Happy Birthday, Baron

Wahooo!

To the Light of my Life

Happy Birthday Baron

Squirrel

Gambol brought me a dead but warm squirrel on Saturday early morning, a very nice present because I know how much they mean to him.  Then Sunday night he caught fur and has a bite on his mouth to prove it.  I watched this tussle;  Gambol was within 3 feet of the dang-blasted mammal 3 times but just couldn't quite do the deed.
Asparagus and ham fritatta planned for dinner but just as I opened the egg carton the electricity went out (and the generator went on but the stove isn't on that line) so we had the fritatta minus the egg.
Chicks are outside permanently now.  They are snuggled in the chicken tractor with a nice load of shavings. It was 65 last night and even though it rained a bit, they seemed happy with their space.
Easter flowers are blooming at the Barony.

 May apples (Podophyllum peltatum), neither in May nor apples but a sure sign of spring.

 Grape hyacinth (Muscari)

 Virginia Blue Bells (Mertensia)

 Daffodils (Narcissus)

Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis)

Wood chips

The Envinity crew has been hard at work on several timber frames (Shaver's Creek and the Central PA Builders' Show) so they had a lot of wood chips at their shop.  Instead of using the standard 20 gallon plastic bags for the chips, I borrowed Jerry's large (40" x 40" x 48") plastic and nylon bag which was used to deliver 1200 pounds of wood pellets to his house for his wood pellet stove.  The guys at the shop filled the large bag with chips on a pallet so they could use the forklift to move it from the shop to my pickup bed.  The bag and pallet just fit between the rear wheel wells in the pickup bed.With the pallet and bag moved all the way forward I could use bungee cords to hold it to the front of the truck and to keep the top of the bag closed.  I drove the side roads on the ride back to the Barony, keeping to a slower speed so I didn't end up showering chips all over the highways. 
We are getting some fruit bushes for the backyard garden that like moist, acidic soil conditions so the wood chip mulch should work with them nicely.  The bushes include Honeyberry, gooseberry, and currant.  These fruit bushes will go in the garden where we have been growing veggies.  Since this area is just in back of the house, most of the year the veggie garden looks pretty ragged.  The bushes will look nicer throughout the year.  I'll be moving the veggies out to the meadow around our asparagus bed where I have installed 3 raised beds for garlic, potatoes, and onions.  I will be putting in a couple more of the raised beds as the weather warms up.

Warning: Speed bumps

 

More from the Baron:

We installed some water bars along the long straightaway on our driveway. The water bars feel like speed bumps but their main purpose is to stop water from eroding the driveway into Grand Canyons.  The bars slow the water flow and channel it off the driveway (at least in theory).  Our bars are made of crushed rock, about 12-18 inches wide and 4-6 inches high. The more we drive over them the firmer they get and the better they work (at least in theory).
I put a set of reflectors (red and blue) on the side of the driveway at each water bar, a total of 5 bars on the drive.  The reflectors are 48 inches tall. I hammered a spike into the ground about 12-14 inches deep and inserted a 12 inch section of pipe into the hole for the reflector mounting pole.  This will allow us to easily change out reflectors that get broken.  The reflectors will tell us where to slow down while plowing the drive and allow us to raise up the plow so we don't end up leveling the bars as we plow.

Reading: Walking Thoreau, ***Philosophical; reasons to walk as valid now as in the mid 1800s.

Toy shed and 'sang

From the Baron:

I have finished the shed project after filling in the floor with additional soil and topped with a 2-4 inch layer of crushed rock.  I moved the excess hemlock timbers into the rear of the shed and I think now that I can park both the tractor and my pickup truck inside without any crowding.  We still have extra construction material and other 'junk' inside the shed, but now the insides are manageable and we can use both of the shed doors to drive in and out.
My ginseng patch this year is in an area of the forest that has an east-facing aspect and has typically shown a blanket of may apples.  I hand planted the ginseng seed alongside two old logs, on the side of one and on both sides of the other.  I also planted a small area that was adjacent to the logs but this area had exposed soil, so I can compare the results next spring.  I should point out that the planted lines of ginseng have a small locust stake at the top and bottom of the lines.  These locust stakes have been kiln-dried and have been painted a dull red color, making them blend into the background leaf litter.  Locust is pretty rot-resistant and should last a long time, so they should be helpful in locating the ginseng plots in the future.

Buck on the verge

Where was my camera:  this morning after opening the garage door I headed out to the chicken coop.  Right in the middle of the lower Jennifer Trail, not 50 feet from me was a buck.  He blended in with the brown leaves and the sun wasn't over Bald Eagle so I didn't get a count of his points, but I think he might have had 2 plus the prong.  He was a big animal but leggy, not husky in the chest.  He watched me walk to the coop and didn't flag his tail until I passed him again on my way back to the house. 
We've seen a scratched area in the dirt near the camping spot and other evidence of rubs and smells.  Now we know we have at least one deer at the Barony.

Lavender

We spent all day Sunday relocating our lavender garden from the left side of the garage to the right side of the garage.  This was primarily to make room for the flagstone patio to permit access from the garage driveway to the new house.  In its original position the garden was directly  in the way of the path from the driveway to the house.  The original garden was built out of pressure treated lumber (2" x8"planks) nailed and screwed together with "L" shaped angle braces in the four corners to form a rectangular box, roughly 4' x 8'. 
For the relocated garden we used rocks that we had accumulated around the property and dry stacked them in an oval, roughly 6' x 12'.  The larger size allowed us to separate plants and to find several self seeded baby plants as we transplanted the lavender.  I think we purchased 8 plants in 4" pots. We now have 12 or more, some of which are 12"-ers.
Since I know we have more big rocks sprinkled around the Barony, I can see 2 or 3 more of these raised beds in a cloverleaf with other specialty gardens with maybe a bird bath at the center. Paths of flagstone with thyme between would be fun too. Cloverleaf, or perhaps pawprint.

The hens think this is a throne.  They love the height.

Screech owl

Eastern screech owl whinnying like a horse above the house when I put the chickens to bed tonight, a new bird for the Barony.

Oma and Opa

The NJ Hardwicks visited from Fri to Monday. We had plenty of Oma and Opa time.  Saturday evening we watched the "thunderworks" from the Toy Shed bench up the valley.
Sunday we did the real thing at Penn State, marred only by horrendous parking.
Paul and David hauled some big rocks from around the Barony to a staging area for landscapers.

Fruit of the Barony

Paul picked over a quart of hybrid blueberries for breakfast.   The chickens picked their own and didn't share.  The dogs pick their own black raspberries and don't share either.  Gambol has taught Buddy this trick.
After our walk and fruit feast when we were all good and tired, Buddy and Paul sat on the tree stump in front of the chickens while Gambol and I treat the chickens with liver cookies.  Buddy works very hard to ignore the birds. 
This morning on our walk up the hill a bird flew silently about 2 feet over my head.  Perhaps it was a small owl; it was so fast I couldn't identify it, although Buddy knew it was a bird.  No bears today.

Nature

Gambol brought me a box turtle on our early morning walk and a dead chipmunk while we were gardening. Both 4-legged boys missed a 4' long black snake sunning in the grass. Three boys scared a jake in the driveway 50 feet from the house on their late morning walk. A bald eagle flew over the house and was buzzed by a crow. Hummingbirds did their U-shaped dance mating over the deck. I found a new flower: Hooker's orchid Platanthera hookeri in the bear's lair. It's on the Pa Endangered list.
A thunderstorm hit just after breakfast; Buddy starts quivering well before we can hear the thunder. He buried his head in my armpit then scrambled into my lap.
We have nature here at the Barony.

Happy Birthday, Baron

Tile work by Scott in the front bump out and Jesse at the rear entry. Douglasfir railings by Jonas and Bill. 

 Basement bathroom fixtures and vanity installed by Cody. 
Priming and painting by Jason-on his knees, standing, on a step ladder, and on an extension ladder with paint brush, roller, and a spackle/putty knife for fixing nicks in the walls caused by the other trades.  In the shed the trim boards are being sprayed with water based finish and sanded between coats by Cameron.
Figuring out the installation of the cooktop downdraft vent, cutting holes for HVAC vents, and sawing hemlock blocking for the wall sconces by Doug, when he isn't supervising all the other work that is going on. 
Woodwork and preparing the flooring on the stair landing to the basement, including fitting the bullnose trim and pegs for the screw holes, by Chris. 
Electrical work, including circuits, placement of fixtures and receptacles, and lighting choices by Dwayne. 
HVAC, geothermal heat pump, ducts, vents, and louvers to control the air flow by Adrian. 
Plumbing, including toilets and sewer pipes, water, and the water manifold to service the kitchen, baths, and laundry by Jeff.  It is a multi-ring circus with Doug as the ring leader.

It is a busy time at the Barony.  The house is evolving every day.  Dan the floor finisher stopped by to plan his work over the next couple of weeks. He finished our maple floor above the garage in 2004--said he remembered coming up our driveway! 

Wells complete

Well drillers made repairs to the rig and started drilling the first well at 0930. It was noisy and dusty at the Barony today.  Lots of gray pulverized rock in the drilling tailings.  It's finely ground shale that looks like concrete dust and packs as firmly when wet. They will move the tailings and will use our tractor to pick it up.  Tomorrow they put the geothermal hoses down into the 4 200' wells.  

Jonas is applying the final finish coat to the treads in the shed. They will set up over the weekend and be ready for  installation next week.

Jeff put a vent out of the upstairs bathroom.
The wall hangers are taping off the edges where the wall board meets the timbers.

 John and Doug are trimming out the front door and windows with the HardiePlank trim pieces.

But, our water is a horrible dirty brown now. There's no smell. I hope it clears soon.

A visit and rain

Admiral Von UberBaron came up for a Clem's lunch on Saturday.  We are wondering what his first project in the new basement workspace will be. A workbench and some tools benches have to be first, but then what?
Sunday work was cut short by torrential rains after we fertilized some trees and delivered 2 loads of field rocks to the rock wall.  We re-cut some herringbone diversion gullies in the road to move water off.  It's amazing how shallow these gullies can be to change the direction of a stream just enough.  We dig them every 50' or so.  Every car and truck on the road degrades the gullies a bit, but we had no significant erosion from the storm.

Roof

It was a (relatively) warm day, upper 40s, at the Barony today so The Crew worked on the cold roof.  This means 1x2" furring strips on the panels to provide a channel of air under the OSB and asphalt shingles. They built the step out on the peak which will provide a little more summer shade to the great room.

All the back windows are in but neither of the doors

Gambol's vet visit

Gambol's second visit to the vet was much more pleasant than his first, a year ago.  He behaved like a well mannered dog should, curious and not afraid.  He let the vet tech hold him for the 3 booster shots (rabies, bordatella, and DHPP--Distemper, Hepatitis, Parainfluenza, and Parvovirus) and blood draw for heartworm and other tests.  He has been exposed to Lyme so he's taking antibiotic, Doxycycline 100) for a month and he has lung worms so he'll take a drug for that too.  We have a prescription for his regular quarterly worming, Virbantel, (round, hook,whip worms) too.  It appears that hunting on the Barony is a dangerous business.

24 feet at the Barony

Our 6th Christmas here was as wonderful as the rest of them.  Lady Ariel, her Count, The Western Prince and her Loyal Pooch made the very long drive from Chicago. They left a half a day earlier than planned to get ahead of 10" snow and blizzard conditions. The pregnant Lady Terra, her Count and Prince Cheeks ...
We rented North Run Cottage for the 2 legged visitors.  It's a lovely home just our side of Black Moshannon Park, about 9 minutes from The Barony.  Besides the outdoor hot tub (which no one used) and the TVs on each floor (which they did use), the kitchen was fully stocked as was the fire wood.  The beds were flat and the showers were hot.  What more could the Ladies ask for?
Christmas Day is Prince Cheek's 900th day and The Western Prince's 200th day.  I love it when numbers work out like that. It does something for my dyscalculia.

The Barony from Skytop

Snow covers the meadow so the extra piles of basement fill is hard to see. Three bundles of panels are still across from the Toy Shed.