The Best Nest

Spent last week working in the yard, repotting plants, and generally trying to squeeze more hours in to the day than the clock allows.  Saturday was the day we put all the pieces together and cleared out some junk under one of the awnings so our hanging laundry has more airflow and our English ivy more encouragement to climb up the lattice instead of around bits and pieces of life.  Our faithful trestle table that served us so well through all the growing up years has finally been put to the street.  It's time to let her go before she comes apart and squishes a cat.  Second son trimmed back, shaped up and raked, swept and did it all again after a gully washer came through.  He also re-arranged my flock of flamingos in a lovely spiral around the bird bath.  It is totally spiffy!

click to enlarge if you'd like to see the flamingo-y grooviness

Previously, in Kofemug Life, we lived on a hill in the boonies up a 1/4 mile clay road arched at an approximately 78 degree angle: one way in, one way out, and almost 3 acres of woods with a ravine and a creek and bauxite that turned everything rust colored and shiny in the sunlight.  We lived in a tiny trailer and  the children grew faster than the weeds.  It was the perfect place for six growing children and a single moma.  Safe, unconcerned with rowdy play or wild experiments or the two tons of laundry that hung front and back just to keep up.  We had a little clearing around the trailer but otherwise, the woods grew right up to the patio and deck.  It was our Palm of God, a sanctuary we nested and recovered in.

December 2015 - Day we signed the Documents 

In December 2015, we moved to town.  The reasons were many but so far, we've no cause to regret this.  It took us considerable time to find a neighborhood that was not only integrated [in the sowth that's not easy to find outside the big cities] but a nice balance of young families, mature folks and Peaceful nights, tidy yards, homes maintained and Trees.  We could not bear the thought of living in some razed to the ground subdivision with stockade fences and scrawny little saplings.  I drove around neighborhoods for months, listening and looking and was surprised no one reported me to cops.  Well, that is until the evening we signed all the paperwork and received the keys!  Was both hilarious and comforting and we still got to eat our pizza sitting on the floor of Our Real House.

Back of my third daughter on the chimney side of house

To the back yard

So with a nice neighborhood, 2 large trees in front, several along the back and one next to the back awning, we were in lurv before we got to the back yard where a wooden wishing well and overgrown roses were bordered nicely by two sheds and monkey grass.  It was winter, there was no way to know the space was planted with flowers that grew all through the spring and summer and in to fall but that well and the little metal bucket spoke to all of us.  It still does.

Irony?  We were all too busy gaping at it to take a picture.  The pennies we tossed in are still at the bottom, now buried under ferns and pansies. Wishes thrive beneath greenery.  I still haven't decided what I want in the little bucket ... last year I tried some creeping jenny but the cats battered at her until she was nothing but nubbins.

That's a magnolia tree on the right and there is still work to do but
Eldest Son saved the roses from some blight last year so we didn't want to do anything more aggressive at the time.

Those are last years ferns that survived winter and rescued kittens that wanted to be lions in the jungle. 
They have earned a pride of place spot for sure!

It's an older home, built in the late forties, owned by one family, lovingly tended.  They raised their children here.  Father died here, in his sleep, and Mother carried on until health insisted she move nearer her daughter.  He was a handy man, always pottering around and keeping things nice.  His adventures in wiring are amazing.  She kept everything spic and span and worked full time as well.  People still miss them and I can understand why.  If they gave half the care to people that they did to the house, they were more than generous.

The wood work in the house is glorious and the windows all open, both the original and the outer ones.  There is just enough room for everyone to have a quiet corner when they need it, but not so much we can't do a quick tidy in thirty minutes and actually feel like you've accomplished something.  No one here likes to do housework, go figure! 



The chimney is capped which keeps the bats and squirrels outside, where we enjoy them.  There are three bedrooms, two bathrooms and One Level.  The yard isn't large but it is just right so Second Son can get the mowing, wacking and etc done in one morning before it gets too hot.  Our neighbors are all lovely folks that work hard and tend their families and homes with attention to their business, not ours.  Can't ask for more than that.

There is still decorating work to do, the wall paper is in nice shape, covering board and lathe, but quite mature and bland beige.  Alas, the loving folks painted all the window frames and ledges, door frames and doors stark white instead of leaving the lovely wood but it was The Thaing back in the day, so I can't really fuss, just dread scraping all that paint away. The enclosed back porch that houses our pantry/ laundry room and what we use as a dining room is painted pink - two shades of pink.  It has taken all this time to finally agree on colors for walls and trim.

That tree is the  huge one outside now
 under the awning where the gnomes dwell

Yes, we've been here over 3 years now, but some essential work that had to be done first followed by my health incident and one daughter moving to the big city sort of slowed things down considerably. I'm not as energetic as previously, so projects have to be broken down to small steps over a longer time because I tend to overdo and then have to waste time recovering.  Everyone working varied schedules and long hours has also impacted our plans. 

Outside, however, doesn't really impact daily life, except for time and the budget.  Both of which are exacting taskmasters.  My work schedule twined with everyone else's means my outside time is usually coming and going, but there are some precious hours I get here and there to sit outside in the early morning or late evening.  Otherwise, it's a view through windows and by golly, I want it to be pleasant and colorful.

When we lived in the frozen wasteland, I had a jungle inside all winter.  In the too brief summer there was a garden to tend, most plants went outside and I had toddler helpers with the weeding.  Toddlers are very enthusiastic when ripping things out of the ground.  Now, I use fake flowers inside most of the year with a brief 8 weeks or so of outside plants coming in from the too cold.  I didn't have room to bring my begonias and hostas in this year and surprise, surprise they all survived the mild winter!  I thanked them for being so sturdy this year.

My fairy garden was built in a turkey roaster from back in the day that sprang a leak in the bottom.  I rescued a fairy fern from Wal-Mart at the end of the year two years ago, added a gazebo, a little house and some gnomes, then the flamingos and my daughter shared a fairy with me so it could be official.  Keeping cats from napping in this pot while it was inside in a sunny corner was a great deal of work.  Now the fern has choked out the twining ivy that was there the first year but I still like it best of all my arrangements. 

We had to stop here as money and time ran out.  I have seeds to go in the fancy pots, Crimson Climbers that I'll put in tonight.  The cherry tomato plant already has tomatoes on it!  Yipeeee.  I'm saving for more stones to fill in what is a barren spot due to traffic and rain run off.  That old bird bath also sprang a leak so I have filled it with a bunch of stones, shells from the dollar store and a half dead philodendron.  They're pretty hardy and recover well when properly neglected and no cats are trying to re-arrange them.  The fern is new, happy in a much larger pot than it came in.

My morning spot is definitely my favorite this year.  Keeping cats, raccoons and squirrels out of my hens and chicks and Off the lavender is as big a challenge as every other year but I added sharp stones and fish gravel this time.  A layer on top of moisture control soil that will slow 'em down and make it an univiting place to lounge.  Yeah, it's my theory of hopefulness this will work ... scientific theory it ain't.  At the very least we'll have the best smelling cats and squirrels in the neighborhood.  Note monster tree next to cat corner, see it as a 2nd year beauty above.

Sitting there gazing at the pretties while listening to the chimes is a lovely start or end to the day! We hang the laundry under that awning and don't have sun fading issues and on a misty or threat of rain day, we have a chance of getting clothes dry without having to use the dryer.  A/C is expensive enough without running a dryer at the same time; or so my frugal heart insists.  The furniture there we are storing for a former neighbor that is fixing up an old house. 

Out front, we set up a shady sitting area between the big trees and sheltered by a row of shrubs that shield us from the street.  You can watch the birds bathe and the flamingos keep an eye on everything.  When it rains heavy the flamingos are in a swamp and I think it makes them quite happy.  Of course the cats have already staked their claim to comfort in the shade.  There are little trees in that pot that are the same beginning size as the Big Tree in the cat corner under the awning.  And yes, that's a rubber ducky Flamingo in the middle.  She is encouraging them to grow large and provide her shade.

Yet again, it looks like summer is here and our Nest is Best when blooming.