Stove and Other Fun Stuff

We now have a wood burning stove, installed on one of the hottest days of the summer, so I guess we won't be testing it for awhile. It sure looks pretty though. We weren't there to see the installment which is probably good since watching them drill a big hole through the roof would have been stressful. We got there as the stove people were finishing up and they were all bright red and sweating like crazy from having to crawl around in the attic crawl space which was at least 120 degrees. Ugh.

We bought some Rhododendrons on sale at the local fancy-shmancy place- Catskill Harvest Market, and they really help to cozy up the deck. They will grow up and out and fill in- probably about as high as the built in bench.

We also bought a couple more Forsythia for the berm. They get big and wild and will make a wall for more privacy from the road. In the spring they are covered in bright yellow flowers. Here Ben plants it.

The blueberries we planted last year have bunches of ripening berries! They are a most beautiful color- sort of a soft pinkish lavender dusted with powder.

We have an algae problem in the pond and we've been fishing the stuff out with a rake from the side. On this day, Ben was hot though not really willing to jump in the pond as it's a bit icky. Yet when he couldn't reach the big algae clumps from the side he waded in further and further until he was up to his neck. In this way he got a swim by default. There he has a big bin of the slimy nastiness that he's collected. He still has on his clothes and flip flops!

When the pond was dug out several years back we found some big huge clam (or mussel?) shells in the stuff that came out of the bottom- a very curious thing. We figured they were gone but ben found this tiny guy in the algae. I think they help filter water so maybe if they grow they'll eat up our algae?? Wishful thinking I'm sure.

Another very exciting thing- we've found wild berry bushes in several places on the land- black raspberries maybe? They are tasty- here is Lucy clamoring for them. She ate a whole bunch and was covered in black juice.

Lunchtime- Megan, Lucy, and our new stove.