Signs of September

Posted on September 3, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

On Friday I got all sentimental… and metaphorical and poetical… about the sun setting on another summer. I realize officially we have a few weeks left, but here we are the start of September (already!) and things are starting to feel a bit different.

They’re starting to look a bit different too

To mark the start of September, one of our maple trees has already started turning red.

I don’t mean to alarm you, but the change is not limited to just a handful of leaves

So far, the change does seem to be limited to the one tree.

But the whole tree is involved in the metamorphosis

I think it’s coming, people. Yes, it’s the f-word (not that one!), soon to be followed by the big W.

Are you ready?

Retraction

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Continuing with this week’s theme of manpower, Matt would like for me to formally retract the statement I made last week that trenching the satellite line was “no sweat.”

As the person who spent six hours burying the wire, Matt would like it made known that this job was no small task.

The distance from the satellite dish to the house was about 150 feet. Given that length, it didn’t matter that the trench was only six inches deep; this was a tough job.

The satellite wire is to the left of the trench

In addition to the length of the trench, the other challenge was the trench’s position through and alongside a stand of trees. Matt had to contend with a lot of roots while he was digging.

A particularly large root that Matt encountered on his excavation

Once he had the trench done, it was a simple matter (hope I don’t get in trouble for downplaying this part of the job) of laying the wire in the bottom.

The wire in the trench

As I mentioned last week, the wire runs under our patio for a short distance. While we’d already worked together to trench this section, once the wire was in place Matt had to backfill, level and reset the patio slabs.

Patio slabs back in place

He also had to cut an extra few inches of plastic conduit and slit it to go around the wire. This protects the wire where it comes out of the ground so that it doesn’t get pinched or cut.

He used just a basic plastic pipe for the conduit and slit it to go around the wire

When Matt was digging, he kept sod on one side of the trench and top soil on the other, so that everything could be neatly put back in place. This made for a very tidy lawn at the end of the day.

You can’t even tell Matt was there

And what does manpower look like after six hours of sweaty work? Matt documented that for me as well:

Note the staging with the feet on the table, the shovel in the shot and the satellite in the distance. Note as well the angle of the setting sun showing how long Matt was working at this job.

There you go, Matt. I hope that this post makes up for any downplaying of your efforts and skills. Thank you for all of your work on this job and all of the others you take on to make our home all that we want it to be.

An afternoon hike

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

Bring your boots (and your balance)

Buds on a pink wild honeysuckle bush at the edge of the back field

A turtle covered in moss

A grassy grove at the entrance to the trail

The only frog that would hold still for a picture

An old stone wall back in the woods

A pinecone stuck to its branch

Deer tracks in the mud

A deep spot in the marsh where the stream flows through

It’s pretty cool to go for an hour and a half walk, all on my own property. There were a few moments where I wasn’t entirely sure how to get back to the house.

What did you do with your weekend? Any wildlife sightings in your neighbourhood?

Apple blossom time

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

This beautiful big old apple tree sits in the middle of the west meadow, just between the house and the pond.

I’ve been watching and waiting all spring for it to blossom. And it finally has.

As I was taking the pictures, I realized that the air was full of the sound of bees as they buzzed from blossom to blossom, pollinating the blooms.

One was kind enough to oblige me by pausing long enough for a photo, although I could not convince him to pose nicely.

My grandparents owned an apple orchard and farmed it for many years. My grandmother would often talk about driving the loads of apples to the market, and Dad still tells stories of working in the orchard with my grandfather.

Someday, I’d like to have a small orchard, just for ourselves. I’d grow apples, of course, and also peaches, pears, cherries, plums and maybe even some grapes.

For now, this tree will do just fine.

Pond paddler indentified?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

We’ve not seen our furry pond paddler since the last sighting, but we now have more evidence as to what species he might be.

Felled trees by the pond

The consensus from the comments on the last post was ‘beaver,’ and the signs seem to say commenters are right.

Bite mark analysis, anyone?

Given the size of some of these trees, he’s ambitious. So far, there’s no sign of a dam or a lodge, but about half the property is wetland, so it could be anywhere really.

The farmer who’s rented our fields has started to clear out some of the horse paddocks, as we’re not going to be using them. Perhaps we should put this busy beaver (sorry) to work on our fence posts.

Putting down roots

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Julia at Home on 129 Acres

We inherited many, many things from previous owners when we took possession of the farm (I haven’t shown you pictures of our personal Hoarders episode yet, but I may some day).

A number of those things were plants. Sometime last year, the people we bought the farm from went out and got many, many plants, but they never planted them! Bushes, flowers, trees, shrubs, all of them were still in their plastic pots sitting on the ground in and around the areas where the front flower gardens would be if they weren’t completely overgrown with weeds.

The stockpile included 5 trees.

Our inherited trees

I have no idea how long they’d been there, but when we saw the property for the first time at the beginning of January, they were all laying on their sides, frozen into a kiddie pool (I guess an attempt to keep them alive?), and they were still there, just like that, when we took possession in March.

When the ice in the pool melted enough, Matt and I stood them upright, but they were so curvy and bent from laying down that they easily tipped over again. We propped them up with concrete blocks and checked them frequently searching for any signs of life.

A few weeks ago, we noticed buds. Finally on Sunday (fittingly, Earth Day), we made some time to plant them.

I love a tree-lined driveway, and we’re already in pretty good shape, but there are a few blank spots, so that’s where we focused our plantings.

One of our new trees. He's a little spindly right now, but the inspiration of what he can become is right behind him.

According to the tags that were tied to the trees, we have an Autumn Radiance Maple, two Unique Littleleaf Lindens, and an Autumn Blaze Maple. The fifth tree wasn’t labelled, but it looks like some kind of maple.