Mapping things out
Aug. 20th, 2020 20:31![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
torquillSunburned yesterday, soaked today... welcome to Oregon!
I didn't do a whole lot today, as I'm nursing a sprained knuckle on my left hand. I did take in the laundry, and do some one-handed pruning in the side yard -- both once it had started sprinkling in the late afternoon. But I spent a great deal of the morning and early afternoon walking around, standing or sitting so that I could ponder an area, and thinking.
I mapped out some possible layouts for the garden and greenhouse area, to accommodate the greenhouse itself, the septic tank (which needs to be accessible), and a paddock for new lambs. It looks like I have access to about twice as much space as I need for all my vegetable gardening, which is nice; it allows me to rotate easily while holding beds open for manure or compost, I can indulge in some low-yield crops like sweet corn, and I can plant a little extra for the food bank without feeling cramped. I suspect I will follow in my grandmother's footsteps, planting mostly ornamentals on the low/far end, where it gets more shade and it can get marshy.
I mused a little about the side of the house, but there's not a whole lot of point to planning that until I either take the box and holly out, or cut them down and allow them to resprout. That whole space next to the house is dark and cool to the point where I'm unsure what will want to be there except moss and violets; I'm revising my thoughts on azaleas toward putting one or two on the corner of the house, where at least they'll get afternoon light.
I did spend some time thinking about the lawn. It's about 50' wide by 40' deep, which puts the expense of underlaying it with gopher wire at about $1400... On talking to Jenny about it, she pointed out that there are few mounds in that open space in any given year, and it might be that a perimeter of wire would be enough, with occasional trapping. Or, she said, simply having a dog present may deter them altogether. I'm unwilling to re-do the whole space and seed it just to have it overrun, but perhaps the risk is low enough that I could forego the wire. I may level and seed one area, such as the pathway from the front porch to the near gate, and see what happens. I can also wait to do the rest until I have a dog. (Who, I hope, won't be inclined to dig the lawn up... well, that's what fences and gates are for, after all.)
The more I think about it, the more I like the cottage garden look, with borders of flowers around the lawn. Beds up against the house for sure, with tall flowers between the windows and shorter ones underneath... The "bays" created by the projection of the front porch allow for a nice deep bed on either side, even if I add a semi-permanent access ramp to the north side of the porch. I can also put low raised beds on the outer perimeter of the lawn, as a modest check to the somewhat cliff-like bank of the stream along there, with a couple of breaks for stream access. It would give me a definite line for beating back things like the thimbleberry and coltsfoot, so they don't keep creeping up on the lawn.
I mentioned an access ramp; I am putting some thought into wheelchair and walker access. I have a good 40 years left, hopefully, but not all of my friends are (or will remain) able-bodied, nor will all of my family. Entrance to the house which doesn't involve steps, and access to the side yard, garden, and greenhouse that is smooth and broad, may one day come in handy. I'm already redesigning things like the back porch stairs to be compliant with standard building codes, with a full handrail and typical riser heights.
I spent a few minutes over breakfast researching how to make canvas sails and oilcloth, with the thought of making a set of "square sails" that can be dropped over the entrance to the garage in the winter... even with the windspeed limited by the nearby hillside and trees, the icy winds just whip in through the open entrance there and funnel straight into the mudroom and workshop breezeway. Properly fitting doors on the other side will help, but I think having an oiled canvas baffle would really cut the icy blasts. Make it so that there's a wooden slat on the bottom, and ropes on the sides to draw up each panel to the rafter where another slat hooks onto the beam, and you'd have a set of collapsible screens to put up at the beginning of winter and take down in the spring. If the slats aren't enough to weigh down the bottoms in nasty weather, add some ties or hardware to keep them together and lash them to the sides of the garage. You'd want them independent when there isn't a storm, so you could pull up one or two and get a vehicle out. Oiling the canvas (lightweight dropcloths, of course!) would make sure that splashed rain and blown snow wouldn't keep them damp enough to mildew, particularly if they're hung out on a sunny spring day before being stowed in a dry place like the Annex rafters. They would probably even let in a decent amount of light on a bright day.
So planning, along with some light pruning, taking in the laundry, and taking books out to the Red Bug, filled most of my day. I'm staying home tomorrow while Jenny trundles down the hill by herself; it will give the Red Bug some exercise, and more importantly I can stay home and babysit the phone. Supposedly HughesNet is going to be calling me about my trouble ticket regarding the very slow internet speed every night... they said they would call in "2-3 days" from Tuesday, and though I'm not going to hold my breath, it's best if one of us has their ear on the phone. So Jenny will go do her usual Friday things, and I'll stay in the house downstairs. I can clean things, wash windows, and itemize receipts (thrilling!). Perhaps I'll get to catch someone creeping up the driveway under the assumption that the house is vacant.
After putting the chickens to bed tonight, I went out to the garage to get some stuff for dinner, and found Only picking her way across the driveway, shaking her feet because it was Wet. Other dashed out of sight down the driveway, then he started to sing. I spoke to Only, who started to talk back, then came into the garage to have some kibble. Other, hearing us talking, actually ventured back into the open, and stood there for a minute looking at me. I kept talking to Only, and Other sat down. He's a little oddly made; his head and shoulders are larger than his hindquarters, and his tail is definitely short and tweaked at the end. He has a round face with a small muzzle, small white socks on his front feet, long white socks on his hind feet, and a white tail tip. He's a light grey with dark grey marbling, except a few of his stripes, like across his forearms, are startlingly black. He's definitely unique, and this is the first real long look I've gotten so far. Maybe if I keep talking "cat" with Only, he will get the idea that I am a friendly cat-compatible animal; I don't expect him to socialize with people, but tolerating us would be very helpful.
I didn't do a whole lot today, as I'm nursing a sprained knuckle on my left hand. I did take in the laundry, and do some one-handed pruning in the side yard -- both once it had started sprinkling in the late afternoon. But I spent a great deal of the morning and early afternoon walking around, standing or sitting so that I could ponder an area, and thinking.
I mapped out some possible layouts for the garden and greenhouse area, to accommodate the greenhouse itself, the septic tank (which needs to be accessible), and a paddock for new lambs. It looks like I have access to about twice as much space as I need for all my vegetable gardening, which is nice; it allows me to rotate easily while holding beds open for manure or compost, I can indulge in some low-yield crops like sweet corn, and I can plant a little extra for the food bank without feeling cramped. I suspect I will follow in my grandmother's footsteps, planting mostly ornamentals on the low/far end, where it gets more shade and it can get marshy.
I mused a little about the side of the house, but there's not a whole lot of point to planning that until I either take the box and holly out, or cut them down and allow them to resprout. That whole space next to the house is dark and cool to the point where I'm unsure what will want to be there except moss and violets; I'm revising my thoughts on azaleas toward putting one or two on the corner of the house, where at least they'll get afternoon light.
I did spend some time thinking about the lawn. It's about 50' wide by 40' deep, which puts the expense of underlaying it with gopher wire at about $1400... On talking to Jenny about it, she pointed out that there are few mounds in that open space in any given year, and it might be that a perimeter of wire would be enough, with occasional trapping. Or, she said, simply having a dog present may deter them altogether. I'm unwilling to re-do the whole space and seed it just to have it overrun, but perhaps the risk is low enough that I could forego the wire. I may level and seed one area, such as the pathway from the front porch to the near gate, and see what happens. I can also wait to do the rest until I have a dog. (Who, I hope, won't be inclined to dig the lawn up... well, that's what fences and gates are for, after all.)
The more I think about it, the more I like the cottage garden look, with borders of flowers around the lawn. Beds up against the house for sure, with tall flowers between the windows and shorter ones underneath... The "bays" created by the projection of the front porch allow for a nice deep bed on either side, even if I add a semi-permanent access ramp to the north side of the porch. I can also put low raised beds on the outer perimeter of the lawn, as a modest check to the somewhat cliff-like bank of the stream along there, with a couple of breaks for stream access. It would give me a definite line for beating back things like the thimbleberry and coltsfoot, so they don't keep creeping up on the lawn.
I mentioned an access ramp; I am putting some thought into wheelchair and walker access. I have a good 40 years left, hopefully, but not all of my friends are (or will remain) able-bodied, nor will all of my family. Entrance to the house which doesn't involve steps, and access to the side yard, garden, and greenhouse that is smooth and broad, may one day come in handy. I'm already redesigning things like the back porch stairs to be compliant with standard building codes, with a full handrail and typical riser heights.
I spent a few minutes over breakfast researching how to make canvas sails and oilcloth, with the thought of making a set of "square sails" that can be dropped over the entrance to the garage in the winter... even with the windspeed limited by the nearby hillside and trees, the icy winds just whip in through the open entrance there and funnel straight into the mudroom and workshop breezeway. Properly fitting doors on the other side will help, but I think having an oiled canvas baffle would really cut the icy blasts. Make it so that there's a wooden slat on the bottom, and ropes on the sides to draw up each panel to the rafter where another slat hooks onto the beam, and you'd have a set of collapsible screens to put up at the beginning of winter and take down in the spring. If the slats aren't enough to weigh down the bottoms in nasty weather, add some ties or hardware to keep them together and lash them to the sides of the garage. You'd want them independent when there isn't a storm, so you could pull up one or two and get a vehicle out. Oiling the canvas (lightweight dropcloths, of course!) would make sure that splashed rain and blown snow wouldn't keep them damp enough to mildew, particularly if they're hung out on a sunny spring day before being stowed in a dry place like the Annex rafters. They would probably even let in a decent amount of light on a bright day.
So planning, along with some light pruning, taking in the laundry, and taking books out to the Red Bug, filled most of my day. I'm staying home tomorrow while Jenny trundles down the hill by herself; it will give the Red Bug some exercise, and more importantly I can stay home and babysit the phone. Supposedly HughesNet is going to be calling me about my trouble ticket regarding the very slow internet speed every night... they said they would call in "2-3 days" from Tuesday, and though I'm not going to hold my breath, it's best if one of us has their ear on the phone. So Jenny will go do her usual Friday things, and I'll stay in the house downstairs. I can clean things, wash windows, and itemize receipts (thrilling!). Perhaps I'll get to catch someone creeping up the driveway under the assumption that the house is vacant.
After putting the chickens to bed tonight, I went out to the garage to get some stuff for dinner, and found Only picking her way across the driveway, shaking her feet because it was Wet. Other dashed out of sight down the driveway, then he started to sing. I spoke to Only, who started to talk back, then came into the garage to have some kibble. Other, hearing us talking, actually ventured back into the open, and stood there for a minute looking at me. I kept talking to Only, and Other sat down. He's a little oddly made; his head and shoulders are larger than his hindquarters, and his tail is definitely short and tweaked at the end. He has a round face with a small muzzle, small white socks on his front feet, long white socks on his hind feet, and a white tail tip. He's a light grey with dark grey marbling, except a few of his stripes, like across his forearms, are startlingly black. He's definitely unique, and this is the first real long look I've gotten so far. Maybe if I keep talking "cat" with Only, he will get the idea that I am a friendly cat-compatible animal; I don't expect him to socialize with people, but tolerating us would be very helpful.