Looks warm and cozy, doesn't it? We thought an ice storm was coming, so I wanted my bat to have some warmth, so I put up a heat lamp, but that ice storm never came, just some rain. We have missed every storm this year, and today it was 70 degrees. I think we have a different groundhog than Puxatony Phil. That's him in the window, bottom right. I thought he was dead, but he's just hibernating, what's called torpor. I've kept my eye on him, and a leg changes position every once in a while. Hairy little thing. Friday was likewise a nice day. My fencer was in town on a bigger job and squeezed my gate to my bamboo forest in! I love it! Sunday I spent most of the afternoon in the forest working on the path. No one came this weekend for bamboo, even though the past three weekends rained and they all wanted to come. Go figure. That's okay, I wanted to clear out more from the forest. There are 30 cinderblocks, which I believe are a property line as there are fence posts and barbed wire along the same line in sections. These need to be dug out and brought up to the house. Not an easy task.There are quite a few downed trees. Some will be firewood, but what I'd like to eventually do is cut off ends to put underneath each end and make natural benches along the way. Lots of rocks and moss along the way.When I moved here, I met an ex-pat from PA at the local pet supply store named Barbara. She is in the process of having a tiny house built for some land she bought. This is her house being built in a factory. Ready to be moved to her land! I just so happened to see a post on FB that she wanted to know where to buy cinderblock for a raised garden she plans on building. I let her know I had at least 30 that she could have, and she offered to come dig them up with me and get them moved up to the driveway. This will save her a little money, and I won't have to hide them in the crawl space. One thing I would like to do at the farmhouse when the bamboo forest is ready for visitors is to line the driveway along the farmhouse with a natural barrier. So as I drive around I have been taking photos of bush and tree barriers that I really like. This one is gorgeous! Can't imagine how old it is. The blue haze of this evergreen is so pretty, but trees may not be the way to go. I will continue to look, but so far I love the gold bushes. Friday was a Frog & Swan estate sale, first one in a long time. These are the few things I found. Bob came home with boxes of books. I need to talk to Randy and tell him to triple the price on Bob so that he doesn't come home with so many LOL! Crochet owls. A felt tea cozy, maybe South Seas? Beaded figures, a neat piece. These estate sales is where I get my garden tools and bird feeders for dirt! This is a beautiful tool, made in England, and only for $3. I need a new hoe. Went out to start working on the veg garden and it broke. Too much abuse for too many years. Flowers are just bursting! The lenten roses are in full bloom. Except for this one special dark one that I dug up at a house Mindy was flipping. Can't wait for it to open, which should be in the next day or so! Today was so beautiful I had plans of getting out the wacker on wheels and starting to clean up the garden areas, but ended up morning and evening at the vet with Panda. Today I thought might be his last day, but he rallied. He did not eat today, so we could not give him insulin. He got a shot for nausea and hopefully tomorrow he will feel better. Tomorrow I plan on getting out the wacker!!
Friday kicked off the Valentine's weekend with baking and delivering. Made two of my famous Chocolate Roulades, one for my vet who did us a favor for Panda this weekend unexpectedly and the other for new friends Netty and Dave. Netty and Dave own the Dutch Country Foods General Store in town where I get my eggs, spices and local fruits and berries. I buy so many eggs from them I thought they should get some back in the form of a Valentine's treat. We've become friends not only through my shopping there, but I have been involved with a small group of Mennonites and local Hispanics who gather together at the store on Fridays and talk politics. I've learned a lot, and it really is a lot of fun to hang out for an hour or so and have these discussions. Saturday Bob and I made our way to Forest City, about a 20 minute drive toward Charlotte. They have a pretty Main Street and the Pie Safe is there, so we wanted to get our Valentine's dessert so that would be one thing I wouldn't have to cook. We decided to have a nice meal at home. Love the pink mixer and it's huge! Just one case of many showing off their sweets. I ended up with a chocolate cheesecake, and Bob got the chess pie. Now that Bob has an office in Asheville, he can go to the unique shops, and this was my VDay card. It's Baby! Bob's office is right in the middle of it all in one of the old brick buildings. This is the reception area. Hallway to his office. His tiny, but nice office. Less space for him to mess up. I'm sure by now it's piled high with files. My Valentine's gift! Isn't it romantic? IT IS!! I love practical gifts. This is the gate to enter my bamboo forest. On the list for our fencer to put it up. I can't wait. In years past I asked for a wood chipper, dirt, dirt and more dirt, but I wasn't taken seriously. I think he finally realizes I'm serious about these kinds of gifts! Only took 34 years! And my gift to myself. Forest City is loaded with habitat stores and thrift shops, one reason we like to go there. This thrift store was having a half price sale on linens and I could not believe I got this beautiful silk damask WITH THISTLES!! for only $1.50!! Good Valentine's Day all the way around :)
Saturday was so nice I spent the day outside working in the yard. The weather was calling for rain that night, but as the day went on, it just felt like it was going to be snow and started to look like it. I transplanted moss to different areas of the garden. I spent hours cutting ivy off of trees, trimming the bushes and cutting back the thinner bamboo reed to take to Mindy's goats. It took the loppers to cut this ivy it is so old. The goats know my car when it comes! I packed it full and can take as many carloads as Mindy will take. I love having a place to take all my trimmings and feeding animals with it. The car smells so good inside! Once the ivy is all down, the rocks are out and I amend the soil, I will plant my jasmine on this tree since it gets full sun and every time I walk out the back door I will smell it. Lots of babies to feed! Found this perfect natural walking stick while cleaning out bushes. Looks like my hummingbird is going to spend the whole winter here. And look who came back! My bat left for a month or more, but today was back in my potting shed window. On warm days, the lizards come out to play! They love the dogs' blankets on the breezeway. You can lift a blanket and they are all snuggled together on the bottom blanket. So I should have been a weather girl instead of a court stenographer. By 11 pm we had about two inches of dry, crunchy, perfect snow. I took Geisha for a walk to the farmhouse to get some photos. It was so muffled, all you could hear was the deer crunching the bamboo in the bamboo forest. By morning it was turning to mush as the temps were rising. Roman didn't care it was sloppy slush, he laid in it anyway UGH! By afternoon it was all gone. I had a lot of people coming to get bamboo, but we canceled. Mindy and Shahab were coming to dig plants and walk the bamboo forest, I had the Irish Coffees ready to serve, but maybe next Sunday!
