home improvement

PREPARING FOR SPRING

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It’s mid February. I am just getting ready to make cookies for the Library Valentine’s cookie sale. Winter is still releasing its fury over our part of the world, but we are all mindful that its power is coming to an end. Spring is around the corner.

So it’s time to start planning the Spring garden work.

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I usually make great plans, but I am not very good about intentionally carrying them out. This year it will be all about the execution. Things are going to begin to shift here at The Vicarage as we come into the Spring.

ARE YOU IN PLANNING FOR THE SPRING AND SUMMER…OR…MAYBE WHERE YOU ARE YOUR PLANNING FOR THE FALL OR WINTER?

GETTING THE VICARAGE BACK TOGETHER

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The holidays are over. We now head into the deep of winter here in New England. It is time to batten down the hatches for a few months.

I have defrocked the tree and put it into its box. The ornaments are ready to go back into storage.

I still have windows to plastic and some work to do down in the cellar to get ready for the real cold that is coming in over the next few weeks and hopefully the snow. We really need some snow to get rid of this drought.

I have a huge pile of brush to burn, but right now I think we are still in a fire ban until January 15.

I also have three rooms to put back together upstairs at the Vicarage. The holidays kind of turned them into catchall spaces. It’s time to rectify that and to get ready for the Spring.

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It will be here before we know it. So much to do before the tulips bloom!

WHAT ARE YOUR WINTER PROJECTS?

TAR AND FEATHERS

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As some know, we have spent a lot of time fixing up the interior of The Vicarage over the last several years. It is always a work in progress, and maintaining what was done remains a challenge. That said, this summer I wanted to turn my attention to the forest garden at The Vicarage, which has been neglected for seven long years.

I have done a lot of work rearranging garden beds and planting herbs and vegetables. The time of harvest has begun. Tonight in fact I am frying up our second egg plant from the garden and making a chopped salad of tomatoes, cucumbers and green bean garnished with nasturtiums.

This week The forest garden had two large projects that took place. The first project was…CHICKENS!

We got our first four chickens! They are named Squash, Partly Sunny, Eggplant and Spot.

Because their coop is a little smaller than we would, we have built them temporary exercise yard as well. My plan is to do some more brush cutting around the coop , buy some wood and fencing and set up a larger coop before the winter sets in. This will have to do for now.

The other project we had done was our Northern driveway. I got a good price from Art’s Paving, so we did this on Friday afternoon.

The Vicarage…. it is a never-ending work, but we keep moving forward.

INDOOR FOREST GARDENING

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My daughter-in-law has taken to growing house plants as one of her hobbies. She was given the spider plant about four months ago and she has been diligently replanting the babies. We now have nine spider plants. We also have three peace lilies., A lemon tree, coleus, and a Christmas cactus.

My intention is that as we move towards the winter, I am going to try some indoor herb and lettuce gardening to add to our indoor forest. So I bought some stands from Amazon to organize our collection.

Sevy and I opened the box this morning.

Sevy would help me out by taking little breaks from the Mickey Mouse Club to come and use the little rubber mallet on the stakes.

When Joe got home from his Gideons prayer meeting, he helped me to finish up and get the plants positioned. I think it looks pretty good.

The Vicarage At Night

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One of the projects I’ve started at the vicarage this summer is the creation of a fenced in patio with a prayer gazebo. The fence was finished two weeks ago and my son and I got the tent up this week that is serving as our prayer gazebo.

I have to work on our bug repellent, but the space is shaping up nicely.

Here is the outdoor prayer chapel during the day

And here’s the view at night

What’s Blooming At the Vicarage This Week June 12

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Over the years, I’ve tried to plant a perennial garden that would fill the grounds of the Vicarage. This is the first year that it looks like I succeeded, so what’s blooming at the vicarage this week?



The lupine is still in full bloom. I am hoping to gather some seeds to try and cultivate new little plants for next year.
The bishop’s weed is everywhere. I keep pulling it out and it keeps coming back. It does make a pretty ground cover though.
The gardens are also filled with wild buttercup. I am adding both this and the bishop’s weed to my garden vase on the mantle.
I am cultivating this little area as a wild Daisy garden.
The wild rose is in full bloom throughout the yard, and it is filling the air with sweetness.
There are several large mullein plants on the property. I can’t wait till they bloom later in the season.
The Kentucky rose, and the French rose also bloomed this week.
Our first squash flowers are on the vines.
And finally this little fella came backto life. We named him resurrection when he started to die, in hopes that he would make a comeback. It has been weeks and weeks, but it looks like our waiting has finally paid off.

What is blooming in your yard?