Move update

I figured it was time for a bit of an update after our move. We're happily settled in our new home less than two weeks after our move but we're pretty tired out. We're located in an area called Hillsburgh which is a part of township of Erin, Wellington County. It's soooo quiet here at night except for the toads singing up a storm but those sounds are so easy to fall asleep to.
I've been investigating the property and watching light patterns to plan for the gardens. This will be no small task! The soil is a sandy loam and digging a hole in the ground is a breeze unlike in my former place. I feel truly blessed to have this one acre to work with and one acre is more than enough for everyone in the family to have their own spaces to play. The kids love the fact that when they kick the soccer ball, it stays within their own yard,lol. My eldest son (14.5 yrs) has decided he wants to cut the grass now because he can ride the mower instead of pushing it,haha. Kids!

Here's a couple of pics for now. I will have more as things progress no doubt.

Not really related to our move but this guy (woodpecker I think) smashed into our window at our old place as we were packing a couple of days before the move. DH gently picked him up and put him in our feeder because we could see he was still alive and we didn't want a cat to get him. He was stunned for about an hour but then flew off like nothing happened.

This is my trailer load of lettuce as DH called it. These were only half what I brought; the rest were in our truck and some on the moving truck. Everyone travelled well with the exception of Brunnera Jack Frost. It looked just dandy before we set off but an hour later the silver looked brownish-black like a bruised banana. The trailer was covered over pretty good so I don't know what happened. Anyway, it's recovering and I'm sure it will be happier once it's in the ground.

This is what happens when your DH decides to help you dig up your hostas. It looks like a hosta, so it must be a hosta right? NOT!

I brought it along anyway, lol.

Wise guy.

This is at my new place. We have started two beds and there will be a third large oval one in front of the arbor bench. I may change the shape of these two a bit but for now it's a good start. These are actually a lot bigger than they look!

There are a ton of grubs here as you can see by the yellowed grass. I'm hoping there aren't going to be too many slugs!

View of our deck from my little balcony. It's a mess right now because we haven't figured out where we want to put everything.
There are to planters, one on either side of the arbour, and the former owners have cedars planted in them along with boxwood. I can't imagine what they were thinking because these will get too big for these planters. I need to remove them and put something else in its place that will maintain privacy because DH likes the screening they provide.

Photo shows about a third of the property.

Oh, I love it! It looks so secluded and peaceful. You have a fine canvas to paint on there Erynne.

This isn't the clearest shot because it was taken through a dirty window. It shows a bit more of the property to the left of the above photo. My little empty veggie bed is in place and there's DH's new toy. I haven't even tried that mower out yet but everyone else has! The drive shed/barn is that reddish structure toward back and to the left. It's 100 years old and has it's share of problems once you get inside but I'll spare you the details,lol. It's not falling down though!

We actually have two entrances to our property which form a semi circular driveway. It's very handy!
View is of the other side of the house looking down the street at dusk. Again, I haven't clean the outside of the windows yet.

Volunteers that were already on the property.

Welcome to my nightmare.

This is the garden at the front of the house and these lilies are just about everywhere on this property. I hate these things and removing them is not fun as I have found.
Oh,and by the way, did anybody lose their big green ball? Well if you did, you have about a week to come and claim it before it goes bye bye. ;)

Another view of the unkept front garden (like you really wanted to see it twice).
You know, there's actually a nice Palace Purple Heuchera hidden in this mess which is kinda good as I had to leave mine at the other place.

Last for now.....a pic of this little garden from my balcony. I stuck my Heuchera Marmalde there for now because the colours were fading out. I will be removing the stones and re-doing this whole area because it looks like a child made this garden which is fine but not at the front of the house.

I will have more pics because there is a whole other area I haven't shown you yet.

Thanks for looking,
Erynne
(work is calling...sigh)

Erynne, you'll have so much fun designing the gardens..just think, you'll be able to pick up loads of lily's from Gatrix farms now..nice to have a lot of property to roam...you've accomplished much in a few weeks..

Erin:

I'm so glad you rescued that little woodpecker and that he's OK. The picture of him was fantastic.

Your new property looks wonderful. You are going to get so much satisfaction with your planning and planting when you finally have the time to stand back and take a breath and "survey your domain".

Thanks so much for sharing those photos with us.
~marilyn

Ginny, it is a little peaceful for sure but there a few more cars than I expected and teenagers, lol. They like to walk in packs on Saturday nights it seems,lol.

Betty, I hope I can get to Gratrix this year but if not, there's alot locally I can get for sure. Plus there's always the online sources for the unusuals.

Marilyn, I thought that poor bird was going to die on me. It kept closing it's eyes like it was drifting away. We have way more birds to watch around here and they're probably wondering why I haven't filled up the feeders yet. The previous owner was good about that so I have to keep up the standards,lol.

Thanks again for looking and have a great day everyone!
Erynne

o I'm greeeeeeeen about all the space you have. It will be so fun to design and do.

Your new place looks fabulous. I'm sure you'll enjoy gardening there.

Oh Erynne, I'm with dahlianut - totally jealous of your marvey new space. Keep the photos comin'

Jo-north Ü

Love your new place. Thanks for posting the pics. I'm so impressed with what you have been able to get done in a mere couple of weeks! Where do you get the energy? I think you must still have your Toronto after-burners firing - yeah, that must be it. Bet you'll have all the beds dug and we won't even recognize that front garden in a few weeks!

I do remember you saying how noisy the airplanes were as they flew right over your former house - glad you won't have that problem any more. Hey, don't they play those ambient sounds (toads, frogs, crickets, cicadas) at all those massage places? Just think how calm and zenned-out you'll be in a few months! LOL

Sandy

Thanks for the kind comments ladies! I feel like I've waited my entire life to have a property like this. As a kid, I grew up in the projects in T.O where concrete, poverty and crime where staples. Now that I'm here, I still can't believe it when I look back at things in my life. I'm very appreciative. Last Saturday at about 10:30 pm, all 6 of us laid down on our backs and studied stars and the constellations. Gary's girls had never seen the dippers before except in text books!
Sandy, to be truthful, Gary has more energy than me and has been a tremendous help. I took out my lower back when we were moving in and I'm not sure what I lifted that caused the problem. The pain is near gone and while I have done some digging out there, it's mostly been a case of I point and Gary digs. Tomorrow, I plan to get down to some serious business in the garden because I almost myself again.
Now what's this about those massage places? I've never been to one except about 8 years ago when I had a car accident and I needed to have the kinks worked out my back as part of my therapy. I think the lady yapped the whole time about the structure of one's back...ugh, boring.
There's a property not far from mine and the owner has several Japanese Maples planted. I got out the car and asked her how long she's had them and she said longer than 3 years. This is great because I thought I wouldn't be able to have them here! Oh joy!!

We are working today in Brampton so I got to run and help Gary. Good thing we are working because storms are supposed to roll through for Wellington County and wouldn't have got much done outside. I did get my veggies planted this morning before we left so that's one less thing to do. You wouldn't want to see the mental checklist I have going right now ;)

Have a great weekend everyone!
Erynne

Erynne .. congrats on your move and I wish you years of enjoyment ! Sorry to hear about your back .. just one wrong move .. usually a crouch and turn at the same time and the back shuts down !! Hope you're back to 100% by now .

Your property looks lovely and I am sure that the adage' good things come to them that wait' applies here :-) take your time and you'll have your gardens in fine shape ..

STARS .. aren't they amazing to look at out in the country !! Last year .. when Lilly was a puppy .. she used to get up for a 4am (or earlier) constitutional .. I always groused about it .. but stopped when I realized what a wonderful sight I got to see when I looked up :-)

Making memories is what life is all about .. and you sure do have a wonderful place to do it in !!

Best wishes


~Marilynne~

Marilynne, thank you! Yes, my back is all good now, thank goodness.

I know I have to take my time with the gardens because I have no choice,lol. If I were well off, I'd have a team of cute landscaper dudes in here building my beds while I sat on the deck with a glass of wine and just pointed to where I wanted things. And then I'd make a big order at the nursery, have it all delivered and of course plant it myself because that's the fun part. Sigh, I can dream, can't I?

Back to reality, it will take me a decade to get it the way I want it and by then I will have moved things a gazillion times.

I haven't seen many stars lately because of all the cloud cover due to storms but I think we're getting a little break from the icky weather. I love sitting on the deck at night....so unlike living near the airport. The only problem with being outside at night right now are those big ugly June bugs. I know they're harmless but they're so clumsy when they fly and hit you in the head. I had one caught in my hair and started doing the funky chicken dance pretty quick...blech.

Erynne