I put a question mark at the end of that title because is there a normal? Is what we perceive as normal really normal? I know I feel anything but normal these days. I suppose someone's normal could be someone else's abnormal. But for all intents and purposes, we have come back to what is our normal. The power is on, the food has been sifted through to get rid of anything that didn't hold up, I can now walk into a room and turn on the lightswitch. Our usual once a week trip to the land is starting to feel different. There's a touch of Fall that I can feel, there's the knowing that by the end of this year, we will be living out there. I still occasionally worry that I will grow bored with it once it's mine every day. Ah yes, the way the brain behaves.
On our most recent trip out there, Woodchuck mowed while I started on the watershed to finish pulling the Queen Anne's Lace (which I will refer to as QAL in the rest of this post because I find it cumbersome to type out the whole name.) We are at the time of year when the grasses are taller than I am (which is 5 foot), and the vegetation is thick and aggressive. But I love it and it fosters such amazing smells when they heat up with the sun. I don't know what any of these grasses are, and so I don't know if they are bad. I really wonder how much it will change what I know and what I can get done once we are living out there.
This colorful insect is a Ailanthus Webworm which is a moth! Apparently, it looks like a beetle when not in flight, like in this photo, but when flying it resembles a wasp! It is not originally from this area, but from the American tropics where it's host tree is. Here it has adapted to live and feed on the Ailanthus Altissima, which is.....the dreaded Tree of Heaven. The patterns on this remind of small white flowers and something out of the 1970's.
I checked out the area of grapevines that we grafted and rooted from ours here at home, and to cut and treat a juvenile TOH. I remembered that there is usually a Garden Spider around that area, so I made sure to look before I walked through each spot. Indeed it was there, but it had moved from where I saw it last. They are beautiful, and normally very docile, but this girl was fierce and fast! I don't usually get creeped out much by spiders, but she was so fast, I kept my distance and got the creepy crawlies. No pun intended! This is Woodchucks favorite spider and he has a tattoo of one (though it is not correct and the quality is disappointing). This is the underside of her, I couldn't get around her web and vegetation without disturbing her and potentially damaging her web, to see her topside.
I was pleased to find that some of the grape plants are doing well! My idea was to leave all of the other plants and vegetation that grew up around them, so they could provide moisture/humidity, as well as shade. While not all of the grape plants survived the grafting, the ones that did are very healthy. The others may surprise us and bounce back next Spring. I have seen time and time again where something laid dormant, looked completely fried and dead, only for it come alive in the right timing. We will leave the vegetation to die off naturally and then mow around them and put the deer fencing back up. I can tell though that deer are getting inside of the fencing and bedding down. I may have to rethink this set-up next year. We may have to go up higher with the fencing or use a caged in scenario instead.
The Stinging Nettle is blooming, and still very stingy.
Back out to the watershed I go. It looks even more grown and alive since I was out here less than week before. Man, we could learn so much plants about our own personal growth. It's nice to see the sun, and there's a slight breeze for awhile, but the humidity is still high enough that I am already dripping sweat.
The Ironweed is now blooming for us, though we don't have a lot of it.
The Big Blue Stem grass is living up to its name! It is WELL over my head!
Waves of yellow all over the place, like the sun is dropping babies to us here on the ground.
A path never felt more right to travel than this one.
I am just now realizing, by catching sight of the leaves, that we have more than one light purple plant growing on the land.
I enjoy watching the bees go crazy over the flowers!
A pop of another color is always refreshing!
The primrose are standing tall and proud
I forgot the flags to try and protect the lead plant from the mower, so I did my best to tie it up. I know that even if it gets mowed down, the roots will still be there, but I just can't handle the thought of it getting chopped. I will take the flags out next time.
The Fallopia is back and starting to get its seeds. I still don't know if this one is native or not, but I believe this species is not. I believe it is Fallopia Convolvulus, Black Bindweed, and even though Woodchuck says he has fun pulling this stuff, it doesn't seem like he has any intentions of doing so with me. I pulled what I could just off of the path, but will need to get back out there.
I am enjoying seeing all of the life around me.
This agrimony is absolutely everywhere, so much so that I was kind of getting worried that might be too aggressive for the other native plants. I saw in a plant group where someone was pulling it from their flower beds, so maybe it depends on where it's growing at?
This large mushie was covered in dirt and dead grass debris. I am sure that it got mowed over, but I gently wiped it off and thanked it for being here.
I noticed that tops of the pines on the watershed are dead. I did some research and it turns out that it is likely a White Pine Weevil. I need to take off this portion of the tree and dispose of it so that they don't spread. One more thing to add to the list.
I groaned "Noooooo" out loud when I saw this one. Soapwort. I have it in the treeline at home and it is SO hard to get rid of. I wonder if I transferred it here by accident from my boots. I made a mental note to try and dig it out and make sure to get all of the rhizome. I might need to do a very direct spot treatment as well. I do not want this stuff spreading. It is called Soapwort (many other names too) because it foams and back in the day, people actually used it for washing stuff. It smells very sweet, and to me like Jasmine.
I made the mental note while I was out there to get another look at what was identified as a Partridge Pea, but left some room open for it to be something else. I caught it blooming!
What a beautiful day to be out here exploring, stewarding the land. I feel less alone out here.
Today's bouquet of horrors. Fox Tail grass and fallopia. I also had a lot of QAL, but that got bagged right up.
I went back to the Garden Spider on my way to another project area to see if I could catch her in a different position to see her top side. I wonder if that white blob is her egg sac and maybe that is why she isn't as chill as I've seen them previously.
The Arrow-leaved tearthumb is growing and flowering. Native.
I try to get back to the wildflowers with a new plan. Woodchuck has been bringing his empty coffee cans home from work. I figured this might be a good way to temporarily protect the plants so I can weed whack and mow around them. He told me he had 30 cans to bring home....but that ended up being a stretch. He had no more than 11 and didn't tell me until after I was well into this project. If I had known he didn't have that many, I would have gone another way. My frustration and disappointment with the people around me is compounding these days. I will figure it out though like I do everything else.
Spotted Bee Balm
Anise Hyssop
I think I caught a private moment!
A Eumenes Fraternus, a species of Potter Wasp.
Some sort of Butterfly Pea?
On my way to some testing (an EMG, in fact. Not fun, not fun at all.), I stopped and bought something from Marketplace. I rarely do that, this may be my second time? I showed this listing to my friend, thinking it was her aesthetic and would look great in her new home, but she didn't move forward with the purchase. So I bought it! I am thinking about using these things in my sewing/art room at the new house. An anti-fatigue mat and some matching contact paper. I am in LOVE with it! Just $10. I think I am going to eventually paint the sewing room a gray color, but I am nowhere near deciding anything about wall colors or if we are even going to paint. Honestly, Woodchuck is the messiest painter ever and I can't trust him to paint anymore without getting it everywhere, even with tarps. I honestly don't have the emotional or mental capacity to deal with that at the new place.
Now with the air back on, Pierogi has become much more comfortable with snuggles. This has to be one of my favorite pictures of her!
We are continuing to get stuff done around the house, as long as it doesn't involve painting outside, because of the weather, lol. I put a fresh cover of this awesome contact paper under the sink. I love it so much that I might put under the one upstairs too! I got two new rolls of this years ago when I worked at the resale shop and was saving it for the new house, but no issues using a little bit of here :) Woodchuck has started painting the workshop ceiling and will move on to the one wall this week that he needs to sand and paint. Unfortunately, even though tarps were down, he got paint all of the floor out there. Hence, no painting at the new house 😂 I also need to figure out how to clean the adhesive on the white strip at the base of this cabinet. Over the years the adhesive has seeped out and dirt and dust is sticking to it and it looks dirty. I might have some sort of Goo Be Gone that I can try. I also got a bit more of touch up painting done inside in the living room and kitchen. I need to finish the living room over the next couple of days to stay on track.
Today is Sunday and as recent as Friday, the bank was back and forth with us. In the morning we got the "congratulations! Your loan has been approved and is ready for closing!" Only to get contacted later that afternoon that we can't close without ANOTHER (!!!) VOE (verification of employment) for Woodchuck. So the plan right now is to close on the loan this coming Wednesday, but honestly, I am taking things one day at a time and I am also not allowing myself to get excited about any of it--much to the dismay of Woodchuck. No way, no how. I am getting my head on straight and out of the clouds, my eyes on the prize, my fierceness ready to weild, and I will be excited once it is all done and I am living out there. We thought the contractors were going to be the most frustrating part, but if that's the case and they are worse than this last 5 months has been trying to secure a construction loan, then I need to stay steadfast. Stay tuned!
