Nu Horz

 

OMG! Suddenly- after much anticipation and delay- Candy/Candy/Nico/Neko*(1) is here! I feel like I'm hallucinating... She's so laid back, so zen, so chill; she got off loaded from the trailer and we put her in her pasture and she fell right to eating. Good girl!!

Meanwhile, "Horse Number One" aka Maggie is carefully sequestered on the other side of the fence*(2) and her eyes are bulging out of her head:

She's like, "Who's that and where did she come from?!??!!?!" Hopefully, they become fast friends and live happily ever after. I will be keeping them separated for about a week. If they seem accepting of each other that's great. If they don't... well tough! Life may be a bit more complicated for the near future but isn't that what makes life fun? Just wait until grain feeding time... then the excitement will really begin.

Anyway, I'm sort of surprised that Robin hasn't seemed to notice that we have a new horse or has decided that all horses look alike or something because (atypically) she is not barking. Glad some one else is low key; my head is still reeling that we*(3) now own two horses.

That's Maggie thinking things over. I trust she will like having pasture company in the form of another equine pal. She hasn't seen one of her own kind in a while. I have been letting her smell my hands and clothes when I come back from riding but this is an escalation. 

At least the arrival of Horse Number Two (they're now like those multiple wives of sultans) has kept me from obsessing over the endless parade of crazy news. NOT!! See *(4) below.

*(1) Although officially, her name is Neko... by popular demand.

*(2) I'm thinking of the old adage, "Good fences make good neighbors". Hahahhaha: Get it? "Good NEIGH-bors"?!

*(3) Thoughtfully including Bob in my insanity.

*(4) And speaking of insanity, how about the entire rethuglican party deciding to go all positive for the virus? Does that surprise anyone? No masks, no social distancing... what a bunch of losers!

Moving the Goal Posts

Can you see it? Can you see what's different? To the occasional visitor it might not be super evident but to us it's major: the gate is GONE!! There was a scabby wire fence separating this section of the yard from the "outside world". In order for us to access the vegetable garden or compost pile, you had to exit through a gate; not always easy when carrying a pile of kitchen scraps or wheeling a wheel barrow. Psychologically, it was a big barrier. Besides, Lil' Robin the Good was doomed to remain on the other side of the fence.
Yesterday, we finally moved the fence. Bob had done preparations in the form of selecting and resurfacing the posts- stout cedar posts that he employed an ancient Japanese wood burning technique to preserve. The gate got moved first:

(Yes, the gate will be repainted soon.) Then we moved the wire fence and let Robin out of the house. First she approached what used to be a fence, apparently uncertain that it was gone. Then she stepped forward hesitantly, like a force field was going to rebuff her. Then she exploded out into the new area- lots more space and smells to explore!

And I discovered lots of weeds! Holy cow! That fence prevented me from accessing the side of the Blue Garden and weeds and invasive ornamental grasses had run amuck. (I guess I know what I'll be doing for the next week or so.) But I did get a good idea of how to reshape the edge of that garden...

In all fairness, this side looks pretty good. And here's a close up of my favorite pale blue "Belladonna"Delphinium:

That color is pretty accurate; like a summer sky. I'll have to take a few pictures of the area behind the Blue Garden- sort of our utility room for the vegetable garden. Bob constructed a lovely fence out of old slats from recycled stockade fence affixed to a simple wire grid fence. It looks great and functions to afford more privacy while composting or working in the vegetable garden. It's beautiful! (And worthy of it's own blog post... coming soon.)
Here's the view from the driveway side looking back to our yard.

Kinda makes the propane tank surround look wonky... hahahaha! If it's not one thing it's another. But the overall affect is one of splendor and open vistas. Come by and see it!

Good Fences and Neighbors- Again!

I was so excited to get this project underway that I plum forgot to take pictures or document it until too late! But see all that nice new fencing? Five whole panels (at 8 feet a panel that's an additional 40 feet of coverage!) that weren't there yesterday morning...
Last week, I announced to Bob that I was considering hiring our good friend Joe to assist me in erecting more fencing. Bob eagerly seconded my idea as he has been super busy with metalwork orders and he knew how anxious I was to get this fence section completed. It is right next to my famous Lilac and Shrub Departments... new additions as of the last couple of years, and in need of a bit of privacy. I felt exposed and self-conscious while gardening down there; sometimes I'm covered from head to toe in mud (or worse!) and wearing my gardening clothes- short hand for my weirdest and most expendable outfits... ripped, torn, and filthy. So I was sparing our neighbors (very nice people) from the cringe worthy spectacle of the soiled, cursing crazy lady lurching around and stumbling over half unearthed tree stumps and poison ivy brambles.*

Even my daffodils look happier now that they are a bit more protected!
So Joe cheerfully agreed to meet me for for a day of digging, nailing, hauling and hoisting fun. He arrived at 9:00 and we lugged drill, extension cords, shovels, crow bars, electric chain saw, fence sections and saw horses into place only to realize there was a bit more "clearing" that needed doing before we set up any fence. It took us a good hour to chop, saw and haul trees, wild rose bushes, barberry and scrubby choke cherry growth away. And then we were ready to start the actual joy of post hole digging. Our soil is reliably rocky...
At some point early in our efforts, we required a ladder so that Joe- despite being heroically taller than myself- could pound the posts in. (In a moment of engineering brilliance, he thought to sharpen the ends of the posts so that they would drive in more easily) I went to Bob's studio and requested a ladder and Bob helpfully asked "how many sections we had gotten up". Hahaha! He was surprised- and concerned- when I said, "None!" I think he thought we'd never get on with the job.
But we did! By coffee time (typically about 3:00 or 3:30) we were well on our way and had completed the job by 5:00. It looks great! Even our neighbor next door suggested that we needn't have put the "good side" of the fence towards them; I'm sure they're glad to be spared my weird hijinks and wardrobe crimes AND they get the "good side" of the fence! Deal! Good neighbors!

*Additionally, we no longer have to stare at their dozen or so parked cars and snow mobiles.

Good Fences make Good Neighbors

Bob and I spent what was a really pleasant afternoon erecting part of our ongoing fence project. While we like our neighbors, we don't always want to share driveway moments; I'm sure they feel the same way! We have been fortunate that a good pile of reusable, older stockade fencing came with the house. It was installed in peculiar places, but it was still serviceable and we moved it and used it to block off a good stretch of our property line. Bob recently purchased several new section and while the digging wasn't always easy (roots, rocks, tight spaces) we got three new post in and four sections up. At least the weather cooperated, with no humidity and nice temperatures. But there is a good deal of pollen around to prevent jobs like this from being altogether fun.

 A mix of old and new! This section of fencing goes behind Bob's "show room", where he has a bunch of garden supports and gates and arbors for sale. The new fence will allow the rusted metal work to stand out more, as will the idea of using white sand as a base. Right now the old leaves suppress grass and weeds and keep the metal work clean, but the tomato cages and peony rings do blend in.  We've been planning on doing this fence for a while, so it was good to get to it. There's another couple of panels to set up at this end, and further down the line in the opposite direction we need another four (maybe five) to complete our privacy wall. It also serves to keep the bears out and the dog in. (Yes, there was a bear and her off spring in a neighbor's yard recently. Yikes.)

And what does one eat in preparation for fence installation? Doesn't this look All-American? We've been nursing the remains of a package of (holistic, organic, free-range) turkey hot dogs from Memorial Day, and I think I'm ready to say good bye to them! Today we ran out of rolls and we had to improvise hot dogs surrounds. Bob used a tortilla wrap and I cobbled together slices of hot dog and sauerkraut on a Triscuit. Peculiar but we seemed fortified sufficiently to get the job done.

The Ol' "Good Fences Make Good Neighbors" Tactic

We're so happy. We've started our equivalent of the Great Wall of China, albeit a stockade version that is probably not visible form the Moon. I adore fences as I confessed to Bob today. To state the obvious, they do all these amazing things: they cut down on noise and allow you to walk outside wearing terrible, dirty gardening clothing and not have to worry about an immediate critique from the neighbors. You can have coffee at your kitchen table and not feel like you're on display. It helps to keep varmints like deer and coyotes out and varmints like your dog in. The funny thing is that we like the people who live on this side of our house. They're really nice and their kids are great but Bob and I are sometimes in need of space. So we build a fence. We're trying to assure our neighbors that it's not because of them I think tehy understand!
The fence will be another ongoing project. We "inherited" almost 90 feet (of which you see only 32 feet in the photo) and will be adding to it as we can afford to purchase more. Today being a wonderful warm sunny day, we worked at putting up another four sections. We're already reveling in the privacy.

Picture of fence sections that we moved from near Bob's studio.