You'd think we'd all learn - never say never

 One of the first projects the spousal unit undertook when he moved in with me was to, ostensibly, repair a small porch on the west end of my house. It needed new decking and one thing led to another and in the course of his first summer here, he'd built the sunroom. 

It's a wonderful space with windows on three sides. It's about 12'x12' so it's not too small. The south side has a sliding glass door that opens to a 10'x12' porch. The interior walls, ceiling, and floor are tongue and groove pine. It's my favorite space in my house, so I suppose it's little wonder my office migrated to the sunroom. 

For a good number of years, I didn't have blinds or curtains at the sunroom windows. It's not like we had close neighbors, but things have gradually changed. Off to the north, they cleared quite a few trees on the other side of the stone fence. I think they plan to sell that lot. The lady to the south has had a string of tenants, none of whom made good neighbors. 

A few years ago I conceded that having blinds up might be a good idea so people can't see in at night. Most evenings, after dark, I'm here in my sunroom office. This summer, my first being retired, I've given in completely and I've installed curtains. 

And not just any curtains, no. I went for room darkening drapes. If one wishes to be invisible at night, one should go all the way and manage the heat of the daytime sun and thwart the winter wind at the same time. 

I hung the panels today and I must say I like them. At the moment the panels are pushed back. Loki, being a strange little cat, needs to get used to them being at the door. He freaks over big changes in his world. Tomorrow I'm sure I'll close the south side panels to block the afternoon heat and see if they really do keep the room cooler. 

I had said I'd never have blinds or curtains but life moves on ever faster and our needs change with the times. I still have the option of opening the panels and raising the blinds to enjoy being surrounded by the trees. On snowy days, I can swivel my chair around and enjoy a cup of coffee as the snow comes down. 

If anything, I've expanded the ways in which I can fully enjoy my sunroom office. I wish I'd done this sooner. 

Never say never, just live and adjust. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, simple country pleasures, never say never, room darkening drapes, rural lifestyle, summer heat, options, sunroom, home office, Loki

I heard a noise...

This past Wednesday our area experienced thunderstorms and heavy rain. I'm not complaining. It's summer and if you live in western Maryland, it's thunderstorm season. So, yeah. It arrived right on time. But thunderstorms also mean tree damage. 

We were watching it rain sideways when there was a flash, a pop, and a snap! The lights flickered but the power stayed on. The television didn't come back on, which was worrisome, so I investigated the situation and discovered one breaker had tripped. I reset it and all was well again, at least until we went outside to see if there was any damage. 

One of the maple trees between us and our younger cousin snapped about ten to twelve feet up the trunk and, unfortunately, the top fell in the direction of our shed. Deuce told a little story of how one of the branches landed on the John Deere's bucket, but Deuce didn't know to look up. Dogs are like that. They don't always look at what's over their heads. Anyway... getting this tree the rest of the way to the ground looked to be very problematic. 

I called my cousin to let him know we'd be cutting a tree on his property before it could land on our shed. He immediately came up for a look-see, and to see if we wanted the wood. It's his tree so no, we told him to take the wood. We settled on this morning to work together and bring it the rest of the way down safely. 

We got lucky. Last evening, I heard a tree fall, a sound I know well having lived in the woods for over forty years. Deuce started barking at the window so I knew which direction to look. The tree had snapped off completely and come down, landing just short of the shed and the John Deere 1023. I texted my cousin and he walked up again (we're curious that way). We all agreed it was a good thing because of our safety concerns. 

Today looks to be a hot one with the mercury rising into the nineties. The spousal unit will probably go out and cut the top out of the tree and use the Brush Crusher to haul the pieces to the burn pile. This will clear our "alley" behind the shed. I doubt we do any additional clearing until Monday is supposed to bring cooler temps. 

My cousin will come to cut the wood and we'll give him whatever help he needs. The "damage" will be cleared and the wood harvested instead of wasted. It's just the way things work here at the manor. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor (The Hideaway)

Holly Tree Manor, The Hideaway, fallen trees, country living, rural lifestyle, thunderstorms, cutting wood, storm damage, a writer's life, simple country pleasures, summer heat

Summer heat is here - go read a book

Summer heat sounds like a good book title. I've considered using it a few times but it's already been overused. Actually, it's been used to death so I will avoid it. The summer heat we're experiencing is not at all romantic. It's hot, sticky, and exhausting. Maybe it is romantic, after all. 

The stretch of days between the first of July and the middle of August used to be called the "dog days of summer." I suspect the younger crowd has forgotten all about that just as they've conveniently forgotten so many other things that don't fit their climate change narrative. 

I hear the "news" reporters crying about how it's never been this hot. Really? Temperatures in the low to mid-nineties in July is new? I don't think so, kids. It's the dog days of summer, remember. It's supposed to be hot. And, in case you don't know, locally our hottest day in July happened in 1954 where the mercury reached 105F. 

What? You don't get the mercury reference? Read a history book. 

The dog days of summer also mark the rising of the dog star, Sirius, in Hellenistic astrology. Hellenistic being what historians usually classify the era from about the first or second century BC to the sixth or seventh century AD. Again, read a book. 

This is the time of year when the garden harvest begins. We've been eating a lot of cucumbers this year. I've made a couple of batches of refrigerator pickles, and next year plan to can bread and butter pickles. "Old-fashioned" food without chemical preservatives appeals to me. 

I've room for a good-sized garden here on the manor, but there are precautions to be made. We have a lot of deer, rabbit, raccoon, squirrel, and birds around. They can decimate a garden so one must prepare and then be constantly vigilant. My solution will be an electrified fence. 

I'm looking forward to growing more of my own veggies. The notion takes me back to my girlhood days and my grandfather's garden. It will keep me connected to him, and that is a good thing. 

The Lady of Holly Tree Manor


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