Monday, May 14, 2018

PLANTING LAURELS AND YARROW AT THE FARM


Bess and Nellie at the pond
Daughter Hallie and grand-dog Primo came to visit this Mother’s Day weekend, arriving Thursday evening. Friday, we exercised, hiked, shopped, and met son Clint and Elisha for dinner. The highlight of Hallie's visit was a day trip to the farm on Saturday. Of course, the original plan had been that she would visit us at the farm, but with the damage to the house, we had to stay in town.

Since we had rain in town last week, I imagined that it would be quite wet at the farm, but instead it was very dry. In fact, even the usual wet places were totally dry. Strange. It was a good day for planting.

Planting laurels
Plenty of compost
Hallie brought four laurel trees with her, starts she potted and nurtured from her yard. As an experiment, she wants to see if they will grow at the farm. Just looking at them, I’m concerned that they won’t. There’s quite a difference between Seattle weather and the farm, and we struggle to get any tree to grow. But – she prepared the holes last fall, and she planted the laurels with plenty of compost, fed and watered them. Now Mike and I will water through the summer – and we’ll see. If they make it through the summer, will they make it through the winter?

From the grove over the north field toward Plank's
I carried along five of the yarrow plants I potted. Hallie helped me clear a spot on the bank behind the house, and then we planted them. She went to the barn for rocks (no dearth of rocks at the farm) and embedded them in the same area.

While Hallie and I planted, Mike puttered along at this and that, until he decided to load the chokecherry wood into the back of the Dakota. And then, when we arrived back in town, he brought out his new splitter and split it. It worked well, and he was pleased.

Kitchen into dining room
Living room
Perhaps you’re wondering about progress on the house. The crew started work on Thursday, and our furniture and possessions have been stored. As I anticipated, much more was removed from the peripheral rooms than I would have thought. The original woodwork in the dining room has been removed for restoration. Demolition will begin this week.


The prospect of putting the house back together is as daunting as it is exciting. It’s tough to make decisions, but starting from what I know, I’m making lists. KW

3 comments:

Chris said...

What a beautiful day it was and you got much accomplished. I'm so glad Hallie came to visit! Did you go into the house or take pictures through the windows?

Kathy said...

Oh, I went in. As it happened, we left the 4-wheeler key hanging at the back door, and Mike needed it. It wasn't there, but I found it on the washing machine. We were grateful the crew had left it where we could find it. I didn't go upstairs. And I didn't linger long.

Yes, we were glad to see Hallie. She always gives us a boost. She and Nick are vacationing in Norway later this month.

Chuck said...

When does your house get "sealed"? It looks like there is a lot of work to be done. Glad the splitter is working well.