Thursday, August 13, 2009

Getting from here to there

I had a rough day at work today. It has been busy for a few weeks but today I was swamped! Fortunately, my co-workers came to my rescue and helped me out.
V and the children were 'swamped' in a different way. They were doing waterway management today. Well, actually, landscape management.
The lowlands of our property are quite marshy, in fact, we have lots of wetlands species growing there and with all the rain we've had this year, it is pretty squishy down there in the bottomlands. But this afternoon, they built a bridge over the main stream!
Twaddle-Bottom Bridge!
They even named it. I'm not sure why.... But V is excited that he can now drive the garden tractor across the stream to mow some of the areas that we haven't been able to get to before now.
Running water under the bridge.
V, victorious mowing at the property line between the hills!
At least he didn't mow down all the wildflowers. He has more mowed paths for ease of walking. He even managed to get up to the top of the big hill, that we have dubbed 'gazebo hill' since we have a long term plan to build a large gazebo up there (maybe even consider renting it out for small weddings since the setting is lovely). It is our largest hill, except for the one the house is on, and it has a wonderful flat top that just cries out for something on it. I briefly considered putting my garden up there but it's too far away from the house and there is no water supply if it were to get dry.

I12 discovered a hornet's nest the hard way this afternoon when V had him pulling weeds (as a punishment for getting caught in a lie!) Fortunately he was only stung once and now we know where the nest is and can take care of it. It's quite near the house in the iris bed by the south porch. Definitely too close to leave it alone. I12 has recovered well but is now worried about going out on the south deck for fear he will be stung again. He doesn't really believe us when we tell him that if he doesn't bother them, they won't bother him. Of course, I've found that the ones that nest in the ground tend to be a more aggressive species than those that build nests above ground. But they haven't bothered us before now.

Work on the house is progressing slowly, we have a fully functional bathroom upstairs although we still aren't using the shower as we haven't painted yet. J15 has a room- with a door even! We've been taking a bit more time cleaning up things outside. V made his first real trip to the garden with me this afternoon. Oh, he's seen it and mowed around it but really hasn't taken time to explore it. He helped me search for tomatoes, picked a few peppers and even did a little weeding around the peppers. He was amazed by how many tomatoes there were- even though I've been telling him that the vines are loaded with green tomatoes.
My friend Jim brought me a treat this afternoon. He made a ginger/chile/lime relish that really packs a punch. I'm thinking about marinading some (definitely not local) shrimp in it and serving it over rice for dinner tomorrow night. I12 is planning another meal that he wants to make this weekend. I've got to work on Saturday and we still need to get school supplies for the children. So much to do, so little time.

4 comments:

  1. Now I am jealous! You have a stream and now a lovely bridge! Everything sounds as if it is coming along quickly!

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  2. I so want a stream and a bridge (other than the one in my water gardens). Love the pictures - glad you guys are moving right along
    Kris

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  3. I like the little bridge! So sorry l12 was stung - We found a hornests nest in the girls playhouse the other day - Son Brien removed it before the girls were stung. Might come over and swipe a few tomatoes. Mine are all gone...debbie

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  4. that's a nice little bridge. i've been thinking of what i'll do at red earth, since my plot is in the southeast corner, everyone else is on the northern half of the land, and a creek runs through the bottoms smack in the middle, west to east. most of the year it's a very small creek, in a bed sunk 6 feet or so below the rest of that area. but during spring floods, it rises and floods most of the bottoms over 100 ft wide.

    even when it's empty the creek bed is tricky to cross. a bridge would work for parts of the year, but would be useless in the floods.

    i've been thinking maybe a zip line would be a fun alternative, and at least a pulley system from one tree to another across the creek, so one could hang a basket, tools, or bags and send them across and keep the use of your arms for the crossing.

    here's the creek mentioned when it's flooding - http://www.flickr.com/photos/pipdiddly/3557099269/

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