End of Season and Looking to Spring

One of the last flowers of the season! And although we haven't had a hard frost and we haven't been able to officially celebrate our non-anniversary, the few flowers that remain are getting weaker and paler... except for these crazy morning glories! They seem to be in their element. The color is spectacular and they're dribbling and sprawling all over the vegetable garden gates.

And while Bob has reminded me that I said I was "done planting" (whatever that means!) I did manage to score a couple more types of white daffodils and narcissus for that newly planted spring blooming area. I have already planted "Barrett Browning", "Misty Glen", "Thalia" and "Ice Follies", I was eager to snatch up "Mount Hood " and "Poeticus" on sale at an Agway. That new area is going to really be a treat in the spring, as I have lamented the lack of much of anything going on early in the season at The BauHaus Chicken Coop. Next year should bring a lovely explosion of white daffodils, assorted lilacs and an under planting of vinca. I gives me something to look forward to, even if "they" are predicting a relatively mild winter.

Going to New Heights

Some people like heights. They scramble up ladders and perch on roof edges and wave happy trowels while spreading roof sealant. I am not one of these people.
Sensible artist that I am, I like to remain on Terra Firma- even if I am a monkey- and let others scale to extreme heights and face down dizziness, danger and disaster.
That's Bob up there. I guess I should be glad that he seems somehow comfortable ascending to the thin air where eagles soar and he makes sure that the roof in good shape for the approaching winter.
But I'm glad when he comes back to earth.

Yes, that's the actual view... can you see Bob? You couldn't pay me a million dollars to go up there!

Art, Sickeness and The Resistance Continues

I haven't blogged since that terrace completion because I've been really busy. I did Open Studios again this year, after a hiatus of four years. It was great! I got lots of good feedback and some serious interest in being informed of upcoming gallery shows (of which there are a few in the works. I'm excited about that!) There were something like 160+ artists in the building- a giant temporary space that used to be a garrison for some sort of military group, I think. And there was a surprising amount of really interesting and engaging work on display, along with several wacky performances that got me and my friends laughing. (We needed that after all the dire news recently.)
Above is one of the pieces I showed, "The Small Golden Pillow for the Resistance". I had three larger wall pieces on display as well as an assortment of artist's books. I was really happy because this years Open Studios was extraordinarily well attended. I spoke until I was hoarse and saw a lot of artists/friends that I haven't seen in ages. And then I got sick...
Well, that could be because of all the people in attendance, probably a half carrying some cold/virus germs... and there were children! Oh, you have to watch out for those little buggers wiping there snotty boogers everywhere. Did I mention that there were no bathrooms, just Port-O-Lets that got increasingly nasty as the weekend wore on? My last visit just before leaving on Sunday was particularly memorable. I bonded with several people in line who were brave enough (and desperate enough) to need to use the facilities. We played a good game of "what's behind Door Number 1 or Door Number 2... or do you want Door Number 3?" You can't win.
But it very well could have been my considerate co-worker who came in briefly on Friday to coach me in the use of the new photo lights at work. He came in briefly as he went home sick with a cold.  Yeeech. He never strikes me as being the most hygienic fellow at the best of times!
So I'm not feeling particularly smart- or well, either- and i'm going to go take a nap. I actually called in sick today, because unlike others whose names shall not be mentioned, I don't wish to spread illness.

Terrace Complete!

It's only fair that I insert a photo of Bob hard at work on our terrace so that you don't mistakenly think that I did all the work. So here's Bob, mixing up the final batch of mortar to finish off those decorative seams of quartz rocks. This is, after all, The House That Quartz Built.

This is a nice detail shot, showing how we cleverly united the cement areas to the mixed cement and stone areas. It's a perfect balance between playful and practical (much like us!) and it looks good to boot.  It was great to be able to say, "We're done!" and take down the construction zone fencing and open the door directly out onto the lovely new terrace...

We celebrated it's completion yesterday, despite a steady rain and less than cooperative weather in general. The last two months have been unrelentingly warm and sunny and conducive to outdoor living on a nice terrace but plan a celebration and you get rain... at least it's good for curing cement!
It's great to finally finish a project that has been on our minds for the last six years. We do spend a huge percentage of our time outside and having a new outdoor room is a treat. I have almost forgotten how awful that rotting deck was.
And if you look really carefully at the back right hand side of the terrace, you'll see the flat cement slab that was already there and to the right of that is a small pile of rocks. This was intentionally put there: it's a new toad house. We have had a toad- or a few toads that all look pretty similar- residing under our rotting deck. We provided a small heap of canted rocks on the dirt at the edge of the terrace- a perfect replacement house for our resident toads. We hope s/he enjoys it!

Terrace Processo

So the real work on the terrace commences! (To be distinguished from all the preliminaries like hauling gravel, concrete and wood...) Bob is so smart. He figured out a nifty framework to level the areas we constructing: we wanted a combination of cement pads (that would be easier to shovel in the winter) and stone and concrete sections... along with narrower channels which are a combination of mortar and white quartz in between that would unite the pattern. And it had to slope away (slightly) from the house so as to drain well. So many things to consider!
Here we are, considering:

And then the endless mixing and applying began:

(Do I look like I know what I'm doing? Hmmmm....)These bags of cement weigh a ton (well... 90 pounds) but don't go as far as you'd think. We got 8 bags initially (remember all that math about how much weight we'd lifted one afternoon?) but we had to make a second and third trip to Home Depot for the same amount again and again.

Here's a couple of days later. Notice we have a very interesting- and stylish- mix of cement and rock going on. There's a lovely ratio of flat cement pads, radiating out from the door with the surrounding areas (that receive less foot traffic) being a mix of stone and cement. It's dynamic yet restful.

Another angle to better describe what's shaping up. We're about half way there and it is getting more exciting by the day. I can't wait to be able to use it! Next spring?

Rock Shop

Part of the fun of building the terrace is a trip to the quarry. Yay! The piles of sand, gravel, rock, slag and slurry are staggeringly high and it's like visiting the moon or Mars. The first time I went to this quarry with Bob (maybe when we were constructing the chimney? my studio?) I was intimidated by the vast barren heaps and the gigantic equipment that barrels by at what seems like a million miles an hour. Everyone is on an important mission, dwarfed by their humongous Tonka toys.

They're so purposeful and all lined up to be filled with mammoth amounts of pre-mixed concrete. Our project seems so puny in comparison. (And here's a fun fact: the gravel we're buying is absurdly cheap. An entire ton of that crushed stone we got to start the terrace was only $15. The stuff we bought today was only $25 a ton. But to get it delivered was $305! Thank goodness we have the trusty red pick up truck.) The clouds of dust are evidence of just how fast they're going.

Here's a shot of the mountain of rock that they're busily reducing to the 1/2 inch gravel like the stuff we're buying. It looks like the Grand Canyon (or again, the moon) and there are monster trucks racing up and down this very steep access road. It all seems somewhat precarious.

Here's Bob bravely facing down the giant bucket loader that is a big as our truck. These guys are pretty masterful about loading in just the amount you want. I guess they could really crush the truck beneath a pile of rubble if they wanted to. But loaded up, we safely departed and began the other fun- of shoveling off all that gravel back home...


 

Can't Stop Diggin' It

Here's an action shot from my exciting "Digging Cam". Yup! We're at it again... expanding that outdoor seating area. You will remember that as a quick fix for the garden tour, we demolished our sadly rotting "deck" and put down gravel. It looked lovely, but it was but a temporary stop along the way to true, full house-width terrace...

So I spent a pleasant afternoon carting away wheel barrows and wheelbarrows worth of dirt. (And yes, there was only one of me but three wheelbarrows. I was anticipating some friendly gnomes or dwarves to come along and help me out.) Some of the soil went to fill in a sizeable hole that Robin (who was VERY helpful during the Big Dig) had excavated beneath the picnic table. Some went to a mighty depression along side the shady area. And some simply became a pile of dirt. You never know when you'll need extra dirt! (Like when Robin re-excavates that hole...)

(The beginning of the pile of dirt, out past the horse barn.) And there's always plenty of rocks! These will probably go behind Bob's studio. Of course, none of them are flat and usable for the actual terrace; most are just handy potato sized stones, good for not much of anything.

Another live action digging photo! Isn't this exciting? I know I've mentioned before than I really like to dig in the dirt. It's truly one of my favorite mindless exercises. I guess that makes me pretty luck today as I dug away to my heart's content. By the late afternoon, it was well underway.

It needs to be deeper but I got a good start and all the sod is removed. We need more gravel and concrete, but we have the rocks for the edge and all kinds of ideas for the central pattern. I did this preparation so that Bob and I can do the construction this weekend.

And all day long, I had this bit of doggerel looping through my head. I believe it is from Vonnegut's "Slaughter House Five" (Could be re-attributing...)

 "Me and Yuri work in mine-
Holy shit! We have good time!
Every Friday we get paid-
Holy shit! No work next day!"

That just about sums it up.