A year ago today, we went into contract on this house. That was an exciting and terrifying time. I loved the house so much (even without a dishwasher — a situation we rectified as quickly as possible), but the size of the yard was incredibly intimidating.

Almost a year later, we have no regrets. Yes, it’s hard work. But it’s meaningful work, and the physical labor (despite the soreness we feel afterwards) is good for body and mind. I love the sense of accomplishment. I love the peace. I love the wildness. I love that we have great neighbors. And I love that we’re still in close proximity to the city if I need to get my arts and culture fix. This house was the perfect compromise between my husband’s desire to really get away from everything and my desire to stay near civilization.

Today might be the last good day to do any work outside. It’s supposed to be well above average again. Then the (badly needed) rain comes in overnight. We’re predicted to get 2 or more inches tomorrow. And then the cold comes in, and I suspect it will stay. It is November, after all.

Glad about the rain for various reasons. I discovered a big fish in our pond. We live in the Scioto River watershed, so the stream that supplies water to our pond is connected in some way to the river. That’s how we get fish in our pond. At the moment, the fish is trapped. We haven’t had substantial rain in a long time, so the stream dried up long ago and the water in the pond is now very shallow.

In other news, I had the task of removing a juniper tree that was growing up against our septic tank. I suspect it’s a volunteer. Planting anything with deep roots next to a septic tank is a huge no-no.

It was a delicate procedure. I couldn’t use a shovel, so I grabbed my CobraHead to gently dig and tease out the roots. Then I took pruners and snipped it off at the main root. I potted it and my parents will plant it in their yard. I just hope it survives, since it has some root damage and got a bit crushed during removal.

Carolina wrens have been getting into our screened-in porch. I found two of them flying around a couple days ago. We need to examine the roofline and see if there are any openings where they can get in. I suspect so because when I was trying to get them out, one flew out the open door and the other one hid itself in the wooden framing just under the ceiling (where I could hear it moving around) and then seemed to vanish.

Adorable birds, but I don’t want them flying around our porch and pooping all over everything. I still have a mess to clean up, but I’m not going to bother until we find where they are getting in and seal it. They have visited more than once (and I know this because I already cleaned up after them once).

I need to get out today with a circular saw and cut up the boards that were used to frame the raised beds. Most of them are too long to throw into our burn pile.

Since the weather is about to change drastically, I’ll shift my focus to indoor projects. I still have this decoupage project I’m working on that became a much bigger hassle than it should have been. Craftiness does not come naturally to me, but I’m trying. I’ll share it when I’m done. I just hope it looks as good as I envision.