Blooming at the Blue House

 We've had a perfect spring in Front Royal, gorgeous sunny days without the burning heat and humidity. We've also had a lot of rain but that's been great for the plants. Since spring of 2019, after buying the Blue House late 2018, I've been slogging in the garden, digging and planting to try and remove areas of lawn and create a paradise for pollinating insects. The front and back garden were originally just lawn with clumps of ornamental grasses, liriope, ( a ground covering plant which serves no purpose at all for the insect world), and swathes of English ivy covering the back fence and raised beds. I finally dug out the last of the grasses a week ago, replacing them with bee balm and butterfly weed, both of which are native plants. Elliott did an incredible job of removing most of the ivy from the back fence, and we now only have little clumps that attempt to resurface.

My dream for the Blue House is to convert the whole garden to a pollinator garden, creating our own little ecosystem for insects and bees. We've already seen a lot more buzzing activity in the past couple of summers, but I'll press forward until grass is not such a feature around the house, and native plants are the dominant growth. I registered the garden as a pollinator garden over a year ago as I'd already managed to provide many of the necessities for the wildlife. The pond I built soon after moving in is a vital water source, we're creating a 'living hedge' with piles of logs, branches and rocks along the side of the house where we've planted native trees and allowed the grass to grow, creating a haven for insects, small creatures, and most of the raised beds in the back garden are now free of weeds and ivy, replaced with native plants. There is still a small area of liriope in one bed and a lot of it on the ground, which will definitely be removed. The front garden has long grass banks, which has been my main project since moving in, to replace the turf with pollinator beds. We're getting there, but it takes a lot of time, effort and of course money.

But last week we finally got a driveway put in. When I bought the Blue House there was just the main driveway leading up to the house, but although it can hold 2 or 3 cars, it wasn't practical with mine and Elliott's different arrival and departure times, so now we've got the additional parking space and eliminated the 'musical chair' scenario and the need to park on the street.

I worked from home when the excavating team arrived so I would be on hand to answer questions, and more importantly, watch their progress.

I couldn't believe how quickly they got going. I barely had time to take in that this would be my last view of a grassy lawn before it was all torn up, like peeling a wrapper from a chocolate bar. And I didn't even see the gravel unloaded on to the driveway. Of course, I was trying to get some work of my own done, and no doutedly got absorbed in my own tasks, but these men worked fast.

And before I could say, "Cor blimey, mate!" they were done! They returned on Monday to have a last flatten of the new drive and take away the roller. But now Elliott has a proper parking space, and now we can also hunt for a cheap vintage camper, a little 12ft caravan, that will be parked across the end of the driveway and be converted into a little potting shed and lounge, with work benches and a couple of comfy armchairs, a fridge and vintage lamps and wall art. We'll have a canopy outside, and I'll be building a 'privacy' wall of sorts out of old windows, bedsteads, wrought iron pieces and bicycle wheels which will then have native vines growing over it and likely a few squash or tomato plants also. The fire pit can have a permanent place there and I'd like an old wooden pole next to the camper to feed the electrical wire to the camper and also be home for a couple of bat houses. Some galvanized metal planters around the back of the camper and that should just about do it.  

Another job we got completed was the steps to the front door of the house. These were original steps, from 1950, and of course had been constructed very well. But cracks had appeared and they were beginning to cave in. Elliott and I rented a jack hammer and over a couple of days took turns in demolishing and pulverizing the old steps into a pile of rubble. There were a few squabbles over whose turn it was, because it was great fun, even if it did nearly rattle your teeth out of your jaw.

The new concrete steps were delivered and we struggled a bit to get them into place, but finally managed to get them snug up against the wall and concreted securely to eliminate any wobbles. They just need a lick of paint, but that will be a job for later in the year when the days are cooler.

 Malcolm on the Left enjoys climbing over everything. While I was up on the wall, pulling and cutting ivy down from the fence and carport roof, he laid out on the roof and posed. He's fully aware that we take photos of him and often poses accordingly. As he did in the last shot. I was taking a break from planting prickly pear cacti, sitting under the shade of the weeping cherry tree, and he was doing the same, popping his head up when I called his name. For a couple of years I've been wanting to grow eastern prickly pears, which are native to these parts, but they're quite hard to find in nurseries, or can be really expensive, $30 a pot. So I was ecstatic to find 4 pots within 2 weeks, and only paid $30 total. They should love this spot on the sunny bank and we'll put in some stone steps to walk down past them, and add a few chickens and hens succulents to keep them company.

This sodden little chap got into the kitchen where Elliott trapped him in the sink. I got him outside and gave him some sugar water to replenish the energy he'd spent while trying to dry out. Carpenter bees are regarded as pests by many but are actually important pollinators. They do drill into wood but not as far as people think. This one, and another, have burrowed into the shelf on the back porch, which we don't have a problem with, apart from having to clean up the sawdust. I find them highly entertaining, as they never sting, and I love their loud buzzing and extreme inquisitiveness, constantly hovering around my head as I work in the garden. This  noisy 'nosey parker' survived and continues to hum his way around the garden.

 The plants in the canoe have taken off with all the rain. The Carolina rose has spurted up and will be spilling with blooms over the sides. I added zinnias again this year as the bees enjoyed them last year, but the lavender and other other pollinator plants will soon fill up those spaces and annuals won't be added in the future. The witch hazel behind the canoe is now 3 times it's original size and the sea holly in the bed to the right will soon be blooming. This plant will have swarms of bees and insects around its purple blue flowers. The hydrangeas on the left will bloom in a few weeks. These were the only flowers on the whole plot when I moved in, but now they're sharing their space with Virginia bluebells, violets, foxglove, wild daisies that grew from seed 2 years ago and an elderberry bush. A hawthorn tree, which has white blossoms in the spring and red berries in the fall, is now growing by the bicycle.

 

The garden arch that I found a couple of years ago now has 2 roses climbing up it, planted last year. This beautiful pink old-fashioned rose reminds me of home, where I had rows of old roses lining the footpath to the door, and one rose very much like this one. The rose climbing up on the other side didn't have a flower in bloom when I wanted one, but it's a light orange and yellow rose. The trumpet vine at the back is only 3 years old and will be covered in gorgeous orange blooms that the hummingbirds adore.

The back garden is now growing fast, native plants flourishing and spreading rapidly. There is cat mint, bee balm, a button bush, indigo and nasturtiums hanging down the wall. We have a few tomatoes, peppers, herbs and potatoes growing but the annual plants in pots aren't faring well. The ones we got were, I suspect, forced plants, and are flowering too soon in some cases. I may end up replacing some with cilantro and basil seeds, since I eat those all summer long. The cacti are thriving, except poor Elliott has to keep moving them under cover when we get rainy days and then back into the sun.

The pond is constantly busy, with birds and bees drinking or bathing in it, the water kept clear with watercress. The ferns that I planted last year have exploded, finally freed from the English ivy that was slowly blanketing them until a couple of weeks ago. And the biggest bed at the side of the house is now cleared of ivy and weeds. I planted about 7 native plants which will double their size next year, and still have a small area to dig up before I can put a last few plants in, which will be at autumn time. I also need to transfer a trumpet vine from the front of the house to this fence, along with a coral honeysuckle, which I haven't managed to find yet. The white iron swan was found very cheaply and couldn't be left behind in the shop, so it will go out the front now the driveway is done, along with a lot of other garden ornamentation that I have stacked up under the car port.

The kitchen side of the house has changed dramatically now all the grasses have been dug up. I'm so glad I'm done with that task! Now we have beds of natives, some blooming, while in front of the kitchen window we have a jungle growth heading skyward, which will soon erupt into a mass of sunflower and daisy like yellow blooms. I only planted this area last year so this year it's really taken off. We had clouds of buzzing flying critters out here last summer, it was a popular spot.

And then my biggest project, and where the most work was put in, at the front of the house.

 The whole stretch, from the pole in the background in the first photo, was just grass when I moved in. For over 3 years I've been digging up the grass, mixing in Shenandoah topsoil and then filling the new beds with native plants. This year, the older plants have gone nuts, so I've moved a few down or to the back garden. There are cone flowers, blanket flowers, golden rod, milkweeds, some self seeded, nine bark, aquilegia, sneezeweed, cat mint, tick weed, rattlesnake master, cardinal plants, baptista, asters, beauty berry, blazing star, mountain mint, black-eyed susan, and plenty of others I can't even remember. I dug another 3' x 10' patch to add a few more and I'll be digging yet another patch in the next few days as I have another 4 or 5 pots to go in the ground. And then it will be a rest until autumn when I will continue again. I'm hoping that by the end of next year I'll have the bank completely filled with native plants that will then blend into the wild bank as they meet up. This bank will be a blaze of color in a few weeks and hopefully, the summer will bring a host of insects, birds, bees and hummingbirds to our garden, and we're also expecting a grand show of fireflies from the wild bank on the side of the house. In a couple of years, and after a lot more work, and more lawn removed, I'd like the garden to be part of the Master Gardener's garden tour that they host every summer. I'm on a mission!

Vintage in the Valley

Saturday was actually a warm and sunny day. The ferocious winds we've been having regularly had died down and the temperature was close to 60F, so Elliott and I decided to visit Strasburg, a small town less than 30 minutes away, where they were having their Vintage in the Valley day. We found a parking spot close to Main St easily and as we turned the corner, classic rock and oldies from the 70's were blasting out from speakers set up on the pavements. Right up my alley, and I was soon singing along.

There was a sizeable collection of classic cars, their chrome and vibrant paintwork gleaming and glinting in the bright sunlight, polished panes of glass dazzling us, and proud owners relaxing on folding chairs at the backs of their prized vehicles. It felt wonderful to stroll around without a jacket, although it was a little chilly in the shade. But the best part was not wearing a mask, and evidently everyone else felt the same way, as only a small handful of people were wearing protection. It finally felt that maybe COVID has gone for good. Let's hope so. Everyone seemed to be cheerful, as if a bad storm had passed. We were all taking photos but happily moved quickly to one side so we weren't in each other's shots, with a cheery "Sorry!" or " Let me move out of the way!" I didn't see, or wasn't aware of, one single angry person. It was delightful!

 

 

Neither Elliott or I had felt like lugging our heavy cameras about so we snapped shots with our phones instead. It felt liberating to not be encumbered with any chunky equipment, and not to keep rubbing my shoulder where the Sony strap would have been digging in.

I forgot to note what many of the models of the cars were, I was so busy looking them over, but these two are a 1934 Ford Coupe at the front and a 1939 Chevy 2 door sedan behind it. Magnificent colors, I couldn't pick a favorite, and the interiors were equally impressive.

This chopped retro coupe from 1949-51 was my favorite of the show, possibly a Mercury?. Its chrome was dazzling against its black paint and it could be nothing but admired. And tremendously so. And I did.

I've never seen a dashboard dial like this before; all the information within one dial. This was a 1936 Plymouth 4 door sedan.

Considering that there weren't that many vehicles here today, the show was very impressive. I was seeing quite a few models for the first time, and this group was certainly pulling the crowds in. We left the admiring people and loud music to wander down Main St, peering through windows and browsing through vendors' stalls. We spotted a beautiful retro trailer, about 10ft long, being used as a clothing boutique, and climbed aboard. We weren't interested in the clothing but wanted to know how big the interior was and whether Elliott could stand up inside. We loved it, and our search continues for one of these that we can convert into a shed / sitting room.

I found this metal decoration on a booth for $12! I grabbed it quickly, it will be a beautiful addition to a flower bed or against a fence. We chatted to another vendor who made his own pens and other items from wood burls which he dyes and then carves. My pen has a Civil War rifle embellishment, with a bolt action and bullet shaped barrel.

This chap, the Walking Mall Poet, had a queue waiting for him. You give him a subject and withing 5 minutes, he types out a poem for you. What a novel idea, and his website is here.

We had lunch at the Box Office Brewery, walked around a bit more, and then decided it was time to head towards home. But first we needed dessert, so ice cream sundaes were polished off in Middletown while sitting in the sunshine, although it was beginning to get chilly. It had been lovely to spend a day enjoying ourselves outside, but a native plant order is ready for pickup soon, and then gardening begins!

Firs and Infringement at Lake Frederick

 On Saturday Elliott and I were out the door early to help out at Lake Frederick, a few miles north of us. When we had got our real tree at Christmas, we hadn't wanted to simply throw it in the trash afterwards, it seemed so wasteful and pointless at having chopped a tree down simply for decoration. There are a few local farms that collect them for their livestock to feed on, but they had enough, and by chance I discovered that Lake Frederick were collecting them to place strategically around the lake, creating safe havens underwater for fishes and other aquatic life to lay eggs or shelter in. Elliott had taken our tree up there in January, adding to a growing pile, and this weekend it was time to prepare them for their underwater life. Gregory, who owns the bait shop, had asked for volunteers and had guessed the task would take over a couple of hours.

We parked up and walked over to the small group that had assembled, and within 5 minutes we were working. One guy, with a chainsaw, chopped off the lower branches while the rest of us picked up the cinder blocks and laid them out on the gravel, holes facing up. Another couple began mixing cement, and then the rest of us dragged or carried the trees to the cinder blocks, sticking one tree in each block.

Cement was pushed into the holes to secure the trees. If a tree was tiny, we'd put 2 of them in the cinder block. We all worked well as a team, moving around like busy bees around a hive. The only time we stood still was while we waited for more trees to haul, the chainsaw being so noisy that it was impossible for any conversation. We just smiled at new faces as a couple more folk appeared and carried on bustling about.

All the small branches that had been hacked off the bottoms of the trees were gathered up and thrown into the lake, where they would eventually sink. I was a bit concerned about this, worrying about the acidity that would be added to the water. I had a chat with Gregory who informed me the water was naturally acidic, meaning that catfish and northern pike don't breed in here, but are added every year. He also told me the record in Virginia for a catfish weight was 31lbs, but that someone here had caught a 32lb fish but not recorded it, and had put it back. Gregory made me smile as even though he owns a bait shop, he doesn't like killing the fish, and will always put back whatever he catches.

We all worked together efficently, and I noticed one guy was taking photos, which I later saw he'd posted on Facebook, so I managed to download a couple of me in action. We had everything done after an hour so I chatted to Gregory and asked more questions. Apparently this job has been done for over 20 years, making me exclaim that there must be a lot of cinder blocks in the lake. He laughed and said that in the fall when on some days the water is crystal clear, on the left side of the lake in the cove, there are 2 cars on the lake bed which can be seen if you're over the top of them, an '88 Oldsmobile and a VW. We must come back to see that. There's also an arch structure in one of the deep areas, made of tires. I also asked about snake fish. He said there were once 6 of them but he thinks that there's only 1 now. When they had babies, he went out with a large net, lined with a sheet, and pulled out thousands of them. The regular fishermen love catching those as they taste wonderful, something I've yet to try.

We stood chatting and watching Jake the dog fetch sticks, which he was really good at, and then Gregory told us that Game and Inland Fisheries would be out on Thursday at 9:30am to haul the trees in their blocks out on to the water and drop groups of them at designated areas. Because of work, we won't be able to watch, or help, with that, but I found a couple of photos from last year showing them loading up the boats.

As much as I enjoyed helping and fully support what's being done to help the lake, I'm sad at how many house have been built around the perimeter. I've been coming here to kayak for quite a few years, loving the peace and solitude that could be found in the many inlets. But in the past few years, a huge housing association has appeared, large homes with yards reaching down to the water, so it's inevitable that much of the wildlife is now struggling to survive.

Over the past couple of years, some of the homeowners have formed a group that focuses on a trail running all around the lake, about 7.5 miles. They think this is wonderful, being able to enjoy the wild animals and what's left of the woodland, encouraging humans to tramp along the last vestiges of sanctuary that the animals have left. The maps above show how the homes have encroached upon and destroyed the natural habitat. When I first came here, there were only a few homes over to the right and a few on the left, and paddling up the larger left part of the lake would always be peaceful, with no signs of human life to be seen. I used to be able to sit in my kayak and enjoy the silence, the only noises coming from nature, of birds singing and fish jumping. I have no urge to come back here now and long for what used to be. I feel so bad for this natural habitat that's been all but destroyed.

Here are a couple of my blog from years past. Note how in the photos the trees go back as far as you can see, there's no homes on the shore fronts. That will never be seen again, this is now an area abundant in human life...

https://lucentmoments.blogspot.com/2014/06/floating-on-frederick.html

https://lucentmoments.blogspot.com/2017/09/kayaking-with-legions-on-lake.html