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Turtle Disced, Lives to Tell the Tale |
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Written by T
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Monday, 29 September 2008 |
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Actually, the turtle is still offering no comment on the incident, so I'll have to fill you in. While working on the tractor this weekend, D. had occasion to use the discer, then afterward decided to stow it with the other implements north of the straw bale building. This meant discing the lawn in his path, because this discer, which was left on the property when we bought it, needs repair and its blades can't be raised or lowered. Wherever it goes, it discs. D. said the lawn was too lumpy, anyway, and needed to be evened out. After parking and detaching the discer, D. noticed a bright red spot on the ground he'd just disturbed. This hatchling painted turtle, turned plastron-side up. D. thought he'd injured it, but after a day of checking on it, we decided the hatchling was unharmed. Maybe stunned. But at the pace it was going--or not going--we figured it would never make it to the river. Unwilling to leave nature to its course, one of us interfered and airlifted it to the mud next to the water. Yesterday while we conducted our monthly river water monitoring tests, the turtle basked nearby, occasionally dipping its front legs in the water and then slapping its cheeks, as if trying to wake up. 
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Written by T
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Tuesday, 23 September 2008 |
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Our straw bale workshop has looked mangy for a while, neglected for two and a half years while we concentrated on the house. The final coat of clay plaster we applied, then sealed with potassium silicate, in late summer 2005 had suffered blisters and extreme peeling. Moisture trapped behind the sealant (and the sealant's inability to breathe) was likely the problem. Everyone who saw the building seemed worried about it. But we knew that the bales were fine and dry. On the other hand, they would not have stayed that way if we'd delayed replastering much longer. So last Monday a crew began scraping off the remnants of the old finish plaster, patching some areas where the plaster had worn down to the bales, then applying a new scratch coat (or undercoat) of lime plaster. Lime plaster is what we used on the house, and it has proved very durable. This week the crew applied the finish coat and they did a beautiful job. As soon as we remove the tarps from around it we'll take and post photos of the final product. We're extremely happy it's done. Patching thin spots after scraping, 9/15/08: 
The west wall with its scratch coat of plaster, 9/16/08: 
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Written by T
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Monday, 28 July 2008 |
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When we were renting a place in town and still constructing the house, we'd occasionally drive out here very early in the morning. At the bottom of Pea Vine Hill, at the entrance to the valley, we'd hit thick white fog--and it seemed remarkable. But now that we're valley residents, we realize that the fog sets in every single night during summer. In fact, it seems denser here than in neighboring valleys. From after midnight to nearly 8 a.m., a white mist surrounds the house. You can't see across the river. You can't even see the garden about 100 feet to the north. D. took the panorama below from our living room window yesterday -- the last remnants of morning fog rising.  |
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