Need More Space

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. There just ain't no room if I get visitors. Well one is fine, but what if sister Kim can drag along her hubby to the mountains. Hey, at least it's not like muggy Florida. May would be a great month...my favorite, when everything is so vividly green.

Then we have my son Ryan. It's too crowded with Mom coming up as well. And I have thoughts of selling  floors online again...no Ryan can do that...he has an interest and is very good at it.  Maybe two or three products...with the traffic I'm now getting, there's money to be made. It may be up his alley, but I don't want the hassle.

But...there's a space problem for sure. I thought about a temp trailer, an addition, then finally...a detached garage with an apartment upstairs! It would work great as an office area too. So here are some ideas. Preferably I'm looking for something that doesn't overwhelm the small cabin in the dimensions of 20 x 36 deep or so. Plenty of room for a workshop downstairs, and space for equipment, when or if we ever get into the installation thing we've talked about. Business on that end is downright dreary and the more I learn about the Atlanta market, it may not be worth pursuing...extremely competitive and low priced.

Just a few ideas. A balcony in the front upstairs is a must. French doors or sliders so one can enjoy the mornings. The garage would be situated on the west of the cabin.

Some initial ideas.

I like #3 with some adjustments. It would also be the same dovetailed log scheme as the cabin.

Warm Florida Weather - Finally

Time to get the shorts out...finally. I've only worn them twice since being here going back to December 16. Bring the weather sensitive plants back out as it looks like normal temps may be here to stay. After monitoring on Wunderground the lowest around here was something like 32 over the past ten days, but lot's of wind while staying in the fifties and sixties. Home? Frigid, until a few days ago. Something like 5 of the last ten days where temps didn't go over 32. I even missed 3-4 inches of snow from what I hear...drat!!

Other pics around Mom's home...

 Lobelia. I like this stuff. Expect to see more at home this summer. 

 

And we're trying to find the pool leak. 

 

Florida Visit December

Took 3-4 days to get adjusted. I thought I'd be bored outta my mind. It looks like I'll be here until January 23 or so. Made a trip to "the farm" finally. The farm is is on Pine Island.

Where's Bubba? I Gotta Find Bubba! Oh there's Bubba. AKA Heather, my neice.

A few more pics. Neice Jennifer with her grandmother Mabel.

 And their father and grandfather. Ed (left) Herman (right)

Group shot of the cousins...Left to right; Ryan, James, Jennifer, and Heather.

See the video. It starts with a trip to the driving range with my son Ryan. Basically his first time with some kind of instruction. Followed with my first time on a horse.

Mulch Pit

Or you can call it the wood chip pit; next to the county garbage collection place on this side of Ellijay. The smaller piles shown are about six feet high and probably twenty feet deep. New and old chips, mulch or good composting stuff; whatever one wants to call it. I've been busy digging into the center of it and coming up with what I think to be some healthy stuff for the gardens I have scattered all over the place here.

Add some cow manure to the mix, once I can get it, and it should be worm city. I inquired at the dairy farm down the road about some manure. "Too  wet now." But finally I know a good source instead of spending $$ at Lowes. For five bucks a bucket (yard) I'm pleased.

Off To Florida Thursday. Some winter pics of my lovely lawn failure.

Creek running strong all month...

Time To Flee This Winter...again

I can tolerate 26 in the AM and 45 or 50 in the afternoon...but not this. My favorite time to work outdoors is between 8 and 11 AM, but wait until the crust on the ground thaws out? I've been trying to get the west side area done for a week now. Then it rains again. Sure I've covered it...but. I've actually been screen sifting (rocks) all the soil dug out and mixing with some really good composted wood chips from up the road...add some leaves to the mix as well. The horse crap guys never called me back and I don't want to press it. Maybe when I return from my trip to warmth.

I would suspect this will be good and fertile come late April when I can get some of those winter sowed plants in the ground. I also hope to get either horse or cow stuff when I return from Florida in late January. Yep, there's a cow dung place nearby...but they want money. Not sure how much yet, but beats spending all that money at Lowe's.

Got a little carried away with tilling other soil around the property. I knew I should have looked at the summer pics to find out what was growing where. So here were a few young Hostas I killed. I would suspect they won't come up now that they're six inches under now? The two in the upper left are under. Didn't touch the right side.

Speaking of Hostas. They're kind of growing on me. And lot's of other stuff I didn't like five months ago when I didn't know a hill of beans about this and that. So. How about a Hosta garden? Maybe I can finally finish off that area down by the creek (above). Check out this Hosta site.

And bring on the bog garden. Ever hear of elephant ears? I may get a few of 'em for the bog. They can get quite massive the way I'm reading into it. This place should be teeming with all sorts of stuff next summer. When the heck is winter over, dang it! OMG, it hasn't officially started.

West side...raised beds...shivering; not to scale.  Red wood ships will be buried, covered with fresh wood chips. I even thought of a low trellis in the back of a few beds with some climbing things. Leftover lattice laying around. Only the first one bottom left gets enough sun for a morning glory? But do they need morning sun? They won't get it until mid morning.

 On to Florida Dec 16 or 17.