Stonewell Farm 9am June 29th 2019

Because this evening's weather forecast is for damaging thunderstorms, the series of photos this week are from today (Sat)

The early Hemerocallis (left) are blooming and the Hosta buds are up, but have yet to open.

Two of our ducks, Mayo (female) and Sir Francis (male) are busy controlling the insect population.  (Why Sir Francis? Answer at the end of this post.)

If the thunderstorm arrives, the poppy petals (center) will be washed away. Hopefully the Astilbe flowers directly behind the poppies will survive, along with the white Hydrangea (background) and the Rudbeckia (foreground)

The Red Fairy rose (right of center) is one of the later flowering roses, along with the better known Pink Fairy.

 Behind the pear tree and down the fruit garden border (see below) more Hemerocallis are coming into bloom.

The Philadelphus is almost past flowering. I altered the angle on this photo to show the drift of poppies beyond the apple tree.

 

I have re-wrapped the bamboo tripod with woody grape vine, in preparation for the Ipomoea alba (Moonflower) which are growing, and will soon be looking for a support to climb upon.

 This is what I would call a colour clash.

 Why grow so many poppies? (see end of post)

 

A slightly different angle to show Michelle's favourite Lychnis coronaria. (bottom center)

A couple of steps back to show the flowering Stewartia.

Once again from inside the border. The red flowered Rosa Excelsa ( Last week I incorrectly named it Excelsior) is joined by the pink Rosa 'Dorothy Perkins' I hope they persist until Hydrangea 'Annabelle' is fully opened.

The old, stone well is nearly concealed beneath the abundant and lush growth of another Rosa Excelsa, a true rambler rose, which we have to cut back every year.

Rosa 'Dorothy Perkins' here framed by the pizza oven and Picea pungens, and to the right and behind the Picea,

four Rosa 'Dorothy Perkins' and a Rosa 'New Dawn' cover the garage wall.

Mayo and her seven dwarfs.

The name for a male duck is a drake. 

Sir Francis Drake

and, the reason we have so many poppies,

especially so close to our beehives?

Honey.

Pizza Oven

The outdoor wood fired oven was completed thirty months ago, but I've never updated the original posts from 2013.

I left off back in 2013 with the oven insulated with ceramic fiber and percrete. I then framed out the undercounter cupboard with metal sheeting and proceeded to clad in stone.

Because of the sloping ground, steps were needed to access the patio

Even more steps were needed on this side of the oven

The difficult part of the build was cutting the arch stones of the oven entrance to continue the circle of the central turret

The countertops are poured concrete, polished with an orbital wet grinder.

The string course is a handsome divide between the horizontal stonework of the oven and the vertical stones of the dome.

A small herb garden was built into the adjoining wall for pizza toppings.

Having wrapped the dome in string lights, the snow storm created this stunning effect.

Our garden gnome resides in his well lit alcove.

Where there's a flat surface, there's an invitation for container plantings.

but of course the main reason for the oven is to cook pizza

and bake bread.

Walling Workshop

 Just a reminder that our Spring walling workshop weekend is coming up at the end of the month

Participants will learn safety first, including clothing, footwear, eye protection. Safe use of tools, lifting and working in a safe environment.

 Preparing the base on which the wall will be built and laying the foundations

The use of "A" frames and lines and how to build a curved wall

and all aspects of wall building through to the finished wall.

On the Saturday evening we light the on site wood fired oven

and cook pizza

for all the participants and significant others

which we serve on the patio, along with beer and wine

as you can see, there is one chair only, so don't be late.

We usually finishing the evening sitting around the fire pit, discussing stonework in a more relaxed atmosphere.

Easter Eggs or Ducklings?

In the midst of yet another Nor'Easter, one has to believe that the ducks know best and Spring will not be long in coming.

Caillou, the matriarch of our flock has this year decided to make her nest in one of the chicken egg laying boxes 

which may help contain her eggs, as she has a tendency to scratch her eggs out of the nest.

                                      

Nora, so named because her sister Dora wandered far and wide throughout the woods, until one day her exploring took her to the point of no return.

The incubation period for a Muscovy duck is around 5 weeks, Nora has been sitting for three weeks

Cinco, a daughter of Nora, got her name because she has made her nest under the Pizza oven sink countertop

She has 4 eggs at present and will start sitting when she has a dozen or more, which will probably take another couple of weeks.

The almost identical sister of Cinco, who we named  Mayo, has been sitting for just over a week

and as you can see, has a full clutch of eggs, 17 in total.

Studley, on the left and Sir Francis, are our two drakes.

But don't put away your snow shovel just yet, as Coddle hatched 4 little duckling back in December.