Summer Projects, Part 1

We moved into the house we are living in now in late August of 2007. There was a huge lawn, both front and back, but no landscaping except for two small lilac bushes in the front lawn. Around the yard are trees, a mix of White Spruce, Birch, Cottonwood, and Willows. As you may already know, I like to have lots of flowers around the yard in the summer. I had several perennial beds at our other house, and I had some plants I wanted to move. We quickly rototilled up a small area where I knew I would want a flower bed, and then we moved Rhubarb and my white Wild Iris, and along with that came Dwarf Delphinium, Russian Salvia, and a few other stragglers. The view below is looking towards where Marty's shop now stands, and off to the right is where the flower bed was dug up. Here's a closer view of the flower bed. These two shots were taken on October 1st, 2007, and it was pushing the window of opportunity for transplanting. Generally the snow is here to stay by mid October and will be on the ground until sometime in April.Below is what it looked like on August 31, 2008. Along with the Iris and the Rhubarb, which survived the winter nicely, I planted some more perennials and also filled in with annuals and a backdrop of Sunflowers. That summer we put a flower bed along the front of the house and planted it with Ferns, Columbine, Wood Violets, and Dwarf Delphinium. We managed a few other minor projects that summer, and all the dirt work and foundation was put in for the new shop. On July 14th of 2009, things looked a bit better in the back flower bed, with a few more perennials and again some annuals and the backdrop of Sunflowers.The main focus last summer was the construction of the shop, but we also redid the front entry. You can check that out by clicking on Summer Projects and you will also be able to see the front flower bed in that post. If you want to check out more on the construction of the shop you can look under the Label section in my Sidebar and click on the Shop label. Finally in June this year we began work on increasing the size of the back flower bed and also raised it up a little. The photo below shows the completed project on June 13th, with the shop in the background. This is close to the same angle that the first photo in this post was taken from, just a little closer in.

The bed divides the lawn from the wild grasses and weeds, and because the ground slopes off a bit towards the back of the yard, by raising the bed we have leveled it out, which helps when it needs to be watered. Several of the plants that were in the original bed were moved to the left into the new area, and new plants were added. We weren't sure exactly how the bed was going to lay out until we got the project started, and we were doing a lot of improvising as we went along.

In the closeup of the flower bed taken in 2007, you will notice an old wash tub. Some 30 years ago we went hiking back in the woods north of Fairbanks. There is no one living there now, but back during the Gold Rush there were a lot of people living there, hoping to make their fortune. Sadly, very few of them realized their dreams, and when they moved on they left behind cabins, vehicles, mining equipment, and all of the various bits and pieces of their daily lives that were not worth packing out. Near one old cabin was an old wash tub, and being younger and not as wise as I am now, I thought it was worth dragging that sucker home. After dragging it for five or more miles, it didn't seem like such a good idea, but having invested so much effort in it already I was determined to bring it home. Eventually it became a planter and had Rhubarb growing in it at our other house. When we moved it here, the Rhubarb went in the ground and the old wash tub sat alongside of the flower bed. This year I tried a new annual ornamental grass, Bunny Tails, which I started in my potting room in the new shop. Those went in the wash tub, and I really like the way they look. I think I will have to put Bunny Tails in the tub again next year.

I planted a few of the Bunny Tails in the flower bed, and here you can also see some Asiatic Lilies, Trollius, Yarrow, Iris, and at the far left you can see a Dianthus. I mistakenly identified it in the post Hummingbird Moth or Only a Dream earlier this month. I had a bit of a mental lapse and called it a Phlox. The Dianthus was planted in 2008, but didn't bloom until last year. I posted about it in Dianthus Fantasy last year.

Moving down the flower bed you can see the transplanted Rhubarb plants doing nicely in the foreground, and Sunflower plants in the background. I think the Sunflowers will also be something I will have to start each year and use as a background plant.

Further along are more Sunflowers, more Lilies, and some Yarrow, along with some small Iris and Delphinium and a few annuals.

Then in the back are a few tomato plants, a Siberian Onion (decorative), and some Marigolds.

At the end of the bed are Zucchini plants. They have started to produce, and with five plants I am sure to be overrun very quickly. In the tub is a Crab Apple tree that got misplaced during the project. It was one of three bare root Crab Apple trees that I planted last year. One died, one is doing well, and this one was rescued as it was being dug up as dead. I still have to find a place to put it, and we'll see if it will survive another winter.

This is the view looking down the flower bed on the 24th, about six weeks later than the photo from the same angle above. I was scrambling a bit when we finally got the bed completed, moving plants, trying to get others in the ground that were getting tired of being in little pots, and trying to do long term planning. Before we were finished I was more into the "let's get this done" mode.

There will undoubtedly be more moving done next spring, and possibly more new perennials planted yet in the next few weeks. I will spend a bit of time looking at photos over the winter and taking more time to plan, now that I know exactly what space I have. Maybe I will actually draw up a plan on paper and list where everything is. I have put in some plant labels and need to get more. That will help me to know where things are supposed to be coming up. I am very happy with this summer project and I think it is a big improvement!

Where We Lived Before

Kelly asked where we lived before. I have lived in Fairbanks for 36 years and Marty more than that. When we were younger and more agile we built a lovely house in the hills overlooking Fairbanks. Here are some photos taken in the middle of September in 2006. The house has gorgeous views.

It is at the end of the road so it was a lovely spot to live.

It is on the side of a hill, which is actually more steep than it appears in the photo below. We had built the living area of the house over the top of a tall garage which really took advantage of the view.

Those two factors are what made us decide that we needed to find a different house. I have been having big problems with my knees so the stairs were becoming very difficult for me. When Marty retired he wanted to have a big shop to play in, but because of the hillside it was not practical to build it where we were. The house we found was a ranch style house and had space to build a shop plus most of the things that we felt we needed to have. It was hard to leave a house that we liked so much, but knowing that as we got older the stairs and the hillside would prove to be more and more challenging, we decided to make the move. There are still many things we miss about the old house, but there are many things about the new house that we like a lot better. We are slowly making changes to the new house to make it work better for us and reflect who we are. As circumstances change in your life you need to be flexible and adapt to the changes.

This last photo is one of my favorite fall shots that I have taken. It was taken at the old house on September 18, 2006.

Summer Projects

We had a few projects that we finished this summer. The biggest one was the new shop. I last posted on the shop construction in May. In that post, the walls went up and the roof was put on. You can click here to go to that post. For previous posts about the shop, look under my Label section in the sidebar and go to Shop Construction. Lots has happened since that post. The siding has went on, insulation, sheetrock, painting, doors and windows, power, heat, and plumbing are all done. The shop is divided into several sections. My husband is a carpenter and he also has a passion for classic cars. This shop addresses both of those interests. As you look at the shop photo below, the overhead door on the lefthand side opens into the carpentry shop. The next overhead door opens into the mechanics shop. The man door enters into a small entry area off of the mechanics shop. Back from that door, you see a window. That is my part of the shop! I have a small "potting shed" with a sink and countertops. We're still working on the shelving, and there will be room for my stand for starting seedlings. Finally a place where all my gardening supplies can be kept all in one place! Right behind that is the mechanical room with bathroom facilities. The next overhead door is the entry into the storage area for the old cars. It runs the full length of the shop and all the old vehicles can be in out of the snow.
Now the fun part has begun. Marty has begun setting the shop up. He's got his tool boxes moved over from the garage and has a workbench and some of the shelving in for the mechanics shop. He has one workbench done in the carpentry shop and some of the shelves in place. He is still working on getting the dust collection system in, and he has more shelves to put up and another workbench on the back wall. Right now he is working on getting all his tools and various carpentry supplies in place and organized. You're asking, "Where does the fridge go?" That will be in the mechanics shop. He'll have one of his cars in the mechanics shop to work on over the winter. I think he's going to put his '56 Crown Victoria in. It needs a bit of engine work and odds and ends on the body. I expect that most mornings this winter he will head over to the shop and I won't see him again until it's time for dinner. He definitely will be enjoying his retirement.

The next project we got done was putting in a walkway from the driveway to the front door. Between the walkway and the garage we put down rock and then put planters on top of that. The edge of the lawn needs a bit of reseeding, but we'll get that done next spring.

Last summer we put a flower bed along the front of the house. It is mostly ferns, wood violets, dwarf delphiniums, columbines, and violas. Although I only got a small portion of the shop for playing, I do have my own play area in the house. Behind the two windows you see in the photo below are my sewing room and my office.

We moved into this house two years ago. We felt the front entryway was not well defined, and people got a bit confused trying to figure out which way to come into the house. To the right of the front door is the garage, and on the other side of the garage is a parking area with an entry door. That was the door most people were coming to, and that meant they had to come through the garage, the mudroom, and then into the hallway leading to the kitchen and dining room, and then finally into the living room. The photo below is the front of the house as it looked when we moved in.

The last project we did was putting a good surface on the driveway and parking area. It was pit run rock and sand, and sand was always being tracked into the house. We put down rap, which is crushed pavement that is packed hard. It's a much nicer surface and looks a lot better. You can see a bit of it in front of the walkway and in front of the shop. Next summer we'll do more work on flower beds and landscaping.