Alpine Madness

 I've been saying for a few years now that I'd love to try my hand at an alpine garden, and today...well, today there's no turning back!  My super awesome neighbor came over with his tractor and dug out a depression in the back yard, then set rocks in it.  And so begins the alpine madness...

 I'm sure it just looks like a bunch of rocks, but I can see it filled in and full of amazing alpine plants.  I have a stockpile of smaller stones that can fill in the gaps, then over that I'll need to add gravel - drainage is key.  Then a mix of sand, sharp pea stone, and soil will top that off.  

I love some of the stones he placed deliberately - the square stone that I can put a bird bath or statuary on.  

 

The cubby area that...hmmmmm...I wonder if I could finagle a water feature in there?

The triangular and flat topped stones that can be used as seats along the garden's edge.

 I probably won't get the garden planted this year, save for the little blue spruce tree I've been hanging on to for a few seasons, but I am so excited to spend the winter researching the perfect plants for my new rock garden!

Project #3 complete, on to Project # 4

 The privacy fence portion of my yard fencing is done!  I managed to create a pretty sad gate out of one fence panel, which I cut in half.

I started adding a few personalized touches here and there, like solar string lights and the lettering I've been collecting for a few years.  I also managed to get some blocks under the soaking tub and level it out.

 

 I had my tractor guy here to work on a few items, one of which was covering the protective bottom mesh on the back of the fence with soil and rocks to keep naughty kitties from digging under and naughtier wildlife from digging into the yard.  I used four foot tall plastic coated welded wire fence as the barrier material, which is fixed to the fence with heavy duty electrical staples, and lays out across the ground about three feet.

I'm still trying to decide where to place the lower gravel patio.  Until I figure that out and get the materials delivered, I can't put up my net cat fence.  In the meantime, I'm working on my pond and bog garden, AKA Project # 4. 

I laid an old rubber-backed area rug in the pond hole to protect the liner from sharp rocks (should have filled it with sand, but I'd rather use what I have on hand), then set a few key stones around the perimeter to hold the liner in place. For the bog garden I had my tractor guy scrape out about 8" of ground, then put a black plastic liner down.  I punctured it in the very middle to allow for some drainage, then put some of the soil back.  

 The next day I put a few bags of play sand in the bottom of the pond liner to weigh it down, then added some river rock and a few larger stones for the bottom to add structure for anything that might want to live there.  In the bog garden I mixed garden soil with humus and compost into the native soil.  I'm going to need a bit more of this material to finish the area.

 I rushed to get this part done, because the weather reports are calling for nearly two days of rain.  This morning, I was elated to find the pond half full.  The cloudiness should resolve on its own after a few days when everything settles.

Rainwater is supposed to be better for the pond than hose water, and with our well still being dangerously low I can't add any water.  I'm holding my breath hoping there are no pin holes in the membrane from my walking on it to spread materials.  I really can't wait to put water plants in it next year! 

While I had my tractor guy here, I had him pick away at the rock wall along the driveway.  He removed quite a bit of stone and shaped the bank.  He's also my plow guy, so opening up this area makes moving snow much easier for him.  The goal is to shift the retaining wall diagonally towards the old barn.

I had him move the boulders to the other side of the driveway, to create a more defined parking area.  At some point I may bring in more road pack to make the parking area less grassy, but for now the rocks are just a marker for how far into the pasture he can push snow.  We'll pick away at more of it next year. 

The hyacinth bean vines I planted inside the bird cage had a massive growth spurt the last few weeks.

The new plants I put in around it are all doing fantastic.  Mom and I went to the last sale of the season at a local native plant grower's and I picked up more cat safe, shallow rooted plants to add here and there.  I've decided to plant perennials along the privacy fence to hide the uneven bottoms.  I'm still trying to decide where to plant my magnolia tree, yellow twig dogwood, and witch hazel.  I have an ever-evolving end design in mind for the lower level of the yard, but much of it hinges on where the second patio ends up.  I'm also second guessing the bank, which I was planning to leave as is with grasses, weeds, and wildflowers.  Now I'm envisioning a bank of tall ornamental grasses that will sway in the wind...clearly I watch too many gardening shows on tv.  

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Later that day...

One rock is completely submerged - c'mon, RAIN!  Fill that hole! 😁

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Update, 48 hrs. later...

Not quite full but daaaang, that's a lot of water! 

Occupancy

 In the past month a lot has happened.  The plumbing was finished, touch ups happened, and on June 1st - after 125 days of construction - I was issued an occupancy permit.  I think my mother was the most excited, because that meant she was going to finally get half of her house back, including her fabulous closet!  You would think I'd be set up by now and livin' large, but this hasn't gone without hiccups.

I was not surprised to find my belongings in the storage unit were a little worse for wear.  After nearly three years, the mice had done quite a bit of damage.  They had used nearly every exposed surface as a toilet, and in a few instances had chewed into bags of clothing and bedding and made nests.  Everything was transported to my basement, where it still sits, waiting to be gone over with a fine toothed comb.  Which brings me to the next hiccup.

So, I still don't have propane tanks.  No propane means no hot water.  No dishwasher.  No de-mousing hot water washes in my washing machine.  No soaking in my Pat-Boone-Made-Me-Buy-It tub.  No propane means no clothes dryer.  No propane means no oven or stove-top.  No propane has really stalled my efforts to put some semblance of organization in place with my stuff.  It's coming, I just need to be patient.  Hopefully by July 7th I'll have my tanks in place and be able to start my sanitation process. 

In the meantime I've put the finishing touches on my entry door.

I've started working on my island project.  All that's left is to finish the counter top and attach the legs.

I stained the legs to match my dining room set.

I've moved 85% of my stuff out of Mom's house, but I keep finding more things tucked away in drawers and cabinets.  I've set up a temporary living room upstairs, and a work space in the dining room.

I had to purchase a new futon mattress, as the other one had been defiled by the mice.  For the first few weeks I slept on the futon, but I have since purchased a new bed frame.  Unfortunately, I have not purchased a new mattress for it, so I'm still sleeping on the futon mattress.  Not the most comfortable thing, but it'll do for now.  

What you don't see is the piles of boxes and storage bins and bags everywhere.  I haven't even started on the downstairs rooms.  My refrigerator finally showed up, and I love it.  I'm still looking for a decent hood vent, though.  I've borrowed a knife, fork, and spoon from Mom to use until I can sanitize my own flatware, and I'm eating off of paper plates, but it's all good.

I've also done some outside projects. I finally buckled down and created some holding beds for my shade perennials and got those planted.  They were very happy to be out of pots for the first time in nearly three years.  Unfortunately, there wasn't enough room for the hostas, so they have to wait for another bed to be created.

The veggie garden is coming along nicely.  I've already pulled the radish and have been harvesting lettuce, peas, and strawberries galore.

I had our guy Corey come by with his tractor a couple times so far.  Yesterday he moved the deck frame (which we have the go-ahead to use as a deck off the back of my house) and my soaking tub into my back yard area, then I had him spread some of that massive topsoil mound around to soften the lines of the lower driveway area.  

I also had him pull the tree out that fell in my fence area on the mule track, and cut down the nasty cherry tree out back that had been damaged over the winter.  It was right behind where the tub is now.

I've planted some creeping thyme in the back yard, but I don't want to do any landscaping out there until the deck is on and I have a fence up, which might not be until next year.  

I still have the mule track to work on, and the tiered garden bed project is completely stalled.  I definitely have enough to keep me busy right through until snow flies, that's for sure!

Post Blustery Night

 Well, the storm came, it blew, it rained like crazy, and it left.  I was happy to find the mule barn only had the normal amount of water that it would have received pre-driveway; the new driveway is lower than the top of the paddock, the little swales I built last winter are still in place and still working to divert runoff past the barn, and French drain is doing its job perfectly.  After this test, I don't anticipate any flooding issues like I had last winter.

Luckily we never lost power, even with the mighty 40+mph wind gusts.  We did lose a tree.

I still can't believe it fell perfectly centered between the fence posts, and did no damage whatsoever.  The Fencing Gods have shown me favor.  

Day 21 of building was all about running conduit in that big trench.  

The builder also started the frames for the walls, which are lying on the floor in this picture.

And the excavating contractor finished off the septic system behind the house.

 Big equipment means big ruts.  Yikes.

Day 22 was the (un)ceremonious Filling O' the Trench.  This was the last bit of dirt work to be completed; the excavating contractor has left the building.  He smoothed out the ruts in the field and brought in a ton of nice topsoil for the front lawn.  It's not spread quite evenly, but if the weather holds out I may be able to at least run the york rake over it a little to smooth it out.  But HOORAY! Underground wires!

Oh, that blue thing in the background?  Well...don't tell my brother this, but we may have got him an AT-AT for his birthday.  

Or it may be Camp Covid, wrapped up tight for winter.

Any way, the best thing about Day 22?

WALLS!

The view from my dining room window is awesome.  I can check my mules any time I want.  

The view from my bedroom window is pretty sweet, too.

It's finally starting to feel like an actual house!  It looks huge, but it's really kind of small.  It's absolutely perfect.  😊