House Update

Since I last posted about the house, the front privacy wall has been finished and only needs the gates, which are expected shortly! (They will replace the functional, but very ugly, ones in place now.) The wall itself needs stucco and the columns will be stone-clad. It should look very good. The last cable on the front of the house will be removed in the next week and will be replaced with an underground electric cable. No more power outages due to strong winds.



As you can see. the conservatory is also structurally complete and needs only finish work when the weather warms up a bit.

 We still need to finish the second-floor balcony, which is missing the floor finish and railings. It's a two day job, once it's a little warmer

The conservatory is full of all the stuff from the living room, because that room is in the middle of finish work - the drywall is getting tape and mud today, the wiring & sound system are finished, and the floor will go down as soon as the painting is finished. Then the furniture and books can go in and the builders can move on to the kitchen and dining room!

Since we're having a very mild winter and it's snow-free, here's a shot of the lawn in all its "glory". It doesn't look too bad, especially since the dog (good boy, Archie!) dealt with the miserable moles. Terriers can be quite useful!

The pile of lumber and roof tiles in the left corner will someday be a summer kitchen. It's sitting on a concrete slab and the water and electrics are already in place. The "lovely" little outhouse will go the way of the dinosaurs at the same time and will be replaced with a proper bathroom for the summer kitchen. The wall here will also get the same stucco and stone treatment as the front wall. On the right is the start of a long perennial bed, which has nearly a thousand spring bulbs, plus poppies, chrysanthemums, lilacs, primroses, and roses so far. We'll be starting perennial seeds in the conservatory next month and will fill it all in, cottage garden style, as the spring and summer progress. The ugly pipes in the foreground are the basis for the irrigation system, which will all come from the well. That should help keep things green in the heat of the summers here. The apple, peach, and quince trees all need a second pruning to get them back in best form, but all of them produced well last year and hopefully will for many more years.

Actual sewing content!

I spent most of today on a silly, but fun, project. I decided that I wanted to make something heraldic for the Twelfth Night A&S competition - so what to do? Well, what could be more fun than a pair of dog coats with Emma's device on one and mine on the other? They are both cut out and half assembled. I've used wool that I had on hand from earlier projects and am hand appliqueing them using silk or wool thread, depending on color. I hope to finish them both tomorrow and put together some documentation based on one illumination and reference from the Devonshire Hunting Tapestries and the book The Hound and the Hawk. I'll post photos when they are done.

Life gets in the way...

of blogging! The first half of the month of October was spent in South Korea for my son's wedding and the second half was spent catching up back at work from all that I had missed in the previous two weeks. The wedding was amazing and worth every second of catch-up work. I now have an amazing daughter-in-law to go along with the excellent son-in-law that my daughter had already provided! Here are a few pictures to prove it really happened!

Mom and Logan        

Mom

                                     

The Altar

The Bride and Groom!

The wedding party at the end of the ceremony

Arr, matey!

It's Talk Like a Pirate Day, so I figured I needed a new pirate name! 

My pirate name is:

Captain Bess Kidd

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Fruits of the season

We're eating lots of peaches these days from our own trees! The two peach trees that were left after the clean out of deadwood got pruned lightly in the spring and have repaid the work many times over. The fruit isn't very soft, but is it ever sweet!

We've got apples coming on as well. This tree produced excellent fruit last year and we have every reason to believethis year will be the same when they ripen. This tree still needs more pruning, but it is producing well despite that.

The things you learn by looking in the trash!

There's a large pile of construction rubble in front of my house, waiting for removal by the contractor. Over the course of the summer, it has grown sunflowers, thistles, and most recently a thorn apple. Thorn apple is also known as datura and although it's beautiful, it is very poisonous. My volunteer plant is just past full bloom and full of fruit, so I am guessing we'll have more next year. For the medievalists, this particular plant was one of those used in the "flying potions" attributed to witches. You can find a very nice article about it here at the Medieval Garden Enclosed.

                                                  

My house is pink!

All the exterior work is nearly at an end and the house is fully insulated and painted. Here are some shots with and without scaffolding. Please excuse the fact that what will be the front lawn someday looks like the Somme, They just knocked down the old wall with heavy machinery and are digging the footer for the new wall.