What is it with the storms this year?! I may have jinxed myself with the touching of the Wicked Witch, and the decision not to buy her. We had horrible storms that afternoon and evening. She must have thought that my name was Dorothy.
Weeks of miserable, humidity. So much so, that working on art in the workshop was not doable, at all or for long periods of time.
I did manage to work on the next step of the nature keepsake jar. Dried fleabane heads and petals in a resin like glue. Having the dehumidifier always running in there at this time of year will help it dry well! I have been practicing making things because I enjoy that, and not pressuring myself to get it all done right now, all at once. Like a good friend recently told me, I am juggling a lot of moving pieces in life! I have gotten out of the habit of truly feeling enjoyment, more than I am in constant work mode, and have become out of the balance. Little things like this project help to put things in order again.
It took a good week or so, but the lid dried, and I was able to finally put it all together! The newest addition to the jar was a tiny wasp nest that I pulled off of the door hinge of my oldest sons car. He said it had been there for a number of years and kept forgetting to bring it up.
I also have been spending time with a new project that was started weeks ago outside with Woodchuck (actually before that, but that is when the vision really started coming together), and I am really liking how it is turning out, but it has been a slow process. Woodchuck said I can't charge in my final price for all of the experimentation I do along the way on pieces. While I do agree that if I charged per hour for the amount of time I put into things, they wouldn't sell around here, I disagree that artists can't include that experimentation period in their price tag in some way. Every step of the way with this piece, I have had to start over numerous times, but because I don't sit down in one, two, or three sittings and have something come together, does not mean that it took less for me to make it. Quite the opposite, it took MORE for me to make it. More time, more energy, more thought, more trial and error. But the end results also feels more magickal. I don't enjoy struggling with things along the way, and the more I try and force creating, the worse it looks and feels. It can be hard to truly understand the process of each artist, but it's so important that because of that, we have to be careful in what we say ABOUT their process. He can make art his way, and charge what he wants for it, but it's wrong to dictate to me how I should go about my process and what I can and cannot charge for.
Part of the reason it is taking me so long on this project is because 1) all of the starting over 2) lack of large amounts of time to devote to it 3) there is no pattern, no instructions for what I am making! It is coming right out of my mind and spirit.
This is one of my favorite times of year at our current home. It just looks so vibrant and alive and colorful. It's the best time of year to put it up on the market!
The grapes!
The lavender is blooming and a Common Eastern Bumblebee is taking its fill!
White Avens is spreading and blooming!
In between the days and days of storms and sporadic rain, I mowed and spent some time with this friend! An Elm Sphinx Moth. Let me just take a moment to gently remind you readers, that while yes-some insects in certain stages of development can be a pest to crops, we must think ahead to all of the stages of their development and if they are beneficial anywhere along the line. And also, the amount of them that we find. I follow a gardener on FB who did a post recently about horned worms on his tomato plants and how he always unalives them and everyone was encouraging each other to do so! *I* would encourage people to see what that worm turns into, and would hope they might take other, non-lethal, methods to save their tomato plants. Every.single.decision.we.make. affects something, and maybe that affect won't be immediately seen.
This moth was VERY large! A good 3 inches long, but sadly it didn't open its wings while I viewed it.
Taking advantage of our time together, and the nice weather, we went back to his house where he mowed and I continued to work on his rock beds. I enjoy my time with him, and I love that he enjoys his time with me, but my body is getting to the point where squatting down or bending over to weed is very painful for my hips. To try and keep up with his house, my house, and the land is just no longer realistic physically for me, and honestly, he needs to do these things for his own house. But I helped one last time, and I found this beautiful fox sedge growing too close to his a/c unit outside! He has a large, bare corner there since I took down the invasive bushes years ago, so I moved the sedge farther from the unit. Because his dehumidifier in the basement drains out to the corner, having plants there to help erosion is a good thing, plus any water from the dehumidifier will help keep them watered too until they get established.
When I say that I moved this, I make it sound so quick and easy! As grass-type plants typically do, this bad boy had some ROOTS! My son did not have the tools in his garage that I needed, so I grabbed what I could and wrestled with this for far too long to get it out of the ground and moved a few feet!
I am not sure yet of this one. My app brought up that it might be tarragon, but there was no smell when I rubbed the leaves. So when in doubt, leave it! Let it mature some more and keep checking along the way. I also have some at my home and at the land.
This stuff was all over! One picture angle said it was non-native, another picture angle said it was native. I left it!
After ripping out what I knew for sure was not great stuff, I found some clasping bellflower! I was so excited! This is what we have at the land too.
And this is what it looked like when I was done, though a white avens that I transplanted there as well got cut off in the picture upload.
I was still a bit "on alert" on this day working outside because of the storms the previous night, and the winds were blowing in a way that really had my attention. It was constantly on my mind as I worked, but I can be pretty hyper-focused on a project, and I just kept on working. Until I just couldn't ignore it anymore. I stopped working, came out from behind the house where it opened up more, figured I would take a picture of the beautiful blue sky and sun, and was looking at the picture. I had just caught the edge of a sunbow! So I took a more in-frame photo and caught it! I gave thanks to my ancestors who kept trying to get my attention so that I could see it!
I could barely walk but needed to get this project done! I was in the final stretch and wasn't paying as close attention as I usually do, looking for insects and critters, and I disturbed this moth. It is a migratory one, white speck, from what I read!
There has been a bit of debate as to whether this bindweed is native or not. I did a quick search while sitting on the ground next to it and it showed up as Field Bindweed. Others in a native plant group that I belong to say it's a native Erect Bindweed that just got stepped on. Nobody stepped on this, I can tell you that. And honestly? I am not going to get identification right 100% of the time, and when it comes to stuff like this, and the fact that my son doesn't pull weeds and doesn't know what is good stuff or bad stuff, it was best to just pull it.
The burning bush is coming back, so I will need to cut and treat that again.
And this species of geranium is EVERYWHERE right now. 😖
My oldest son loves spending time with me, but he doesn't always want to tag along at places just because he enjoys my company. I recently had to stop at a local greenhouse to pick up some native flowers/grasses that I ordered, and he wanted to tag along in the hopes of seeing the family that run it because he went to school with their daughter, who now also works there. With it being a Saturday morning though, they were at a market. So my trip was in and out, with no socializing on his part...much to his dismay, lol.
50 plants for just under $44. I probably should have waited until next year, but this was the first year they offered this, and they weren't sure that it would be offered again next year. Plus, I won't be a resident of this county next year, and that's who it was open to (but yes, I know there are ways around that. <whistling innocently>). Now to find a good time to get out to the land and get these in the ground. Rain, rain, high humidity, rain.
But we went that evening, figuring we would get in as many as we could. It was miserably sticky outside, and more storm clouds were blowing in. We also hadn't had a chance to clear an area for them yet, so Woodchuck got on the tractor and cleared it in no time. When we bought the land, this area was a WALL of invasives. And I mean wall! While they need to be cleared out from around the base of the trees again, the transformation has been long-lasting otherwise.
We got 24 of the 50 in, with plans to come back the next evening to get more done. I love getting dirty and crawling around, but man, my knees and hips keep reminding me that I am not a child anymore.
We went back the next night and all of the plants were perfect. None went into shock, all were as we left them, and we were able to finish the planting. Woodchuck dug the holes for me.
We checked on the wildflowers in the forest that I transplanted from the county park (they were giving them away). If you remember from a previous post, something immediately got the jack-in-the-pulpit....and I should have taken the time then to cage everything off. But I didn't. Now everything was gone. The Eastern Waterleaf and the Trillium as well. Serves me right for not being a good plant mom.
Since we were close by, we looked at the Elder Elderberry that is literally on its last leg and still blossoming! How ironic for the state of life we all keep finding ourselves in the past 6 years! On our last leg but still blossoming!
And I found this gorgeous sedge (I am a BIG fan of sedges! They have some vibrant colors even without flowers) called Carex Scoparia, or Pointed Broom Sedge. I mean, come on! Can a witch's property be complete without some Pointed Broom anything?!
We were finally able to walk farther back on the property to check for damage. I have not been IN the back woods, but just looking from the edges made me think that there was nothing major that had happened in there. We also haven't been on the watershed yet, which does not have the amount of tall trees yet that the forest does, but literally all we've found so far are these couple of small branches....
And this Staghorn Sumac that just laid over. They were not in the best of condition when we bought the land, possibly because this area gets too wet, too often. There are others around it though, and once we start cleaning up the edges of the forest, we can deal with them then. In the meantime, they are still leafing out and producing Drupes, which is good food for pollinators and good for humans too!
I pointed this area out again to Woodchuck, that we need to get on it to save the two trees that the invasives are taking down. You can't even tell that I pulled at least two bags of vines from this spot.
Back up in the barn, a beautiful Rabid Wolf Spider greeted us. I don't want to know what Woodchuck does to the spiders when I am not around.
I pulled some SD cards, and laughed out loud when I saw this photo. Can you see the cardinal in it? It's a Cardinal Torpedo 😂
Woodchuck recently rented another U-Haul, but this time it was for us. He wanted to get all of his tools, power tools, and machinery, and workout equipment moved, and let me tell you......this girl was helping to lift some HEAVY stuff. But at least it is done and he said he has no intentions of renting another one before we move. So, each time we go to the land, I load my car up with other stuff that didn't make it when he took the truck for the one trip before the motor locked up (😡), and since nothing of mine made it into the U-Haul, it's up to me and my car. What doesn't fit will have to wait until he hires the professional movers. I giggle when I think of all of the people in town who saw this truck and got the gossip phone going again! Even my oldest son sent me a text about how he saw the U-Haul in the front yard, and HE knows we are moving.
That was a busy day! We were hauling ass to try and beat a storm that was coming in, plus had to get the truck back by 11:00 over half an hour away from the land. We literally ran with stuff off of the truck and just put it down where there was space and figured when we came back, he could start putting it where he wanted it. But we did it, and went back to the land a bit later so we could both get some work done.
This was only some of the stuff. And yes, I helped lift and move the punching bag, the stand for it, and all-in-one workout system, etc. Not bad for a 52 year old, 5 foot tall girl who is recovering from two surgeries already this year. Should I have done that though? Absolutely not, and my body let me know it, but I figured it was better that the two of us work together to lift something (when Woodchuck slowed down enough to let that happen), than to have either one of us hurt.
We headed back to town to a storm.
Back to the land we go! Woodchuck needed to fix the pitcher pump because the seal rotted out. I had NO idea that those seals are leather!!! 😱 And I LOVE leather and wanted to see how to fix it. Now look, his intentions are always good, but his undiagnosed ADHD is out of control when it comes to certain things. Teaching others is where it really comes through. I walked with him out to the pump, he took it apart, we went back to the barn, and then he said something was locked up and it would take him awhile to get it apart and that I should go work on my things until he was ready for the next step. You know what happened, right? Yep. He fixed it without me. And I am actually really bummed about that. Would I ever be able to do this on my own? Probably not if he struggled to get things apart, because he is MUCH stronger and bigger than I am, but.....it was a process that I would have loved to learn and see.
So I went back to my work while I watched the skies.
I walked over to the newly planted native wildflowers and grasses......to find that half of them were dug up and laid next to the hole. I could just imagine some animal gently pulling each plant and plug out, saying, 'Nope.", and laying it beside the hole.
So I replanted everything, and we worked at putting up a deer fence. Those types of fences are not my favorite and over time, I hope to stop using them completely, but it's all we had on hand. At least it was MUCH cooler and comfortable to be crawling around on the ground with the plants.
Back up at the barn, I think I found where the black widow lives!
And I saved this bold jumping spider from getting stepped on in the barn.
Years ago, when we first bought the land and I was trying to learn about every single thing growing out there, I came across these St. Johns Wort. Fast forward to 5 years later and someone in a plant group posts a picture of their St. Johns Wort bush and it looks NOTHING like mine. Well, that's because it ends up that mine is the non-native/invasive one. Another thing to add to the list to remove.
Woodchuck had a Rose Chafer hitch a ride on his shirt.
I will have my hands full over the next couple of weeks, and numerous trips, pulling this invasive Spotted Lady Finger from the new pond berm. If I tried to bag it all, it would likely be at least 20 bags, so I checked with the plant group on how best to dispose of it. It is not something I am looking forward to doing by myself, but it needs to be done. Luckily there are some wonderfully native, similarly looking Willow Weed dotted amongst the other stuff. Hopefully by removing the bad stuff, it will let the good stuff take over.
It's funny how I can hear the deer in the flood waters. They are SO loud moving through it that it sounds like something huge is running up on you.
These waters are deeper in spots than they look! I was thinking about these waters recently, and tried to view them from the perspective of an ecological standpoint. Sure, it's a mess right now, and mosquito nursery, detrimental to the trees who have been standing in this water for a long time and aren't meant to and are now falling over, and a loss of land use for us......but how can I work WITH this? And highlight the good aspects? This area has always been marshy and marks the beginning boundary of the watershed, but with the removal of all of the vegetation when heavy equipment came through, the creation of ruts and compaction of soil, the perfect storm happened. But in observing what is happening to this spot over time, I noticed some wonderful things were provided by the water that hadn't been there before: HUNDREDS of baby toads. We have had them previous, of course, and in some other area that would flood a bit, but not in the amount that we had this year and not in the spot! Toads are an indicator of a healthy water/eco-system. We also have a lot of native grass popping up that we didn't have before. We have seen ducks, herons/cranes; and we know that at some point the water will evaporate when we head into a drought. It really calms me down thinking about it in this way. I don't know if the trees that are falling were there when the previous owner started modifying the land, or if they are volunteers that came after, were planted by him, etc. So as those fall, and the land dries up enough in the forest on the edge of this for us to be able to clean out the invasives, maybe somewhere down the line we can plant water tolerant trees that are native to our area. The face of the land is always changing! BTW, I stepped out into the waters to see how far out I could go and how deep it was....only to find out that my rain boots were not water-tight. Anybody have any recommendations for some tough, water-tight, yet flexible and comfy boots?
I always confused when I see a rose plant in this color! Why some and not others? In a quick research, it acts as a sunscreen for new growth. Huh. Too bad this one is an invasive Multiflora Rose.
On a recent trip to Menards, we forgot to pick up more survey flags (we always forget one thing every time we go there!) As luck would have it, the Soil and Water Conversation District in the county we will be moving to posted that same day about survey flag bundles that they have for sale! So we drove down the next day to buy some.
Amongst all of the hustle and bustle, I was able to pick out the beads for the moon project I have been working on. That Periwinkle color makes me drool!
Woodchuck and I did something new and went to a green drinks event being held at a favorite location of ours. I took water, he took coffee. It was not an event that we will go back to, but I'm am glad that we made the effort to go, and enjoy the beautiful evening outside. I also got to see these beautiful, prickly pears!
I had to move a trail cam recently, as the vegetation grows taller, and was treated to these special images of a fawn. On a trip back to the land a bit later after seeing these pictures, I was able to see the baby for myself, and also hearing it call for its mother. 😃
If this isn't a Bambi photo, I don't know what is!
Also photographed, the fox.
Things are moving forward beautifully with the loan process for the new house, and that should wrap up in the next couple of weeks. My friend/realtor came over recently to go over numbers, and the house, with me. This workshop space, which is my side and also the catch-all, will be changing dramatically! It's been a bit slow of a process getting Woodchuck to work on much of anything, and he will be starting back to 6 day work weeks next week. In a lot of ways, I am at a standstill on my part of the workshop until he does something with his side that held all of the work out equipment. Stay tuned!
The nice days between rains are spaced in a way that I have to save SO much work to do on them that I can't get it all done. I can only do what I can do, and I don't want to miss out on the appreciation of the beauty of it all because I am too hyper-focused on work. These comfy temp days are drawing to close again as a high temp system moves in. At least I know that the animals will have plenty of water for awhile to drink and cool off in 😎
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