Monarch caterpillar up by the barn, taken by my #2 intern
On Wednesday I was up late, not til after 6AM and got the dying cat fed. I checked e-mail and then started cleaning up the kitchen after closing the house up.
My general helper came down at 7AM and I wasn’t ready. My #2 intern arrived a few minutes later and they regaled me with stories of their niece’s birth on Tuesday during the night.
My general helper, left, and #2 intern planting and mulching Row 5 in the New Herb garden
We finally got out to the garden around 8AM and started on Row 7. We raked off the mulch, put down amendment and planted some Siberian wallflowers, then put the mulch back. We had to add a lot of new mulch.
We moved onto Row 6 and did the same, this time planting Ashwagandha and mulching well.
Row 5 brought a surprise as we raked off the mulch.
Photo taken by my general helper
My #2 intern found a nest of baby bunnies in the mulch. They were about 8 or 9 days old as their eyes had just started to open. So we dug a nest hole up in the wildflowers, gathered up the fluff of the nest and put them up there. Then we covered them well with grass. Don’t know if the mother will find them or if they will survive.
So back to Row 5, we did the same and this time got sorrel, portulacas, and a balloonflower planted before mulching the row. They decided to quit at this point.
The heat pump guys arrived round 9AM and got started. It seems somehow the heads with the wrong serial numbers got installed on the first floor so those all had to be changed out. Next they discovered the new system for the 2nd floor had a bad circuit board so one will have to be ordered.
There were 2 guys and the 2nd guy got started making the chase for the kitchen, down in the workshop.
This Red Admiral butterfly with a bite out of his right wing hung around us all morning. It was usually not more than 7’ away. I named it Mr. Bitewing.
We needed more mulch hay so we went up to the barn to get 8 more bales. I couldn’t maneuver the truck well enough to back down, so they had to haul the hay up the driveway.
My general helper, taken by my #2 intern
Once we’d cleaned up and I got my photos and notes, I had to take the truck back to the barn. But my general helper wanted to drive it. For some reason, driving The Beast is fun…
My #2 intern likes riding in the back and she got this shot of my general helper driving.
Sometime during the early morning, another Comcast guy showed up and was asking about the electric and water lines. I showed him where they went and he said a woman would be out sometime to mark where the electric was.
She arrived sometime after noon and I showed her where the electric went. She was glad she could stop before having to wade through the Queen Anne’s lace in the pasture.
The green peas are mostly all up. I’ll probably get them planted this weekend if I can get my #2 intern out.
We finished up around 11AM and the 2 women headed out.
The 2nd guy had done a beautiful job on the kitchen chase. But the 1st guy had double checked the head and it turned out the ceiling isn’t level. There’s no adjusting the head as it has to have a certain setting so water will drain out and not leak. The same went for the living room head. Sigh…
The first guy went to work on the sheetrock holes/mess and cleaned them up somewhat. But they don’t sand or paint, so I’ll have to pay to have that done.
Then the 2nd guy went to work on the shade and this time it was level and even and went up and down as it should. They cleaned up and headed out around 3PM.
It had been another long day and I dozed and read on the couch when it was quiet again. I got the house opened up around 7:30PM, got a shower and went to bed. It was to be near 70F during the night, so a bit too warm for good sleeping.
Thursday I hope to take it a bit easy and get photos edited, finish the bills/budget, make shopping orders, and my #4 helper will arrive at 1:30PM. She’ll got pick up shopping, and I have a few chores for her.
Hurray for progress, indoors and out!
Love the nice chase leading up the head in the kitchen. So many heat pump installs look like they are slapped on haphazardly with no thought for aesthetics. Hope the bunnies do Ok. Nice butterfly photos. I was watching a Yellow Swallowtail this morning while out watering.
Aw, baby bunnies are adorable. I hope momma finds them. That was a large caterpillar, close to entering the chrysalis stage. Yay!
#hive #posh
The baby birds are very beautiful and we have to protect them a lot because they are very small and the chances of dying are high, so all the workers in your house are very hardworking.