happy summer!

So I'm not completely finished with my comps, but I've been able to get out and do some work anyway. It's been wonderful! I got a whole lot done yesterday, which is nice, especially since today will end up being a study day.

I hadn't been sure about what to do with the old shower/tub enclosure until I decided I could use it for a pond. I was doing some research the other day on water barrels, and came up with a perfect idea! The mini pond will be where the run-off water from the barrels will go. I'm not going to be using barrels, actually, but large plastic garbage cans. They won't look as nice, but that's ok. Perhaps I can build wood frames to cover them up or something. Because I have a metal roof, I'll be able to catch a lot of water. I plan on putting at least 4 or 5 of them on the side of house, building some kind of gutter system that will feed the barrel farthest from the front of the house first, and connect all of them via a hose. There is a slight incline, so the water will flow from the last barrel to the first, and will then have another hose attached to the first barrel that will run to the tub. Here is where the barrels will go....



Eventually I'll have the same system on the other side of the house. That is the side of the house where the outdoor bread/pizza oven will be, and there will be a spiral herb garden that the excess water can feed. It's really going to be an awesome setup!

I am moving all the daylilies to line the walkway from the barn to the house. I'm going to stop having the big propane tank filled in the back and will go to the smaller canisters. This way I won't need to keep the drive open for the big truck. It will look so much better... (It is hard to see where I have planted the lillies, but if you look closely behind Vanna, you can see that I have logs laid out and the lillies are planted against them. There are a whole lot more to plant!)



Anyway, here is the shot of the tub just put in place:




The finished product! I'll be transplanting some hosta and other ground cover to the left side of the tub. The rose bushes I transplanted are already dead (that didn't take long), but I did plant some climbing beans by the ladder. I will dig a trench to bury the hose coming from the rain barrels, and will have a path going from the house to the tub and line that with plants as well. I need to do some more research on what water plants to use. I also bought a solar pump that should be coming soon, and will be using the old shower head as a fountain. It should be fun!~