all good things...

Our fifteen month adventure in pagoda building has come to its conclusion. While we always be improving and updating our home, today marks the day that Jason accomplished every goal he set out to complete. As such, he considers the pagoda finished – and himself retired from pagoda building. Look for more posts in the future as we continue with the little details. This will be an overview of the house and property. We purchased 28 acres in Rutherford County. Our home is hidden in the trees away from prying eyes. The little speck to the left of the orange dot is our house. Our property line is outlined in gray on two sides, and the roads on two other sides.

looking down from sky, hidden amongst the large trees, little pagoda

first view from the road, no sign of a pagoda, seven samurai

turning to the right, surrounded by mature trees, long and winding road

along the way up, first glimpse of the pagoda, sitting on the hill

continuing on, looking deep into the woods, about to turn left

a building soon appears, hiding both automobiles, must be a garage

stepping back a bit, a view that we have long sought, everything done

overpowering, clover will soon fill the yard, unique perfection

a peek stepping back, now from behind the garage, the house is rising

on the other side, real windows and imposters, with stucco and trim

over bamboo fence, rocks take the place of gutters, windows all aligned

looking out from porch, surrounded by only the woods, million dollar view

straight from the front door, row of cabinets on right, all else on the left

looking back to front, everything on its line, sign of ocd

cabinet lineup, oven on left - sink on right, perfectly centered

now into bedroom, wardrobes take place of closets, symmetry controls

turning back around, a very similar view, still not a closet

final view of bed, beautiful picture on wall, minimalism

jason’s green bathroom, excessive six foot bathtub, bronze bamboo faucets

tub television, clear violation of code, don’t tell inspector

handscraped hardwood down, one of many tasks complete, molly sue approves

double doors now open, from kitchen to theatre, jason spends most time

left to library, open floor plan evident, knowledge on the right

one hundred eighty, looking back to theatre, knowledge now on left

final room of house, toilet awaits repair part, all else is now done

 

Now it is time for us to enjoy it. So we close it here.

bamboo fence, bamboo forest

it’s been almost a month since i’ve updated…times flies when you’re busy!  we got the fence put up a couple of weeks ago.  Molly has been enjoying coming in and out through her own door.  she even made a muddy trail from her door to the kitchen on the just-cleaned floors one day…silly hound!

fence encloses yard, keeping hound from wandering, safe place to run free

the clover seedlings are growing nicely.  it’s a nice change to see green in the yard.  the right side of the house must not get enough sun or water as they aren’t doing so well over there.  i’m not giving up though.  i’ve got to reseed some areas that have been disturbed by our putting up the fence, but i think i may have to wait until spring.

little green seedlings, soon to become white clover, green yard finally

 Jason and i went to a bamboo nursery in Alabama last monday.  it was pretty.  they had over 100 different species of bamboo.  we ended up getting green, black, and gray bamboo.  the black is my favourite; it grows slower than the green and is not considered an invasive species.  Howard came over last tuesday with an auger and dug all the holes for the bamboo and trees…much better than digging by hand, for sure.  i got all 140 bamboo plants planted tuesday and wednesday.  it looks really cool.  in a few years we’ll have our own bamboo forest!

little bamboo plants, spread amongst big native trees, our hidden forest

leafy green bamboo, will grow to fifty-five feet, within five years time

new shoots emerge green, sun exposure turns them black, beautiful contrast

olive green when new, shoots grow to thirty-five feet, turning gray with age

garage door installed

our garage door and opener were installed tuesday.  the door looks awesome, and the opener is amazingly quiet.  the one in Ohio was so loud you couldn’t hear your own thoughts.  it gets really hot inside the garage now that the door is closed.  i don’t think the toad that’s been living behind the recycle bins likes the closed door; he was waiting to hop out when i opened the door last night!

heavy wooden door, covering garage entry, design now complete

Jason had several days off and got quite a few things accomplished.  the most time consuming task was cleaning up the trench from the driveway to the electric pole.  after the biggest rocks were picked up by hand, Jason drove the tractor through smoothing it out with the box blade.  our neighbour, Ray, came over and moved piles of dirt into the trench.  Jason went through again with the box blade to smooth that dirt out.  we put a layer of compost on top.  the leaves have already fallen on the compost making it look as though it had never been disturbed…save the missing trees!

electric trench gone, path of missing trees remains, soon to be replaced

we placed rocks along the drive to form a wall to prevent it from washing out.  i think it looks really neat.  the lizards, of course, are loving it!

large rocks to form wall, driveway will now stay in place, adding character

i got the yard seeded with clover/compost and have been watering it each night.  (our water bill will be ridiculously high next cycle!)  when i was watering tonight i saw signs of seedlings.  i hope it has time to settle in before the cold weather gets here.

small white clover seeds, hopefully take root in soil, lush green yard in spring

Critters...

i thought i should devote a whole post to some of the creepy-crawly critters we have in our forest…

we have lizards galore!  most of the ones we see are Eastern Fence Lizards (Sceloporus undulates).  some of the lizards are tiny; the smallest one i’ve seen must have just hatched because part of the egg was still attached to its back leg.  they love all the rocks we have here.  i caught these two sunbathing the other day.  i suppose they are soaking up the last few days of warm sunshine we’ll have.  Molly has been having a blast chasing them.  poor little things…at least they have plenty of rocks to hide under.

on warm sunny days, lizards seen soaking up rays, quickly run away

whilst clearing rocks out of the trench i met another snake, a Speckled King Snake (Lampropeltis getulua holbrooki).  this time i had my camera and snapped a photo of him.  his diet includes venomous snakes so he is very welcome here.  he was very pretty (handsome i suppose is better a word) with black and yellow.  i’ve named him Jaune-Noir…suiting, no?!

out from under rocks, king snake leisurely appears, slithers on his way

there is a very clever Orb Weaver Spider that has spun a web right above our porch light.  needless to say, she is eating very well!  i’m still trying to identify her genus and species.  Neoscona crucifera is my guess so far.  this is how she sleeps during the day.  she sleeps mostly during the day, but will move about if something tasty lands in her web.

brown hairy spider, safely resting under beam, night time feast to come

we’ve got a few Northern Walkingsticks (Diapheromera femorata) here as well.  as a kid, i thought these were the coolest things.  they blend perfectly into their surroundings…in a forest anyway.  they don’t look too appetizing when out of the forest, though!  there are two that hang around the house…a male and a female.  stick insects set quite the record for mating duration…one species in India can couple for 79 days!

northern walkingstick, resembles a fallen twig, camouflaged from birds

moving rocks we have found plenty of little frogs and lizards hiding underneath.  twice now we’ve found Northern Slimy Salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus).  during courtship the male will perform an elaborate dance for the female.  just before this happens his feet, chin, and white spots will turn pink and later bright red.  the things a guy has to do for a girl!

beneath a big rock, slimy salamander hides, nestled in the dirt

it seems as though our forest is full of life.  now i just have to keep a watch for where i place my feet!

rocks, rocks, and more rocks...

hidden behind fence, Molly's own private entrance, soon to be much used

rock path to garden, gently winding through shade trees, moss to grow between

trench to house now cleared, ready for soil and green trees, house will be hidden

long trench full of rocks, slowly picked up and moved out, stupid says Jason

Jason made a ramp for Molly.  now she can get in and out of her dog door.  our next task is to get the fence in place.  she even has her own little porch for sunbathing.  we put bamboo fence panels around the air unit, and it looks so much better now.  we’re using the same panels, just shorter, for the fence around the house.

i got my path from the garage to the garden finished.  i’ll have to lay more rocks out once i decide where the actual garden will be.  Jason wants to plant bamboo in the septic area to make up for the trees we had to cut down.  we can’t plant trees because the roots may one day bust the lines…that is not a problem i want.  bamboo roots don’t go too far below the dirt so it will work out perfectly.  it’s a fast grower so i’ll have to keep it under close watch.

here lately we’ve been sorting out rocks, picking up rocks, moving rocks, and stacking rocks.  i can safely say i am tired of rocks!  we are very close to finishing up; that’s something i keep telling myself.  the weather has been quite uncooperative…too much rain.  the next few days look nice so hopefully we can get a lot done.  i can’t wait for the landscaping to start.  i purchased clover seed and compost to mix with it to help the seeds take better.

rocks in place

rocks in their right place, adding natural detail, green lawn soon to come

large rocks seen from porch, meticulously laid out, forming our walkway

stacks and stacks of rocks, now drive will not wash away, quiet place to sit

big, long gray rat snake, trying to hide under rocks, scared away for now

hungry hummingbird, preparing for a long trip, Mexican winter

the rocks have all been placed…in the yard at least.  (we are still working on tidying up the driveway.)  Jason built a rock wall around the yard area and also got the steps and the walkway in place.  i love it, and i think it looks awesome!  we got the gutters laid out and placed the random rocks in the yard.

our neighbour, Ray, came over to help us move some really big rocks to build a wall along the driveway to prevent washout.  as Ray was moving one of the rocks with his bulldozer a huge gray rat snake crawled out.  poor thing was probably scared to death!  i hope it comes back to live under the newly placed rocks.

it rained non-stop for three days and is still very muddy here.  the gutters are helping, but until we get things planted the dirt will keep washing away.  i think we’ve decided on a clover lawn after calculating the cost of a moss lawn.  (i’m not sure moss would have lasted in the full hot sun anyway.)  clover doesn’t have to be mowed, doesn’t require any chemicals to keep it healthy, sends its roots deeper into the ground, and stays green most of the year.  the only problem may be Molly chasing the bees it will attract…silly hound!

i finally saw the little hummingbird that hangs out in the front yard eating at the feeder.  it may be all the rain or the fact that she’s getting ready to migrate South for the winter.  whatever the reason i have been enjoying watching her and hope she comes back next year.