Mid-August, 2011

The vineyard has been growing by leaps and bounds -- as have other projects around the place.  We now have a completed septic system and a functional bathroom, including hot water.  The shower only needs the shower door to be installed.  Son Dan did the tile floor in the bathroom, and it is beautiful!  Dan and Greg helped install our Ikea kitchenette.  The microwave we purchased almost a year ago that's still in the box is too big for the microwave shelf.  Anyone need a stainless steel, brand-new microwave?  As soon as the kitchen sink is functional, it will almost be like being at home when we are staying down there.  The electrician should be finished hooking up all the outlets and lights by the end of this week.

My friend HT helped me weed the north side of the barn for many hours one day last week.  We had planted ferns, some hostas, and some wild violets, all of which were buried in weeds.  We decided to order 10 yards of mulch from a local pallet company and have the north side pretty much mulched now.  It looks good!  We'll take photos and include them next time, along with some photos of the inside of the living quarters.

I'm excited about what we are going to plant on the west side of the barn (pole shed) where the septic system is.  Part of it will be native grasses -- a mixture of buffalo grass and blue grama grass, neither of which needs to be mowed.  The other part will be a naturalized prairie with wild flowers and grasses.  Like a vineyard, the wildflowers take 3-5 years or more to get established.  These will be our "test" areas for both the native grasses and the naturalized prairie flowers.  If all goes well, we will put in more of both as time goes on.

Here are some photos from the past several weeks--  (By the way, I'm still waiting for you to forward photos you took on May 14th when we were planting, so I can include some of them here on the blog.)

Dan tiling the bathroom floor

Greg supervising...

Alicia and Lily rest on Lady, Dan's lab

Part of Con's vegetable garden in foreground.  Our road out to 670th Street in background.  Field of alfalfa between.

Michael tying a vine to the rebar

Alicia playing in the vineyard

Lily and Grandma tying vines

Greg enjoyed mowing the vineyard

Greg

Michael staining the living quarters floor



Oh, yeah, the vines are doing well, too!

Dave removing grow tubes





A gravity system down to the drainfield...

The septic system is in.  Posts will eventually be cut off and won't be visible




Lily is a great gardener!

Alicia with a recently-removed grow tube.  We needed to remove the grow tubes so the vines can harden-off before the winter cold sets in.  They will need to be put back on for Year Two.

Greg with watermelon earrings (tablecloth weights)

Happy fourth birthday, Alicia!  August 14th, 2011





Notice anything different?  (The grow tubes are gone!)