Turned Sideways and Upside Down

I thought for a while that this butterfly had died in the act. It was completely motionless and didn't move even when two large bumblebees sauntered right up to it. I took quite a few pictures very closeup and only one of the dern things came out in relative focus. Thank knob for digital cameras. You can take tons of crappy pictures and it don't matter.

Now that this plant is blooming I am going to have to say this is Angelica gigas, Purple or Korean Angelica, not the A. sylvestris that I figured a wild thing would most likely be. There are as many Angelica species it seems as there are Joe Pye Weeds. It is making my head hurt a little.




















The dangling balls on this Solomon's Seal, Polygonatum biflorum, I hope, really fascinate me. It is just such a unique arrangement of fruit and plant. They are changing from green to blue. Will they turn black or red next?















I need to look this up and find out what it is. A Selaginella maybe? Like most things here it forms colonies that spread over a wide area and mingles closely with the neighbors.














There are giant weeds here that bloom in every imaginable color. Now as I walk through the meadow they are over my head. I am dwarfed in a field, walking under what in most places would be grass, but there a very few grasses in this field.















Part of my blogger block this past week is that we have been very busy trying to get all the footings in and filled with steel, the tubes erected that will become the columns that support my cabin, those filled with steel and supported in place to hold tight while they are filled with concrete. It all has to be level and parallel. The columns closest to the road are 40 inches tall. The columns in the lower trench are 104 inches tall, over our heads. We are finding this shape in the void of space. It takes lots of measuring.

I want the cement poured and my main support beams in place before my contractor heads to the beach next Thursday for a month.

By the time I come in have dinner, a bath and read a bit of your wonderful blogs, it is late, I am tired and no words have been coming out.















In a foundation work lull I managed to rough grade a portion of the re-spread saprolite soil and eye it for a near future planting. This area above the electric pole should be safe from construction traffic. Access to the future septic drain field will be lower down this slope. Hmm, what should I plant there this fall? No tall trees allowed, this is the utility line easement.















Now the tubes are up and we are scheduled for inspection on Thursday and concrete pouring on Friday. Hooray! Hooray! Just a few minor details to work out before the concrete truck and pump arrives.















Have I mentioned that I have never built a house before.

Added 8-23 12:00 pm

We passed inspection for the foundation this morning. Yippee!

One single cloud has decided to sit on top of us and dump lots of rain. Boooo!
We sure need the rain for the garden though.