Two Thirds Of The Second Third

Two thirds of the first coat of Spruce Pine has been applied. One third more of the first coat and then I can go over the whole thing one more time. By the time I am done I will have painted the basement patio's ceiling three times. It's best if I don't look at it that way. I can't help myself at times though. There are so many layers to all the processes. It always takes time.



There is a new determination that finishing the basement patio will be a main focus for the naked months of winter. I have dry stack stone walls to finish building. That of course requires rocks. There are plenty rocks. They are piled up in piles all over, anywhere I may have dug a hole. Many are currently well hidden in the Lush. It will be easier to find them and tote them up or down to the basement patio when the Lush has been frozen to mush.



I'll need a new load of gravel to back fill the wall when the dry stacking resumes and to complete the gravel layer on the floor. One day the basement patio will have a stone or paver floor.

The dirt above the upper wall beneath the cabin will be covered with all the smaller rocks that accumulate from digging holes and are too small to be useful in the wall itself. I have several piles of these smaller rocks. I think that will look nicer than a layer of the grey gravel to cover the dirt. There is no plan to grow anything on that slope above the wall. If something nice shows up I may let it stay. That space is more likely to be used as a home for objects de that find their way to me.



The thought of a more finished basement patio makes the idea of winter something to actually look forward to. There is an assumption more spare time will be available then. We'll see.

The hurricane remnants only brought us around three inches of rain despite all the dire warnings. Eastern Tennessee on the other side of the mountains got the bulk of it. The rain did cause some floppage. That is to be expected in the tall flower meadow of late summer. Gardy don't stake things. They stay flopped or get cut off if they are causing problems or impeding traffic.



The Clematis stans had flopped well before the rains came. I'm not sure if that is habit or a result of competition with the lush. It seems happy enough. It blooms quite profusely now and has set seed for the last two years at least. I read this Japanese clematis is at home in the forest edge habitat of Japan. I got forest edge. Japan and WNC have quite a bit in common botanically. If it decides to spread by seed I won't mind. It is quite lovely. I'd take this Japanese shrub clematis as a weed over our native Clematis virginiana vine any day. The Clematis virginiana is quite lovely too. If only it didn't have world domination encoded in its genes.