Tuesday, July 1, 2014

I was away last week, so wasn't here to witness all the activity at Ramsay first hand, but here's a recap based on Stephen's account and photos.

Work continued on the surround of the fish pond, and Chris from Kennedy Electric was on site to hook up the electrical part of the new filtration system.

Bobby's crew completed their restoration work on the Grigg barn, and John's painting crew was here to complete painting the barn, a section of fence along with the new gate into the barnyard, and the roof of the old chicken coop across the lane from the barn.  David A. completed his work on the cupola of the barn, installing the lightning rod/weather vane on top of the cupola.

Workers were here to replace the ceiling material of the portico of the barn and to paint it once complete.

The vegetable garden is thriving, producing crops that are either ready for harvest already (lettuce, Swiss chard) or are on the small side now and will be ready within a few days (cucumbers, eggplants, peppers).  There are many promising blooms on the squash plants, and many green tomatoes on all the vines.

Kyle, Geo, Sherry and Connie were on site, providing the necessary skills and labor to keep the grounds neat, maintain and improve garden areas, and to keep all the dwellings spotless.

The hens continue to seem happy in their temporary aviary, while plans are underway for a more permanent coop in that area.  They reliably provide four eggs per day, many of which are being given to guests in the Cottage as well as being sent to the main house when residents are here.  The hens also provide help with recycling vegetable and fruit which would ordinarily be discarded.  They love strawberries, grapes, blueberries, and greens of any kind, especially the ones from fresh carrots.

Friday, June 20, 2014

The very hot and humid weather this week has not slowed down any of the intrepid workers at Ramsay!

Cipriano and his helper have completed the work on the new filtration system for the fish pond, and they refilled the pond with water, plants, rocks, fish and snails on Wednesday.  There are two small fountains now, and the sound of the splashing and the beautiful clean, clear water were so inviting that several of us, including the stonemasons, were ready to get in there with the fish when the temperature was a "feels like" 102 degrees on Wednesday and Thursday!

The stonemasons are making progress re-laying the cobblestone surround of the fishpond.  It is a task which is painstaking as well as involving heavy lifting, as each stone must be selected and then in many cases, dressed to fit the surface area as well as the depth to foundation of each piece.  At first, I thought the tent was to provide some much-needed shade to the stonemasons as they worked, but I imagine it also mitigates sun and rain exposure to the concrete they're using as the foundation for the stones so that it doesn't dry out to fast or get too much moisture for a good set.

Reginald at work

The electricians continue their work on additions to the outdoor lighting in the gardens.

Tree-climbing lighting technician

More lights around the parterre garden

Connie has been busy maintaining existing garden beds, weeding, and wrapping spent bulb stems, as well as replacing some plants in the urns near the parterre garden.  We are also enhancing the area near the mud-room entrance of the main house by adding a bird bath and creating a small shade garden.  I re-designed and planted the urn at the front entrance of the Cottage on Wednesday before our guests from Atlanta arrived.  I have bought all the plants at Milmont Greenhouses in Stuart's Draft (http://www.milmont.com/), and also discovered the bird bath there on Wednesday.  It has been interesting searching out plants that will hopefully thrive in the varied light conditions which exist on the property, and also finding plants that will be beneficial to butterflies and birds.

Through an upstairs window--lots of activity around
the garden--lighting techs, Connie planting urns, stonemasons
under their tent

Blue birdbath at Milmont Greenhouses

Garden urn

These little guys don't mind the heat!

New "shade" garden in the Cottage entrance urn

Beautiful hydrangeas near the outdoor fireplace

Kyle has been a wonderful and dependable helper through all weather conditions, and has kept the trees along both driveways alive by his faithful watering in this hot and dry weather.  He will undertake any task, and has helped to facilitate various projects during these very busy and productive days. This morning he has been helping Connie with "sod busting" in order to plant new boxwoods to screen some of the additional outdoor lights.

David A. continues his work on the cupola of the Grigg barn.  His helper has fashioned a replacement for a missing part on the original weathervane/lightning rod.  This will be his last job as a roofer--he has recently acquired his degree in Nursing and has found a full time job.

John's painting crew has worked through the high temperatures and humidity this week on the Grigg barn.  They work quickly but turn out excellent results!

The vegetable garden continues to thrive.  The seeds I planted for Blue Lake green beans had sprouted last week and are growing almost visibly every day. We are staking tomato plants as they grow, and I have been steadily pruning herb plants to encourage more volume rather than seed production.  The landscape fabric Stephen and Kyle applied over all the beds is doing a remarkable job of keeping the weeds down.  There is only an occasional blade of grass getting through, rather than the multitude there would be without it.

Baby bean plants

Stephen is coordinating details with all the subcontractors as well as Ramsay employees, managing supplies and schedules, and being innkeeper to the Cottage and today to the Carriage House.  The list of things he does each day is too long to note!  Fourteen hour, non-stop days are common.

I *think* these are going to be blackberries in a couple of weeks.  They are
where the blooms were in some of my earlier pictures--the south side of
the northwest field.

This is how the horses deal with the heat--napping in the shade.

Fortunately for everyone, today is beginning cloudy and somewhat cooler--a blessed relief!

Monday, June 16, 2014

A few updates from today's activities at Ramsay:

Cipriano, the wizard of waterworks, was on site today completing installation of the new filtration system for the fish pond.  David's stonemason crew  were here beginning the work on the apron of the fish pond.  The old cobblestones are already looking beautiful, newly leveled and true.

David A., the roofer, was here and put the new copper sheathing on the cupola of the Grigg barn.  It looked pretty beautiful, like a new penny, in the afternoon sun!

Connie was here cleaning up flower beds, trimming hedges, and pruning ornamental trees.  She also managed to rescue a raven which had somehow gotten into the aviary with the hens!  The chickens were nowhere to be seen, having taken shelter in their coop, and the raven appeared to be exhausted and panicky from its efforts to escape.  Connie was able to approach the bird quietly and gather it up gently, bringing it out of the aviary and releasing it in the south pasture, where it flew away--happily, we expect.

Connie, pruning back the trees along the parking area and
adjacent to the walkway to the Carriage House.

The raven rescued by Connie, the bird whisperer.

Donnie and Wayne completed all the hay-making today.  The fields are beautiful, with a new crop already coming up beneath the stubble of the first cutting of hay.

Baling in the north pasture on Sunday afternoon.

Baling in the field just north of the main house.

Equipment at rest after a job well done.  West edge of the northwest
field.  Buster and Laddie inspect the machinery and the round bales.

Beautiful summer view of the northwest field, accompanied by the
sweet scent of new hay.

When I took the dogs out around 5, I encountered this slithery guy (or girl), a black racer, perhaps on its way to dinner.  Note how ripply its body is because of the surface upon which it is crawling.  When we came back this way about 20 minutes later, it was nowhere to be seen.

On such a hot and humid day, it's always nice to encounter the cooler pathways around the houses and through the gardens.  The plantings in the very large urn in the center of the ellipse have flourished in their sunny location.  We will be replacing the plantings in the four smaller urns (two near the fish pond and two next to the brick path to the front lawn from the main sidewalk) within the next two days, as the spring plants which were there have not fared so well in the heat.

Among his myriad other tasks today, Stephen mowed the parterre garden, which created this silky smooth carpet of green.

Goodbye for today from Elizabeth, the only hen I can distinguish from the other ones.  She has a more marked white ruff around her neck, and is the largest one, so I call her Elizabeth after Queen Elizabeth I, since portraits of Elizabeth I often portray her with a white ruff as part of her royal raiment. Elizabeth the hen also has to know everything that is going on, inspecting everything; nothing escapes her notice.