over a month. pathetic. as i gaze out the window at my neighbor's new siding in progress, i feel slightly chagrined at the low level of home improvement activity at city cabin. the male counterpart is off combining (excepting rain), and i've been spending many hours working at the barn (a real struggle, let me tell you). so, yeah. really, it's been enough just trying to keep the gardens alive. thanks, rabbits. jerks. so, a visual tour, in separate posts, of what's been going on for the last month. first, the pond.

water lettuce takeover!

requisite sun shot:

regrettably, the bloom lasted one day:

new resident. just kidding. this is from the bigger pond the male counterpart has been residing at:

a day in the life of a city cabin bird

big ball o' fuzz (this ball confuses everybody that visits. i hope this clarifies. if not, you're hopeless)

"i am a baby, therefore i nom nom nom"

baby oriole + sprinkler= easy entertainment

hawk 1, sparrow 0. i apologize for the picture quality. something about the shock of a hawk ten feet away in the yard, two vodka gimlets, sunset, and fumbling with the camera....

sparrows. oblivious. hence above photo.

those guys eat anything

swedish crayfish party (actually featuring one real swede! ((not pictured))):

farmer's market bounty (all local):

ikea bounty (all china):

farmer's market:

some party store bounty:

before:

artsy!

leaving the nest

yes! you are mighty correct in that we haven't done much updating at all. this is mostly because the guy is busy doing this, and took the camera with him for all those riveting tractor action shots:



can you HANDLE IT?????

while i, meanwhile, have been doing lots of things involving this pretty thing:



what the hell, let's see some more horse eye candy:




so, anyway, we've been busy doing summerly things. but, before that, we did actually do some home improvement in the department of Spending Money on Rocks.

i'm sure you remember the pond. well, i know you were holding out for the post-modern black plastic liner, but i'm too many years out of english majoring for that. so, we went and got ourselves some stone. chilton stone, to be exact. 600 pounds of it. let's enjoy the journey.


go neon! go neon! go, go, go neon!






the peace and tranquility of city cabin cemetery:




rocked hard:

i won't include the transcripts from laying this rock. let's just say...nothing.

three weeks later:




we have lots of landscaping to do around the pond(s). much of that will wait until the next planting season. however, i'm jazzed that at least one of the water plants is blooming cute little purple blossoms.


and then, the birds. baby birds everywhere. man, are they dumb and endearing. they know how to eat by themselves, but if ma or pa are around, they suddenly become helpless. it's been a great time anthropomorphizing in the backyard of city cabin:





more bird pics later, because today i'm too sad that the wrens have left the nest. wrens are excellent in every way.

adventures of young and stupid birds and the new birdbath

life is hard at ten weeks old. too many decisions, too much confusion. feathers are growing in, and one can hardly fly. hence, this:

try:

try:

try again:

the birdbath serves its purpose:

still:

a smiling bird:

realizing predators might actually exist:

The Life Aquatic

In the Grand Plan we had imagined a water garden (or pond) in our small but cozy back yard. The sound of running water, aquatic plants and maybe a gold fish and later a koi or three. As we approach the one year anniversary as residents at City Cabin these were supposed to be some-day-in-the-future plans. But after the imaginations were shared with parents and in-laws we suddenly, and gratefully became proud water garden owners in December of last year. The ground was too frozen so we had to wait to dig in this spot:



But some rhubarb had to be moved first (some excellent jam/sauce also came of this).



There is a 35 gallon molded upper pond with 125 gallon lower piece. It looked huge inside a house in December and, as many guests to the house have suggested upon seeing the flat roof of our garage, it's like the hot tub that we really need. (note: we now have every pet possible except for a reptile and a dog. This one was just visiting)






When you dig, better know where the electricity to the garage is buried. With the help of a nicely-crafted scratching tool I can now tell you that the line is precisely 38 inches out from the wooden garden wall and 24 inches deep in the ground. This job was only fun for the photographer.



Then the real digging began. This space happened to be quite the archeological gold mine. In addition to rocks, cinder block and metal shards, we bagged this monster. The pronounced rebar growth suggests a great supporting role within its tribe.




After the digging was setting and leveling.


Chip out some wood to best create the pleasing waterfall sounds and better disguise the spout.




Somebody (Charity), check on the cats. Are they missing us? Didn't think so.




Add some water and level some more.







Admire the pond with dirt displaced. Let's pretend that heavy rain 6 days later didn't result in spillage, digging up and leveling again the upper pond.




We spread the dirt pile throughout nearby gardens and planted grass in its place to occupy the space until landscaping plans have been approved by the team. There is a great site (see Roseville, a mile north of 36 on Dale) for free compost to mix with our poorish soil. Grass began sprouting within 4 days of planting. As you can see, the sunflower seeds that the birds choose not to eat are also quite hearty.





We have had a 20 gallon indoor aquarium for around 10 years and have learned the ropes, often the hard way, with aquatic plants and creatures. Within a few days of establishing the pond we introduced the first plants.


And played around with leftover bricks for hydrological purposes.




Today we introduced the first residents. I wonder what it feels like to have the value of your life determined to be 26 cents? Your brothers and sisters may be fed to larger fish but these four are the pioneers of this ecosystem.






This guy or gal showed up the first night that the pond started bubbling, dipping his/her hand into the water of both the large and small ponds. I hope our new friends swim in the deep water tonight.