Woodchuck and I stopped at the land when we were sent a picture of the excavator out at the pond and were greeted by a young deer at the edge of the front forest.
As we walked down to the pond, we could hear and see a few more that the first one joined in the forest.
It was exciting seeing the tracks down to the pond, and the excavator sitting there. I am not much for machinery, but it was impressive.
Surprisingly, it didn't look like much more had been done though and we aren't sure why. Some larger stuff was taken down in the area where they had already cleared the smaller stuff. I know what the look on his face and his body language meant. I reminded him that this is how it is going to go building the house too. Deadlines will get pushed back because of delays in product coming in, scheduling conflicts, weather, etc. Thank goodness this is a project that is being completely funded by us and not a bank, where a timeline and end point would have to be adhered to more, but we also don't want to see it drag out longer than necessary.
It is hard for me to see usable material laying there. If it it were up to me, I would gather it all!
We walked to the other side of the pond to look around, and I noted the plants along the way. Clearweed, a member of the Nettle family. Native and wonderful.
The jewelweed is growing up and getting taller! Only some blooms have been noted thus far. Native, medicinal (usually just used topically) The hummingbirds love them too!
The little fluffy tops on this one are what caught my eye! They were almost 3-D looking
😎 Horseweed, native. Interesting fact: it was the first reported weed to develop glyphosate resistance, back in 2001. (per Wikipedia)
The elderberry are starting to turn now, though because the trees have never been pruned, the best berries are on the newest growth, and over our heads, out of reach. We will likely lose these with the pond work, but have the several others that we planted earlier this year along the back ditch. We will probably have to build larger/taller cages around them, because the deer keep stripping them. I can't take elderberry because of my autoimmune issues, but I like having it on hand for my family.
We looked across the pond and we can see the difference with the willow gone, but it will be interesting to hear what they think of the soil and if it will hold up to the work they are doing. If you remember, their concern was that the soil wasn't stable and would continue to erode any bank they create and we would be right back to having this work done every couple of years. We have not heard any updates from them yet.
I wanted to get my eyes on a vine that we found wrapped around milkweed on the watershed. After taking pictures and researching a bit, it is the fallopia that I found in other spots before. We will be working together in a couple of days to remove it (or I will do it alone if something else comes up for him).
The heat has continued to be horrible. I drove with my car windows down yesterday to ration gas, and my cheeks were nearly purple. It was 90 degrees, disgustingly humid, and over 100 degrees with the heat index. Even being inside with the air running, Pierogi the cat has been exhausted and face planting on my lap in the evenings.
Woodchuck and I stopped at Menards while in town last night, to decide on more things for the new house, and get more information on the previous items we liked. Eventually I might put all things in one post, but for now I am doing what I can to keep up with the organization of everything and will just post things as we decide. These are the interior doors he liked. Solid pine. We will just seal them, most likely, to keep this natural wood and color. This would be x 5 to cover all interior doors.
While I had found an entry door at Lowes that I loved, because you could get in colors other than white, black, wood, etc. that Menards offers, the price at Menards won, lol. I hate to give up what we/I love, but it's more important to have a door compared to the *exact* one that we might want. This would be x 2 to cover the front and side entry doors.
This is the STYLE of window that we want. Black frame, the frame work in the middle, double-hung, etc. But Menards doesn't carry the brand that the builder recommended, so we will look elsewhere.
Woodchuck changed his mind on the outside stone, and I think a conversation needs to happen with the GC to know which kinds he recommends. There are several brands and types to choose from. For now, this is what has been chosen. Cement board siding in "Arbor Mist" (a green color) for the upper half of the house, and stone facade in "Wheat Country Stock" for the lower half. The stone is not what I like, but I don't really care. I also took a picture of another one, so there may be the chance that he liked both and couldn't decide 😂
the other option he liked.
He also decided that he doesn't want wood or composite railings/decking. So the front and back porch will be cement, with metal railings. I have two large metal scenic panels that my mom gave us years ago that I wanted to incorporate on the land. Originally they were going to be used on the foot bridge, but he couldn't get it straight enough to use them, so I was hoping they would be used at the house. Honestly, I think he just doesn't want them used at all 😂 Can we see a pattern here?! This is the railing picked. Black, which will work with the black windows.
We also picked a potential storm door (no picture), but I want to look at one more place for that when we look for the windows. I'll probably take a look at their entry doors too. I really, really liked the one I saw elsewhere, in the color of Foxtail! Perfect name for the setting, perfect color against a copper metal roof? Perfection. I am willing to compromise though, especially to keep the costs down. My efforts to find work outside of the home haven't yielded anything yet, so I make my decisions accordingly. Hopefully I will have more pond updates in a couple of days. Thank you for being on this journey with us!
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