Loose Ends...

This has turned into such a busy week and weekend! We got the remnants of Hurricane Ida earlier in the week. It rained so much Wednesday, Thursday and Friday that the birds started hanging out on my porch just to dry out! (And NO, I'm not talking about the ceramic chicken on the table!)

I do LOVE my birds! And this little guy sitting on my corbel just became my favorite!

Yesterday, we were headed to Louisburg to visit some friends. We stopped at Target/Starbuck's for fortification. Tony ran in for drinks while Will parked. This is a photo of the window in the car next to us! I think I had the same problem earlier in the year...my rear car window would not stay up. Suction cups and rope worked for a while. Tony eventually put a block of wood under the window inside the door (not like the pieces of wood you see in this photo). It stays up permanently now! It never occurred to me to shove sticks in the sides of the window. It seemed to have been working, though! You have to be creative in keeping your windows up when Ida dumps 5 inches of rain on you in 3 days!

But, I digress...

With cappuccinos and hot chocolates in hand, we headed thirty minutes north to visit friends in Louisburg. They live in a gorgeous house that was built in the 1700's. Yes, that is a seven! They have restored the entire house and built studios and workshops throughout the property.

Beverly and Mark researched what items would have been grown in a garden in the late 1700's and have tried to replicate. My favorite tree was a pomegranate. And, it was bearing fruit!

The stairway is in the kitchen. The perfect spot for a photo-op for my boys!

Beverly, the talented mistress of the house, carves gourds into these fabulous jack-o-lanterns! Even sweet Annabelle finds this tabletop display welcoming!

These are the gourds Beverly grew this year. Once they dry out, they will keep her busy in her fabulous art studio! Behind Will and me is the garden that sustains the family. Even now, they have garlic, chives and parsley ready to harvest. A large section has just been planted with lettuces and spinach. Mark welded the wrought iron gate entrances. My brown eyes turned green with envy! Bailey, the furry creature I'm holding, stole my heart. She was the sweetest dog. (Riley sniffed me good when we got home. He recognized the scent of unfaithfulness!)

Beverly even planted a knot garden in front of her art studio! She shapes her boxwoods and trains her climbing rose over a trellis. The lucky folks who live across the street in the white house have a beautiful view!




All of their paths were laid with reclaimed bricks. They scrubbed the mortar off before laying them. Nemo guards the art studio!




An afternoon hike to the back of the property was perfect! Can you believe how pretty their homestead is? It would be awfully hard to leave for work on Monday morning!

This is a natural granite culvert that intersects the path. It is dry most of the time, but now, it trickled with the rain from earlier this week.

Mark did all of the woodwork inside the house...he laid hardwood floors, built cabinets, and, you know what they say about old houses? No closets! So, he built furniture to hold towels, clothes, dishes, everything. He even built this workshop!

And even though it is starting to get a little dark, you can still see the outline of Beverly's studio. The back is a potting shed with a greenhouse just steps away. Through the front door, you find a welcoming sitting area facing a fireplace. Bouquets of lavender hang from the hearth.

To get to the second floor, you climb a ladder with wide steps and swing up to the art studio. All of Beverly's supplies are boxed, hanging, stacked, displayed throughout the second floor. Oh, I want one!

We were invited for lunch and had planned to leave around 2:00 in the afternoon so we didn't take up their entire day. As dark surrounded us, we finally pulled out at 5:30. Mark and Beverly were wonderful hosts!

Today, we returned to our list of clean-up chores for the storm. As I was carrying a pile of sticks to the fire pit, I came across this creature hanging from a tree limb. Isn't he beautiful? (NOTE: As I was showing the photos of this post to Rick, he saw my last photo, announced it creepy and demanded to know where, exactly, it is located in the yard!)

I'm sorry this weekend is over!

Look What's in My Yard

Riley Dog is my faithful old dog. He hangs out with my while I work in the yard but always keeps his eyes open for that feisty rooster,

Skippy!

After suffering through a few months of being ostracized by the girls,

Don't even think about touching me!

he finally managed to father a couple of babies.

Hazel is near Ruby and Chrissy is off on her own. We are trying an experiment...naming the babies with girls' names in the hopes that this will make them girls. So far, there have been no cock-a-doodle-doos! Woohoo!

The chickens are great at eating up the ticks. Riley really appreciates that. However, there are a few buggy things that are a little too large for them to dine on.

You have to sort of cross your eyes to see this guy good, but he is gorgeous!

No arachnophobia here!

Here's the underbelly of the same guy. See all of the zigzags in the web?
I think these are called writing spiders.
My bumper crop of lemon balm is in the background.

This guy was under my grill cover. I was going to pick him up and move him to a cooler location, but couldn't make myself touch him. When Rick moved in, the praying mantis took flight and landed on my wind chimes.








I don't know why they intimidate me so much. Maybe it has something to do with the female biting off the head of the male after mating.





I grew this beautiful cantaloupe in my yard this summer. It's the only one that grew, but it was the biggest and best melon I have ever eaten. Thank heavens for friends who make their children listen to NPR. Not knowing when to pick the melon, Julia said I should smell it. After a whiff, I knew it must be ready. BINGO! It was big enough to feed us two nights.