I managed to get the estimated 1.2 tons of concrete needed for the footing of my lower wall delivered with the lumber order which has saved me a ton of toting concrete from the store in my truck to the top of the mountain. No sense in sitting around and waiting so I laid in the steel and started mixing concrete to make a 12" wide 4" deep footing for the curved stone wall that will support my patio.
A late blooming Ironweed, Vernonia noveboracensis grows down in the meadow below. I will be finding out at some point how well these plants will transplant. I like them quite a bit, but they will need to be where I want them. Seeds are also a major option since they are not shy about producing them. The problem is I do not have any kind of a propagation area or system setup yet. That may be a good thing since I am still finding out who and what actually lives here.
This unknown has popped up just a bit over the property line. I'm going to have to watch it to see if it should need to be relocated. The meadow and the forest floor are thinning quite a bit already, but some things I have noticed are just coming up. A strange fern and now this. I am getting the feeling there will still be some green things comes winter.
The high was about 68 degrees today and the wind was a blowin and the leaves where a fallin. It was a perfect day for mixing concrete and walking it in buckets down the hill to the new footing. I wasn't cold at all. Tomorrow when I wake up it may be 40 degrees and it is likely to get colder as the week progresses. Our first frost is a possibility according to the weather channel. We'll see. I can wait a bit longer for that.
In between house wall framing I will start to sort and gather stones for the lower wall. It will be about 3 and a half feet tall. Once that is done (in a month or two) I can start moving dirt again for access to build the upper wall, in which I thought perhaps I should include a root cellar. It never hurts to be prepared.
My latest acquisition glows in the light of the setting sun filtered through the trees. I bought a Cotinus coggygria 'Ancot' because I liked it. It reminded me of the Euphorbia cotinifolia, but with a golden yellow leaf. I am not sure I like where I planted it. I was thinking it might be a nice shrub for near the front porch lower patio transition area. Fall planting season is coming to a close so I felt it was better to get it in the ground. Next year I may be set up for propagation and then I can have two.
I must say it is nice to have the luxury of spending your days working on projects for your own benefit and enjoyment. This time will have to end soon so it is best to enjoy it as guilt free as possible. I keep looking for jobs and have downgraded my expectations and broadened my search. Keeping busy and the recollection of a recurring nightmare has prevented me from applying for a few jobs. I may have to get over it soon.
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6 comments:
I can imagine the pleasure of working alone on a project like this...in the forest.
It's quiet except for the wind and maybe some birds.
Ooh, ooh, Christopher, does that single pleated leaf have a purple underside? Could it be Tipularia discolor, a native orchid? I found these single leaves appearing in the fall in my woods and spent months trying to ID them; till I ran across a photo in a local park's visitors' center. Supposedly the leaves appear singly, but often in colonies, in the fall, persist thru winter and die off in spring; and then there is an influorescence in summer, which I have never succeeded in viewing in the flesh. Let me know next summer!
Bev is on to something. My first thought was Lady slipper. My patch first appeared in the fall, persisted through the winter (Durham) and then flowered and spread.
Wow! You've made alot of progress! The stone wall should be beautiful - and I'm so envious of your access to rocks (sandcastles anyone?).
And based on Bev's comment: how fun if that is a native orchid - What a treat that would be!
Bev is on to something. My first thought was it could be one of the funky lilies that grow around here or an orchid. It does have a purplish cast to the underside of the leaf like the Tipularia, but in my book this pleated leaf looks more like Aplectrum hyemale, Putty Root, another orchid with a bigger flower.
I have seen three leaves coming up in this patch so far. They may need some more time to completely open to decide which it is.
The feeling of progress is a little more illusive when you are so close. Working with one and a half people though, it can only go so fast.
Christopher;
Yes, as I look at it again, it does not have the 'warts' (for lack of knowledge of the botanical term) I've seen on the tipularia leaves; kind of evenly spaced punctate spots. And the purple of the tipularia is really PURPLE. But I am betting on some kind of native orchid; would be interested what you eventually decide.
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