My assorted creatures and I just went through a solid week of absolute hell, schlepping all my responsibilities, and all our belongings, to a new house, 300 miles away from the only home all of us but I had ever known.
This is a garden journal post, an entry to @riverflows' monthly garden journal challenge , so I'm not going to get into the harrowing moments and the long stretches of stressful hours that we all just went through. I won't be talking about the exhaustion, the sleepless nights, or the emergency visit to a small town vet because my dog appeared to be dying. I won't bore you with the critical paperwork still to be done, or the tricky arrangements to be made, or my ongoing search for stores, markets and restaurants that sell edible food.
On to the house.
Ta Da!
Not long ago I was a suburban soccer mom (don't get me started on how much I hated being a suburban soccer mom) living in a huge house, on nearly an acre, in the suburbs just north of New York City.
All of a sudden, I'm a widowed retiree, living in a medium-sized house, in a tiny town, in the boondocks of New York State.
One thing I have never lacked is chutzpah. We'll see how that works out this time.
Let's get to that garden
There's a 120 foot walk down an asphalt driveway to get to this enticing walkway into my new back yard. Looks promising, no? Like you really want to see what's just around the corner?
I'll show you.
The Reveal
Just around the corner, within spittin' distance, are the neighbors!!!
I wanted a smaller yard. I truly did. My previous acre was killing me. I did not want to have to work that hard anymore. I am delighted by the size of this yard. I see lots of potential!
Let's walk on.
If you walk to the bottom of the walkway in the photo above and turn to your right, due North, this is what you will see:
I took these photos mid-afternoon on October 2. This spot should get plenty of summer sun to grow veggies - it gets phenomenal late afternoon western sun now - and will be the location of my tiny vegetable patch for 2021. Last year's patch was 12 ft by 8 ft. Next year's will be more like 15 by 15 - more than twice the square footage, but still tiny. Those two bushes in the front will, regrettably, probably have to go. I have asked their permission to uproot them. They, and I, are still thinking about it.
The perennials, mostly varieties of heuchera, will be replanted elsewhere.
My Secret Garden Spot
Incredibly, my tiny yard has yet another enticing walkway, drawing us in. This leads to my favorite part of my new yard. Come on! You have to see this!
The Back Forty
For those of you who don't know American idioms, the back forty refers to a back field, of 40 or so acres, on an American farm. In my case, my back field is rather smaller, more like 300 sq feet, and it's behind my garage.
My back forty harbors a lovely stone fireplace!! Like any proper back forty, it's super private! If only I had the stone garden bench the lunkhead movers couldn't get on the truck. I've stacked some discarded flat stones up as something to sit on back there for now. When the mosquitos back off, I'll be hanging out there a lot.
The Way Back Home
When I turn around to go home, I see my pooch (much improved!) on his way into my secret garden; Jimmy is never far from me. As annoying as that trait of his has been, it's coming in handy in this tiny yard.
That's it folks! Besides all you've seen, I have a front yard full of Yew, which is pretty useless either medicinally or as a food source (as far as I know), and a narrow strip of a flag stone walk to a never-used back door.
Before winter sets in here, I hope to have fenced in my 15 by 15 veggie patch, turned and amended the soil as needed, planned a bit of the veggie patch's layout, and plopped in some garlic.
Sorry! No selfie this month! I AM TOO TIRED.
page break by @thekittygirl
images by me
Oh wow! It's super, super cute! I love how it has all these nooks - as you turn a corner there's another little 'room' of sorts. You'll have FUN in that garden - I love it!!!! Gosh, I'm sooo excited for you! Sorry the move was stressful - but you're in now, at last! Thrilled for you and can't wait to see your garden take shape and be creatively moulded by you.
It is cute, isn't it? Curiously, I can see more ways to make this tiny plot mine than I could with my previous whole acre. It sure helps that the previous owner shared my taste in garden enticement.
And it gets a lot more sun!
I love your house and garden. So beautiful. However, it's all those teasers about the stories you were not going to tell in this article that really piqued my curiosity! I could relate to hating being a soccer Mom. While I was not a soccer Mom, I was a ballet Mom for a while. Ugh! Sorry to hear that you are widowed. My partner can drive me crazy at times, but I am very grateful for him. I was glad to hear that your dog is okay. I have cats, but it is always stressful when they are sick or injured.
I imagine ballet mom would be even worse! Hubby passed long ago, but thanks for the condolences. I have two cats too, who are loving exploring the new digs. I almost came home from the vet with a third cat! The dog is now not eating, or pooping, and I'm even more worried about him.
I'll tell the other stories in another post for the Silver Bloggers Community.
Thanks for dropping by!
I imagine sitting under a tree in your secret garden. That's really fun.
Well, you have a good spot. It doesn't matter where it's tiny, the most important thing is that you can maintain it well.
Thanks for your support @anggreklestari! I love the space. It's just perfect for me. When I bought the house, I wasn't sure that the yard was big enough. But I will make it work. As long as I have a private outdoor space, I can be happy almost anywhere.
Looking good! Moving sucks and I swore to myself that the only way I'm leaving my current abode is in a coffin
One thing that I'm wondering about your secret spot: isn't that tree a member of the pokeweed family? It looks very like
Do any pokeweeds become trees? I actually cannot identify any of the trees on the property. Yew (yuck), yes. There must be ten of those. I need a pine!
I have sort of said that to myself about ever moving from here. I suppose moving is like labor - you forget how painful it is.
My current home is my 27th address and the first that I ever owned... I wish to forget about moving.
The pokeweed family grow very fast, are giant overgrown weeds and wreck fences and house foundations. Get it reliably identified and if it is one, removing it is your first task. I had a huge ombu tree (Phytolacca dioica) in my yard which cost me thousands and took years to finally get rid of.
You could also post closeups of the leaves, flowers, bark and that base and I'll tell you what I think
Oh dear I hope not then. It's very pretty. I'll take some shots later today.
I still like it (even if it's within spitting distance of those neighbors :D) In Germany most of our houses are cramped up much much more. It is funny how more and more German words are being used in English: "schlepping". Is that really a thing now?
Hope you have a good start here!
@tipu curate
Upvoted 👌 (Mana: 20/80) Liquid rewards.
I got schlepp from Yiddish speakers, so it's German in origin in my case. I'm very excited about working in this space. I once had an even tinier yard in Brooklyn, and I loved it. I mistakenly thought I would love a larger yard even more.
Thank you so much for your support!!!
It's going to be a beautiful yard! So much potential! And I love your back 40. Mine's a tad bigger, just 3.5 acres, but we always called it the back 40. :))
lol. Only 3.5 acres! Where will I house my chickens? I actually did bring a small coop with me, still in the box, which is taking up 1/4 of the garage. I should have sold it before I moved. I suppose I still can, but it's buried in the back of all the other stuff I could not get into the house.
Here's to a new beginning! The possibilities are quite interesting!
What kind of trees are those 2 in the back yard?
I don't know! And I'm pretty good with garden varieties of most things. I'll ask the landscaper tomorrow. Nikv is helping out with the one on the right, when I manage to get some pictures of it to her.
"My back 40" - not 40 acres, so, 40 square feet?
You have been BUSY.
And all those shrubberies could set you back a year.... I take one look at think "Overgrown, outlived their usefulness, need to be replaced with herb gardens and little hawthorn trees" - how I'd love to be one of those backyard neighbors and help you dig in the dirt, pull up those tree roots (ok no, I lied, I'm not good at that, not strong enough, not equipped with the right tools or musculature). Already yo've planted some garlic and amended a patch of garden soil. No wait, before winter, you hope to have done that. PHEW I was about to be in total awe if you'd managed that already after a hellish week of moving. It's been 21 years since our last move and I am still in recovery. The process of DISCARDING, minimizing, reducing the stuff we accumulate over the years. Sometimes flood and fire will make those decisions for us in one fell swoop. GOOD LUCK with all the contents of previous home mingling and merging in the new abode. Ouch. I cannot even think of it right now....
lol I had just recovered from my move 21 years ago when I made this one.
Yeah, I've haven't done a thing out there except for muse. I will soon be planting a specimen that I have been carting around from home to home for the past 40 years. It is as yet unidentified by any of those who have visited my gardens, and I found it growing on our lake property, where it may have been planted 150 years ago. It's long gone from the lake. I am the last keeper of this plant as far as I know.
First things first in my new house - getting music happening. The electrical wiring is very old and needs upgrading. My piano is out of tune.
Jimmy appears to be dying again. Off to the vet again soon.
The garden is going to have to wait!
Hey my friend,
I love your new home!
I've been thinking about you the past week and was confident you would get the job done just fine, while aware of the stress you were likely under during all of it.
It's a relief to see everything worked out fine!
Hopefully you're getting some good rest and taking it easy before getting your knees dirty in your new backyard.
Your dog is so cute too, I can just see his little personality... popping around corners and following you around. It's because you're such a lovable lady and he knows how lucky he is.
Welcome to your new home! 😃
Thank you my friend. I just put that little cute dog down. So difficult!!!
That's really painful, I'm so sorry! :(
https://peakd.com/hive-161155/@owasco/jimmy-a-final-freewrite
Congratulations on the new house. It is gorgeous. It is a dream house for most people I know, including myself.
Sorry about the dog.
Congrats, a new home is always super exciting! I love the back forty!
The house is pretty cool from the outside too :) Rest well!
No seflie? Shame on you 😃
That's a very nice house! I love it and wish you many happy years there!
Oh what a lovely little oasis! I can just imagine how that will look full of veggies. I would adore that "back 300", if you will. Nothing like a cozy, quiet spot to sit with your thoughts when the weather is nice.
Sorry to hear that the move was so harrowing! Moving is never easy, but sounds as if this one was a doozy. Glad your furry friend is on the mend. Hope you are all getting settled in nicely!
Good luck with your new home it looks like it has been well kept.
I love the front porch. We spend a lot of time hanging out on our front porch and with a roof over it, getting outside when it's raining is possible.
It sounds like you've got some hobbitizing in front of you getting the spot for next year's garden ready to go.
Moving is a real pain in the ass and as nice as this place is, I'm sure you'll be there for a long time.
It has been well kept! I'm very happy with the house. It's much bigger than I thought, and my cats have had their whole house privileges revoked for scratching upholstered furniture despite the seven scratching stations strewn about, and for being too lazy to get to their multiple litter boxes.