Always busy doing something!

Busy~Lately, I am beginning to feel like that has become my norm.  My mom used to tell me that I create work for myself, and she sure was spot on with those words!  The majority of the “create work” part is from all the gardening I’ve been doing.  The beauty, however, is that when you enjoy what you are doing, it doesn’t feel like work, so I keep on going!

A quick followup from my last post regarding the builder and designer, they did come, and we remain in limbo.  We did have a lengthy discussion regarding our objectives and budget, so that was good.  They both want to give our house (aka architectural disaster) more thought, mostly to make sure we aren’t missing anything.  Interestingly, the builder said it is cheaper to put the addition on a basement, rather than a crawl.  Doing so would also eliminate the need for an egress window since we would then have two large daylight windows.  I did ask that we get the bid for the barn sooner than later since we hope to build that next summer.

While Hubs was away, I worked on clearing an area I often referred to as “the rock graveyard.”    When we purchased our home, the shoreline was completely overgrown.  With the brush removed, this particular area looked awful.  Our property is pie-shaped, being wider by the road.  We own a little over 300 feet of shoreline, so lots to clean up!  We now have just under 140 feet cleared, and the rest we will leave natural.  I’ve been busy moving huge rocks/boulders.  We had 6.5 yards of topsoil delivered that needed to be brought down to the shoreline via wheelbarrow, and then Hubs put sod down.  We still have a bit more to do, but it looks so much better!  Here are some pictures of the work we’ve been doing.

Our overgrown shoreline.

Digging, clearing, and an endless supply of rocks!

Topsoil and sod in place.

No moving this boulder!

We have one area to the left of these pictures where I’d like to clear a short trail to the lake.  I want to build a small bench and half-joked with Hubs about putting a mannequin there.  Our new friend could be fishing, reading a book, waving at boaters going by, and, best of all, sporting all sorts of fashionwear!  I could have fun with that.  I probably still have a bit too much time on my hands!  Haha.

Potential trail?

I also bought eight oak trees that are approximately 6 feet in height.  They were on sale for just under $12 each, so not too bad.  Yes, we do love our trees!  I have three planted so far and will get the others planted within the next couple of days.  The cost for the topsoil, sod, and trees came to $500, but we feel it was money well spent.

A few days ago, we had a garden snake in our house.  Hubs called me at work to let me know he saw a tail but claimed he wasn’t sure what it was.  I kept thinking maybe a chipmunk, squirrel, or a mouse.  Because this sort of thing makes me cringe, I bought a variety of traps.  Two days later, I saw the snake against the screen to our bedroom patio door.  Yes, I screamed.  When I attempted to close the door, it moved.  Hubs got the door shut, but then struggled with the locked screen door.  Somehow in the process of battling the snake, Hubs got his fingers smashed in the door.  I take no responsibility.  He knew when he called me, that it was a snake, so perhaps this was a consequence of not being entirely truthful!  lol  Snakes outside is one thing, inside is another story.

We had our propane tanks filled.  We paid $1.29/gallon, which was two cents less than last year.  While I was happy about the lower price, I was thrilled that we used 329.8 gallons less than the previous year.  I attribute that to the first full season with our new furnace.  The bill came to $1,123.87, but with two 1,000 gallon tanks, that will see us through until next summer.

Today is rainy and gloomy.  I’m using my day to catch up on some inside stuff…but I sure would rather be outside!