Our Place

Long ago we needed a place to live because the house we were renting had been sold; I believe this place was God's answer to that need! Here we have encountered some challenges, but we have also been the recipient of many blessings --
 
This land looked quite different when we bought it. Much of the landscaping had been removed and given away. Although that could have been seen as a negative thing, we found it to be more like a blessing over the years as we were able to design the garden areas we wanted to!
 
It has been over 2 decades now that we have lived here; I am still designing, and we are still modifying the land we were given all those years ago.


 
Current Garden Areas:
  • a PNW Japanese-style garden with two ponds--koi, native toads and other visitors (this garden honors my youngest son who loves Japanese things---actually all my kids do, especially sushi).
  • a transitional garden area with a mixture of ornamental and edible plants, including a miniature rose garden (the first -- the blueberry garden is in honor of my oldest son, who coincidently LOVES blueberries; the latter is in honor of my daughter).
  • a mini orchard  ( with 5 apples--3 are an heirloom type, 1 peach plum, 2 plums, 2 pears, 2 cherry--1 is a 4 way sweet cherry tree, 1 Asian pear and 1 fig). Also in this area are 2 raised beds made of pressure treated wood. Since I was never really comfortable with using this kind of wood, I turned them into a wildflower/perennial garden!
  • a main garden area that has a long row of caneberries (mainly marionberries but I think there still might be a Waldo in there somewhere) and two kinds of grapes. This used to be where our veggie garden was but it was too hard to maintain without a tiller--I am thinking of putting in raised beds now at the southern end of it and then redoing this area, while keeping the grapes and berries. We also have a patch of spearmint here which is a delight when we mow--mmm, yummy smell:) Oh our compost areas are here too.
  • a small woodland garden in the making (this is my mom's memorial garden). Mostly native plants here--ferns, salal, kinnikinnick, etc. but some other plants too, including a beautiful climbing rose. I still plan to add more bulbs and other things to this area--mostly to attract more birds as I love them!
  • barrel gardens: a yellow raspberry, lots of strawberries and lavender, other herbs and vegetables. I really enjoy these small gardens.
One thing we don't have, that I wish we did, is an area for a clothesline. There really is no good area for one now so I use a folding rack. It works...but a clothesline would work better. I keep a separate page for laundry data as it fascinates me how the different variables make such a difference when it comes to getting your clothes and such dry.

I love our land and the gardens. However, with me--no garden is ever done. My tastes change over time, I see new plants I want to include (or my best friend does) and needs change. Even now, I have new plans...(Shhh! Don't tell my DH).
Finally,  I believe a garden should be very wildlife friendly and also be interesting year round. Therefore we have lots of evergreen plants and even some plants (two camellias) that bloom in winter:) I also believe in mixing edible and ornamental plants (edible landscaping) -- who said that a plant can't be pretty AND provide food for the kitchen? :)

Here is a list of the wildlife we have seen since moving here: 
  • Deer--love them:)
  • Raccoons--ornery little varmints! 
  • Skunk--you don't want them! One was more than enough for me...
  • Squirrels + chipmunks--love them!
  • Various Birds-including Blue Herons- very BIG and beautiful but they are here for our koi, which means we hope they visit but don't dine here. A quail (in one of our pine trees). Update 2012: have noticed an increase in the number of hummingbirds we have this year--yippee! We now have a hummingbird feeder in mom's garden. We've had a couple of duck visitors too--it is quite a thrill to see them enjoying our koi pond:)
  • Rabbit--yea! I grew up on a certain cartoon starring a certain rabbit, who wouldn't want one or more of them?
  • Toads, frogs...
  • Gophers, mice, slithery creatures--all in the BAD, scary or pest category. Some could go in all three!
  • Dragonflies, bees, butterflies, etc.
  • We've also found escaped livestock on our land (a herd of cattle)...we never know what we'll find next:)
  • Coyotes--actually we've never seen them (thank goodness) but neighbors have and we've seen the result of there being here-ick.
Well, that is our place....tell me about yours!
Blessings,
Aimee

Update (late 2012): we are working on the house repair/remodel now. So far my hubby and I have installed laminate floors in all the main living areas with the hallway to follow. We've (OK he has) also installed a programmable thermostat, a peephole and new door trim on two of our doors. I HATE remodeling, but I LOVE the results :)
  

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi aimee...new to your site through teresa censor's site...reading about your home with the remodeling work and the wildlife populating your yard...the photos of your area are lovely and shows the area to be rich in the beauty of nature...i hope you reach some of the set-backs that have occurred...thank you for sharing...sally

aimee said...

Welcome Sally!
Thanks for visiting and leaving me a comment too! We do live in a very pretty area of the Pacific NW and enjoy all the greenery and animals! Thank you very much for your kind comment:)
Blessings, Aimee

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