Lots of changes

I'd almost forgotten about this blog but I knew I'd be back sooner or later.

We lost our dog Jenny so turned the dog/mud room into a pantry. Added shelves to the closet

They're FULL now

Built this awesome can holder

I don't know if this had been mentioned or not but I painted the front fence from white to black and it looks so much nicer now.

The black really stands out

In March '22 we built these raised garden beds. So far I've got $48 into them 

& that was for the top layer of dirt. We put branches in the bottom, then a layer of last years composted mowed lawn grass, then two year old hose poop/shavings/hay/sand compost and topped them off with the purchased garden soil. The compost was absolutely loaded with worms.

We put the garden on the north side of the house where they will receive 12-14 hours of direct sunshine per day. I'm going to use companion plants in each bed so they can protect each other from pests, shade delicate shorter plants and not be near plants they don't tolerate well. I've got all the seeds and just waiting for the sunshine to warm the world to plant them. 

Last week I scored this greenhouse. It's one year old, no damage to it at all, a friend helped me go to Seattle to get it and I was able to put the frame back together that evening by myself. The next day another friend helped put the plastic on.

We've had a couple days with HIGH winds and even though I had neglected to tie it down, it stayed in place and I was VERY lucky for that.

Those two water troughs will be put out by the road at the end of the black board fence; last year we had one & it was loaded with flowers so this year there will be three loaded with flowers.

Inside the greenhouse right now is one of the beds, I'm just using it for a table at this time. I've got a bunch of starts on trays and am happily surprised to say that Marigolds and Peas are growing well. Each night I cover them all with a plastic sheet and take it off during the days.

Tomorrow will be our warmest day so far of the year, up to 72*. I'll be airing out the greenhouse and working in the other beds. I need to put stakes in corners and install bird netting to keep chickens out of them. I've also got more plastic that I'll be putting over these beds when there are seeds in them.

A couple other BIG additions to the farm are:

My new Gypsy Vanner filly, now 9.5 months old. She's from Canada and she's been here since November 2021. Her name is Black Orchid Ambleside, the B.O. are the breeder but Ambleside is the name I had chosen in 2010 when I rode a Gypsy in England for the first time, then had lunch in an OLD pub in the little village of Ambleside. I knew I needed my own Gypsy & I'd name her Amble. 

The other big addition was a 2021 Can Am Commander 1000xt.  This machine is FUN. We've taken it to Nevada, Liberty, Walker Valley and Tahuya many times.

We are so blessed to have our beautiful home.