Plotting

Woke up Tuesday morning with a faint sound in the air that I couldn't quite place for a minute. Pretty sure it was distant foghorns. I called around to a few local tradespeople to get quotes on some jobs, and to get info on where our septic field is. While I waited on responses I went outside to find that overnight, some critter had explored the basket of garlic cloves I had left under the deck. They had just tossed a couple out of the basket and rummiged a bit. Nothing looked nibbled at all. That's a good sign. 

I spent a good portion of the early afternoon planting the garlic. I wasn't going to fuss too much with it and if it rots over winter then I'll know but, I want to get a ridiculous amount of garlic growing all over. It's a nice well behaved plant that doesn't take up too much space horizontally so I can plant it along the edges of beds & paths. 

Believe it or not, the garlic is all planted in the square marked on this pic.

After a bit of back and forth on the phone, the septic company passed my number to the previous-previous owner of this house. The last guy wasn't here long but the folks that lived here before him were here a good long time and were able to provide me with a bunch of info. 

I now know:

• the extent of the septic field 
• the fact that even when others in the area had their wells run dry, this well was providing for this household plus a truckload every two days for another household
• where the drainage for the ramp and basement leads
• how to hook up the generator
• and a bit of local gossip

Hugslut and I were happy to hear all about our new home from someone who knew what they were talking about. They are definitely invited to the bbq. :-p

The headboard and footboard went on fairly simply, but when we went to put the handles on the drawers, we were one drawer short on the bolts for the handles. Looks like next trip into town is going to involve comparing a zillion bolts to find the right ones.

Yesterday I realised that to do any real planning for the garden and such, we would need to know what we were working with.  So I walked around taking measurements with my phone and 

My rough sketch so I had somewhere to write numbers.

The actual (approximate) shape of the cleared lawn space.

We plan some serious landscaping in the the next few years. This will include removing the gravel driveway by the deck. The "garage" can't be used as such without serious reno, (and we've picked a good spot for the cars next to the shed), so we figured we'd fix the basement "garage" up over the next couple years as a summer-kitchen. This means I can use a wheelbarrow or wagon to haul the food directly into the work space, and easily haul the trimmings for the compost back out again. 

Hello from a curious Blue Jay

Last night we barely remembered to get the trash out to the paved part of the road for garbage pick up. It was a long walk considering we hadn't realised how dark the 5 min walk would be. 

This morning I heard some skittering above my head and was really hoping nothing had got into the attic as I looked up to find some robins hopping around the skylight. I'm glad they're having fun but they almost gave me a heart attack. lol

I've started planning some fencing for next year's little garden. I'm starting with a 25'x25' so it's not too much all at once with the chickens. It's only slightly bigger than the community garden plots. I'm going to try to make it rabbit and deer proof... wish me luck?