighbors to take. Lucky them. I put a lot of time and effort into it and they've saved a lot of money. Thank goodness I don't have to do this every year. The clumps must have weighed forty pounds. I needed Bob to pull these out after I loosened them from the soil. I'll be replacing them with white peonies this fall, though I did save some rhizomes for myself and have been planting them here and there around the yard.

Last batch of irises, behind the fig tree, to remove.

After removal. Looks very neat.

I'm collecting  different yarrows. These are two new ones that I like very much. Top one is a beautiful buff yellow and below is a nice purple variety. I will have to get pictures of all of them. 

Coneflowers are finally blooming. These off-white and bright reds are my favorites. Maybe I will put together a yarrow/coneflower photo show.

Hostas are blooming, too. Happy happy.

Remembering Tag and Hooper

For me.

Misc.

The Irises have been keeping me busy digging and dividing. I put some out by the mailbox this morning, free for the taking, and they disappeared by noon. I'll put the rest out tomorrow then give my back a rest. It's a bit of work but they were encroaching on the peonies and I wanted to rearrange things anyway. I've ordered three new white peonies to plant this fall and needed room for them where the irises are. Of course this means I need another planting bed so today Bob and I decided on an area to be cleared in the new yard. We're going to be moving some of the starter maples that are kind of in the way of mowing right now, and shrubs that aren't doing well in their current spots to the new location, along with some of the divided irises. Bob seems happy to have jobs to keep him busy and I'm more than happy to find them.

The thing below was a delight to find. It's a bird's nest built with wool from the sheep! It's tilted a bit, maybe from the wind or branch movement but what a cozy little structure for baby birds.

The boys were resting in the shade comfortably and I wanted a picture of them, but as soon as I appeared they came looking for treats. 

Whatcha got, lady? This last week they had their hooves trimmed so are looking good, though very dirty. 

Hattie has a new glow in the dark ball. I thought it would be easier to find when she drops it and forgets where it is, but so far it hasn't made much of a difference. She loses it for a few days then finds it and feels pretty proud of herself. Silly dog.

Ducks: A Day in the Life

Deer have begun to encroach in the garden for the first time in four years. I caught a ewe eating the raspberries early the other morning so Bob added an extension to the new fence to prevent them jumping over. I set out the game camera to run at night to see if it was working but forgot to turn it off in the morning. I got some cute footage of the duck girls and put it into this little video. The camera captures up to sixty seconds of data when triggered by motion so this is a lot of little snippets. They are active little duckies.

The fence extension might be working on the section where Bob added it, but there is evidence it needs to be put on the rest of the back yard fence, too. Roses in the east side kitchen garden were nibbled last night. That's the opposite side of the yard, so the fence extension needs to go there, too. In another post I'll cover how Bob builds it because it's a pretty nifty thing.