Ladders Make My Feet Hurt

And that is the truth! I can still climb up and down them like an over sized monkey, but the standing on those thin metal treads kills my feet.( Sitting in the garden would be much nicer!).

 

 And I've done a lot of standing and reaching and climbing this past week. That is the vacuum hanging on the ladder. I only mildly wished it would drop and break.... ;) The house is looking great though and the worst of it is done. One more room, the living room and I'm saving that for tomorrow and giving my flat feet a rest. If I ever see a ladder with big wide treads, I'm buying it! For those that are thinking about building houses, high ceilings look great, and I think give smaller rooms and houses a sense of space and light, but they can be  time consuming to clean and maintain.



 I will never again opt for an open soaring ceilings like we have in the living room.  It does go up 3 levels and will take a professional to clean and paint or at least someone that isn't me!

The hay is in the barn and looking beautiful.



 Colby outdid himself with this years first cutting. There will be some good eating for the hoovers this winter. And the NAG bags I ordered for the them arrived too.



 Like all things new, we all need to get use to them. I have to develop an easy routine for refilling them and the horses need to learn to graze from them.



 The company recommends that loose hay is offered for the first few days as they get use to them.  I am probably going to cut that out Monday morning and load a days worth ( 2 feedings/24 hours) of hay in and see how it all goes. I went out and checked on the boys around 7:30 last night after they had had their hay for 3 hours. The bags were still pretty much full and both happily grazing on them. YEAH! Oh and this is Buzz, throwing himself into my way as I walk out to feed.



 He doesn't want to be forgotten on food railway. Doesn't look like that ever happens does it!  Who else has fat barn cats? The goats have a small one to themselves and they were both eating from it until I came to snap a pic of them doing so.



 Then of course they had to come see me instead....I don't know if it is the difference between breeds, sexes or just upbringing but these two wethers are both sweet and not terribly adventurous, which makes life quite easy for me. They don't go raiding my barn or jumping on my car or wander into the garden. And Ben likes big bear hugs. What's not to love?

My much prized Paper Bark Maple is doing it's very best to brighten up our fall garden.



The color is subtle this year, but my bet is it will be a show stopper once it has grown into the site.  In a world of evergreens this is a stand out. The dogwoods have changed color,

  

 although this one finally gave up the ghost I think.






 These wild dogwoods are beautiful but not particularly long lived.  The big Incense Cedar by the deck is putting out quite a few cones this year and adding softness and fall color to my mulched pathways.





 We opted for bagged big bark for the main one.



 The smaller path and the garden itself has chippings from work at the fire station done this year. Not the prettiest of mulches but useful and free.



 Can't beat that!

Once I  finished the studio I brought in the Murphy Loom from the cold 3 season room. I'll spend 2 weeks there with a heater while my folks visit but it is not an option for keeping a loom warm through the winter. In my best Tim Gunn voice, looking at three big looms stuffed into my studio, I told myself to "Make it work!". And I did.






The Murphy and the Hollandia are facing each other. They will share a bench. The Louet Delta still sits in its designated area.



If anyone is interested, the Louet Hollandia is for sale. Contact me privately if you would like more information.

There has been a little sewing, and I'll share that next post. This one is packed enough I think.

Parting shot:
It's always the season for snuggling.