November Hill farm journal, 104

It’s been very hot last week and this week and I have had some issues with migraine aura symptoms so have been staying out of the bright sunlight, thus no new photos right now of things flowering and growing on the farm.

Thankfully we’ve gotten rain regularly enough that I haven’t had to water anything, but if we don’t get any today that’s going to change!

While hanging out inside this week I’ve been working on sketches for new garden beds this fall. I’m going to have to transplant goldenrod, purple coneflower, rattlesnake master, and eastern horsemint because all of them are spreading and beginning to crowd out some of the other plantings. Since these are all favorites of mine, it will be nice to have plenty of plants to put in without buying them. I’ll add in a few new natives to each of these new beds, depending what’s available locally this fall.

I’ve also, finally, done some moving and shifting of furniture upstairs and gotten on with the painting of three bookshelves that will be going into another room. I discovered some interesting paints online one night when browsing design images and I got 5 colors that I’ve had for awhile now. It was fun to bring them up yesterday and get going with this project. With all of us in the house working from home now, we need another “garret” - my writing garret has been utilized by my daughter doing her university coursework, and the desk in the bedroom commandeered by my husband, so I’ve been using the dining room table as my writing and office space. 

Creating the new garret was on the list but it’s gotten bumped up some due to the pandemic. I’ve moved a day bed in from the guest room, and am painting some old bookshelves to move over to the guest room where there will now be a wall of books. I’m replacing the old desk in the new garret with something lighter and more Scandinavian in design, and I’ve already got the paint for the walls, a nice bright botanical green. It’s going to be completely different and will give my daughter a dedicated workspace that she can call her own. 

Meanwhile, we’re on the electrician’s waitlist for some work to be done at the barn that will allow me to move forward with the renovation of Delphine. Until I have easy power out there it’s just too hot to work on that. I have three things on the list to get done once the electrical work is complete.

It’s that time of the summer when outdoor projects are on hold and the daily focus is keeping all the animals and the human ones cool, hydrated, and happy. 

There are a ton of good books in my pile and if you keep an eye on the Goodreads app on the sidebar here you’ll see them as I read. Nonfiction and fiction. 

I have to say - July is my least favorite month in the year. Between July 4th and the heat it’s a month I would be okay skipping. In years past I’ve always had the dream that one day we would have a farm in the NC mountains, a remote and quiet place we could pack up and head to for May-September. It’s cooler there and not as many biting insects, and the trip isn’t too long for the horses. 

Now, with everything going on in our country, I’ve been thinking of Canada. The winters! I think mostly it’s that the idea of escape is soothing to me whether or not it actually comes to pass. For now I’m hunkered down here on November Hill, and grateful for all it offers.