Sector 1...Digging and Hammering

What a load you've taken on! But also - what a lovely clear canvas. So lovely to be able to plan things and see clearly what needs to be done. Good luck with the rock - been there; done that; got the T-shirt!!!! Love your blogs and will follow your progress. :o)

that rock is huge! i like your word ~ behemoth! i know that feeling of being too tired to get food!
the lilies of the valley are beautiful, very evocative for me.
i think you are GoY's explorer/settler Lori ~ its fascinating to read ~ perhaps there is a bit in all of us that would like to do it but you are living the dream!!

Lori...I agree you are following in the footsteps of the pioneers and settlers :) You've got plenty of rocks on your property...no need to go to garden centres for any!!!

I hope you and hubby don't strain yourselves moving that huge boulder...and once the rain stops and you get those high temps then you'll have to be on guard for sunstroke... what a contradiction....cold/wet and bright sunshine/high temperatures!

I love the lily of the valley...certainly going to have some of that in a corner of the garden one day :)

I know how you feel with all the rain, up here in the northwest of the UK its done nothing but rain, and be very windy all this month, but parts of the UK are crying out for rain.

Thanks Nariz....I can imagine that rocks are quite familiar to you...that lovely wall makes me so envious.
LOL..Sticki..you got me thinking again. I've lived in an urban setting for much of my life. I started out in an area much like this one, though. I can only imagine the hardships of the settlers in this area...there are still some living here whose names were among the first on the census! I have a car to transport me quickly along the ways (paved) to the nearest shops and hardware sources...I am mechanized to a degree that they would never have dreamt...I have electricity for light and it pumps my water from a deep drilled well...and I have refrigeration to keep my food fresh and central heating in the long winter...! I feel a little ashamed that I've given you the impression that I'm a hardy pioneer...lol. I have yet to discover everything that the others who have lived here left behind...there are raspberry canes a plenty...and wild strawberry too. There are fish in the creek! Just minnows, but there are gravel beds and reed beds for young fish, and amphibians..Frogs and toads croak and squeek in chorus at dusk and dawn. There is a spring fed lake not a quarter mile from us and that's where most of the water in our little stream comes from...but the clear slate is a bit of a red herring too, as the lot has been extensively filled and graded...I'm so lucky that all that needs to be added are the little extras. To be fair, it is a large job to do what I've planned...but I could easily leave it quite alone and all would be well.
Whistonlass: If I had a penny for every rock on the property I'd be rich as Croesus! lol...They all tend to be odd shaped and water etched. wish I had some nice shale to harvest..but that band is farther south in the province. It makes great pavers. Just perfect for a patio or not so much "jigsaw puzzling" to make a wall. It's great that they are here and free for the using, and I'm happy with that. Can't get outdoors again today...it's raining and the blackflies have returned with a vengeance!
Clarice: It sometimes feels like some huge conspiracy...or perhaps it's just weather doing as weather does, but there are times I wish there was someone to complain to 'cause Mother Nature isn't listening. lol... Hope we both see some sun SOON!

What a beautiful setting & place to exist Lori, just brilliant & well worth the hard graft your putting in. Looking forward to seeing the progress.

Mother nature may not be listening....but it don't stop me complaining! Lori, on Monday I went south for the Chelsea Flower Show and a couple of hours after we took off from Aberdeen airport, a terrible storm came upon Scotland and uprooted hundreds and hundreds of trees and killed two people as well. I was glad not to be here, but the damage is all too plain to see. It only lasted about five hours thank goodness, but we've had gales and wind ever since, so, like you, no gardening here.

That deck is going to be fab!

i think you are doing your exploring in the best possible way lori ~ you have enough hard work to do without having to do without what we now regard as essentials ~ running water, electricity and access to shopping.

its good to find out about exploring by doing one part at a time ~ working the land ~ to take on that without electricity or water would be too much i think ~ now that we are all used to it.

i love to escape ~ but i do like a few comforts as well. wild nature all around and outside but a nice warm cosy kitchen inside suits me!!

Thank you Bampy...we are loving it...especially since we've actually had two nice days in a row...the trees are out in leaf...the lilac is blooming and attracting butterflies...and I finally got most of the grass cut!!
Karen, you usually travel INTO the bad weather...looks like your luck has changed. It's a worry when the weather decides to be terrifying. Hope your garden escaped unscathed. You went to Chelsea??? you lucky woman...I'm pea green with envy. OK dish...what did you bring home? lol...
Sticki... I love your comments because they always give me something more to think about....been very busy working outside...but my kitchen needs some work to make it a nice cozy haven...ordering the lumber for the deck that's going on the back of the house in the family garden (Sector 1)tomorrow! Yay! I'm working outdoors in the good weather...and the kitchen will wait til it's cold out again... what a thought.

a deck!?? how wonderful ~ it will be like john boy and the waltons!!
can we see a picture of the kitchen too please??
i have just been reading about tree houses you can stay in [in the UK] ~ one is a restaurant. i think your house is nearly in the tree house catagory with all the woods around you!

LOL... seeing my present kitchen would not be an inspiration, Sticki. I wish we could attach pics to private messages as I wouldn't want to show all of goY my #$&%%$^V^kitchen! maybe when it's a little farther along. You certainly have the trees over there to build houses in...but I thought that all the aged trees were protected. I wonder how they got a licence to operate a restaurant in a tree...squirrel health department? Seriously though..that sounds amazing. 'Nite 'Lizbeth!'

there are some lovely gardens that have been created at alnwick castle in northumberland ~ this was the castle that was used in the harry potter theme; they have now built a tree house in the grounds for the restaurant, there is a link here but it doesnt show many good pictures ~ the gardens are beautiful
http://www.alnwickgarden.com/eat/eat-in-the-treehouse

That seems to be our wacky weather pattern these days! Most of May was rain with 40* to 50* F temps, then a bout of hot sticky 89* for a day, forllowed but huge winds and thunderstorms! Yesterday was a lovely sunny day with 85*, and today it is a chilly 45* morning, at least still sunny! No wonder we can't get rid of our colds!
The gardens are loving the rain and are blooming fabulously, but the fading of bloom seems to be happening quickly this year. Hopefully it will level out soon & we can get some work done!

Another great blog I really enjoy reading them and seeing how it is all coming along. I like Lilly of the Valley it is a lovely flower :-)

Amen to that, Grammazoo!
I love it too, Mavis. Imagine how excited I was when I found that huge patch of it growing where I want the family garden to be! It will be front and centre...that's for sure!
I want to get up the trail into the forest and mark out the trail...but a little worried about venturing up there alone...don't want to happen upon a bear with cubs...like my niece did!

long lens camera for the cubs would be nice but i dont know how you would do that safely!!
i suppose that means picnics in the forest are out?
its just like a traditional story thats come alive!!

are you goldilocks really lori??

LOL... No I certainly am not, Sticki...nor do I wish to be...Check our this little tale though: my niece was texting and stopped her car by the side of the road. She had her three little dogs with her and the older male started barking a growling and the others joined in ...when she looked up to shush them there was a very large female blackbear standing in front of her car..woofting and making threatening postures...the dogs were going absolutely nuts...and she couldn't get them to stop...finally she avoided eye contact with the bear and the bear backed off... it summoned two cubs from the ditch and hussled them off across the road and up into the bush! she was so shook up that she forgot to take a picture...and had been sending her husband almost gibberish by text...She went to her dad's place and they came back to the spot and looked for signs as to where the bears had come from...but couldn't find a definite path ...the tracks were of a VERY LARGE black bear...(with cubs!) Trouble!!!

what a good thing she had the dogs. glad she got safely back.

My niece has two west highland whites and a bichon. Small dogs to confront a large animal like that...and they were part of the reason the bear became agitated as they were going ballistic. If they had not started barking in the first place she might not have seen the bear at all as the cubs were well hidden in the ditch and the mother usually keeps them safe and only becomes protective if she perceives a threat! Bear mothers are nothing to mess with!

no! certainly not! ~ like a she-tiger!!

have to give the dogs a bone to keep them quiet next time!!