2013 May » Northwoods Woman

Studio Update

May 302013

Now that we’ve gotten the necessary supplies that we ran out of, Rick is going great guns trying to finish the Studio.

And the yard has turned into a construction zone once again, with much of the deck of the new building housing the heavy equipment.

It also provides a little shelter from the on/off rain showers we’ve been getting.

When the first wall was put in I finally started getting excited. It’s really hard to not go out there every five minutes and see how much has gotten done.

When I did my final walk-through on Sunday, I felt like the people on “Restaurant Impossible” when they finally get to see their remodeled restaurant.

All four walls were completed plus the North and South gables. The Western side of the ceiling was about half done which got me even more giddy.

Since I know how much work was put into cutting the wood so that it would joint together and be able to move with the change in temperatures, I was almost brought to tears looking at the work in progress.

As with everything that Rick has every built, this will truly be one-of-a-kind and I can’t wait to see what he has in mind for the trim and finishing work that will be done once the ceiling is completed and the flooring is put down.

The man may be a computer geek, but he’s still a carpenter at heart.

All Better Now

May 272013

A few weeks ago I shook my head in disbelief at the amount of snow that got dumped on us and the impact that it had on the homestead.

The garden fence in particular took quite a beating.

Since then I’ve been spending a lot of time picking up branches and twigs that have been covering our yard from the numerous storms we’ve had. Just when I think that I’m all done, WHAM! another system comes through and I’ve got to start all over again.

Maybe this is Mother Nature’s way of giving me a warm-up workout for planting and tending the garden.

Which is exactly what I wanted to do this Memorial Day, but first I had to get that darn fence in tip top shape.

And with the help of Rick and his muscles to pound in the new fence posts, the goal was achieved!

Now all of my plants can be safe from the marauding deer that just love to graze on the succulent plants that I tend to so hard.

Most of the garden is going to be cucumbers of which 80 percent have grown to a hardy size. I wish I could say the same about the basil which is staying stunted to an inch, but I’m going to plant them anyway.

Gotta show ’em who’s boss.

One surprise that I wasn’t counting on (do we ever count on surprises? I think not, but I feel like talking stupid today) was a gift from my old boss.

These little beauties are from squash that have not been planted for 800 years. With less than 50 seeds left in existence I’m very nervous about my green thumb being able to successfully produce the plants that will give me a squash or two.

But I’m up for the challenge if that kind of faith has been put in me. It will also be my first time “seed saving” so I can gift the seeds back to him to pass onto others and build up the supply.

Wish me luck and I’ll keep you posted!

I Guess He Does Know Me Too Well

May 222013

A couple weeks ago Rick went out to his folks to spend some time with his Mom (and Dad) for Mother’s Day.

On the Saturday that he left, his Mom and sisters were also having a Tea Party shindig that gets as many wayward family members together as possible to laugh, do crafts, spend time together, and of course drink Tea.

While I was sitting at my desk doing who-knows-what, I happened to look out the window and saw something large and black move around the fence towards the tree that I hang my bird feeders on (which by that time were empty and I just hadn’t taken the 2 seconds that it takes to put them away).

Thinking it was just one of the neighborhood dogs, I didn’t give it much thought and started to give my attention back to the oh-so-important-whatever thing I was doing before.

That was until the black something appeared to be getting larger. But it really wasn’t getting larger.

It was climbing the tree.

Bear1.1

Hi there young fella! Nope, no goodies in the feeder for ya, off ya go, ‘k?

No damage was done and I was super proud of myself for getting a somewhat acceptable photo of the little dude, so I shot it out to Facebook to share with others.

Now here’s the part where my husband knows me all to well.

Not more than 4 minutes later I get a call on my cell from my husband, and it went something like this:

Me: Hi Honey

Rick: Where are you at?

Me: Umm… sitting at my desk… why?

Rick: *breathing a sigh of relief* Phew, I thought you were outside taking a picture of the bear.

Me: How did you know about the bear?

Rick: My sister was on Facebook and told me about it.

Me: Honey, I’m not stupid enough to go outside and take a picture of a bear without you around.

Rick: ……………

Me: OK, I did it once, but it was pretty far away and I wasn’t in danger. I promise I won’t go outside to take pictures of bears unless you’re with me. Feel better?

The rest of the conversation was pretty much reminding me how I pissed off the bear who got into our garbage by it thinking I was in the mood to fight with it just because I was crouched on the deck.

Good thing he forgot about how camera happy I got with the one that was playing in the dumpsters at work.

Come to think of it, maybe he did have good cause to be worried.

Listen to the Trees

May 202013

When you live in the Northwoods and are surrounded by 80 to 100 foot tall trees, you don’t have the luxury of actually seeing a storm approaching.

To know what is on the horizon, you need to keep your eye to the sky and see what the trees have to tell you.

And you have to listen, because those trees are going to give you the first indication that there is a bugger of a storm coming, and it’s coming fast.

Just like the one that hit us last night, punching this tree in the stomach and making it kiss the ground.

When you start hearing those cracking sounds in the woods you don’t know which direction they’re coming from and pray to a higher power that they aren’t anywhere near you.

Once again our property looked like a disaster area with 20 to 30 foot branches scattering the yard.

This little darling landed on the rock garden that I had spent 4 hours cleaning all the winter leaves and branches out of just a few hours before.

As you can see the woodpeckers have been using it for personal reasons.

Here is one of the reasons I don’t like to be out in the yard when that wind starts whipping up. When those branches fall and hit the ground they dig in about 8 inches from the impact before they bounce out and litter our yard.

And don’t even get me started on how high my paranoia can go if I had been riding around in a car when this storm hit.

Naturally Rick loves this kind of weather and was standing on the deck the whole time it blew through.

I stayed close to my desk in case I had to dive under it.

In Other News

May 182013

Now that the weather looks like it may return to it’s previously scheduled Spring outlook, Rick can get back to working on my studio in semi-comfortable conditions.

All that insulation that he put in last fall is now being covered with poly so I’ll be roasty toasty next winter.

As with all well-laid plans, he got 3/4 of the way done and ran out of material.

But there’s always little pesky things that can be done in the meantime, like running the wires for the security cameras.

Oh yes, I will have many comforts of home in this little building: Cable TV, internet, pellet stove. That man pulls out all the stops for me.

And to think I only wanted a little box building to make my jewelry in.

What was I thinking?

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