The Great Wall(s) of Bowville

As promised, here are a couple pics of the new raised bed garden “retaining” walls. Overall they are finished. Just need to backfill behind the wall with the last of the left over AAC block remnants and then fill the rest with wood chips… once again, called “hog-fuel” out this way... Love that!

We like the walls a lot. It started by wheelbarrowing the stone to the garden, then mixing mortar in five gallon buckets and wheeling them in to the site. Then the fun began of piecing everything together. It's like a puzzle. Even built four sets of stairs and clad them with stone too. Each stairwell has two flower boxes on each side, also made of AAC block and stone. Hey, why not? Only a few more hours of work but well worth it. It was a fun project overall. I love working outside- rain or shine. It also was like a giant outdoor art project...like I can't even remember when I last did anything artsy... I miss that.

Deb intends to plant some crocus bulbs in the flower boxes now, and by springtime we should have some nice flowers. Very cool heh? I will be planting garlic bulbs tomorrow and by July we should have a load of fresh garlic.

All for now kids… Love ya, D2

Property wildlife

It’s almost mid November. Where does the time go? Well, I can actually tell you in great detail but for now I’ll just say we have been non-stop since coming back from Florida. Our main event was going back down to Portland to finish emptying out our house. Good Grief. We took the train down, got picked up by Matt and Rachel, and stayed with them for 3 days. God bless those two! We had a great time with them…going out to eat, listening to JVA, and having a fab dinner at their house with Rachel’s parents. Wonderful people!

The other side of it was a lot of work again. Cleaned out our basement, took stuff to the dump, and then rented and packed a 16ft rental truck. Much to our surprise we filled it!!! Drove it back along with the little 1973 BMW I bought a few years ago. Great fun. So, now everything is out of the house and it is up for sale…. Interested?

Now for the good stuff. Recall that my little lamb, Debbie, gave me this wonderful camera for my retirement. I have taken 4,787 photos since July 30! I just love it. And, our property has had some wonderful visitors… not the human kind. Check it out. Deer, Cooper’s hawks, woodpeckers, and most recently a Great Horned Owl! It's kinda funny how things go. When I am outside on the property, or maybe working outside, if I see wildlife I now have the time to go back to the house and grab the camera. In the recent past, I would have never taken the time to go get my camera. But now, I don't feel rushed and I am taking the time to enjoy the property. It is so different. I love taking photos and now I have a camera that allows me to shoot the photos the way I have always imagined they should look. I am just getting used to the camera but these aren't too bad for starters. Enjoy!