A Thyme for Dreams

A Few "Finishes"

2011-11-06T05:45:00.000-07:00

We had a busy Friday and Saturday as many things were wrapped up.

Friday, November 4, 2011. After weeks of trying to do this ourselves we finally decided to call in the "pros". It took Rod and Terry Morris less than two days and the greenhouse is finished - YAY!!!!

Siding will now be finished on this part of the house.

I held my breath. WHEW! Terry did not fall through the glass.

The metal pole is part of a thermostatically controlled system to open the vents in the "roof" of the greenhouse.

Brothers, Rod and Terry Morris, the greenhouse "pros".

The Morris brothers travel the country putting up Florian greenhouses.

Just as the greenhouse was being finished and Rod and Terry were packing up their truck for a long drive back home to IN the new owner of our Airstream showed up. It just so happens that the Airstream is also going to IN behind this white truck. Adios to our home of 7 months; it served us well.

On Saturday our contractor, Matt Kroll, showed up and finished the hole in the wall which is our lovely completed laundry chute.

Down the rabbit hole? No, just down our laundry chute.

Now tell me, have you ever seen a more attractive laundry chute? :D

With the greenhouse complete it was time to move my Rosemary trio out to the greenhouse where they are now in residence. These three were much smaller as they traveled with me on the front floor (passenger side, of course :) of the Jeep as I drove them from AZ to MI seven months ago. They have weathered many changes in climate and temperature and are healthy, happy and growing like "weeds" :D.

The Greenhouse

2011-11-03T15:05:00.001-07:00

We gave up trying to put up the greenhouse by ourselves. Rod and Terry, in the photos below, are sub contractors for Florian Greenhouse, the company that built our greenhouse, and THEY KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING! :D Doug spent a couple of hair-pulling weeks trying to figure this out and finally called Florian for help. It just so happened these two were in southern MI putting up a greenhouse for someone else. Fortunately they were able to come up here and do ours. They started this morning and will be finished with it tomorrow. YAY!!!!!! :D

Rod, Terry, and their work truck arrived while it was still dark this morning.

Doug (next to the Jeep) pulled our trailer into place loaded with all the greenhouse parts.

Doug and Matt (our contractor) had gotten this far with the framing. Now it's up to Rod and Terry to finish the job.

Framing is finished - glass is going on. Thank goodness for a beautiful, sunny day after a week of rain.

Close to being finished.

Stay tuned for the finished product. :D

Moving In

2011-11-01T05:19:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, October 20, 2011 we received a temporary certificate of occupancy which means we can legally move in and live in the house while the remainder of the work to complete the house for a permanent certificate is being done. Those items include completing the solid maple staircase, building the greenhouse, decks, some of the knobs on interior doors and some trim. There is also a tiny bit of electrical and plumbing to be completed by the subs. We also need to install our closet organizers as we have lots of closet space and no shelves in any of them. We have begun the closet project which is going to take more time and more $ than we expected. I also must go through the entire house and touch-up paint everywhere the walls need some extra work.

First fire in our Vermont Castings "Intrepid"

Garage with its new "apron" (cement pad)

Doug is preparing to add the stone work to the lower portion - below the siding.

Our new kitchen :D. Sliding door to the right will go to the greenhouse.

Lazy Susan in the corner - I wonder how it ever got that name?

There must be a way to rotate this but there is no button marked "Rotate"? Kitchen sink with view over adjacent field.

Master bedroom: slider will open onto a future deck, bifold doors = closet, door at right enters into bathroom.

Standing at top of stairs looking down to the Entry. The white door leads to the garage. Bifold doors are closets.

Lower level bathroom + laundry

"The Big Maple" behind our house has lost most of its leaves in preparation for the coming winter.

South - our closest neighbor has horses. Trailer belongs to contractor. Future pond will go where the trailer is.

Doug is setting up a workspace to build the greenhouse.

Greenhouse will go here.

Our yard on east side of house. Hay field is beyond the trees and adjacent to our land on the east.

Hayfield - the dogs love to play here.

More of the hayfield.

Looking at the house from the hayfield.

The Girls: Molly (black) and Daisy (brown) enjoying their time in the hay field. The trees/woods behind our house are on our land. Trees to the right mark the boundary between our land and hay field. The owners of this field gave us permission to let the girls play here.

Taking a Break

2011-10-13T19:16:00.000-07:00

The house is coming along albeit slowly. We had been, and still are, working from dawn to dark daily and needed a break. On a recent past Sunday we decided to work only in the morning and take the afternoon off. We took our two dogs, Daisy and Molly, and drove through the magnificent Leelanau Peninsula just north of our home in Benzie County, taking in the glorious color as summer changes to autumn, the wonderful smells of fall in the air, apple orchards, wine tasting, and time spent near Lake Michigan.

Omena Bay - part of West Grand Traverse Bay which is part of Lake Michigan

Our favorite winery and tasting room located on Omena Bay

Woolsey Memorial Airport, Northport, MI

The little building at the airport is built of all native stone.

An apple orchard/farm specializing in antique/heirloom apples. We had a lot of apples at home so bought only a gallon of marvelous fresh-pressed apple cider.

This lovely lady greeted us at the antique apple orchard.

From the back - dreadlocks.

Almost a month since my last post . . .

2011-09-08T05:33:00.000-07:00

Someone once said, "time flies when you're having fun". If that's true then we must be having a blast up here in northern MI. I can't attest to having a blast as we work throughout each and every day painting all the new drywall in the house and sealing all the clear pine trim and all interior doors but it is getting done and we are saving a bit of $$$$ doing this part of the building ourselves.

Looking into the house proper from the entry as we prepare to paint. We are using low VOC paint throughout. The "big closet" (see below) is to the left with the front door (not installed yet) to the right. The door to the backyard (will have a doggy door cut into it) will be to the left and the garage is behind the camera.

The "Great Room". The smaller window is in the kitchen looking to the east.

A wonderfully big closet in the entry.

A smaller closet in the entry. The door into the garage is to the left.

In the pole barn - some of the 2000' + linear feet of trim. We are using a PolyAcrylic to provide a clear finish - much nicer to work with than polyurethane. The PolyAcrylic has almost no odor which makes it a tad healthier for people and the planet.

Doug is getting a bit punchy from all this . . .

The hole in the wall is the future laundry chute. The window is in the kitchen.

Looking from the Great Room into the Office. The entry room is to the left of picture.

Doug is trying to use up the last little bit of primer.

While we are painting inside our contractor, Matt Kroll, is putting the siding on our house - sage green - we love it. This is the garage - the tiny piece visible in the center is the entry (octagon window) with the house in the background.
Choosing a siding was not easy - vinyl is an oil based product which we had hoped to stay away from but we also had to factor in cost. This particular vinyl is insulated which will help on heating/cooling of the house.

Matt Kroll, Kroll Contracting, on a makeshift scaffold as he puts up some of the garage siding. As of this writing the siding on the entire structure is about 1/2 complete.

Where Does the Time Go?

2011-08-12T09:43:00.002-07:00

My eldest son, Brian, texted, "Mom, haven't seen any blog updates for awhile." I thought he must not be paying attention because I had "just" posted a new blog, or so I thought. However, as you can see from the previous post which I just published today it was from July 28 and I had forgotten to publish it. A lot has happened since then including the stark realization that we will not be able to move in by our contract date of Sept 1. Not happy about this but nothing to do except roll with the punches.

The chimney for the future wood stove is now through the roof. It won't look so tall, awkward, and out of place once the cupola which will fit over the point of the roof is in place. The cupola is necessary to vent the attic.

Looking at the back of the house. The mid-section is the back of the entry and to the far right is the garage. In the forefront is just a tiny pile of dirt. The piles in front of the house are really mountains.

Doug and Travis (plumber) are connecting pipes for the Geothermal. Check out those trees. :D

Steve is sealing the outside of all windows.

The insulation people are here and will be working throughout this weekend.

Onward and Upward

2011-08-12T09:07:00.000-07:00

I had totally forgotten that I had started this back around the end of July. Better late than never, I guess.

Our girls, Daisy (brown) and Molly (black w/brown trim) are checking out the new greenhouse foundation and floor. Thankfully, the whole thing turned out correctly the 2nd time around. The girls approve - they like to go out here and lay in the sun. :D

Wiring and plumbing are in the works.

Even though the footprint for this house is relatively small it is still taking a lot of lumber; a lot of trees, to build this house.

We have ceilings (above). I learned that in the "trades" the ceiling is called a "lid". Go figure!

This is the geothermal heat pump in the mechanical room - lower level of house - three wells were drilled outside to provide the necessary water flow to make this work for both heating and cooling the house and for hot water.

Playing Catch-Up

2011-07-26T07:10:00.002-07:00

It's been awhile since my last post and a lot has happened - some good and some not so good.

Drilling the three wells for the geo-thermal heating and cooling system.

Molly thinks Daisy makes a good pillow. Daisy is simply tolerating the situation.

Shingles are now on the entire structure.

Here comes the not-so-good. One day Doug noticed the foundation for the greenhouse didn't quite look right. He checked the blueprint and sure enough, the foundation was wrong. The crew that laid out the wooden forms for the concrete footings and foundation did not read the blueprint correctly. Our greenhouse was not going to fit. Trying to make the necessary changes to the greenhouse would make the finished structure look as though it had been patched not to mention the additional $4,700 cost. The concrete company chose to rip out the entire foundation and floor and rebuild the entire structure. Since the original had been poured right along with the house and since all the wiring from the house to the geo-thermal had already been put in place under this structure tremendous care had to be taken to do it right. Our contractor and the concrete company's supervisor as well as Doug were directly involved in the entire destruction process. Our contractor is below in the khaki shirt, shorts and knee pads; the concrete company's supervisor is in red.

It's all gone now. The incorrect footings are 42" down and will remain while the new and corrected footings will be poured inside the wrong ones. They will begin a new pour sometime????

“there’s rosemary, that’s for remembrance.” Shakespeare

2011-07-10T15:39:00.000-07:00

I must take a break from the house building and post the story of my Rosemary. Sixteen years ago my husband found a small house for sale by owner in an airpark in Aguila, AZ. At the time we were living in one of the the two best places in the world, Salida, CO. The other best place is where we are now living. Doug wanted to live with his airplane and he wanted to work in aviation and that was nearly impossible in Salida. And so we put our Salida house up for sale and moved to Eagle Roost Airpark, Aguila, AZ. There was only one truly redeeming quality about the house for me and that was the magnificent Rosemary growing in the back yard. I named her Mama Rosy and I nurtured her for 15 years. She in turn produced many little Rosy babies. Some of these I shared with friends. However, there were three which I grew in small pots and brought with me to MI having no idea if they would survive such an arduous journey. Mama Rosy meant more to me than just a simple plant; she was the plant I chose to work with for Susan Weed's Green Allies Herb class because I felt a special pull to this plant in particular and to all Rosemaries in general. My three Baby Rosies made the trip to MI alive but struggling ever so slightly. When we arrived in early April northern MI was still caught in the grip of winter. I covered my babies up at night and gave them sunshine, when it was shining, during the day. They survived and today there are lovely new and tender shoots growing from each of the three plants.

BTW - when we left AZ Big Mama Rosy had grown from a relatively small plant to approximately 10 feet long, 7 feet wide, and 5 feet high. She was (is?) magnificent. The man who bought our house is not a gardener and thus I worry about Big Mama.

Trusses, Trusses, and More Trusses

2011-06-30T15:29:00.001-07:00

Trusses everywhere and still not finished.

These strange looking trusses are part of the octagon roof on the house.

Smaller trusses over the entry.

Entry . . .

These smaller trusses will fill in part of the octagon roof.

The House is Beginning to Look Like a . . . HOUSE!

2011-06-30T15:14:00.001-07:00

Roof trusses went up today on walls that were framed in a coupled of days ago.

The crane arrived about 9:00 this morning. The driver picked up a truss and raised the boom. The boom went up . . .

. . . and up

. . . and up some more - about 60' into the sky until it became a sky hook catching clouds.

What, no clouds!? OK, no clouds, but it did hook a monster truss.

Moving the truss into place. Would it knock Steve off the roof I wondered?

Gently and carefully moving the monster truss into place right at the edge of the garage.

Just a little more . . .

They did it - YAY!!!!

First truss in place with only two or three dozen more to go. :D

A Lot of House Has Been Built Since June 7

2011-06-19T09:09:00.007-07:00

The house is growing:

Preparing the lower foundation for the floor joists.

The ladder is needed until stairs are installed to the lower level.

Lower level. This is not a basement as such but is the lower level of our bilevel home. The purpose of colored concrete - no additional floor covering other than area rugs.

Someday there will be stairs in this stair well. (I hope:)

Walls for the rooms in the lower level are framed.

The large open space to the right will be a family room/my studio combo.

Construction site - obviously no landscaping until all this is gone.

This is Doug doing something with the preparation for the floor joists.

Matt Kroll is our contractor. I wonder if he is ordering the wood to stay in place - or else? :D

The floor joists are in place.

The colored concrete in foreground is part of the entry to the house.

We have a sub-floor. :D

The excess was cut off - not unlike trimming around a pie crust.

Upper level walls are up. The section on left is the entry and leads into the bilevel - you can see the 2 levels here. The large opening in the house will be a sliding glass door which will open onto a deck. The two long windows at the bottom are for the family room/studio in the lower level.

Back of entry - there will be a back door and a doggy door; slab for garage is to the right.

Another sliding door off the master bedroom at the back (north) of house. Entry room is to the right. The window at the bottom is an "egress" window from the guest bedroom - required by code.

Garage slab in foreground, entry (narrow framed portion in middle), house.

Roof trusses have arrived.

We have mountains of dirt.

More wood. I thank the trees that provided us with the wood for our home.

The concrete structure off to the right of picture is going to be an attached greenhouse. Because the house itself is an octagon and the greenhouse is almost all glass it is positioned to catch the east, south, and southwest sun all winter and this will provide passive solar heat into the upper level of the house as well as plants and salad greens all winter. We are looking for one of those tiny round cocktail tables and two chairs to put in the greenhouse - great place for morning coffee with terrific views of the surrounding countryside.

My temporary clotheslines in the background with our forest just behind the lines. Once the house is finished permanent clotheslines will be positioned more conveniently to the back of the house.

This is a better view of the greenhouse foundation with colored concrete floor. The areas cut out from the concrete will be small sliding doors (one on each side) onto the deck.

The house, Airstream, and pole barn with our woods to the right in back.

Spirit tree rises over all. This is an American Basswood (Linden) tree which stands sentinel at the entrance to our land and rises nearly 50' as it reaches skyward.

The House is a Work in Progress

2011-06-07T16:13:00.000-07:00

The lower level walls and floor have been poured. The lumber package for lower level has been delivered.

Our contractor, Matt Kroll, (center), his right hand man, Steve, (left) and Doug (right) have begun the framing of the lower level.

We now have walls - downstairs.

Yes, the concrete floors in the lower level and the entry are colored concrete.

And just for the record - it was 95 degrees here in northern MI today. Brutal!

Memorial Day, 2011

2011-06-01T16:09:00.000-07:00

The afternoon of Memorial Day, 2011 was bright and warm with sunshine, fresh air, and birds singing. Doug wanted to go to the beach. We loaded up the dogs and lots of old towels and headed to a beach in the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore about 10 miles west of our home. This particular stretch of beach allows pets on leashes and so, armed with harnesses, leashes, and "poop" bags, we headed for the beach. I was surprised at the low population level as we walked for nearly a mile along the shore. The water was bitterly cold but Doug braved the cold in his effort to get the dogs to go in the water. Molly was nervous about the waves crashing on shore but finally went in. Daisy also went in but for some reason did not get her picture taken.

On our way home we stopped at Norconck Asparagus Farm and bought 10 pounds of fresh picked asparagus. As soon as we got it home we set aside about 1.5 pounds to grill for our dinner that night. The rest we blanched and froze.

The pictures refused to rotate and so some of them are sideways.

Doesn't this asparagus look absolutely yummy? It was :D! We grilled some for our dinner and with a slice of fresh Pleasanton Brick Oven Bakery bread grilled with Raclette Cheese melting over the grilled bread we had a simple and delicious meal.

We now have about 8.5 pounds of fresh asparagus in the freezer for winter.

Toadstools growing in the compost.

2011-06-01T15:27:00.000-07:00

Toadstools took root on some of the straw bales rimming my compost pile. For whatever reason these two pictures absolutely refused to rotate and ended up sideways no matter what I did to rotate them.

Fossil Rock

2011-06-01T15:18:00.000-07:00

The most famous rock formation in this part of the world is the Petoskey Stone. This is not a Petoskey Stone. I do not know what it is but it does seem to be some type of fossil rock.

Convex side:

Concave side:

Critters Everywhere :D

2011-05-22T16:21:00.002-07:00

We welcome every opportunity to observe the natives.

Nightcrawler:

Doug spotted this fellow on this morning's walk just as I nearly stepped on him. We had some rain very early this morning and it brought these guys out in droves. This fellow is about 8" long.

Later this morning Doug found a baby Hognose in our driveway. He is probably about 10" long and no bigger around than my middle finger. I used the macro setting on my point and shoot and took this from about 18". I didn't want to get any closer as it was apparent he was frightened by my presence although he didn't flip over and play dead.

We Have Walls

2011-05-21T15:44:00.001-07:00

The crew came back on Friday,May 20, removed the forms and painted that black substance on the "below the dirt" portion of lower walls to keep moisture out. The house is in the background, garage is in foreground of this picture.

Seen on This Morning's Walk

2011-05-21T15:35:00.000-07:00

Everyday and every walk brings something new. Today we saw a huge turkey - Doug guessed him to be about 35 pounds. I was hanging on to Molly who wanted only to chase so therefore did not get a picture but I did get a picture of his tracks (below).

A view from our 3 mile morning walk.

Turkey tracks in dry sand.

Same turkey but in wet sand.

Who made this hole and for what purpose?

Fascinating knot in an old Maple.

How long ago did this board become ingrown into this Maple?

Footings Poured

2011-05-17T05:38:00.000-07:00

The footings have been poured. In these pictures you can see the octagon shape of the house.

There was a lot going on outside the trailer with two huge cement trucks pouring at once. In the meantime our most curious kitty, Ayla, was working on trying to escape the confines of the tin can (Airstream). I foiled her attempt - thank goodness.

Officially Official

2011-05-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

Building permits are now posted on the property. My name is strangely absent even though I am a 50% owner. ??????

A Michigan Native

2011-05-14T04:30:00.000-07:00

Hognose Snake, non-venomous. The girls and I found this snake on our walk a few days ago. Molly actually stepped right on him. These snakes flatten their heads just like a cobra and make a hissing sound not unlike that of a young rattlesnake. The two large black spots are on top of the flattened portion of his head. His eyes are directly in front of these spots and cannot be seen in these pics. Their name comes from their upturned snout which they use to burrow for critters to eat. The upturn of the snout did not show up well in these pictures. When they feel very threatened (bottom picture) they roll over and play dead.

It's Now Official . . . :D

2011-05-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

The porta-potty has arrived. Building in earnest has officially begun (providing it will stop raining).

Let the Games Begin: Day 2.

2011-05-07T04:23:00.002-07:00

The heavy machinery used for the actual digging was done on Friday, May 6, 2011. Two additional men, two monster trucks, and two large pieces of "digging" machinery did the entire job of excavation in one day. Fortunately they were almost finished when it began to rain. The heavy equipment is now gone with the next step being the footings.

How to Build a Mountain

. . . unearthing the earth :D

The equipment is gone now. Doug went into the hole for the lower level (bilevel house) and the girls followed. They (girls:) think this is one huge playground just for them.

Let the Games Begin

2011-05-07T03:57:00.001-07:00

Groundbreaking began on the morning of Thursday, May 5, 2011 when Matt Kroll, our builder and neighbor, began leveling the surface.

Matt brought his small bull dozer Wednesday evening (May 4, 2011) in preparation to begin leveling and smoothing out the site Thursday morning.

Thusday, May 5, 2011. Matt began to grade the site.

Our well head to the center left of picture.

This monster arrived the afternoon of Thursday, May 5. Doug's project, a 1946 Luscombe, is in the foreground. I wish I had been able to get a picture of the critter kids faces (all 4 of them) when they saw this monster truck arrive.

This is called a "track" hoe and was used to dig the hole in the ground where the house will go.

Living Green in a Tin Can: #2 Making Compost

2011-04-30T16:02:00.000-07:00

To make our compost bin we followed the directions, with a bit of ad libbing here and there, from an article in the current issue of "Edible Grande Traverse" titled Recycle: A Tomato in Every Pot and Compost in Every Backyard by Angela Stricker. The article is about Robert Allen, gardener extraordinaire, who developed his innovative method for use on his property in Leland, MI as well as for use in the gardens at his local elementary school. I have read about and used, in the past, many different methods for composting none of which worked as well as I would like. We will now give this method a try and see how it goes. I am planning to contact Mr. Allen as he, according to the article, willingly gives tours of his gardens, small orchard, and composting system.

In the first three pictures Doug is taking Mr. Allen's plan and changing it just a bit as he builds it into the ground rather than right on top of the ground. Doug began by scraping and then digging the area where we will place the eight bales of straw.

Is the hole big enough for the eight bales?

The hole is just about right and so just before we put the bales in we covered the area with sheets of cardboard recycled from a few of the boxes left from our move. As you can see in this picture, the space Doug dug out is deep enough so the bales of straw are level with the ground. Time will tell if this method will work as well as Mr. Allen's method of laying the bales on top of the ground. One thing for certain , digging a hole for 8 bales is a lot more work.

In following pictures I am adding the beginning ingredients to the brand new composting system.

Dumping the first load of veggie scraps and bits of paper into the compost bin.

Here I am adding a bit of damp sand to lightly cover the "mess".

A nice thick blanket of wet leaves which had been decaying under the snow since fall is layered over all.

It has been raining quite steadily and the compost and sand pile are very soggy at this point. That's Daisy leaving the area following her daily inspection to see who might have visited during the night.

I will continue to add green (veggie scraps) + brown (leaf matter) material to the compost until the "bin" is full. When it is full it will hopefully heat up enough to turn this wet and soggy mess into a nutrient rich compost/fertilizer for use in our yet to be built gardens.

Living Green in a Tin Can: #1 Laundry Day

2011-04-28T07:41:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to publish this post for days. The snow in the picture below is gone but the rain continues - and continues - and continues. The waterfowl are happy, our dogs even enjoy it. I've had enough but there is still more rain in the forecast and these weatherpeople up here seem to be at least 99% correct all of the time.

Here is the "tin can"

. . . and following is the "living green".

Full credit for the title of this series goes to Susan Tweit. Susan had suggested this title as a blog series a few days ago and I have been thinking about it ever since. I love the title and it certainly fits.

One of my goals in this life is to live as "green" as possible. Living in this Airstream allows for an even greater challenge to this goal. Living in less than 300 sq.ft. produces amazing amounts of chaos and disorganization not to mention stress/tension. Fortunately we had the pole barn (behind the trailer) built first; it is now filled with most of our earthly belongings, stacks and stacks of boxes piled high. A bit of what we absolutely have to have for daily living has slowly been found and brought into the Airstream. The rest will just have to wait until the house is built, and yes, this includes all but a couple of my books.

One of my first "green" goals was to set up my laundry. Although we sold our washer/dryer with our house in AZ we had an old washer which we brought with us for use in the pole barn. The first thing Doug did was get that hooked up to a water source. Then came the clotheslines. We did not bring a dryer and do not want to buy a new set until the house is ready; thus waiting for sunny days and doing laundry in an old washer in cold water is our only option other than driving 16.3 miles into Traverse City to use a laundromat.

Laundry Day

Two lines strung between two trees and held apart with two poles = engineering Doug style :D

Late Winter/Early Spring Snows Melting Quickly

2011-04-21T17:35:00.000-07:00

This morning dawned bright with bright sunshine and cold fresh air. The 8" of snow remained intact. We pulled on our Sorrels and took the girls for a long walk around the field behind our land which Doug has guessed to be about 100 + acres. The girls loved playing in the snow. Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera. :( I need to attach that thing to me permanently.

This morning's walk required the Sorrels

By this afternoon the snow was mostly melted; typical springtime in northern Michigan.

A Very Wintery Spring

2011-04-21T16:56:00.000-07:00

Eight inches of snow on April 21, 2011

Eight inches of snow fell in northwestern Michigan beginning early last evening and continuing through most of the night. This morning I awoke to a winter wonderland. I must admit to the beauty of the scene outside the window of our Airstream in spite of the fact we are now one month into spring. In a little while, after a cup of warming coffee, I will don my Sorrels and venture out to take some pictures of this amazing springtime scene. Right now my husband is out with the dogs and shoveling snow. I hope he takes some pictures of them playing in the snow.

Jeep and picnic table

Dogs' outside water bowl rimmed in snow.

IPR (Interlochen Public Radio) is reading of the names of schools closed today. I wonder why the announcer doesn't just name those schools that are open today - that list is much shorter as only a few schools are trying to open across the northern part of lower Michigan.

Our woods just behind the pole barn.

Our wheelbarrow, upside down and a bench next to Airstream

Molly and Daisy learning about snow.

I can't write today without talking a little about the Deepwater Disaster/Gulf Oil Spill - one year ago today and BP is still managing to escape taking full responsibility. While that battle continues and while Diane Wilson is arrested in London for protesting against BP BP is continuing plans to drill in tar sands. Pictures, as grim reminders of the horrific devastation, are on the Internet for all to see, for all to remember. We must not forget and we must not stop working for justice for our planet. Ram Dass said it best many decades ago, "Never forget lessons learned".

A Wintery Spring in Northern Michigan

2011-04-17T07:42:00.000-07:00

Today is Sunday, April 17, 2011. We are trying to keep the water lines in our Airstream from freezing in the below freezing temps which began with an early spring snow/sleet/tiny hail storm last night. Propane is very expensive and we are filling our bottles a couple of times a week. We finally brought in an electrically operated oil heater (looks like a mini-radiator) from the pole barn to help. Electricity is much less expensive here than propane. It is absolutely essential that we keep the trailer warm in order to help keep the pipes from freezing.

I took the above picture through the window of the trailer (you can see the screen in the pic) about the time the sun would normally have risen this morning. This weather is being predicted for the next 5-6 days. I hope it doesn't hold up the beginning excavation of the house - but it might. BTW - I did not use a flash for this pic. as it would have created a blinding glare against the glass and thus the deep blue color. It is really a dismal gray :D The clouds visible in the pic. are deep charcoal gray - the sky is completely overcast; a good day to read, write, and/or knit.

Our dogs, Daisy and Molly, seem to love playing in this stuff. I'll have to try and get some pictures of them running, chasing each other, visiting the neighboring horses, rough-housing, and just generally having a good time. In fact, I really have to keep my camera with me at all times as there are so many interesting sights and things going on. We've had hundreds of geese fly overhead as they return to their summer habitat on the Boardman River in Traverse City. I did not have my camera at the ready and therefore no pictures.

How to Move Two Cats 2250 Miles While Remaining Sane

2011-03-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

We are preparing to move in 15 days. Our kitties need some special care to keep them comfortably confined during the long journey from south central Arizona to northern Michigan.

This is Ayla, our little "Orca" kitty helping me sort clothes - some going to Goodwill, some to the rag bag, and some to be packed for the move. Ayla is an exceptionally curious cat and usually right in the middle of all the action.

This is my big all black girl, Emily, checking out the carrier which will house both kitties during the trip. They will ride in this two-story "home" complete with litter box, 2 food bowls and a water bowl during the day and will be allowed out when we stop in pet-friendly motels each evening. Emily really likes her perch and spends the better part of every day in here. Ayla has bothered to stick her head in and then leave. Ayla is not impressed.

Grimy Hands Girls' Club

2011-03-11T05:20:00.001-07:00

Sharon Lovejoy, author, illustrator, lecturer, gardener extraordinare, writer, blogger. Sharon writes some of the loveliest garden books I have ever seen. I collect Sharon's books :D. This is Sharon behind her own "grimy hands" and thus the name for her new club (I used it to title this post) which I have happily joined.

To learn more about Sharon you may visit her blog at

Sharon Lovejoy's Blog

and her website at

Sharon Lovejoy

SOLD!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-03-10T17:12:00.001-07:00

March 9, 2011 was the closing date on our Arizona property. We will remain in the house until Wednesday, March 30 when we leave Aguila, trucks and trailers filled with our personal belongings, and head for our property in northern MI.

We are planning a couple of family get-togethers prior to leaving, that along with packing up the house and shop will make for a very busy next 20 days. Twenty days, oh my! Will I ever get it all done? Time to bring in all the boxes we have been collecting, saving, and storing in the shop, dust them off and get busy.

Until next time, onward and upward, Lindy

Countdown to April 2011

2011-02-20T13:30:00.000-07:00

House in Eagle Roost, Aguila, AZ - 02/2011

I don't want to get too excited, not yet anyway. However, we have a buyer for our house, the home sale is in escrow and the "SALE PENDING" sign has been hung from the "FOR SALE" sign. This is good. If all goes according to plan we will close on Monday, April 4, 2011 and drive off into the rising sun heading east back to Michigan and our property.

I have no false hopes regarding the difficulty of this forthcoming trip. My husband, Doug, will be driving a 26' Budget rental truck and possibly/probably towing trailer. He will have room on the seat of the truck for 1 dog. Molly will be his one dog as the truck is too high for Daisy to navigate with her bad hip. I will be driving our wonderful Subaru Forester with 2 cats and Daisy and possibly, but not necessarily probably, towing another small trailer.

Airstream

2010-11-01T14:26:00.000-07:00

This is a first for us. We purchased a 1988, one-owner, 32' Airstream travel trailer. This trailer will be our home while we owner-build our permanent home. The enclosed shell of our new home will be built by the same contractor (Matt Kroll of Kroll Contracting) who built our pole barn. We will do all the plumbing, wiring, and interior with the exception of finishing the drywall.

Doug spent a lot of time searching for a good used Airstream - one that we could afford and was, hopefully, somewhere in the Grand Traverse region. He is very good about conducting these searches and found exactly what we were looking for. The first pic. below is the trailer, still on the lot, and only about 13 miles from our property. It was a one-owner and only used by the older couple when they summered in northern Michigan.

It is now in our pole barn for the winter. We will move it outside when we arrive this coming spring.

Living room couch - opens to form a double bed - is to the left. Kitchen is to the right. Each end of the couch has a fold up table - you can see one of these attached to the wall under the window.

Since Doug got stuck in MI for 4 additional days due to weather he set the trailer up and stayed in it. The only thing he didn't hook up was the water. It would have taken tools and too much work to drain it for the winter. He had the time but no tools. Instead, he hauled water from our well to cook and bathe.

A 3/4 bathroom:

Shower

Toilet and sink

Bathroom sink w/shower to the right.

The roll-top behind the stove is a spice cabinet. Fold up table to left of stove for additional counter space.

Frig. across from sink. Dinette in lower right corner.

Dining Room :D

Hall leads to bathroom and bedroom. Lots of closet and drawer space (I hope:).

Bedroom - back of trailer. Doug said the beds are a tad hard. We'll buy a couple of foam mattress pads to help soften the beds a bit.

Another view of the hall. Microwave.

Pic. taken from the bedroom - bathroom to the left.

Taken from the hall looking toward the front of trailer.

Living room - front of trailer.

The meter is running :D

The trailer is fully carpeted including the kitchen and bathroom. This is not a good thing as we will be moving into it during mud season with two dogs and two cats. We will buy some of those plastic runners such as are used to protect floors from rolling chairs to help protect the carpet. Doug says the curtains are in bad shape and the color is blah so I will spend some time making new curtains - colorful, cheery ones. It has both AC and heat - the latter can be either electric or propane. There is a 41 gallon water tank and a propane hot water heater. I have not as yet seen it but it looks as though it will be quite comfy for a few months. I calculate there is only 296 sq. ft. inside which should be motivation enough to get the house finished ASAP.

The Big Move continues . . .

2010-10-31T14:26:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, October 19, 2010 Doug and I packed the rental truck with Load #1 for the first trip back to Michigan. This load is now stored in our new pole barn on our new property.

On the road - as Doug drove north the colors of Autumn became more beautiful and more pronounced.

Arrived at our property on Clara Lane Friday, October 22, 2010. This is Clara Lane - our property is at the very end - about 1/4 mile. Trees this far north have lost most of their leaves. Our land is located just a few minutes (as in latitude) south of the 45th parallel. To be more precise: 44.75°N, 85.62°W

Our property - the house will be approximately where the little pile of dirt - center right - sits. The pole barn is to the left of the picture, out of camera range. The pines - center back - mark our east property line. There is a hay field beyond.

Now to get the truck unloaded and pile all this stuff in the pole barn. Fortunately the well drillers were there when Doug arrived and they helped him unload the two largest and heaviest items that were in the very back of the truck.

This is the "faucet" where we will get our water until the house is built and plumbed. We will be able to hook this water into our new-to-us used Airstream (another post).

Beginning the unloading process into the pole barn.

Doug turned the empty truck in at a rental facility in Traverse City. He then took a cab to the airport where he rented a car for the remainder of his stay. That stay turned out to be longer - 4 days longer - than originally planned as an incoming storm forced flight cancellations.

Our neighbors to the south came to say, "Hi" or perhaps they are saying, "Hey". :D One horse is obviously more curious than the other. We don't know their names yet. We wonder how Molly and Daisy will react? They know the horses around our house in Eagle Roost but only from a distance and only when we are with them.

Sorry, fella, no apples and no carrots - next time. :D

The next post will feature our 1988 new-to-us used Airstream. This trailer will be our temporary home here on our land while we are building our permanent home.

On the Road Again . . .

2010-10-20T13:31:00.004-07:00

The pole barn is finished, our well is in so we have water, electricity is in, and phone/DSL lines are run to the property. The time has come to move Load #1.

A 26' Budget rental truck, automatic diesel . Doug would have preferred a manual transmission but they just don't come that way.

Doug and I worked from 5:00a.m. until about 7:00p.m. on Tuesday, October 19, 2011 loading this box. There were times I wondered what possessed us to keep so much stuff. And this is only the first load. The house still looks full and now that so many shelves (books) and drawers are gone there is stuff just laying around in piles which must be dealt with. In this picture the truck is about 1/2 full. I never got a picture of the truck filled and ready to go. By 7:00p.m. I was so sore, tired, and hungry I wasn't thinking about pictures.

This is only a small amount of what was still left to put in the truck. It was these tail end items that seemed to take the longest. Perhaps because we were so tired we were moving more slowly? Perhaps because it really mattered how these final items were loaded - they needed to be secured and that took extra time. Perhaps because Doug knew there were still two large, heavy items that needed to go in last and he had to plan for them?

Doug pulled out about 5:30a.m. today, Wednesday, October 20 headed for Lake Ann, MI - 2250 miles east - and our new-to-us property. This load will be stored in our newly completed pole barn (thanks to Matt Kroll and Kroll Contracting:). In the meantime the house needs to be painted inside as well as all outside trim. Yard work needs to be done and everything needs a good cleaning. It will be a little easier with so much of our stuff gone. However, what is still left is going to take another full truck load. This probably won't happen until near the end of March 2011.

On my FB page I wrote: "I am a newly retired elementary school teacher working on a new set of life goals."

Moving onto land where we can grow our food, raise a few animals, live in the country with four distinct seasons, good water, and green: grass, trees, forests has been a long time goal for both of us. The time has finally come to begin to realize this dream.

The Pole Barn is Completed

2010-10-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

October 13, 2010 - the pole barn is complete. The lines for electricity, phone and DSL have been run to the property. The well was scheduled to have been dug today.

There is electricity into the pole barn - let there be light :D

This is the front of the pole barn facing east. It is a 40' X 40' structure from which Doug will eventually run his business, Barnes Aero. In the meantime this space will house our worldly possessions while we build the house and garage. When we find our travel trailer to live in during construction it will be parked on the apron in front of the pole barn.

Interior of PB littered with falling leaves from our woods. Electric box is on the rear left corner of the back (west) wall. Back door is to the right. This picture is looking west.

North side - back door and small pad.

South side looking north. Our woods are in the background. When the house is built it will be to the right of the PB and out of the picture.

Clara Lane in the lower right corner. This is the back - west side - of the pole barn - looking east.

Clara Lane looking west toward Maple City Hwy. Cathy, our only other neighbor on Clara Lane, lives in the house in the background (house built by Kroll Contracting). She is about 1/4 mile west of us at the very beginning of Clara Lane where the lane meets the highway.

Fall, 2010. Changing colors in our woods.

The brilliant orange is the same tree as above but about 2 weeks later. Matt (Kroll Contracting), our contractor and neighbor out on Maple City Hwy. is standing where our well will be drilled. If the house was built Matt would be standing behind the house. This picture is looking north toward our woods. I believe this tree is a Maple but not being there I can't identify it for sure.

The Pole Barn continued. . .

2010-09-19T12:24:00.003-07:00

We have more pictures of our pole barn. This is being built according to my husband, Doug's, plans - we have not seen it yet. This is an interesting concept; to have a building built for you when you are not there and won't be there until sometime after it is finished.

Doug will be taking a load in mid - to late October - he will be renting a 24' Budget truck to haul the first load of "stuff". I cannot help but wonder why we feel we need so much stuff? We have already gotten rid of a lot and will get of even more before that final move. In the meantime we are spending a few thousand dollars moving what we feel we cannot part with. While he is gone the Arizona house will be at least 1/2 empty and I will begin giving the inside of the house a fresh coat of paint.

Work aside - here are the pictures of the pole barn. Since these pics. were taken our contractor has begun to put the siding on the building.

Facing north towards our woods. The house will be to the right of this picture.

Facing east. If the house was built it would be seen from this direction and slightly to the right. The woods are to the left of the picture.

This picture was taken facing northwest and the big door entrance to the pole barn. The "man" door is to the left of the big door. There will be another "man" door" on the northwest end of the pole barn. Our woods are to the right.

The floor has been poured.

Siding - ready to go on last.

Light green siding - the dark green trim can be seen just to the left of the siding.

Street Address and Electricity

2010-09-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

Lot #2 now has a bonafide street address. Cherryland Electric called a few days ago. They needed information so they can begin sending us a bill for electricity. The electricity has been run from Maple City Highway to our property and the meter will be put on the pole barn as soon as the siding is on.

One step at a time.

The Building has Commenced

2010-09-06T16:18:00.002-07:00

Our builder/contractor and our real estate agent are also a husband/wife team and our neighbors down the road a piece. They have sent pictures of the building of our pole barn - the first building to take place on our property.

The pole barn will eventually be my husband's work area. However, in the beginning it will have to be the storage area for all of our "stuff" while we build our house. The house will not be started until we get there. We will be living in a rather smallish travel type trailer - hopefully beginning this coming spring. I say hopefully because our house still has to sell. The timing needs to be right for all this (who ever heard of the timing being right to sell a house?). We have to remain here until my husband can retire March 1, 2011. We would like to stay until about mid- March when the weather begins to warm slightly in northern MI. That travel trailer will have heat but it won't be winterized. In fact, we don't even have this trailer yet so if anyone in northern MI happens to have a rather decent 31' - 32' Airstream for sale please let me know.

We are looking at our 5 acre piece behind this sign. Sold: May 7, 2010.

Beginning to move the dirt in order to level the ground for the pole barn.

More earth moving.

Now things are getting exciting. Building materials on site. The pole barn has begun. :)

Today is Labor Day, September 6, 2010. The roof is scheduled to be started today. More pictures to follow.

Life in the Sonoran Desert

2010-07-16T13:49:00.002-07:00

Living out here in the desert far from any town or city provides us the wonderful opportunity to view a lot of wildlife, especially in summer.

A family of Kit fox moved in sometime in early spring, Mom, Dad, 2 youngsters. This is one of them. I felt fortunate that after a few days of seeing me every day they let me get close enough to take this not-so-very-good picture.

Just look at those ears - the better to hear you with, my dear. :-D.

It was already 100 degrees in the shade by 8:30 this morning. I had gone out and refreshed all the outside water containers for the critters - both wild and domestic. I then came in the house to watch from my kitchen window as the drama unfolded. A family of Roadrunners arrived - Mom, Dad, and two youngsters. Then came a large family of Gambel quail followed by the Cactus wrens and many smaller birds all seeking the fresh water and shade of our backyard oasis.

Young roadrunner - not quite as big as Mom and Dad.

This is our Beagle mix, Molly (above). Molly is only about 6 feet from the Roadrunner (couldn't get them in the same pic. - yet). They both knew the other one was there but neither of them knew quite what to do about this situation.

The roadrunner youngster hunched down - afraid - and not sure what to do next.

S/he finally remembered she had learned how to fly and up to the top of the fence she went.

You have to look closely at this pic. taken through my kitchen window. Right in the center of the picture is, what appears to be, an opening (tiny cave) in Big Mama Rosy. At the upper left of the opening you can just make out a black line. This is the tail of one of the adult Roadrunners. Just to the right of the tail you can just barely make out the bird's head (tiny black line with light line above). To the right of the tree trunk on the flagstone you can make out the corner of one of my watering "troughs". This roadrunner was after both shade and water both at the same time.

I counted no less than 18 adult quail and numerous youngsters - all moving almost too fast to get a good picture. I did get some slightly blurry images though which I will post tomorrow.

Never a dull moment :-D

Lindy

Desert Critters: July 12, 2010

2010-07-12T10:45:00.000-07:00

Life here in the desert is not all about snakes although two of my recent posts may have suggested that.

In a previous post I mentioned our Dove Family raising no less than three new families each summer in a big Mesquite tree in our backyard oasis.

Baby Doves in Mesquite Tree

Our cat, Ayla, spends much of every summer day sitting on the front window sill (indoors) playing with a collared lizard who lives on the other side of the glass (outdoors). I honestly believe he is well aware that she cannot get him and he spends his days on that windowsill looking in teasing and taunting her. I know this because I can see the gleam in his eyes and the smirk on his face. :-D

For the past three days I have been assailed by a horrible smell coming from my freshly cleaned and painted laundry room. What could this mysterious odor be? This room, although it shares a roof with the house and carport is its own separate space, not connected to the house other than by the roof. When I am working out there or doing laundry I leave the door propped open, always being careful to close it when I am done.
Today I carefully searched for the source of this smell and found this fellow - a petrified toad - laying motionless and quite dead in a back corner of the room. I swept him up and rather unceremoniously dumped him in our desert front yard. I doubt that either the resident Turkey vultures or the crows will eat him but I am quite certain the army of big black ants will make very good use out of his lifeless form.

These toads, known around here as Colorado River toads, spend their summers in the desert eating zillions of bugs. They release a toxin through their skin which protects them from would-be predators which means we have to hope our dogs never try to catch one as this toxin can be lethal. When the toads are deprived of water in which to spend part of each day soaking and drinking they shrivel up and die. This is what happened to this poor unfortunate granddaddy toad who inadvertently got caught in my laundry room and thus met his demise.

The Sonoran Desert in summer may be hotter than !@#$%^ but it is never boring.

Lindy

July 10, 2010 and 110 Degrees - in the shade

2010-07-11T14:53:00.001-07:00

This afternoon in the garden I found this lovely little king snake. You can see her eyes in this pic. S/he is about 3' long and was, at the time, taking refuge from the heat under the shade of Big Mama Rosy. Big Mama is my largest Rosemary bush and she is definitely spreading outward as she ages. She is about 5' tall and a good 10' across.

While photographing Ms. King Snake I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. When I turned I was delighted to see this visitor . . .

Mr. Roadrunner is perched on the fence under the shade of a very large Mesquite tree in our "backyard". This yard area is a fenced in portion of our 5 acres of Sonoran Desert. We provide plenty of fresh water, shade, shrubs and two large Mesquite trees for the wildlife. Our dogs use this area as well but do not seem to ever bother the wildlife. Every summer this oasis in the desert is home to snakes, roadrunners, many smaller birds, hummers, collared lizards, bees, and of course, the ubiquitous rabbits. We have a dove family that provides us with no less than three full sets of babies every summer. We are currently watching the first set learn to fly while Mama Dove is redecorating their tiny, flimsy, and most precarious nest for the arrival of set #2. As it turned out, Mr. Roadrunner has a mate who showed up a few minutes after I took this picture. When I tried to get a pic. of the two of them together (I was inside the house but they saw movement) they became agitated and one of them took off. If you look closely you can see the Mesquite pods hanging from the tree.

Buzz Worm aka Rattlesnake

2010-06-13T13:03:00.016-07:00

Today's post has nothing to do with herbs nor does it have anything to do with dreams. If anything, this is more the stuff of nightmares.

While I was out back hanging a load of laundry in the warm Sonoran Desert sun our dogs were out and about inspecting the yard as they often do. Suddenly I heard "The Noise", the one we desert dwellers become accustomed to listening for as it signals danger. I dropped the laundry and ran screaming toward the dogs. One of them had her nose almost touching the 2.5 foot rattler. The other one was moving ever closer. I was screaming at them to get away and finally managed to get both overly curious dogs into the house with no bites. We have spent hundreds of dollars on our dogs sending them to rattlesnake school to teach them to stay away from this danger. We take them to our vet. every spring for a "rattlesnake" shot to help ward off the most serious effects of a bite should the worst happen. Unfortunately the vaccine does no good against the bite of a Mohave. Also unfortunately, the schooling did no good either since both dogs had more curiosity than either fear or sense.

What to do? I couldn't just leave it in the yard. It might leave the fenced in portion of our 5 acres and crawl back into the open desert. However, on the other hand, it might find a cool and shady niche somewhere inside the fence and none of us would have any idea where it was hiding. I had no choice, I had to kill it. Wielding a large square shovel, a heavy brick and more guts than I thought I had I managed to kill the snake. It took a long time to die; just like a chicken with its head cut off the thing wriggled and squirmed for what seemed like forever but probably didn't take more than 5 minutes. I shook far longer than that after it was over.

Judging from the tail I think this fellow might be a Mohave, considered to be the most toxic rattlesnake in the US there is no known anti-toxin for a bite from a Mohave. Unfortunately we happen to have quite a few here in the western part of the Sonoran Desert.

Needless to say, I can hardly wait to get back to northern Michigan. There are timber rattlers (eastern diamondbacks) in far southern Michigan but no poisonous snakes of any kind Up North, at least not yet. Global warming might change all that but for now . . .

Lindy

Another Big Day

2010-06-07T18:20:00.009-07:00

Friday, May 21, 2010

Today is my retirement day from teaching elementary education in a public school. My brother flew out from MI (to AZ) to celebrate. Saturday my husband, brother and I went to Prescott. The first thing we did was visit a wonderful jewelry store. Mike said he wanted to buy his wife a piece of jewelry and he wanted my opinion. We decided on a beautiful little pendant - a Zuni bear (about 3/8" diameter)with amethyst and turquoise stones inset into a solid silver base. The back of the pendant is finished with the arrow to the heart symbol. The pendant can be worn on either side. The little bear hangs from a slender sterling silver chain. I was confident my sister-in-law would love her new piece of jewelry. My husband then took us to one of my favorite places for dinner - Prescott Brewery where we all stuffed ourselves on their terrific Spinach Enchiladas and microbrews.

After arriving home Mike called his wife, Dianna, and immediately after the phone call told me to sit down and wait for him. He went into the guest room and emerged with the lovely gift bag the pendant was packaged in. The Zuni bear was for me. I could not have been more surprised. What a wonderful retirement gift to be cherished always.

Flowers from some of the staff and students:

Doe and Her New Fawn

2010-06-07T15:03:00.000-07:00

Connie Kroll, realtor extraordinare, new friend:) and neighbor (about 4.5 miles down the road apiece), sent this picture. The Whitetail doe and her newborn fawn were in the Kroll's backyard. Connie was fortunate enough to be at home and able to get this great picture. We are fortunate to be one of the recipients of this wonderful photo.

Always curious about cameras people use I asked Connie:

Canon Rebel T2l 550 with a built in video camera, wide angle lens which Connie calls her "reach out and touch someone" lens, and many other goodies.

Friday, May 7, 2010

2010-05-09T19:36:00.011-07:00

Today, May 7, 2010, is a big day.

We are the happy new owners of Lot #2

44°45' 05.12"N; 85°53' 32.26"W

How cool is this? Although we do not have a street address we do know where we are on the planet.

The property in northern Michigan that we have been looking at for over two years and finally decided to buy is now officially ours. Closing took place at approximately 8:00 a.m. on Friday, May 7, 2010 in the office of Crossroads Title, Traverse City, MI. We did our part electronically from AZ. In 5 - 6 weeks when the state of Michigan has registered the land in our names (takes states awhile to do their paperwork) the deed will be sent to us and will go into our safety deposit box.

Our land is 5 acres, partially wooded on the north side with open country views to the south, east, and west. This land as well as the land all around us is dotted with many varieties of both hardwood and coniferous trees as it rolls gently in all directions. The views in the fall will be magnificent. We have one other neighbor (Lot #1) on our 1/4 mile private road, Clara Lane, and one neighbor adjacent to our property on the south (not on Clara Lane) - a small farm with 2 horses who come to the fence to visit. We will have to learn their names and lay in a supply of carrots for them. The property is about 17 miles west of Traverse City and just a couple of miles south of Hwy 72, the Leelanau/Benzie County line. We are on the Benzie County side of that line.

Part of our woods - bare trees on north - coniferous on east

View: Northeast corner of our land

The plan is to have our contractor, Matt Kroll of Kroll Contracting, build a pole barn in the fall. This structure will be about 40'X40' and will eventually be my husband, Doug's, work space for his business, BarnesAero. In the meantime it will be our work space for the tools we need to build our own house. It will also house a small trailer which we will attempt to live in with our 2 dogs and 2 cats while we build our house. Matt will (future date to be determined) put up the shell for our house and garage, close it in, and provide some help with the inside. We plan on doing most of the finish work ourselves.

Matt Kroll and Doug staked out the pole barn

We are designing our house - a bilevel octagon with a relatively small footprint - 948 sq. ft. on the main level, same on the lower level and an entrance large enough for a coat closet and stairs; the entrance will connect between the garage and the house.

After the pole barn is complete Doug will take a load of our belongings (stuff we need to keep but can do without for a few months) from AZ to Michigan in a UHaul and fly back to AZ. Of course, the house here in AZ does have to sell and we cannot put a time frame on that. Doug plans to remain at his current job until on or about Feb. 1, 2011. In the meantime I will retire from teaching school here in AZ on May 21, 2010. We will then spend the ensuing months doing a "fix-up, clean-up, paint" job both inside and out on our AZ house in preparation to sell it.

Looking west - pole barn will be in the center of this picture. Our only other neighbor on Clara Lane can be seen in the center toward the back.

It was March when these pictures were taken. The land and the hardwoods were bare having recently lost their winter blanket of snow. We are anxious to begin now that we own the land but we must wait and be patient. There is so much yet to do here in AZ before we can make the move. We have many plans for this property: a small fruit orchard, gardens, a few chickens, a windmill to help provide electricity, a greenhouse attached to the house, a potting shed and . . . the list goes on.

Spring in the Desert

2010-04-18T15:18:00.002-07:00

Spring has arrived here in the Sonoran Desert with cool nights and warm, windy afternoons. Many of my herbs are flowering beautifully. Unfortunately, until I locate another suitable place in our yard for a garden I have to plant in pots as our Beagle mix, Molly, digs everything up.

There are a couple of different kinds of lettuces plus radishes in this pot.

This little guy (below) spends his nights perched in a Mesquite right outside our bedroom patio door. Because the days are warm we like to keep this door open at night to let in the cool evening air. However, being a Mocking bird, he begins his repertoire about 10:00 p.m. every night and sings all night long. This wakes us up and we have to shut the door to sleep. I do hope he finds his mate soon and moves on to a location just a little way from our bedroom but still in the vicinity of our property. When we are up and about he is an absolute delight to watch and listen to.

My first and only (until now) post talked about my Dream Pillows. For the moment those are on the back burner to simmer for a bit longer. With school still in session and grades, report cards, standardized tests, and closing in on the end of the school year I have been a bit overwhelmed.

Welcome to "A Thyme for Dreams"

2010-02-21T12:44:00.002-07:00

I have a passion! Actually, I have many passions - one of them being herbs. What are herbs? Webster quite simply defines an herb as “any seed plant whose stem withers away to the ground after each season’s growth, as distinguished from a tree or shrub whose woody stem lives from year to year; any plant used as medicine, seasoning, or food." We, and this includes scientists, now know that there are many trees, shrubs, bushes, and plants that are perennial and are classified as herbs. Did you know, for example, that asparagus is considered a medicinal herb as well as food? The first herbs on Earth were growing thousands of years ago, wild plants provided for us by Mother Nature to nourish and sustain life on this marvelous planet we call home. Many of these herbs in the wild are now in danger of extinction. There is great need for us to learn to save these wild varieties, to learn to cultivate them while continuing to maintain the true nature of the wild plant. Many people are working on this: farmers, scientists, and backyard gardeners. There is also a tremendous need for education. Without knowledge and understanding of our need for these plants we will lose them and thus lose one of the most important gifts Mother Nature has provided for us.

My own quest has taken me through decades of reading, growing, and eating herbs. I have used herbs for medicine, in cooking, and for their beauty in my garden. I have made a few of my own tinctures, vinegars, salves, and infusions. I have dried my own herbs for use during winter. I have barely scratched the surface of knowledge regarding these magical plants. There are many people who are now making wonderful herbal products: strong tinctures that work to nourish and heal beyond anyone’s best hopes, excellent dried herbs, grown organically or sustainably wildcrafted, for use in teas and infusions, soaps, lotions, and other skin care products that benefit us topically from the healing power of the plants. There are beautiful herbal gardens all across this country that one can visit to take in the visual and emotional beauty provided for us by the plants. And so, taking a good look at all that is being done I wondered what I could do within this glorious and magical world of herbs that would benefit others and also provide for my need to do something useful as a newly retired school teacher.

“A Thyme for Dreams” was born.

Won't you join me on my journey using the magical herbs to transport us into the mysterious world of dreams?

"A Thyme for Dreams" produces lovely little dream pillows. These small pillows -average 3"X3" (give or take a bit) - are made of 100% pre-washed cotton fabrics, stuffed with natural, organic or wildcrafted dried herbs which are sandwiched between a thin layer of poly fiberfill for added softness. The herbs are specially blended to help you dream pleasant dreams.

Please visit my Etsy page - "DreamThyme" for more information about these dream pillows, what the blends mean in terms of dreams, pictures of the pillows, and purchasing information.

For more about "A Thyme for Dreams" visit my website at:

AThymeforDreams.com

I will keep you updated here on this blog of the many benefits of the various herbal blends, workshops and classes I will be providing, new products, and other bits of herbal wisdom, myth, and folklore.

Thank you for joining me. I look forward to hearing from you.

Lindy